So I've tried a heavy armored paladin, a full on mage, but yet a sneaker. This is what I'm thinking and please please tell me if I have anything wrong.

Race: Breton.
Sign: The Mage
Attributes: Agility and Wisdom.
Majors: Marksman, Blade, Sneak, Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, and Restoration.

Is there anything I'm missing or should change?

PS: I was surprised how quick heavily armored characters died, and how quick I ran out of magicka as a mage. Also, I play on medium difficulty. I made a 44 damage shock spell and attempted the Arena in Imperial City and lost 50% of my magicka each time I cast that 44 damage shock spell and only took the Arena combatant down like 15% hp each time.

Question: When you have a spell that says "Shock damage 10 points with a duration of 10 seconds." Does this mean it deals 10 damage over 10 seconds or does it mean it deals 10 damage every so often during those 10 seconds (like a damage over time effect)?

For your last question, it means that the spell does 10 points of damage every second, for 10 seconds. So in the end it will have done 100 points of damage.

Concerning the drain on your magicka, there are several factors. First is that the higher your skill in the magic school in question (i.e. Destruction for destruction spells), the lower the magicka cost will be. Also, spells that do all their damage in one second cost more than those that spread it out over time. So your spell above that does 44 points in 1 second would be more expensive magicka-wise than one that did 22 points of damage with a 2 second duration. Even though both do the same damage in the end. Finally, hitting an opponent with a Weakness to Element and Weakness to Magic first can dramatically boost the damage you do with a following spell.

What I typically do for a basic damage ranged spell is to say make it do 10 points of one element (Fire, Shock, or Frost) for 2 seconds. Then add in 100% Weakness to the same element for 5 seconds, then add in 100% Weakness to Magic for the 5 seconds. Because the weakness effects come last in the spell, they will still be in effect when I use the same spell a second time on the same critter. Only this time the damage will be magnified.

Also when playing a mage, be sure to put an emphasis on raising your intelligence whenever you level, as that is what your total magicka is based upon. Look at choosing a race like Altmer or Breton for the magicka bonuses they get, and birthsigns like Mage, Apprentice, and Atronach for the same. Finally, it is a good idea to enchant some magic items that Fortify your magicka while you are at it.

Thanks for the tip with spells costing a bunch because damage is maxed out at first.
This is my mage...
Race: Breton.
Sign: Mage.
Attributes: Intelligence, and Wisdom.
Majors: Illusion, Destruction, Restoration, Alchemy, Alteration, Mysticism, and Conjuration.

Destruction is past 50, and rest are almost at 50. Alchemy is at 68.

For the character in your first post, be aware that sneak and alchemy level very fast if you're using them a lot. Just a thought.


As for running out of magicka with a mage, you're simply not being efficient enough. I know from experience how hard playing a mage can be when you don't know the correct tactics. BUT! Hopefully I can impart some wisdom.

When you're on the offensive, don't use Destruction magic exclusively. My current character refuses to use said school of magic, and is doing better than any of my other mages have done before. Conjuration and Illusion are your friends. Command, Frenzy, Summons, Calm, all these are brilliant in combat, and if used correctly, will use barely any magicka (in comparison).

For example, you see a group of enemies. Now, rather than casting about 12896billion fireballs at them, you cast one area of effect Frenzy spell. Eventually, there will only be one guy left, which a summon can take out, or even a dagger thrust, as he/she will most likely be very weak.

That's just one way, I'll leave you to work out the rest. Get creative

^ just a word on the above; I love Destruction, but some of those Expert/Master Illusion spells are so ridiculously undervalued I can't quite believe it sometimes.

To turn enemies against each other or make them run away - even up to the top levels of the game - never fails to make me smile.

Try this spell combo for your mage and you will find you can deal a lot more damage per amount of magicka.

spell one
Inviso on self for 2 secs
Weakness to magic 100%
Spell two
Fire/Frost and/or Shock 6 pts for 6 secs

If you move up invisibly you can cast spell one pretty much as many times as you want on your target who will just stand there, then, after casting 2-4 times, unleash spell two and if you have cast spell one enough times your target will fall on the ground and scream for about 6 secs until dead. Casting spell one 4 times will allow you to kill just about any target with standard magic defenses.

The sneak-thief/mage-archer is my favorite type of character to play. As a rule I NEVER set alchemy as a major because it levels up so rediculously fast. None of my character's major in it, not even the mages. I myself have not noticed that sneak levels up too fast but maybe I just don't use it often enough to notice. Never underestimate the value of mysticism. Detect life's ability to see people through walls is invaluable to a sneaky character and telekinesis can be "abused" to make stealing certain things infinitely easier. You made a good choice by not putting security as a major. I wouldn't change that. That has the same problem that alchemy does as far as leveling up too fast, especialy if you going to be using it as much as a sneaker will be. If your planning on using open spells instead of traditional lockpicking, you may want to reconsider because of level rquirements and the availability of spells but the choice is yours. Alteration does have many other very useful spells, particularly feather, so it's worth keeping. You may also want to think about switching restoration with something because alchemy will work very well for healing but it has many other good uses, namely absorb health, so the choice it yours. All in all, I'd just switch out alchemy for mysticism. The rest looks pretty good to me.

Oh and I asume by "wisdom" you mean willpower.

Refer to my link in signature for my character building perspective.

The first note on mages is to watch out with alchemy as a major skill. One of my first characters was actually a high elf mage, and up to level 10 he was doing great. Especially if you have tons of magicka combined with a high destruction skill, mages are the most powerful class to play. Doubly so if you have a good staff or enchanted weapon to help. But then I decided to do some alchemy, and went up 4 levels with only alchemy. Suddenly the game became very hard to play, and it took me many many levels to get to the same level as the creatures again. So basically, if you choose alchemy, only make the necessary potions/poisons and make sure the most important skills keep rising.