Mason played on console so he used basic silver swords, and perhaps an iron or imperial at the beginning, until he acquired his first set of silver, which I believe he got from the two silverhands guarding the entrance to Driftshade Refuge east of Dawnstar.
If you play on PC like me, you can use the basic silver sword, or you can use a mod which incorporates to ability to craft and/or improve them. Mason stated several times that he thumbed his nose at the smithing tree. He never perked smithing at all, but he did use it some. I do not believe that he improved his weapons or his armor and relied entirely on enchanting.
The Sorceror's damage comes not from the weapon, other than the inherent +20 to undead on silver swords, but from the perks: enchanting and fire/frost/lightning enchanter in the Enchanting tree and Augmented fire/frost/lightning perks in the Destruction tree, plus Necromage in the Restoration tree (again against undead only).
Beware! Mods like Better Magic take away the synergy between enchanting and the destruction tree. So ensure that any magic mod you might use does not do the same.
Mason played on console so he used basic silver swords, and perhaps an iron or imperial at the beginning, until he acquired his first set of silver, which I believe he got from the two silverhands guarding the entrance to Driftshade Refuge east of Dawnstar.
If you play on PC like me, you can use the basic silver sword, or you can use a mod which incorporates to ability to craft and/or improve them. Mason stated several times that he thumbed his nose at the smithing tree. He never perked smithing at all, but he did use it some. I do not believe that he improved his weapons or his armor and relied entirely on enchanting.
The Sorceror's damage comes not from the weapon, other than the inherent +20 to undead on silver swords, but from the perks: enchanting and fire/frost/lightning enchanter in the Enchanting tree and Augmented fire/frost/lightning perks in the Destruction tree, plus Necromage in the Restoration tree (again against undead only).
Beware! Mods like Better Magic take away the synergy between enchanting and the destruction tree. So ensure that any magic mod you might use does not do the same.