what to use with magic?

[standardtrickyness]

Am I suppose to equip a staff or something? also does wielding a shield decrease magic power? any other info would be helpful

[aturqoise]

You don't need to use a staff, though as you increase your skills in magic you will get more uses from a staff in that school of magic. Example: as you increase in destruction magic your number of uses with a staff of fire, ice or shock also increases. Using a sheild will not decrease your use of magic. When you can get the perk for dual weilding it will increase the damage when using magic in both hands.

[standardtrickyness]

oh yeah also how do you dual wield magic? So the best way to use magic is shield in off hand and nothing in your main hand?

[markdb92]

if you want to kill stuff with magic your better off just using illusion and become a vampire and make illusion potions that buff the lv they affect npcs and have the npcs kill them self. melee and ranged skills are just better at killing than destro magic is.

[Washell]

Originally posted by standardtrickyness:

oh yeah also how do you dual wield magic?

In the menus when selecting spells: left click is right hand, right click is left hand.
Quick keys: Pressing a number once puts it in the left hand, twice in the right hand.
Casting a single spel with two hands: Have the perk for the school, then load the spell into each hand and press both mouse buttons at the same time.

Originally posted by standardtrickyness:

So the best way to use magic is shield in off hand and nothing in your main hand?

Playing an allround mage, I keep both hands empty and ready for spells.

[aturqoise]

Use magic in both hands, you have to simultaneously trigger both hands. Destruction magic has a farther range than bows or crossbows. At first magic is underpowered, after you put some perks into the magic tree of your choice they become much stronger. I kill dragons with destruction magic alone. If you want to use a sheild, use it in your off hand with the spell of your choice in your main hand. When I first started as a mage I would use a spell in my off hand and a sword or dagger in my main hand until I gained more magica.

[mister_lobos]

you know skyrim is basically the opposite of the old yakoff smirnoff jokes about how bad russia was:
in soviet russia, road forks you..

in skyrim.. you can do whatever you want.
spells in one hand, shield in the other.
spells in one hand, weapon in the other.
spells in both hands.. one spell for each hand for a double hit combo or
one spell in both hands to dual cast.. technically dual casting is somewhst screwed up without mods, requires 2.8 times the magicka but only does 2.2 the damage / effect of a single spell.. but with the right perk you can keep things stunned with dual cast destruction... and having conjurations last longer is still a good thing.

you can cast spells while wearing robes..
you can cast spells while wearing light armor..
you can cast spells while wearing heavy armo...
you can cast spells while wearing a mix of robes, light armor and heavy armor.
you can cast spells nekkid if you really want to.
(that part was more like doctor suese for some reason)

the moral of this story: you can pretty much play skyrim however you want.

[Ygolnac]

Making a pure mage char is quite difficult at high difficulty levels.
You have to cast alteration spells on your robes every other minute, destruction is completly underpowered and laughable. Restoration works, but usually when you need that your magicka is low and you have to gulp a potion. You might as well gulp an healing potion.

Enchanting and Alchemy are more powerfull than Destruction and Restoration.

The only school of magic that's really worth the effort is Illusion. Once you get Quiet Casting perk you become a demigod. Once you can cast Invisibility with Quiet Casting you ascend to complete god status.

Quiet cast Fury + Summon something + go Invisible. Take the popcorn and watch people die 1 meter from you without having never noticed your existance.

[standardtrickyness]

well I'm playing the game on lowest difficulty
so pure mages are not so great dang

[Washell]

Originally posted by standardtrickyness:

so pure mages are not so great dang

Only if you get hung up on destruction instead of using your full arsenal.

[Count Smashula]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=795951624 Shameless self advertisement

A pure mage character can work, but it's really pointless since going hybrid with the warrior or thief playstyle is a lot more effective (and fun). Keep a melee and ranged weapon available and have fun. It's best to not use too many magic types if you don't have a plan.

Conjuration and destruction work wonders for a newer player. Summon a minion with conjuration and blast your enemies with destruction. Bound weapons from conjuration are excelent if you're not going in for smithing.