Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Contest Build: The Hedge Mage

Tags: #Character Build Elementalist  #Character Build Mage  #Character Build Bound Weapons  #Rank:Exemplar  #Contest4  #Raidriar  #Tae-Rai  #Someone sort these tags out I'm in a rush :P  #Tags courtesy of Albino cuz he's the best CB host :P 
  • Member
    July 2, 2017

    Rabyd One said:

    I like the concept but I have a question.  What is the purpose of the no staves rule?  If you are just using magic you pick up this seems ot qualify as there is no way ro recharge unless you find soul trap or a filled soul gem or something.  If yo uare not buying magical stuuf that would include soul gems.  It seems that you coudl create a mage that uses what he finds including staves.  

    Another question could this not also be used from a roleplay perspective with a young novice type mage who simply wants to learn things on his own?

    Otherwise love this build.

    Rabyd One

    As both author's are in varying states of activity, I'll take a crack at this if its alright with you.

    The overarching theme of this build to me is reward and earning - every spell you learn, every death you narrowly avoid, is earnt by hardwork and a healthy amount of luck. Staves kinda take away from this, as they're the easer option and basically doubles the power of the build, which isn't the purpose of it. This isn't a min/max build.

    And the general rule of thumb with building in general is to roleplay it however you like. Anything the authors wrote is how they did it, which serves as a great guideline, but if you have another idea take it and run with it. Builds are better when they're personal, and nothing does that more than making your own roleplayed character.

  • Member
    July 2, 2017

    Zonnonn said:

    AS both authors are in varying states of activity, I'll take a crack at this if its alright with you.

    The overarching theme of this build to me is reward and earning - every spell you learn, every death you narrowly avoid, is earnt by hardwork and a healthy amount of luck. Staves kinda take away from this, as they're the easer option and basically doubles the power of the build, which isn't the purpose of it. This isn't a min/max build.

    And the general rule of thumb with building in general is to roleplay it however you like. Anything the authors wrote is how they did it, which serves as a great guideline, but if you have another idea take it and run with it. Builds are better when they're personal, and nothing does that more than making your own roleplayed character.

    That's as good a reason as any but i am thinking of another build that is very much a hedge wizard in the more traditional sense of if he/she finds anything like spell books, staves and scrolls they would be fair game.  I guess I should persue it myself but I jsut wondered what the justification was because it might make sense for my build as well.  

    Thanks for the input.  

     

     

  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    level 16 so far. Really damn fun, if supeer underpowered and challenging. I got lucky with a courage spell in bleack falls barrow, as well as apprentice destruction robes. just got ice spike which is now my main spell for damage. hoping for another destruction spell soon, working on ignite and freeze

  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    Any idea how to increase survivability? I only have oakflesh and bandit thugs can kill me extremely easily,I play on expert.

  • Member
    August 2, 2017

    Ajani said:

    Any idea how to increase survivability? I only have oakflesh and bandit thugs can kill me extremely easily,I play on expert.

    Are you using any summons or raising any zombies? If you can get something to take the heat off for a bit, it goes a long way to keeping you alive.

    And happy feet. Move, move, move. I think we've all been insanely frustrated at some point trying to run down a mage that just kept moving out of the way while at the same time sending a barage of spells your way--be that mage. That, and working your terrain; you can usually get to places the bad guys can't--pop 'em while you're there, then when they run off, climb down to lure them back again... rinse and repeat (don't know how many cave bears I've had to kill that way in early levels xD). In the interest of full disclosure, however, I DO play at Adept level, so your experience will vary a bit.

    Speaking of difficulty levels, I play Adept and gimp my characters to make it challenging, BUT I have played builds (Illusion-based in particular) that got OP no matter how I tried to gimp them, so I've had to move the difficulty slider up (even though I pride myself on being able to make a build a challenge on Adept). Pride may not allow you to do this, but if you just aren't having fun with the build (constantly dying because you are getting one-shotted by restless draugr is NOT fun), bump the difficulty slider down a notch until you reach a point where you can handle higher level enemies. The aim is to have fun with the challenge, not to toil away at a particular difficulty setting because that's just how you roll. That's a hard pill for some people to swallow, but this build really is worth it. If summons, zombies, and fancy feet don't do the trick, kick it down a notch ;D

  • April 28, 2018

    Is it OK to bring this one to the surface again.? This was my inspiration for my elementalist, with my own take on RP and restrictions. My  biggest regret is not starting this with Ordinator, which I feel adds immeasurably to the story. And the Wild Shrines and Intuitive Magic are made for it, I reckon.

     

  • April 3, 2019
    Old thread but still Interesting. My Orc Hedge Mage Balruuk, is level 20. Loving this play through. It can be difficult at times but well worth it. My spin on it is to use found staves (which oddly I don't use often as I thought), and scrolls as well. My Hedge Mage is Dragonborn as well so I'm doing all that. It's still very challenging and not an overpowered build at all. One more found spell time to add to the build. Do the Quest Ice Cold for Marise Aravel in Riften. The reward is a tome of Magelight or Stoneflesh. It's a random as to which you get, but it's another to have in the spellbook. Thanks for the build and good luck to those that try it.