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TheDovahkin

Member
So I've just finished the College quest line and now I don't know what to did with my mage character. I've done the main quest line a million times and I've done all the other factions hundreds of times. I'm also playing on PS3 so I can't get any mods to spice my game up.
 
Three fairly lengthy objectives you might try. Collect all the Dragonpriest masks, all of the Stones of Barenziah , and collect all the Daedric artifacts.
 

LazuIi

Battle-Mage
This is a somewhat obscure task, but try to read every Spell Tome in your game (Dawnguard and Dragonborn ones if you have DLCs) Mages are also usually seen as scholars so you could try collecting all the Skill books too (or all books in the whole of Skyrim like I am lmao)
 

Pete

Well-Known Member
put the game down for 6 months, then try it anew - and that next time play in a wholly different style. For me it was 2 years to 'cool off'. Now working on a mage character who is a companion. Interesting...
 

Papoy

DON'T EXPECT SPOILER WARNINGS FROM ME
You sound like a veteran who has 2k+ hours in game and asks for anything new to encounter. There are videos on youtube about that stuff. I don't know what kind of mage you're playing, is it destruction/conjuration or smh else? I have jack-of-all trades and master of all, and am still having fun with him. So, maybe try learning every spell ingame? Along with at least "adepting" every other mage tree on which you're not relying too much. If you did this already, then there isn't much to do atop of what others mentioned.

Or you can try and get pc. Cheapest one in today's market is be able to run this game, no problem (not SSE, but vanilla). But buying a pc just to play this game isn't a good investment I suppose.
 

TheDovahkin

Member
You sound like a veteran who has 2k+ hours in game and asks for anything new to encounter. There are videos on youtube about that stuff. I don't know what kind of mage you're playing, is it destruction/conjuration or smh else? I have jack-of-all trades and master of all, and am still having fun with him. So, maybe try learning every spell ingame? Along with at least "adepting" every other mage tree on which you're not relying too much. If you did this already, then there isn't much to do atop of what others mentioned.

Or you can try and get pc. Cheapest one in today's market is be able to run this game, no problem (not SSE, but vanilla). But buying a pc just to play this game isn't a good investment I suppose.

Yes I have probably got thousands of hours. And it's difficult now to find things to do. I spend a lot of time on the forums now, more time then I spend on the game. My mage is purely destruction, although he uses restoration to heal (obviously).
 

Specter of Death

Omnipresent Moderator
Staff member
I’ve been playing a mage recently, who is focused on learning all that she can. So I’ve been going about doing quests that while roleplaying simulate this. My favorite quests are the “Shalidor’s Insights” quests given to you by Urag in the Arcaneum in the College. Essentially you must go and retrieve these specific rare tomes, and everytime that you do Urag will take a few days to translate them and when he is done he will give you a cool buff or power for your mage. There are quite a few of these missions to complete as well. You’ll have to go about retrieving a few other miscellaneous books for him until you get the option to do another, but for me this adds quite a bit of depth to the game - especially if you read all the books you acquire for him.

Another task I’ve given my mage roleplay wise is discovering every ancient nord artifact (dragon maks, unique armors and weapons etc.), and learning every dragon shout and discovering all the word walls. My character in particular isn’t the dragonborn and doesn’t use the actual shouts, but to me it would make sense for her to want to discover all the different ancient passages.

I have also gone around the entire province diving into ruins to “study” their contents within, and learning all I can about the ancient peoples who lived or were burried inside - and if they have been awoken, why and how did that happen. This gives you a ton of unique side quests to stumble upon as well, such as the Gaulder’s Amulets quest.

I hope this gives you some inspiration! :D
 

Ancano

High Justiciar
I’ve been playing a mage recently, who is focused on learning all that she can. So I’ve been going about doing quests that while roleplaying simulate this. My favorite quests are the “Shalidor’s Insights” quests given to you by Urag in the Arcaneum in the College. Essentially you must go and retrieve these specific rare tomes, and everytime that you do Urag will take a few days to translate them and when he is done he will give you a cool buff or power for your mage. There are quite a few of these missions to complete as well. You’ll have to go about retrieving a few other miscellaneous books for him until you get the option to do another, but for me this adds quite a bit of depth to the game - especially if you read all the books you acquire for him.

Another task I’ve given my mage roleplay wise is discovering every ancient nord artifact (dragon maks, unique armors and weapons etc.), and learning every dragon shout and discovering all the word walls. My character in particular isn’t the dragonborn and doesn’t use the actual shouts, but to me it would make sense for her to want to discover all the different ancient passages.

I have also gone around the entire province diving into ruins to “study” their contents within, and learning all I can about the ancient peoples who lived or were burried inside - and if they have been awoken, why and how did that happen. This gives you a ton of unique side quests to stumble upon as well, such as the Gaulder’s Amulets quest.

I hope this gives you some inspiration! :D

This. It makes the most sense out of almost anything I've read on here recently about being a Mage in general. Experience has also shown the Mage's College is one of the harbors of 'sanity' in Skyrim and is in general a great place to start the game, if you can get there. Some Alternate start mods will set you down pretty close to the College... still can be a bit rough getting to it though. However this is what Mages do and is a great 'departure' from the tangled choices, Dragon spam and unrealistic politics in the game that makes you feel like you're forced to choose to make the wrong decision.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
I like to play a mage who doesn't go to the mages college right away. I'll start off by buying a few spell books while in Riverwood and practice with the spells on the local wildlife (just like I might take up hunting if I'm playing the early stages of a warrior or rogue, to hone my stealth and archery skills) practicing spells on wildlife is particularly useful for an illusionist, as the spells can be used to calm animals or make them come to you.

If you have cleared the college quests, then it might be an idea to use other quests as opportunities to hone your skills in the magic schools you haven't been using much. So seek out bandit hideouts and animal caves to practice illusion spells on, try using courage spells on a follower, seek out Nord ruins to practice turn undead spells on, practice a new fighting style by using protection spells alongside weapons or bound weapons, or seek out all the standing stones and try using their powers for a couple of in-game weeks to see how your character likes them. Once you reach the highest level in any magic school, the college professor for that school will give you a specific quest to unlock a powerful new spell.

And if you have the Dragonborn DLC, become Neloth's assistant, he'll give you plenty of work to keep you busy and his apprentice Talvas has lots of new spells available to purchase.
 
So I've just finished the College quest line and now I don't know what to did with my mage character. I've done the main quest line a million times and I've done all the other factions hundreds of times. I'm also playing on PS3 so I can't get any mods to spice my game up.

Once my mage character became arch-mage, I RPed her as leading the College in a new direction, one better suited to fostering relations with the Nords.

It started out simply enough. While visiting Windhelm for supplies, she became embroiled in a murder investigation. Brelyna said it was none of their concern, but my character decided that it would be a PR boon if the Arch-mage of the College of Winterhold succeeded in stopping a serial killer, and stop him she did!

From there it mushroomed into a generally benevolent direction for all College mages. If a mage encountered troubles they could reasonably be suspected to solve, they were mandated to do so - Arch-mage included. Any and all assistance that the mages of the College could render to Skyrim could only help their cause, and reduce fear and apprehension. It was a war to win hearts and minds.

An additional directive - inspired, actually, by the recovery of the Necromancer's amulet in that murder quest - became to secure any and all potentially dangerous magical artefacts for study and storage in the College. If it was possible for a non-mage to harm themselves, or a malevolent mage to harm others, with any arcane artefact, it was to be confiscated and returned to the College. Under Giselle's leadership, the College of Winterhold became Nirn's version of the Brotherhood of Steel in a lot of ways.

This approach invited exploration and interference. The College could do good, prevent harm to innocents, and improve its standing in Skyrim simply by checking every nook and sticking its nose into any public affair that might be solved through magical means.

It was my excuse for rambling around the wilderness, anyway.
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
So I've just finished the College quest line and now I don't know what to did with my mage character. I've done the main quest line a million times and I've done all the other factions hundreds of times. I'm also playing on PS3 so I can't get any mods to spice my game up.

Once my mage character became arch-mage, I RPed her as leading the College in a new direction, one better suited to fostering relations with the Nords.

It started out simply enough. While visiting Windhelm for supplies, she became embroiled in a murder investigation. Brelyna said it was none of their concern, but my character decided that it would be a PR boon if the Arch-mage of the College of Winterhold succeeded in stopping a serial killer, and stop him she did!

From there it mushroomed into a generally benevolent direction for all College mages. If a mage encountered troubles they could reasonably be suspected to solve, they were mandated to do so - Arch-mage included. Any and all assistance that the mages of the College could render to Skyrim could only help their cause, and reduce fear and apprehension. It was a war to win hearts and minds.

An additional directive - inspired, actually, by the recovery of the Necromancer's amulet in that murder quest - became to secure any and all potentially dangerous magical artefacts for study and storage in the College. If it was possible for a non-mage to harm themselves, or a malevolent mage to harm others, with any arcane artefact, it was to be confiscated and returned to the College. Under Giselle's leadership, the College of Winterhold became Nirn's version of the Brotherhood of Steel in a lot of ways.

This approach invited exploration and interference. The College could do good, prevent harm to innocents, and improve its standing in Skyrim simply by checking every nook and sticking its nose into any public affair that might be solved through magical means.

It was my excuse for rambling around the wilderness, anyway.
I like that idea. I bet you get lots of nagging from Collette about using Restoration spells to clear out undead beasties in tombs, while Phinis warns that poking around in ancient burial grounds will antagonize the Nords further!
 
So I've just finished the College quest line and now I don't know what to did with my mage character. I've done the main quest line a million times and I've done all the other factions hundreds of times. I'm also playing on PS3 so I can't get any mods to spice my game up.

Once my mage character became arch-mage, I RPed her as leading the College in a new direction, one better suited to fostering relations with the Nords.

It started out simply enough. While visiting Windhelm for supplies, she became embroiled in a murder investigation. Brelyna said it was none of their concern, but my character decided that it would be a PR boon if the Arch-mage of the College of Winterhold succeeded in stopping a serial killer, and stop him she did!

From there it mushroomed into a generally benevolent direction for all College mages. If a mage encountered troubles they could reasonably be suspected to solve, they were mandated to do so - Arch-mage included. Any and all assistance that the mages of the College could render to Skyrim could only help their cause, and reduce fear and apprehension. It was a war to win hearts and minds.

An additional directive - inspired, actually, by the recovery of the Necromancer's amulet in that murder quest - became to secure any and all potentially dangerous magical artefacts for study and storage in the College. If it was possible for a non-mage to harm themselves, or a malevolent mage to harm others, with any arcane artefact, it was to be confiscated and returned to the College. Under Giselle's leadership, the College of Winterhold became Nirn's version of the Brotherhood of Steel in a lot of ways.

This approach invited exploration and interference. The College could do good, prevent harm to innocents, and improve its standing in Skyrim simply by checking every nook and sticking its nose into any public affair that might be solved through magical means.

It was my excuse for rambling around the wilderness, anyway.
I like that idea. I bet you get lots of nagging from Collette about using Restoration spells to clear out undead beasties in tombs, while Phinis warns that poking around in ancient burial grounds will antagonize the Nords further!

Yeah, but she's the arch-mage so she can just tell them both to go to Sarthaal :D
 

sticky runes

Well-Known Member
Colette Marence is kind of a necessary evil if you want to be a Restoration mage, as she has all the best spells, but she doesn't exactly come across as caring and compassionate with her "me me me" attitude.

A better option is Alessandra in Riften who gives a bunch of free highly powerful Restoration spells for completing her little dagger quest! (you need to be at a high level beforehand though)
 

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