The ability to kill enemies in a reasonable amount of time.

So... it would be completely pointless.

I'm not saying Skyrim's spell system is perfect; while it's certainly good, there's plenty of room for improvement. Spellmaking, however, would not be an improvement. I feel that they should continue the route they took in making each spell effect unique and useful, but they need to make Destruction spells scale in damage (why does my character do 402 damage per hit with Chillrend with fast swings at 100 One-Handed, but when I switch to Firestorm at 100 Destruction I only do ~200 damage, with a 5-second casting delay between uses, and a high magicka cost?), and there need to be more varieties (Command Humanoid/Creature, Absorb Skill, Bound Armor/Dagger/Shield/Mace/etc., Chameleon, Damage Attribute, Cure Disease/Poison/Paralysis, Silence, Dispel, Feather, Fortify Health/Stamina, Unlock, various Summons, Slow Fall, Swift Swim, Water Walking, and a few others) could all work in Skyrim's gameplay. I think the solution would be to give multiple casting options per spell, e.g. Conjure Bound Object could be used to summon any piece of conjured armor or weapon based on the mode selected. Having all the spells grouped in one spell makes for less spellbook clutter in the menus and more incentive to buy and use a spell for various applications.

@EffeminaT: You miss the point. It's not true Spellmaking if you just buy an effect and use Spellmaking to make a numerically stronger but otherwise identical spell is pointless and spreadsheety. The problem with having a system that allows the player to make new spell effects is that the developers would have to basically design the spell and put it in the game already, but make the player unlock it through Spell"making".
EDIT: To clarify, I'm basically saying that fixing the non-scaling Destruction damage by adding a system that lets you scale up the numbers yourself is just fixing a problem with another problem.

I do believe that TES should have some system that allows you to make spells, but the previous games' "scale up the numbers of a spell and use a stronger-but-otherwise-identical-spell" is no better than just having Skyrim's system but with spells that scale in damage with levels. If someone could contribute ideas as to how a Spellmaking system for creating new, unique effects could be done, please, feel free to suggest some ideas. Seeing how an entire professional dev team drew a blank on the subject, I don't think it's going to be possible.

all i know is that in oblivion, spell making made things horribly unbalanced. (i had 6 float spells just to haul all the loot from OOO modded caves and 3 second 100 attribute buffs to abuse alchemy, bartering etc.) now that i think about it, that was my fault for getting that mod that overrides default limits. but none the less, you could make multiple buffs stack ontop of each other.
the spell system is a little thin in skyrim but spellmaking isnt the answer.

I agree with this. However instead of Spell crafting in Skyrim, id like to see more emphasis on Spell combining, for example:
flames + flames = wider arc instead of narrow spray.
flame cloak + ward = fire resistance shield.

I feel if this could be achieved, it would add so many more possibilities to magic that users will not feel that there is a lack of spells at all.

I found spellmaking to be pretty dry myself.
Spells never really felt special.

In Skyrim the spells do feel special and that they have flavour to them, however I do think there should be more of them and would welcome DLC that added more.

yes but you forget the "dot fire over 10 second, fear them for 10 seconds watch burning enemy running in circles asking you to stop" man i miss spell making.

Spells seem a bit to complex for spell making in Skyrim, but I'm sure there is a way to make it work.

Part of the issue is choice and perception. People like to be able to choose...even if the choice might seem irrelevant. Player A might prefer the 'plink away with multiple small spells' while Player B goes with the 'one huge roar of damage and I'm out of Magika but he's dead' route. You can't exactly balance the two options but IMHO you can get them close enough as to not matter.

I agree that the Recall spell and Levitate made things too easy. However moving from a spell-making system that was too open to the current system feels more like downsizing than progress. I firmly believe that having a scaling cap on spell effects based on the respective skill would balance things out. However if a character has a 100 skill in a school of Magic then they should be able to perform some pretty amazing feats like casting a spell that drains all their Magika and incinerates a foe. I also don't see a problem with being able to cast a Candle or Torch spell and have it last longer than a minute.

Since Skyrim no longer advances skills for just empty practice I don't see the problem. Part of the problem with Oblivion was that a wimpy spell, cast 1000 times equaled easy level advancement. Skyrim doesn't work that way so I don't think balance is as much of an issue. No, a player shouldn't be able to spam the OMGMEGADEATHBLAST all day but if someone wants to spend time making 11 spells that all do slight variations of the same thing then I say let them. They added cooking after all...

Whoa. You can make spell scrolls? And where do you make staves? I've only messed with smithing. What raw material becomes a staff? And tomes? This very limited scope makes me think that you have a cute/technical way of saying you've created a tome...

I'd take 2 every time even with your poor characterization of the situation.

What we have is boring non-unique spells with no options for customization, a pathetically small list of effects, with a ridiculous number of obvious holes even within the small existing effect list. What is that option .5?

As for mark/recall and levitate you mention in another post, they don't break anything. There hasn't been a single dungeon I've been in yet that would have been broken by any of these spells, hell levitate/climb would have improved many of the dungeons I was in.

I have no idea... the mages in this game are ridicolous..
And what's with the master spells are good? They force you to stop and makes you vurnable(spelled that wrong) for quite some time... they svck

Bethesda really screwed this up..

Because its fun and allows for a lot of customization without taking much (if anything) away from the game.

Spellmaking in Oblivion shattered immersion by making being a mage a matter of playing excel spreadsheet and gaming the system.

On the internet and UESP you'll notice there's innumerable articles about the best way to combine recursive effects for insane results.

Yet without these spells being a mage was overly difficult even with custom-made high damage spells.

Then there were arbitrary pre-made spells that were "more efficient" than player-made spells.

All in all, I'd rather bethesda make the game, then make spells that will work in that game from one level to the next. Nothing is stopping anyone from making their own spells with mods anyway.

If you are TES player you should learn to say "meh, mods will do it :snoring: "

On the contrary, in my opinion making your own spells is quintessential to being a mage.
It is arcane, it is studious, it is varied.

Now we have three useful spells for the entire game, and youre stuck with the one you were taught for all eternity without any hope of modifying them to personal preference, as any mage would.

No spellmaking ruins immersion as a mage for me, Im an apprentice the entire game.

I can forgive most changes made to this series, but I will never understand why they removed spellmaking.

Good thing we have mods though... oh -.-...

It didn't seem arcane and studious, it seemed like you bought a cheap spell and then studied accountancy.
There was nothing very arcane or mysterious about it.

So it could be improved, it was still much better than what we have now: 1 version (which cannot even be upgraded directly) of each spell and effect is just extremely bland and outright lazy design.

Also, magick in Elder scrolls is supposed to have a "spreadsheet" wibe to it for tweaking and experimenting.

Nevertheless, it should be available for those who choose to create their own spells.

You can create items, poisons, potions... it is simply stupid given the history of TES games that you simply cannot create spells.

Because Bethesda Hates Mages.

Melee gets exploits up the ***, Mages are gimped in every way that matters [...like they were intentionally picking it apart piece by piece]. I'm beginning to believe that is the case as there is no other reason why from a technical standpoint and not having it is not better than appeasing the few who can't figure out a slide bar.

It actually pisses me off to the point that if I ever went to a game show, I'd likely be in cuffs shortly after arriving at the Bethesda booth.

Magic is a science, just like any other science it all boils down to numbers in the end.
We had variation and choice and now we have lame spells that dont scale and most are useless.
Oh. And they look cool.

I know what I prefer, I want my mage back, playing a mage in Skyrim compared to any other Elder Scrolls is like driving a racecar without an engine.

I miss making spells too I loved having the freedom in making whatever spell I wanted, I dislike being handcuffed now with what I can only use.


I understand Skyrim is a whole new world and game, but this one feature a lot of players loved back in Oblivion. The spell list in Skyrim is pathetic compared to what you had in Oblivion. Todd said he wanted to give players more freedom in how they choose or what to play. OK! Great!


So what happens if your a person who wants to play a pure Mage? There is NO lock picking spells at all anymore. My favorite spell in Oblivion was "Walking on Water" and it is non-existent in Skyrim .


I understand they had to put a lot of time and effort for all the new things in the game, but removing useful spells and fun spells, just plain svcks. And don't get me started on the new enhancement system for your weapons and armor, I would be here for hours complaining.

Well spoken!
Couldn't agree more

Blame the consoles. They have to fit everything into those little boxes. No proof. Just my guess.