Illusion mage question

[Decline]

Hi. I was wondering what i should focus on apart from illlusion if i want to focus on that. I'm not sure if i should go illusion + conjuration or + destruction

[chrisnc35]

Depends...are you going to be a mage or necromancer? A mage can go Illusion, Destruction, Alteration and Conjuration, but only summon Atrinarchs...as a mage. ( If you are going for the "pure" aspect of the characters)

A Necromancer can take all but only summon the undead, not atrinarchs. And tend to use frost magic (since you deal with dead cold things)...again if you are going for the pure aspect.

Either way, get dual casting in all. Silent casting is great in Illusion side.

[gnewna]

I'd presume stealth is pretty useful for illusion mages, as the general idea seems to be to lurk in the shadows, causing mayhem?

[Roscaria]

Personally I would go for conjuration. This gives you another companion on your side. You can get killed while working up a destruction spell if you are outclassed.

[Delta 1038]

Going with chris' format but more focused on what you're asking.

"Traditional" mages with the desctruction path are pretty versatile in the sense that you have abilities to combat all three types of enemies; fire does well against archers because you'll out damage them, ice does well against melee because you slow them down and damage their stamina (A nightmare as a warrior), and lightning drains enemy magicka along with decent enough damage and hitscan.

You can play summoners or necromancers as a Conjurer mage. Atronachs are generally pretty good meatshields if you know what you're doing; e.g Flame Atronachs explode on death and get this; bound weapons have the same stats as untempered Daedric weapons. You can literally have daedric weapons before everyone even gets glass. The less socially acceptable form of conjuring; necromancy lets you control the fight by making your side stronger as they get weaker.

Illusion is a fantastic crowd control, giving you breathing space when you really need it; like frenzy as your initial nuke so that you can pick off your stronger enemies or calm when you need a breather. Hell, if you get stealth casting, you can summon an atronach as a distraction while you slip by.

[Grathagis]

If your stealth is high and you have silent casting, you can actually use destruction magic, without the enemy realizing where it came from. Or simply summon Atronachs in the middle of a group.