Pure Destruction Mage is Harder?

[Casul Gamer]

I've gotten back into Skyrim and I'm playing vanilla to test things out for modding. I've heard that pure destruction mage (no illusion/conjuration/weapons/armor/shield) is harder than other classes/builds.

So far after playing both pure warrior and pure destro mage, I'm not convinced this is true. I haven't played a long time so maybe my opinion will change.

I am curious though for people who think warrior is easier. When playing warrior did you:
-Do enchanting
-Grind crafting
-Use healing spells (or any other spells)
-Do anything else that might have altered the results
-Did you dual wield, use shield, and/or 2-handed

I want to be clear. I'm not trying to prove anyone right or wrong (and I haven't finished my own testing anyways). I asking partially out of curiosity and also for modding (both using other peoples' mods and making my own).

[Bomb Bloke]

On the flip side, did those who think mages are harder make use of spell cost reduction, or the Impact perk?

[Stormsong]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Is it which is harder between pure warrior and pure destro mage? If so, then yes I do think mage is harder of those two.

Do I think pure destro mage is hard, in an objective sense? No. As Bomb Bloke mentioned a couple, there are ways to break the hell out of pure destro mage.

[Pink Lady]

As a level 35 two-handed warrior on adept I went straight for the crafting perks first. Smithing is at 100 and I'm currently wearing fully upgraded ebony armor (need more hearts for the daedric), enchanting at 87, alchemy 90, and speech is at 70 (I make lots of money now). Those are the skills I have purposely tried to level up fast so they're obviously my highest.

Now my heavy armor and two-handed skills are both around 50 which is pretty good considering all the crafting I've been doing xD And I'm using destruction as well mainly for the perks that make weapon enchants stronger but also as a ranged attack against dragons so now it's at 40ish I think.

Not using any healing spells and I'm not planning on going into restoration. I get all the healing I need from my homemade potions as well as a nice profit :)

So with that build so far I have no problem fighting dragons or small groups of enemies. I plan on raising alteration so I can get the magic resist perks and when my enchanting is at 100 I'll put resist enchants on my gear which will make it easy even against larger groups of enemies. I can handle myself without a follower but they do make it a lot easier especially against dragons and because I make them carry all the stuff I find until I can sell it.

Finally with all that in mind I'd say pure destruction mage is harder because all the enemies will be focused on you without a distraction (no conjuration or illusion) and without armor you're early game will be hard if melee enemies get in range or you get hit by arrows until you get the best mage armor spell (dragon hide i think?). Of course another big thing is that only perks and fortify destruction potions will make your spells do more damage so it does take longer to kill enemies with lots of health (compared to smithed and enchanted weapons) but it should still be reasonable.

I guess up front a warrior is easier because with smithing and enchanting it's a pretty straightforward and simple way to increase both offense and defense but a little less obvious how to make spells stronger (besides the perks in destruction) and warrior also kills stuff faster with less effort. Yes it is possible to have a destruction mage shoot a 999999 damage fireball but only after a considerable amount of time doing an alchemy and enchanting chain to make a super powerful fortify destruction potion that will make your destruction spells do 999999% more damage lol.

In the end though, both would do high damage and mage does have the advantage of range. Actually a destruction mage can kill multiple enemies faster than a warrior can because of AoE spells.

TLDR: I think warrior is easier than pure destruction mage at least in the beginning.
-Yes I do enchanting
-Yes I grinded/am still grinding crafting
-No I don't use healing spells but I do use some destruction spells for range

[Rogue]

I'd take a Warrior over a Destruction Mage anyday. I've played both and the thing that bothered me the most about Dest. Mage was how long it took to gain perks in Destruction. I had lots of good spells but all were weak because I had nothing but a novice perk for ages.

A pure Warrior with a good bow skill can match any Mage at distance. Add a good Sneak skill and any type of mage is toast.
imo

[Bomb Bloke]

Originally posted by minicake:

... and without armor you're early game will be hard if melee enemies get in range or you get hit by arrows until you get the best mage armor spell (dragon hide i think?).

Who said a mage can't wear armour? This isn't like earlier TES games, where doing so reduced spell effectiveness - though even then it wasn't by much!

[alexander_dougherty]

If you aren't using armour (mad if you ask me) then you need to invest in alteration for stoneskin spells and the like, and ward spells too.

As for what do I do when playing warrior, I cast all types of spells, you need to heal regularly, and muffle is too handy not to use, and who doesn't want a storm attronach at their beck and call.

[Casul Gamer]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

On the flip side, did those who think mages are harder make use of spell cost reduction, or the Impact perk?

I've been mostly using just novice spells and the starter destruction robes from Winterhold and it's going fine. I do sometimes have to kite enemies around a bit since I can't use a shield or a dodge mod.

[Casul Gamer]

I forgot to ask this question:
-Did you dual wield, use shield, and/or 2-handed?

[Krytern]

You might as well wait for the remastered "Special Edition" to come out in two weeks. If you own all DLC, you'll be getting it for free.

[Brandybuck]

My guess is that people who think fighters are better are those who think the gameplay is only about raw DPS (or even just raw damage). That's nonsense. Being a Destruction mage is not about raw damage output.

Can your l33t sword do AoE damage?
Can it set exploding traps?
Can it set magical barriers?
Can it stun lock foes?
Can it damage enemies who get too near?

And that's without combining it with other magic.

[Rogue]

Originally posted by Brandybuck:

My guess is that people who think fighters are better are those who think the gameplay is only about raw DPS (or even just raw damage). That's nonsense. Being a Destruction mage is not about raw damage output.

Can your l33t sword do AoE damage?
Can it set exploding traps?
Can it set magical barriers?
Can it stun lock foes?
Can it damage enemies who get too near?

And that's without combining it with other magic.

That's all well and good but...when playing the game very little of those things you mentioned are used by npc mages and if they do they are usually too weak. At level 30 my arrows will penetrate a protective ward and kill the mage. So it's just the way you like playing the game. To each his own. :)

[Fake]

Sneak + Bow = OP
Magic just seems way too weak compared to the martial options.

[Raga]

You only choose starting path... in the end you became all. (what a smart sentence :P)

I started with a heavy armor warrior with 2-handed sword...
Now I am fighting with a 1-handed sword with shield, hunt animals with a bow and fight dragons with lightining and wards (and Lydia)...
... have fun with alchemy... pure destruction is just booooriiiing.

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by Fake:

Sneak + Bow = OP
Magic just seems way too weak compared to the martial options.

You can get it as strong, just takes more work.

[Ilja]

Yeah. You can incinerate flying dragons from the sky in later stages of the game. Each discipline under Destructions has their own use.

- Fire: bursts of fire will increase the damage, because enemies are already burning.
- Frost: slow effect is very nice, evenif the enemy would be a Nord.
- Shock: the most expensive, but also most effective in the long run. Drains stamina and magic. Straight projecture, instead of arced trajectory in other disciplines.

Though I never play any "pure" character class anyway. My thief turns in to Illusiona and Alteration, when things get rough. My heavily armorded battle mage, with 2-handed axe, runs around plains of Whiterun in light armor, hunting animals with bow and arrow.