Destruction magic in Skyrim.... oh dear.

[MiracleOfSound]

I seem to have levelled myself into a corner with my Destruction mage high-elf.

Basically, the destruction spells mana cost to damage ratio seems completely out of balance. I'm level 30 now and spending half my game running around in circles waiting for mana to recharge just so I can do an attack that is of equal, if not less, power than the infinite melee ones warriors get. (Yes I have Morokei and Archmage Robes)

Now I know half of you have already gotten halfway through typing 'Just use enchanting to break the game' but I don't really want to do that. Surely a primary combat skill should be powerful enough in and of itself to manage the game without using a cheap exploit.

I've spent the last 20 hours getting completely owned by enemies who my Warrior and sneak characters would stomp all over without a care in the world.

So without enchanting/smithing exploits... let's hear some good advice for those who want to focus on Destruction!

And for the love of god if you're going to derp out something like 'You just suck' or 'you're doing it wrong', have the common sense to offer an alternative tactic.

 

[Fappy]

I find Destruction is pretty fun if you enchant gear (don't need to exploit) to around 50% and have high restoration to synergize healing/equilibrium. I do this a lot on my Khajiit monk (he shoots Haidokens!) and its loads of fun.

Just for extra clarification: You can use Enchanting to lower casting costs of spell schools without exploiting the game. It's part of the mage archetype and wouldn't exist in the game if they were not intended to be used. Making yourself 100% fortified in a single school does make the game a little silly, so I would suggest spreading the percentages out across different school. It will make a huge difference. And always remember: Magicka regen is a crap stat

 

[Fishyash]

Maybe make some armour and enchant it (you don't need to exploit it, smithing and enchanting are very useful even if you don't powerlevel them to 100).

Or... do some alchemy. Find out the restore (or regenerate) magicka ingredients and make restore magicka potions, and also buy some restore magicka potions from vendors.

Also there's the perks too. Since you don't want to "cleverly use" smithing and enchanting, the perks that half the cost of certain spells should be useful.

And last but not least, maybe use something else as well? Some people go spellsword until they can cast strong enough spells without having to worry about running out of magicka.

One more thing, just as a side note. Rest 1 hour after every fight if possible. It means you don't have to use any potions in between fights.

 

[Wolfram23]

To be honest, I'm pretty sure the 0 cost spell enchantment thing is actually what fixes destruction.

Destruction, damage wise, is pretty mediocre at best. It's only redeeming value is Impact, really. Combined with extremely high mana costs, it's just broken. That is, until you can get those costs down to a reasonable amount... like 0.

Anyway when I got Fireball, as much as I wanted to use it, it was still vastly more efficient to just keep using Firebolt because I didn't have the mana pool for it.

Also, summoned weapons are your friend. When I ran out of mana I'd just conjure a sword and hack away lol.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Also, summoned weapons are your friend. When I ran out of mana I'd just conjure a sword and hack away lol.

Is your bound sword damage based on the one-handed skill, or on conjuration?

 

[Wolfram23]

Also, summoned weapons are your friend. When I ran out of mana I'd just conjure a sword and hack away lol.

Is your bound sword damage based on the one-handed skill, or on conjuration?

A little of both. 1H perks increase the damage the most, but I took the conjuration perks that increase it's damage, as well as the perk to make it cast Soul Trap automatically.

It's damage still sucked ass though, it was useless against enemies in heavy armor. But I just let Lydia tank and stabbed them in the back. I have bound bow now, which is much more fun.

 

[Fappy]

Also, summoned weapons are your friend. When I ran out of mana I'd just conjure a sword and hack away lol.

Is your bound sword damage based on the one-handed skill, or on conjuration?

Both, though you definitely want to get the damage perk to boost its damage further. Pretty much necessary for endgame as far as I understand it.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

"I Leveled up? "
Magicka
Magicka
Magicka
Magicka
Magicka...
you get the picture.
Use alchemy to craft potions of restore magicka with ingredients you find. (They are pretty basic, and easy to make at low levels.)
Use enchanting to get an amulet that increses your magicka, or ring, or something.
Use your money to buy potions that boost heals your magicka (I almost forgot, you can craft potions that buff your magicka temporarely)
Like you, i'm in sort of a hole.
I use light armor,
1 handed,
all the types of magic,
and stealth
and archery, all about equally.
I have the problem of not dealing damage, but takeing damage. Note: This is the character I've always wanted to play, and fast stealth guy, and I was not able to do that in fallout, oblivion, ect, but I promised myself I wouldn't bring out heavy armor and a shield, and stick to this path.
I've noticed that whenever I level up, I almost always choose health. My stamina and magicka come from items I wear, and now I can survive face to face combat with sabertooth tigers, heavy armor 2 handed weapon people, and I can survive encounters with trolls and giants if I run like hell.
So just smith some iron daggers, find some ingredients and make a few potions, and choose magicka.

Also use lower level spells on enemies you can easily handle.

 

[krazykidd]

I seem to have levelled myself into a corner with my Destruction mage high-elf.

Basically, the destruction spells mana cost to damage ratio seems completely out of balance. I'm level 30 now and spending half my game running around in circles waiting for mana to recharge just so I can do an attack that is of equal, if not less, power than the infinite melee ones warriors get. (Yes I have Morokei and Archmage Robes)

Now I know half of you have already gotten halfway through typing 'Just use enchanting to break the game' but I don't really want to do that. Surely a primary combat skill should be powerful enough in and of itself to manage the game without using a cheap exploit.

I've spent the last 20 hours getting completely owned by enemies who my Warrior and sneak characters would stomp all over without a care in the world.

So without enchanting/smithing exploits... let's hear some good advice for those who want to focus on Destruction!

And for the love of god if you're going to derp out something like 'You just suck' or 'you're doing it wrong', have the common sense to offer an alternative tactic.

I am a destruction mage and i do NOT have this problem . Are you using the right spells? Only use spell that You have the perk to reduce mana cost by 50%. That and have your gear to increase mana or mana regen. Thr only time you might run outta mana during a fight is for bosses . I don't know how you spent you level points but this should NOT be hapening , unless you are playing on master difficulty.

 

[endtherapture]

Cant you make potions?

 

[Micalas]

I seem to have levelled myself into a corner with my Destruction mage high-elf.

Basically, the destruction spells mana cost to damage ratio seems completely out of balance. I'm level 30 now and spending half my game running around in circles waiting for mana to recharge just so I can do an attack that is of equal, if not less, power than the infinite melee ones warriors get. (Yes I have Morokei and Archmage Robes)

Now I know half of you have already gotten halfway through typing 'Just use enchanting to break the game' but I don't really want to do that. Surely a primary combat skill should be powerful enough in and of itself to manage the game without using a cheap exploit.

I've spent the last 20 hours getting completely owned by enemies who my Warrior and sneak characters would stomp all over without a care in the world.

So without enchanting/smithing exploits... let's hear some good advice for those who want to focus on Destruction!

And for the love of god if you're going to derp out something like 'You just suck' or 'you're doing it wrong', have the common sense to offer an alternative tactic.

MoS, I leveled straight destruction like you. I didn't smith or enchant a single item until level 55. I definitely agree that the mana to damage ratio is horrible. Blow your entire mana pool and maybe kill one or two enemies in a room of 30. I like to think of that as the challenge though. You're a scholarly mage, not a burley warrior that can wield a tree. If you've every played WoW you'll understand what I'm about to say...You have to play a pure destruction mage like a 13 year old plays a Night Elf Rogue. *nod*

If you end up leveling Conjuration, try to refrain from double summoning the permanent flame atronachs. Or any summoned companion, really. It breaks the game and make it painfully boring. I had my flame atronachs out and they would kill the enemy I was looking at before the spell left my hands.

 

[ms_sunlight]

If you end up leveling Conjuration, try to refrain from double summoning the permanent flame atronachs. Or any summoned companion, really. It breaks the game and make it painfully boring. I had my flame atronachs out and they would kill the enemy I was looking at before the spell left my hands.

This. Once you can run around being accompanied by a couple of Daedra Lords the challenge level of the game slumps to zero.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Just to back up what other people have said you don't have to consider it cheating to put some enchants on your gear. That's what it's there for after all.

 

[NightHawk21]

Just grab a couple magika potions (you should find plenty, specially in necromancer forts). Since you're level 30, I'm going to assume you completed the College quest line which gives you the armor and mask you'll be wearing (namely the archmage armor, and the Morokei mask). Also I really hope you pumped almost all your skill points into magic. When I speced my destruction mage I only had about 5-7 points in health just so that people couldn't 1 shot me, but everything else went into magic. If you complete the story loot the dragon priest you fight right before you confront Alduin (in the portal) for the last time, its better than Morokei. Use low level spells. Even where you are now you're core spells are Firebolt, Lightning Bolt, and Chain Lightning. You shouldn't need any other spell. Firebolt and Lightning bolt allow you to essentially stun lock everyone (even dragons) and chain lighting allows you to quickly kill people if you get overwhelemed. Also remember that magicka regens faster when you are out of combat. Study the game, its usually pretty easy to see when there is going to be a big fight. Summon an autronach, cast the alteration armor boosts, put a ward down if you want, all while out of combat and let your magic recharge. You'll go into the fight a lot stronger. Also use unrelenting shout. It is the most broken thing if you're a mage. If anyone gets close to you just hit them with the full 3 words, and while they're flying, run back and recharge or keep blasting away.

 

[Thyunda]

I almost know the feeling - my second (and main) character was intended to be a Breton spellsword - magic-boosting robes and a one-handed sword, with the left hand devoted to Conjuration and Destruction magic.
Before long, I found myself with my left hand permanently restricted to Fast Healing, while my right hand gained increasingly powerful blades to make the Destruction magic completely redundant.
Now, at level 45, Dragonscale armour and a pair of Legendary Daedric swords...I think that maybe a magic character just doesn't match up to a melee.

Unless the magic characters are NPCs and focus on lightning and frost spells. I bloody hate those guys.

 

[StraightToHeck]

for the love of God, if you're going to be Destrusction-specialized in robes, put some levels into Alteration as well; the armor spells are veeeeeeeeeery helpful
also Restoration has some perks that increase MP regen

other than that, I can't think of anything that doesn't involve enchanting exploits (helpful though they are)

plus, if you're not using enchanting or wearing armor, the only thing you should be spending money on is potions

 

[nifedj]

For me, the combination of the destruction perks, destruction robes of the highest level available (which you can buy) and the dragon priest mask Nahkriin works well enough - plus I have focused very heavily on raising magicka when I level up. I don't know how that compares precisely to the Archmage's Robes and Morokei, but my level 32 character can cast enough that I rarely have to wait for magic to recharge.

Use low level spells. Even where you are now you're core spells are Firebolt, Lightning Bolt, and Chain Lightning. You shouldn't need any other spell. Firebolt and Lightning bolt allow you to essentially stun lock everyone (even dragons) and chain lighting allows you to quickly kill people if you get overwhelemed.

This is really good advice too. The Impact perk means that dual-casting apprentice-level missile spells is the most efficient way of fighting tough opponents. Add that to the cloak spells and use of the wall spells in appropriate situations and you can deal damage incredibly quickly.

 

[StraightToHeck]

Other than that, yeah, playing a squishy mage can be a *****. Creation kit is out soon, so hopefully someone will mod something to make it a little more viable.

yes, full mage builds are a very high risk, high reward type of play in Skyrim, especially when you take the schizophrenic difficulty into account