Can enemies really run out of magic?

[Lucid]

I've been kiting this Necromage around for like 10 minutes and he has not run out of mana yet. He's spamming single and double cast ice bolts.

Also Legendary is soooo much fun.

[ELF EYES]

nop unless you have a mod where when you fight they do like you

[Lucid]

Ugh, ok.. looks like it's time to go kamikaze on him. Lydia won't seem to put her bow away against him so I don't have a tank! Making this much harder than it should be!

[Lucid]

Wait, so why are there drain magicka poisons and poisons to reduce magicka regen?

[Alexraptor]

Actually all enemies have Magicka reserves, they just regenerate faster than the player.
Shock spells and the Staff of Magnus drain magicka and can prevent enemies from casting spells.

[Shellbie]

Originally posted by Lucid:

Ugh, ok.. looks like it's time to go kamikaze on him. Lydia won't seem to put her bow away against him so I don't have a tank! Making this much harder than it should be!

Companions always prioritize the highest dps weapon they have.

[78pac7]

If you can't drain enimies magicka, what would be the point of shock magic...?

[Delta 1038]

Originally posted by Squidbarrel:

If you can't drain enimies magicka, what would be the point of shock magic...?

They hit really hard and are hitscan

EDIT: Also this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_DqV1xdf-Y

[Red Bat]

Yes I believe so. Enemies mages tend to wear robes that give them 75% magicka recovery though, and tend to have large pools of magicka to begin with, but I've definently fought a few that seemed to run out and then suicidally charge forward with a dagger, only to back away to cast spells when their magicka recovers.

[Daryl]

Glass Shield = Reflectio = Death by their own powaahzu!

[Belanos]

Originally posted by Alexraptor:

Actually all enemies have Magicka reserves, they just regenerate faster than the player.

They also have a larger reserve than the player.

[Red Bat]

Originally posted by Belanos:

Originally posted by Alexraptor:

Actually all enemies have Magicka reserves, they just regenerate faster than the player.

They also have a larger reserve than the player.

Sure, if your character isn't a mage. Altmer characters START with more magicka than some of the weaker mage NPCs.

If you use mage robes and a magic build, you'll outlast the majority of the mage NPCs.

[Belanos]

Originally posted by Pidgeotto:

Sure, if your character isn't a mage. Altmer characters START with more magicka than some of the weaker mage NPCs.

If you use mage robes and a magic build, you'll outlast the majority of the mage NPCs.

If you open up the Creation Kit and take a look, you'll notice that Mage NPCs get a bonus on their Magicka pool. Melee based NPCs get a bonus on their Health.

[Thord]

Necromage

They can be up to level 50. All have a boost to life and magicka but what I will call a debuff to stamina. The extra magicka is a fixed number not a % so at level 50 the extra makes less difference than at level 1, that boost tends to be around 50-200 points.

When NPCs level up they do so like we do in the sense that mages choose extra magicka rather than stamina for example. Also as they level up they have more spells and perks.

"Double icebolts" sounds like a high level one (Arch Necromancer). At level 50 he/she has Life 659, Magicka 576 and Stamina 50. Perks would give him/her even more magicka and a regen boost. He/she would also be able to self heal.

Gear will give either extra magicka, increased magicka regen, it will do more damage or it will do nothing to help (eg could be boosting conjuration but it has no conjuration spells).

Magicka does go down same as ours. We can also use the same enchantments.

Poison which takes x points of magicka won't help nuch I think. There are some which take all of the magicka or knock out regen which are better perhaps.

Shock enchantments won't do as much against a level 50 mage so check your numbers but mu guess is by then you would be better off with a different enchantment.

By the way normal Dragons don't need a lot of magicka because they have their own spells some of which don't need Magicka at all so shock is sometimes wasted against them.

[alexander_dougherty]

Mages can and do run out of magicka, especially at lower levels. But the AI rations the use, using at a steady rate were the magicka regenerates enough to keep it going.

If you charge them, they use it more, and can quickly run out, making them vulnerable to a sword in the guts.

[Nexim95]

Originally posted by Lucid:

Also Legendary is soooo much fun.

It is. Every fight at any level (dragons, especially) makes you feel like you're fighting for survival.