Probably my least favorite part about Skyrim is the magic...and my first character I made was a mage...

Now take into account

1. Most of those spells get phased out, and you end up only using 2 from each school
2. Most master spells are useless, 5 second casts = dead on Master.

The magic system in oblivion was great. Don't know why they have dumbed it down like this. :sadvaultboy:

I'd guess it is directly or indirectly (sorta washed out with other things) related to the focus on console platforms.

to appeal to a wider audience probably <_<

Conjecture: There will be magic-related DLC (probably spellmaking and probably more spells) to milk us for $$$.

i can unequivocally tell you... no. no it has not. removing spellmaking is one thing, but removing half the effects and half the things we can do with them? what am i talking about half?! OP just showed how magic has been reduced to a fraction of its potential!

honestly, for all i love about skyrim, bethesda REALLY dropped the ball on certain aspects, magic being one of them. the game is great IF im playing a certain way... and to say that about a TES game should really raise some alarms.

ya magic is kinda gimpy some spells are just lazy calm,raise zombie, fury, and so on, only because when you get the more powerful version all it does is change the level it affects.... they couldnt brain storm for something cool the higher ups would do... some ideas are like master fury has a chance to spread on contact possibly infecting multiple people, or calm disarmed people making them drop there weapons on the floor, add something to these spells...

I play a purely stealth based character and even I noticed this when I decided I would dabble with a little illusion and alteration. Until I saw how few spells there actually where and just used my spare perks in alchemy instead.. Man it must be pretty bad being a pure mage in Skyrim, I almost feel selfish for being irked at the lack of good stealth based armours and the fact that half of the thief skill trees are USELESS.

After 160 hours in skyrim with my pure mage, I can say the following without a word of exageration;
By the end of the game (level 40+) you will be casting only 3-4 spells over, and over, and over again. Every encounter, the same boring spells, not the masters, they all svck, but the 3-4 that you are forced to use like a magical crutch, because its the only way, the ONLY way to play the game.
There are no unique situations where you end up doing something interesting with your spells, there are no options for thinking about spells as an infinite tool-kit. there are just a few dozen spells you never use, 3-4 spells you do use, and 50+ spells you wish you had but they never included them and you can't make them.

Thief, they seem to be fine, I'll be playing one in my next run through, some silly perks but hey, its role-playing right. Hopefully the thieves guild quest is a bit longer than the college quest line.
Warrior, lots of candy there, not really my cup of tea, but I may give it a go one day (likely as a conjurer/2hander hybrid).
Mage, lol, *cries*.

Yah.
Dont count on it as long as 'the hatchet' is in charge.
He likes Conan after all.

(In perspective.. you have the sermons of Vivec.. and.. Conan.. really? )

Conjecture: Fans will smell the BS from a mile away and Bethesda will never recover from the reputation thrashing they will get when the try to charge the gamers more for something that was included in the base game from Arena to Oblivion.

All of Dragon Ages spells could be useful at any level.


A limitless magic system is because of people crying that spell creation was broken threw out all the years of Oblivion.

Now thanks to them the system is broken.

Awe to think what Xarnac would say, I know he is going to have a field day over spell creation on these forums.


This sadly. My reaction is this... :sick:


92 spell, what seriously, thats a lot. :shakehead:

In Morrowind and Oblivion I could have hundreds of spells.

I tried playing a mage. Around level 20 I gave up and went back to my archer so I could start enjoying the game again. While playing my initial archer, I was loving the game and never spared a glance back at Oblivion. While playing my mage I just kept thinking, "This was so much better in Oblivion".

Skyrim's magic system is one of the worst things Bethedsa has produced. I really hope nobody on their team is proud of it, because it should be their collective shame. At least the spell effects look cool, which I guess is something, assuming you value flash over substance.

Please, for the love of god, give back spell crafting and add more effects

Please do Bethesda!
:violin:

You Do Not Remove the Steak from Charlies Friday Steak Fest.
You Do Not remove what got you the dough in the first place.

It is unfathomable and I mean that in the most sincere way of the word. I cannot plump the depths of misguidance that must have plagued the development of this system.
Its like they went: here are the fans, lets screw em.
I know no-one sets out like that.
So why the hell does it feel that way?

The blast, go away with your unkillable people.
Go away and give me real magic instead of this diluted nonsence.

Is it that the world 'must' be completeable for everyone? Why?!
Why cant I go: No. to any quest giver.
Why must they go: Ok come back when you change your mind.
Why cant I kill them?

Seriously Bethesda.

You Do Not Remove the Steak from Charlies Friday Steak Fest.
You Do Not remove whatm got you the dough in the first place.

It is unfathomable and I mean that in the most sincere way of the word. I cannot plump the depths of misguidance that must have plagued the development of this system.
Its like they went: here are the fans, lets screw em.
You went from Arena to this.

Well Ill have to fall back on my stock phrase in these situations.
For Shame.

Im not worried. There WILL be a spellmaking DLC and if not that then there will DEFINITELY be a spellmaking mod. Just be patient guys.

I really hope this is in the first DLC, this game has the potential to be damn near perfect, they just have to re-focus their priorities with what this game needs.

Bethesda is trying to make games that are palatable to wide audiences. As such, TES will continue to go downhill for a good portion of us old-timers who remember the good old days. Thankfully mods will mitigate most of the shortcomings.

IMO, the perfect game if/when it ever comes out is the OpenMW version of Morrowind. If those awe-inspiring volunteer devs can pull it off, we'll have something to treasure for yet another decade at least.

Screw a DLC. Spellcrafting is something they should be PATCHING in. We should NOT be paying extra for it.

I hope they add it as part of a patch and not wait for the next expansion, at least thats how it was described. Spell creation is the heart and soul of this system.

Bethesda, they just cast a huge amount of players faces right into the dirt. I love this game, but the lack of spell creation is a joke.

OP, I agree. I've not even made a spellcaster in Skyrim, yet, and I've noticed just how limited and boring the spell variety is. Coupled with constant complaints about how weak magic, particularly destruction magic, is, I don't even think I want to play a spellcaster in Skyrim. Sure, the animations look cool, but that's it and that's not going to keep me using the same, weak handful of spells over and over again and enjoying it. It's a shame... and I don't even see anything justifying the lack of spellmaking. It should be in and it could very easily interact with the new system, contrary to pre-release claims.

The person who removed my Summon Clannfear + Invisibilty spell should be locked up in a dungeon and NEVER released. :brokencomputer: