stgmilleralive

Hmm I play three different characters: a pure mage' date=' a bow-backstab rogue, and a 2h-heavy tank.

They're all fairly viable but my pure mage is easily the most broken out of the three. Usual pattern for me is dual cast Muffle then Invis EVERYWHERE non-stop. Whenever I find somebody, I creep somewhere and then stunlock them with spammed dual cast Incinerates. The stagger effect as far as I know works on everything (giants and dragons even). Also with max enchanting, you can enchant -100% to Destruction spells and have free casts. Then cast Invis again before anybody notices you killing people.

Easiest way to level pure mage:

Buy Muffle then spam that until Illusion hits 75. Get Silent Casting while leveling and then buy Invisibility from Winterhold College.

Level Destruction and Enchanting.

Then you're done.

[/quote']

Yes...mages are broken *sigh*. Same with the Orc racial. That shit is just pure evil.

Errr... what I meant by absorption is stealing health' date=' stamina, and magicka from your foes. And the fact that a Restoration user can't cast curative effects says quite a bit about all the gutting out of the magic scheme of this fifth elder scrolls game. Sure, destruction had some innovative spells, placing 'mines' or applying a cloak effect to yourself to damage foes you engage in melee. And the most satisfying would be the master level shock spell, it was fun to unload a giant lightning stream at flying dragons. But it still isn't enough to compete with melee or bow users, not just in power, magic is simply... inflexible.

[/quote']

The absorptions aren't missed by me. I preferred to use buffs and potions, the only thing that mattered to me was the mana drains. Even without them I haven't missed them, I've been too busy learning combos with separate schools.

And I've come to learn we'll just have to disagree. I'll agree that the damage scaling can't match, but I believe the variety outweighs them. Magic is far more flexible than melee or bows. With a pure magic character you can perform aoes, traps, summonings, direct damage, shields, wards, crowd-control, and healing. I think only a full melee character can match the balance of combat here.

I was very disappointed in the Magic scheme in Skyrim. Most of the old spell types were cut out. A restoration master can't cure poisons or diseases nor can they use absorb spells. Destruction spells are mostly limited to fire' date=' frost, and shock, which is fine except any weak spells don't have any stronger counterparts. I'm not a big fan of the base 1% magicka regen per second in combat either. But the real kicker was the lack of spellcrafting, that's the part that denies any 'scaling' for mages.

Slightly-off-topic-but-not-really. Looks like Xilver has hit the modding scene for Skyrim with a pre-release of Midas Magic.
/>http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3413

[/quote']

Wards replace absorption effects. Poisons can be healed through. Diseases can be fixed through shines, and that's fixed if you just invest some time with alchemy. The major damage spells are limited to destruction and the lack of spellcrafting is made up by the different spell varieties that bestow differing ways to approach combat. Sprays mixed with traps and paralyze poisons can create an aoe field few mobs can pass through unmolested. The directed attacks are extremely powerful in the early game and still carry a crackle in later periods. Besides that, I still most of the destruction spells I've learned, from the first 'thrower' attack to the fireball over incinerate when an aoe opportunity presents itself.

The scaling doesn't matter to me as I have no trouble at high-end gameplay, though that's a subjective opinion.

Destruction: Train this regardless. Coupled with the unique spells you can deal more damage than either in melee or ranged. Dual-casting allows you to pretty much one-shot anything short of a dragon.

No' date=' both arrows and melee will do a lot more damage than destruction spells when you hit level 50+ especially on master, even without the smithing/enchanting/alchemy glitch they scale a lot more.

Also every spell school has been nerfed since Oblivion especially illusion. 100% Chameleon rings any bell? But 100% mage definitely still a playable build and at low level is probably the most powerful.

[/quote']

The Destruction spells offer more utility. Aoes, traps, sprays, and single-target damage. Only the two handed sweep can match it. sword and broad offers defensive capabilities, but magic allows you just flee and deal damage. And I'm at level 50 right now. Magic still kills everything with ease and its only once in a blue moon that I actually fight something for longer than thirty seconds.

And so what if melee does more damage at max level? It's regardless of that. Magic gives you more tools to play with in my opinion and thus makes combat more flashy and entertaining. Which is why people want to play a sodding mage to begin with. And it's not like you meet impossible mobs at 50, Elder dragons are there, but they are more little more than wasps to me. And I'm not even particularly good at the game.

Also, Chameleon was nerfed for a reason, it did much to break the vanilla game. Illusion was always a pointless school to me because the impact of the spells weren't as useful as the other schools. With Skyrim, each school brings something to combat. I can switch seamlessly between Illusion, Destruction, and Conjuration, dealing with any threat that comes from the air, ground, or sea.

I've been reading here and there that magic has been gimped in Skyrim compared to the other Elder Scrolls games. This isn't a surprise; every game after Arena has removed some effects and imposed more limits' date=' at least until the modders got hold of it.

But now I'm hearing that the top damage for bows and blades is higher than the top damage for Destruction magic.

So, what's the best build for a Mage in Skyrim?

Do you have to play a battle mage, relying on weapons with magic as a supplement? Or is there something I'm missing?

[/quote']

Magic hasn't been gimped, all the useless effects have been removed. Most of the effects that actually DID something are in the game, and most, like illusion, are worth a damn now. In fact I'd go far as to say it's a more playable style than it was in Oblivion.

The best build is whichever one you want to play as.

I'm a full mage and not only is my destruction magic capable of one-shotting most monsters but my healing is so powerful than dragons and priests can't keep up. As a full magic I use light armor hands and legs that I dual-enchant with a Dragon Priest mask and the Arch-mage robe. This gear-set coupled with my fighting style of distance and conjuration when needed makes me nigh-unkillable.

If you're interested look at the schools in this way.

Restoration: Always pair it with something. Restoration in Skyrim is so useful that it's worth training as a melee character.

Illusion: Illusion is now an extremely effective school. The spells are useful in end-game play and primarily duel with pacifying, turning, or terrifying enemies. As a combat school it's the most powerful form of crowd-control in the game.

Conjuration: Train this if you hate using companions all the time. The temporary mobs do an amazing job at tanking in Skyrim and the Dremora is death incarnate.

Destruction: Train this regardless. Coupled with the unique spells you can deal more damage than either in melee or ranged. Dual-casting allows you to pretty much one-shot anything short of a dragon.

Alteration: If you're going with an unarmored mage, consider getting some spells in here. Alteration allows you to beef your armor rating up. Mix this with bound weapons and you can be a war-mage on the fly.

^ I don't know what the fucking avatar is, but I see a lot of stars.

Arrow to the knee you say?

I used to not understand this joke, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

I was chasing the sweet-roll thief once, then I took an arrow to the knee. Now everyone's sweet-roll is being stolen.

Well I'm done.

I just beat the game playing as a man wearing a trenchcoat, boxer shorts, and sandels. Pants are for chumps. His face is also so fucked-up I had to make him wear a full mask that covers everything but his bug-eyes.

I chose to play the entire game with a zombie voice, decided that the dildo-bat was my Excaliber, and dived out of every car I was driving in. I also never 'stopped', perfering to crash anything I was driving before leaping into the fight like Bruce Willis with a dildo-bat.

I am the most satisfied gamer in the world right now.

"HAI! I'm a Bethesda Dragon! I like to be different, so I break your immersion with my super-sweet-flyin' tricks! YEAAAA 'MERICA!

I was a hipster meme once, then I took an arrow to the knee.

AHHH SHIT! I just took an arrow to the knee!

What should I do?

I was a werewolf like you once, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

I got to thinking, maybe I'm the Dragonborn, then I took an arrow in the knee.

needs more dragon.

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doBGglOUOiE&feature=player_embedded#!

I was the Arch-mage of Winterhold once, then I took an arrow in the knee.

+ then I took an arrow in the knee.

= profit?

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXmPrYEOvM8

Not hard from what Todd Howard hinted at. He mentioned that the fundamental scripting system is just a more advanced version than that in Oblivion. This was a year back when the game had the groundwork founded, I think it was a German publication I got it from. Not too sure though.

As for skills' date=' they're still in Skyrim, without armor degradation you can possibly count out the armorer skill. I'm not saying anything yet but Bethesda has really been talking about player-crafted armor and weapons, and the armorer skill could be re-purposed to that. The only other skill they removed was Mysticism, but they took the spells from it and moved to Alteration and Conjuration I believe. Which I love because Mysticism is generally the most useless school of magic in Oblivion and me being a mage and all would prefer if utility-spells were more condensed. [/quote']

Actually, they removed a lot more skills than that. Athletics, acrobatics, mercantile, speechcraft, hand-to-hand, blade, and blunt. Of course, they're replacing blade and blunt with one-handed and two-handed weapon skills, and the sneak skill is now going to affect dagger damage.

I still miss Arena's skill system: One primary skill (that could start as high as 60), five major skills, five minor skills, and ten miscellaneous skills.

Simple response to this is...want a link, I'm interested.

Otherwise, it seems too much an exaggeration that they would remove without consideration. Meld skills, yes. Even switch some to perks, but most of those skills are groundwork I saw at E3.

Interesting opinion from quite a good commentator.

skip to 5:46 to hear his opinion on sequels in RPG's specifically Skyrim. The letter that he reads out before the commentary summarizes much of the criticism I've seen coming at Skyrim.

they should put weapons degradation toggleable. if u want it on or off justa a change at the beginning of the game or during game and issue solved.

about the skills' date=' im not happy with that. im still thinking that they are removing a very important and "traditional" feature. i dunn care if they implement a new feature, when they implement something new they always mess it up and/or most of the gamers arent happy with the change. so why the hell to take the chances? lets keep the same way as old school and thats all. i find witcher an exellent game, one of my favorities but becouse of the history, drama, voice acting, etc. but i hate the implemented skill system. so u tell me u can make geralt a good negotiator and a sneak assassin? or maybe an expert mage that summon fiends and make his own magic items? in witcher Geralt (even with black hair and no scars) will be always a meele fighter/expert swordsman no matter how many changes u try to make. so maybe bethesda its making a mistake with this change. but as said before, this is still a maybe, will know for sure on 11/11/11.

sry for my english.

[/quote']

Hmm? I played through Witcher 2 without ever having to swing my sword at non-boss enemies. The signs are the shit lol. The skill system really allows you to perfect your play-style, is it Elder Scrolls? No. I never said it was, I was just joking when Leddis mentioned little customization .

As for skills, they're still in Skyrim, without armor degradation you can possibly count out the armorer skill. I'm not saying anything yet but Bethesda has really been talking about player-crafted armor and weapons, and the armorer skill could be re-purposed to that. The only other skill they removed was Mysticism, but they took the spells from it and moved to Alteration and Conjuration I believe. Which I love because Mysticism is generally the most useless school of magic in Oblivion and me being a mage and all would prefer if utility-spells were more condensed.

And I know it's your opinion, but I think anything new Bethesda has added to their game series generally works perfectly. The retooled combat system in Oblivion. The artistic style of Morrowind. The ridiculous size of Daggerfall. None of these three games were perfect or, in my opinion, the greatest rpgs of all time. But each one steadily improved on a formula that still makes Elder Scrolls unique no matter if it has an attribute system or not.

I don't hate the Witcher' date=' I'm just stating that Geralt, being an established character isn't as "personal" or "definable" and so attributes are less significant.

Also RPGs with a set character, particularily a male one, do not interest me. That's just a personal preference.

As for Skyrim. Well, it's always possible Bethesda are going down some unique route where attributes are replaced with other equally deep aspects.

But their track record is one of dumbing down. Look at Morrowind to Oblivion. I still find it ridiculous that one skill (Blade) encompasses everything from daggers to giant claymores (because rogues and assassins are well known for their ability to swing giant 2 handed slicing implements right?).

[/quote']

The Witcher thing was a joke . Despite being an established character they gave me even more leeway in my choices than Commander Shepard is allowed. For that I was impressed.

But anyways the path from morrowind to Oblivion wasn't really watered down to me.

They removed one 'meh' skill and melded a few to give the player more freedom to choose their weapons. Admittedly they removed a few fun weapon classes but that was for the purpose of balancing and tweaking to ensure that Blunt, Blade, and Marksmanship were all entertaining. And to that regard, Oblivion modders brought back throwing weapons, spears, and even crossbows.

And actually I found it crazy as a thief that I had to pick up the long blade skill even though I had a short blade skill. The whole 'stick them with the pointy end' argument from GoT was what I had in my head that entire time. I know it sounds odd but swordsmanship isn't fundamentally different unless we're talking about rapiers and knife-fighting. There are nuances but in a game setting it feels limiting to me.

Besides, haven't you tried sneaking around with a claymore, it's impractical but fun as hell lol.

And to me the inclusion of fast travel was something I welcomed after my fun with Daggerfall, and they don't even push you to use it since you miss 85% of the game just clicking a map.

And don't be hating on the Witcher

A patch gave me the capability to change my hair! plus I modded him to have no facial scars and black hair, HA!

But really, the Witcher offers a load of choices that outshine anything I've ever played.

I was never comparing the Witcher to Elder Scrolls.

TL:DR, unless you care about my opinion of course.

I just mention that I can see how, with a different system, an rpg can work without attributes. And that's what Skyrim has. In the context of six years ago, it would be heresy for Oblivion to have no attribute system because everything was based on that. Bethesda is designing Skyrim to be something different, in the context of what it is now, with perks, dragon shouts, and skills, an attribute system would just add one additional layer of "complexity". A buzz word that gets many gamers giddy.

If this is a good thing to you, then it's that, I can't argue with what YOU love. But I can explain myself.

I can explain that in the context of Skyrim, an attribute system isn't needed as with the right amount of tweaking and proper game design the other systems can replace the attribute system. Think of a perk that just increases your Melee damage it can be ranked up, that's what Strength does as far as I'm concern. In fact I would personally say it is pretty redundant when from the looks of the perk numbers, skills, and dozen-or-so shouts Bethesda has hinted at, you'll get the same amount of customization as you would in Oblivion.

Now from a series purist, I can understand why you might boycott this change. Why you might see it as "dumbing-down" or other words that have a sour taste. But I don't see the replacement of a feature as "dumbing-down for casuals" I see it as an attempt to better a series. Which should be the duty of any developer, Call of Duty aside...

Sequels now-a-days aren't the carbon-copies with some new features but the same ground work. Interests change over time and new tech allows new ideas to be put from paper and into a game. Bethesda is trying to make their next Elder Scroll game a new taste, a new game that will hopefully net them the revenue and respect they need to continue making games.

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But this is a talk on sub-features especially that of armor and weapons not degrading. The removal of features that kept me less from the action and more in a menu neither vex me nor make me very giddy. Label me with that title of 'casual gamer' and I'll tell you I've immensely enjoyed rpgs from Planescape to Demon Souls to even parts DA2. I'm in a camp that does this.

Does the sequel have the key features of the previous? (Character-Building, world-exploring, loot-gathering, etc.)

Does it sound like a good idea from the onset? (Yes, I just have to wait and see how the release, press, and E3 showings goes.)

Now yes arguably subtle features in a game, such as lore in DA, have impact on me too. But I look in the context of the game as a new title to try something different. If I want the same as before, I play the previous game. I despise when a sequel doesn't try to change some things to make the series feel fresh. Now of course there are obvious bad things that happen when a series tries too hard to be different from it's sequel (Battlespire) but we're all intelligent enough to know that. And fundamentally, I'm surprised Bethesda isn't being stupid like most of the other devs/publishers and try to appeal to a crowd that could never get hooked on rpgs to begin with...And they aren't, you don't start with one race and one story, one class. You make your journey, as the Elder Scrolls' main games have always allowed.

Now I could type you're eyes out from now on, but I think I've made myself clear on my standing.

Skyrim, right now, is going to be a meaningful rpg on it's own without mod-support.

This isn't DA2 to me, I don't see a possible trainwreck from even after all this information. And if the game was going to suck, I ensure you I wouldn't have typed this much to explain an opinion.

Which an opinion on the internet is a lot like a fart, it's only heard when it's loud and not everyone agrees on if it's funny.

I guess I'm the only person who isn't very bothered by this...

"One is the loneliest number..."

And don't mention dragon age syndrome Poll, fable 3 started that outbreak which killed any hope for the series lol.

But in all seriousness as long as they don't limit this to a city, give me a dialogue wheel with only one entertaining personality, and a skill system that amounts to jamming the 'attack' button, I'll enjoy Skyrim.

I dare say I'll enjoy it over vanilla Oblivion after seeing the combat system, the skills, and world building. And by the gods stringing up sods we're getting SDK as well, it's like Bethesda knows why their games are popular on the pc. As for now I can't find a reason to hate on Skyrim. Even after they removed the attribute system I wasn't phased by that because I just played the Witcher 2.