Hey all,

I have been using a diadem given to me by the former archmage which has a +50 magicka enchantment on it. What i was wondering if it would be more magicka cost effective to actually wear the Diadenm of the Savant which gives a
+5% reduction in Magicka costs across all schools.

So far I have thought the measly reductions of 5% is not worth it and that the +50 magicka boost should more than cover that 5%

Your thoughts will be appreciated

It depends on many factors, such as perks and skill level in a particular school, but unless you are casting high level spells without applicable perks, I would say the +50 magika is better than 5% off the spell.

Think about it, a 5% reduction means that you would have to cast 1000 Magicka points worth of spells to save 50 Magicka. That's probably at least 2 full bars (in other words, not during a single encounter unless you have an absorption efffect). Whereas if you have the extra 50 available, that's several more spells (depending on school/perks as mentioned above) that you can cast up front.
Plus, you can get a better Mages' Circlet later (at least 70 pts.).

To echo Ego_Altar's point, even if you were trying to cast one of the magika intensive master level spells, by that time between your perks and skill level, the cost would be low enough to still being the +50 out on top of a 5% discount.

1500 magica base cost - 41% (100 skill in school) - 50%(Master perk) = ~443 magika

One thing I think the Diadem of the Savant is good for is if you don't like to wear a helmet but still want to get a perk on the Light Armor tree that requires you wear Lt Armor on head, hands, body and feet. It fills the requirement for the head without being a helm. You could enchant a ring with extra magicka or regen I think and have both then. Maybe this would be helpful at low levels though.

A straightforward 50+ magic is always better than reducing costs.
5% reduction in costs is lame, weaker than some basic items.

The Mage Circlet is far better.

Cheers all,

I do have the +50 magicka on at all times but was just wondering about the master level spells really since I still haven't reached that level. Time to stash away the Diadem then in the collectibles pile

Diadem is Light Armor, so I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on using Mage's Armor perk.

I don't use Mage's armour, at least not yet so i am ok. Also use nice enchanted boots to protect me from fire. On a related note, I just started making +20% magicka reduction in Destruction in expense of + 30 and +50 Magicka enchantments. Are these worth it? The +50 perhaps not but I have found i can get at least one more Thunderbolt using a +20 reduction. Of course the other schools of magicka suffer though. Maybe I should just switch just before a battle