Hi.

I recently started a new Mage character and have some basic questions about how certain things work. Even though I've spent 100's of hours on other characters in Skyrim, this is my first time really focusing on magecraft.

I've mostly been focusing on Destruction and Conjuration to begin with figuring those are good places for a newbie magic user to start.

Some things I'm a bit uncertain about, like:

1.) Bound Weapons - will the damage they do increase as your level of Conjuration increases? Do you need to spend perk points on things like One-handed and Archery to make these more effective? (Seems counter-intuitive to do that if you're trying for a pure mage).

2.) Staffs - will using staffs help train up whichever magic category they represent? Will a Staff of Fireballs train Destruction Magic?

3.) Spellbooks - will more advanced spellbooks appear in a shopkeeper's/court mage's inventory the more you level up magic skills? Or are higher level spellbooks only found with specific NPCs?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I adventure on with my new Mage. I would appreciate any help and advice from people that know what they're doing when it comes to magic.

Thanks!

I like playing mages, but I have to agree with the general consensus of this site that the vanilla (unmodded) magic system leaves a little to be desired. Nevertheless, my first and only playthrough on Master difficulty was with a pure mage so it is possible.

1.) Bound Weapons - will the damage they do increase as your level of Conjuration increases? Do you need to spend perk points on things like One-handed and Archery to make these more effective? (Seems counter-intuitive to do that if you're trying for a pure mage).

Your Conjuration skill doesn't directly affect the damage done by bound weapons, but the Mystic Binding perk does. You can get it relatively early, but a common complaint is that bound weapons are underpowered later in the game. Mods can fix this.

And yes, weapon skills and perks do affect Bound Weapon damage, so they are not the best choice for a "pure" mage, as you will have to level those skills somewhat.

2.) Staffs - will using staffs help train up whichever magic category they represent? Will a Staff of Fireballs train Destruction Magic?

Staves don't train skills, nor is the damage they do affected by the appropriate skill, but higher skill level does allow for a lower charge cost when you use the staff. In other words, a character with a high destruction skill will get more uses out of a fully charged Staff of Fireballs than one who has a lower skill level

3.) Spellbooks - will more advanced spellbooks appear in a shopkeeper's/court mage's inventory the more you level up magic skills? Or are higher level spellbooks only found with specific NPCs?

The Spellbooks carried by merchants are based on your level in the specific school of magic as opposed to your overall level. General vendors don't carry Expert or higher level spells, so you have to get those at the College of Winterhold. Master spells are only available through quests.

If you're using Destruction, especially without mods, the Impact perk is a must. Though it seems kind of cheap, it enables you to stun-lock many oppenents- even Dragons! - and can mean the difference between life and death.

I found in my playthrough, especially at lower levels, that I did poorly when I didn't think like a mage. Until you get enchanting up to reduce spell cost, your magicka runs out quickly, so you have to pump a lot of points into it, leaving you vulnerable.

For a squishy mage, it helps to use the terrain to block enemies, use dungeon traps and gates against them and basically avoid going toe-to-toe. Shouts were an important part of my arsenal, especially Become Ethereal and Ice Form, which can both be used to aid a hasty retreat.

I retreated a lot.

Wow thank you! This helps so much.

I wasn't even going to get the Impact perk until you said how useful it can be. As for mods - I'm playing on my Xbox360 so it's straight vanilla. Still always wanted to play through with a nearly pure Mage character.

The shout I got first and use most is 'Marked for Death' - it's nice to keep hurting the enemy when I have to run away and heal (which is a lot!)

Thanks so much Ego_Altar for the help and advice.

Is there any way to boost a Mage's defense? I'm wearing mage robes/hoods in an attempt to be 'true' to the class...

Impact is very powerful but I don't think it is very fun so I would not say it's a must. It's more of a choice. You can save two perks and go without it if you want. I've played destruction mages without impact just fine.

I always play on adept and playing a pure mage was fantastic.

To improve your defense you can get the mage armor spell. There is even a perk which makes the spell more powerful as long as you don't wear any armor.

You don't really need enchanting when playing on adept.
I played a destruction mage without any crafting. (She became a vampire lord, though.)

Invest almost everything in magicka and always get the novice/adept/etc. perk in the school you are using to reduce the magicka costs of your spells.
I hardly ever had problems with magicka.

The Bound Bow is exceptional, as it is the equivalent of a tempered daedric bow. It is still useful at higher character levels, whereas the other bound weapons tend to fall behind.

I also feel that impact is not necessary, and I suggest that it kind of forces you to dual-cast. I've found dual-casting to be rather inefficient, and often use a combination of Conjuration (a summoned "helper") in the left hand and Destruction in the right, switching the left-hand to Healing or a Ward as needed. (I use wards against casters and dragons.) You can more than double up your destructive force if you have a summoned creature working with you, and that creature will tend to draw the enemy away from you.

Don't overlook staffs. They are incredibly powerful, and they don't use up your magicka.

This is all excellent advice in this thread.

I will also note enchanting and magic reduction as the later spells do indeed have a rather high magic curve.

I find a twenty five percent reduction on all schools except destruction is sufficient but I would use seventy five percent reduction in destruction magic.

I would not have a hundred percent as that is just boring.

Another thing you can do to double up your destructive power is to summon an atronach and then dual single cast elemental damage spells that use the same element as your atronach. You won't damage your atronach if you hit them and casting two single casts is fairly efficient. You can add in some damage boosting fortify destruction potions to deal even more damage.