Pure mage advice

[Ree Jay]

As long as ive had skyrim i pretty much only been doing pure melee or melee and magic builds. But ive never tried a pure mage before. So i need some advice on pretty much everyhing.....stats, perks, armour, quests, etc. Also what made me want to do this build was an article i read about making a sith lord type of character in skyrim.... So hes gonna be evil.

 

[Kalin of High Rock]

A pure mage does not wear armor. If you want to be a proper mage, you'll wear robes and think of the Alteration school of magic as a substitute for light or heavy armor with its oak/stone/iron/steel/ebony flesh line of spells. Invest your perks there.

Runes are a great way to level up your destruction, use them often.

Wards are your friends, they block all magic attacks. This includes unrelenting force shouts from higher level drogar and dragon breath attacks.

Conjouration is your friend. Summon daedra, zombies, and elementals to distract your enemies from your soft, supple unarmored mage-flesh.

With proper use of enchants, you can cut down mana use in a school of magic 100%. So enchantment is really something you would like to pursue.

 

[Valyn]

Make sure you put a lot into alteration and health, because pretty much anything can kill you after level 30.

 

[Dragon Kin]

I only invested two points in health and the rest in magic, you don't need stamina or a ton of health, the more magika the better!

Basically you only need to invest in the magic tree perk wise

Destruction - choose between fire and ice as your main attack spell (your preference) and then have storm as your second for mages (it drains there mana) it's not wise to utilize all three types of destro spells it's a waste of perks. I personally ran with fire and storm. Storm was my favorite and used it more than fire. Also impact is a must! Staggers opponents and keeps them away from your vulnerable self

Restoration - as a Mage you will need healing spells because of the lack of armor. Get the perk that refills your magic. Duel casting fast healing works very well in a squeeze.

Alteration - use one of the flesh spells before battle. Get all the Mage armor perks (beware that using a dragon priest mask negates them, so choose between Mage armor perks or masks, I chose mask)

Conjuration - choose between atronachs and the undead, and get those perks. Great to draw the attention off you in battle, I went with atronachs (storm)

Illusion - totally up to you, personally I skipped this tree for enchanting because I wanted to make really good amulets and rings for myself. never use this tree much sorry I can't give much input.

Enchanting - id use this over illusion, get the 5/5 stronger enchantment perks.


For gear:

Do the college of winterhold quest line ASAP (right after Helgen) and eventually you will get the best robes in the game. The archmage robes. You will be set for robes the entire game. You will also get Morokei mask at the end of the quest line and it grants 100% more magic regeneration. This mask is the best for mages until you get near the end of the main quest, it begins with an N i forget what it's called. When you get it switch to that.

Savos Aren amulet is the best until you get really high enchanting then you can make a better one, u get it when u get the arch Mage robes.

Get a ring that increases magic or regeneration until u can make a sick one. Ring of recharging is good.

For boots i would get a pair that makes u move silent like shrouded or nightingale


Here's a sample build to go on, I just chose atronachs and ice spells and enchanting over illusion for this one. Also didn't get mage armor perk since I rather have DP masks. I never needed any perks like speech or the other non magic ones but that's up to you.

Skyrim Perk Calculator - Plan the perks for your Skyrim character before spending them!


Hope I could be of help, let me know if you have any more questions! Sorry this was posted on my iPhone and there may be grammar mistakes.

 

[Drewski]

The dual casting Impact Perk is your best friend, as a destruction specialist. You can stun lock anything.

As for Hp...well before I deleted my large stack of old chars, I had a lvl 45 Pure Destruction mage with only 150 Hp. Nothing ever got in melee range of him (for obvious reasons). He countered his lack of HP by being sneaky.

Still he was just too exhausting to play. Miss once with a dual cast spell, and he was dead.

Some may relish the challenge though.

 

[Valyn]

Oh, and i forgot to mention that there is a perk in the illusion tree, i think its called Aspect of Terror that increases your fire damage.

 

[Psiberzerker]

Technically, a Pure Mage doesn't wear armor, just Robes, and a Hood. I usually work my way up to Master Robes, which look like a trench coat on males (Like Tolfdir) though you can do the College of Winterhold for Archmage's Robes, and Morokei for 200% more magicka regen.

That's usually a bit too squishy for most beginners, so I usually wear Heavy Armor Boots/Gauntlets, Robes, and a Dragon Priest Mask for basic defense. You can also invest in Alteration, to cast Oakflesh, and more powerful protection spells. The master level one, Dragonhide, is the same level of protection as capped out armor (80%) but for only 30 seconds (45 with Stability) with a 3 second charge up, during which you're rooted to the spot, and can't do anything else, except be staggered to interrupt it. However, _flesh spells layer with physical armor (instead of stacking, one is counted first, then the other.) So, you can cast it over your boots, gauntlets, and Mask to be very well protected, with somewhat less when it wears off so you're not 1shotted before you can recast.

Conjuration is extremely powerful. You're talking a Pure Mage, so I'll skip on Bound Weapons. Atronachs are basically artillery, Flamers are fast, and light, but explode when they die to possibly take out several enemies at once. Frosties can Tank, and beat down extremely tough monsters (while you support it,) but cold is the most common resistance in the game. Stormies fire lightning bolts, which NPCs can't dodge, and shoot down Dragons extremely well. Necromancy is cool for impromtu "Followers". You can't command them, but you can load up a corpse, animate it, then fast travel home to carry quite a load. The only other important conjuration effect is Soul Trap, which can fill soul gems. Flaming Familiar is a self guided fireball, that costs nearly nothing to cast, and levels extremely quickly with the way you can spam it. You have to kill one of the harder Dragon Priests to get it, though.

Destruction is your fairly straight forward offense skill. Use mostly Fire, because it cost the least magicka, and as a secondary effect, keeps doing damage. Pulse Flames instead of leaving it on, and the burning effect stacks to kill the enemy faster than just hosing them down. Firebolt is the most magicka/damage efficient spell. Funes are a poor man's Fireball (or Frost/Shock.) You can buy them as soon as you get to Farengar, and with the Apprentice perk, it's a handy way to hurt a lot of people at low level. You can also cast it at your feet while you run away, and anyone chasing you will get blowed up. Adept tier spells are Area of Effect, thpugh Chain Lightning isn't as reliable for colateral damage. Ice Storm is the best, because it sweeps a long line you can kite the enemy into, and slows them. (It also instantly detonates Flaming Familiar, and can be cast right through cover.) Flame Cloak can be found on the Scorched Cape, an unmarked spit of land between Dawnstar, and Solitude. Follow the coast, look for the flames, and pick it up. Very nice for burning several meleers as you run through the fray, but don't stand there, and Tank. The other cloaks you can buy, and the secondary effects are decent, but Flame Cloak is the best. Wall spells are largely misnamed. They're really puddles of damage, and you can throw down a road of them for enemies to run down advancing, or chasing you around the battlefield. (The rest of the Expert Tier are basically like the Apprentice spells, only more powerful, and expensive.) You can also get dual casting/Impact to stunlock individuals (or crowds with Ice Storm) but you lose a lot of Magicka efficiency in the process. Augment those elements ASAP, they also effect other shools, enchantments, and shouts (like Fire/Frost breath.)

Illusion is an advanced school. Can be extremely powerful, but you really have to know what you're doing, and you can't really be successful with it as your only offense. I'll leave it for it's own post, if you're interested.

Restoration is mostly healing, but also has some other useful effects. It's also got the most perks to help you regenerate magicka, stamina (with healing spells) and so forth. Wards are tricky. They don't stop arrows, at all. They also don't do much against Melee damage, except shatter, stunning you. Powerful Magic spells can also break them. What they do do, increadibly well is stop Dragon Breath cold. Not a single point of damage gets through, as long as you can hold it up. Unfortunately, the also drain the heck out of you. Once you get the Ward Absorb perk, though, it can absorb Magicka to power spells in the other hand. (Usually Lightning Bolt for anti-dragon.) Guardian Circle is quite possibly the best Master level spell in the game. It turns undead, which is okay, but also heals you, constantly while standing in it. Dragon Priests also can't cross it, though they're too powerful to be turned. This means, you can either trap them inside, so they can't get away, or use it to block them in a corner. All of my characters at least carry scrolls or GC for this.

 

[Psiberzerker]

Battle Tactics: As you can see, with all the schools, spells, and perks, this is a bit of a complex subject. Pardon me for running on, but there's really no other way to do it.

Your usual combo in the wilderness should be Offense/Defense (Doesn't matter which hands, like it does with weapons/shields.) Oak/Stone/Ebony Flesh, and Flame Cloak is a good wilderness set, in case you get jumped by a Sabercat. The cloak also kills Wolves, Skeevers, Skeletons, and other weenies without any effort on your part. As soon as you hear a Dragon, Flesh up, and swap in a Ward. You'll want Lightning, because neither type is resistant to it, and you don't have to lead them on the wing. Once your duration spells are up, switch to your Bolts (I like firebolt) and KEEP MOVING.

Your best defense is Evasion, and if you're in robes, with nothing but 2 hands full of magic, you're completely unencumbered. I like to Altercast Firebolts, release one, while another is charging for maximum ROF. This is as close to Run&Gun as you can get in Skyrim. Also, this means you can cast 2 of the same spell, even with Dual Cast (for impact, otherwise DDC is a useless perk) then switch to Impact for that 1 big bad enemy you don't want anywhere near you. When the melee gets to you, you don't want to be there, so run right through it, setting as many on fire as possible with your cloak, and swap to Runes/Walls on the way through.

Cast them at your feet. Anyone on your tail is going to be on fire, and encountering damage the whole way. (I call this the Fire Road.) Hopefully you still have some Magicka/potions left, or they're all dead. Wuld away if you have to (doesn't cost Magicka!) You can also FRD to clear a path if you get surrounded, or cornered.

My favorite combo is Flaming Familiar, and Ice Storm. If you have the former, you don't need Fireball, which costs a lot more, and doesn't chase the enemy down, nor bite them a couple times before setting them on fire. Nothing is significantly resistant to Cold, and Fire, and the IS detonates the FF on impact, so they're hit with both at once. Any survivors are on fire, and slowed, while you're still running around, probably giggling maniacally.

 

[Psiberzerker]

First time Pure Mages should go for Altmer. 50 extra Magicka, the only Stat boost in the game is an immense advantage learning the ropes. Dual wield Flames, and Altercast pulses to get used to this trick. Watch in amazement how much faster this kills everything except Flame Atronachs (which are immune.)

Run straight for Farengar, or take the cart to Winterhold. You can Save scum for Firebolt, or Flame Atronach from Faralda (or others, pick one of these) then talk to Mirabelle for Novice Robes of Destruction, and Tolfdir for Lesser Ward. (He'll also sell you Oakflesh.) Tool up, and do Under Saarthal before going back to the main quest. Don't forget to grab the staff off the table (In the room with the big Orb, seriously can't miss it.) Wear the Amulet Fragment, and then maybe fast travel back to Riverwood to clean out Bleak Falls Barrow.

When you drop off the stone, buy Lightning Bolt off Farengar, and get out your Ward. This is where timing is a little critical. Wards take a sec to warm up, so as soon as Mirmulnir say "Yol..." put up the ward quick. If you did it right, you will not get staggered, nor take any damage. Hit Highborn for the Magicka to hit him with some Bolts, or just let Irileth, and the boys finish it off. (You can also run the Staff dry pretty quick, if you're out of magicka. The best Enchantment trainer in the game, IMNSHO.)

Hopefully, you healed enough to have some decent restoration, but I doubt you'll be up to Ward Absorb. The important perk is Respite, so you can sprint your Stamina dry, then hit Fast Healing to get it all back. (Really helps with those 7000 steps) Head for Ivarsted, and while in the Rift, you might want to swing by Treva's Watch for Detect Life. (You can buy it, too, but this is an Expensive build, so all the freebies you can get help.) You can also try to clear Halted Stream Camp for Transmute Ore, and make some gold with your Alteration experience. You want Alter/estoration for the perks, Magic Resistance, Respite, Recovery, and so forth.

Here's what i would go for: Skyrim Perk Calculator - Plan the perks for your Skyrim character before spending them! as a lower level, more efficient build. (to work your way up to the level 50 build already posed.) i wouldn't bother with the perks past Augment Elements, instead, you can add Flames, which is the best damage dealer. Also, either add heavy Armor, or Mage armor, depending if you're planning to wear Gauntlets/Boots/mask, or just depending on your spells. Dual casting is optional, though they can give your armor better duration, increase your healing and lead to Impact, the price you pay is more perks/levels, and less magicka efficiency. Impact is, indeed powerful, but not indespensible for those 2 perks, and much more magicka for slightly more damage.

As for Enchanting, a lot of people are going to tell you, repeatedly, to grind it up, and enchant 4 pieces with 25% Fortify Destruction (You can get another school in there with Extra Effect.) This basically means free destruction, BUT it also means not learning how to play a Pure Mage. it's a crutch, Bethesda put magicka in the game for Ballance, and removing it runs the risk of making it too easy. Not telling you not to, just giving you a heads up. You could also enchant Daedric Armor with this, but it wouldn't be a Pure Mage, like the original question. if you do Enchant, I'd probably focus more on Shock/Magic resistance, but that's me. Magicka Regeneration, and good old fashioned Health are some other good ones.

Fortify health means you don't need to sacrifice points spent on magicka. You do not want to run out of this, because it usually means having your health depleted, and going back to your most recent save soon after. You can get Enchanted Rings to disenchant on the floor of Saarthal, down the hall to the left of Arniel Gane. I can't think of anything better for someone just learning how to play a Pure Mage.

I also like to swing by for the Atronach Stone, where you'll almost certainly get attacked by a Dragon. Give Lydia some good arrows, and she'll help you out, you'll want it's Soul. Once you get to the HHG courtyard, Borri will drop Wuld on you, you can spend the soul on it, and then he'll give you "Nah". At that point, you really shouldn't need carts, nor Fast Travel. Sprint yourself dry, Wuldna foreward, and heal your Stamina. With an unencumbered Altmer, you'll be surprized how fast the miles fly by. If you want to hunt, use Detect Life to find game, then either double bolt it, or hit it with fury, and hit Flame Cloak before it charges in to attack you.

At some point, you should be up to hitting a Dragon Priest, I usually wait for Adept, then hit Vokun in High gate Ruins. The Atronach Stone, High Born, and Ward/Absorb will make his magic fairly inadequate for killing you, it really helps to have a good follower to tank for you. DO NOT SUMMON AN ATRONACH, he Will turn it against you, and try to stay out of Anska's line of fire. Hopefully, you picked up a Scroll of Guardian Circle in your travels to capture, or corner him with.

After that, finish out the DB (for DragonBorn) and CoWH quests at your leisure...

 

[imaginepageant]

It seems my natural playstyle with mages is a bit different from those who've already replied here.

My main strategy is to avoid getting hit. Since, even with the Mage Armor perks and the highest level armor spell, warriors and mages alike will be able to destroy you easily once you're into the high levels—if they get the chance to do so. So, sneaking is important to my mages. I don't take too many Sneak perks—all five Stealths eventually, but that's it—but I try to build up my Sneak skill early on.

A good friend to Sneak is Illusion, especially once you get the Silent Casting perk and can essentially snipe your enemies with ranged Destruction spells without being detected. Calm and Fear spells are highly helpful for getting yourself out of sticky situations, taking the pressure of attack off of you so you can heal yourself and/or get back into hiding. Fury is great to use in big groups, especially once you have Silent Casting—let your enemies whittle themselves down to one or two that you can then easily pick off.

Conjuration is also great for keeping the heat off of yourself, since you can summon Atronachs, and eventually Dremora, to act as tanks. Atronachs are great companions if you're playing with a single element, since Atronachs are immune to like Destruction spells—you'll never have to worry about inadvertantly harming your Flame Atronach with your Fireballs.

I don't put much stock into Enchanting with mages. They don't need to enchant weapons, because, obviously, they don't use them. And the enchantments on the mage robes you can buy from the College of Winterhold are far better than anything you'll be able to create until later levels. Same goes for rings and amulets; I usually have the luck of finding ones with useful enchantments that I could not match on my own without heavily investing in the skill. I personally wouldn't bother using perks on Enchanting until late in the game when you'll be able to create powerful enchantments—but that's just me.

I also would not use a ward with a pure mage, since they drain the magicka you could be using to kill your attacker. Yes, it's nice to be able to protect yourself from hostile spells, but you can't protect yourself indefinitely... except by killing your foe. The one exception is that the Lesser Ward spell is handy against dragons; since the game treats dragons' breath attacks as a series of low-damage attacks rather than single high-damage ones, and the Lesser Ward can regenerate quickly enough to completely block any dragon's breath. Casting Lesser Ward for a few seconds at a time at level 30 will barely make a dent in your magicka pool, so it's a great defense against dragons.

For healing, either Restoration or Alchemy would work, though you'll have to invest more time in Alchemy. I personally prefer Restoration, because I like swapping out spells with hotkeys instead of pausing the battle to take a potion, but Alchemy would be best in terms of saving your magicka for offensive or assistive spells.

Many people say the Archmage's Robes are the best in the game, but I don't necessarily find this to be true. If you get them early on in the game, yes, they are excellent. But once you can get the Expert (and later Master) Robes of Destruction, they will benefit you the most. Since you'll be casting Destruction spells far more frequently than anything else, the sacrifice of the fortification for other magic schools is worth the additional 5% (or 7%) fortification for Destruction that you get with these Expert (or Master) Robes. More importantly, they give you 125% (or 150%) magicka regeneration, versus the 100% you get with the Archmage's Robes. The Archmage's Robes will give you an extra ten magicka points than the Adept Hood, but that isn't even enough to pay for a single Firebolt spell, so it's hardly worth it. Now, if you are going to focus on Enchanting, the Archmage's Robes have the advantage, since you can still wear a circlet with it; you can create a circlet with a magicka regeneration enchantment, and once you get the Extra Effect perk, a Destruction (or your secondary school) fortification as well, making up for the initial disadvantage of the Archmage's Robes.

 

[Psiberzerker]

Actually, imaginepageant, that sounds remarkably similar to the way I play a Pure Mage. I suggested the build above as a trainer for the OP, because this has the steepest learning curve. My main Wizard, BAMFO is just Illusion, Destruction, and Conjuration (with shouts, particularly Wuld) to simulate teleportation with invisibility, recasting summons somewhere else, and basically never being targeted. That's an advanced build, though.

You have to start somewhere, and until you master not getting hit, you're going to get 1 shotted a lot, which is why I suggested wearing Robes, Heavy Armor, and a _Flesh spell. Oh, and I agree with what you said about Wards, they're almost exclusively for Dragons until you get the Absorbtion perk, and even then, mostly for Dragons, and situationally for other Magic users.

About the only divergance seems to be Sneak. With Muffle, and Invisibility, it's redundant, and an Altmer can Sprint, or even Wuld undetected without it. Also, when I do use Sneak (for a Nightblade, for instance) I only put 1 perk in Stealth, as at higher skill levels, you're undetected anyway, either with Muffle Enchants, or the Silence perk, so it's basically a gateway perk for Backstab Multipliers, and eventually Silent Roll. Personal Playing styles, mind you, but when I Sneak, I use the Environment more than Stealth multipliers, cover, shadow, and wherever the target/s are Not looking to remain undetected. Done right, you really don't need to invest in Stealth(2) beyond Skill Level 30, unless you're clunking about in Heavy Armor. Just Join/Destroy the DBH, get the Shrouded Shoes/Hood, and you should be set for the rest of the game.

 

[Jigsaw]

This topic was so interesting to read. Cool to see how people play.

 

[imaginepageant]

About the only divergance seems to be Sneak. With Muffle, and Invisibility, it's redundant, and an Altmer can Sprint, or even Wuld undetected without it. Also, when I do use Sneak (for a Nightblade, for instance) I only put 1 perk in Stealth, as at higher skill levels, you're undetected anyway, either with Muffle Enchants, or the Silence perk, so it's basically a gateway perk for Backstab Multipliers, and eventually Silent Roll. Personal Playing styles, mind you, but when I Sneak, I use the Environment more than Stealth multipliers, cover, shadow, and wherever the target/s are Not looking to remain undetected. Done right, you really don't need to invest in Stealth(2) beyond Skill Level 30, unless you're clunking about in Heavy Armor. Just Join/Destroy the DBH, get the Shrouded Shoes/Hood, and you should be set for the rest of the game.

Muffle helps with noise, but not with being seen—and if you're not planning on joining the Dark Brotherhood for roleplay reasons, it can be a tough enchantment to find. The Sneak skill and Stealth perks not only make you quieter, but can make you virtually invisible without spells or potions. Plus, Invisibility is a late-level spell, so you can't rely on that until much later in your game. I do agree that all five Stealth perks might be overkill, but at a certain level you have to spend your perks on something.

Definitely a matter of personally style, though, as you said!

 

[Psiberzerker]

Both of those effects can be gotten different ways, though. If you don't want to join the DBH, or destroy it, then you can just wear clothes, which minimizes the noise you make anyway, work up to the Silence perk, or since you're using Illusion anyway, hand cast Muffle. Invisibiity can be cast, a potion, or what I do is just eat Vampire Dust. It only lasts, like 4 seconds, but that's long enough to get to the shadows, behind cover, or into position for your assault. Since you're going Destruction, it's not like you have to get that close, or expose yourself that much compared to backstabbing.

OTOH, if you're talking about throw away perks, it doesn't matter what you spend them on. By that late in the game, I'd go for working my way up to Silence (Which is basically Muffle, only a constant effect, and doesn't require magicka, nor an enchantment slot) and the roll is actually pretty handy sometimes. If you look, it's the exact same number of perk points.

 

[osheao]

for me, i need to think about how high i'm going to take this character, since, there are 85 total perks needed to get ALL magic skill perks. as well, you may want to think about how far your going to take enchanting, whether or not you'll be a breton, total magic resistance, reaching the armor class max without using armor (i always recommend robes only for pure mages) and which stone you'll be using.

going down the list of magic perks it is easy to get rid of a handful of those perks that are redundant, useless or less worthy.