Skyrim - my story of woe :p

[Amraam]

I tried magic builds and found the same as you OP.

I like to keep vanilla as it is, even though I've got 100+ mods, the perk and leveling system is the same as vanilla.

Anywayyyyy, I love playing sneaky sneaky. If you've got 60+ perks in Illusion, have you got the silent cast yet? My current guy is sneaky illusionist, I rarely use my dagger, I use calm and fury hand in hand to force everyone to fight each other as I sit in the shadows. The winner is ultimately calmed, as he casually talks to me whilst I line up to slit his throat.

It wasn't easy at first, this build. But once I got the silent cast and perk to have my spells work on undead, the game was won. This is a 90 skill perk though. Cast muffle on your self constantly, it's kind of cheating, but not really if you think that if you had the ability to recast something over and over to learn how to do it better in RL, you would right? So yea, keep casting muffle on your self when ever you get the chance.

That sounds like a fun build, and it's really making me itch to play Skyrim again. I loved using muffle to sneak better. I used archery for long distance and a good dagger/sword for stealth kills. Playing as a pacifist (well, more like on the fench **** stirrer) sounds like fun. Make them fight each other then profit

 

[Narj]

I tried Magic and found destruction woefully underpowered. Even with mods it just wasn't that fun.

I ended up going Shield and one-handed sword, purely using magic for buffs. Might throw the odd fireball in to agg an enemy. I use the Sanguine Rose if I think it's going to be a bit tough.

 

[agnes]

That sounds like a fun build, and it's really making me itch to play Skyrim again. I loved using muffle to sneak better. I used archery for long distance and a good dagger/sword for stealth kills. Playing as a pacifist (well, more like on the fench **** stirrer) sounds like fun. Make them fight each other then profit

It really is chap, it took me a while to appreciate it, but I mostly have my dagger in my right hand, sneaky sneaky, ah, there is someone, then look around, if others near by, I find the biggest looking one and put fury on him. He then destroys all the weaker ones, or I repeat until only one is left. Then walk up to him, and the amount of times they charge for me then I casually cast calm on them. Only to have the NPC holster their weapon and say "I don't take kindly to magic folk, would you mind?" or something like that lol. All whilst I walk around him, loot what have you and then when I'm done, just sneak up on him and do the deed.

It's a great playstyle, sounds like it could get boring, it really doesn't. And even more fun when you get the master spells, HUGE cloud of fury, cast invisibility, sip your tea, enjoy the mayhem and giggle.

It's not east at first though, not until you've got 60 points in illusion and sneak.

 

[matt_fsr]

It sounds like you've managed to pick elements of a character build that don't complement each other.

And yes, Destruction magic as a killer is tough, very tough, to use due to the levelling problem.

One way to go is (relatively) all-out sneak, focus on archery, getting the triple damage perk as soon as possible, and pick people off at range. When they get in close, either go all out fast dual-knifey on them, or just use a sword and shield.

Alternatively, be more up front, use heavy armour, accept you cant get in any sneaky hits, but a bow isn't a bad thing to damage enemies with at range anyway, before doing sword 'n board and taking hits.

Conjuration I like to think of as a backup skill, for any class type. Fights always become that little bit easier when you add a temporary ally, and one of the conjuration mods allows you to conjur up Draugr. So yeah, my high level characters can call up a handy Draugr DeathLord!

Also, early on, pile almost all of your perk upgrades into health. It'll never be a bad thing to have plenty of, and early magic spells won't eat your Magika too much anyway. Also, conjuring a familiar is pointless. It dies in 1 hit, does almost no damage and barely raises your conjuration. Get a flame atronach spell, and if you dont have enough magic to cast it, wear a ring or necklace to grant you more, and call it for every fight. You'll soon start levelling a bit.
(Depends if you want to keep this char or start afresh)

Also, why does nobody mention the difficulty settings? I've modded my game, so I find that starting out on Expert works well for me. I'm weak, and any hulking great nord with a 2H sword who lands a hit kills me. Thats how I like it. As I level up, and become more of a badass, I'll raise it to master. Also, tho I have done it before, I don't abuse the smithing perk.

(If you keep your current character, find, beg, buy or steal an item that increases your blacksmithing, and break it to learn the enchantment. Then smith a full leather suit, necklace and ring with blacksmith enhancement. Pop a blacksmith potion, then make yourself some weapons/armour immediately after. I once had a bow which had a base damage of 236! If you get the balance right, it can help you, until you decide it's a bit OP and then ditch it)

 

[Uncle_Gravy]

This. But before you sell them, enchant them also. It will level up your enchantment and you'll gain more money. I can very much recommend a soul catching weapon or spell and get a good stock of gems.

Never tried enchanting the daggers, I'll give it a go later, can't say no to levelling up even faster

 

[Deathjester]

I remember initially I had a massive issue with Skyrim; because I spent some time working on my speech skills etc. and other "soft" skills my level went up, however my other abilities didn't.
So I ended up with a level 20ish character who's combat abilities were closer to that of a level 6 or 7 and I got totally ruined by everything I came up against.


I went back to the start and worked on it another way then when I was high enough level to do some of the higher level monsters I worked on my soft skills.
I didn't like the way that Skyrim handled levelling up; I might take a look at some more of the mods some time and try re-playing it since I found it massively easy when I figured out how to "abuse" the system.

Spoiler

Step 1: Make this cool potion to make me better at blacksmithing
Step 2: Drink it
Step 3: Make some cheap armour which improves my potion making abilities
Step 4: Wear it
Step 5: See step 1

Once you get fed up with the diminishing returns then drink your best potion and make the armour / weapon of your dreams
Profit

 

[FoxEye]

That sounds like a fun build, and it's really making me itch to play Skyrim again. I loved using muffle to sneak better. I used archery for long distance and a good dagger/sword for stealth kills. Playing as a pacifist (well, more like on the fench **** stirrer) sounds like fun. Make them fight each other then profit

Illusion sounds like fun, but it is actually immensely frustrating too.

The one offensive spell Illusion has is Fury/Frenzy. This spell is /supposed/ to make bandits, etc, attack each other.

In practice it only works 25% of the time. The other 75% of the time, the bandit you cast it on comes straight for you, as do all his mates. Only /after/ killing you do they turn on each other.

So what you actually need to do is to run away all the time. And by the time the bandit you cast Fury on has stopped trying to chase after you, the spell has worn off.

The only sure-fire method is to have enough invisibility potions to be able to use one after every Fury/Frenzy cast. Which you won't.

So Illusion ends up being a save/load fest. You keep loading until the spell actually works as intended. Which means 3 out of 4 times you'll be reloading after casting it.

If the spell worked like the description said it should, it would be very powerful. But it doesn't 75% of the time.

I've even had situations where I'm hidden (sneak), cast the Fury spell into a room where nobody could see me, and everybody starts searching for me (including the Frenzy target) instead of fighting themselves. Ie, the spell seems to have no effect at all in many cases.

So yeah. Illusion is great fun when it works. But it doesn't work far too often.

 

[nails666]

No, it's much worse in Skyrim. ALL your abilities are core abilities, and you will get a level roughly every 5 skill ups.

So if you do a bit of sneaking, lock picking, or alchemy.. you will level up. And you won't want to

Basically this:

Haha, that sums up my first character in Skyrim perfectly

 

[Dr.Fate]

With regard to companions, you can make them essential/non-essential with a console command, and there are a few mods out there that will allow your companion to ride a horse when you do. Some modded companions also come with their own horse.

Console command:

setessential <BaseID> <#> Make NPC mortal (0) / immortal(1).

With the console open (tilde key, below Escape usually) click on the NPC to get his/her Base Id. Then type in the above command.

Cheers,

 

[D3K]

I dont understand the problem with Destruction. As soon as you can dual wield fireballs, everything melts.

 

[agnes]

Illusion sounds like fun, but it is actually immensely frustrating too.

The one offensive spell Illusion has is Fury/Frenzy. This spell is /supposed/ to make bandits, etc, attack each other.

In practice it only works 25% of the time. The other 75% of the time, the bandit you cast it on comes straight for you, as do all his mates. Only /after/ killing you do they turn on each other.

So what you actually need to do is to run away all the time. And by the time the bandit you cast Fury on has stopped trying to chase after you, the spell has worn off.

The only sure-fire method is to have enough invisibility potions to be able to use one after every Fury/Frenzy cast. Which you won't.

So Illusion ends up being a save/load fest. You keep loading until the spell actually works as intended. Which means 3 out of 4 times you'll be reloading after casting it.

If the spell worked like the description said it should, it would be very powerful. But it doesn't 75% of the time.

I've even had situations where I'm hidden (sneak), cast the Fury spell into a room where nobody could see me, and everybody starts searching for me (including the Frenzy target) instead of fighting themselves. Ie, the spell seems to have no effect at all in many cases.

So yeah. Illusion is great fun when it works. But it doesn't work far too often.

While I agree, early game the game of casting calm on those that furied against you is annoying. Once you get silent casting, life is bliss.

 

[matt_fsr]

Illusion sounds like fun, but it is actually immensely frustrating too.

The one offensive spell Illusion has is Fury/Frenzy. This spell is /supposed/ to make bandits, etc, attack each other.

In practice it only works 25% of the time. The other 75% of the time, the bandit you cast it on comes straight for you, as do all his mates. Only /after/ killing you do they turn on each other.

So what you actually need to do is to run away all the time. And by the time the bandit you cast Fury on has stopped trying to chase after you, the spell has worn off.

I've done a full Illusion-mage type before, and it was a mixture of fun vs frustration. Don't underestimate the power of dual-casting, that makes a big difference to who is affected and who isn't! Also, quiet casting makes a massive difference, if you can cast without the enemies hearing your frenzy spell then they won't look for you and attack you.

Try casting Muffle before you cast a frenzy or fury spell, see if that helps?

 

[FoxEye]

(If you keep your current character, find, beg, buy or steal an item that increases your blacksmithing, and break it to learn the enchantment. Then smith a full leather suit, necklace and ring with blacksmith enhancement. Pop a blacksmith potion, then make yourself some weapons/armour immediately after. I once had a bow which had a base damage of 236! If you get the balance right, it can help you, until you decide it's a bit OP and then ditch it)

It seems to me that everyone, regardless of build, is investing in Enchanting. And most also do smithing.

Is that a fair comment? I'd been avoiding both of these completely, as I didn't want to raise yet another non-combat skill and level up even more.

I dont understand the problem with Destruction. As soon as you can dual wield fireballs, everything melts.

I don't understand people who say this.

1. Dual casting is less mana effecient. 2.2x the power for 2.8x the mana cost.
2. I already run out of mana before the mob dies.

I have 270 mana, 160 health, and 100 stamina. You can see where I put my points. Mostly in magic.

Yet I do honestly run out of mana casting fireball before I can kill the harder Draugr (and other mobs, like Master Vampires, ghosts, or dragons). Case in point the Blood Dragon I fought (actually cheesed ) at level 20. I had to refill my mana bar with potions about 5 times to kill it. It took half the potions I'd saved up to that point.

I've heard some people even say that Destruction magic is over-powered. I wonder if these are the people who max Enchanting early on, and reduce the spell cost to 0 - which is something of an exploit, you'd have to say.

 

[Fanatic]

I always played a mage on expert difficulty and used a mod called Better Magic: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/4374/?

Have a good staff in one hand. Equip stuff that gives extra magicka. I think it is better to have extra magicka equipment instead of magicka regeneration equipment. Dual casting is a bit of a waste (except for Illusion where it is very important).

I wouldn't bother with enchanting until later in the game as early on you can usually find better stuff than you can make.

 

[Seanspeed]

I feel like if you want to use Destruction, you really need to build around it or else the damage output just wont ever be adequate and you'll frequently run out of mana. The latter problem is pretty big and basically *has* to be rectified or it becomes nothing but a minor annoyance to enemies.

It's a shame because the spells are actually quite awesome.

Personally, I like to play Skyrim as a solo archer with robes/light armor. I think the mechanics behind it are actually reasonably solid and also fun to use. Enemy AI can be a bit dim, but unless you've got some good armor and a solid melee backup, you'll be thankful to exploit the AI once in a while. This class is also the best way to fight dragons. It's easy to become overpowered doing this if you combine it with enchanting and smithing as specialties, but I try and avoid that, doing a bit of smithing, no enchanting and using alchemy as my primary way to boost damage.

And yea OP, it can be a little annoying at times when things you dont want to level up keep leveling up, gaining you levels too quickly, thus making the enemies become tough very quickly.

 

[Omaeka]

Magic is terrible in the base game, still shocked they never redone or rebalanced magic. You want Skyrim Redone or Better Magic for magic characters. Skyrim Redone adds a damage boost to your spells along with the 'costs half mana' perks and has awesome perks like fire having a tiny chance to instantly disintegrate enemies or make them panic etc.

Worth a look.

 

[FoxEye]

Still, at least if I do re-roll, I've learned how useless lock picking is

The number of times I've unlocked an "Expert" level chest, only to find 12 gold inside, is a bad joke really.

At times it feels like Skyrim is a great adventure/explorer's game, but with really, truly terrible underlying mechanics.

You either become horrible OP or UP depending on the path you choose, and the combat is pretty dull after the first couple levels. I should probably just play one of the trillion unplayed Steam games in my library instead

 

[D3K]

It seems to me that everyone, regardless of build, is investing in Enchanting. And most also do smithing.

Is that a fair comment? I'd been avoiding both of these completely, as I didn't want to raise yet another non-combat skill and level up even more.



I don't understand people who say this.

1. Dual casting is less mana effecient. 2.2x the power for 2.8x the mana cost.
2. I already run out of mana before the mob dies.

I have 270 mana, 160 health, and 100 stamina. You can see where I put my points. Mostly in magic.

Yet I do honestly run out of mana casting fireball before I can kill the harder Draugr (and other mobs, like Master Vampires, ghosts, or dragons). Case in point the Blood Dragon I fought (actually cheesed ) at level 20. I had to refill my mana bar with potions about 5 times to kill it. It took half the potions I'd saved up to that point.

I've heard some people even say that Destruction magic is over-powered. I wonder if these are the people who max Enchanting early on, and reduce the spell cost to 0 - which is something of an exploit, you'd have to say.

I don't recall how I dealt with the mana issue but it wasn't a problem. What fanatic said sounds familiar with the magicka equipment.

I built my char as I went along, hardly planned to "exploit", but it did feel super overpowered.

 

[adolf hamster]

you really need to define who your character will be from the start, switching your main skill level halfway through isn't going to work.

i generally go from character creation who they'll be, sneak with bows, sneak with daggers, one handed [with or without sheild], two handed etc.

magic is tricky, i personally don't preferr the playstyle, especially as when you run out of mana [which until you're really high level and have all the enchanted gear you'd ever want happens almost immediately]

 

[FoxEye]

you really need to define who your character will be from the start, switching your main skill level halfway through isn't going to work.

i generally go from character creation who they'll be, sneak with bows, sneak with daggers, one handed [with or without sheild], two handed etc.

magic is tricky, i personally don't preferr the playstyle, especially as when you run out of mana [which until you're really high level and have all the enchanted gear you'd ever want happens almost immediately]

Well as far as I can tell, with pure mages you basically have to use all the mages schools. There just isn't enough in any of the schools to base a character exclusively on that school.

Now with illusion magic you absolutely need to invest heavily in the perks just to have the illusion spells keep working as you level. By default, the illusion spells affect a max creature level of 6. So you NEED to invest heavily in illusion perks just to use the spells at all. Illusion spells without perks = utterly useless. Not just weak, unusable.

Basically my char was going to be an Illusionist - so I skilled it up and bought the perks. The reason I can't progress is because now I'm up against undead. All the illusion magic is unusable on undead. So then you find you need either Destruction or Conjuration to do damage.

BUT with already high illusion, comes a bunch of level ups. So anything I can summon gets one hit killed, and any destruction spell I cast takes off only 10% of the Draugr health. I don't have perks to spare because I was forced to spend them in illusion school.

Basically, at char creation I said this guy was going to be an illusionist, and I stuck to it (mixing in alchemy), but then I was unable to do anything about the undead.

So now I'm stuck getting my ass handed to me against opponents where my main magic cannot be used, and where my secondary magic is too weak to be effective.

If I'd chosen Destruction or Conjuration as my main school, I'd be doing better. But I wouldn't be able to use illusion as you must buy all the perks just to use your spells. I mean, imagine if firebolt just didn't work on higher level enemies AT ALL, unless you spent 6 perks to make it land. That would be nonsense, right? But that's illusion.

Hmm, the more I think about it the more I realise the system is just broken with bad design (with respect to magic).