With the changes to the magic system many players complain about certain shortcomings of magic, but often it seems they just didn't know enough strategy to make full use of their magic ability. I will admit there may be a flaw here and there, but I feel most complaints come from lack of strategic knowledge. I propose that we all post up our tips for mages to help enlighten our fellow players.

I could use some tips myself btw.

One tip I have is that the ward spells from restoration can be quite useful. In a tough boss fight if you can sustain your magicka you can use a ward with one hand and an attack spell in the other. You won't deal as much damage as a two handed caster, but if you have trouble surviving the boss fight it is worth a try. Its kind of like a sword and board combo for magic users.

Be creative in choosing your Spells and Perks.
Many only going Destruction and summoning, the leave tricks like Frenzy from Ilusions, Armorspells from Alteration, Quick Heal from Restoration and that behind.
Getting good perks like Silent cast help alot. Being an Mage doesnt mean "blast only". the right combination of Spells and Perks help alot. Detect Life before enter an Room, Repel undead if there are more in one Room, conjuring an Atronarch, cast Silet movement and take an sneakpeak.

Its the possibility to always have the right spell at the right time what makes Mages strong-

Ever tought about get the Conjured Blade for close combat ?

Greetings Braddack

1 - Use conjuration as much as humanly possible. If you are in combat, have a summon out doing damage and taking blows. If it dies, pop another out.

2 - If you are going to use destruction spells, be prepared to level enchanting. As it stands now, the only practical way to use expert level + destruction spells is with enchanted armor that reduces spells costs by obscene amounts. How obscene? Try free.

3 - Ward spells work against enemy spells, but you know what works better? Not getting hit in the first place. Use those strafe keys.

4 - Illusion is the worst school of magic starting out. The minute it reaches 100 and you put that final perk in there, it becomes the most overpowered ability IN THE GAME. Maxed illusion is a long term goal. Not being able to effect undead (which make up about 1/3rd of all encounters essentially) is a very big issue.

5 - Just don't wear robes. Magicka regeneration in combat is pathetically slow. Furthermore, you can't regenerate while casting (you know, that thing you do in combat, to get you out of combat). In an interesting twist, fortify magicka effects provide more magicka regen in combat than the regen enchant. Use instead light/heavy armor with fortify skill enchants instead.

I could probably think of some more, but that should tie you over for a bit.

Okay Ilusion Spells dont affect Undead till 100... but....

against Humans and Animals Frenzy and Clam are just great, and they you meet quite often.

Also Silent cast perk affects all Spells. an Sneaky Fireball always is handy to have.

Thing outside the box. Every spell is a tool and the mage has a lot of tools.. Be creative and use tatics. Leave the chargeing head first to warriors. They seem to be proud of each scar.

My tip is to #1 Carry good life insurance, or learn to run away brave sir robin!

Why yes, against humanoids and animals it works. But the moment you step into a crypt to get another word of power, you can't use any of the crowd control illusion spells. Silent casting is useful yes, but you'll have to have leveled sneaking as well to get its full effects.

Have more than one way to fight and vary your tactics to win. Its not a straight forward hack and slash like with a fighter type character

:D

I agree that Undead can be a bit hard sometimes, but for them an good mage has Repel undead to make sure he only battle against 1 at a Time.

Altmer, only add to magicka...... maybe some in health
Do the College of Winterhold (get good items and equipment)
fill out the destruction+restoration perks (and some illusion, Fury is a fun spell)
wear mages robes+heavy gauntlets+boots
always have enchanted jewelry that fortify magicka or its regeneration rate
use a little one handed some times

1. Max out enchanting. You may have heard the horror stories of melee attacks that breach 16000 damage and free mana destruction spells, but they only serve to show that enchanting is immensely powerful. Don't be a fool and disregard a tree because it can be exploited. The benefits of enchants are irreplaceable.

2. In Conjuration, go up the Atronach side of the tree. Unless you are role-playing a necromancer, the atronach summons are far and away the better choices.

3. Impact in destruction is vital if you are going to be using fire/frost or shock damage. It's cheesy, it's cheap, but it's unavoidably powerful. As a mage, you will be more frail (even if you're like me and wear heavy armor) than your warrior cousins. Having the ability to stop a 2-handed Draugr Dreadlord in his tracks before he cleaves you a new orifice or preventing a powerful Dragon Priest from turning you into a pile of ash is vital. If you are playing on anything above Adept, you need Impact.

4. Bind your keys. If I press 1, I have Incinerate in both hands. If I press 2, I have fireball. 3 is my Conjure Fire Atronach. 4 is Fire Runes, ect. Put all your potions in your favorite menu and only bring up the favorite menu if you need a quick health/mana potion.

5. Bound Weapons, for a mage, are useless. So don't perk them. You shouldn't have one-hand/two-hand/bow perks as a pure mage and you shouldn't be getting into melee combat unless you like seeing your body fling across the screen in all of its ragdoll glory. If you need souls for your gems, get "Soul Trap," do the quest for Azura's Shrine, get the Black Star and profit. You'll be too busy spamming death and destruction on your burning, dying enemies to be running in like an Elite from Halo 2.

6. Positioning. Someone mentioned this before. 99.9% of my deaths are because I got too greedy, tried to cut off a little more than I could chew and ended up getting blasted by a mage. Abuse corners, become best friends with your A and D keys, sit in the back and let your conjuration summons take all the beatings (bless their little hearts) and jump in between enemy casts.

7. Discover the college of Winterhold. It is filled to the brim with mages that are masters in their respective fields. Need a few more points in Destruction? Fast-travel to CoW. A frost atronach summon spell? Fast-travel to CoW. Their quest chain also gives a ton of nice gear to hold you off until you can get your light/heavy set enchanted.