In your opinion, what is the best type of Destruction Magic?

[Jake Johnson]

See topic.

I am retrying as a Battlemage, but I feel forced to choose between Fire, Ice, and Lightning.

Of course, he will have Restoration, Heavy Armor, Enchanting, and some from the Mace tree of Blunt (his backup weapon will be the Mace of Molag Bal because of its permanent Soul Trap enchantment.

I already know what each type of Destruction magic brings in addition to damaging the target's HP.

Fire burns, causing further damage
Ice wears down the target's Stamina
Lightning wears down the target's Magicka (rather useful in places like Northwatch Keep, where Thalmor mages abound.)

I am willing to work in more than one style, if necessary.

I am also posting this to GameFAQs Skyrim board, as well - I value many opinions.

 

[berzum]

well what i would say is use all three, but if you are using mace or any weapon i would get it enchanted with two for of magic i,e fire and frost or frost and lightning or fir and lightnig, that way you only have to focus on one school, but keep in mind if you weapon is enchanted with lets say fire, and perks to benefit fore will benefit the enchmant as well. I prefer to use all three elements, but thats just me. also if you have the DB dlc there is a weapon that has all three elements, fire,frost,lightning that can be unenchanted, think the enchantment is called chaos or something close. hope this helps, also if you can enchant soul trap on other weapons so if you want to use something else instead you can.
found a nice link for chaos enchantment
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Chaos_Damage

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

Depends on what you're fighting. Frost against melee enemies, lightning against mage enemies and flying dragons. Fire against things that are weak to it, such as vampires. I'd specialize in either frost or lightning. Not many enemies in the game are resistant to lightning, and it hits instantly. Frost is invaluable against most melee enemies, and even trolls to an extent as they can't attack without stamina. Frost is also good for crowd control if you need it.

 

[Irishman]

If you really want to specialize in an element, than I would avoid frost. It is good against melee but there are just too many enemies in Skyrim that are resistant to it.

Ive found that balance is the way to go. Use the right tool for the job

 

[Black Orchid]

Shock is a little expensive, but once you start dual-casting it with the Disintegrate perk it is a quite the spectacle to see an Ancient Dragons being turned to a pile of ash mid-flight...

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

Chain lightning also chases people. Not very far, mind you, but it can hit stuff around corners.

 

[Dradin]

I would say lightning as well. I always want to do frost, but It is not viable due to the sheer number of Nords. Lightning may cost the most, but it looks cool, no one has a resistance to it and can hit far away targets.

 

[berzum]

remember that lightning is the fastest, frost take forever to hit you enemy, they can easily doge a frost spell.

 

[Jake Johnson]

OK - I've got him in mind:

The concept is a "Stealth mage"

First focus: stealth

Lightning spells
Fire enchanted dagger
Best Bow I can smith

Also get Azura's Star (a permament Soul Gem) and the Mace of Malog Bol (weapon with a permament Soul Trap enchantment.)

If I combine all that with Soul Trap spells and the Razor of Mehrunes Dagon, I should have a Soul Harvester!

 

[Dradin]

OK - I've got him in mind:

Lightning spells
Fire enchanted dagger
Best Bow I can smith

solid build if any.

 

[Hidde]

Lightning is amazing. The master destruction lightning spell WRECKS (your magicka (as well))! So if you max out Enchanting you can of course ignore magicka cost with fully enchanted gear.

Another thing you could do, but it's relatively late-game, is to put Illusion into legendary mode and cast Harmony in a place with a lot of people. This will earn you lots of levels in a short amount of time, allowing more Health/MAGICKA/Stamina.

 

[berzum]

same can be done with alteration and mass paralyze spell, oddly the guards don't get mad when you do it to towns people or them as well. though beware of chickens, i did mass paralyze and a chicken was hit and got a 40 septim bounty. go figure, its a crime to paralyze a chicken but if you paralyze 20+ npc/guards ata time and they fall over, nothing is said....skyrim law is funny at times.

 

[Hidde]

same can be done with alteration and mass paralyze spell, oddly the guards don't get mad when you do it to towns people or them as well. though beware of chickens, i did mass paralyze and a chicken was hit and got a 40 septim bounty. go figure, its a crime to paralyze a chicken but if you paralyze 20+ npc/guards ata time and they fall over, nothing is said....skyrim law is funny at times.

Agree. However the fastest(?) method is to cast Harmony in the basement in the Blue Palace, but that only works if you completed the Stormcloak side of the Civil War Questline. Wear 'Reduce the Magicka cost for Illusion magic' and cast away. If you didn't join the Stormcloaks, you can also do this pretty fast in the Market Centre of Whiterun.

Another thing you could do with Alteration is cast Detect Life at one of the places I mentioned above ^. That is also decently fast.
Fastest spell to level up Alteration with is Telekenesis with full magicka reduction gear though.

 

[berzum]

I still like to paralyze goats though, it's fun to watch the fall over LOL also if you paralyze say a giant and you know the 3 words to the first shout you get, its very easy to blow them off of high ground and watch them die.

 

[Hidde]

I still like to paralyze goats though, it's fun to watch the fall over LOL also if you paralyze say a giant and you know the 3 words to the first shout you get, its very easy to blow them off of high ground and watch them die.

Try paralyzing Giants when they're raising their clubs in anger. XD

 

[AS88]

frost take forever to hit you enemy, they can easily doge a frost spell.

 

[Jake Johnson]

Actually, I've changed my focus: instead of a straight Battlemage, I am going for a Soul Harvester.

Equipped with Heavy Armor, Destruction spells, Soul Trap spells, plenty of Soul Gems, Azura's Star, and the Mace of Molag Bol, he seeks to claim souls to enchant and recharge armor and weapons.

The name I game him was Charon (the ferryman of dead souls across the River Styx into the Greek Underworld.)

 

[Irishman]

Actually, I've changed my focus: instead of a straight Battlemage, I am going for a Soul Harvester.

Equipped with Heavy Armor, Destruction spells, Soul Trap spells, plenty of Soul Gems, Azura's Star, and the Mace of Molag Bol, he seeks to claim souls to enchant and recharge armor and weapons.

The name I game him was Charon (the ferryman of dead souls across the River Styx into the Greek Underworld.)

Might I suggest getting the fiery soul trap enchantment? It sorta goes with your whole 'soul harvestor' / River Styx kind of vibe...

 

[Pálrún]

I find there are benefits and cons to all three, though lightning is probably the overall best of the three. Fire works well enough on creatures naturally resistant to frost, but doesn't affect stamina the way frost does. I love seeing a whirwind blizzard spin and roll through a group of bandits and watch the red dots wink out on my compass, I love sending a double fireball roaring at an enemy to have it shake the earth when it hits, and I love dbl zapping enemy mages and watching them stagger.. but I felt the disintegrate perk was a waste of a perk. I'd rather leave a trail of bodies behind me than ash. *shrug*

If you really want to be a battlemage though, you'll develop all three. I did, at least until I put Destruction into legendary mode, so I lost some good perks (I had 12 in that tree, but I'm getting 'em back, steadily)
It's my favorite school of the game, though Illusion is a lot of fun once you get that leveled up too.

 

[JoeReese]

I'd say definitely learn and use all three, but if you want to save perks, then I'd specialize in lightning, simply because there aren't many resistant creatures to it. Dragons, flame and frost atronachs, nords and dark elves, all have a decent resistance to one or the other. My experience has been that I never see "so and so resisted shock damage" so I figure it's the most versatile for me.