I'm planning on playing a Conjuration mage in my next playthrough. I never played a sole conjuration as a character. You think its possible to play the game by using Conjuration magic only? What advise can you give a noob like me.

Bound Bow or Bound Sword should be your primary offence, so that'd be easy. I think it's possible.

I don't think its possible. At some point, you'll have to invest in Restoration or even Alteration.

I don't think bound bow and sword can be used from the very beginning of the game. In my current playthrough I'm at level 36 and i still can't cast the bound bow. I will need to level up my magica untill 177, because the bound bow i found is at the Adept level. Or is it Apprentice...?

Is that the only magic? yes you can, but you'd need other skills. Alchemy, enchanting. 1h or 2h, archery... armor.

Stay off horses, I'm pretty sure you can't use any bound weapon on horseback.... unless theirs a mod.

I'd also use a familar. I prefer using a little distruction for range, but if you start with a bow and then switch to bound bow it would work. ( bound bow won't cast til you get enough magic)

One of my current charaters uses primarily conjuration, she had to start with a batleaxe til she could get to Whiterun and buy Bound Battleaxe,conjur familar, Flame Atronach and other spells she wanted. She then sold the steel battleaxe.

Don't get stuck in cement...meaning change if you find something isn't working.

Thanks for the great info, Areial.

It is adept level - but I think the cost is 130-150 or something? Also I'm pretty sure bound sword is available from the get-go. If you can't find it you can buy it.

Cool character idea btw!

Thank you.

Btw, as far as race goes, what should I choose? Some say High Elves (Aldmer) is the best choice for a race for a mage, but I never played as a Darkelve (Dunmer) so i probably will try that.

You can get the bound bow at any level (after a fight) and you can cast it at any level too if you get the Atronach stone. That and a novice hood gives you 180 magicka at level one.

This. Keep in mind that no school of magic (or no warrior or thief skill) was designed to be used alone. How you combine them will determine the success of your character.

One of my most successful characters was a Conjuration/Illusion mage. She'd use Illusion spells to make her enemies fight each other, and then conjure up a familiar or atronach to clean up the leftovers. She didn't even use the Bound Bow, Sword or Battleaxe spells, although she could have. She was very weak in the beginning, but used a follower as a meatshield until she'd leveled up enough to be formidable. By the end of the game, she was soloing everything, but she was never technically alone as she could conjure up two Dremora Lords (this was before the DLC) if she got overwhelmed. She could also Frenzy large groups of enemies, including the undead. She also leveled Enchanting, Alteration, with a tiny bit of Destruction (only the first perk) for the beginning of the game; at the end, she didn't have to rely on Destruction spells at all. Once I got Dawnguard, I played a modified version of that character focusing on Conjuration, Illusion and Restoration, which made her an undead- and vampire-killing machine!

So I guess my advice would be: use a follower in the beginning while you're weak. If you use Bound Bow/Sword/Battleaxe, you'll most probably never need to cast a Destruction spell at all. Choose other skills to complement your build: armor (or Alteration flesh spells), healing (either Restoration for spells or use potions, either bought or homemade), crafting (whatever applies), etc. Also, Elsweyr Fondue is your friend. It's easily accessible once you hit Whiterun--just clean Risaad out of Moon Sugar every time you see him. +100 Magicka never gets old, and will really come in handy in the early levels before you have a lot of Magicka reserves built up.

I would also advise to use the bound bow once you're able to. This, with the mystic binding perk is just as strong as a daedric bow, with no weight to it. As far as classes go, if you're focusing 100% on conjuration with no intent on using other magic schools (Im sure that will change during your playthrough), then I would go for a Breton simply just because they start the game with a bonus in conjuration. That, along with their magic resistance is an added bonus. Also, I would go with the Ritual Stone as well. If you're raising the dead, might as well go all out and have yourself an undead army.

Definitely a Breton.

That does seem to be the natural choice but any race can do it since going from 15 to 25 Conjuration only takes about 5 dual cast bound swords. ( I always thought there was something wrong with this, maybe a bug, but that's how it works)

Thank you all for your great advise and nice to see you again, monsieur Fragonard. Have you painted any masterpieces lately?

You will need to use other schools of magic for support. Just like a 1H swordsman wouldnt be successful in a playthough with no smithing, blocking or archery, you wouldnt be successful without using other schools of magic.

You can and will still call yourself a Conjuration Mage, but you will definitely need to invest some perks in Alteration, Restoration and Enchanting. Its just the smart thing to do.

I have a few Conjurer/Necromancy characters and they are all very very successful. But I DO use other schools of magic for support.

The extra +50 Magicka you get from being an Altmer is very useful in letting you cast Bound Bow as soon as you can get it.

It's definitely possible to do Conjuration only. Breton is the best choice since you start out at 25 conjuration, although High Elf is a nice backup option and can use the Bound Bow sooner.

Level 4 would be the lowest level without magicka boosting gear, since you can just put 3 points into Magicka and be at 180 which usually is enough to get one casting of Bound Bow.

I've noticed using necromancy you can level up conjuration pretty quickly as well. Just take your minions with you into the next fight to get the skill ups

Or just spam Soul Trap on a dead body.