Is destruction magic really that weak in Skyrim?

[Humpenstilzchen]

I´m archmage now and when i go to Faralda who teaches destruction spells the best I can buy has something like 25 damage per hit. I struggle to believe that considering that my sword now deals 317 damage per hit with all its buffs so I wonder if I may have missed something?

I mean, I played Morrowind back then like a maniac and while the beginning as a mage was stupidly hard in the end you were a god, in oblivion you also could make your own spells just as in Morrowind which is sadly missing in Skyrim but there have to be better destruction spells than the ones sold by Faralda, right?

I´m aware that I can probably buff it to some extent with fortify destruction but still there have to be better spells than the starting ones.

I mean, how are people supposed to play mages under these circumstances?

[lizardmang]

The low damage of destruction magic in Skyrim is a common complaint. I play pure mages almost exclusively and don't have a problem with it, but to be fair, I play them on default difficulty because of it.

The low damage is offset to some extent by the Impact perk, which gives dual-cast destruction spells guaranteed stagger against almost every enemy in the game. Some larger enemies need to take more damage to stagger, but apprentice-level spells with the damage perks are enough to stagger anything in my experience. As soon as you have the magicka regen or cost reduction to cast even apprentice-level destruction spells indefinitely, you can stunlock everything from bears to dragons until they're dead, with no risk to yourself when fighting 1v1 (or as many as you can keep staggered).

Faralda will sell stronger spells as you level your Destruction skill, but the damage will never reach anywhere near the levels that melee or ranged can reach in vanilla. Still, I've played pure mages with only 150-200 health all the way to level 80+ with no issue, using destruction as my main or even only source of offense. The defensive capability that Impact provides is rivaled only by 1h+shield with vegetable soup, in my experience, with the added benefit of range. It leaves mages feeling a little weird though, as most people probably wouldn't expect a destruction mage to be a stunlock build.

Add summons, frenzy/calm spells, paralyze, and all of the other tools at a mage's disposal and mages are still viable and fun in Skyrim imo. But they are severely lacking in damage when compared to other builds and mages in past games, and they lack many of their previous utility spells as well.

[t]

Yes and no. Destruction magic is weak relative to every other damage skill because there are few ways to increase its damage, but it is overpowered in that you can infinitely stun lock enemies with 100% magicka cost reduction and the Impact perk.
There are better spells for sale when you get a higher Destruction skill, but they are all a let down.

People play mages by utilizing powerful summons and illusion spells.

[Captain Skinny]

The key is diversifying your spellbook.
And make sure you get all the perks for master destruct as half cost, etc. Once you get to the high level spells its very fun pinning bandits to the wall with an ice spear. But overall, if you aren't utilizing paralyze, fear, and summoning, you're in for a helluva battle.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Ok, thanks for the the replies guys, it´s good to hear that leveling destruction will enable you to buy stronger spells and I didn´t know about that stunlock thing.

It still seems like the super strong spells from the former games are missing and playing mage in skyrim seems to mean a lot of casting for less outcome compared to a melee build.

I can kill a dragon with idk 3-4 powerstrikes with my sword and other npc´s are usually a onehit. Range doesn´t matter much since I can just use whirlwindsprint and be right in the face of my opponent dealing over 300 damage with each hit plus I can put overpowered paralize or other poison on my blade + fortify one or two handed and make it even more stupidly op.

I might see if I can find some mods on nexus that deal with the non scaling magic damage as well as some that add some proper destruction spells. The selection of spells is really not that great in vanilla skyrim.

Any recommendations?

[lizardmang]

Apocalypse is my favorite: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1090

Enai's mods are awesome in general.

[Perplex]

Destruction is more about CC with Impact than pure damage.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Originally posted by silentprotagonistsays:

Apocalypse is my favorite: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1090

Enai's mods are awesome in general.

Nice thanks I´m gonna have a look at that one.

[Captain Skinny]

Yeah, destruct was nerfed HARD. The spells are all the same 3-4 things just with different elements and imo it takes some of the spice out of it.
And just as a heads up, magic will NEVER compare to the insane heights of dmg you can reach by maxing melee, especially once you get into enchanting.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Originally posted by Cynocephalus I:

And just as a heads up, magic will NEVER compare to the insane heights of dmg you can reach by maxing melee, especially once you get into enchanting.

Yes that´s exactly what I meant.

My alchemy, enchant and two handed is maxed and I can make crazy things with that like making buff gear for alchemy and smithing then with this make op potions to buff alchemy & smithing even more and then with this ontop make stupidly op melee weapons and armors and also make much stronger enchantments. It´s crazy lol.

[amathy]

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Any recommendations?

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1090
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/27839
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/39170
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6285

[lizrdfishr]

Originally posted by amathy oniichan uwu:

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Any recommendations?

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/39170

From the description page:
I want to cheat!
There is a secret way to get all of the spellbooks. Just kill the Riverwood chicken and loot its corpse. You're welcome.


Not gonna cheat, but any author who can come up with that deserves a download. :)

[Humpenstilzchen]

Originally posted by amathy oniichan uwu:

Originally posted by Humpenstilzchen:

Any recommendations?

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1090
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/27839
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/39170
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6285

Thanks I will check those out