So I was wondering if having infinite magicka (like 25% destruction less to cast on every piece of armor so that it would make 100%) is actually an exploit or is it something that you were supposed to do?

That just means it costs 100% less to cast, so basically that means it costs half magic. So if it normally costs 50 magic, with those perks/armour, it would cost 25.

Hope that makes sense.

That's completely wrong.

It's perfectly normal. Not an exploit. Doesn't even require potions.

LoL... ummm no.

100% of 50 is 100.

...if it costs 50 and you are wearing 1 piece of %25 reduced it would then cost 37.5
...if it costs 50 and you are wearing 2 pieces of %25 reduced it would then cost 25
...etc.

I wonder if you are wearing 5 pieces if you get refunded your infinite magicka every time you cast a spell?

You can't wear 5 pieces. Only 4 slots accept it. But with potions you can raise enchanting a bit more and do more than 25% on those 4.

I do not know precisely what happens there.

Spells do indeed become free, it's an exploit but as far as exploits go it really doesn't matter considering that the same skills that get you -100% spell cost will get +125% damage in one-handed, two-handed or archery which is way more broken. So you get free spells, you still hit for less then 200 damage with your master destruction spells (which also take about 3 seconds to cast), power attacks from melee weapons at this point already hit for over 500 damage... yeah... you don't even want to know what a thief with a dagger and shadow warrior can hit for... it'd make mages cry.

EDIT: Complete maths fail



100% of 50 is 50, with your mathematics the player would recover 50 magicka for casting spells.

I think you can just do it with 25% on 4 pieces of armor.
Check out this video he shows it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI5r7armlOE

Okay, never mind my post, I was wrong, my bad for not getting my facts right.

yep.. us mages do cry, though ive been using this, as long as i get elbonyflesh on i can kill most things without a lot of trouble, i just wish the master level spells did more damage OR the didnt take so long to charge, i love blizard, it just needs to be stronger

edit: im level 49 btw,so im NOT some level 20-30ish who hasn't had scaling kick in

lol oops! I forgot the %... 100% of 50 is 100%

Why would that be an exploit? You made the suit get that much power on your own, if you didn't cheat to get that far then no big deal you deserve the prize.

People say it's an exploit because they feel entitleted to tell others how to play their game, instead of letting then do what they see fit to have fun.

Learn your math buddy

100% of 50 is 50...

One thing to note is that even without enchanting, you can find generic magic items giving 75% reduction.

Haven't looked into it for spell enchants but the falmer helmet can be worn over a circlet, so if the cost reduction can go on helms (I think it can) you can wear 5 pieces.

I would not call it an exploit or a cheat, just a game-breaker...

I mean, you can be a sword and board warrior with 15 in desctruction skill and by putting those aforementioned items on, you will be able to continually cast master level spells without any hindrance. This being just one example of an over-powered enchant, smith or alchemically enhanced piece of gear.

I just ignore those skills like I do the console, with the ease of which either could be used to make my character an unstoppable god. The game became much more interesting when I began to use gear already in existence, rather than those that needed to be created.

What it is, is a basic oversight of game-balance by developers, it is one of the areas they usually just skim in Elder Scrolls games, Oblivion and Morrowind had their own major balance issues. All of them are massive games, some oversights were inevitable and understandable, though I will say the ones in Skyrim irked me a bit more at first. The good note here is, it is nothing that cannot be fixed with mods... once the creation kit gets out.

In theory, sure, but in practice you can't actually get master level spells with 15 in Destruction. In fact I don't think you can get Adept level ones.

I would consider it an option. We pretty much need it for our pure mages seeing that magic regeneration is pathetically slow in battle, and the more powerful spells drain all your magic with one or two spells.

Well, that is a good point... It still however makes the magic half off skill perks pointless for whichever school(s) you choose to make -100%, as -100% is 0 no matter if the initial cost is 1000 or 500.



You can still get quite a lot of good fortify magic skill gear in the game to make up for poor magic regeneration, my mage has -85% destruction magic right now without any of it being player-created gear.

You should note, that despite popular conception magicka regeneration on items does in-fact work in-combat. The base is just brought now enough by combat that the item has much less to multiply so the effect is less noticeable.

Also, magicka regeneration increases the more total magicka you have.

Which indicates bad planning on the users' part. Anyone who builds up a mana pool so that they can use magic for the part of the game prior to getting 100 enchanting can easily go for 75% and use that extra enchant to reduce another school or increase resists.

If you have the perks and stats, don't go out of your way to invalidate them when you have other options available.

Yes but it still slows down in combat. I have yet to find or make any good magic regeneration items. So I cannot say anything reguarding the items. But magic regeneration does slow down in battle a lot in battle. Also the spell cost at higher level spells is ridiculous. My point its not good to count on enchanting for mages to be useful. It's either that or drank twenty or more potions per each battle. I do not mind drinking the options to replenish my magic reserve but the higher level spells cost to much, and sometimes in battle you run out of potions then as a mage your screwed unless you jump to a place they cannot reach you.

-75% Restoration Magic and a different enchant on an item versus -100% Restoration (free heals, free wards) and extra perks (no apprentice/adept/master restoration need apply). Endless heals and wards trump any extra enchant you can put on an item.

You need to build up a mana pool anyway, if you plan on using more than the two schools you chose to be at -100%.



I currently do not have mana issues on my mage but granted he is only level 41. At this point I rarely need potions and do not use a companion. Then again, I have the Highborn ability which I do need to use in boss battles.

But then you won't be able to use those restoration spells very well before you reach 100 enchanting.

Well the higher level spells cost hundreds of points. So that would almost force you to wear some reduction items. I am a Dunmer, so I do jot have the highborn racial trait. I never use companions either: but wouldn't you agree that the magic cost for spells is extremely high. It's a shame that at higher levels we have to basically use magic reduction enchants for magic to be remotely useful.

It is a bad rule of thumb to choose a path just because it starts out easier, you need to take the whole road into account.

But that is the issue here, it is indeed a gameplay oversight by the developers, that to be the best end-game Restoration user, for example, you need not get the apprentice/adept/expert/master level perks.

EDIT:



He does wear reduction items, none of them player-created, he makes use of the spell perks that reduce cost and the most used/useful schools are the chosen reduced enchantments. They do seem high, but I would say their main issue is probably that damage/effect on spells does not scale with skill level where as melee skills do for weapons. That and dual-casting does not meet up evenly with it's damage/effect increase (2.2)/spell cost (2.8). Then again the impact perk can stun-lock enemies indefinitely, so I cannot complain.