A Warlorc build - sounds great! :)

Warlorc...you´re cathing on rather fast, Paul

I Only want to mention about the Atronach Forge....  for crafting staves and scrolls of conjuration (fire - frost - storm atronach). I thing is a good alternative in order to avoid investing perks in Cojuration (maybe totaly ?) and avoid the spell abstortion problem. And crafting in the Atronach Forge is a very mage roleplay I thing.

I mysel believe that conjuration is ovepowered and staves  -with the need of recharging it- may be a good solution for me.

Amazing post, congratulations, and sorry for my english...

I think I would drop Enchanting altogether.  If your like me then you'll have a surplus of soul gems by the time you're level 25 anyway so Soul Squeezer seems a little unnecessary.  Plus I think a pure mage would rely primarily on their spells only falling back to a staff when they run out of the blue stuff.  Plus this

"Ahzidal's Genius (+10 Enchanting), down a Fortify Enchanting potion, and learn the Seeker of Sorcery power (+10% to enchantments' power) from the Black Book The Sallow Regent, acquire a Grand Soul Gem and make... whatever it is we want to make."

will give us  decent enchantments without any perk investment.  Not to mention that most of the best gear for a mage is pre-enchanted with effects that cannot be replicated (archmage robes, Ahzidal's armor/rings, Miraak's Robes, Solsthiem Masks, etc.)  I would rather take those two perks and put them into Alchemy for fortify potions that last a little longer/make me a little more powerful.

Enchanting used to be my jam but lately I've given it up for Alchemy.

Of course you could drop crafting all together, decent potions and enchantments can be made without perking these skills as you already pointed out.  You could use those perks to shore up other skills or simply lower the necessary level.

Dropping Crafting would bring us to level 47

I never found Summoner to be that useful so I would drop those perks bringing us to 45

Ward absorb could be seen as redundant since we are already pursuing absorption anyway, 44

Finally Mage Armor is problematic for me.  I like the defense boost but I also like using the Solstheim masks to boost elemental damage.  If we decide to use these masks then we could drop the mage armor perks bringing the total level to 41.  Personally I rarely play a build past level 40-45 so this might be an nice alternate spread.   

Anyway that's my two septims.

The Dragon Priest Masks are already OP as it is and lugging Morokei or Nahkriin around makes for a battlemage type instead of a purely mage based one.

I'm inclined to agree that dropping crafting altogether is the way to go. 

Summoner perk(s) may depend on how the AI handles things.  I like the option of tossing an atronach way out in front, where I can be *sure* that the enemy will engage them rather than me.  But if my summons (especially the tankier ones) will rush ahead to engage in a timely manner, you're probably right that I won't need those perks. 

Ward Absorb ... hmm.  I'm a fan of wards, and I like anything that will help them be more efficient.  But there are, arguably, more efficient things to be doing in general than holding up a ward for a little bit longer.  Ward Absorb doesn't *strengthen* my wards, it just makes them more long-lasting.  I'm not so sure that the perk is redundant, since absorption is an all-or-nothing thing, and if it doesn't proc then we're taking *all* of that spell damage, which means at least in the early levels I'll be inclined to have a ward up against spellcasters.  If/When I reach 100% absorb, though, yeah, there's no point in warding at all.  So *ultimately*, yeah, I think we can afford to drop Ward Absorb. 

I think I'd like to keep the Mage Armor perks - tripling Ebonyflesh is nice, especially vs. archers or other physical threats.  The masks are a rare & effective way to boost Destruction, but I'm not sure we need to wear them all the time - maybe just bring them out when needed.  It is a deep perk investment, but with no other physical defenses I think it's not a bad trade. 

I may be able to trim down a few other areas.  Master-tier Destruction spells and Restoration spells can be (for the most part) cast from scrolls, and IIRC they will still be affected by perks and effects that fortify damage (such as Augment Flames and Fortify Destruction potions).  That's 2 more perks.  We can probably do without Dualcast Conjuration as well, even though it will mean less effective daedra control.  That brings us down to lvl 41 right there, and we might still take a hard look at Intense Flames, Rune Master, Recovery 1/2, and Avoid Death.  That might free us up to pick up some Augment Frost perks instead, but I'm not sure I want to go that route. 

Atronach Forge is a great point.  I feel like skipping Conjuration altogether is... weird, though!  Let's see what else the school offers, apart from summoning:

-necromancy (very powerful, but a bit too icky for a generalist build perhaps)

-bound weapons (4 perks here allows us to trap souls and banish/turn any enemy summons)

-Soul Trap (the spell is probably an easier way to harvest souls than with bound weaponry, and is less perk intensive)

-banish/expel/command daedra (banish/expel is covered by bound weapons, but command is nice. It requires just as many perks, though - if not more, since you'll need to dual cast the spell to affect Storm Atronach summons I believe.  It's also a very niche ability.)

And, that's it. 

I really *like* Conjuration - particularly summons - for this kind of character, as it's an always-available kind of thing.  But the Atronach Forge is an awesome fit for the character, too. 

I'm curious what others think - is the "pure mage" concept compromised by avoiding an entire school of magic and just using scrolls/staves for summons? 

I can confirm that about Circle of Protection. It's essentially an AoE Turn Undead spell and works instantly. The Guardian Circle on the other hand applies its effect in given intervals and if the enemy manages to get in between two intervals they will have about half a second to hit you. Ward absorb works better when combined with Ahzidal's Gauntlets but it then needs ways to increase ward power (alchemy) and to decrease cost (enchanting) ;)

I really enjoyed this entire series, and it gave me an idea for a Redguard build to play with.

My one piece of input, which your mileage may vary on, is that casting shell spells on followers when you're about to go whole hog with chain lighting-type spells is a good way to ensure they live through it. Equiping them with shock resistant gear also helps immensely for when they run into your line of fire. I went through a full build with a shock damage focus while doing that, and I only lost one follower due to him rushing into an Unrelenting Force shout that sent him off a cliff or something.

poor follower.

ash shell and chain lightning. thats pretty cool.