I've recently been spending time trying to play a "real Mage" (No Martial Talents, Pure Spellcasting, Enchanted robes and Alchemy) and, well, I have some beef with the Destruction and Alteration branches (or rather, the amount of headgear tailored to Mages that ruin the Mage Armor perk ex: Miraak's headpiece). The Destruction spells are way too weak to match enemy leveling (And don't get me started on dual casting), I am a level 25 Mage and I'm really having a hard time enjoying the game when I can only cast 3 adept spells (even with Destruction-based gear) and the enemy's health decreases by virtually the same amount as if I had attacked them with a dagger. I feel that the cost for destruction spells is far too high for the damage output they have. But when you are attacked by an A.I. Mage, they just spam magic like there's no tomorrow and you actually notice the damage they're doing.

My other problem is how Alteration, for the amount of Magicka it consumes, heavy armor is still better. And while I can understand this, another nagging question is why the is the magic headgear all armor? This renders the Mage armor perk useless!

Has anyone actually beaten this game as a "True Mage"? I play on Adept difficulty and I think I might just stick with Warrior since blades seem to be stronger than magic (not to mention I can attack without reducing my stamina).

Sounds like you should delve into Illusion and Conjuration.

I never play "pure mages" they are all hybrids of some sort that I make up.

I can do pure illusion, helps to mix in some conjuration. As for destruction... well i think the enimies levels scale too much higher. I haven't done SOLELY destruction before though. Maybe I can stay below a certain player level and have the spells do more damage...

Destruction is not underpowered and can handle anything in the game. Plus you do not use magicka when casting Destruction, just like you do not use Stamina when using blade weapons in melee (i.e., you have to develop a character to be able to do either so it sounds like you do not know how to play a "true mage").

You can kill high level bosses on master? Pretty sure it take a while... And i know about reduction cost methods. Though im sure you were talking to the OP, woops.

I got a High Elf pure mage, uses every school except illusion. Runs ridiculously fast.

Kicks the crap out of everything, even on Master so far. Only lv 33 though. Pure mage is very practical if you know how to use it. Archmage robes + fortify magicka enchants + Highborn ability is ridiculous.

I've played 2 pure mages. No armor, only spells. My first was pure destruction up to around level 35 when I felt I needed more help and started using conjuration. It still wasn't all that fun as the biggest issue with Destruction, besides the spells being comparatively weak, is the fact that there is so little variety and it becomes boring very quickly. And please don't try to tell me that runes and walls and other low level spells are still viable against high level opponents because that is just baloney unless you abuse alchemy and have massively powerful destruction potions and this particular mage was not an alchemist so that was out the window anyway.

My 2nd mage uses all the schools and is way more enjoyable to play. I also picked up Alchemy this time and the Destruction potions are a huge benefit for destruction spells. Once you top out Alchemy, even without abusing the game mechanics, it is possible to boost your Destruction damage by a huge amount which makes it totally viable for end game content with the exception of the low level spells which are still entirely too weak. But having all the spells for the other schools makes up for it and keeps the class interesting.

Also there are some nice spell additions in the Dragonborn DLC that help with crowd control and protecting yourself against melee attackers. Definitely worth having.

True, playing a pure mage provided me some hell situations on master, to the point where I left a lot of places for much later in the game because the damage was simply too pathetic compared to mere seconds that took me to die. Dual casting perk that staggers opponents was when the game became a bit easier (as long as it wasn't against othe mages, damn wards), but I did use conjuration as well since I believe I'd have it twice as much harder without a companion atronach. Also, I used enchanting as well, for the same reason you mentioned, that I had to make my own enchanted hats and whatnot to make up for lack of better head equipment that's not armor. Illusion was very useful to turn enemies on each other as well. Also, I used staves, they saved my ass tons of times when I ran out of magicka, I warmly suggest you try using those as well.

It is a shame that so much of the mage related head gear is armored. I was terribly disappointed in the additions in the Dragonborn DLC not only because they are heavy armor but also that they cannot be disenchanted. For a moment I though they had finally given us a way to add destruction damage via enchanting but nope.

Like Chaka I always make my own headgear, usually a circlet which goes really well with the Archmage robes.

I like necrovamps for pure mages. The necrovamp boost to enchants and potion strength really helps when donning gear that reduces destruction casting cost (although I don't go for zero cost) and making and consuming potions that increase destruction damage.


I have pretty much given up on the mage armor perks and often wear bracers, boots and helmets with my robes.

I've tried a pure mage in Skyrim. To be perfectly honest, all three were boring as [censored]...aside from the little bit of fun that conjuration and illusion brought, but it wasn't enough to make up for it's overall inadequacies.

You know, it's a damn shame too, I used to love pure mages in Oblivion, but of course magic still meant something back then...and we could still make our own spells.

I do miss spellmaking and enchantments that were customizable, which is one reason why I have been spending more time in Cyrodiil lately than Skyrim.