NOTE: This is mainly focused upon the destruction/combat side of things and mentions very little on the other gameplay styles like Illusion or Conjuration.

Okay so I've been seeing a lot of posts popping up about people asking for mage advice or complaining about pure mages being "under powered" so I thought I would write out a few helpful tips for those people who are struggling.

Once I finish my playthrough here I plan on writing up a full guide, but for now this mini one will have to do.

Few quick starter notes about my own character:
Level: 45
Race: High Elf (Altmer)
Specializations: Destruction, Alteration, Restoration, Enchanting, Alchemy
Element Specialization: Fire
Difficulty level: Expert
Console: Xbox 360

Quick few starting tips if you haven't but are planning on making a magic based character:

- Be a High Elf as the +50 magicka and power "highborn" are lifesavers
- Pour ALL your points into mana until about level 30 or even higher as every bit of mana helps.
- Putting points into health early game is pointless as you shouldn't even be getting hit or should at least be using wards and shields to massively reduce damage.
- Visit the College of Winterhold RIGHT AWAY (You can get there easily for 50 gold by taking the cart from any major city stable)
- Buy proper magic robes from the Riverwood general goods merchant as soon as you can afford it.
- Don't overload yourself with spells, stick to a select few that work for you early game.
- Duel Casting is highly useful in late game as it has a staggering effect that can buy you much needed time while the enemy recovers.

This mini guide will be broken down into a few sections:

1. Magic in the world of Skyrim
2. The basics of basics
3. Burn! Freeze! Zap! The art of Destruction
4. Spells and their usefulness
5. To be a tank, or to run and hide? The art of playing a magic based character
6. Miscellaneous notes
7. A quick few good leveling tips

1. Magic In The World Of Skyrim

Unlike in previous Elder Scrolls games, magic isn't a huge part of the province of Skyrim. Don't get me wrong, it's still there, it's still incredibly powerful, but it's a bit of a lost and unknown art. You will find few real mages throughout the game, and even fewer friendly ones. That's not to say though that magic should be written out. It's still just as, if far more powerful as it has been in previous games. With the new ability to duel wield spells and "duel cast" or "overcharge" them, the additional spell effects not seen in Elder Scrolls: IV and the great visual work done on the majority of the spells, being a mage in Skyrim kicks ass, and looks beautiful.

Unlike previous Elder Scrolls games, there is no longer a legitimate "Mages Guild" instead there is now the singular and distinctive "College of Winterhold" and court mages, found within the halls of the major cities. The court mages will sell you a variety of spells and equipment and you can usually find an enchanting alter near them, on occasion an alchemy lab as well. These mages are good for low level starting characters but their small selection of spells and equipment soon force you into the wider world to find more. Instead of relying on simple merchants like them your best bet is to head to the College of Winterhold as soon as possible.

A quick few notes on the College of Winterhold:

- It is the center of magic in Skyrim and is similar to the Arcane University from Oblivion.
- There are spell and equipment merchants as well as expert/master trainers for all magical skills.
- It is possible to buy all spells and mage related equipment in the game just from the College.
- Upon entry you get a large, free, easily accessible room with safe storage and a bed.
- The College has both an enchanting table and alchemy workshop.
- The College is regularly attacked by dragons and the mages assist you in killing them, this is an easy place and way to get dragon souls.
- The town of Winterhold can be reached through the cart at any major stables.

It is advised that you head to the College as soon as possible upon starting the game.

2. The Basics Of Basics

- Leveling

I always thought the magic system in Oblivion was far too..."dumbed down" what I mean is it was far too simple of a system. All you did was buy a spell, sit there for hours spamming it getting all your skills to 100, then go around rapidly hitting the magic button destroying everyone. In Skyrim, this system has thankfully been redone and advanced to a degree.

In Skyrim, you no longer gain any experience for simply casting the spell. Instead, almost all spells require you to cast them in combat or right before combat for you to gain experience. The only EXCEPTION that I have found so far is the Illusion spell "muffled" which makes you completely silent for the spells duration. Apart from that spell all other's require you to be in combat or just about to enter combat.

- Gameplay Changes

This time around Skyrim gives you a brand new gameplay mechanic. The ability to wield a spell in each hand, giving you the chance to combine spell effects or to "overcharge" a single spell. This gives mage's a much wider variety of play styles. From the ward/destruction user in both hands, capable of spitting out fireballs while blocking incoming ones, to the healing/conjurer able to spam summon atronachs while continuously healing.

The better change though is the ability to "overcharge" a spell. This means, assuming you have the park to do so, you can combine the same spell from both hands into one super spell. For destruction this means the spell will be bigger and hit more. For duration type spells this means the spell will last longer and be stronger in effect.

Duel casting with DESTRUCTION is really ONLY useful once you get the stagger perk. There's a few key times to use duel casting once you have it:

- When facing a single target, such as a boss or high level creature, duel casting a spell will stagger them giving you precious time.
- When fighting enemies that are very closely grouped and clustered, duel casting an AOE spell can be highly effective here.

It should be noted as well that when facing higher level mages than yourself sometimes duel casting is the only way to break their wards.

- Shouts

Shouts are a brand new thing to an Elder Scrolls game and a very useful tool indeed for mages. While it may not seem so at first, shouts can be CRITICAL and save your life if used at key moments. One's such as "Become Ethereal" will give you temporary invincibility while your mana regenerates, so long as you don't do any actions. Other's like "Ice Form" will freeze your enemies solid giving you a few seconds to recover mana, health, and sort out a battle strategy, or even just escape.


3. Burn! Freeze! Zap! The Art Of Destruction

Destruction in Skyrim has been somewhat simplified a bit from Oblivion, in a good way though that works well. Destruction is divided up between the old usual 3 element. Fire, Ice and Lightning. Each has it's own specialized branch on the perk tree that will allow you to enhance it's damage and provide useful secondary effects.

All 3 types are pretty basic in what they do. Fire will sometimes cause a lingering burn that will eat away at health, and at later levels cause the enemy to flee. Ice slows the target and at later levels can freeze a target (paralyze them). And lastly lightning just does good damage and at later levels has the chance to completely disintegrate a target and turn them to ash. All mages should be aware that all three specializations have the same damage unless perk points are put into increasing the spell damage of one. As well no one element is better than the next.

Each specialization has a mix of weak and strong AOE spells, trap spells, single target spells, multi target spells, damaging shields and so forth. By far the most useful spell types are the strong AOE, just as long as you can reduce the mana cost by enough.

In late game, once you unlock and buy the park for it, you'll be given the option to duelcast spell. When using ANY TYPE OF DESTRUCTION SPELL, you have a choice you need to make between single or duel casting.

If you're facing a bunch of singular enemies, it's better to single cast on the multiple target. When using AOE spells though like fireball or chain lightning, if the targets are close together it is advisable to duel cast as you'll most likely be able to hit and kill all of them faster. And LASTLY when facing a SINGLE target, like a boss or high level creature, duel casting your spell is a more preferable way to go as you'll be able to stagger your opponent and break off their attacks.

4. Spells And Their Usefulness

In the province of Skyrim there are many types of spells and spell effects that you will come across. Some may seem useful but in reality svck, and some may seem horribly weak and useless but could actually save your life. Here's a quick few spells that every mage should be using:

- Healing spells (Restoration) This is kind of self explanatory

- Wards (Restoration) Wards are like magical force fields which negate all incoming magical damage, just as long as the damage doesn't surpass the strength of the ward. Wards are particularly useful in fighting dragons as it allows you to entirely block the damage from dragon fire or ice attacks.

- Shields (Alteration) Shields, under the name of "something flesh" such as "Oakflesh" or "Stoneflesh" are armor enhancing shields which are critical for a mage when things get close and personal. If you put some points into the Alteration skill tree then you will come across an ability that will double or triple the effects of these armor spells so long as you're wearing no actual armor.

- Cloaks (Destruction) Elemental Cloaks will cover your body in a wave of fire, ice or lightning which will damage any enemies that come close. These are useful for quickly dispatching enemies in close quarters, but cost a lot of mana to cast so use before entering combat.

- Summoning (Conjuration) Summoning things such as Atronachs or reanimating corpses before combat can be a good way to take the focus off of yourself while you blast off a quick few attacks.

- Rune's (Conjuration) If you know you're going up against a particularly difficult opponent then a good strategy can be to place what are called "rune's" on the ground between you and your enemy. These are essentially high damaging traps which will activate as soon as an enemy steps over them.

5. To Be A Tank, Or To Run And Hide? The Art Of Playing A Magic Based Character

This is a quick point note list of things you should, and shouldn't do while playing as a magic based character in the Elder Scrolls V Skyrim.

The DO'S:

- Be a high elf upon starting the game as the +50 magicka and power "highborn" can be lifesavers
- ALWAYS be wearing proper magic robes and hoods that decrease destruction spell cost and enhance magicka % rate.
- Always take the time to cast a shield before entering combat unless you ARE SURE the fighting will be long distance.
- Enchanting is your LIFE, max your enchanting as soon as possible as the ability to add a high magicka % rate to your gloves, boots and rings will save your life.
- Usually "duelcast" a destruction spell when fighting a SINGLE target, meaning you use the same destruction spell in both hands and combine the two into one overpowered spell.
- Usually "duelcast" an AOE destruction spell when enemies are very closely grouped and clustered.
- Make every shot count. Don't just panic or spam off spells, take your time and properly aim as every shot counts.
- If you're low on mana don't just run in there, fall back or take cover and let your mana quickly come back.
- Learn to utilize dragon shouts such as "Become Ethereal" or "Ice Form" at key moments such as when your mana is low.
- Your favorites list is your best friend, but don't CLUTTER IT UP. Only have spells you use on a regular basis on your favorites list.
- ALWAYS have either a healing or shield spell mapped to one of the two instant use short cuts, and have your main destruction spell on the other.
- Make good use of spells like Detect Life so you won't ever be surprised by a fight and can prepare and cast your higher mana duration spells before entering combat.
- Use the "Hide and Seek" tactic where you hide behind cover and pop out to throw a spell and pop back in to recover mana.
- Healing spells are mainly for AFTER combat or when you're behind cover. If your health is low while in a fight USE A POTION.

The DON'TS:

- NEVER enter combat with low mana
- If you re wearing ANY ARMOR then you are not a mage and you are officially dead as shield spells like stoneflesh will be half as effective.
- Single casting on a single target is ill-advised, ESPECIALLY once you have the stagger perk, as their recovery time can buy your precious time.
- Don't ever let me catch you running into combat with a weapon in hand. You are a PURE MAGE and as such need both your hands free for casting.
- If you waste even ONE LEVEL worth of attribute points by putting them into stamina then you are quite simply screwed. You need as much mana as POSSIBLE.
- Never just run right in there, use your environment and surroundings to your advantage such as hanging oil lamps, pools of oil, cliffs and ledges and doorways.
- If you EVER hold a spell in your hand for longer than 5 seconds than you are the most god awful mage I've ever seen. Holding spells in your hand prevents any mana from recharging.
- If your inventory is ever out of healing potions then quite simply you are dead as you won't always have time to whip out a healing spell before you're killed.
- If your shout bar isn't always recharging then there's something seriously wrong with you because shouts are a key and highly useful part to being a mage.
- DON'T YOU EVER just level up one skill a whole ton and go from levels 10 to 20 or something. This is because while your OVERALL level has increased, your destruction level hasn't and fighting level 20 enemies will be a near suicidal mission, and it gets worse as you get higher.

6. Miscellaneous Notes

- Mages should always have extremely high mana, mana regeneration % and destruction spell cost reduction %.
- It's okay for mages to have low health as the idea is both to not get hit much and to use things such as wards and shields to protect yourself from damage.
- Staffs can be highly useful when combined with a ward or when your mana is low.
- The High Elf power "highborn" is extremely useful. In tough fights fire that thing off so you have a constant supply of mana. Afterwards when it is safe quickly wait 24 hours to get the power back as you never know when you might need it.
- The general goods merchant in Riverwood should be able to sell you the beginner novice robes and spells you need.
- But it is still advised you head to the College of Winterhold AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
- Enchanting and Alchemy, while hard to level sometimes, are very much key to a mages life.
- Your destruction skill should ALWAYS be your highest level.

7. A Quick Few Good Leveling Tips

- To easily and profitably level up enchanting, collect a bunch of petty and lesser soul gems, smith a bunch of iron daggers and then add damage effects to the daggers. You can make as much as 200+ gold off of a single iron dagger.
- Breaking down enchanted items and learning new enchantments is the best experience possible.
- Any % raising items you see such as "Enhances alchemy by 25%" or "Enhances created potion strength by 15%" always buy and use when skilling as these will allow you to create better and more valuable potions and items.
- If your Restoration falls behind of your other levels as can happen, go jump up and down in a blanksmith's fire and constantly heal yourself for some decently fast experience. Just be careful as it is possible to die.
- A good way to level illusion is to simply spam the spell "Muffled"
- A good way to level Alteration quickly is to get a low level enemy or npc to attack you and spam shields such as "Oakflesh" and heal yourself when your health gets low.
- Casting soul trap repeatedly on corpses apparently is a fast way to level (Note: Currently untested by myself)
- There is no REALLY good ways to level Destruction yet, at least not as far as I've found.

8. Closing Comments:

Thank you all for reading and I hope this has been helpful to a few people. I'll be adding more to this as I learn and I will be writing a full "From levels 1 - to max" as soon as I fully complete this playthrough.

Please leave any questions or comments below and I'll be happy to respond or give any new mages advice.

Also if anyone has anything to ADD please feel free to drop it down below and I'll read over it.

Thanks and,
Happy gaming!

You just listed why the game is broken. You are required to level up Enchanting just to be able to function with Destruction. On top of that, I hope you meant -%cost reduction because Magicka regen rate enchants don't even work in combat. They work, but because of the way combat regen works, they work less than simply adding even 30 more mana to your mana pool.

About the best advice given in this thread is that you should pick High Elf. Starting with five levels of extra mana is pretty significant. Even then though you're still going to have difficulties. If you lug around a companion all of the time, it won't be too terribly "difficult" and if you use Conjured pets, it will be a walk in the park. This still does not change the fact that you would still be better off doing anything else with your time for damage other than casting damage spells.

Dual casting is not cheaper, rather more expensive. The only reason to dual cast is the staggering effect that you an get at level 40 via a perk.

Staffs are far from useless. I use a Fireball staff (40 points area) plus ward quite a bit. It is a lifesaver against Dragon Lords (of course I had to kill one to get the staff in the first place). Also Staff of Magnus cripple any enemy mage.

I'm sorry, and I hope I don't come across as rude here, but I entirely disagree with those statements.

1. You are not REQUIRED to level up enchanting just to be able to function with destruction, my enchanting stayed at a very low level until about 25 until I got the money to raise it. You can still find plenty of good mana regeneration rings and general equipment from merchants and in the wider game world, I carry around a 40% ring that I found in a random chest. Enchanting is not REQUIRED, it simply HELPS.

As well mana regeneration actually works quite well in combat once you really start to stack things. As it stands mine is currently at about +350% or higher and I don't need to wait long for my mana to return in a fight, as well there's things such as enhancement potions or powers like highborn which will further increase that. If you just had a continuous supply of mana the game would be far too easy. As it stands as long as you're smart your mana regeneration rate should scale with your character.

I've also never used a companion once and I play on expert difficulty. If you build your character right and play smartly mages can be both lot's of fun and highly effective. A lot of people are used to games like Oblivion though where you have a near constant supply of mana and you can rapidly max up your destruction level easily early game so you can go around throwing fireballs with no effort.

As I tried to describe Skyrim magic takes a degree of thought, time, skill and carefulness. Things such as shouts, shield spells, duelcasting and using tactics like the "hide and seek" ones all can play an easy and huge part in keeping you alive and making the game easier.

I've found mages and magic in this game far more balanced, thought out, intelligent and generally more enjoyable to play than any previous Elder Scrolls games (although Morrowind obviously had better spell effects) but then that's just my opinion.

Good luck in your gaming.

I have a tip aswell: don't play mages untill the CK release and someone mods it so it's actually fun and balanced to play.

Basic tips for playing as a Pure Mage are as follows:

- Do not use weapons. Only spells.

- Do not use armour. Only spells.

That's simply what a Pure Mage is.

In "Oblivion" you eventually gained access to touch spells that did thousands of points of damage over a short period of time.

You touch the enemy and then run away for 10 seconds and watch them die, pick up their stuff and go sell it.

In "Skyrim" the magic system sounds to be refined and updated and people aren't yet sure of all the various ways to exploit it and be 'god-like'... a point that many people seem to regard as a fault rather than take the time to master.

You can be an "Altmer" if you need the training wheels but you ought to be able to be a successful Pure Mage whatever race you choose.

Azrael
The Nord with the Sword

So basically being a viable mage means being pigeonholed into one singular playstyle.

in an RPG
Worse, in a game that boasts: 'Be who you want, do what you want"

If that is not broken, I do not know what is.

Meanwhile, thanks for the tips.
Im going to try and incorporate shouts in my playstyle, seems like a good idea.

There is way to level conjuring very fast. Casting soul trap on dead bodies(doesnt matter even if its an animal) increases this skill very fast.

Thanks! I was unaware of that. I'll add that in right now.

No. I don't think he said this was about being a viable mage. The thread is about being a "pure" mage so you are already pigeonholed to begin with. (only using magic, no weapons, no armor)

As for the various other mage builds these tips can be useful or disregarded as fits your character. If you are a stealth mage that uses runes and a bow to sneak attack and lure them over your rune then have at it. But that is not what the OP is talking about.

There are still at least 2 schools of magic you can specialize in if you're playing a pure mage. Conjuration and Destruction, with conjuration being the only viable option.

I've been playing a pure mage Khajiit on Adept level for the last three days (marathon!) and at level 23, with Destruction at 70, I am mopping up the floor with enemies.

I don't use Enchanting. Wait. Stop. Let me repeat that: I do not use Enchanting. Ever. Not only do I *not* use Enchanting, but I don't use Smithing or Alchemy either.

I *do* use the Arch Mages robes, but I had no problem with the game *before* getting those. Prior to those, I used the Necromancer's Robes.

I have Lydia as a companion and I kitted her out in heavy armor and magic weapons. Having a warrior companion is extremely helpful, just don't accidentally blast her when she's on a knee.

I focused on Lighting and Fire and I used perks to increase the damage for those types of spells (I do +50% damage with each type, and dual-attacks stagger opponents). I use the single-word Slow Time shout, runes, and dual-wielded Fire Bolts or Lighting Bolts (those are the ones that stagger). I do not use any physical weapons.

I am a friggin force of nature.

Good stuff mostly, thanks for the info!

I do believe however that you may have either misunderstood dual casting, or at least you're not explaining why we should always use it very well. Dual casting is great when used with a spell that can stagger (if you have the impact perk), but other than that it is situational whether it is good or not since it adds +40% to the manacost for +10% extra efficiency. So in a situation when you're not gonna get the stagger and will run out of mana i would say it is better not to dual since you can then do roughly 25% more damage before you run out of magicka.

You guys know there is a difficulty slider right? If you make a character that is having a tough time you can always turn the difficulty slider down and feel stronger.

EDIT: BTW nice guide I like it and appreciate the effort you put into your post.

Fair point, I'll clean and touch up the parts on duel casting.

EDIT: Cleaned up and clarified the parts on duel casting.

Just wondering. Nothing about the other schools or spells?

I haven't gotten far in the game so I don't know how it works in later levels. But I've had some luck with things like Fury or Calm from Illusion early on. Not high enough for invisibility, but it seems like some of these other things can help a pure mage in critical times, though I know you are focused more on Destruction/Conjuration mage.

+Magicka regeneration bonuses don't work in combat no matter how high you stack it.

-Cost to spell schools or +Magicka pool are much better choices than +Magicka regeneration.

Magicka regenerates at 3% of your maximum pool per second. This is then altered by any buffs or debuffs you may have. In combat none of the alterations are taken into account and you will regenerate 3% of your maximum pool per second regardless.

This is one of the reasons that as of right now the Atronach Stone is by far the best Standing Stone on the game for a Mage.

To be honest I haven't at all even leveled my Illusion. I've always leaned more towards the combat destruction side of things, but you're very much right in that Illusion calm and frenzy spells and so forth can be extremely useful.

In Skyrim you just have to be careful to stick to a few certain skills or else you risk stretching yourself too thinly and being weak late game so I've mostly ignored illusion. But I'll be sure to try it out and see what I can throw in here on it now!

This. That's why I started with pure mage, but moved the saves to another folder and enjoying the warrior atm.
P.S. ...and it's so much stronger.

I read a thread a few days ago where it was tested and confirmed that +magicka regen buffs DO work in combat. However the base regeneration is a lot lower in combat, so even with buffs regen is very slow.

I just quoted you stating "Enchanting is your LIFE" and now you're suggesting this is not true? Make up your mind.

Runes are destruction, not conjuration.

And ironically you can only cast "a rune", so the name is a bit misleading. It's a single, very inefficient land mine that never scales.

I've just tested it and it seems they do indeed work but as you say the base regeneration is really low in combat.

Buy a better one and stop wining about the scaling