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A Work on combat magic

    • 30 posts
    December 17, 2013 6:04 AM EST

    Hey Guys, 

    So the idea is a really simple one.... i've been creating magic based builds for a long time, but notice that the employment of magic is based on the individuals perception.

    Based on this, i've always wanted to write up a treatise of sorts on magic, encompassing all avenues of it. it's pretty much in the same vein as James's "An Argument of (insert topic here" save that the thread in itself is meant to be a compendium of sorts (ie: Much bigger)

    I realize there might be pockets of articles here or there, very disparate and disorganized from various sources. It is my aim to combine them into a single thread and touch on areas that have not been covered.

    Just wondering if this has been done before, so as to not repeat any efforts and also, would like to use this post as a call to all the others who have helped contribute to this topic, in some way or another before.

    Here's what i can gather from the top of my mind:

    • The Nature of Magicka - How's it's perceived through lore and it's practical applications
    • Schools of Magick - A thread in explanation of the various spells and it's properties. Covers all schools
    • The Art of War Magic - Named after an in-game book of the same name, I will be expanding this to cover the schools of Conjuration, Illusion, Restoration and Alteration in addition to it's current works on Destruction.
    • Arcane Crafting - Based on the info learnt from my character building experience and other tricks gathered from the net, it explores the crafting arts of Enchanting and Alchemy (Yes, alchemy is an arcane art!)
    • Forgotten Magic - A revisit to current effects of past magics. Effects include the absorb spells of oblivion and morrowind into it's current form as enchantments and other such spells and spell combinations.

    This is what I can come up with for now. Please do feel free to contribute more.

    Thanks.

    • 30 posts
    December 17, 2013 6:47 AM EST
    No idea mate. I'm thinking about a single parent thread spawning various child threads. Just brainstorming for now... But I do know what I want to write about... Guess that's a small measure of achievement I suppose.

    Still yeah, I hope I can add in more topics to the above. Feedback is welcome
    • 30 posts
    December 17, 2013 6:48 AM EST
    Thanks for pointing me there mate. Gives a place to start I suppose... I'll try to expand on what I have for now...
    • 30 posts
    December 17, 2013 7:16 AM EST
    Ok thanks mate... Thinking a little bit on this subject, I think I would want to make it into a we'll thing, given the amount of research that would need to go into for each topic.

    So I'll go with a multiple threaded approach, a discussion for each topic and then move based on that.

    For organization, I'll stream them into an orderly fashion on my home page for viewing and quick response.
    • 1483 posts
    December 17, 2013 7:47 AM EST

    On the first option there are a few articles in the lore group that cover a lot of aspects. Here they are: On Magic: Origins and ApplicationsOn Magic: Magicka, Nirn, and YouOn Magic: Racial Attitudes and Aptitudes, my humble The Science of Alchemy: History and Evolution and Henson's Lore: Shadow Magic. If your article will cover aspects left outside the scope of those articles then definitely go for it.

    On second option, honestly it seems like UESP page. But if you instead write about how each spell should work (like Fire making atoms move faster) and what effect they have on the user (like heat for Fire spells) that would be a very helpful article for roleplayers and writers. Check out this comment, it might help you to get started.

    On the third option, again it looks like UESP page from the first glance but if you cover some questions almost always asked and are not on UESP (like what perks affect staves etc.) this will be a very helpful article for everyone. You can check out comments on Nikolaj Poulsen's Gameplay Mechanics, Ponty's Fun Facts and Questions/Requests Discussion pages to find those lost bits of information. CB Helpdesk also has a lot of those.

    On the fourth option, it sounds interesting, UESP has two separate pages for both Enchanting and Alchemy, the information might be too much to cover it all in one article. But I haven't seen a comprehensive guide on enchantments, their usefulness, difficulty to obtain, what perks improve them etc. 

    On the fifth option, again sounds interesting and can generate a lot of ideas for new builds. I tried to do something similar with Alchemy effects, to find a pattern and tie it with major magical events in ES history, but there seems to be no such thing. They just change it to whatever they like. I think the spells and enchantments might be more connected through the games.

    • 4 posts
    December 17, 2013 8:52 AM EST

    Maybe it's my ignorance about what's on this site, but is there also a "combat tutorial" or some sort of how to use magic with a draugr in your face?

    I think it would be really useful to have a treatise on things like how to use conjuration effectively in combat, a discussion on the speed of various missile spells and their usefulness, how restoration speels take more/less time depending on their level, etc, Also talk about perks that are particularly useful and why.

    I've always felt that I'm under-educated on how magic works in a tactical sense.  Maybe there is a good article already, or it's just scattered about in various tips n tricks.

    • 30 posts
    December 17, 2013 9:51 AM EST

    Hi Vazgen, 

    Thanks for the pointers... definitely some interesting stuff to the pages you had pointed out. I'll study the refferal links and perhaps draft out from there...

    • 30 posts
    December 17, 2013 9:52 AM EST

    Hi Aging,

    This is also one of the things i would like to cover in this article. Whilst I am no numbers person, I can discuss battle tactics in my post, especially from a war magic perspective. Stay tuned 

    • 158 posts
    December 17, 2013 3:58 PM EST

    Heartily seconding this.  This is something I've been playing around with in my current build. Conjuration and destruction ranged attacks are the standard offensive magics, but I'm trying to work a character without these.  I'm trying to learn how to fully utilize the various technical aspects of runes and cloaks and how to time and combine various restoration, illusion, and alteration magics with these.  I'd love to see something about tactical magic use, Warlocksg.

    • 30 posts
    December 19, 2013 5:07 AM EST

    Hi Drifa,

    It might take some time before i come out with a document proper on this. I would highly suggest contacting me personally via mail inbox. I might have some suggestions for you that doesn't heavily utilize illusion magic but yet, able to do damage to enemies, whilst complete avoiding destruction spells. You'd be surprised on the number of elements on magic yet to be explored in game.

    Thanks.

    • 30 posts
    February 1, 2015 6:51 AM EST

    Hey Guys,

    New update on this. I have finally got down to making a first draft on the multiple works for the schools of magick in skyrim. Just to give you guys a brief overview the content will contain the following characteristics:

    • An explanation on the nature of the schools of Magick
    • Areas of Magick where a particular skill can synergize with within the school
    • Schools of Magick in which a particular school can synergize with

    This is more of a builder's perspective and will be catered more towards the "new to Mid" range users.Practitioners of the more advanced aspects of Magic will probably find this a leisurely read. I will be working on the first set of documents for draft sometime, before releasing it.

    Would probably host this in the tips and tricks section, unless, someone else wants to suggest another section in which I can post this.

    Thanks. 

    • 249 posts
    February 1, 2015 11:56 AM EST
    T&T sounds like the right place Warlock. I know I'm looking forward to reading this. Magic rocks!
    • 457 posts
    February 1, 2015 8:04 PM EST
    Yeah, I'm looking forward to this as well :D
    • 1467 posts
    February 1, 2015 11:14 PM EST
    We are the right place for this Warlock. I would totally love to read it through because I'm no master-mage. Skilled at close-combat but the specifics and strategeis of magic still confuses me sometimes. If you ever want someone to give it a proof-read then you can call on me.