I'm taking a Brave Pill .. .. .. .. ..

[Twiffle]

Right then my fellow Skyrimians, due to a classic xbox crash all of my saves have been lost, and i havnt got a back up due to me being an idiot.

so it has led me to an opportunity to try a new build i haven't done seriously before and that is a 'Pure Mage' role-played (slowish) but with a few restrictions/rules, and of course i would like some input on your thoughts about my choice, style, rules etc.

First off im just deciding on whether to use a High Elf or Breton, probably Breton for the magic resistance, my main schools are going to be Destruction for offense, restoration and alteration for protection and a little conjuration for a minion to help me out, however im not going to do any smithing or enchanting, my buffs are all going to be from Alchemy, the only enchanted items will be either found or bought, so no overpowered double enchanted gear just a cup of old peculiar to help me out.

As for a few restrictions, naturally i will walk everywhere and have some sort of follower, mostly for tank and carrying stuff for me, I will fast travel but i can only do that from stable to stable after i have found it by walking. For example, i can fast travel from solitude to riften, but i cant fast travel to morthal or falkreath etc.

As for background, she is going to be an adventurer/searcher, she heard old stories of powerful artifacts that are given by the gods for services rendered and wishes to own them all, and in a book she read about 24 gems that were lost and scattered across the land and seeks to find them for the glory it hopefully will bring her. The main quest may or may not be done or started depending on the path the artifacts have in store for her with the gems.

Thats about it, anything else useful or critical is welcome cuz i dont want the brave pill to wear off quickly,

 

[shadowkitty]

ALL the Locations of the 24 gems.

 

[AS88]

Are they your pills in the title?

Also, I'm possibly one of the only people here to get the Old Peculiar thing (my dad drinks it, he's been to the Theakston Brewery and all that jazz)

Okay onto business. If they're an adventurer and searcher for things, and a mage, I'd definitely suggest doing the College of Winterhold questline and the Thieves Guild questline, for obvious reasons. Don't do stuff like the Companions, but do visit Kodlak for a look at his treasures, and do investigate the Dark Brotherhood, particularly Astrid's room.

 

[Twiffle]

ALL the Locations of the 24 gems.

Cheers for that, but i do know the locations, but thanks .

Also, I'm possibly one of the only people here to get the Old Peculiar thing (my dad drinks it, he's been to the Theakston Brewery and all that jazz)

.

I did wonder if anybody would.

 

[DdraigGwyn]

I have been playing a pure mage for the last few weeks: No armor, no weapons (not even bound), no follower and cannot invest perks in any non-magic tree. I am a high elf, if I am a mage I am not so sure the magic-resistance of a Breton is really that useful. It has been tougher than I expected, especially Labyrinthian as you keep losing all of your Magic. My biggest problems have been making money and charging Soul Gems (I have to use one hand for Soul Trap and that limits my fighting). I finally became Archmage and life is a bit easier. Currently I have an ethical dilemma: should I be able to use Morokei? It is so useful, and clearly Magical, but it also counts as armor, so it violates my no armor rule.

 

[Twiffle]

I have been playing a pure mage for the last few weeks: No armor, no weapons (not even bound), no follower and cannot invest perks in any non-magic tree. I am a high elf, if I am a mage I am not so sure the magic-resistance of a Breton is really that useful. It has been tougher than I expected, especially Labyrinthian as you keep losing all of your Magic. My biggest problems have been making money and charging Soul Gems (I have to use one hand for Soul Trap and that limits my fighting). I finally became Archmage and life is a bit easier. Currently I have an ethical dilemma: should I be able to use Morokei? It is so useful, and clearly Magical, but it also counts as armor, so it violates my no armor rule.

Labyrinthian is the reason i learnt how to use Equilibrium, takes practice but really useful in any dilemna. As for the mask, this is something i dont understand, why give a mage a mask that is armor rated which will negate alteration flesh bonus if worn, , ,

And as for the race, i do think high elf maybe the way to go for the early help in magicka, especially as alchemy will buff my resistance to virtually everything.

 

[DdraigGwyn]

As for the mask, this is something i dont understand, why give a mage a mask that is armor rated which will negate alteration flesh bonus if worn, , ,
[/quote]


My strategy is to stay far back and use Destruction spells: so the faster regeneration is very useful. I run away before getting into melees, so I never use the flesh bonus spells at all.

 

[Michaelgamet]

I would still expect Illusion up to the silent cast perk would be needed.
I still believe Illusion is required to confound your enemies, I've even use fury in Bleakfalls.
I can't seem to play the way you all seem to.. all tuff n brave... standing up there in your robes...
I have to slink around pick off the baddies and fury groups to thin the crowd even to engage them...
maybe i am doing it wrong.

 

[Twiffle]

I would still expect Illusion up to the silent cast perk would be needed.
I still believe Illusion is required to confound your enemies, I've even use fury in Bleakfalls.
I can't seem to play the way you all seem to.. all tuff n brave... standing up there in your robes...
I have to slink around pick off the baddies and fury groups to thin the crowd even to engage them...
maybe i am doing it wrong.

no not at all, you have good points, however this time a follower and minnion will take the heat for a change, , and no i dont stand there all tuff n brave, ,, ,, stamina potions are always needed for when im running away scweeeming like a sissy , ,

 

[Daelon DuLac]

I just took a pure mage to level 81 before I deleted everything (I didn't want to face the ebony warrior as a mage).

As it was my first one, I took a lot of suggestions from y'all in the forums that really helped.

1) don't worry too much about lower levels since, by the time you're over level 40 you'll be fine and well able to defend yourself
2) do a lot of sneaking (it helps! really! and be sure to get the silent cast perk as soon as you can - all illusion is invaluable)
3) Use followers! For goodness sake use them! I made sure to get Faendal (since Sven gets on my nerves) and, as I used him mainly as an archer, he was able to soften up the enemy for me and stayed out of my way pretty well
4) If you're going to use destruction, concentrate on one kind. It takes too long to perk up everything. I chose electric, but fire is great too since it continues to damage after casting. The drawback to electric is that chain lightning is not a good thing when you have followers
5) Go to College! Right away. You get some great skill and point boosters quickly (that extra 60-100 magicka really helped)
6) Be sure to get regen boosts asap, even if that means enchanting or wearing one of those silly looking robes
7) Alteration is invaluable at lower levels (and higher if you continue to wear only clothing). Even oakflesh gives you a rating higher than any armor early on.
8) Keep a dagger on hand. I can guarantee you'll end up using it at some point. Your magic will run out. I got the reward one from clearing Moss Mother Cavern and always carried it with me. It may only be steel, but it can be improved (get the perk! It's only one perk after all and you can get it right away).
9) Do enchanting - you can make some kicka** stuff to boost magicka & health regen as well as elemental protection. It may be point intensive, but you only need the 8. Don't bother with the right or left.
10) Just ignore stamina. I never put even one up to it and went the whole game at 100. Health is important and so is magicka, but not stamina for a mage.

Race doesn't matter for a mage, I've found. Mine was a Nord. Breton is great for the magicka resistance and Altmers are good for that extra boost early on, but, in the long run it doesn't matter.

I learned really quick to start my mage at easy and boost it a notch about every 10 levels. It's just too hard to be a mage at low level and high difficulty for me (unless you like dieing that is).

All in all, she was fun, but I missed the hand to hand combat. Near the end, she used to just pascify and then slit their throats for a little action.

 

[Michaelgamet]

Funny you mention breton, i picked up an early save (right after helgen) of my tiny breton girl.. she was level 3, by the time I got back from bleakfalls, she's up to level 7, and i have my leveling turned down to 60% with 'Community Uncapper', to level slower on most skills, in return I get a bonus perk every few levels for now.
I drank a lot of potions..in the boss fight.-
Still I find myself playing the same, over and over, sneak - snipe - spell - hide - snipe - spell - hide... until melee happens, at some point I can't avoid it. I need to work on the lower levels.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

Funny you mention breton, i picked up an early save (right after helgen) of my tiny breton girl.. she was level 3, by the time I got back from bleakfalls, she's up to level 7, and i have my leveling turned down to 60% with 'Community Uncapper', to level slower on most skills, in return I get a bonus perk every few levels for now.
I drank a lot of potions..in the boss fight.-
Still I find myself playing the same, over and over, sneak - snipe - spell - hide - snipe - spell - hide... until melee happens, at some point I can't avoid it. I need to work on the lower levels.

I like that mod "Community Uncapper" if it slows down level progression. Perhaps I should switch to PC. I just find that I'm at level 10 before I know it and end up with perk points sitting there because I have no point to put them. Is that available on Steam?

 

[khazan99]

As for the mask, this is something i dont understand, why give a mage a mask that is armor rated which will negate alteration flesh bonus if worn, , ,

Indeed - that never made any sense at all.

If you're on PC, there is a mod that removes the Light Armor tag from the mask:

Steam link

Nexus link

 

[Michaelgamet]

Funny you mention breton, i picked up an early save (right after helgen) of my tiny breton girl.. she was level 3, by the time I got back from bleakfalls, she's up to level 7, and i have my leveling turned down to 60% with 'Community Uncapper', to level slower on most skills, in return I get a bonus perk every few levels for now.
I drank a lot of potions..in the boss fight.-
Still I find myself playing the same, over and over, sneak - snipe - spell - hide - snipe - spell - hide... until melee happens, at some point I can't avoid it. I need to work on the lower levels.

I like that mod "Community Uncapper" if it slows down level progression. Perhaps I should switch to PC. I just find that I'm at level 10 before I know it and end up with perk points sitting there because I have no point to put them. Is that available on Steam?

I found it on nexus.. the uncapper. (there is a INI file to edit, to make the changes to leveling.)
I think you have to run skse as well... that and a plant mod & skyUI are really all I use.
I used to abuse the uncapper, making leveling faster, and tons of perks, but that gets old really fast...
now I use it to level skills above 100, and slow down character leveling, and keep almost the same number of perks, as if I leveled further. I turned down crafting even further, it seems that every time I play through, I get all leveled up from brewing potions for profit... the multi-effect potions that pay so well... they level your character based on value, so you end up at level 20 in Whiterun, with no offensive skills. I am trying to counter that now.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

Funny you mention breton, i picked up an early save (right after helgen) of my tiny breton girl.. she was level 3, by the time I got back from bleakfalls, she's up to level 7, and i have my leveling turned down to 60% with 'Community Uncapper', to level slower on most skills, in return I get a bonus perk every few levels for now.
I drank a lot of potions..in the boss fight.-
Still I find myself playing the same, over and over, sneak - snipe - spell - hide - snipe - spell - hide... until melee happens, at some point I can't avoid it. I need to work on the lower levels.

I like that mod "Community Uncapper" if it slows down level progression. Perhaps I should switch to PC. I just find that I'm at level 10 before I know it and end up with perk points sitting there because I have no point to put them. Is that available on Steam?

I found it on nexus.. the uncapper. (there is a INI file to edit, to make the changes to leveling.)
I think you have to run skse as well... that and a plant mod & skyUI are really all I use.
I used to abuse the uncapper, making leveling faster, and tons of perks, but that gets old really fast...
now I use it to level skills above 100, and slow down character leveling, and keep almost the same number of perks, as if I leveled further. I turned down crafting even further, it seems that every time I play through, I get all leveled up from brewing potions for profit... the multi-effect potions that pay so well... they level your character based on value, so you end up at level 20 in Whiterun, with no offensive skills. I am trying to counter that now.

I know what you mean about the crafting. Enchanting is the bane for me. I enchant, legendize, enchant, legendize and make oodles of cash.

 

[ZeroDragon]

ALL the Locations of the 24 gems.

Cheers for that, but i do know the locations, but thanks .

Also, I'm possibly one of the only people here to get the Old Peculiar thing (my dad drinks it, he's been to the Theakston Brewery and all that jazz)

.

I did wonder if anybody would.

That'll be 3 of us then - one of my favourite brews