Is frost worth it?

[FullmetalHeart20]

I know that Nords have a massive resistance to this kind of damage, and there's a lot of them. But don't the spells also slow enemies and drain stamina? Sounds like good crowd control. Just wondering if they're worth buying and upgrading.

 

[KritikalPT]

From my experience, Frost spells are situational, but worth it.
Like you said, they drain stamina and they slow down enemies, which by itself is worth it, especially if, like me, have a pure mage character and you need to make sure whatever is running towards you isn't going to kill you in one swing. So really, just because there are a lot of Nords (which isn't surprising since the game takes place in Skyrim), doesn't mean that Frost spells become less effective; it just means that you'll be killing them slower with Frost, and you want to use Fire for damage anyway.

 

[jcurr25]

Also keep in mind that there are a whole host of characters in skyrim that aren't nords that you will fight. You end up fighting your way through dungeons all the time that are full of all different kinds of enemies, and if you join the stormcloaks to fight the imperials you will be fighting against alot of characters that aren't nords on those quests. My personal favorite destruction magic is fire, I find it to be great against all kinds of things in skyrim, though I switch over to shock if I am going to fight a mage. I only spent 2 extra perks on each kind of destruction magic as I find the bonuses for the individual kinds to be terrible. If you are going to fight with magic often it pays to be well versed and capable with all the different types.

 

[Redguard Illusionist]

To be honest, I avoid it because some times it can be hard to tell which bandits are Nords and which are Imperials or whatever. I use fire for 85% of my damage and lightning for the remainder because it hits instantly so it's easier to aim the projectiles out in the open (you can even sneak with it with the quiet casting perk which is kinda fun because the projectile lightning spells hit instantly [even better than an arrow or bolt since the target can't unknowingly dodge - but at shorter max range, no sneak attack bonus , and more costly perk wise than just using a bow or crossbow that gets a sneak attack bonus]).
Frost is neat, but I've never really had a reason to use it over fire or lightning to be honest. I still buy the spells, because if you're mage it's kinda like "why not?" But I don't find investing perks in upping the damage to be particularly useful.

edit: whoa....I doubt you'll need this advice 4 months later haha. If you happen to read this, what was your experience with frost?

edit 2: can someone confirm this: I remember hearing not just Nords, but many enemies including Draugr, Frost Trolls, Snow Bears, Snowy Sabre Cats, Ice Wolves, etc also have frost resistances?

 

[samgurl775]

I thought this thread was going to be about the horse and I was prepared to come in and say "lolnope".

But frost spells...I always felt like they were the least useful.

 

[jcurr25]

Haha all the horses in the game suck(except shadowmere of course)

I hate it how they run off attacking things. I had multiple horses run into the middle of bandit camps early in the game(back when I had to save up for several dungeon raids to get them) and be slaughtered before I could even start. My best solution was to dismount before I got to the place I was going but that defeats the point of even buying the horse in the first place! lol

Bethesda really should have made better options with the horses, maybe something where you could tie them to a tree so they wouldn't get in the way.