I sometimes see people talking about making an archmage or a wizard or a warlock etc etc and kind of acting like each is distinctly different in some way. I know necromancers are conjurers that raise zombies but is anyone keen enough to give me a crash course in what the different types of mages are and what traits they typically have?

I'm starting an orcish witch as my secondary character, I want to finally give magic a good try in this game, usually avoid it and have a distaste for it but have always had a thing for witches and think this might be the way to do it. What skills would a witch typically have?

I want to make a fairly typical cliche witch (complete with a broom in my inventory), but with a slight voodoo edge. Sometimes she will wear forsworn armour and be all voodoo and savage but other times she will mingle with people in black robes or a mourning dress. Too bad there's no pointy witch hat?

Was thinking I might also give vampirism a try for the first time, the vampire lord actually reminds me of what the main witch turns into in that "witches" movie from the 90s based on the book by Roald Dahl. Does vampirism somehow conflict with being a witch?

Witch covens as they appeared in Daggerfall and Bloodmoon were female spellcasters specializing in shapeshifting, the removal (and probably inflicting of) curses and daedra summoning. Unlike Skyrim, not all witches were hostile. The Corpse Preparation books mention Breton Witch-Kings, hough that's probably just shorthand for "generic wizard overlord". Oblivion also had a witch, who was responsible for aiding you in curing vampirism.

The Fryse Hags of Bloodmoon were basically evil Nord women spellcasters with an irritating fondness for frost magic.

The cliche cackling witch with her black cat and broom probably doesn't exist. 'Witch' is kind of a diverse term, but going by the Glenmoril Witches, those covens in Daggerfall and the Fryse Hags, you want a specialist of Restoration, Alchemy, Alteration, Destruction and Conjuration.

Remember that magic in the Elder Scrolls isn't cliche piercing voodoo dolls, chanting gobbledygook and gibbering at the moon. Magic is practically science; the Reman dynasties and the Aldmeri dominion had magically-fuelled spaceships while the Septim Empire had a space-station.

Lorewise, 'warlock' is actually an attainable rank of the Mages' Guild. The warlock class is...kind of weird and probably not applicable to the situation. Most posters seem to believe that warlocks are simply the WoW class, but anyway...

The distinctions are mostly arbitrary, but for clarification's sake...

Mages are pure spellcasters. They're the researchers who genuinely love their jobs both for practical reasons and because they really like their jobs.

Sorcerers tend to be egotistical mages who flatter their egos with daedric and undead servants, and are greedy for magical artifacts for the sake of power. They also seem to be paranoid, given that for the past few games they treated Heavy Armor as a class skill.

Battlemages are basically wizard-warriors decked out in heavy armor and trained in the use of heavy melee weaponry. Essentially, they hurl fireballs and conjure minions while bashing heads and cracking skulls.

Spellswords are magical mercenaries and skirmishers.

Nightblades are magical assassins.

Witch-hunters are a specific brand of mages dedicated to the purging of wicked daedra, evil mages, undead and so on. Basically, they're the arcane version of the Vigilants.

Necromancers are...well...lorewise the school of Necromancy draws on Conjuration, Restoration and Mysticism, but in-game you can just go around reanimating zombies and call yourself a necromancer.

Orcs...there doesn't really seem to be a cultural prejudice against magic among the Orsimer. Sure, there's that orc bookshop owner in Leyawiin who's irritated by his friends making fun of his reading habit, but the author of Corpse Preparation wrote that there were a few necromancers discussing petitioning King Gortwog on his views on Necromancy, and that Orc mage in Balmora is also a necromancer. They probably don't care so long as you're useful.

When I made my Dunmer witch, my thoughts were something like this:

-Alchemy: witches know herbs (major skill)
-Restoration: witches can heal (major skill)
-Destruction: witches can curse (major skill)
-Conjuration: witches commune with other worlds
-Alteration: witches know to affect reality (this could be applied on Illusion, but that was a skill I didn't use for her)
-Enchanting: witches can not only curse, but also enchant (d'oh!)

My witch hated necromancy and undead, but that is of course up to you. She focused on fire spells a lot, and loathed wizards, so she refused tohave anything to do with the College of Winterhold.

She also used daggers (preferably poisoned) and light armor (preferably fur).

I have ideas for more witches that probably will be something similar, maybe without the armor and with the addition of frost spells. For some reason shock feels wrong for a witch.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

That's exactly what I was thinking.

I think the choices you make will all be based on what you feel a Witch in the Skyrim world or even in your own mind (RP) actually embodies.

Do you see a Witch as a master of destructive magic, wreaking havoc on battlefields.

Do you see a Witch as a master of conjuration magic, summoning powerful daedric forces to destroy her enemies

Do you see a Witch as a master of illusion magic, manipulating her opponents into killing each other or ignoring her presence?

It's all perspective based. In my opinion I see a witch as a summoner of the elemental forces with the ability to manipulate the physical world around her based on her extensive work in Alchemy & Enchanting. She also has some knowledge of the benefits of the restoration magic tree.

this is my thoughts: http://skyrimcalculator.com/#333895

Master Conjurer & Alteration - dabble in restoration. Perks in Destruction / Restoration to support her minions. Alchemy & Enchanting for research purposes, what makes her a witch is her unnatural experiments on all manner of creatures. No undead - not a necromancer - prefers to research arcane and natrual vs. the mundane and dead.

No need to use poisons - she won't be delivering them unless a simple paralyze poison on the tip of her dagger to anyone who gets close to her. No need to perk for that. Benefactor for buff potions and magicka / health regeneration. Fortify Alteration / Conjuration / Enchanting pots as well.

Her equipment load out will be enchanted robes / clothes - armor rating will come from Alteration magic (why Master is important) - a large mana pool here is important for multiple summons in fights - her weapons will include staves (sanguine is a good one obviously as well as destruction based staves to support your summons).