Is one handed destruction ever fun?

[Proto]

I'm trying to build myself a Breton Red Mage, someone who specializes in swords, destruction and restoration but cant use high level gear or master level spells, but I just cant seem to have fun with the combination, it bugs me that five of the six fire spells are projectiles and the only non projectile fire spell does like eight damage a second...is there a way to make red mage fun or am I going to have to wait for the construction set and make my own spells to make it a bit more fun.

[Ryanhabs]

The fire storm spell is fun but takes a few seconds to build up before casting. To be honest, personally want to use the cs to up the damage on the master lvl destruction spells. compared to using weapons magic feels, well gimped slightly. The best fire spell is fire storm and it does 85 damage when it explodes around you, enemies that are really close take more damage though. Just seems a bit weak for the mana cost and the fact that it can be interrupted.

[ReMeDy]

The best fire spell is fire storm and it does 85 damage when it explodes around you' date=' enemies that are really close take more damage though. Just seems a bit weak for the mana cost and the fact that it can be interrupted.

[/quote']

Not only that, but when a mage runs out of mana, they literally can't do shit, whereas when a fighter runs out of stamina, he can still swing his sword, albeit less effectively. Furthermore, mage items do not scale well into end game, at least not as well as fighter's items do.

 

The mage spells need to be buffed... a lot.

[Jerbsinator]

It also sounds like duel casting is completely broken and doesn't give any benefit at all other than staggering.

[Woohoo]

It also sounds like duel casting is completely broken and doesn't give any benefit at all other than staggering.

 

In my experience, dual casting with destruction is reasonably effective. Enemies die significantly faster when I switch to dual casting. For everything else, it's worthless, IMO.

 

Haven't reached high levels with my mage character yet.

[warlpalg6]

I got Enchanting maxed out and perked, then enchanted a necklace, ring, head piece, and chest piece with 25% reduction to destruction and restoration each. End result? 100% reduction of destruction and restoration. Destruction becomes much more fun.

 

But I will agree that leveling up... the mana cost never justified the use of the spells to adept and beyond. You would need a RIDICULOUS amount of maximium mana to make your regeneration worth it to use the high level spells. I've played pure mage up to this point, I will tell you dual casting is definitely worth it. One-handed? I would probably say no.

[littleman]

Duel casting non destruction spells, like stone skin, lengthen the duration of effect, but not the effect there is a perk for that.

 

a sword would be smart as your backup weapon when you run out of mana, then just wait for regen. Runes are effective.

[stuff777888]

This is just my 2cents but...

 

Magic seems underpowered once you get far enough into the game and encounter really tough enemies.

 

I'm playing on Master difficulty, and magic damage does little to nothing... and that's assuming the enemy does not have any strong elemental resistances. This is with all of the destruction perks too.

 

Mages are fragile because you will be mostly investing your early points into magicka. Plus since you don't invest in stamina, you'll have to deal with the annoyance of having no carrying capacity. Wearing Mage's robe is suicide, even with the Mage's armor perk. Enchanted heavy armor does a much better job, plus it's better to use those perk points for enchanting (which is an absolutely necessary skill, along with smithing imo).

 

 

As for your question 1-handed destruction is terrible. I tried it. You would need to rely on -spell cost items to cast your magics effectively, which is a waste since you could be using much better enchantments. Without a shield, your defense is no better than dual-wielders, and you don't even have the DPS to compensate for the loss of defense.

 

 

A pure one-handed, two-handed or archery build seems far more effective in terms of damage.

 

For example:

+30% one-handed damage gloves

+30% one-handed damage ring

+30% one-handed damage amulet

+all the skills from the one-handed perk

+legendary refined daedric sword

+magic resistance from quest perks, atronach absorption, etc

 

One-handed weapon damage rating comes out to be around 100+, which lets me kill everything in 1-2 hits, Dragons in about 6 hits. =/ I take absolutely no damage at all from enemy mages and the only time I ever die is when I get swarmed. Plus I can switch from Shield for defense to Dual-Wield to pick off dangerous foes quickly depending on the situation.

 

This is all in-terms of Vanilla Skyrim though, without any mods.

 

On a side note:

-Mage companions and Mjoll the Lioness are the best companions in the game. Mage companions are always good. And Mjoll has... 3x the amount of HP compared to any other companion in the game. o.O

 

-Daggers are unaffected by one-handed damage boosters, but they always hit twice with each attack.

 

Sorry for the huge post and bashing mage builds, but that's my rant on magic after playing the game for 50+ hours. >_<

[Silk]

I hear your pain. It what I have been doing since I managed to nab a copy on the xbox for a week.

 

I've been going - Weakness to Fire, Fire magic and fire sword spam. It all seems to add up rather nicely. Only problem is pausing the game seems to take out all of the fun.

 

Might just go and roll a Thief instead, until we get a mod that lets us quick select without stopping things

[warlpalg6]

I hear your pain. It what I have been doing since I managed to nab a copy on the xbox for a week.

 

I've been going - Weakness to Fire' date=' Fire magic and fire sword spam. It all seems to add up rather nicely. Only problem is pausing the game seems to take out all of the fun.

 

Might just go and roll a Thief instead, until we get a mod that lets us quick select without stopping things

[/quote']

 

There IS a hotkey thing like there was in Oblivion and Morrowind... I know, I don't even think the tutorial showed it. You can press 1-8 on the object/spell of your choice through the favorites menu. Then you can hit that key and it'll show up in your left hand, hit it again and it'll pop up in your right hand as well.

[Kashked]

It also sounds like duel casting is completely broken and doesn't give any benefit at all other than staggering.

 

Which is however quite a big advantage when facing single enemies... as long as you have the mana to keep hitting them until they are dead an alone enemy can't do anything to you.

 

[afro-herbalist]

I find it pretty fun sometimes, and I'm a redguard so I have minimum magica potential. I can kick ass with the flames/sparks spell, plus a one handed weapon, Although I still fail hardcore, against the most badass mages and necromancers.

 

Those Thalmor justicars, or some people I met the 2nd time I went to Orphan Rock (which was deserted the 1st time) will wipe the floor with you.

[ogre3000]

Master level magic will require 2h casting...but its worth it...especialy for conjuration...

[Babychucker]

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=870

That mod was just made it might help.

[Old Book]

Whenever I see the title of this thread in the context of LoversLabs, I chortle.

[Ryanhabs]

Whenever I see the title of this thread in the context of LoversLabs' date=' I chortle.

[/quote']

 

HAHA!