Destruction magic in Skyrim.... oh dear.

[Leppy]

My first play through was with an unarmoured mage using pure destruction. Occasionally used a summon to block a doorway, but never got conjuration about 50. There is plenty of gear in the game that gives you crazy amounts of mana regen, Morokei, Arch Mage robes, rings of destruction and so on. Although Destruction has terrible damage, even once its maxed out, impact is the most overpowered perk in the entire game. Using your lowbie firebolt, you can completely lock down any enemy in the game. Even Dragon Priests. If you're good at timing, you can keep two enemies stunlocked while spamming them down with it, and have enough mana to almost spam forever.

However, at high levels, if you DO NOT cheese your mana cost with enchanting, then it becomes tedious, taking 30-60 seconds to kill your average drauger.

The thing is, even though impact is great, you'll never kill as fast as a melee. Duel wielded legendary daedric swords (No gliching, just 100 skill + 40% blacksmith potion) deal about 150 points of damage each, leave them without enchants and use Elemental Fury...and ....behold. Killing all enemies (Ancient Dragons and Dragon Priests) in a matter of seconds.

I should note, I've been playing on Master Difficulty the entire time, and I never used companions (Companions in every TES + FoV game have always been terrible). Everything is brutally overpowered, if you use it correctly, working on an archery character now, only level 12, but feeling stupidly strong verse everything (excluding spriggans!).

 

[Torrasque]

I kinda had this problem until I did a bit of gear management.
Yes I got my enchanting and alchemy to lvl 100, but I didn't do that one exploit that makes your stats go through the roof. All I have is fortify destruction and restoration +100 across all my gear. Even before I got to that point, I was just using spells that did not cost an insane amount of mana and turning every fight I got into, into a game of cat and mouse.

Here are three strategies that should help you:

1. Change your gear: I imagine you either have a lot of +magicka or +magicka regeneration. These both suck since once you get to the Expert lvl spells, +50 magicka is completely useless for 250mp spells. Magicka regeneration also doesn't work like it does in most games. Out of combat, your regen is something like 3% of your total magicka a second. In combat, it feels like half if not one third of that. So you will be running around in circles waiting for your mana to regen. Do yourself a favor and either buy or enchant your gear so you have as much fortify destruction as you can. Also, make sure you get relevant perks. If you have the Adept perk, use Adept spells more than Expert. If you have Expert, then use them and so on. Each perk in the tree only affects the lvl of spells that it says it does. You'd think that the Expert perk decreases the cost of all destruction spells by half, but it doesn't. The only one that affects all lvls of spells is the one you get at lvl 100, and I think it is a 15% decrease across the board. That coupled with the fact you are lvl 100 should decrease all spells to a pretty low amount.

2. Change your play style: get elevation on the enemy(s), funnel them into a hallway, double cast runes on the walls, use a summon to distract and trap them, use aoe spells, etc. I stopped using Fireball and it's Frost counterpart once I got Incinerate, but until you do, the fact that they do AOE and you can throw them practically anywhere and it'll hit the enemy, is awesome. It is a shame that the Master lvl spells are shit...

3. Become a drug addict: If neither of these fit you, your last option is buying lots and lots of potions. Run out of mana? Down a bunch of pots. Run out of hp? Down a bunch of pots. Etc.

I am interested in what your talent trees look like and what your magicka/hp/stam is like.
I got my mage to 200 hp and stam then burned every point I've had since then on magicka. I think I have 762 magicka? I only use it for my mage armour and the occasional summon though since I have fortify destruction and restoration, lolz.

Related: Conjuration sucks balls once you get to lvl 40ish. Pets don't do enough damage, don't aggro at all, die way too fast, and you're always summoning them again and again... It is especially irritating when a Dragon Priest steals them from you and uses them against you >=/ Illusion is under-rated and epic win. Especially if you are a Vampire. Fearing and Calming everything in sight is hilarious devious. Oh, and the 3 perks you get after the +damage perks in destruction, are useless. The "enemies run away when low hp", "are paralyzed when low hp" and "may disintegrate when low hp" are three perks I wish I used elsewhere =(

 

[Torrasque]

Everything is brutally overpowered, if you use it correctly, working on an archery character now, only level 12, but feeling stupidly strong verse everything (excluding spriggans!).

Spriggan: "I know where you are no matter what! I can also dps you even though I haven't found where you are! Umad bro?"
YES SPRIGGANS. I FUCKING HATE YOU SO MUCH.

 

[Leppy]

Although, I should mention, my duel wielding warrior nutcase was almost deleted into non-existence. I started him as a pure tank, shield + Sword and hated it. At level 22 I was hovering over the delete button because of the frustration of killing anything with the pathetic damage I was dealing. That's when I decided to toss another weapon into my shield hand and run around like a barbarian till I died. It was surprisingly effective with my primary sword and an mining pick in the other. Kept the character, spent some perks into dual wield and loved it.

 

[Reaper195]

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.

Well....there's your first problem.

 

[Weaver]

I had this same problem, MoS.

It was funny, the whole time levelling my mage I just had this sinking feeling in my stomach like "I'm just doing something wrong, right?" I should have trusted my gut. I was immensely angry with it, but by going spell-thief (get silent casting in illusion) I at least made a workable character in vanilla Skyrim.

Honestly, the only way I found the game to be enjoyable as a destruction mage is with the game breaking enchanting. It just irks me how bad Bethesda fucked up Destruction magic (considering how fun magic is in Morrowind); but it's just the balance of it that's entirely off.

The problem is first and foremost that there is no scaling whatsoever. That spell that does 90 damage? It's always going to do 90 damage. Unlike weapon users whose damage is proportional to their skill in the associated weapon tree, PLUS all their perks, PLUS enchantments PLUS weapons in late game just have really high damage anyways.

Heavy Armor melee guys have a world of survivability that mages don't have, and they easily outclass them in damage. Thieves, on the flipside while squishier, can output a hilariously disguising amount of damage.. With the dark brotherhood gloves and the 15x dagger damage perk you can do literally 30x damage on a sneak attack. Let's say with full one handed skill your dagger does 25 damage. This is 750 damage for one attack.

As reference, my master level lightning ability (with full lightning perk) does 112 damage a second. I would need to (ignoring the fucking channelling time of the spell) cast it for 6.696428571428571 seconds at a target to do this much damage; which would take all my magika. That and a proper thief will still have pretty decent surviability with one handed skill and a good set of light armour. They aren't going toe to toe often, but if they need to it's not that big an issue. In fact, they can almost just pump HP as there isn't too much need for stamina with lighter equipment loads and the steed guardian stone activated.

However, the saving grace there are some mods out there that attempt to re-balance this. Once the mod tools are released I bet we'll see even better ones! I haven't looked into them extensively, but google things like "destruction magic scaling" or "destruction re balancing".

 

[crepesack]

I have 92% cost reduction light armor. Makes the game pretty simple but still difficult enough that I can't just hold down a spell and clear a room. However I absolutely do not carry health potions otherwise it's just a matter of tanking and spamming spells so something dies.

Plus when you get fireball it's pretty much the only spell you'll ever use until you get the master level spells. AOE knockback with decent damage and very low cost makes it arguably the most easy to use spell in the game.

If you spec'd in heavy armor and enchanted destruction augment then you'd pretty much be a siege tank and should probably start the game over lol.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Drop some stock into restoration. Really early on in the restoration set, there's a "magicka regenerates 25% faster" bit. Using that, and other effects and affectations, I've been able to do double castings for most spells continuously, with it very slowly running low. Also helps to put points into magicka, man.

 

[Syzygy23]

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.

Don't worry, the modding community has you covered!

This is the mod I use and it makes things MUCH BETTER: http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2275

Rebalances the amount of damage double casting does (To make it not such a waste of mana) and bumps up your combat mana regen.

This all falls apart if you're playing on a console though. You aren't playing a Bethesda game on a console, right? I mean, why not just go buy a glock and shoot yourself in the foot? The only difference in results is that your foot will eventually get better on it's own.

 

[LostCrusader]

Here are the alchemical ingredients that Restore Magicka by the way:
Briar Heart
Creep Cluster
Dwarven Oil
Ectoplasm
Elves Ear
Fire Salts
Frost Salts
Giant Lichen
Grass Pod
Human Flesh
Moon Sugar
Mora Tapinella
Pearl
Red Mountain Flower
Taproot
Vampire Dust
White Cap

Fortify Destruction for Additional Destruction Mana reduction effect:
Beehive Husk
Ectoplasm
Glow Dust
Glowing Mushroom
Nightshade
Wisp Wrappings

So these in addition to any minor Fortify Destruction enchantments should make your life a lot easier. Minus the fact that Potions weigh .5 Weight Units.

I'm fairly sure the fortify destruction stat you get from alchemy adds to the damage from the spells, and the enchanting one drops the mana costs.

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.

This was my strategy too for most of the game though it could be worse than running in circles because I had almost no armor because of the robes and didn't bring a companion for fear of them meatshielding my own spells.

Also the bound swords damage is crap when compared to improved weapons that could be enchanted for damage.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

destruction magic underpowered? you can stunlock everything!

also, dont ignore enchanting just because its broken, its still a skill that was put in the game and I think the makers of the game did try(and failed) to balance it. So, like you dont need to pull the enchanting gear trick and power level it to 100 with merchant bought soul gems, but you shouldnt exclude it entirely.

 

[Rack]

This may seem obvious but have you tried turning the difficulty down? I mean you're using one of the weakest builds without the backup it needs to work but it should still work fine on apprentice if you have some decent gear.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Are you on PC? If so, this mod might be of interest to you. As a mage, I find it very useful. It really changes the way mage plays.

 

[Bvenged]

I don't have this problem with destruction majick at level 15 - use the lesser spells more frequently if you can't cope and until you can, use enchanted armour with a 2:1 of majicka recharge : total majicka.

Who ever said anything about exploits? This is my 4th playthrough and I haven't touched exploits at all (well, a little dagger-making in the first). IF you just apply your character in the way you want to play it, you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Hugga_Bear]

My first character was a stealthy archer and basically one shotted everything in the game, early on he had to be sneaky but by the time he hit 50 he could wade into battle and decimate the enemy with every swing of his dual daggers or one shot most with his bow.

When I switched to a mage it was hard, heavy focus on conjuration and destruction, minimal on the others (with some work in enchanting). After several close calls I figured out why: I was doing it wrong.

I was getting high regen gear, I was walking in to the middle of the room and flinging my most powerful fire spells, I was summoning and leaving it.

Then I changed my style, still brazen and no sneaking but using the terrain. Funnel enemies, know where to backtrack to, keep melee ones below you, use runes, summon in front of you before a fight so they are distracted and so on.

Oh and enchant to lower costs, you don't need to use the game breaking techniques, just enchant with a grand, maybe chug a potion if you want. Lowering cost is MUCH more important than increasing regen and more important than increasing magicka too.

 

[Random berk]

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.

You could get a few friends or mercenaries to take with you. They're a pain in the ass when you're trying to use a stealth character, but if you're focussing on doing high damage spells, then having a couple of fighters to draw the enemy attention in a close quarters fight could really help you. You could also do the Companions missions to get lycanthropy. If burning the enemy alive doesn't work, try eating their faces instead. Given the werewolf's disadvantages though (slow transformation time, difficulty to control) you might prefer to bring some allies.

Raj always been fearful of Destruction magic. No one man should have all that power!

But what i know? Could not throw fireball to save life. Wouldnt to save Wife Mjoll's.

Then again, she would only be scarier as Draugr, so Raj would try at least.


Have friend who is mage though. Nice guy, troll-shit crazy. Thinks all problems should be handled by spinning in circles screaming "THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE" while spewing flames. Wife Mjoll wont let me invite him over since last time. He says "Enchantment good for mage! Should always have gear to lower magic cost! Not the size of fireball, its how many you can fling, and where you can fling them!"

Raj doesnt argue with his logic. Seen what happens to guard when they talk about arrows and knees. Not pretty. Not smell good. Raj runs for cover. Doesnt help.

This was a fun post to read.

 

[A Free Man]

snip.

You just suck Haha no but seriously I use destruction and conjuration as my two main schools, I find that it is rather easy to kill even the highest level of enemies. I just have to make sure I don't get hit since I am a 1 shot kill from the majority of enemies now. If you want an alternative it is quite a simple conundrum really, if the power/mana ration was good and is now bad... Go back to what it was before. If it sounds like I'm saying use apprentice level destruction magic as a master it's because I am. I use the old firebolt spell almost always unless I'm against a large group of enemies which is rare, and it works like a charm. I have enough mana to cast it hundreds of times and as soon as I kill those around me my magic regens in seconds.

You could get a few friends or mercenaries to take with you.

Ohh also very much this. Companions might be annoying for some but for a mage they make life so much easier. Hell I can beat most enemies now with only two spells. The healing spell and heal other spell. I just let my warrior companion who I give all of my best armor and weapons fight them while I heal us both. Not that I do that much as I like to get in on that action myself. Just be careful when using fireball around them haha.

 

[Jandau]

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

Let me just clarify: do you consider any use of Enchanting to be exploiting? If yes, then that's your problem. However, if you consider regular use of Enchanting acceptable, then just enchant a few pieces of armor with pure Destruction enchants (not the ones that also have Magicka regen). With 3 such enchants (maxed enchanting with the perk for better skill enchants, of course) and the Archmage robe, you're around 90% cheaper Destruction spells. With 4 such items you are now at 100% reduction.

As for Destro itself, did you get Impact? Lower spell cost Perks? Damage perks? Destruction actually requires fairly few Perks - Double casting, Impact, Shock Damage (I use Shock spells since they work on almost EVERYTHING) X 2 and any cost reduction perks you deem necessary. And skip the Master level perk, the Master level destro spells suck.

Don't just spam your biggest spell. It can be quite inefficient, especially if you don't have the gear to back it up. Regular old Lightining is quite decent, even at higher levels. Granted, once you have a good amount of cost reduction you can just spam Thunderbolt in peace.

As for your argument that "Surely a primary combat skill should be powerful enough in and of itself to manage the game...", the answer is no, it should not. Can One-handed manage the game alone? Or does it need help from Light/Heavy Armor, Block, Sneak, Smithing, etc.

Also, did you level Conjuration? Summon Dremora Lord is freaking awesome since it scales in the same way enemies do. With 100 Conjuration and the double summon perk you can have two of these bad boys running around while you support with your Destruction spells.

To sum up, I did the following on my Mage:

100 Enchanting -> 3 pieces of gear with Destruction and Conjuration enchants (double enchant Perk)
100 Conjuration -> Double Dremoras, the cost of casting them is low thanks to my enchanted gear
70+ Destruction -> Low cost thanks to my gear, Impact lets me stunlock enemies indefinitely

Your problem is that you think you should be able to handle anything with just one skill, when most character types use a combination of offensive and defensive skills to handle enemies. You assassin needs Sneak to get close and get the big crits, Onehanded for his weapons, Light Armor to keep him alive. Don't be suprised if you can't just "Destro LOLOLOL!" your way through the game...

 

[Nopodop]

Use low level destruction spells like fireball, ice storm, etc. They are much more cost effective than expert level ones like incerate and icey spear.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Your problem is that you think you should be able to handle anything with just one skill, when most character types use a combination of offensive and defensive skills to handle enemies. You assassin needs Sneak to get close and get the big crits, Onehanded for his weapons, Light Armor to keep him alive. Don't be suprised if you can't just "Destro LOLOLOL!" your way through the game...

Not really though, I understand the game's mechanics well enough. My sneaky Assassin and Two handed skullcrusher breeze through the higher level enemies without a care in the world. They laugh in the face of Ancient Dragons and Draugr Deathlords... while my mage just get owned (admittedly not as much since finishing the mage's college)

I think it comes down to taste really... I don't enjoy quite that level of micro-management that is required of a Mage in this game, which is funny because it was my favourite way to play in Oblivion.