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sticky runes

Well-Known Member
I'm wondering if anyone has found it useful to purchase high level mage robes and hoods (for example Adept and Expert robes) during the early stages of playing a mage build.

I ask because these robes are very expensive to buy early in the game (we're looking at around 4 grand upwards) and they are very difficult to come by, compared to suits of armour. You can craft your own armour using the smithing skill, but you can't tailor your own robes. Armour can also be taken from dead bandits, but enemy mages only ever seem to wear those crappy black robes. You can even just find suits of armour lying around in dungeons and people's homes, but I don't think I've seen any adept or expert robes strewn about for the taking or handed to me as a reward for completing a mini quest.

So yeah, for those of you who wear robes, did you ever fork out for a powerful robe early, and did it work out well for you?
 

Nighthiker77

Well-Known Member
The royal vampire armor is in the castle, and sometimes you can get regular vampire armor with robe enchantments off of vampires

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

Jurgarik Greycloak

Techno master of Tamriel.
I would say no, unless you are not using the enchanting skill. even early levels for a mage, you should use enchanting to make destruction spells cheaper to cast. Outside of that school, the Archmage's robes are clearly the better, so join the college and complete that questline as fast as you can.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
I would say no, unless you are not using the enchanting skill. even early levels for a mage, you should use enchanting to make destruction spells cheaper to cast. Outside of that school, the Archmage's robes are clearly the better, so join the college and complete that questline as fast as you can.
I'm not into rushing questlines because I create stories to go with my characters and play through slowly (no fast travel) so that's why I'm wondering if its worth buying a high level robe quite early with a new character. When I play as a warrior, it's always easy to find a new suit of armour to wear, but whenever I've played a mage I spent ages wearing the same robe.
 

Jurgarik Greycloak

Techno master of Tamriel.
I would say no, unless you are not using the enchanting skill. even early levels for a mage, you should use enchanting to make destruction spells cheaper to cast. Outside of that school, the Archmage's robes are clearly the better, so join the college and complete that questline as fast as you can.
I'm not into rushing questlines because I create stories to go with my characters and play through slowly (no fast travel) so that's why I'm wondering if its worth buying a high level robe quite early with a new character. When I play as a warrior, it's always easy to find a new suit of armour to wear, but whenever I've played a mage I spent ages wearing the same robe.
Enchanting is a key part of being a mage. You are not supposed to buy robes, but enchant your own gear. Summons are also a key part of this, as you need something to keep enemies off you. If a mage, go to fort amol or some other mage-filled place, with a follower, and let the follower and summon do the work killing mages while you loot their robes for disenchanting. If not enchanting, then it it slightly more wothwhile to by robes than to look around, but it is better to just enchant a suit of armor with mage-specific enchants than worrying about robes+Alteration spells.
 

Lady Redpool the Unlifer

Pyro, Spirits Connoisseur, and Soulless Anarchist
Personally, I find it useful to buy the higher level robes, not just for the enchantment for magic cost, but for the higher level regen%. Those are specific to the higher level robes, so even as a mage intending to enchant, it's still better to get the more powerful enchantment, especially prior to hitting 100 enchanting and having a decent magika pool.

As for finding them as loot, I've only ever found the good stuff in chests at the end of dungeons, very, very rarely have I found good robes elsewhere(random mage attacks or challengers usually.)
 

Jurgarik Greycloak

Techno master of Tamriel.
Personally, I find it useful to buy the higher level robes, not just for the enchantment for magic cost, but for the higher level regen%. Those are specific to the higher level robes, so even as a mage intending to enchant, it's still better to get the more powerful enchantment, especially prior to hitting 100 enchanting and having a decent magika pool.

As for finding them as loot, I've only ever found the good stuff in chests at the end of dungeons, very, very rarely have I found good robes elsewhere(random mage attacks or challengers usually.)

Respectfully, I disagree, to an extent. To me, when playing a mage in the early levels 99% of the gold I make is reserved to upgrading my spell repertoire first. Then IF I have a follower, I may spend some on getting them geared to serve as meatshield extraordinaire. It only makes sense late-endgame to worry about robes for myself, and by that time, I have either enchanted gear I enchanted myself, or the archmage robes+Diadem of the savant+magicka regen gear from in the game itself.

Honestly, robes are not worth it because early levels should be spent on increasing your own power as a mage first, not getting robes that look cool or improve the magical abilities you do not have.

Also, for my mage, Valessa Virane, robes are twice as expensive, since she has to buy/find ALL the spell books of a specific level (expert for instance) for the schools of Conjuration, Alteration, and Destruction, as well as reach that skill level to use robes of the appropriate level. so robes are not worth it to me because I have set up a huge set of requirements for the robes. easier to just enchant some clothes and get less benefits from them that I can use no matter what, rather than wait and buy tons of books to get to a certain set of robes.
 
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Lady Redpool the Unlifer

Pyro, Spirits Connoisseur, and Soulless Anarchist
Personally, I find it useful to buy the higher level robes, not just for the enchantment for magic cost, but for the higher level regen%. Those are specific to the higher level robes, so even as a mage intending to enchant, it's still better to get the more powerful enchantment, especially prior to hitting 100 enchanting and having a decent magika pool.

As for finding them as loot, I've only ever found the good stuff in chests at the end of dungeons, very, very rarely have I found good robes elsewhere(random mage attacks or challengers usually.)

Respectfully, I disagree, to an extent. To me, when playing a mage in the early levels 99% of the gold I make is reserved to upgrading my spell repertoire first. Then IF I have a follower, I may spend some on getting them geared to serve as meatshield extraordinaire. It only makes sense late-endgame to worry about robes for myself, and by that time, I have either enchanted gear I enchanted myself, or the archmage robes+Diadem of the savant+magicka regen gear from in the game itself.

Honestly, robes are not worth it because early levels should be spent on increasing your own power as a mage first, not getting robes that look cool or improve the magical abilities you do not have.

Also, for my mage, Valessa Virane, robes are twice as expensive, since she has to buy/find ALL the spell books of a specific level (expert for instance) for the schools of Conjuration, Alteration, and Destruction, as well as reach that skill level to use robes of the appropriate level. so robes are not worth it to me because I have set up a huge set of requirements for the robes. easier to just enchant some clothes and get less benefits from them that I can use no matter what, rather than wait and buy tons of books to get to a certain set of robes.
I think the fundamental difference between our point of views are restrictions you've put on your character, and the way we each approach spending money.

I don't buy spells I won't use, at that point it's just cluttering up my menu. I don't buy the flesh-spells, cloak spells, ward spells, runes, rally, or zombie spells because I won't use them and having them cluttering my menu seems an unnecessary waste of money and screen space. There are exceptions, such as a necromancer themed character, or my summoned knight character, but for the most part, I'm conservative in my spell purchasing.

In addition, I find that the cost of buying myself some higher level robes early is about twice the cost of enchanting my own, but takes far less time to accomplish because I don't spend time leveling my enchanting early. It's something I do late game, and I most definitely want the higher level robes to disenchant, because the enchantment is actually different from novice, adept, master, etc. On the robes themselves, they have a secondary effect of magicka regen that is higher the more powerful the robes, that does not change with your enchanting level. I vastly prefer Master robes enchantment to that of the archmage's robes because of the regen rate.

Finally: I don't find that I have very much trouble making enough money early on to purchase the robes. I find myself easily able to afford what I deem "starting gear". Generally adept or higher level robes for my chosen school that will last me quite awhile. At the point where I find I want to upgrade them I either have access to the higher level robes(both finding them for sale and having the money), or I have achieved an enchanting level that allows me to craft better than what I have. I do find however that it is quite awhile before I can actually enchant better than mid-level robes, and in the meantime, those robes and associated perks do me far better in combat situations than simply having a variety of spells at my disposal. In fact, it generally allows me the flexibility to put a few less levels into my magicka pool, and put a few into health so I don't get one-shotted if I make a mistake in combat and actually take a hit.

In general, it seems that our differing opinion lies in how we each approach playing a mage character, and what personal restrictions we place on them individually.
 

Eric_The_Generic

Hawquinel, Wood Elf, Level 62
You will be able to obtain the Archmages Robes at the end of the College of Winterhold´s main questline.
They are arguably the most powerful robes in the entire game.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
thanks for all the comments.

Well, it does make sense for high quality robes to be difficult to get hold of in Skyrim compared to different types of armour, as it's a country where most people favour might over magic. So when playing as a mage in Skyrim, you make do with whatever you can scrounge up.

I think for my latest mage character I am going to splash out on a robe as soon as I get the chance, just so I can feel like my character is being a bit self indulgent and wearing his fancy robe as a symbol of defiance against all those Nords who are all about iron and steel!
 

Harc

Big Hog
If you pan on completing the college questline I would say no. Not just for the sake of obtaining the powerful Arch Mage robes at the end, but also due to the fact that as you progress in the questline you will be rewarded with magical apparel such as circlets, rings, necklaces, etc. Just my two cents on the thing.
 

Specter of Death

Omnipresent Moderator
Staff member
I'm currently running and rping a pure mage in game, and though they are expensive, I myself have been buying them. Mainly to simulate my character's progression as a mage from Novice to Apprentice etc.

If you have the money to spare, and you want some more RP immersion, I'd say that they are definitely worth it. Other gear with similar attributes is hard to just randomly come by, and at early levels enchanting your own at the same effect is virtually impossible unless you grind your enchanting to 100 before anything.

Sure you can say in order to play the "best mage possible", then you'd do it differently. However somebody saying "you should be doing this..." is inherently wrong. This is Elder Scrolls. You shouldn't "be doing" anything. Play the best way that fits to your play style and more specifically your character.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
My latest mage has been kind of making his living as a potion merchant. I've always utilized alchemy with every character I've ever created, but with this one I really have been picking every single flower and catching every single butterfly on the roadside (when you go back the way you came there are always more ingredients you've overlooked) and selling all the potions and poisons I don't need to use. My speech and alchemy perks are enabling me to make stupid amounts of money. I've also been restricting my spell choices, for example, only using fire destruction spells, so no spending money or perks on ice or lightning. Eventually we all get to the stage where we have the money to throw at luxuries and gain it back quite quickly.
 

Specter of Death

Omnipresent Moderator
Staff member
I concur! With my mage, I am roleplaying that she is trying to follow in the footsteps and being as "masterful" with magic as the first mages of old. Who didn't worry about schools or classifications, rather usefulness for every situation, foe and location (and of course discovering new magic spells and effects). For example, while a lot of the creatures and people (nords) in skyrim resist frost, fire magic works well. However, there are some creatures and people to be encountered who strongly resist fire; like dunmer or flame atronachs for example. So my character would judge specifically what type of magic would be good for the situation.

So for a more detailed example: Let's say I am in a position of fighting 3 Mages, and they are all too strong to be influenced by illusion spells like frenzy or pacify. One of them is a Dunmer who conjures ice atronochs and uses frost magic, the other is a Necromancer Breton who has resurrected an Orc Berserker, and the third is farther back behind the two, lobbing ice storms and fireballs my way. What would the best way to deal with the situation? 1. For the Dunmer and his Atronachs, I need to answer him - so I summon my most powerful fire atronach, and then get out my chain lightning spell to blast onto him because lightning does damage to both health AND magicka (this is often forgotten, lightening is fantastic against mages). 2. With a ward up to resist the lobbing of spells, along with dodging as much as I can, for the Breton and his Orc, I need to use dragon flesh to bulk myself up and tank the melee of the orc. While focusing heavily on the breton with lightening magic along with the dunmer - the quicker I get rid of the necromancer, the quicker that orc turns to dust. 3. Once the Dunmer is dealt with, I replace my flame atronach with a storm atronach, which I summon as close to the farthest foe as possible, because again, lightening does health and magic damage. By the time I have defeated the Breton, my storm atronach will have drained at least 1/4 of last mage's health and magicka, while he himself has depleted at least half of his own magicka. So I blast Ice storm at him to keep him pinned, and join my storm atronach with lightning bolts to take out as much magicka and health as I can. He'd run out of offensive options, and would be forced to switch to melee, which my still in effect dragon skin resists until his death.

Now reading that back, it sounds way overly complicated. Like it would be an incredibly difficult perk spread to fill out in order to even make this effective. But being a mage isn't and has never been an easy task in any of the Lore, so why would I make it easy on myself when I can have the fun of strategizing that entire fake scenario? Not to mention, the immense amount of pride I would feel after achieving victory in that battle. OH, important to note, I am playing on Legendary. Because realism.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
So far my new mage hasn't had that many encounters with enemy mages and fire atronachs. If I do I use the sparks spell (I'm playing a Dunmer and they start off with sparks, and you find the book for it in the torturer's chamber in Helgen) I was also fortunate to discover a mace with the damage magicka enchantment very early so that's become my friend against enemy magic users. But so far its only been the odd rogue mage I've encountered in the wild. I've yet to enter a dungeon full of enemy mages, so I might start investing in lightning when that opportunity comes up.

The reason I focused on fire perks is because at the early stages I was mostly fighting animals while I was out picking ingredients and fire is effective enough for wolves and spiders and the odd bandit. My character wants to be a Dwemer scholar like Calcelmo so he's avoiding Nord ruins (no draugr so no turn undead spells) and looking out for Dwemer dungeons.
 

Kohlar the Unkilled

Time for some ale
When playing a pure mage character, (rare, for me), I certainly buy robes. Early, struggling mages spend their hard-earned septims on robes and tomes, thus improving their status. Remaining funds are allocated to bread and ale, and mayhaps some cheese. :beermug:
 
I'm wondering if anyone has found it useful to purchase high level mage robes and hoods (for example Adept and Expert robes) during the early stages of playing a mage build.

I ask because these robes are very expensive to buy early in the game (we're looking at around 4 grand upwards) and they are very difficult to come by, compared to suits of armour. You can craft your own armour using the smithing skill, but you can't tailor your own robes. Armour can also be taken from dead bandits, but enemy mages only ever seem to wear those crappy black robes. You can even just find suits of armour lying around in dungeons and people's homes, but I don't think I've seen any adept or expert robes strewn about for the taking or handed to me as a reward for completing a mini quest.

So yeah, for those of you who wear robes, did you ever fork out for a powerful robe early, and did it work out well for you?

I've been playing my most recent mage character the way you do - slowly, and building her up as a character. I've perhaps been playing even slower than you have, because for this one I decided to keep an online journal of her exploits. My plan is, once she feels like a 'proper mage' instead of just a novice, to buy a set of unenchanted robes and apply her own enchantment - as a sort of right-of-passage.

Even when I've not played like that, though, I've only ever bought a set of Master robes once - and that was because they looked pretty!
 

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