Hey, thanks a lot for the feedback. I have honestly been waiting for questions such as these since the early game for this build is rather unorthodox. I did play this build on Master from day one and it is definitely very doable, although requiring a fair bit of game savvy. Probably not the best build for a novice mage player.
Three major things in particular propelled me through the early game:
1.) Staff of the Storm Atronach. As outlined in my build, you can summon one of these from the Atronach forge with mundane materials that are not difficult to acquire in the early levels. You can get one of these by level five no problem. Very powerful ability in the early game.
2.) Brelyna Maryon. Recruiting her as a follower as soon as you are admitted to the College is a must. Not only does she fit well with the role-playing, but she is also an incredibly useful follower. She casts 'flesh spells in every battle making her a surprisingly robust tank. She also casts Conjuration spells very frequently. This combined with your Summoning Staff makes every battle a four versus one affair.
3.) Ice Form. This shout is absolutely amazing for Mages. The first word is available early on in Saarthal and functions as a low level area of effect paralyze. If any enemy breaks through your lines of defense, simply freeze them in their tracks and put some distance between you. It's also perfect for reassigning agro to your summon/Brelyna.
This trio was powerful enough to propel me through the College questline (and enough to dispatch Morokei) and finish it right about Level 25. Once you get the Archmage's Robes, everything becomes a lot smoother.
For Destruction staves, the Staff of Jyrik Gaulderson is also available in Saarthal and was very useful for finishing off enemies when my magicka ran out. That said, Destruction is not a priority. You will have no problem leveling it once you get your Enchantments up and running.
For your note regarding skill leveling, I have one word: Trainers. There is just so much gold in Skyrim to go around that it was not difficult making training every level a top priority. Furthermore, this is a character with deep skills in Enchanting and Alchemy. Gold was not hard to accumulate. I mostly trained Restoration and Destruction, but also threw in a few levels of Illusion when it started lagging behind. Leveling Enchanting was obviously the top priority and I made a point to Soul Trap everything (this levels Conjuration insanely fast btw). Stockpiled on Soul Gems every trip to town. Didn't even need to smith iron daggers, as I looted plenty of jewelry for that. The rest of my Gems went into keeping my staves recharged. As I leveled Enchanting, I made sure to enchant my gear with progressively improved cost-reduction.
Progression with this build is certainly not the easiest or most straight-forward, but it is very very doable, especially if you know your way around the game. The difficulty of the early game only enhanced the satisfaction of extreme power you will feel endgame. It felt like I had earned it.
I would love to keep the discussion going with you. I absolutely adore Mage builds in the Elder Scrolls series and have made quite a few in Skyrim.
Thanks for the response!
Hey, thanks a lot for the feedback. I have honestly been waiting for questions such as these since the early game for this build is rather unorthodox. I did play this build on Master from day one and it is definitely very doable, although requiring a fair bit of game savvy. Probably not the best build for a novice mage player.
Three major things in particular propelled me through the early game:
1.) Staff of the Storm Atronach. As outlined in my build, you can summon one of these from the Atronach forge with mundane materials that are not difficult to acquire in the early levels. You can get one of these by level five no problem. Very powerful ability in the early game.
2.) Brelyna Maryon. Recruiting her as a follower as soon as you are admitted to the College is a must. Not only does she fit well with the role-playing, but she is also an incredibly useful follower. She casts 'flesh spells in every battle making her a surprisingly robust tank. She also casts Conjuration spells very frequently. This combined with your Summoning Staff makes every battle a four versus one affair.
3.) Ice Form. This shout is absolutely amazing for Mages. The first word is available early on in Saarthal and functions as a low level area of effect paralyze. If any enemy breaks through your lines of defense, simply freeze them in their tracks and put some distance between you. It's also perfect for reassigning agro to your summon/Brelyna.
This trio was powerful enough to propel me through the College questline (and enough to dispatch Morokei) and finish it right about Level 25. Once you get the Archmage's Robes, everything becomes a lot smoother.
For Destruction staves, the Staff of Jyrik Gaulderson is also available in Saarthal and was very useful for finishing off enemies when my magicka ran out. That said, Destruction is not a priority. You will have no problem leveling it once you get your Enchantments up and running.
For your note regarding skill leveling, I have one word: Trainers. There is just so much gold in Skyrim to go around that it was not difficult making training every level a top priority. Furthermore, this is a character with deep skills in Enchanting and Alchemy. Gold was not hard to accumulate. I mostly trained Restoration and Destruction, but also threw in a few levels of Illusion when it started lagging behind. Leveling Enchanting was obviously the top priority and I made a point to Soul Trap everything (this levels Conjuration insanely fast btw). Stockpiled on Soul Gems every trip to town. Didn't even need to smith iron daggers, as I looted plenty of jewelry for that. The rest of my Gems went into keeping my staves recharged. As I leveled Enchanting, I made sure to enchant my gear with progressively improved cost-reduction.
Progression with this build is certainly not the easiest or most straight-forward, but it is very very doable, especially if you know your way around the game. The difficulty of the early game only enhanced the satisfaction of extreme power you will feel endgame. It felt like I had earned it.
I would love to keep the discussion going with you. I absolutely adore Mage builds in the Elder Scrolls series and have made quite a few in Skyrim.
Thanks for the response!
