Destruction useless? : V - Skyrim

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:51 am

I just quit playing a character focused on both one-handed melee and dual-casting destruction (with the stagger effect). I just started a new character because the Destruction part of that got too overpowered to be interesting for me, particularly once I was able to enchant clothing to reduce casting cost to nothing or next-to-nothing. Any attack style in this game can be uber-powered if you're willing to enchant/smith the heck out of it, Destruction included.

That said, I still think Destruction is a decent back-up damage-dealer, like for passive effects like the element Cloaks on a melee character, or the runes on a sneaky character.

(Edited to add a word I accidentally left out.)

» Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:43 pm

well i made a mage character second, and got my destruction to 100.
lemme tell you, the ultra spells kick butt, but are incredibly expensive, magicka wise
however, i recommend that you go to the college of winterhold, and complete that quest
upon completion you will have obtained sever mage essential items
such as: Arch mages robes which lowers ALL spell cost by i think 15%, boosts your magic by 50 (at least for me) and increases MP regen speed by 100%
also the Morokei mask, which increses magic regen speed by 100%
the previous archmage's amulet, for me it boosts magic by 50
and the mages circlet, which i do not think can be used with morokei, but boosts your magc by a whopping 70
also if you get the apprentice stone, then it also increses your magic speed by 100%, and with all the equipment together, your magic speed is at 400% and if you get the spell perks your spells cost half
so for me, i can cast fireball for only about 32 magic, and ive got 380, so along with the 400% magic speed, i can pretty much garuntee that i wont be needing to worry about fireball, but when i get into the high spells. I.E. incinerate, or FireStorm i have to be careful, because without master destruction perk, fire storm costs 720 magic!! so its only really possible with the master perk, even then it costs all my magic.
but lets think, do you really NEED firestorm or the other ultra spells? not really, they take forever to use and are over priced, and i just stick with fireball and i get the job done fine
so really all you need are the adept spells and youll do fine as long as you have the gear for it, and thats the thing with having a mage, is having the gear to support it

well, actually magicka regen is useless in combat. I know because I use to use that exact same combination of equipment and birthsign.

On another note, does anyone else notice how much less wall of flame/ice/lightning seems to do to enemies than its supposed to? Ive had relatively weak draugr (and other enemies) stand in large areas of that spell for extended periods of time (on expert) and they were barely affected

» Thu Dec 15, 2011 11:46 pm

wall of flame: 50 points of damage every second.

sword: 15 points of damage every 3-4 seconds.

hmmm.... which one sounds better? :confused:

Seems like you haven't played magic or melee yet, to assume wall spells actually do proper/steady DPS or to assume swords only do 15 damage every 3-4 seconds.

» Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:12 pm

The real problem about destruction is, all the perks, enchants, skilling up, even potions, improve it for less mana use. You pick those perks, enchant gear, drink pots etc so you can actually use destruction spells, they dont improve it. And look at the physical side, all (most) perks improve your damage output, same with enchants, potions and everthing. Same [censored] for other magic schools, a potion for conjuration should make your next summon more powerful, enchanting should give bonuses for more powerful creatures/weapons, because its the way in physical side.

» Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:15 pm

(I'm bumping this thread, so as not to start a new thread on a topic which already has one.)

I'm not high level--only 26--and so I have a ways to go before I can't do the pure Destruction route anymore. Fortunately, I'm taking the time to upgrade Archery

However, one thing that's somewhat irksome is how, in the current system, upgrades to Destruction's damage come in 5 "chunks," plus two more "chunks" for the 2 perk point magic school damage talents.

This means that when you're nearing the next tier of Destruction spell, things become harder to kill. Now this isn't a HUGE problem, as you can just pace yourself and do easier content until you hit the next spell tier, but it is an annoyance.

Yes, weapon wielders also have discrete damage upgrades in the form of new weapons, but aside from this they also have boosts in damage from increasing their weapons' skill levels and from a larger number of perks that increase weapon damage.