Can someone explain the skills/schools? : V

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:04 pm

I am getting confused... this paragraph indicated there are 5 schools of magic:

Even if you can't combine spells, magicka students will have no shortage of options, with over 85 spells divided into five schools of magic – destruction, restoration, illusion, alteration, and conjuration. Longtime Elder Scrolls fans may notice that the school of mysticism is absent. That's an intentional move on Bethesda's part. “It always felt like the magical school of mysticism – isn't that redundant?” Howard says. The spells formerly housed under the domain of mysticism have been moved to other schools of magic.

But this quote indicates there are 6 skills:

Three prominent nebulae dominate the Skyrim heavens – the thief, the warrior, and the mage. Each of these represents one of the three master skill sets. Each nebula houses six constellations, each of which represents a skill.

And then this image shows 7 of something:

http://www.gameinformer.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-ImageFileViewer/CommunityServer-Components-SiteFiles-imagefeed-featured-bethesda-elderscrolls-elderscrollsv/SkillsMenu.jpg_2D00_610x0.jpg

Are these skills or schools or something else?

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:45 pm

5 magic schools, but there are 18 skills in total. 3 nebula has six skills, 3x6=18. Not that hard.

That image isn't just magic skills. Do you not know what skills are what?

Edit- These are the magic schools: destruction, restoration, illusion, alteration, and conjuration. But there is still other skills that you can do, not just magic. 13 other skills in fact which also will be 18.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:34 pm

5 magic schools, but there are 18 skills in total. 3 nebula has six skills, 3x6=18. Not that hard.

That image isn't just magic skills. Do you not know what skills are what?

Edit- These are the magic schools: destruction, restoration, illusion, alteration, enchanting, and conjuration. But there is still other skills that you can do, not just magic. 13 other skills in fact which also will be 18.

fixed

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:48 am

What's the difference between a skill and a school?

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:25 pm

fixed

I don't think enchanting is a magic school, but it is a magic skill. I listed the magic schools there.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:17 pm

I'm guessing enchanting will be the sixth mage skill. The group of them is clustered in the GI graphic.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 12:43 pm

I don't think enchanting is a magic school, but it is a magic skill. I listed the magic schools there.

woops my bad i mis-read and thought u said skill. :facepalm:

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:02 pm

woops my bad i mis-read and thought u said skill. :facepalm:

It's okay just pointing that out there not a big deal :celebration:

They just call it a school because magic is more of a taught art than something like one-handed weapons or something. Hence why there is the Arcane University, also each of the Mages Guild halls specialize in one of the school of magic. The schools of magic are still skill just called schools for lores sake i believe.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:08 pm

So the mage has 5 schools and 6 skills?

Schools:

Destruction
Restoration
Illusion
Alteration
Conjuration

Skills:

Enchanting
Alteration
Restoration
Destruction
Conjuration
Illusion

I don't get it. Why would we have a skill called alteration and a school called alteration? What's the difference? And if schools and skills are the same, why do we have one more skill than school (Enchanting)?

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:52 pm

So the mage has 5 schools and 6 skills?

Schools:

Destruction
Restoration
Illusion
Alteration
Conjuration

Skills:

Enchanting
Alteration
Restoration
Destruction
Conjuration
Illusion

I don't get it. Why would we have a skill called alteration and a school called alteration? What's the difference? And if schools and skills are the same, why do we have one more skill than school (Enchanting)?

Because you have your skill of alteration, which you can go the the school of alteration and make better. It is just called magic schools because there is actual schools for them, like i just said in the post above. And enchanting is a skill and not a school because there isn't any school that teaches enchanting to my knowledge. I'm starting to think you haven't ever played an Elder Scrolls game before. They only call the magic skills that have schools, magic schools. That is just how they do things.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:41 pm

So the mage has 5 schools and 6 skills?

Schools:

Destruction
Restoration
Illusion
Alteration
Conjuration

Skills:

Enchanting
Alteration
Restoration
Destruction
Conjuration
Illusion

I don't get it. Why would we have a skill called alteration and a school called alteration? What's the difference? And if schools and skills are the same, why do we have one more skill than school (Enchanting)?

did u play oblivion? in oblivion the schools held a set of certain spells it could use, using those spells caused the skills of whichever school it belong to increase. for example: u have a spell that restores health, it belongs to the restoration school, so using it increases ur restoration skill

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:44 pm

did u play oblivion? in oblivion the schools held a set of certain spells it could use, using those spells caused the skills of whichever school it belong to increase. for example: u have a spell that restores health, it belongs to the restoration school, so using it increases ur restoration skill

Idk i just said the same thing, like i don't get how to explain why they call it what, like there is literally schools for the magic...and it just generalizes which spell belongs to what. Like idk how to explain it any better.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:30 am

I played Oblivion... that is the only ES game I have played thus far. I didn't completely geek out on it I guess :tongue: I loved it and probably put around 150 to 200 hours into it but I presume I'm still considered an ES noob on this forum. I didn't really pay much attention to this categorization in Oblivion. It seems strange to me that the game would offer skills that belong to every school except one... that one belongs to no school. Why does it make sense that no one would teach Enchanting? Sorry for the noob questions but that just seems odd.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:28 pm

I played Oblivion... that is the only ES game I have played thus far. I didn't completely geek out on it I guess :tongue: I loved it and probably put around 150 to 200 hours into it but I presume I'm still considered an ES noob on this forum. I didn't really pay much attention to this categorization in Oblivion. It seems strange to me that the game would offer skills that belong to every school except one... that one belongs to no school. Why does it make sense that no one would teach Enchanting? Sorry for the noob questions but that just seems odd.

Well if you remember back to Oblivion enchanting wasn't a skill. There were still people in the Arcane University that were the lead of enchanting, but it was really just something anyone could do. It isn't a school because Todd Howard said it isn't basically, and it is something that people just go with. They constantly change lore and other things, so you can't be stuck on something that is worded. It's the same thing in game whether it is a school of magic or not, it is just worded differently.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 5:47 pm

OK...

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 9:55 pm

OK...

Still don't get it do you?
From now on just replace the word school with skill. :]
Honestly it isn't something to be bent out of shape about. They just call them schools because that is how they categorize the magic, like different types of science. Someone that is a chemist probably will not be a physicist also. Enchanting isn't a school because well it literally isn't a school.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 5:41 pm

a school is just a grab bag of spell effects under a single skill that have a certain theme to them.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 12:54 pm

Hang-on, when is Alchemy not a Mage Skill?

Six skills in 3 nebulae,

1. Alchemy ???
2. Illusion School of Magic
3. Conjuration School of Magic
4. Destruction School of Magic
5. Restoration School of Magic
6. Alteration School of Magic
7. Enchanting

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:19 pm

Hang-on, when is Alchemy not a Mage Skill?

When it's needed to round out Stealth. Not total nonsense since alchemy does produce poisons and any good, well you know... :ph34r:

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:54 am

Yeah I guess Mages have got restoration, Thieves have got health potions and poisions.

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:00 pm

But isn't smithing in that skill pic? Why is it shown there with all those magic skills?

» Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:28 pm

But isn't smithing in that skill pic? Why is it shown there with all those magic skills?

I assume if you scrolled to Smithing, on the right, the focus would switch to the Warrior nebulae and if you scrolled to Speechcraft, on the left, the focus would switch to the Thief nebulae.

EDIT: Or, assuming Alchemy really is part of the Thief skills, then replace Speechcraft with Alchemy as the skill that triggers the shift in focus.