Pure Mage need thou help! (college of winterhold Spoilers)

[kastex]

Hello Fellow Dragonborns, i am here today to ask for thee help!
I am a Pure Mage follow the arts of Destruction, illusion, alteration and conjuration Magic, right now i am at lvl 16 with various perks such as Impact and Apprentice within Destruction and other perks in the other magic arts. i now the arch mage, and have obtained the dragon mask that follows with the Mage College quests.

All i wish to know is if it is a good time to get to 100 with enchanting, as a my goal is to be able to cast destruction arts with no magicka cost before i continue on with my quests. so far i have 2 points within enchanting.
Will maxing my enchanting at such a low lvl cause me to screw thyself up with questing as all creatures and enemies scale with my lvl?.

(Currently playing on Master, but have crappy gear [apart from robe and mask])
i may also lvl my smithing whilst lvling enchanting.

 

[Eleidon]

I recommend gathering as many soul gems, random armors and weapons as you can. Store them in a container together and after having amassed a considerable amount, start enchanting them. When you come across enchanted items, take them as well, as you can disenchant the items and gain experience. At your current level, assuming you are still level 16, it will take 475 xp to gain a level. If your enchant is at 20, and your skill level raises, you'll need 454, and so on. From 20 to 100 skill in enchanting you would gain 4,840 experience approximately, which gives enough xp to reach level 24, and shy of level 25 by roughly 335 experience points. If you have low combat skills this may effect you slightly, especially on master difficulty, as your damage is cut in half and enemy damage is doubled. Dungeons and places to plunder are always scaled the same. Generally tougher opponents will be in higher elevated locations.

 

[OrexxerO]

Well. if you plan on power leveling your enchanting. Everything Eleidon said is correct. IF you plan on smithing as well though, its good to craft pieces of armor and then just enchant those as you make them. Kill two birds with one stone. Also, as a side note that may be helpful, if you have the Dawnguard expansion the Soul Cairn plain of oblivion is a mages paradise as far as gathering tons of soul gems is concerned.

 

[JClarke1953]

The only problem with the Soul Cairn is returning back into it. Even tho' Valerica said it could be done, I've yet to figure out how. So, when you go in, look around, as there are quite a few Grand and Greater Soul Gems. And the fissure's can be used to fill them.

 

[Eleidon]

You're free to travel back into the Soul Cairn, as the portal remains open even after the completion of the quests pertaining to it. However, if you entered as a vampire and have since been cured of your vampirism, you'll be unable to reenter until you're a vampire again. Kind of silly, really and very inconvenient.

 

[Dagmar]

Grinding a non-combat skill to 100 to the total neglect of your combat skills at low levels is always going to put your character at a net disadvantage in leveled combat situations. A level 24 mage with the equivalent combat attribute, skill and perk build of a level 16 mage is likely to get pwned by a pack of Forsworn Pillagers or Bandit Marauders on Master difficulty settings even with the ability to spam dual cast Apprentice level Destruction spells because you won't be able to kill them fast enough.

Enemies in interior cells such as caves, forts, mines and ruins scale relative to your character level when you first enter them. Their levels are at fixed intervals so to make matters worse depending on where your level falls in between 2 intervals they might actually be several levels higher than your character which will happen with enemies with higher level caps if you decide to power level your Smithing as well. Any benefit from wearing legendary heavy armor (which is not in keeping with playing a pure mage) with a low armor skill and limited armor perks will net out because of the increased amount of damage that a pack of Forsworn Ravagers or Falmer Nightprowlers will inflict on you.

My advice is don't do it. Leveling non-combat skills gradually alongside your combat skills is both less tedious and safer. If you're going to grind and power level, I recommend waiting until you can at least cast Adept level Destruction and Conjuration (so you can use a Frost Atronach as a decent tank) spells.

Alternatively, if you insist on power leveling with such poor combat skills and perks, once you're done power leveling your Enchanting and Smithing you can get a follower that has Heavy Armor and a melee weapon skill as their primary skills and equip them with Legendary Ebony Armor with Fortify Health, Fortify Stamina, and Fortify Heavy Armor enchantments, a ring and necklace with Resist Magic Enchantments, and a Legendary Ebony Melee Weapon with Absorb Health and Shock Damage enchantments. Unlike you, their combat skills will be be where they should be for their level and they will make a very effective tank until your combat skills can catch up. The drawback to this strategy is that you won't gain as much Destruction skill xp since your follower will be stealing a lot of kills.

 

[Mannulus]

I also recommend grinding your Conjuration to max level and getting the Dremora Lord summoning spells. Having two very powerful and well armored guardians defend you can be quite relieving while you work on skills, say for example Enchanting.

 

[Eleidon]

I also recommend grinding your Conjuration to max level and getting the Dremora Lord summoning spells. Having two very powerful and well armored guardians defend you can be quite relieving while you work on skills, say for example Enchanting.

I agree. When you find yourself in the midst of a battle, casting the bound sword spell and then sheathing can raise your Conjuration skill rapidly, however some may find using that method an illegitimate means of improvement. Also note, as time passes with bound weapons out, you slightly gain experience.

 

[OrexxerO]

The Frost Atronach is a good tank early on, however, against enemies later on and especially ones that use fire destruction spells or fire enchantments on weapons Frost Atronachs melt like Frosty The Snowman.

Dremora Lord all the way, really good damage to enemies, decent enough damage sponge, and usually by the time it dies or expires your fine to be summoning another one.

And as said, if your really HELL bent on a "pure mage" do what you want, but in my opinion it is one of the single most hard things to do. I guess my character is more of a sorcerer-battlemage because he wears heavy armor and can also use dual one handed weapons like no other, and also call upon most magic types as well......hes been a pretty powerful build. I found trying to go pure mage makes your character too squishy, and also its very annoying to constantly have to re-cast armor spells.

 

[Mannulus]

I agree. When you find yourself in the midst of a battle, casting the bound sword spell and then sheathing can raise your Conjuration skill rapidly, however some may find using that method an illegitimate means of improvement. Also note, as time passes with bound weapons out, you slightly gain experience.

I actually sat there and casted Soul trap on a dead body for several hours. I considered it legit because my character was trying to learn multiple things, such as:

• Better energy management
• Soul linking
• Proper cast stance
• Etc.

Since she was also a mage at the College, she gained useful knowledge from her professor :3

 

[Eleidon]

I actually sat there and casted Soul trap on a dead body for several hours. I considered it legit because my character was trying to learn multiple things, such as:

• Better energy management
• Soul linking
• Proper cast stance
• Etc.

Since she was also a mage at the College, she gained useful knowledge from her professor :3

Well there you go. Don't just cast the spell mindlessly; appease all the formalities of proper spell casting and this method is perfectly sound.

 

[Dagmar]

Suuuuuure....and standing in the middle of a pond constantly casting fire bolt spells at a Mammoth and then healing it is legit because you're learning mutliple things like

• Better energy management
• Proper cast stance
• Cooking mammoth rare, medium rare and well done
• Etc.

It's totally immersive.

 

[Mannulus]

Its not a cheap way of doing things! You are taking YOUR time to hone your skill in a way that suits best for your character. Similar to how you can only get better at Smithing by Smithing some more. Same theory.

 

[Eleidon]

And repeatedly casting soul trap on your horse is a bona fide method, as well. It's good for their, eh, mane. Ask M'aiq.

 

[Mannulus]

And repeatedly casting soul trap on your horse is a bona fide method, as well. It's good for their, eh, mane. Ask M'aiq.

Shaddup. Its roleplay, let my imagination be free ; - ;