Hello everyone,

During the combat article in the game informer hub ages (yes it was that long) ago,
it was mentioned that at that point in development they were trying to allow spellcasters to cast two spells at the same time combining the effects.

I think this would greatly increase the fun of playing a mage, but would be quite hard to implement. Destructive spells would be quite simple to combine,
fire and cold could create a "freezing flame" dealing both types of damage, fire and damage/drain health skill attribute and the like would become a "black flame" also simply adding the two effects together, the combination is more cosmetic.

Combining spells from other schools requires a bit creativity, but is not impossible, soul trap and detect live for instance, would allow you to use a variation of detect life, where the stronger souls are easier to detect. Telekinesis and shield could become a barrier spell.

When combining spells from different schools would have even more difficulties, while fire and summon daedra could result in a flame antronach, and frost and shield a frost shield. Of course there are also far more weird combinations,
For example I have no idea what a shock + water breathing spell would do, (breathe lighting? :shocking: ) Also damage health + restore health would be quite stupid.
Of course some of these problems could be fixed by not allowing spells from different schools to combine, or only allowing certain combinations. And if all spells can be combine, would all the resulting combinations need to be unique? Should oposing effect cancel each other, or do something different?

Do you think this can be implemented in Skyrim? How would you like to have it work?

If you have played or heard of the indie game Magicka (Which I highly recommend, its only $10 on steam) it is purely about spell combinations, like water and fire produce steam, but water and lighting would cancel out one another. So not all combinations would work, like your example of damage and restore health.

They said they were toying with the possibilities ot combining spells... it'll be quite difficult. I'd love it, but idk if its gunna happen this time around. There are some great possibilities... but I think the more outlandish possibilities will keep it from being put in. Unfortunately :sadvaultboy:

Hopefully they can do something like this. I'd be a lot of fun trying to figure out the different possibilities. Lots of fun... plus you'd have enemies all like :ahhh:

:laugh:

Bethesda will work it out and do it fantastically. I have faith. The way magic will work will be neat. I think Destruction spells and Conjuration spells will just work independently.

Todd said that they would see if they could do it, but I dont think it will happen
however I am pretty sure it will for the same spell, if you look in the trailer there is a guy that is casting a fire spell with both hands

Although that might be the animations when your hands are free. It doesnt confirm nor deny mutli-spell combination.

well it was already confirmed that we could use the same spells in each hand and it would have a bigger effect. And in the trailer it does look like that there is the same effect in each hand.

I know, I should get it someday...

I'd be much more interested in seeing spells that you could charge and make bigger/more powerful, me being a dbz fan and all.

We may or may not see something like this in Skyrim, however...where-ever we go after Skyrim in TES VI will have the grounds for a very unique magic system.

Well if they already have that system in place, it isnt that far a stretch for do different spell combinations. Im of the opinion that it may be beth cant see if being good in a TES game rather then it not being possible for them to implement. That is all hypothetical and opinion of course.

I thought spells did power up as you charged them, or your skill increased.
I may me horribly wrong though.

thats already been confirmed, we can charge spells for a wider raduis and different effects like traps. there was some proof in the trailer with the giant explosion and the 2 handed charging

Hey, that's pretty cool. It'd be really neat to see Bethesda implement something like this, but I wouldn't count on it.

Oh and as a side note, it's strange that water and lightning would cancel in that game... I mean I suppose technically, pure water is not a conductor (there needs to be a small amount of something like salt dissolved in it), but most people associate water and electricity as a danger. :shocking:

I'd rather just have spell creation.

I knew we could change from a fireball to a flamethrower, or make runes for traps and the like, but is charging attacks itself confermed? That explosion does look pretty sweet, his hands were slightly on fire before he punched the ground so he could have been charging it...

The magic system looks amazing and it does look like there will be some form of what I want, so I'm excited.

Yopu couldnt combine the 2 elements together in a single spell, but if you sprayed a monster with water, it drenches them, then you can shock them for 2x the damage. My personal favorite was to drench them, then make a combination of arcane, ice and lightning for a powerful beam that slows and does 2x damage. XD

fun game with a crap ton of references.

I might actually play as a mage if this comes up.

well it says you hold it down which I kinda took as charge here is the quote from GI
"One of the more alluring changes to the spellcasting in Skyrim is how you can employ spells in different ways. For instance, you could blast enemies with a flame ball from afar, hold the button down to wield the spell like a flame thrower, place a rune on the ground to create an environmental trap that spontaneously combusts when an enemy steps on it, or equip the spell with both hands to deliver high damage fireball attacks that drain your magicka reserves quickly. The shock and frost spells give players an equal amount of flexibility."

however in the trailer it does look like the person is charging

On magic i got a few references:
Midas Magic.
Though some of its spells were completely out of context in Tamriel,
the concept it used to create spells was fantastic.
I'll gladly scour the depths for a batch of Banshee hair if it will get me that spell to freeze solid and shatter my enemies.

Deadly Reflex.
Fire burns and turns my victims into charcoal
Ice freezes them solid
Lightning turns them to a crisp.

Magic damage should do more than just impact and hurt.
Its elements have their own effect on materials.
That should be reflected in the game IMO