Are mages any good?

[PathologicalFrolic]

Ive never played skyrim before but im thinking of buying it.

I always play mages in every RPG but from what i heard mages are very underpowered and useless. Is it worth it or should i just stick as a stealth character.

[Factualious]

No characters are under powered, and by the time your is in its teens you may be wondering about combat and magic overhaul mods to bump up the challenge.

[JDaremo Fireheart]

I usually play a spellsword. no matter how I start I end up being a spellsword . . .

[Rafael Freeman]

Invest in the right perks and improve enchanting early on, and magic works very well.

[Mr. Whiskers]

In TES mages tend to become super OP. Though it can be a bit rough in the beginning.

[Vagrant]

0 mana cost spam-o-tron is what Destro magic sounds to me.

[Ishan451]

I played the old Skyrim as Rogue, as i always play rogue in these games. This time around i forced myself going Mage. I ended up downloading a mod to make spells scale because i felt there are plateau in this game where you aren't strong enough to cast the spells you would need to go up to the enemies you are facing. I feel like i wasn't leveling skills fast enough to keep up with the level up scaling.

[Quevik]

All the classes are good in this game in general. The statements you're hearing about mages comes from the spell damage cap. The best mage spells will never do as much damage as the best weapons simply due to the ability of the player to improve weapons. Spells, on the other hand, can only have thier cost reduced but not thier damage increased.

That said, once you've played enough you'll be doing so much damage anyway that it really won't matter. We're talking 1 hit-kill bows while stealth or 2 hit-kill fireballs that can be dual-cast.

Now, if you're interested in mods, there are some that allow spell scaling, increase enemy difficulty ...etc. I highly recommend them.

[Rafael Freeman]

Here are some tips:

You can use Alchemy to greatly increase the damage of destruction magic.

You can activate perks to increase the damage of destruction magic.

You can use Enchanting to bring the cost of destruction magic to zero.

Conjuration is useful to spawn creatures that help you. Or you can use Conjuration to make dead bodies fight for you. This is very useful as a distraction against powerful enemies.

Dual casting can increase the power of a spell and stagger enemies. The ability to stagger enemies makes destruction magic very powerful. You'll need the right perks.

Shouts and magic often work very well together.

Illusion magic can be very useful.

Don't forget to invest in Restoration magic.

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In case you are wondering, I have played as a mage at Legendary difficulty and it can be done.

[Jirki88]

Destruction mages are useless.
Conjuration mages are great.

[Alexraptor]

Its a bit more difficult starting off, but in the end it pays off big-time, especially when getting creative with Expert and Master Level spells and making sure to reduce destruction magicka costs to 0 via enchantment.
It's true mages don't deal as much damage per hit up front, but they make up for that by being able to paralyze enemies and stagger-lock them.

Also destruction damage CAN be increased by using found/bought destruction potions. An Elixir of Destruction will buff your spell damage by 50% for 60 seconds.

[Rafael Freeman]

Originally posted by Alexraptor:

Its a bit more difficult starting off, but in the end it pays off big-time, especially when getting creative with Expert and Master Level spells and making sure to reduce destruction magicka costs to 0 via enchantment.
It's true mages don't deal as much damage per hit up front, but they make up for that by being able to paralyze enemies and stagger-lock them.

Also destruction damage CAN be increased by using found/bought destruction potions. An Elixir of Destruction will buff your spell damage by 50% for 60 seconds.

And if you make your own potions you can can get potions that increase destruction damage with more than a 100 percent. Currently I'm using 120 percent potions.

Combined with the dual-casting perks, that is a lot of damage. Plus that destruction magic can damage more than one enemy.

[Angry Squirl]

If you want to run around melting stuff with destruction spells, you might be dissapointed at high difficulty levels. However, enchanting and alchemy are awesome at any difficulty. At lower difficulties, all schools of magic are very viable.

[JDaremo Fireheart]

Originally posted by Angry Squirl:

If you want to run around melting stuff with destruction spells, you might be dissapointed at high difficulty levels. However, enchanting and alchemy are awesome at any difficulty. At lower difficulties, all schools of magic are very viable.

Mages are great, but there will be times where stealth is more important. So pick up the bow skills at least

[BootyFlakes]

mage is my favorite way to play and one of the more interesting of the 3 main playstyles

[Tyrol]

IMO, only using magic in battles is the most difficult way to progress. Like everyone is saying though, mostly you don't use destruction magic by itself. Normally you have to combine, spells, potions, staffs, scrolls, etc. to dominate in battles. I normally conjure an ally while attacking myself with flame bolts.

For weapons, bows are probably the most effective, then swords, then great swords.