I've been playing around with this build lately and found something interesting you might like, using summoning staves with 100% absorption has the same effect as regular summoning, except you absorb the base cost of the summon without using any of your own magicka. Like, say a flame atro cost 100, but you could summon it for 50, if you did that with 100% then you'd profit 50 mana, but if you decided to just use a stave instead then you'd profit the full 100 magicka. With acess to the Midden it shouldn't be hard for even lower lvl Telvanii to find Flame, Frost, or Storm staves, making the Atronach still viable in the begining, and possibly even replacing the Ash Guardian. Since summoning staves have soul gems at the head, I justify it rp wise by saying I'm a skilled enough enchanter to suck the mana out of the trapped soul in my staff, and then perpetualy refill it. It's also a pretty fast way to max out enchanting without having to get training from Neloth
Edit: It also fits in with Telvanii mages always keeping staves on them, and even a failed attempt at recharging should net you a tank if you decide to go with a Frost or Storm atro.
I've been playing around with this build lately and found something interesting you might like, using summoning staves with 100% absorption has the same effect as regular summoning, except you absorb the base cost of the summon without using any of your own magicka. Like, say a flame atro cost 100, but you could summon it for 50, if you did that with 100% then you'd profit 50 mana, but if you decided to just use a stave instead then you'd profit the full 100 magicka. With acess to the Midden it shouldn't be hard for even lower lvl Telvanii to find Flame, Frost, or Storm staves, making the Atronach still viable in the begining, and possibly even replacing the Ash Guardian. Since summoning staves have soul gems at the head, I justify it rp wise by saying I'm a skilled enough enchanter to suck the mana out of the trapped soul in my staff, and then perpetualy refill it. It's also a pretty fast way to max out enchanting without having to get training from Neloth
Edit: It also fits in with Telvanii mages always keeping staves on them, and even a failed attempt at recharging should net you a tank if you decide to go with a Frost or Storm atro.