Actually that would be:
1 hand spell for 10 damage 10 mana
2 hands for 20 damage and 20 mana
dualcast for ~25.8 damage and 28 mana

I just tested it with a Frost Spike I think it's called. The second frost one anyway.

I have the 25 percent damage increase if anyone is wondering why my numbers might be different. I have no clue if the person has frost resist or not but I don't think it would really matter in this case because we aren't comparing frost to another spell.

1 hand - 19 magicka 28.12 damage
2 hands - 39 magicka 56.25 damage (surprise surprise I know)
Dual - 55 magicka 61.87 damage

Is all that extra magicka worth that little damage?

I did each spell a few times to make sure the NPC didn't regen back any health.

Enchanting is also broken. If that would be working as intended than Skyrim has the worst game balance i've ever seen. Also you're punished for putting perks in the magicka cost perks, they become useless with that hint.

How did you get such exact numbers from a test? (They don't match mine btw)

Using the console


Click on the npc

Getav health

Is it worth two perks to chain stun every enemy on the game to death? Err.. yes.

About Shaun773s tests..

Solo cast did 1.48 damage per magicka
Two casts did 1.44 damage per magicka
Dual cast did 1.12 damage per magicka


So basically double casting makes your spells worse for DPS output and damage per magicka but gives you the option to stagger enemies. Even with the dual cast perk you can still single cast in each hand. This may change with perks and as Destruction skill increases though.


I agree with whoever said Skyrim has terrible game balance because it really does.

Destruction isn't the only magic school with that perk. What about Restoration for example? I think it's the same. So, even with the impact perk, the dual casting perks are broken. A perk should never be an disadvantage.

Another thing about magicka and dual casting.

Lets take the basic Flames spell as an example.

You can do more damage doing alternating bursts from each hand rather than a continuous stream from either hand. And it uses far less magicka in the process.

It's like, that first fraction of a second in which the spell hits the target, does the full DPS of the spell even if the spell hit for less than 1 second.. But if you hold the spell as a continuous stream, the rest of the damage after the first intial hit, is then "properly divided" into it's proper DPS.

Yea I agree. Double Casting should be changed so that it costs the same as two single casts but with the increased magnitude.

noone said you have to put perks in the novice-master perks - its your choice, Why would you bother with those perks if you can just disenchant the first robe you get and enchant it on your gear, Yeah it wont be that good in the beggining but 3x item can be enchanted with at least half the base value of the class enchant and you still can use your robe.

A robe with 17% destruction and 100% mana regen can be easily accesed in the beggining and the starter robe can be dis-enchanted to get the class enchant for 3x of your gear. If you get 5-10% destruct out of it your mana cost for that spell tree will go down quite a lot.

Ppl forgeting the basic level enchanting on 20 can still produce good enchants and you dont need to power level it. Hell you could use the saved 25 perks ( 5lv x 5 tree ) and just get enchanting 1 perk to lvl 2 right of the bat

I wonder what's the advantage of Dual Casting Spells of schools other than illusion? What's the advantage of giving spells a longer duration?

Paralysis:

Normal:
Cost: 130
Duration: 15 Seconds

Dual Casting (Perk):
Cost: 363
Duration: 30 Seconds

Refreshing the effect after the 15 seconds duration without the perk:
Cost: 260
Duration: 30 Seconds

I hope you can see what i mean.

No official answer yet. Dunno this will be fixes and we'll ever get a respond from bethesda.
Let's wait for a mod. At the moment dual casting is pretty useless.

Nice research.

All I can say, holy fail.

Let's face it, the Impact perk should be included in the Destruction Dual Casting one. Having them as two separate perks makes no sense, especially when Dual Casting has such awful magicka efficiency. It should be like this (placeholder numbers):

Single cast spell: 10 damage, 10 magicka
Two separate casts: 20 damage, 20 magicka
Dual cast spell: 30 damage, 20 magicka

The perk should be a benefit, not a burden. Oh well, just another daft inadequacy of the Destruction skill :whistling: I really hope Bethesda look at this in the patch. I have low expectations, but I can hope.

Just to clarify though, Skyrim is still one of my favourite ever games. I think it's utterly fantastic, I just think Destruction has been http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWnSL0aMkYw, which is a bit of a sour note in an otherwise unrivalled experience.

I think destruction has something wrong too.
But for the record, I am pretty sure it won't ever be fixed. It's nothing technical bug related. But I'd like to interview someone and ask what was in their mind.

ewwww :ahhh:

I just play a warrior now, taking mass of damage with heavy armor and dealing damage at no cost. That's really fun. No Potions needed (difficulty: adept), no "kiting" (to avoid hits while magicka regenerates) needed, no Perks with more disadvantages than advantages. :cookie:
If that isn't fixed with the Patch, I will fix it with the CK - once it is released.

In addition, not only the mage's perks are broken. The magicka regeneration also is an issue. At the beginning of the game, you don't have enough magicka to play as a full mage, and in the end you don't really have to care about it.