Are mages worth playing?

[Reshiram337]

So, its been almost my 2nd full play-through, regarding I still have DB, Thieves Guild, Cival War, the rest of Daedric Quests, and a few more side quests, Dragon Priests, and who knows what else. I am a level 81 duel-wielder who uses archery and restoration, and runs around as a vampire lord, and my last was basically the same without the restoration and vampire lord. He didnt enchant either.

Anyway on to the question, I was thinking about starting a new game so I can give Skyrim more playtime and to try out things differently, and I was just wanting to know more about the magic part of Skyrim. Are mages even worth playing, they seem like they are hard to play, but they will add a different approach during the next play-through, but for a person who has never really played a mage, even back in the Oblivion days, I just wonder if they are even worth my time. Can anyone answer this?

 

[Jacobhwrd]

I am actually playing a Mage as an alt at the moment and to be honest it's not much fun. The big problem is that they go from being super week to untouchable. There is no middle ground to go through. And it really doesn't take long at all to get to that point. Once you have dual casting and impact you are done.

 

[Reshiram337]

ugh, I hate the thoughts of being over-powered, one or two shot everything may be fun at first, but then it gets plain boring...and in my opinion I hate the perks that allow stagger, slow time, or anything with a hollywood effect. Kinda like that OP shield bash move that knocks everyone down when you charge into them. I think its called Shield Charge, thanks for the answer.

 

[Arthur Swift-Sword]

I am actually playing a Mage as an alt at the moment and to be honest it's not much fun. The big problem is that they go from being super week to untouchable. There is no middle ground to go through. And it really doesn't take long at all to get to that point. Once you have dual casting and impact you are done.

Thats why all my "mage" characters end up becoming warriors.

 

[Hacksaw]

I definitely find a pure mage more challenging than a pure fighting or pure stealth character. To stay in the spirit of things, I enchanted clothes and stayed away from armor entirely. While this makes things even harder, it could be seen as just one more way to increase the challenge of the game.

I personally enchanted enough items to make sure I was casting destruction spells for free, and my mana pool of 300 was enough to cover the occasional use of spells from other schools.

The only real destruction perks I took were dual casting, impact, and increased fire damage. The fire damage perks were just a matter of preference, and I only switched for the occasional fire-resistant creature.

Is a mage worth playing? That's a hard question to answer. I play more pure melee or stealth/melee characters because I have more fun using a hand weapon. But once I had my fully enchanted gear, I really and truly enjoyed throwing around big fiery explosions all over the place. I just imagined how my archmage defended Whiterun:

"Stand aside, I'll take care of the invaders."
"You what army?"
"Just tell your men to move indoors. Its about to rain meteors on the field."

With impact and infinite fireballs, I held the first barricade by myself against a horde of charging soldiers. Ulfric's men aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, but they are brave.

 

[Raven]

I play 3 styles but I love being a mage simply because, as mentioned, it provides a challenge and different experience. I get bored running in screaming like Braveheart and one-hitting everything.
I find that being a mage is easier than being a warrior in the early stages of the game though
Is it worth being a mage? Personally yes, but its up to you, some may not like this style of play but it won't hurt to give it a shot

 

[Reshiram337]

-Hacksaw, thanks for the reply, mages do seem challenging to play, I guess it is worth a try, your post has inspired me to try one out
Another thing, why did you have to side with the Empire (dont answer this question please)

Mages do sound fun though, and when I probably do try one, I wasn't planning to use armor, besides maybe a Dragon Priest mask.

-Raven, your character sounds like my previous duel-wielder, basically he could stare at someone and they fall down dead, and thats what he actually did. The execution with the 2 swords glitched and it just showed my Argonian standing there and my victim falling down dead. It was hilarious . Your right, mages are at least worth a try, just to see how it goes.

-The Hungry Orc, sounds like mages are difficult to play, and actually take some strategy instead of charging straight in and slashing everyone to bits. (wish they had more gore like actual medieval times, instead of just the head being cut off, but that does make mages sound more fun, knowing that you have to plan out things instead of charging in. Thanks for the answer, they seem like they are worth a try. I guess ill try and see where it takes me, hopefully I will like the playstyle

 

[The Hungry Orc]

As people mentioned, warriors are a little bit too "easy mode" for me. I'll admit, they're fun, but it gets old. With mages, you have to be a little bit more tactical: you can't let your opponents get too close or else they'll butcher you right up.

Like Raven said, you may not like it, but it's worth a shot.

 

[Reshiram337]

Thanks for all your answers, I have decided to try them out and see how it turns out. Hopefully they turn out to be fun, but I guess I wont know til I try. All your answers helped me make the decision and for that I thank you

 

[Raijin]

I maybe bias but playing as a mage is quite interesting, and fun none of the less. It actually increases my RP moment because I can invent other magical powers that isn't on the actual game.

Oh and as far as the accusation of mages being this overpowered beings... Yeah well I've died so many times playing as a mage, then I do with my warrior character. Try playing as a mage under master difficulties, and you'll realize how difficult it is to fight as a pure mage without using any enchantment weapons.

 

[i K33L n0085]

Magic is definitively worth it. Using a variety of spells is much more fun than swinging around a battleaxe with only three moves (attack, power attack, and block). Why all the hate against mages?
I don't usually play as a pure mage though, got to have some stealth too for the DB and TG.

 

[The Phoenician]

I'm on my first real mage play through. I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Sword and board is still my favorite way to go about killing things. But it is definitely worth a try. I'm going the conjuration/destruction route.

 

[ShadowGambit]

If you want to play a pure mage:

Destruction Magic: your main way of attack. Get magicka reduction cost perks and/or enchantment so you can chaincast spells.

Alteration: Your main defense. Dragonhide is as good as ANY armor you can find. You will be wearing clothes.

Conjuration: Dremora Lord and Atronach as a decoy, so they take on the aggro in melee when you stand back and cast your destruction spell.

Illusion: For frenzy and Pacify : Crowd control.

Restoration: Heal and Ward. Get Ward Absorb perk so every spells that hits you will recharge your magicka pool.

 

[Falmer19]

Mages are pretty fun, but tend to level slowly at first.

 

[Punz]

I enjoy playing a Mage. She has become untouchable, but that was my goal the whole time. She can walk into a battle and not even lift a finger. Summoning Dremora Lords and the such to take on her foes. It all depends on your personal preference while playing. I love magic so Mages, to me, are fun.

 

[M'aiqaelF]

I love my mage.....I really like the college of winterhold missions as well. I also like the sidequests for master level spells....and once you get Lightning Storm.....OMG SO AWESOME!

 

[Reshiram337]

Thanks for all your answers, I am definitely going to try out a mage, and will do later on today

 

[Drekken]

I think mages are fun but magic does get a little under powered later on :/

 

[Valyn]

Yeah, it is too bad that magic doesn't scale, or at least destruction scaled. Because once you get to level 50+ destruction magic isn't very good. The only good master-level destruction spell is Lightning storm, which is amazing.

 

[Raven]

Thanks for all your answers, I am definitely going to try out a mage, and will do later on today

What race did ya choose?
Personally I chose a Dunmer for my mage (got a fascination with em for some reason) but I have experimented with a few other races