So I just started a new mage (armorless) that is mainly doing destruction, and of course I went straight to the Mage's college. I go to do the Saarthal quest...

I get to the room with the Draugr Death Lord (I remember this being hard on all my playthroughs)...

As I am level 4-5 at the time, using an apprentice level magic spell will completely drain my mana, so I start dual blasting him with frostbite...

And his health literally looks like it is not depleting I am blasting with all my might, and he just seems unaffected. I jump and run to dodge his power attack from his 2h sword, and run across the room wondering what to do. Luckily, Marcurio caught up right then and started blasting him, taking chunks out of his health each hit.

I then realized Marcurio is a far superior mage than I.

Is doing a mage always so difficult in low levels?

If that's the leveled Draugr in the final room, he needs to be hit with magic from Tolfdir 1st. I do agree that Followers are better mages at lower levels with Destruction. I would argue that Conjuration is much better with the player character at lower levels especially Bound Bow.

Not the boss. The one at the room with 2 stairs. Right before you meet back up with Tolfdir

Draugr are very resistant to frost damage. Especially a high level Draugr with high health. And you're using a weak spell.

And yes, mages are weak in the beginning IMO.

I would invest in other schools like Alteration and Conjuration.

1) You used Frostbite on an enemy with 50% frost resistance. Draugr however, being undead, are weak to fire. Use that instead.

2) Dual casting your spells at low levels, means you're going to run out of magicka -and magicka potions- really fast.

3) Fire spells come with a damage over time effect. If you use Flames, use them in short bursts. Learn to use your character's left and right hand, in succession.

I am going to sit back and observe your topic, because I can totally relate. My low-level mage character died. every. time. I never had that much trouble in Oblivion but maybe I was used to the magic system. I don't seem to have any luck with Skyrim's magic and I really want to play as a mage. Thanks for making this topic.
Also welcome to the forum!

If it's any consolation, I die tons on my mage (playing Master). I'm up to frost atro in conjuration now and he can really soak up some dmg, so that's starting to help (also I just discovered that I can channel a ward and still cast a conjure spell through it, which is pretty hand...yea I know, is newb).

Since this is starting to feel like a bit of a mage help thread, I'll ask my question here: do any of you guys dual-cast destruction spells (other than for the Impact stun)? Is it ever mana efficient to do so?

Myst, having my mages going for the College questline, straight after Helgen, I did have difficulties with the particular encounter in Saarthal, but nothing I couldn't manage in the end -this, on adept difficulty. For my master playthrough, I went the alchemy way for spell damage, magicka regen, magicka and ofcourse, health.

Funny thing is that I never had to go in alone -took me 2100+ hours in the game to try getting a follower inside and realize they have always been allowed to follow the player into Saarthal

This. I think one of the more difficult parts is the mana regeneration. Its horrendous at early levels given your meagre pool, and magicka regeneration is even reduced in combat, which imo is plain ridiculous. Your robes wont really give that much regeneration, because you barely have much to start with.

I had a horrible time as an unmodded mage at the start, using destruction without enchanting and such. Things should get easier with conjuration though.

I just try to prep as much as possible before an encounter. Pop appropriate potions for resistance or to boost my magicka, apply a poison to my bow, sneak, hit the enemy with one good sneak attack, then lay my runes, conjure my atro, get ready with my ward and healing spells. I know you won't have runes at that current level, but just in general being prepped when you know the tough enemies are coming can help greatly!

I wasn't aware Draugr were resistant to frost. Between vampires, draugr, and nords all being resistant to frost, is there any real use for it?

When I used the weak spell I had plenty of mana. It was the higher level spells like ice spike that drained me after 1-2 uses.

I'm all about changing spells for each enemy type, but I do prefer to "specialize" in 1 destruction type. Fire is too cliche... Frost seemed best because of the stamina damage, but SO many are resistant to it. I may go with lightning.

And now I have a (stolen from arch mage's quarters) staff of summon Frost Atronach. I used him ALOT when I recently destroyed the dark brotherhood (and used ice to fight their stamina+ not hurt the atronach). Now I gave it to Marcurio.

But really, what use is frost?

This pretty much nails it. Don't expect mages to be OP right out of the box: they can get that way, but it takes time to level them up to it. And of course Marcurio is a better mage than you at this point: he's got better perks and spells and right now, you've got jack. Once you learn some more spells and invest some more perks, you'll get better, too. Just take the above advice and choose your spells more wisely and you'll get through it.

If it's any consolation, I think that guy's the toughest one in the dungeon since you're alone and pretty much naked for that fight. The final guy's much easier, especially if you know the trick to defeating him (which I won't say since this isn't the Spoilers thread).

Frost is pretty useful against melee-wielding enemies, especially: slows 'em down to a crawl. It's even good for enemy mages: keeps 'em from hopping around flinging spells at you quite so fast. But yes, a lot of enemies are resistant to it, so it'd probably be pretty wise to sub-specialize in shock spells, as very few enemies resist those.

(Sorry for the double post!)

First off... Don't blast Draugr with frost. They have 50% resist to it They were Nords in life, and they still retain their resilience to frost. And they're undead, a class typically resilient to frost anyway. Fire is your best bet against Draugr as they have no resistance (and also no particular weakness unlike some erroneous claims) and it's the cheapest to cast. Shock doesn't have any resist either, but it's more expensive to cast. It may be useful against the draugr that cast magic though, since Shock drains magicka.

Secondly... Unlike the other kill skills, Destruction is lackluster without crafting skills to prop it up. Unlike the other kill skills, which are merely complemented by the crafting skills, Destruction is reliant on them to be effective to begin with. You'll need enchants to reduce the increasingly exorbitant mana/damage ratios as you get newer, supposedly "more powerful" spells, and you'll need potions to shore up the lacking damage later on. And do NOT dual-cast destruction unless you absolutely need every last bit of DPS, as dual casting exacerbates the already exorbitant mana/damage ratios (2.2x damage, 2.8x cost). Just bombard with double-barrel blasts.

Start getting into conjuration, it's the best school for the pure mage imo. Send in an antronach to distract your enemy, while it's doing that you have a chance to recharge your magica and zap the enemy with a few destruction spells. I think conjuration is essential for a pure mage play style especially in the early levels.

Atronachs are the most powerful to cast, and to give the enemy most difficulty. The early levels of play with a mage, my opinion is that it would be best to have a secondary attack option to use until you can change to being more focussed entirely on being a mage. It's customary to have a dagger anyway, but a bow would be a perfect option for a first few levels, as a fallback option. You would be a bit of a battle-mage, in that respect. And like said, Alchemy can be extremely helpful, and when combined with Enchanting spells can be cast at no cost to magicka, without pause.

I vetted a pure-mage build strategy through the forums a while back though I haven't tried it yet. You may find some good tips here as far as perks, quests, and attributes:

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1471350-suggestions-for-pure-mage-build-and-play-through/

I literally have no fallback option like a dagger. I had gloves of the pugilist, but they looked too ugly when spellcasting.

Marcurio has the blade of woe as a fallback though.

And please guys, I already said I didn't know Draugr resisted frost

And there isn't an information bubble telling you that they are resisting frost that I'm aware of.

dood, drawger resist frost dmg wut were u thinken?

In all seriousness, be ready with the potions that will enhance your skills and heal you, conjure your thralls, and try to evade. One thing that has really helped me is that I stumbled across Ice Form as my second shout, which buys me a good 5-15 seconds to recover in the heat of battle if I need it. Can't remember quite where it was but a quick Wiki search can reveal it for you.

These are helpful hints. I want to focus on restoration but the spells seem pretty weak until higher levels. So if I have lightning and restoration ( for turn undead & use on a follower) what else should I specialize in?
Also do regular healing spells damage the undead?