Please evaluate/critique my battlemage build (perfectionist)

[tvr123]

Hello everyone,

I understand that you must get tonnes of these threads and I promise you that I have read all the guides, but I am a real perfectionist and I like everything to be perfect and therefore personalised.

I would really appreciate it if you could take a look at this battlemage build plan.

Race: Breton
Stone: Lover, then Steed
Loadout: Ebony armour; Mace/spell then mace/shield

-I am playin on the PC which is why I have included block, as I can quickly hotkey to a shield after I have finished my spells
-The character will be using a mace, and spells/shield, as well as full ebony armour
-I am all about the end game, I don't really start any quests 'till about level 40
-I don't like sneaking or illusion
-I don't really RP, but I do like my characters to have a certain mindset, this guy only cares about himself.

I'm probably going to go 1/1/1 magicka/health/stamina, or I might just go 0/1/1, and go with full spell cost reduction.

Here is the list of perks as well and a link to the calculator:
Skyrim Perk Calculator - Plan the perks for your Skyrim character before spending them!

Heavy armour (3 perks)
-Am I right in thinking that this will be sufficient to get me to the armour cap?
-I didn't go with conditioning as I will probably be using the Steed Stone unless anyone has a better standing stone suggestion.

One handed (7 perks)
-I didn't take the Bone breaker perk as I didn't think it was worth it.

Block (5 perks)
-I only took 1/5 in Shield Wall as it seems to be diminishing returns after then, am I right?
-Do Elemental Protection + magic resist stack to give me invulnerability to magic with my shield raised?

Smithing (4 perks)
-I'm going full ebony so I don't see the point in anything else, ebony mace has the same damage as daedric mace

Destruction (3 perks)
-I'm taking augmented flames 2/2 as offense, and as a way to boost my enchants

Restoration (6 perks)
-Is the 50% magic regen. boost given by recovery worth the 2 perks?

Alteration (5 perks)
-I'm putting perks in alteration mainly to get to Magic Resistance 3/3, which will bring me to 55% magic resist.

This comes to level 44, does anyone have any suggestions for the 6 remaining perks?

Is the soul siphon perk worth it? My reasoning behind this is that I could safely used a maxed out enchanted weapon (that has say 50 charges, but is very powerful), without worrying about recharging it all the time.


Thank you!

 

[Psiberzerker]

Heavy armour (3 perks)
-Am I right in thinking that this will be sufficient to get me to the armour cap?
-I didn't go with conditioning as I will probably be using the Steed Stone unless anyone has a better standing stone suggestion.

It depends on what your Armor is, I assume you mean Juggernaut (3) but even Daedric isn't going to Cap out without some enhanced tempering, so probably not, though Block, and Alteration Spells can raise this above the Cap.

Block (5 perks)

-I only took 1/5 in Shield Wall as it seems to be diminishing returns after then, am I right?
-Do Elemental Protection + magic resist stack to give me invulnerability to magic with my shield raised?

No, first Magic Resistance, then Elemental Resistance, so if you have 50% of both, (Just Breton, and the Lord Stone) you take half damage, then half of the remaining damage for a total 75% protection. If you go all the way with the Alteration perks, and Otar, that's 80%, then 80% of the remaining 20% which only leaves 4% actually getting through. You could take it further to 85/85%, but with a whole lot of effort for >2% difference.

Alteration (5 perks)
-I'm putting perks in alteration mainly to get to Magic Resistance 3/3, which will bring me to 55% magic resist.

If you can get your armor to 467 (assuming a shield, and 4 pieces of armor) you can cast Ebonyflesh over your ebony to cap out, then block to exceed the cap somewhat. This is a lot in Defense, and not a lot in Offense. Armor doesn't win fights, it keeps you from losing. I'd Augment Frost for the Slow/Stamina drain effect, and Ice Storm. Deep Freeze is optional, but I like it. Also Lightning, because very little is resistant to it, and Disintegrate weakens tough foes like Dragonrend, and Marked for Death do. You're right about the Ebony Mace, it's tied for the most base damage you can hold in one hand, is lighter, and a lot easier to get without mucking about with Daedra Hearts. (IMO, it's also the most beautiful weapon in the game.) What Enchantments where you considering? Also, Soul Siphon doesn't make a significant difference.

 

[tvr123]

It depends on what your Armor is, I assume you mean Juggernaut (3) but even Daedric isn't going to Cap out without some enhanced tempering, so probably not, though Block, and Alteration Spells can raise this above the Cap.

I actually meant one in Juggernaught, one in Well Fitted, and one in Tower of Strength, although that would be less than 3/5 Juggernaut. I will improve it by smithing, though.

No, first Magic Resistance, then Elemental Resistance, so if you have 50% of both, (Just Breton, and the Lord Stone) you take half damage, then half of the remaining damage for a total 75% protection. If you go all the way with the Alteration perks, and Otar, that's 80%, then 80% of the remaining 20% which only leaves 4% actually getting through. You could take it further to 85/85%, but with a whole lot of effort for >2% difference.

75% is still enough by me, and should greatly reduce enemy mages/dragons' potency.

If you can get your armor to 467 (assuming a shield, and 4 pieces of armor) you can cast Ebonyflesh over your ebony to cap out, then block to exceed the cap somewhat. This is a lot in Defense, and not a lot in Offense. Armor doesn't win fights, it keeps you from losing. I'd Augment Frost for the Slow/Stamina drain effect, and Ice Storm. Deep Freeze is optional, but I like it. Also Lightning, because very little is resistant to it, and Disintegrate weakens tough foes like Dragonrend, and Marked for Death do. You're right about the Ebony Mace, it's tied for the most base damage you can hold in one hand, is lighter, and a lot easier to get without mucking about with Daedra Hearts. (IMO, it's also the most beautiful weapon in the game.) What Enchantments where you considering? Also, Soul Siphon doesn't make a significant difference.

I was actually debating going for frost instead of fire, seeing as it slows enemies down, except I think the spikes look so ugly.

For the enchantments, was considering my chosen element damage (first I was convinced about fire, but now I'm not sure) + absorb health or absord stamina

 

[tvr123]

Reluctantly bumping. I absolutely trust Psibezerker, but I would like to get a little more input.

 

[tvr123]

bump

 

[Twiffle]

My reanimated Riverwood chicken would wup yo ass, ,, ,, ,,

Just kidding, seems ok, but as psiber said, lots of defence and no offence, need to have a little rethink,!

 

[Voodoo_uk2]

Hello everyone,

I understand that you must get tonnes of these threads and I promise you that I have read all the guides, but I am a real perfectionist and I like everything to be perfect and therefore personalised.

I would really appreciate it if you could take a look at this battlemage build plan.

As you are a Perfectionist i wont really make any comments as YOU prolly are your best Critique and all we will do is confirm what you are already thinking... i always go by this

If your build gets alot of One shots or cqb Melee kills on a hard setting then your totally there bro and then its just a case of "Looking good " while you do it type of thing , i think everyone has a Build they love which has flaws but this is how Bethesda wanted it so then the game does not get GOD mode character builds unless you cheat your way there

Mine is more Warrior/Mage based so i have a good bit of Armour and Magika rating more blanced toward Warrior so on most Beast Packs or Tamriel groups i will charge in with an explosive Dual Melee Attack that deals alot of damage and a i have good regen so mid battle my health/Stam is not really depleted to seriously then i bring the pain with Magic eg: Flame/ice cloaks and if that aint enough as some oppo have both fire and ice resistance a small nasty Blade to slice n dice up close and personal

For those impossible ( Why did they even put this person in the Game ) type of adversaries i got a huge Archery/Stealth skill and can normally get their health to halfway before they detect where i am then i just repeat the first combo this seems to work for me so i just build my dude up more in his abilities that get a quick kill from time to time i do like to toy with my prey but this generally gets me killed
Like i fought this Blood dragon with a new Fire resistant helmet and shield combo and decided to use broom ( Which i was on the way to throw in the Atronach forge to make into a staff ) as my weap of choice ...dont ask me why loool it didnt end well but i went out HARD

 

[Adventurer]

Battlemage is a hybrid character and can be a really powerful one.

My first remark is about crafting.
I would use Alchemy in the first place(for Magica and Health regeneration and it also makes good coin) and enchanting as second choice(enchanting your equipment especially with protection against magic). I would not use smithing for a mage-like character. You may choose echanting if you like that better.

A battlemage while is also a warrior of a sort in the first place he is a mage after all. What I would focus as a priority are the following and in that order:

Destruction
Restoration
Heavy Armor
One-handed
Alteration
Block
Alchemy
Enchanting

Conjuration is a No-Go Illusion as you see fit. Specialize either for blade or mace no two-haded, no dual wielding.

Good luck.

 

[Psiberzerker]

If you're using Alchemy, then Fortify Destruction can be very powerful.

 

[Carmelpoptart]

Needs some conjuration.

 

[tvr123]

Thanks to everyone for all the help.

I am now level 30 with this build, and everything has gone smoothly so far. I have got my full set of ebony smithed and upgraded. I'm still leveling enchanting, so once that's done to 100 I will enchant it with a mix of fortify restruction/stamina/one handed/block. Currently have an armour rating of 275 with 1 heavy armour perk and 65 HA skill.

The magic resist is going well. I have 20% from the alteration tree so far + 25% breton magic resist + elemental protection shield perk. I can raise my shield when a dragon shouts and take minimal damage. That's not only useful but I also think it looks really cool. I really need to get block runner so I can close dragons or mages fast with my shield raised, but levelling HA and block is just so damn slow...

The only thing not going so well is that the "mage" part of my battlemage is lagging. This could be explained by me taking the warrior stone at first, plus investing primarily in health and stamina (since I'm going for fortify destruction enchants). I can cause hardly any damage with firebolt before I run out of magicka, but I do it anyway to level destruction. I mostly use spells to heal myself ATM. "Respite" is definitely a life saver. It seems to my destruction just isn't on the same level as other damage dealing skills, so I will mainly use it as a support skill (flame cloak + improved weapon enchants)

I'm not investing in conjuration due to this being a "good" character. I did a u-turn and I'm playing in an almost paladin like way.

If I have any left over perks, I will invest in alchemy since that is what has been mostly recommended.