Bethesda Hates Mages: 12 Reasons Magic in Skyrim Sucks

[Shamus Young]

Bethesda Hates Mages: 12 Reasons Magic in Skyrim Sucks

From Morrowind to Skyrim, Bethesda has always had it in for casters. It seems a little unfair that melee classes don't need to learn magic, but the inverse is simply not true.

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[Lyri]

Surely magic scaled in Morrowind?

I haven't played it for a long time but the higher your destruction the more potent the spell, no?

Magic was flat out broken in the earlier itterations of the game, which is why they removed mysticism & spell crafting from the game. Items like The heavenly dagger would allow the user to fly in the air and bombard their enemy with impunity.

My fondest memory is being the Grand Master of House Tel'Vanni and using the gloves that were given to me by my patron to summon atronachs that laid waste to a city (forget which one) whilst I hovered over head, raining down fireballs.

Good times.

Magic sucks in Skyrim though,I usually default to some kind of stealth based illusion archer.

 

[Tahaneira]

I have to admit he has a point. I have rogue, warrior, and mage characters in Skyrim and I enjoy them in that order. I will always love being sneaky-stabby, and I get a kick out of being roary-smashy. But the sparky-boomy character was just... sort of tolerated. I didn't hate her, but I didn't feel as excited when I loaded up my High Elf mage character.

Although, I must admit, after my rogue and warrior both died a number of times to Morokei, it was intensely satisfying to walk in, activate Highborn, and hit him in the face with Lightning Storm until he disintegrated.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

Since I argued this on your blog, I must agree, I guess. I had a worse time in the first few hours of Skyrim as a mage than I had as a pure stealth user (fuck those distance-activated zombies). I have one question though: I'm someone who mainly likes playing stealth characters, but I found that as soon as I enter melee combat, tits go up pretty rapidly. If I use two weapons, stuff dies quickly, but so do I. If I use a single sword, I can block, but it seems to do very little. Am I playing it wrong?

 

[teebeeohh]

i have to admit i never ran into this because i only started playing skyrim last summer and the first thing i did was mod the magic system to be good.
damage scales with skill, a shitload of new spells and armor and enchants with +magicdmg.
except that made the game too easy so i had to boost enemy strength, which meant they broke some quests so i had to fix that but by now i heard of another cool mod that gives you a magic castle and like 8 new schools of magic that are different kinds of destruction and interact with each other...
and i spend more time modding the game than playing it. again

 

[craddoke]

I'm someone who mainly likes playing stealth characters, but I found that as soon as I enter melee combat, tits go up pretty rapidly. If I use two weapons, stuff dies quickly, but so do I. If I use a single sword, I can block, but it seems to do very little. Am I playing it wrong?

Don't enter melee combat is my advice; use a bow and unlock all the perks -- combined with high-level stealth powers, most enemies in Skyrim die before they even know you're there. As a last ditch defense weapon, get something that can paralyze and you should be okay when facing the exceptions.

Regarding the article, I completely agree. The Elder Scrolls games are one of the few RPGs in which my default character is not a mage. It is just too much hassle for too little reward.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

I'm someone who mainly likes playing stealth characters, but I found that as soon as I enter melee combat, tits go up pretty rapidly. If I use two weapons, stuff dies quickly, but so do I. If I use a single sword, I can block, but it seems to do very little. Am I playing it wrong?

Don't enter melee combat is my advice; use a bow and unlock all the perks -- combined with high-level stealth powers, most enemies in Skyrim die before they even know you're there. As a last ditch defense weapon, get something that can paralyze and you should be okay when facing the exceptions.

Regarding the article, I completely agree. The Elder Scrolls games are one of the few RPGs in which my default character is not a mage. It is just too much hassle for too little reward.

So how does it work for people who actually want to go into close combat?

 

[-Dragmire-]

I would grind summoning and destruction together by attacking my summons. It works well for the initial leveling process.

As for the damage issues... I have magic(mainly lightening) have ridiculous impact which will usually kill the enemy when they hit a wall or tree. Doesn't work on dragons though so they actually remain intimidating.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

Mage armor is complete bollocks.

A "proper" mage doesn't wear armor. But they do have various mage armor spells, which can raise their armor value to something reasonable (although still below what armored characters enjoy) for a short time. So you have to keep re-casting the spell every few minutes. Fighters don't have to worry about all their armor vanishing in mid-fight and leaving them vulnerable to an instant kill, but mages do. Imagine if fighters had their armor fall off every couple of minutes, it took them several seconds and a good chunk of their main combat resource to re-equip it, and doing so made sounds that alerted all nearby enemies.

This was my main gripe with it as well, but if you're willing to plow straight through the story for a few hours the coolest robes are pretty much handed to you. The Thalmor robes are absolutely the most kick-ass looking, and when you inevitably end up slaughtering the entire embassy you can grab a whole bunch. Just make sure you've got the aforementioned extra stamina/bag space, but fortunately clothes are very light. Since robes don't have default armor stats like heavy/light do, I stockpile these for use throughout the game - I never need to hunt for a new robe when I want to re-enchant anything, and many of these we find have no default enchantments, making them ideal.

Honestly though, every play style looks cooler when wearing this.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

destruction sucks

the correct answer is....

conjuration

the high level pets are badass, the summoned weapons are the best in the game (until you do smithing and enchant shenanigans)

then at your option to be a total min maxer go into restoration for the heals (or dont advance it at all), and alteration for the extra armor/resists

plus conjuration combos perfectly with archery since you don't have to bother with arrow inventory, and your pets effectively "tank" opponents letting you pew pew

 

[craddoke]

So how does it work for people who actually want to go into close combat?

For a stealth character it really doesn't -- it's not quite as badly broken as the magic system, but you're at a disadvantage. The only time I go into "melee" on purpose is when I'm 100% that I can sneak attack and instant-kill the enemy. Incidentally, this does mean that some scripted battles (where you can't choose your distance/moment of attack) are extra hard for stealth characters.

 

[luvd1]

I really missed customising my own spells... I really, really miss my "big, f¥$k off firework" spell. That was a nuke in your palm. That and predator ring (invisibility spell) was just so juicy to use. Oh the joy of watching large groups of my victims run around like headless chickens before I turn them all into KFC.

 

[Mister Chippy]

So how does it work for people who actually want to go into close combat?

You play a warrior. Later in the game skyrim doesn't really have too many viable options.

If you wanna melee you gotta be a warrior of some description. If you want to sneak you should probably be an archer. If you want to do fuck all level destruction magic. If you want to do fuck all but not die level conjuration. If you want to do anything whatsoever late game level enchantment and alchemy.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

So how does it work for people who actually want to go into close combat?

For a stealth character it really doesn't -- it's not quite as badly broken as the magic system, but you're at a disadvantage. The only time I go into "melee" on purpose is when I'm 100% that I can sneak attack and instant-kill the enemy. Incidentally, this does mean that some scripted battles (where you can't choose your distance/moment of attack) are extra hard for stealth characters.

So how does it work for people who actually want to go into close combat?

You play a warrior. Later in the game skyrim doesn't really have too many viable options.

If you wanna melee you gotta be a warrior of some description. If you want to sneak you should probably be an archer. If you want to do fuck all level destruction magic. If you want to do fuck all but not die level conjuration. If you want to do anything whatsoever late game level enchantment and alchemy.

That's a shame. I'd really want to make a Dunmer dual-wielder with some light armour and some stealth skills called Drizzl Schmo'Durden or something, but you're saying that wouldn't really work out?

 

[Imp_Emissary]

Skyrim was my first elder scrolls game, and I loved playing it. Always a mage.

That said, everything Shamus said is completely true. I actually like the archmage robes, but they don't compare to daedric armor, in terms of looking cool and stats. Also, pretty much all of the other robes besides the thalmor robes, and archmage robes, just look lame.

The only way I was able to play a "mage" well, was to get great at enchanting, smiting, and alchemy first. That way I was able to make myself great armor and weapons, and use alchemy and enchanting to make a circlet, ring, and necklace that let me cast all spells for free, and sell powerful enchanted weapons for gold to buy the best spells.

Even then, it takes forever to level up the skills.

Hope it's better next time I guess.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

So how does it work for people who actually want to go into close combat?

For a stealth character it really doesn't -- it's not quite as badly broken as the magic system, but you're at a disadvantage. The only time I go into "melee" on purpose is when I'm 100% that I can sneak attack and instant-kill the enemy. Incidentally, this does mean that some scripted battles (where you can't choose your distance/moment of attack) are extra hard for stealth characters.

I f**king hate that! found that with Oblivion, all the way through the game i was a stealthy bastard then during one of the end game story quests it just throws you into a massive melee situation and i was toast.

 

[blackrave]

I don't think that vanilla game supports "pure" mages- magic is often considered as support
That is why mods rocks
Not only you can get badass robes, but you can also have mage duels, improved killcam and additional spells,, not to mention additional perks

 

[Alleged_Alec]

So how does it work for people who actually want to go into close combat?

For a stealth character it really doesn't -- it's not quite as badly broken as the magic system, but you're at a disadvantage. The only time I go into "melee" on purpose is when I'm 100% that I can sneak attack and instant-kill the enemy. Incidentally, this does mean that some scripted battles (where you can't choose your distance/moment of attack) are extra hard for stealth characters.

I f**king hate that! found that with Oblivion, all the way through the game i was a stealthy bastard then during one of the end game story quests it just throws you into a massive melee situation and i was toast.

This game basically starts out this way. I mean, the first story dungeon is full of monsters which are triggered by proximity.