There are tons of different guides on how to do a battle-mage build on the internet...

what's your preference?

I'm struggling to decide whether light or heavy armor is the way to go, as I feel like light armor suits someone who uses tons of spells better... but every single guide seems to advise using heavy armor ^^

And what type of spells would you concentrate on?

I want to keep one real sword in my right hand, which means I won't really need bound weapons... what about summoned 'creatures'?

Is destruction any good later on? I feel like my fireballs and frostspells are already underpowered compared to the weapon Is there even a reason to put perks into destruction, or will it become useless once the enemies get tougher?

Is it conjuration, destruction or restoration that I should focus mainly on?

Any other tips for that type of character? thanks a lot <3

1. A Battlemage type character generally will use both hands for weapons - one handed, staff, spells and so on. As such they generally don't use a shield (I said generally, of course there are exceptions) as they need both hands free for the weapons - hence Heavy Armor is generally the recommended armor skill since you won't be blocking and you'll need all the protection you can get - Battlemages are mages that get up close and personal with enemies, not stand back and fling spells so they never get hit.

2. Cloak spells are ideal for Battlemages, you can cast the spell (or have it autocast if using certain mods) and go in to fight with your weapon/spells all the while your active cloak will constantly damage anyone that gets up close on you.

3. Summons are great for virtually any character, extra damage, damage soak (summon takes damage instead of you) and general distraction is useful for every character at times. I like Dremora summons instead of Necromancy summons (reanimations really), never have to find a dead body and can resummon as needed. No level limit issues either. Plus having Dremora Lords taunting your foes all the time they're slicing them to pieces just never gets old for me.

4. Destruction is generally regarded as weak in the base game without mods to fix some of the scaling issues it has. Standard tactic in the base game is destruction cost reduction enchanted gear or alchemy boosters to your damage or both, there are a few items that boost direct spell damage however. Part of being a battlemage is using Destruction magic in my view, if you want to play one you'll end up heavily investing in the Destruction perks most likely.

5. Focus on Magic or Health for stats, probably something like 70/30 or 60/40 depending on how much of a mage or fighter you want to focus on - I'd ignore Stamina as you won't be power attacking all that much. Destruction, Conjuration, Heavy Armor, One Handed should be your focus skills for perks and advancement, pick up others as you can and have spare perks. Alchemy is useful for boosting damage, dabble in Restoration if you need healing or want to play with wards.

Just some ideas, take or leave as you like.

In Morrowind, Battlemages used axes (primarily one-handed axes, due to their balance between power and speed), with heavy armor and Alteration spells for protection. Destruction is the other primary method of attacking, with Conjuration and Mysticism providing support. Enchant and Alchemy round out the support skills, with potions providing healing and buffing in lieu of Restoration, and Enchant making the use of enchanted weapons and items more efficient. The class also uses long blades as a backup weapon, and marksman weapons, which I personally think is a bit redundant when paired with Destruction, but which allows for a ranged attack when out of magicka (useful, as magicka in Morrowind does not regenerate).

In Oblivion, Battlemages are masters of melee weapons, but have no armor skills. NPC Battlemages use a wide variety of weapons and armor styles -- some prefer heavy armors for protection, while others like light armors for mobility; typically they use the heavier one-handed weapons, like longswords, maces, and war axes, though stronger, heavier weaponry can be temporarily summoned. They use Destruction for offense and Conjuration and Mysticism for support (Mysticism's spells changed somewhat between Morrowind and Oblivion, so in Oblivion Battlemages use Mysticism to dispel buffs and summons from enemies while removing hostile magic from themselves, and protecting themselves from enemy spells through spell absorption and reflection). Alchemy and Alteration provide buffing and healing.

So, in Skyrim, I think a Battlemage would specialize in Conjuration, Destruction, Alteration, and one-handed weaponry (since this leaves you a hand free for spellcasting). You can either eschew armor for mobility, or make use of Alteration's shield spells to boost your armor rating, since you probably won't have as many perks to put into armor, as magic is very perk-dependent.

It's your choice on whether to use Alchemy or Restoration for healing. Restoration has some useful defensive capabilities, and healing spells are very effective in Skyrim; Alchemy is more versatile, but requires a lot of investment, so it may not see its full potential realized if it's just a side skill.

There is no NPC Battlemage class in Skyrim, so I couldn't tell you what NPCs use. There are Sorcerer and Spellsword classes, however, which both use magic and armor in tandem. Sorcerers are essentially "tank" mages who use heavy armor, and Spellswords are more like warriors who can use magic (primarily Destruction and Restoration -- through Destruction's crowd-affecting power and Restoration's healing and magic protection, the warrior's weaknesses are covered). There's also a Witchblade class, which is similar to Morrowind and Oblivion's Witchhunter class, except with a focus on one-handed weapons over archery (in essence, a lightly-armored skirmisher who makes up for the weaknesses of relying upon a fast one-handed weapon with Destruction's additional damage, Conjuration's distractions, and Illusion's crowd-control), and a Nightblade class, which is a thief-like class which uses Destruction and Alteration to boost a traditional thief's combat capabilities.

I like to use light armor with battlemage builds as it uses less stamina and strength requirements. I then enhance it with good enchanting and use magics such as alteration and restoration to balance the need for high armor rating

Destruction Rune spells can be very helpful to get that initial strike in before you finish them with your weapon. And it levels Destruction fairly quickly.

One of my problems with playing magic characters is that I want to put too many points into Magicka and end up neglecting Health and Stamina.

One solution to that is to play melee for your first few levels, use a soul trap weapon to fill as many gems as possible, and then put some perks into Enchanting.

Then you can make gear that reduces the casting cost of Destruction (or whichever school you prefer) or increases your Magicka.

With just a little bit of luck, you can buy a soul trap weapon in Riverwood or Whiterun, buy lots of soul gems, and then walk out of BFB with 20 or so filled soul gems at Level 6 or so. Enchant every weapon from BFB and you'll have a nice early start on Enchanting and can put points in Health and Stamina without sacrificing Magicka output too much. (note: you will be walking through BFB due to all the heavy gear you're collecting)

I think my main gripe with the heavy armor idea is that I am playing a female character this time.

I'm wearing this at the moment

http://abload.de/img/20160309183056_12dle5.jpg

and I feel like anything heavier wouldn't suit a female character who isn't a complete warrior and concentrates on magic a lot ^^

Have you tried playing a sword-spell build completely with light armor? Is it a big disadvantage overall?

Conjuration, Destruction (fire and shock) and Restoration seems to be the way to go though

I'm just starting to discover all the different spells as I've never really used any in my previous playthroughs.

I still have to discover if spells like Oakflesh (+40 armor rating for 60 seconds) are worth the high mana cost.

And it's also sad that Lesser Ward isn't able to block arrows and melee hits...

I'd love the idea of having a magic shield like this that uses magicka instead of stamina ^^

thank you for all the comments

I think I can figure something out now

This is anecdotal, but I feel as though Health points + Armor is better than investing in the _flesh spells, but I have no numbers to base this on.

Also, regarding baltlemages in Skyrim, I'm pretty sure that the battlemages in Helgin are all wearing light imperial armor with a mage's hood.

General Tullius calls for the battlemages, and there are mages in Imperial armor slinging firebolts; whether they're technically battlemages is your call.

I used Madcat221's http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/28190/? mod for my last character, a female Breton Battlemage. She http://imgur.com/a/fi8bY for my taste

I actually use that armor a lot... I prefer the silver, light over the gold, heavy... just a preference in color...lol... but...I'm a bit's an pieces user anyway. http://i.imgur.com/X69oIIR.jpg my last battlemage ran around...most of the time...lol.. My girls change cloths/ armor, but generally not all at once.

The way I look at it is that each character is themselves... My last Male Battlemage ran around in heavy armor, my Ladies tend to wear light. It's both practical and I like the way the modded light armor looks on females better.

Edit: I will use Alteration and the flesh spells for a battlemage or spellsword, but generally if they are wearing armor... they smith..not as extensively as a warrior would, but some. Stamina is important if one is going to swing a sword or axe or wear heavy armor... but I go for the enchants, not points. Early levels stews are my characters best friend... as they help a lot.

That's Akemmi....

Thanks Areial...made my day



I have to chip in here at risk of anihalation by mage fire and shock bolts.


If you (not Areial, I mean anyone) rely on flesh spells instead if good armour you are gonna get killed!


Why.....cos you don't know to cast them until the danger is evident or at least expected. The first time a powerful enemy archer gets the drop on you.....your dead! Example....I kill a lot of Robe Wearers before they even know I'm there....archer npcs will do it too


Now fifty mage players are gonna crucify me

ty Rick...

yup...http://i.imgur.com/h8fbN0N.jpg her armor is all "superior" in this pic... the glow is Stendar's Aura, which work's great against the undead. As a "mage" she used flesh spells, cloak spell's and Stendar's Aura.. even though her armor was pretty good for whichever lvl she was at. With Immersive Creatures & Deadly Dragons, her Alteration and Restoration were pretty high ( Restoration didn't have many perks). Her smithing relied on enchanted items and potions, with of course some skill * perks*, she & her main follower http://i.imgur.com/OQLtJTn.jpg ( SPO * Silver plate Armor) both needed good armor...him specially as he did not use alteration, being a warrior.

I play on Adept for the most part...and with the mod's I use, it might as well be Master...I use ASIS so any spell my characters have...so do NPC's.. and they generally have them earlier. Armor is very important for my characters... mage armor for "pure" mages... mage armor plus physical armor with good tempering for spellswords and battlemages.

It's all in the way that your play... My way may not be the best way....but it work's for me.

Thats interesting the guy in Japhet's Folly is described by the Wiki as a Battlemage but under that class definition Sorcerer would be a better definition since he always uses magic but is dressed in heavy armour which makes him hard to kil by warriors as "squishy mages" are the usual type, easy to kill once you get close due to lack of armour but hard to get close to. He was hard to kill on both counts.