Why is magic so weak in the game?

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So I have the best Destruction spells like Firestorm and they do way less damage than my buffed weapons. Firestorm only does 100 base damage my dagger does 800 and bow 1000.

Also the issue I have with destruction magic is how it can hit followers and friendly NPC who get in the way by accident. Then they get hostile and want to fight me instead. I do like firestorm and blizzard effects they look very cool but weak.
 

dragondcd

New Member
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/63189/?

Check out this mod. There are many mods that seek to manipulate the magic in skyrim to make it better but when i had the same thoughts as you awhile back i used this. With this mod you can make you magic as powerful as you want without changing anything about how the magic actually works in skyrim.

Also check out other mods like wyntermyst for enchantments if you aren't satisfied with just that.
 
Unfortunately I am playing on PS3 console. I went back to it after I was unable to get a joystick controller to work with port of Mac version. Anyways, I am fine with my buffed weapons.
 

Papoy

DON'T EXPECT SPOILER WARNINGS FROM ME
Magic aint weak. You just make your weapons too powerful.
 

Gregor Moon Fang

Champion of Azura
Probably to offset the brokenness of magic in Oblivion.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
If you want to make the most of destruction magic, then it's better to play without followers. Unless you're limiting yourself to using spells that have a smaller area effect like firebolt and lightning bolt. If you use spells that hit multiple targets like chain lightning or ice storm or blizzard, or explosive spells such as fireball or rune spells, then you risk hitting friendly units and killing them or pissing them off.

If you're using followers then the others schools of magic are a bit friendlier. Particularly Restoration which can be used to heal allies, and the turn undead spells won't affect them if they get in the way. Illusion spells can also be used to increase a follower's courage.
 
Agree. I played as pure mage on first time and while the coolness factor was a lot of fun the game was not as fun as magic is a lot weaker than buffed weapons. On my assassin guy, I can one shot most enemies from the shadows and play the game way better. There are TONS of threads online that mention how Bethesda screwed the pooch and nerfed magic really bad in this game. Oh hell, I will stick to bows and daggers and use the other magic spells like Invisibility and Conjuration which are good. I still like my spectral assassin better than other summons because he is really almost like a second follower in that he talks to you. Dremora lord is my second favorite guy to summon. Major bummer.
 

Lurknir

There's only one hell, the one we live in now.
From what I remember, magic in Oblivion was OP as hell, so they had to kinda balance it but they overdid a bit. I could never fully get into a Mage build despite my love for magic, the Stealth Archer demon got hold of me :)
 
I tried all the high level spells and ended up using my buffed Nightingale bow and super buffed Daedric daggers dual wield for most of the game. With perks in these weapons, beating tough bosses was piece of cake. One hit Dragon Priests and clobbered Alduin in 1-3 hits. I tried fighting the bosses with the higher level destruction spells like firestorm and blizzard but these would take me 100x longer to beat a boss.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
I do like shooting things from the shadows, but it made a lot of boss fights very underwhelming. I'd make my way through a dungeon and get ready to kill the big bad guy, and then just kill them in one hit while they were standing there talking or with their back to me.

When I play as a mage I don't get to do that. It makes battles with other powerful mages such as Lua al Skaven and Vals Varen a bit more interesting because I'm having magic on magic duels with them. Before confronting them I'll down whatever potions I need like resist magic and fortify restoration, cast stoneflesh on myself, and then go in there and have a good magic scrap. If they have undead followers I'll use dawnbreaker or repel undead to disperse them. Or I'll use a ward to block the enemy spells while my follower focuses on attacking. I don't get to have this kind of fun if I just hide behind a pillar and shoot them.
 

lanssolo

New Member
I think there is a black book that gives you the choice to not harm followers with magic and/or weapons as a reward, if that helps. :)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk
 

Ra'Aryx

New Member
It's undignified for a high-level mage to have to run around dodging weapons while casting a bunch of spells that are no longer strong enough to clobber the current-level opponents. Seems they could've allowed for some increase in magnitude/duration/some appropriate characteristic of spells along with experience in that school, analogous to weapon skill?
 
Bethesda nerfed magic bad in this game which is sad because the effects look very cool. Especially blizzard, firestorm and lightening spells.
 

DrunkenMage

Intoxicated Arch-Mage
Oblivion Mage was OP. Unless you came across a Breton, they wouldn't drop dead as quickly. Or if you had the misfortune of rolling a Pure Mage and joined the arena. Bit of an "Oh, plops" opponent in that quest line.
 
Yeah they nerfed magic bad in Skyrim. When I can buff weapons and gear to do base 500-2000 damage with no enchantments it makes magic lame. Rather use bow and range to kill smelly Falmer and chaurus in the distance.
 

Ra'Aryx

New Member
I guess that's really it- with magic the way they have it set up, once you get to a level that you can use a particular spell, then all you can do from that point on is use it more times without exhausting yourself. If there were a bunch more levels of spells of increasing strength, that might have been ok.
As it is, though, it would be like if once you got to have an ebony weapon, then all you could do to improve performance is get more stamina and use less stamina in combat as your level progressed- no skill points to increase the damage of your strikes, no special perks for additional critical hit damage nor any to increase the rapidity you can strike with, no smithing the weapon to damage capacity completely beyond rationality, nor any adding of magical enchantments to overpower it even more.
IMHO, I think I'd rather see those weapon/smithing/combat skill perks and buffs constrained than push up magic to match- which seems it would end up having everything in the game be a one-shot kill. I've kinda kept that under control on my warriors (admittedly not very strictly, but to some extent), and I rather prefer that pseudo-balance to the unstoppable terminators that you can make them into so easily.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
it does annoy me that I can't use spells from horseback. I can use bows and one handed and two handed weapons while riding a horse and continue to raise my levels with those skills, but no spell casting.
 
Yeah me too! I do like using magic for the fun factor but it is not practical in combat except for supplement like invisibility and things like that. It is too easy to accidentally kill your follower with the offensive spells unfortunately. Still- blizzard and fire storm look cool and are fun to play with.
 

Papoy

DON'T EXPECT SPOILER WARNINGS FROM ME
Yeah me too! I do like using magic for the fun factor but it is not practical in combat except for supplement like invisibility and things like that. It is too easy to accidentally kill your follower with the offensive spells unfortunately. Still- blizzard and fire storm look cool and are fun to play with.
Equip your follower with capped magic and elemental resistance and he/she wont mind getting showered in fireballs here and there. I know mine don't.
 

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