Just created my first mage, what school do you recommend the most? I'm mostly curious about conjuration though...

Conjuration is a very powerful school which gives you access to powerful weapons and nasty little beasties. Once you have that up high enough you will be able to summon some powerful beings.

Don't just stick to one school though, the others also have their strengths which will allow you to be more flexible in your approach to the game.

Conjuration and Enchanting mostly. [Alchemy too, though that has changed classification]

Illusion's silent casting is helpful.


With hindsight, I wouldn't use any perk that lowers spell cost, but use enchantments for that.

I think i understand how enchanting works, but whats a good way to get going/increase your skill?

Destruction should be your main tree to go for. Its most active and fun and should therefor be your main source of damage. And get the 'impact' perk asap.
Restoration is good for second, but only perks you have to focus on is the 'half mana cost' and '50% more health'.

Later on, enchanting will be your main goal for mana support, since it can make your spells cost zero mana. Bit silly yes, but thats just the way it works at the moment.

ILLUSION !!!! a well placed, silent cast frenzy spell can clear a forts courtyard on its own, has a little aoe, so it can hit multiple guys, very versatile school i must say... also calm and pacify works great on almost everyone (level 25 so far, thats my mage), great way to just run past two sabrecats charging on you, calm, calm, and run past, pacify works also on bosses,... pacify an enemy, then perma-stagger him with firebolt or fireball if you re far enough... also Aspect of Terror increases fire damage a little

buy up all the petty soul gems from vendors, craft a bunch of iron daggers, enchant , sell and repeat. :laugh:

Don't overlook Restoration. Worth putting some perks there. Nice to play at full health. My battlemage usually starts with an atronach summoning in one hand and a bound sword in the other, and switches the summoning to a fast healing before wading in to battle.

Have just started exploring Destruction with a new character. Interesting to experiment with dual casting in that build.

When I think of a Mage in TES franchise I don't think Destruction, I think of Alteration and Illusion!! If you're going to dedicated all your points into being a Mage you will absolutely be squishy, alone, and have no melee combat abilities. To counter this invest in Alteration, you get awesome armor buffs (as long as you adhere to the "no armor" requirement, ie wearing gloves and boots) as well as magic resistance. In Illusion you can break up groups of mobs by making them fight each other or cower in fear. And Conjuration is an awesome school. Atranochs are powerful allies, especially in later levels, and If you truly want to go Full Mage, then conjuring weapons is not only the coolest looking feature in the game, but is also a way to produce the most powerful Bows and One-handed weapons in the game because bound weapons receive damage bonuses from the combat skills.

Restorations has some great perks too. As for Destruction at this point in time it is super nerfed. In beginning levels you'll tear through enemies like nothing with duel-casted spells, but good luck past level 30 trying to kill a dragon with destruction spells.

My advice? Take Conjuration, Illusion, and Alteration, as well as the combat bonuses from the 1h-skill tree and archery skill tree. Invest in sneak as you wish, but I would recommend it strongly.

i agree about restoration, i took the perk that increases healing spell power giving you 50% more , so even the lowest healing spell, double-cast replenishes your health with minimal mana loss, also very fast and reliable

If you're going for a pure mage I'd take all 5 spell schools to have a worthwhile library of spells (in terms of diversity but not power). Or at least 4 if 5 is too much considering perks.

Is everyone agreed that illusion is a very valuable school? I haven't played mage at all yet (no magic perks on two playthrus) and have read numerous reports on the high effectiveness of illusion. And which illusion perks besides silent casting and illusion at higher levels?

Animage and Kindred mage definitelly, you can leave the double-cast out, most of the time spells single cast give the expected results, although there is the occasional resist of some enemies , Aspect of Terror ( i only took it because it increases fire damage a little), then Rage, and Master of the mind , so your spells work on everyone including, undead and automatons and Daedra (turn atronachs against their masters, niiiiice)

Illusion is probably the most useful tree and is a good tree for someone to learn about being a mage. You can destroy multiple enemies with a single fury spell, and if you get in trouble there is no better tree when it comes to controlling your enemies, multiple ways to stop them attacking you with illusion. Control and survivability imo are the most important aspects for a beginner to get a handle on. Once you get more experienced you should look into the more risky (but more faster paced and exciting) trees like destruction.

Btw my perspective is not one of a long time mage player, but as a newbie who is trying it for the first time in Skyrim. So you're taking advice in this topic from people who have played as mages for a long time and have lots of experience with all the trees, what they're suggesting works best for them may not work best for you.

Illusion and conjuration are the two best schools in this game. You will need probably a combination of restoration, alteration, or destruction to succeed. Or choose them all.

For pure mage, I would say take all five schools. My mage also has enchanting and sneak, and that is all (apart from speech of course, which you can't avoid increasing).

For enchanting, soul gems are worth buying as you make back the money from the stuff you create. Otherwise look for Dwemer ruins, as they have a lot of gems. When you have a good stock, sweep through a draugr ruin or go hunting mudcrabs. A summoned creature gives you the time you need to hit with the soul trap on tougher enemies. Pick up a bunch of random equipment to enchant while you are at it. If you can find it, the "Banish" effect is quite profitable on iron daggers or such. Then come back home and enchant about 20 things at once. If you enchant jewelry and clothing, you can sell it to mages in return for fresh gems.

I also don't double cast anything. I have the most perks in illusion and alteration. I keep mage armor up all the time and sneak around. When I see an enemy, I cast a summon near him, and then use runes and walls from a distance. If I get aggro on me I use the "escape button" shout and then pacify or just run away and go invisible. I only have 100 health at level 40 so I can't afford to be hit much (all points in magicka). My magicka regen is high, probably over 200%.

I forgot to add enchanting is pretty much essential for magic reduction as the upper tier spells cost an astonishing number of magic points.

hehe, enchanting is necessary for ALL characters

get to whiterun, then take the carriage to winterhold and go to the mages college right off the bat, you get a free room to store your stuff, and start doing the college quests, after the first part of the quest, which isn't too hard, you can recruit one of the mages to be a follower, i use brelyn, she is easy to recruit, just help her with her spells and a few minutes later she'll tag along with you, she's a conjurer and so she's good to have as a follower, so she'll provide some support, also use a lower difficulty setting, since magic is a bit weak later on and magic costs are high and magic regeneration is slow, so i drop the difficulty down, so thats a good way to start as a mage the first time.

Conjure bound blade, you'll be needing it anyway when the destruction spells fail to do the job... which means most of the time.

Avoid destruction unless you enjoy long battles spamming one spell and stunlocking your enemy.

^This. Pop out a bound blade over and over in easy combat and you will fill up your conjuration skill asap. Do the same for alteration spells like stoneskin.


I have a pure mage, but I have invested in the 1h tree for damage simply because the destruction school is underpowered. Casting a bound blade with its perk upgrades and some 1h tree skills makes mince meat of enemies faster and easier than destruction can. Chuck out an undead/atronach/daedre while your at it for best results. If it gets hairy, use paralysis or mass paralysis for alteration to make it easier, or use fury/fear from illusion.

As a mage, you are most effective utilizing all of the schools. I prefer Destruction and Conjuration together. Restoration is sort of a "when I need to" school.

Does 1h skill/perks pertain to conjuration?

When you use a bound sword, yes.