So you want to be a mage. [Guide]

[Black-Tongue]

"I had you figured for a mage. I think you'll enjoy this."

DISCLAIMER:

[My guides are minimalistic by nature . They DO NOT: reveal spoilers, give step by step instructions, bring you overly specific locations, or condone exploits or glitches.

They WILL: point you in the right direction, provide tips for general play styles, and SET YOU UP FOR YOUR OWN SUCCESS.

It is not my wish to detract from your game experience by revealing too much. I promise an informative, entertaining read that is worth your time regardless of your skill level. My guides are for those who want to make their own way with some good advice at their back, and the vast land of Skyrim before them. Good hunting!]

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Contents

1. Taking the plunge into the Arcane.
1a. Character Creation
1b. Early game Considerations
2. Enter the Mage.
2a. Comprehensive Guide to magic skills.
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Chapter 1. Taking the Plunge into the Arcane​

Hello and welcome to my guide for mages! I'm happy to see you have chosen the path of wizardry and deception, of fire and fright, of healing and protecting; of Arcane wonders the world over! You will find that this playstyle offers versatility and power at the tips of your fingers. You may be a pure mage at heart, or taking your first stab at magic. Either way you are in the right place. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.

The first sections will cover the first hurdles along the path of magedom in skyrim. This chapter covers character creation, skill selection, and a healthy dash of general rules of thumb for the beginning Magister.

1a. Character Creation​

Character Creation in skyrim is pretty important. You are generally stuck with what you choose unless you are a lucky PC owner. I will let you hash out (for hours) what you think your mage should look like.

I'm a strong supporter of using whatever race looks the coolest. You aren't going to "gimp" yourself later on for choosing a Redguard over an Altmer. That being said, there are a couple of advantages you can take early on that may prove useful. Here are a few considerations:

*Breton: Passive magic resistance and a spell absorption greater power.

*High Elf: +50 Base magicka and a magic regen greater power.

*Orc: Adrenaline rush that makes you take half damage and deal double. Works with spells.

Every race has an advantage and a worthwhile greater power. These are the ones with the greatest bearing on magic. Playing as one of these races could give you a small edge early on, especially on the higher difficulties. Beyond that, choosing your race is actually one of the least important decisions you will make.

Luckily there is nothing set in stone that says you have to use certain skills from the get go. However, it can be pretty helpful to have some sort of template to go on to prevent perk starvation later on in your game. I recommend using the handy perk calculator on this website to map out your character. Remember to be flexible in your choices. As a general rule, I leave 5-10 perk points out of the first calculation so that I maintain room for error. Here's a quick overview of the magic skills for your benefit.

**all schools have dual casting**

**all schools have cost reduction**

Alteration: Offers spells for shielding, paralyze, telekenesis, waterbreathing, light, and transmute mineral ore at your disposal. It offers perk choices that can increase your magical resistance and grants possible spell absorption, not to mention increase effectiveness and duration of spells.

Conjuration: Offers spells for summoning daedra, zombies, and weapons. Soul trap for soul gems, and banish/turn spells. It offers perk choices that improve the duration and power of your summoned items or creatures.

Destruction: Offers spells for fire, frost, and shock damage in various forms. It offers perks to increase damage of spells and adds additional effects.

Illusion: Offers spells for Invisibility, Courage, Calm, Fear, and Frenzy. It offers perks for silent casting, and increased effectiveness.

Restoration: Offers spells for healing, turn undead, and wards. Perks offer increased magic regen, added restoration effects, ward magic absorption, and emergency healing.

The usefulness of spells is purely determined by your playstyle. Obviously you need some way to defend yourself, so destruction is not a bad choice to invest in early on. Just keep in mind that enemies level with you for the most part. So even though casting courage on your horse until you are level 100 in Illusion will give you access to new spells earlier, in the long run it puts you at a disadvantage in regards to your damage output and defense. Try to avoid power leveling skills that you don't use as often. Crafting skills are a major culprit of over-leveling due to their ease of power leveling. Beware increasing these too quickly:

Alchemy: Offers potions with a large variety of effects. Overall, alchemy makes any aspect of your character more powerful. Most importantly it is a mana-free way to heal yourself. Within this guide I will include a mini-alchemy guide to aid you in your progression.

Enchanting: Create items with beneficial effects. For a mage this means rings, amulets, clothing, and even armor. It is one of the biggest money makers for a mage as well. I will also provide some enchanting tips as the guide rolls onward.

Smithing: Who says a mage can't wear armor? Make and create weapons and armor. Probably the easiest crafting skill, and the one most likely to make you overlevel. Be very careful with this one if you decide to use it.

1b. Early Game Considerations​

Now that you have finished gawking at your new self and stumbled through the tutorial, the wide world of skyrim lies before you. You may feel particularly inclined to go to riverwood, and then bleak falls barrow, and then whiterun for some intangible reason. Before you go parading naked through the tundra, it would be highly beneficial to stop by the standing stones and activate the mage.

After you do this, you are free to follow your dreams, the north-winds, Maiq the liar, etc. I won't be providing any quest walkthroughs or sticky hand holding during your adventures. I will, however, offer this handy checklist of considerations for your viewing pleasure. These are all things that will benefit you in your early adventures and character building.

1. Consider Saving often, and backing up those saves.

2. Money is the most evil, and most necessary thing in the world.

There are many ways to make money in skyrim. Being a mage, you have the distinct advantage of having easy access to the best ones. Alchemy and Enchanting can pay dividends as you progress, should you choose to use them. Ingredients are free everywhere, and cheap everywhere else. The sooner you start sampling butterfly wings and catching fish in your teeth, the sooner you can start making pricey potions. More powerful potions raise your skill faster, and sell for more money. If any ingredient is rare, like a giant's toe, they usually yield powerful results-- So don't squander them!

Enchanting is a beautiful skill. Simply because it requires you to use other skills to raise this one. Soul gems are expensive, so your best bet is finding them through adventure. You need soul trap, which raises conjuration; You need to kill the owner of the soul, which requires a plethora of skills; You need items to enchant and disenchant, which means more ADVENTURE! It's a win-win-win-win if I ever saw one. Not to mention you can sell those iron daggers and silver rings with even minor enchantments for a pretty penny. Certain enchantments, like banish, are worth far more money than others.

3. Simplify your combat strategy.

You don't need to cast every spell you have before combat. By the time you cast oakflesh, summon familiar, raise your lesser ward and charge up your first firebolt, you are 4/5 on your way to being in the middle of the party dateless and with no pants on (is this a bad thing?). Focus on two things: 1. Dealing damage; 2. Healing. Take some damage here and there and dish it out as much as you can. You can get all fancy later on when you have some cost reduction and a larger mana pool.

If you are using summons, it can be more helpful to raise them before combat and let your magicka regenerate for a moment before you initiate the fight. Dual cast destruction coupled with stagger perk is a must. Work on being preemptive and keeping your opponents off balance and you will find that fights are generally much smoother.

4. If it's too tough, come back later.

Some parts of the game are simply too difficult early on. Don't be ashamed to leave and come back later when you are stronger.

5. Play the game in a natural way.

Don't get too caught up in character progression for the first 10-15 levels. Just get out there, explore, and starting stockpiling ingredients, materials, soul gems, money, apparel, etc. The next portion begins the real meat and potatoes.




The next thing I have compiled is a list of important themes that you should start paying attention to.

Magic Regeneration- This is a value that determines how fast your magic recharges inside and outside of combat. It is important to remember that during combat, magic/health/stamina do not recharge as quickly. Lucky for you, much of the apparel available specifically for mages offers some sort of regeneration boost. Still, this is no substitute for Fortify Magicka.

Fortify Magicka- This is a direct boost for your total mana. When given the choice between higher regeneration and higher total magic, the latter of the two is more beneficial. Luckily, gear that offers one usually offers the other as well.

" " Costs X less to Cast- This is pretty self explanatory. At low levels you may be able to reduce your cost by 5-10% with items, and by 50% if you take the appropriate perks. Items with this enchantment are incredibly useful. Do not confuse this effect with Fortify " ".

Fortifty Magic School- Unlike Cost reduction, Schools under a fortify effect become more powerful rather than more efficient. Destruction has a damage increase, Enchanted items are more powerful, and other schools increase in duration. This effect is found only in potions, and is available to you from the get go (See usfeul ingredients below.)

Dual Cast- Dual Cast is a perk that all schools of magic have. It is different from casting a single spell in one hand because it combines the spells into a more powerful single spell with different effects. For Destruction it doubles the damage + 10% of a single spell. So if you cast a fireball that does 50 damage, a dual cast fireball does 110 damage. Other schools gain a duration bonus. Spells from different schools can not be dual cast together. This is a very important perk for a destruction mage because it is a prerequisite for Impact.

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[Black-Tongue]

CHAPTER 2 Enter the Mage​

Around level 15, the game starts ramping up. Enemies become tougher, loot gets better, and you start getting a little bit stronger. If you have heeded my advice thus far, your highest skill should be something offensive. (not one of those nasty crafting skills ) It's now time to start getting knee deep in some intermediate strategy and concepts for the mage. This is where the real body of the guide begins and introductories end. The following is an in-depth look at each magic school and how you can get the best use out of it.​

DESTRUCTION

Essential Perks​

As I previously stated, Dual cast with Impact are 2 essential perks for this school. It provides a damaging ranged attack that is guaranteed to stagger enemies. Unlike Archery which also has a similiar staggering perk, Destruction spells will always cause your target to stumble. This accomplishes 3 things: 1 It stops forward motion of the target. 2 it interrupts their attack. 3 It does 10% extra damage. It is also far more likely to destroy a Ward that an enemy mage is using. ​

It goes without saying that damage perks and cost reduction perks are hugely important as well. ​

There are a few extra perks that offer additional effects for your spells, but they are completely optional and I would recommend leaving them empty until you have some free perks to spend later on.​

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Spells​

Gout spells- These are the first spells you begin with and do the least amount of damage. They are primarily novice spells (with the exception of Fire/Frost/lightning Wall which are expert gout and also trap spells) A common strategy is to fire the spell in short bursts to help conserve magicka. You should only be using these through the earliest parts of the game. Switch them out for a Non AOE Ranged spell ASAP.​

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Ranged/Projectile spells- These will be the second group of spells available to you and the ones you use the most for the rest of the game. They shoot high speed projectiles at your enemy and deal more damage. These include most apprentice, adept, expert, and one master spell. Although the adept spells also belong in the next category. A common strategy is using Dual cast repeatedly on a target, using multiple single casts in quick succession, or single cast in one hand with an alternate weapon, shield, staff, or spell.​

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AOE Spells- These are great for dealing damage to large groups of people, and still remain my most used type of spell. These are mainly Adept and Master spells. AOE stands for Area of Effect, which means they deal damage in a broad space and are capable of effecting all enemies within a certain distance from the impact zone. The adept spells such as fireball are projectile spells that explode, arc, or swarm around multiple enemies upon impact. Cloak spells also fall into this category, but have 0 range and do minimal damage.​

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Trap Spells- Sadly underpowered and overcost, Trap spells are cast on the ground and damage enemies that walk over them. There are only two types. Rune, and Wall. When dual cast they do more damage when triggered. You can only have one rune on the ground at a time.​

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NOTE: A Rune can be cast on top off a Wall, but not the other way around. Wall can also be cast on a wall. So it is possible to create a fire,frost, and lightning wall. Keep in mind that the game only allows this for a certain distance before the wall begins to dissapear. If you want to do some extra damage to an enemy before a fight, draw them into a corridor and set up a wall leading to a rune like this diagram. ​

-----------wall--------(Rune)​

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Effects​

If you read the in-game spell descriptions, you will see that each elemental attack has a corresponding effect on either health, magic, or stamina. In my opinion, frost is the most useful because it slows your enemy. The downside is, many creatures and NPC's you encounter may have a resistance to it.​

In Fact, most enemies often have a resistance or a weakness to certain elements, so always be on the look out for telltale signs such as enemy composition, and the spells they themselves rely on. For example, a Frost atronach is going to resist frost but be weak to fire. It is easy to tell because they are made of Ice. A dragon is not made of an element, but will either use Ice or Fire. They will have more resistance to this element.​

Many racial abilities also provide resistances to certain elements with the exception of Altmer who actually have a weakness to magic. This information is available on loading screens, on character creation screens, and in some books.​

The bottom line is, if you are doing a pitiful amount of damage to an opponent one of two things is happening. You are either using a spell that is too weak such as flames, or the enemy has a resistance to whatever element it is you are using.​

CONJURATION

Essential Perks​

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There are a few different perk paths you can take. The Conjuration tree has many slots, so don't feel like you have to use all of them. I advise that you primarily focus on summons. Bound weapons are definitely awesome looking, but require perks in the corresponding weapon skill to supplement their effectiveness. If you do decide to rely on bound weapons, you may need to skip out on another magic school or skill to compensate.​

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Dual casting is not as important for this school because other perks already increase the duration of spells. (this is my opinion, do what you want)​

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For summoning creatures, there are two main paths to take. Atromancy or Necromancy. One side focuses on Raising the dead, the other focuses on raising atronachs. Both Get twin souls later on, but necromancy is a faster way to get there. If you think you will rely more on raised zombies (permanent or not) and Dremora Lords, then go up the Necromancy side. If you wish to make use of the formidible atronach, go for Atromancy. If you can't decide, by all means do both if you wish.​

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As always, take cost reduction when possible.​

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Spells​

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Conjure " " (creature)- These spells allow you to conjure something out of nothing. In this case, a variety of creatures is at your disposal. The more powerful the creature, the higher level and cost the spell is. A good strategy for summoning creatures is to do so before combat to minimize the stress on your magicka reserves. Enemies will usually pay more attention to your summoned creatures than you. Also, the weakness attributes still apply to summoned creatures. A Fire atronach will have limited effectiveness against a dark elf.​

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Conjure Bound Weapon- This spell gives you a pseudo daedric weapon of three different types. One handed, two handed, or Archery. With the right perks, these weapons can gain more damage and special abilities such as soul trap, banish, and turn. These are used like any other weapon.​

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Utility- These spells are more practical in nature. Soul trap allows you to fill soul gems for use in enchanting or recharging. Banish will make a summoned atronach dissapear, and turn will allow you to take control of a summoned or raised creature or humanoid. ​

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Effects​

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The effects of these spells are very cut and dry. Creatures remain under your control until they expire, die, or are turned on you. Weapons remain in your hand until sheathed or expired. Zombies remain raised until they die or expire. Thralls remain raised until they die (they do not expire). Soul trap is considered a hostile spell. Casting it on an NPC will cause them to attack or flee. The other spells behave exactly as directed.​

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RESTORATION

Essential Perks​

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The Perk tree for Restoration offers Recovery that increases your magic regeneration. Ward absorb is also useful if you find yourself needing to replenish magic in the middle of a fight. Regeneration potentially doubles the output of healing spells-- meaning you can cast a lower level spell for greater result. Necromage is great if you rely on turn undead spells. It offers a similiar effect to illusion with a much lighter perk requirement. It's not a bad choice if you want some crowd control ability without taking illusion. ​

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[ IMPORTANT NOTE ON NECROMAGE.] Necromage will make all spells against undead more effective, even those from other schools. I recently heard that this includes you if you are a vampire. Any sort of magic that effects you should have greater potency, particularly enchanted items. I'm looking into this right now and will add to this section later on.​

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Avoid death is also very beneficial. Dual cast is optional. It increases the power of your healing spells. Cost reduction if possible.​

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Spells​

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Healing- One of the most basic concepts in the game. These spells heal yourself or others and increase in effectiveness and cost as you move on. The early spells are a hold-to -cast type, while all the rest heal you outright for X amound after casting. A good tip here is to use the smallest healing spell possible to save your mana. If you are willing to take regeneration as a perk then Fast healing will heal you for 75 damage instead of 50, at a lower cost than Close wounds.​

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Wards- These act as magical shields and can completely absorb magic. They take time to charge but can stop even a dragon's breath. You start with lesser ward, but can quickly gain better wards that top out at expert level. They also increase your armor rating, though not by much. A good strategy for ward use is as follows: ​

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Use the lowest ward you can to conserve magicka. ie, you do not need a greater ward to stop someone who is using flames. Save it for those nasty hagravens and their fireballs!.​

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If your ward breaks, do not recast while taking damage to the front. Like I mentioned before, wards need time to charge. You can not charge any ward while taking damage from even the weakest spell to your front. You CAN however turn around so that you are taking damage to your back, cast your ward, then turn back around when it is fully charged and block the spell provided it is not too powerful for your ward.​

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Turn Undead - These spells are nifty for those draugr hordes that come out of every open coffin. They range from apprentice to Master, each one increasing effectiveness. They are ranged and function much like a Fear spell from illusion. They are also leveled but require less perks than illusion does for the same effect. They have an advantage here because to affect undead with illusion spells, you must be level 90 (needs verification) to gain that perk. Not to mention all the effectiveness perks to make them work on higher leveled creatures and people. In the end, it is not quite as good as illusion, but it has much better value in the undead department.​

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Circle- Just like Turn undead, but it is a Trap spell and an AOE spell given that it effects multiple enemies at once. Zombies entering the circle will flee if they are below the level of the spell.​

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ALTERATION

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Essential Perks​

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NOTE: One of the greatest Concerns of many aspiring mages is the decision to use armor or to rely on "mage armor". Within this tree, there are perks that allow you to maximize the effectiveness of spells like Oakflesh-EbonyFlesh by tripling the protection that they provide. Keep in mind that the maximum armor rating attained through these perks is significantly less than smithed armor.​

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In my opinion, Alteration has some of the best perks available because of the passive effects. Magic resistance (3/3) will give you 30% resist magica, while the atronach perk will gain you the ability to absorb 30% of spells cast your way.​

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I don't personally feel that mage armor is useful because normal armor is so much better. Not to mention when you get the spell "Dragonhide" It raises your armor rating to the maximum with or without these perks. ​

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Stability will lengthen the duration of Dragonhide from 30 sec to 45, and make the basic paralyze spell last for 15 seconds.​

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Cost reduction helps, though there is no real reason to take it unless you are going to rely heavily on Alteration.​

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Dual cast is not necessary at all.​

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Spells​

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Shield/ Armor- Oak, Iron, and Ebony Flesh provide varying levels of protection against physical damage and are cast on self. Dragonhide is the master spell but provides protection equal to the maximum armor rating. It has a short duration and a high mana cost.​

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Paralyze- Completely immobilizes the target for a given amount of time. There are two types of paralyze spells. One is a cast on target, the other is a large AOE paralyze spell that works on multiple enemies. It is also a master spell.​

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Telekenisis- This spell allows you to manipulate objects from afar and cast them off in the direction you are facing. This spell can be used offensively, though it is more for comic relief than anything else since flying objects do minimal damage.​

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Equilibrium- This is sort of an emergency spell used to regain magicka by sacrificing some of your own health. Coupled with a healing spell, it is a good way to gradually restore magic while still having a manageable amount of health.​

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Transmute- Transmute is one of the most useful money makers in the game. It turns an iron ore to silver ore, and a silver ore to gold Ore, which can then be sold or refined into jewelry for selling or enchanting. If you cast this spell in each hand at the same time (without dual casting) it will perform the transformation much more quickly than doing it one handed.​

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Utility- I place spells like detect life/dead, light casting, and water breathing into this category. They are useful in very specific situations, and there is nothing too complicated to using them. A good tip for detect life and detect dead is to use it in short bursts. It can be pretty costly starting out. ​

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Effects​

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You may have noticed that spells in this category are a bit unconventional and do very specific things. Alteration can be considered an oddball magic school but this does not mean you should rule it out. It offers practical spells, defensive magic, and just a touch of crowd control. Keep in mind that some enemies will resist paralyze, and that hitting someone with a broom with telekenisis is considered an assault. ​

ILLUSION

Essential Perks​

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To get the most out of this school, you are going to need to invest into the perks that give you the most effectiveness out of your spells. Animage, Kindred mage, Aspect of terror, Hypnotic gaze, and Rage will all make your spells work on higher level enemies. Quiet casting is a must for stealth oriented characters. Remember that this perk makes all magic you cast silent to others, even those from other schools. Master of the mind is a good investment since there are lots of undead in skyrim, and dwemer constructs can be a daunting opponent without some crowd control.​

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Spells​

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Effects​

 

[that one guy]

this is great for begener mages but the funny thing is i already did most of the things it did. but its like i said great for begenners

 

[Black-Tongue]

I'll be expanding it and the next sections. Like I said, I accidently posted it early, so I though I should get something out there.

Thanks for reading!

 

[ValenwoodCitizen]

gonna be doing my first mage playthrough kinda scared so many perks to get and stuff

 

[Gemini Sierra]

Good Guide so far. I look forward to the rest.
I have been thinking of doing a pure mage character and have had some ideas as to how to do it. This has given me something to think about.

 

[DiagorasRadix]

Your guide mentions that high elves receive a weakness to magic, but this doesn't seem to be the case in Skyrim (while it obviously was the major racial drawback in previous games).

 

[Black-Tongue]

Hmm. You may in fact be correct. Let me double check and I'll make the necessary corrections.

 

[DaedricDemon999]

nice video it helped,i tried to kill a draugr with level 16 destruction it was a failure

 

[XJaeX]

If you guys are going to start a new mage, remember to pick the lock to the cage in the torture room, after you choose who you are going to go with, ralof or hadvar. In the cage you will find a mage, wearing clothing that will grant you 50 magicka ( i think ) and increased magicka regeneration, you will also find the sparks spell tome. My first mage i picked this up and i was glad i did, you start off with only 100 magicka and a rather slow regeneration, plus only the dark elf gets sparks. Running out of healing spell is bad when you are taking alot of damage. Also, while being a mage, do not fight head on, you can if you want, but try to avoid it, use your followers, or conjured spirits, or at the beggining ( hadvar or ralof ) . Let the warriors play their roll, they are the fighters, you are either a healer or damager. You wouldnt fight a melee fighter with a bow in melee range would you? Try to get your hands on heal other and courage if you can. I made it through the whole game on master without killing anyone as a healer, just to see if i could, i ended the game around level 50, by the time i chose to fight anyone, i was already far superior to them, and my follower was still in the great armor i gave her, nothing could survive, and if i lost any health i could heal it completely, once i got my hands on grand healing no one on my side died, while taking the final civil war target ( windhelm or solitude ) none of the soldiers on my side died. Make a follower a tank, keep them alive, if they die, all the enemies will target you, and well, you know how that ends.

 

[Karkarov]

thanks a lot! I have never played a pure mage before, so this guide was quite useful when creating and traveling with my own mage

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[Wraith]

I could use some advice here cause I'm having a heck of a time surviving on this Dark Elf Mage I made.
The big problem I am having is Magicka, I simply cannot sustain my offense and I've been very deliberate in not "overleveling". I've been sticking with Destruction (35 skill), Illusion (22 skill), and alteration (25 skill). Any other skill ups have been simply accidental. I'm currently level 7 with 75% magicka regen and almost everything put in magicka.

I can throw about 3-4 single cast bolt spells before I'm sucking wind, lately that's been simply not enough to take down my opponents before they catch up to me, and facing 2-3 enemies at a time is a death sentence. Enemies like Restless Draugr can basically take everything I have and still start whalloping me with an axe. I'm afraid what's going to happen once I start hitting some of the harder mobs.

I figure I must be doing SOMETHING wrong here, help?

 

[Black-Tongue]

Are you using dual casting + Impact? Any cost reduction perks? What are you wearing?

Level 7 is pretty low, and you have to be especially careful because you are still pretty weak. You can get away with flames for a bit longer just to deal some form of reliable damage, but overall the spell is pretty terrible and you are wise to go for firebolt. Give dualcast flames a try and see if that is a more efficient means of dealing damage for the time being, then graduate back up to firebolt.

If you get into a little bit of alchemy and start using potions, even enchanting small things with cost reduction will help.

 

[Dragon_Slayer]

How and where do you get fire bolt?..I have called myself looking for it lol.

 

[Teritus]

How and where do you get fire bolt?..I have called myself looking for it lol.

How and where do you get fire bolt?..I have called myself looking for it lol.

Go to the Hall of Countenance in the College; Faralda there will be selling it.

 

[XJaeX]

I could use some advice here cause I'm having a heck of a time surviving on this Dark Elf Mage I made.
The big problem I am having is Magicka, I simply cannot sustain my offense and I've been very deliberate in not "overleveling". I've been sticking with Destruction (35 skill), Illusion (22 skill), and alteration (25 skill). Any other skill ups have been simply accidental. I'm currently level 7 with 75% magicka regen and almost everything put in magicka.

I can throw about 3-4 single cast bolt spells before I'm sucking wind, lately that's been simply not enough to take down my opponents before they catch up to me, and facing 2-3 enemies at a time is a death sentence. Enemies like Restless Draugr can basically take everything I have and still start whalloping me with an axe. I'm afraid what's going to happen once I start hitting some of the harder mobs.

I figure I must be doing SOMETHING wrong here, help?

Keep in mind that the more magicka you have the slower then regeneration will be. If that makes sence, if you have more magicka it will take long to replenish the larger pool. Use perks that give half magicka for casting, go in the restoration tree, i think, on the right, the perk will increase magicka regeneration. If you want to do more damage, dual cast, make or buy aversion potions, lowers enemy elemental resistance. Upgrade your damage in the destruction tree, if you use fire, upgrade that, same with other elements. I think to use aversion potions, you need to hit them with a weapon, not sure. Also, unless you are a sneaky character, which you probably are, get a follower, make them a tank, use spells like courage on your follower, play with the mindframe that if your tank dies, you die, longer they are fighting your tank, the less they will be paying attention to you, if they get too close, cast invisibility or calm, also , try frenzy, they will start killing eachother for you, you can just pick them off. Remember, fire will burn them for a while, ice will slow them down, lightning will go through armor, sometimes you cant use fire vs a fire atronach, switch to ice, or you could use ice form ( shout) and beat them while they are down, just an example, fire isnt that bad for dark elves, if something isnt working, try something else, adapt and evolve. Try using alteration armor buffs too, destruction cloaks, and runes ( make traps ). If you know enemies are on to you, back away, make them come to you, throw down runes, sell the trap, it should only take a fireball or two to finish them off. Fight on your terms, npcs are nothing compared to human ingenuity (sp) they are programmed to attack, not programmed how, or even how to be efficient, they are usually only programmed to use what they are allowed to or trained to use, ie sword/shield, 2 handers, spells, so on.
Hope i helped, if only a little bit, if at all?

 

[Straumgald]

I read somewhere else that Magicka regens at 3% per second, so adding Magicka actually increases your regen rate. Example 100 Magicka x3% = 3/second. 200 x3% = 6/sec or double the regen rate. On my mage I don't generally worry about regen rate, because I just use Equilibrium. Although it gets a bit tricky it tight quarters. Out in the open fields though, kiting two giants and two mammoths on master around level 25 is where it's at.

 

[Teritus]

I read somewhere else that Magicka regens at 3% per second, so adding Magicka actually increases your regen rate. Example 100 Magicka x3% = 3/second. 200 x3% = 6/sec or double the regen rate. On my mage I don't generally worry about regen rate, because I just use Equilibrium. Although it gets a bit tricky it tight quarters. Out in the open fields though, kiting two giants and two mammoths on master around level 25 is where it's at.

You don't have to worry about regen at all, since it only regenerates when you're not casting spells, not like continuously in a fight.

 

[kalbuth]

I could use some advice here cause I'm having a heck of a time surviving on this Dark Elf Mage I made.
The big problem I am having is Magicka, I simply cannot sustain my offense and I've been very deliberate in not "overleveling". I've been sticking with Destruction (35 skill), Illusion (22 skill), and alteration (25 skill). Any other skill ups have been simply accidental. I'm currently level 7 with 75% magicka regen and almost everything put in magicka.

I can throw about 3-4 single cast bolt spells before I'm sucking wind, lately that's been simply not enough to take down my opponents before they catch up to me, and facing 2-3 enemies at a time is a death sentence. Enemies like Restless Draugr can basically take everything I have and still start whalloping me with an axe. I'm afraid what's going to happen once I start hitting some of the harder mobs.

I figure I must be doing SOMETHING wrong here, help?

Perhaps a bit late of a reply, but anyway :
I recently started all over with a mage build (with some sneaky stuff thrown in the mix that I plan), and had the exact same issue as you had.
I solved them through several ways :
* I stopped spamming destruction spells like crazy, and always keep some magicka pool available
* If I have a follower, I run back to her and circle around her so that she takes over the opponent with weapons while I rest
* And the most usefull thing of all : the Calm spell. I now always keep enough magicka for a last Calm spell, and I spent the illusion perks necessary to have these spells efficient on higher lvl NPC, and still cheap in magicka. It is an incredibly helpfull spell at low level, you have all the time needed to regen your health and magicka while the guy is quietly going back to his original place.
* And before any crowd engagement, I "clear the crowd" by sneaking rather close, and cast Fury on the farthest ennemy. Farthest because by attacking the closer creature to him, it'll never be me, and often, the farther is the boss, who, being tougher, kill all others. While he does, I sneak back so that he doesn't come after me too fast. If 1 catches me Furying his friends, I Calm him, and hide.

Illusion is a great survival school

 

[Killer Squirrell]

Just remember, at the beginning you will have to save often and will die often, but later on mages are over powered, right now I am running a level 35 mage and killing dragons that my lvl 50 warrior had a hard time on, of course it helps to be able to switch to a spell that is strong vs a certain type of dragon.


EDIT: Oh and def become a vampire later if you do not mind going out only at night. AN dif you are on a PC then get Vampire overhaul bc it makes the vampires not as weak as TES has made them since day one.