Forums » Elder Scrolls

The Best Spell!? Overall!

    • 739 posts
    November 30, 2011 7:57 PM EST

    Ive not run a pure mage yet, but i am getting excited to do so! I'm currently running at level 30 with 65% magicka resist, and the 50% elemental resist from the block perk, doesnt seem to matter though, some enemy spells are still busting through my defense. I'm hoping bethesda havent rigged it so enemy mages will always be so devastating.

    Anyway, my blackguard build has mastered conjuration and i'm absolutely loving the Dead Thrall spell, its just great when you encounter those master conjurers and permanently bind them to your service, you can get very creative with who you choose to be your extra TWO followers, necromancy is a very doable class in Skyrim! So the Dead Thrall spell is currently my favorite.

    So i'm looking for insight for my upcoming mage build, what other spells have people found to be effective, do destruction spells become underpowered at higher levels as they did in oblivion, do illusion spells eventually become unusable due to their level restrictions? Post your thoughts!

     

    • 15 posts
    November 30, 2011 9:12 PM EST

    The higher-up Destruction spells take an eternity and a half to cast, for an amount of damage that's not worth it. 

    In my opinion, Conjuration is the best school of magic, but Fireball is the most amazing spell to use. It blows up living beings, undead enemies, dead foes, and Mudcrabs. (Mudcrabs are too powerful to be classified.)

    • 144 posts
    November 30, 2011 9:31 PM EST

    I haven't really played mage yet so im kinda in the same boat as you are, but i like the flame cloak spell. i have a warrior/stealth orc and when im in melee range i just cast that to use that nice bonus damage.

    • 4 posts
    November 30, 2011 9:39 PM EST

    Conjuration is amazing this time round. I found illusion only useful for the muffle spell, pretty handy for sneaking. Restoration is handy for obvious reasons, but Im at a high character level now (60's) where I can no longer repel the majority of encountered undead creatures with my restoration spells, so its kinda null at this stage. As for destruction, I'd agree with Brett, Fireball rules! I sometimes find it too powerful, damaging conjured creatures or followers, so i switch over to lighting bolt.

    The master level destruction spells look great, but damage wise they are not all that more powerful. I find Lightening Storm (a continuous powerful stream of electricity) very good at killng dragons from a distance before they even get to land (they usually swoop over once with an aerial attack, but thats all).

    I've had alot of fun with Alteration, how you may ask, telekinesis! But Alternation is mainly defensive in Skyrim, especially the perks, which I am extremely grateful for. I have it on Master difficulty, I use Dragonflesh (master spell) a lot before charging into a room, saved me more times than I can count, especially when one arrow/hit kills me without it protecting me!

    Hands down, Fireball wins.

    • 708 posts
    November 30, 2011 10:04 PM EST

    My pure mage is still only level 7 but I'm always getting murdered repeatedly on my other characters by mages dual-wielding Ice Spike and the upgraded version...

    • 15 posts
    November 30, 2011 10:09 PM EST

    Yeah, it was a pain in the arse fighting certain bosses whose defeat finishes the main quest *Spoilers skillfully avoided* when they kill you in one hit with flaming rocks from the skies. Made me angry to the point where I whipped out the Skull of Corruption and the Wabbajack, used Slow Time, and obliterated him.

    The moral of this story: The Skull of Corruption, like absolute power, corrupts absolutely. (And it makes the bad guys VERY dead)

    • 13 posts
    December 1, 2011 6:34 AM EST

    The mid level destruction spells like Fireball, Chain Lightening, and Frost Storm (I think?) are probably best considering cost and damage. 

    • 12 posts
    December 1, 2011 10:29 PM EST
    There are different schools of magic. You can't say that a destruction spell is better than restoration. Not a good question. As you progress in a school of magic, buy new spells and use them. Novice spells are useless at high level character.
    • 132 posts
    December 1, 2011 10:48 PM EST

    Strange as it sounds, Firebolt. I'm at the point where I can dual cast it repeatedly for about a minute, and with the stagger perk, I can essentially spam things with no threat of retaliation. Dragons, Deathlords, Dragon priests... nothing can match the power of Firebolt :P And of course Dead Thrall, but that goes without saying.

    • 11 posts
    December 1, 2011 11:09 PM EST

    yeah, i just constantly spam them with my pure mage, works wonders against big groups to, and if they are all charging at ounce, fire breath shout, and a fireball do great, then switch back to fire bolt. 

    • 377 posts
    December 2, 2011 12:22 AM EST

    Underpowered spells in Oblivion??!!!! What game were you playing? Create your own excessively overpowered spells!!! "Shock at 100 for 5 seconds! Here we goooo!" BLAST BLAST BLAST BLAST Dude.... really. I miss making my own spells in Skyrim.

    Incinerate and Thunderbolt are high level destruction spells are good. There's frost spell but I don't use it. But you can't really use these until you have the magicka for it.

    The key to getting the most from using the spells is the perks -  check them out. They really give the edge in kicking ass as mage.

    Also big help is getting apparel that's ex. Destruction spells cost 12% less, and increased 30 magicka points items. Having magicka potions on hand are essential as a mage. Also train in either Double hand combat or single hand combat as a backup plan if you've run out of magicka and potions.