Sweet! I'll probably take you up on that--I've just started a build that is so weak it will force me to hotkey potions just to stay alive. I WILL learn this xD

Yep. Much better now. I read it last night, and its really interesting how you made use of it. I think its the great feature of this build. :-) I mean no offense, but I just gotta ask this funny (and stupid) question: How do you "consume" the crystals? I mean, if you refer the potions as such, in my mind I automatically think of it as solid. Do you crush it in your hand, releasing its power? Do you pop it in your mouth, then the crystal will melt and the power consumed? Or do you just somehow absorb it while holding it in your hand? I think its useful for RP. :-)

I always hotkey potions that I picked up on my early playthroughs, though they would be far back, along with the utility shouts (FusRoDah, Whirlwind Sprint). Things I use most often is HK'ed on 1-5. Thats weapons, spells, frequently-used shouts, that kind of stuff. Its very useful, so I can keep my mind on the battle, and not lose my adrenaline rush browsing through the inventory or favs. But with a diverse tools on this browsing will be inevitable.

I disagree. I don't see why magic based off of crystals wouldn't be acceptable in the TES universe. I mean, the Ayleids practically relied on crystals for all things magic and soul gems continue to exist to present TES time. If anything, crystal magic is something that probably should exist, and it isn't too much of a stretch in-game either. A nice build, by the way. I liked how you abused enchanting without putting yourself through some grinding-abuse of your own.

This is amazing Tecxam. Now I he Evan insane idea to mix this with the Chemical Chameleon, the Virdian Witch, and a bit of my upcoming Black Ranger, then I'll have a slightly crazy, mad Druidic scientist.

Let me know how it goes! And if you run into any trouble, let me know. I had a ton of fun with this one, and I expect I'll hold on to the save files for a long time to come.

I wish I could hotkey five items. We console users are stuck with only two hotkeys. The favorites menu isn't horrible, but man, Fallout 3 had eight hotkeys.... Why did they have to drop it down to two? I hope FO4 and TES VI use a wheel system for hotkeys, like weapons in Rockstar games.

Or maybe the system of AC4, where you can switch between several weapons based on how many times you press a specific D-Pad direction (which could also be pre-programmed) -- e.g., I assign Whirlwind Sprint to D-Pad Left #1, Elemental Fury to D-Pad Left #2, and Fire Breath to D-Pad Left #3. To access Elemental Fury, I tap left on the D-Pad two times in quick succession. To access Fire Breath, I tap left three times.

It's easier to actually do in-game than it is to explain.... But if each direction has four "tapping" slots then you can hotkey up to 16 items. And I think the wheel approach can work well with up to 12 items. One for 12:00, one for 1:00, one for 2:00, one for 3:00, etc. around the clock face.

Followup: I chugged a potion of Fortify Illusion (Violet Crystal for you who have been paying attention) and cast charm on a group of Horkers near my house. It only lasted for the base 30 seconds. Didn't have a chance to test with the Dual Casting perk because I was in a big hurry at the time. Probably won't get a chance to test any time soon either: I'm very busy tomorrow, and heading out of town in the afternoon until Sunday night.

I don't know if Dual-Casting affects duration, but I know ti does affect the level magnitude. And it works *after* Kindred Mage, Animage, Hypnotic Gaze, and Aspect of Terror (but before the potion, which works off the base magnitude). So with Dual Casting, and all other relevant perks, Calm would work on humans up to level 70:

(9 + 8 + 10) * 2.2 + (9 * 120%) = 70.8

It's displayed as 70, and I believe the game rounds down. That is, there's no such thing as a level 70.9 enemy -- they'd either be level 70, and affected by the spell, or level 71, and not affected. Of course, very few enemies actually scale all the way up to level 70, and even if they did, I doubt many people would ever play this to level 70+ in the first place.

So yeah, bit of a tangent there. Basically, Dual Casting would definitely be worth taking for any aspiring Illusionists out there. Not sure if it affects the duration of Calm/Fear spells, but it definitely affects magnitude in the best way.

You consume energy which is held within the crystal. Like how a soul gem can store energy, which is drained when you enchant a weapon. I think i also used phrases like "draw upon" when referring to crystals. I tried to use both "consume" and "draw" to help reconcile the idea of potions representing crystals, but I can see how that led to unintentional confusion.

Also, I haven't been able to get a picture of the gear in my game yet, and I'm afraid I may not be able to do so until Sunday, when I get back from a vacation. However, I think Vaz took a demo screenshot for me a while back, of a male Altmer in Glass Armor with the Aetherial Crown and a Stalhrim War Axe. Gimme a second, and I'll try to find that.

[...]

EDIT - Found it. It was Zimbu, not Vaz. This is from back in Augest 2013. Shows just how long this concept has been in the works, haha!

Hmm.. Not bad. Its just horrible when I put it on my nord female character. I guess only the yellowskins can pull that off. :-D