I, for one, hope that this is not "fixed," but the numbers merely corrected to reflect the actual values.

Really? I don't, it would such to have one spell to use for the rest of the game, especially one that roots you and takes several seconds to cast.
Its bad enough rolfstomping the game as a conjurer.

Really need some of the gimped diversity added back to magic in TES.

I am not sure it can be fixed in that way. One thing you should note is that Blizzard appears to do damage to oneself and this damage is actually what determines the strength of the Blizzard. For example, after 10 seconds using Blizzard my health drops by a little (say 10-15 health). The only way I could see Apprentice stone affecting damage output is if the damage dealt is based on damage done to yourself. I even tested this last night using potions which lower Magicka resist and Frost resist to MYSELF and Blizzard damage to enemies increased by that amount.

This also means that Frost resist on your character should lower the damage done by Blizzard, so if you are someone rolling along with Magicka and Frost resists (Bretons, Lord Stone, etc.) your Blizzard will be terrible.

Put another way, I ran a few numbers (theory until I can actually do the test later) and the maximum possible damage one can achieve in this method is around 79,000 AOE. I'll be verifying this probably today and then making a new post to show the min/maxers that actually the Mage is capable of dishing the most damage possible. Obviously when you reach these damage levels nothing can survive for more than maybe even 1 second but I'll give something around 100,000 health to test.

Anyone else think this might explain how I randomly get oneshotted by blizzard spells from mobs... Does this apply to any other frost based spell?

This is where illusion comes in, use invisibility and sneak up to your enemies, charge the spell (still invisible), and then unleash it.

That's pretty much how my character operates. Sneak up, unleash Blizzard, use Ethereal shout, immediately charge up firestorm and unleash. Kaboom. Don't even require maxed enchanting gear to make it all work well.

Are you really complaining that the game is hard when you set it to it's highest difficulty?

Just lean back from your monitor and think about it to yourself for a moment, bro.

I think he's complaining that master spells do considerably lower DPM than expert ones and get you killed on Master due to long cast times, and are nothing but novelty gimmicks that go un-used.

You don't see an issue with this?

You clearly have no idea about the master spells if you think this, use them, test them out. You will then realise that they are very effective if you know how to use them, which you don't now.
Did you even read the OP!?

Ive used them several times, since I got my mage to 30 3weeks ago. I go back to expert spells because they kill way faster and don't get me killed.


What level are you and what difficulty? They barely dent mobs on master, in which case the cast times are suicide anyways.


Please enlighten me on how to use these spells. less dpm and dps than expert ones, and root you, and long cast times. Bethesda Defence Force much?






Its a bug.

I'm level 71 now, on master difficulty.

I'll give you an example of how I might use blizzard, invisibility sneak to all the enemies, then unleash blizzard. You could do it with become ethereal also, you could also use the heavy armor perk which helps against stagger (the main problem of master spells IMO is being hit when charging up) I don't use heavy armor though. You can also use the environment around you to dodge attacks and get some distance to cast the spell.

Alteration master spell is fantastic, 99 seconds of 80% damage resistance (with dual cast perk and duration perk). I usually get the fight done in 99 seconds.

I do agree there are some problems with the master spells, but its not damage/effect, its the charge time and it stops if you stagger.

I don't know what you're doing but at 52 blizzard is barely denting mobs, and If I used that same long cast time and sneakyness to just rush in and cast a few dual-cast Thunderbolts instead I could do insane amounts of more damage.

Do you have apprentice stone?

I guess I could substantially lower my dps and risk my life....cause thats what Master spells are for right?

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1315744-mage-has-the-highest-damage-potential/ This is the extreme, which is ridiculous tbh. But it can do a [censored] load of damage, without doing crap like using weakness to magic poisons.

I do see your point though, its more risky, I think maybe if they just let you dual cast it like normal spells, so you couldn't be staggered as you would cast it quick, but you had a small recharge time after.

Thats a glitch.


Anyways, the spells should be made more than pretty gimmicks. Back to playing Destro the most efficient way of spamming 1 spell (expert bolt) with our only enchant choice of -destro cost.

More of an exploit than a glitch, do you not read my comments ha? I said that is the extreme and you don't need to do all that weakness to magic crap and the stone etc. But you can still do a lot of damage with spells like blizzard.

What about the shock master spell, that does like 75 (112/113 with the +damage perk) a second! That thing destroys elder dragons for me. The shock master spell is the best master spell IMO.

dual cast thunderbolt is like what, 200 damage per second? and can do while moving.

Good point, but it won't do as much damage over time as the shock master spell. You can use these spells from a decent range, so you don't need to move.

Edit: its situational really, sometimes thunderbolt would be better (e.g. against bandits), but against a dragon the shock master spell is better IMO.

This. My god its an entrenched argument nobody is changing anybody's mind.

God created everything! No! The Big Bang did! No! My left testicle did!

I still think OP [censored] up his game somehow.