Becoming Arch-Mage

I suspect most players find that the requirements needed to become Arch-Mage are pretty pathetic. A spell to get past Faralda, learn a Ward spell with Tolfdir and then defeat Arcano. None of this has any requirement for actually becoming proficient as a Mage, nor is there any evidence that you would make a good Arch-mage. So, I have tried a scenario, requiring that you demonstrate a range of skills, rather like becoming chair of an academic department.


Be a good colleague. You need to have the rest of the faculty believe you are able to work with everyone. So, it is necessary to do a favor for all who need them. Some are trivial (Phinis Gester), others fairly complex (Arniel Gane), but you must satisfy everyone.


Be good with students. You have to help all three to the point where they will be a follower.


Demonstrate a commitment to learning. Have every member of the college who can, train you in their discipline, at least once.


Have a deep understanding of the discipline. You must reach at least Level 50 in each area of magic. You don’t need to take perks in them all.


Be a Master in at least one field, with a Level 90 ability.


Finally, after these have been achieved, how your commitment to the College by defeating Ancarno and having the Eye of Magnus removed.


I am playing this right now, and have added the requirement of no armor or physical weapons. The forced interactions with all of the members certainly make it feel more of a journey and I have found the process more satisfying than the vanilla version.


If anyone has comments/suggestions, or ideas for modifications in other areas, I would like to hear them

I don’t have any suggestions but this is a brilliant idea


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I always thought the maze in Labyrinthian should have been a test required by the Arch Mage. The diadem of the Savant is a pretty good reward as well, although I never understood why there is a copy of the same item sitting around outside Froki's shack.

I also like to make Forbidden Legends an essential quest for when I join the mage college. You find a Gauldur amulet in Saarthal and discover the story behind it in the Arcanium, so I think pursuing that quest seems like a big deal for members of the college.

If you’re gonna have mods you can add that quest that got removed where you find the missing students. Also you could incorporate the strange things in the Midden like the Atronach Forge or the Forgotten Names quest with the Dramora pirate.


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Speaking of mods, there's immersive college of winterhold. Adds quest that covers how Winterhold got destroyed in Great Collapse (i think thats the name, correct me if im wrong). NPCs undertake lessons that you can take as well (earning exp while doing so), overall college environment is improved, et cetera. Definitely worth checking out when you're role playing a mage.

Everything that can be done in vanilla you've already covered so if you want to improve the experience, mods are your only option.

I like this idea.

That's kinda what I do anyway. I like to RP as an Arch-mage afterwards too - I go around helping the citizens of Skyrim to try and improve diplomatic relations and win hearts and minds. I take Brelyna with me as we scour the land for potentially dangerous magical artefacts (including the Daedric ones) which we then store in the Arch-Mage's quarters for protection/later study. That kind of thing.

I always thought that the complaints about the College of Winterhold were a bit odd. You get out of it what you put into it. It really doesn't lead you as much as the rest of the factions do, that much is true. You can just blow through it as a warrior if you really want to, but then you'd be missing the point. I always got a 'Hogwarts' vibe from it all when playing it as you've described (And I have never read Harry Potter, so I don't know if i've used that term correctly).

My favourite part was Brelyna's weird experiment quest. It really cemented the feeling of 'magic gone mad'.

Hogwarts can suck anal warts. Plenty of fantasy books had magic schools in them before Harry Tosspot came along.