Buy a better rune? There is only one Rune for each Destruction type. It costs masses of Magicka for a questionable amount of damage.

Masses of magicka? Invest in the perks that half the magicka, and then when you level up select magicka.. My mage is a high elf lvl 14 and it barely costs me 1/5th of my total magicka (when dual casted). It's extremely useful for when you are running away from a strong mob and just putting them under yourself as you run.

Forcing them to walk over them chasing you, it kills them quite quick (later on you will have damage increases in the elements respectively as well..)


I am let down by the fact you can only have one though

The Rune deals terrible damage in comparison to how much it costs. When kiting an enemy like that you would be better off just Firebolting them over and over. You would kill them faster and use less Magicka doing it.

You might as well throw a dual casted fireball in their face and stagger them in the process. Practically the same damage for half mana cost.

How I always use them is I put one down when sneaking, wait until my mana is recharged, and then start firing on the enemy (if it's a strong enemy), then they get damage from me, and the rune once they walk over it.

Just enchanted some armor yesterday, changed the game!

I now cast destruction at 92% less mana, no more running around or Ice Shouting oppentents to wait for magika!

atm Enchanting is a MUST

Also, as you've probably noticed, you can't spam a staggering spell, they'll take no damage until they're up again

Works fine here. They are immune to stagger while getting up true but take damage fine. In fact, you should be casting those spells as fast as possible, especially fire : the "on fire" effect stops before stagger finishes and you lose a big chunk of damage by not attacking targets while they are on fire.

Hi Valkar many thx for your notes I have found these most helpfull, as I have made mistakes, and although enjoying the best game this Decade, I have been going into battle with a magic bow tipped with poison. And you described me to a tee, lol,lol, panickin and dying trying to use all the spels i have, and I am at colledge at LVL 16 (39 in destruction) with dual casting, I just love to swap over to the One handed magica mace two swipes to finish the dragons off. It's good to know I am using the shout to there potential like you say. Iam struggling to kill the bosses at one dungeon so iam going back to school, but you have me thinking ..HAVE i lvl'ed up before my skills??? because iam using them all wrong. I think you have made it clear..it's either archer or mage??
thx again
Elron

sorry to side-track things: how do you give Lydia armor? Do you just drop it ion the ground and she picks it up? I could see no way to do inventory transfer. Thanks!

It's a dialogue option to trade with her. Then you put your cursor over the item and hit the appropriate button to "give"

Im playing mage on master (but im low lvl) since i find mage have much more chanses vs stronger enemys then warrior and archer, cas mage have amazing healing,always can keep distance, can slow down enemys,can summon things etc.

Kiting with mage alot easyr then kiting with archer.



I disagree, if follower or summoned npc tanking AI and i have no mana), im using 1handed swords. Some ppl use bows.

Thanks for the guide! I'm a warrior for my first playthrough but bookmarking this thread for a pure-mage followup.

regarding a couple of points

- It is possible to buy all spells and mage related equipment in the game just from the College. - not all spells can be purchased , think some must be found

- Upon entry you get a large, free, easily accessible room with safe storage and a bed. - I don't think this can regarded as safe storage , i would never tell anyone for a fact this is safe storage . I've read a lot of posts of that stuff dissapearing . Use your own house .



t

I did a total mix between mage/warrior/thief. Using firebolts to low level enemies and ice-dragons. First sneak bow one, dagger crit 30x next and rest will be food for my dual wield daedra swords. Using restoration if needed. Sneak, smithing maxed (shouldn't have gone first light armor side), enchanting 100 but only to get 2nd enchant. some perks in archery and one handed and destruction. Level 47 atm. I like having different sort of strategies which magic allows. Only thing I hate: you can't stay hidden after your rune explodes.

Just wanted to point out that if you paid attention during your escape from Helmgren or whatever that starting city is, in the torture chamber, the body in the locked cell has a free mage robe and mage hood that are the equivalent of the gear the riverwood vendor has. Loot him, and you won't need to waste money on mage gear and you will have it equipped before you even reach Riverwood.

You will eventually regret not working enchanting before.. You will find that after the arch-mages robe, there aren't really any better choices for you. Knowing that, @ level 15, you pretty much have the best robe you will see in game for a long time is pretty bad. It's an okay, robe, but is crap.

Also, you will see a ton of casting gear that is light or heavy armor, but none that is cloth.

A 'pure mage' HAS to enchant to make up for really bad cloth caster itemization in this game.

just started a pure mage last night. made a high elf (duh) the extra magic is really helpful. this post will help me get going as i am only level 3. going to do the first dragon to get my shout and then off to the college to learn. thanks.

Very well done, Valkar!

Another bit of advice might be to turn the difficulty down.
I switched to Novice and it is a lot more fun.

And my RLM (Real Life Manhood) only shrunk 20% !

STICKY!

Another good way to level Alteration is to get the transmute spell (in a dungeon near whiterun, the one with the dead Mammoth) and just find lots of Ore to turn to gold. You'll rank it up AND get rich doing it. :celebration:

My mage is now about level 52 or so. I completely avoid those robes with increased magicka regen. As everyone else has said, the regen in combat is horrible. Instead I levelled Enchanting to 100. Now that I can put 2 enchants on each item, I created some glass chest armor with -25% destruction cost and -15% destruction with +10% magicka regen. I also created 2 more items with -25% magicka cost and increased Magicka by 60. This gives me a total of -85% magicka cost and around 700 magicka (High Elf with most points into magicka). I can dual wield ALL destruction spells with ease and cast enough of the others to do fairly well on magicka.

Also I create enhanced destruction damage potions for chugging when I need some major nuking. I think my current potions increase destruction damage by 85% or so. And my Alchemy isn't even maxed out. This turns me into a true force to be reckoned with.

For those who say "But why should I have to level Enchanting or Alchemy?!" , "Wah, Wah". That is fine if want you to stick to that amazingly narrow sighted point of view. However I don't think any sane warrior complains at the need for levelling Heavy Armor and Smithing. Why should a Mage need only Destruction?

It is worth nothing you can put -25% destruction cost on 4 items and almost all destruction spells cost 0 (seriously the cost is listed as 0)! With double enchants you can do the same with restoration or conjuration. Mages can be amazingly powerful. The only reason I don't do this myself is the game almost felt broken when I did it. You simply cannot run out of magicka this way.

Although I still agree there is a balance issue with magic at the moment, I have to admit this is a pritty good guide.

Its well written, contains useful tips and facts about using magic. I would like to see a guide like this using all types of magic but its still good. Thanks for writing up this guide, it will be useful for many new players

This statement will always be true. It does not mean you will be successful playing whatever way you want. Pretty stupid to think otherwise. This is what makes a game fun. You actually have to build your character well to be good at the game. A long valued tenet in rpg games. Building your character is half the fun and challenge.

"I want to play naked and use unarmed." - Good luck trying to do well with this idea.

Most individuals having issues with their mages just don't build their characters well or play effectively. You cannot just spam destruction spells as a poster stated above. Some people are upset about this. Thank you, Bethesda, for making magic users this way.

My biggest tip.


Find the atronach forge. Learn how to use it, and use it well.

lots of good advice here, but some of it is stated in absolute terms when it shouldn't... for example, the people saying altmer is the required race for mages are wrong, you do not have to play an altmer to be a successful mage, I myself prefer bretons as enemy mages tend to hit the hardest (melee can be kited/CCed and archers are easy to dodge).

I will agree on one point though... YOU CANNOT JUST USE DESTRUCTION some dislike this, I love it

what is the atonoch forge?