I've read so much about how great Illusion is, and I've tried to use it a couple of times, but with the exception of Muffle, I never really found it very useful at all. It seems to me that the spells you can get early in the game quickly loses their usefulness due to the enemies getting too powerful for them, and the enemies that are affected are so easy to defeat anyway. Why cast Calm on a wolf? (Unless you RP someone who really doesn't want to kill animals.)

Either it's not my cup of tea, or I'm doing something wrong. And now I have this idea for a bard character, and it seems very logical for him to use Illusion - if only I could get it to work. (He will also use one-handed and some type of ranged combat, maybe destruction, but staves rather than spells. He won't join the College of Winterhold, so I won't be able to buy any expert or master spells - my plan for him is pretty much only to do the Bard's College quests and Dawnguard, and then get him a house, a wife, a couple of kids and retire him.)

So, Illusion mages out there - any advice? How do you make Illusion viable? (Especially on early levels.) What perks do you recommend? What strategy?

Its good for sneaky characters, that's all i can say really.

I tend to use muffle in Invis a lot, but fury is quite useful for sneak past enemy's undetected.

I haven't much experience with the other spells, just those three.

It is rather amusing to attack Thalmor patrols in broad daylight with Ice Spears and Invisibility.

Strategy for Illusion on early levels... Use it.

Fear or Calm to control a fight, instead of having it controlling you. Frenzy seems to be working best, if you stay hidden -but I could be wrong.

Invisibility, Muffle and Clairvoyance, are what they are: utility spells. Not much to say about them.

The whole right side and middle of the Illusion tree are what makes the School work so well. Spells like Fury, Invisibility, and Calm are the mainstays and will serve you well throughout your Mage's career.

When it seems that your enemies are getting too potent for your illusion spells, dual cast. Dual Casting gives you a bit more powerful version of the spell (i.e. Fury affecting even higher levels of enemies as well as lasting longer), and I can't stress enough how important it is to not neglect the Right & Middle sides of the Illusion Skill tree.

At level 50 you can get Quiet Casting which will grease any spell from any school that you might want to cast from concealment. Animage, Aspect of Terror, Master of the Mind, etc., there are so many useful Perks that when taken full advantage of, will make any dungeon romp into a walk in the park. I've gone into a barrow and entered a room with five Draugr Deathlords, and after some liberal use of the Illusion school, I only had to mop up the last one.

Illusion is a great school, and it's definitely worth further exploration, OP. The more you commit to using it, the more you'll fall in love with it.

Sneak as though your life depends upon it because, well, it does.

At early levels, Fury works on most enemies you'll encounter. It keeps me going until level 5/10. You'll be wanting to dual cast it as you get more powerful. IIRC, fully perked you can use Fury on all but the very highest level enemies.

Illusion needs to be levelled quickly to stay useful though, so use it as often as you can. Hunting using Fury is a good way, if a little odd.

Fear is pretty useless IMO, Calm does the same job and your enemies dont run away.

Other than that, I'd advise you invest heavily in the perk tree and have fun.

The Muffle spell and Quiet Casting perk Help out quite a bit in the sneaking department, and the Muffle spell is great for your overall Illusion Skill level.

The Fury/Frenzy type spells are amazing. If you fully perk out the middle and right side of the tree to get to Master of the Mind (Ill. 90 req.), then dual-cast Frenzy, it will affect anything in the game. I use it frequently because it humors me to seesee my enemies flip out and do my work for me.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about leveling it quickly. Just using it in a normal context will gain you levels pretty damn quickly, so I'd say just use it and let the only worry be whether or not you have the most current spells available. Check in with Dreyvas Neloren at the college of Winterhold often to make sure you have the most effective version of the spell possible.

I don't really use the Fear effect spells much either. I've only experimented a few times with them and to be quite honest, I've found that the Fury/Calm effect spells generally lead to better overall results. I've only found Fear effects really useful when I get surprised and need a bit of breathing room, or if I want to get an enemy out of a room so that I can set up a trap for when the inevitably return to their origin area. Other than that, I can't really say much about Fear.

But I agree. Invest in the Illusion tree as you are able, because the effects are both efficient as well as fun to watch.

Unless you are playing a stealth character, the Illusion tree is an all-or-nothing school of magic. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim_talk:Illusion/Archive_1#.22Higher_Level_Opponents.22and scroll down some for a great chart on leveled opponents.

My Illusion mages almost always couple the experience with Conjuration, my first character was built around this and she retired as a DiD character without ever falling in battle. Ill / Conj is arguable the most powerful force in the game.

I will wholeheartedly agree with this. If you stay true to this combo, there should never be a time when you fall in battle.

Fear is useful if you want to attack an enemy without them attacking you back (such as those high level bandits wielding warhammers). If you calm them, then they will attack you the moment you attack them again. The annoying thing about fear though is they run away so you have to be quick. Though after running for a bit they will try to find some place to cower and hide and that is when you attack. Fury can be used from a non-stealth position as long as the group of enemies are close to each other and still a distance away from you. This works because fury will make an enemy attack the first thing they see.

So, basically - take perks ASAP. (My usual way to deal with perks is pretty much if I notice that I use a skill, then I take perks in it. With Illusion it's sort of the other way around, then, I have to take perks first, to make it useful?)

When it comes to Frenzy/Fury, WHEN do you use it? Often in dungeons, you come across enemies one by one. Or, to get close enough for the spell to work, you're spotted and attacked anyway... (I also must keep in mind to tell my followers to "stick close to me and avoid combat" I guess, a UFO command I rarely use, but I guess it's useful in that kind of situations.)

I think a gripe I have with such spells is that if one or several enemies turn out to be too powerful for the spell, then I've just spent a lot of magicka, maybe even all my magicka if we're talking early levels, and am defenseless. Well, I guess that's why I was thinking of not making this character a pure mage, but have a back-up sword... He will probably use light armor as well.

(I've done mages before, but they've been focused on Destruction/Conjuration - a combination that seems so much easier to use!)

I like Frenzy and fear more than Calm. I tend to use calm when I really just don't want to kill the person or creature. Courage spells are actually pretty dang useful too if you use followers.

Up to level 5 I find you dont need perks. After that, you seriously need to focus on Illusion perks.

You are quite right. If your spell doesnt affect the enemy, you're often screwed since they start looking for you right away if it didnt blow your cover to begin with. Best thing in this situation? Run away screaming.

As for tactics dealing with strung out enemies, use Fear. They'll hopefully flee right into their comrades, at which point you should make liberal use of Frenzy.

I guess that's when you pat Marcurio or Jenassa on the shoulder and tell them to go have fun.

Ah, smart!

With my Mages, I mix in the Sneak skill quite a bit. Sneak doesn't just dictate over sound, but also over how well you're hidden in low/poor lighting. Utilizing the Sneak Skill also helps to regulate how often you're draining your Magicka pool in order to remain hidden so you're not casting Invisibility and Muffle quite so often.

Enchanting some gear with (even low level) cost reduction enchantments will help you out greatly, and will extend your usefulness in a battle. Also, a follower with decent Sneaking skills might be prudent.

As far as running into enemies goes, just go "low-and-slow". Take your time, check corners, use Detect Life or Detect Undead if your Alteration skill is doing fairly well. Make sure you have the Illusion Dual Casting Perk as it will help make sure that your Frenzy spells actually affect your enemies. Like I said earlier, Animage, Kindred Casting, Silent Casting, Aspect of Terror, Master of the Mind, etc. will help to make sure that your Illusion spells are always as effective as they can be.

Once your enemies are whittling their own numbers down, drop a Frost Atronach on them or raise up one of the fallen enemies via Conjuration to carry the fight on for you.

Smart planning and careful strategy will win the day more often than not.

Some good advice. I guess I'll just have to make up my mind and focus on Illusion - if I still don't get it to work, then I guess it really isn't my cup of tea, after all.

Want to commit a crime unnoticed? Hide somewhere and cast frenzy on a target. Watch as the guards rip them apart.

I must confess, the only followers I've used are the summoned kind. But it works in a similar way. You are quite right though, having a follower with you just in case is a sound idea. I think I'll try it on my next character.

I wouldn't say that but it comes in very handy, and it's the only use I have for Fear other than wolves etc.

Illusion favours a very slow playstyle. You need to fight battles on your own terms, otherwise you will lose. That's why I enjoy it so much. I adore slinking through the shadows, messing with bandits.
A personal favourite is clearing a dungeon backwards. That is to say, starting with the boss and working your way back to the entrance. Obviously it doesn't show in-game, but I like to imagine what the guy guarding the entrance must think (I tend to leave them alive).

I hope you enjoy your character