I haven't tried an Atronach build yet, but I've heard it can turn you into a beast if done right.

I say go for it. I'm playing an Altmer Apprentice right now; this character further breaks the "rules" by majoring in Alchemy. We're at level 14 now, with Alchemy and Conjuration up to Expert, and Illusion araound 60. Intelligence is over 80, and Willpower in the mid 70s. The key to playing this kind of handicapped character is to use Command and Summon spells instead of engaging enemies directly. Weakness to magicka is no problem if all the spells are bouncing off a summoned daedra!

I'm finding that this character has sufficient magicka to keep a high-level summons going constantly, maintaining chameleon or invisibility the whole while, and still firing off frequent "pot-shots" at the enemy. I simply don't have to worry about magicka, unless I get into a rapid-fire shootout with another mage, the exact thing you don't want to do with this kind of build.

Works well enough with destruction to if you play as an archer, hold down block on your weapon to increase rate of fire, shoot 2-4 shots against target at long range, move two meters to the side to avoid incoming. Summon if you run into multiple enemies and provide fire support, only enemy I have problem with is liches as they have a strong reflect, turn undead+ summon is the best response.

Not to mention the person was referring to reflect damage. Reflect damage isn't the same as reflect spells. Reflect damage will reflect melee damage. That's what they mean by "Godmode." If you have 100% absorb and 100% reflect damage. The only thing that can harm you is arrows. Although, I don't find this very fun to play.

ow, sorry, misread it, we were busy about magick and i thought there stood reflect spel.

It's alright. But yeah. As I said, it's not very fun (to me imo) to be immune to magic and melee.

I have two mages: Altmer Mage, Altmer Atronach. The mage, can lay down some serious magic when cornered. The Atronach can as well, she just needs to be a little more careful with spell selection. I try to avoid 100% Spell Absorption, as the game becomes too damn easy with that. Instead, I keep it somewhere close to 75%. Nice new avatar btw. What happened to the orc?

You could probably still get 100% absorption but it'd take up most of your enchantment slots check out the uespi wiki about items, or you could definitely just get 100% resist magicka mundane ring alone has like 50% resist magic.

I like to restart a lot myself but I find I do it less if I set a small specific goal first like finish all the recommendation quests for mages guild, which can fetch a nice bit of gold since there are a ton of novice alchemy equipment that you can pick up in every hall once you're an associate (along with books and clothes and other stuff) that I pawn in the imperial city to a merchant I've bribed or charmed.

Certainly the Atronach Altmer or Mage sign probably makes more sense from many perspectives. However, having had several Altmer Apprentice Nightblades (I have a hard time giving up Blade entirely for the occasional blood pumping fight) I suggest using the Apprentice if nothing else just for kicks. No reason not to have a Atronach another time.

If you use Inviso, short Command spells, Conjuration and the like you can go thru without being hit with a spell or sword. In fact I have 3 spells I can hot key and walk around invisibly and kill every single thing I meet while staying invisible all the while. You just have to be careful not to get caught with a surprise reflect. Also, the Oblivion fire towers can be problematic at high level but not fatal unless you go charging into one's range with a bunch of stuff pounding on you too.

Of course, I also found that generally the 100 pts from Apprentice was probably more than I needed and could have gotten by with Mage.

Right. Definitely a much weaker combo than Altmer/Atronach or Altmer/Mage. But sometimes picking the weaker of the alternatives is good, for a challenge.

Yeah, my first Altmer Apprentice came about because I thought, "Hey, some poor dumb Altmer somewhere had to have the the misfortune of being born under the Apprentice, so what would they do?" Turned out to be a very fun and awesome character.

Yes, elemental attacks are not the most dangerous in the game, paralyze like the spider daedra or silence are more dangerous, summon can also be bad.
A fire shield or resist fire is helpful, very useful against the oblivion mines and fireball towers. Resist shock is also nice as it’s a pretty common attack.

What about the Mage birthsign?

I like to go to extremes. I always feel like the Mage just isnt much enough of a boost.

Not a bad birthsign for a mage as you avoid all the downsides but with a less bonus. As you say more plain.

I voted for Apprentice because for some reason I tend to think of the Atronach birthsign being more...'battlemage-y' and Apprentice being more magey. But that's just me.

Depends. I see an Atronach Pure Mage to be somewhat of a Magic Duelist. Someone naturally born with the innate talent of excelling with magic and taking down fellow mages.

OMG exactly 50-50!!!!!!! :hubbahubba:

i depends on ur style of play. if you can stand waiting for that 100% reabsorption and loot around for the welkynd(sp?) stone then go for it. but be wary of suddently running into a goblin shamman at lvl 30+ and running out of magicka... :bolt: :ahhh:

i tried doing a high elf with apprentice...yeah i know, not the wisest choice i made...casted a custom AoE fireball on a group of spectral warriors in OOO and their reflect damage killed me... :facepalm: but it sure addds a level of difficulty with the mods that im running so that mages do not quite get OP towards the end.

By level 30 you'll likely have high alchemy and quite a few self made potions that restore Magicka by 1800+ over time thereby giving you unlimited Magicka. You can actually have it at a much earlier level than that of course. Not calling it better than Apprentice but typically when comparing them I don't use running out of Magicka as a factor. As an Apprentice I like stacking spell reflect and casting spell reflect on myself. No need to worry about spell absorb as with high will power you regenerate quick and with restoration potions it makes it even more unnecessary. With the weakness to magic it gives you it's not so bad when there's a high chance a spell will bounce off you and to them. I pretty much focus on offense and damage with the apprentice. Glass Cannon so to speak but end game if they do manage to hit me there's a good chance it'll bounce back to them.

apprentice just because Stunted magicka can be a difficult obsticle when going long distances

If you ever feel a need for a pure mage thats challenging to handle...go apprentice + altmer. like a 150% weakness to magic. But you will never go out of magika lol. Ive done it once you just have to be real careful against magic users.

I just started playing http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Oblivion517.jpg - an Altmer Apprentice battleconjurer a week ago. It is a very fun challenge! datboitodd is quite right, it is a challenge indeed when fighting other magicians. Especially the ones that toss around lightning (as it is so hard to dodge). But my, do you have a lot of magicka! Very fun.

I always play a pure spellcaster but her sign is the Serpent, mostly for lore purposes, not the perks it gives, since it's different for MW and OB.

Are you teasing me? ok im going to start one now! :tongue:

I prefer neither actually. For a pure altmer mage I usually pick the lady. It starts you with 55 intelligence, 55 willpower and 50 endurance. 210 magicka to start with, 300 maxed out. True, you don't get huge magicka in the end, but that's never a problem as long as I use restore magicka potions in big fights.

Then again, I usually focus on making a character that's good early on. With atronach, I feel seriously handicapped in the early levels, but it may just be that I never got used to that. At higher levels I'm going to be awesome anyways, so why build your character around the prospect of 100% spell absorption?