First time mage, advice?

Post » Fri Dec 16, 2011 10:37 pm

and does bow and bound bow work similarly? and does using bound sword increase 1h skill?
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Misty lt
 
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Post » Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:57 am

I don't know... do ability descriptions count as spoilers?
Spoiler

  • For Destruction, you NEED the Impact perk if you want to survive.
  • Alteration has some good Armor and Magic resist buffs. Also gives you Pralyze later.
  • Conjuration is a must for the pet. Later, the summoned weaponry can be good too.
  • Resto only gets used if you screw up, but it's still useful to have handy, and the mana regen perk is good.
  • Illusion can be amazing or useless, depending on how much time you dedicate to it. Invisibility, Frenzy, and Silent Casting are priceless.

Start the Mage Guild quests fairly early, but don't really dig into them until level 25. This'll make sure you don't get screwed on gear.

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Karine laverre
 
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Post » Sat Dec 17, 2011 4:55 am

Go Conjurer. That is... Conjuration, Destruction, Light Armor, and maybe Alteration into Atronach.

Your 100% spell cost gear should have one set that is 100% reduction in both Conjuration and Destruction (for infinite summons and spells).

Do NOT get fooled by the Mage Armor perk in the Alteration tree (the one that increases spellpower of shields when you aren't wearing armor). It's crap compared to just wearing armor (the difference at max levels is ~ 1400 Armor Rating!).

Keep in mind that Fire does extra burning damage, and is the strongest of any spell type. Frost does stamina damage, and can be used to help kite things very effectively. Lightning also does magicka damage, which makes it good against casters. At any rate, you will want to carry a bow...

Also, as a Conjurer, consider:

1 Follower: If you get the Azura's Star [Not the Black Star] you can get the priestess as a follower. She also can use the Conjuration school. Also, I strongly advise you create a 100% resistance set for your follower, so that s/he is immune to the type of damage you do with your spells (otherwise you won't be able to keep them around very long).
2 Thralls: Eventually, you will get 2 Thralls, or permanent elementals. It's important to remember that they are immune to their own type (ie a fire atronach is immune to fire damage). So when picking your Destruction specialty (Fire, Frost, Lightning), you have to take into consideration which Thralls you will be summoning also, so that you don't end up casting Fire Wall and incinerating your two frost thralls on a constant basis. Pick an element and stay with it (pretty sure Draemora use fire spells, and the follower uses fire atronach so you can't go wrong with fire, just make sure your follower has a resist set. You have been warned.) , and carry a good bow, preferably one with Soul Trap and a different damage type (ie. if you spec into fire, you probably want frost on your bow, and vice versa).
2 Draemora: Yep, 2 demon summons.
2 Undead (raised)... so you go find Master Necromancers, and raise them. They, like your follower above, will also be able to summon things.

Go with the Mage Stone until you get to level 81, then switch to the Ritual Stone (or Steed Stone if you don't care for the Ritual Stone). The Ritual Stone gives you an additional Raise Dead once per day (another Master Necromancer, perhaps).

So ya... Conjuration is the way to go. As for the time you are going to spend dealing with lists, it's a mage thing, not much you can do about it.
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Yvonne Gruening
 
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