One of the main draws of the Elder Scrolls series over other first-person RPGs is, most notably, the ability to fire off balls of fire and arcs of lightning from the player character's hands like it was going out of style. While there have been many different variations of these skills in the series, those found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are the most accessible in terms of character builds.
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Unlike past games, the player doesn't need to pick a specific class in order to build the character they want, and, instead, the focus is on combining the skills themselves rather than following a set path. That being said, this does mean that many newcomers to the series may make a few mistakes when it comes to playing as an all-powerful mage in Skyrim.
10 Only Using Elven Races
Every available race in Skyrim has some sort of blurb that describes the kind of class they are best suited for in combat, with human races generally being better at melee combat while the beast races are considered the best at stealth gameplay. The elven races, particularly the High Elf and Dark Elf, are generally seen as the best of the best when it comes to creating a mage, though this isn't the case in Skyrim. While High Elves do have the Highborn ability that allows them to regenerate Magicka more quickly, Bretons, a humanoid race, has the inherent ability to resist all magic as well as absorb any incoming magic.
9 Relying Only On Destruction Magic
As cool as the Destruction skill is, it's not the most reliable in terms of damage output. While spells like Fireball and Chain Lightning can deal significant damage, the way enemies scale to the player's level, particularly at higher difficulties, means that these spells will do less and less damage as time goes on. For the most part, it is best to combine Destruction with other Mage class skills, such as Conjuration or Illusion, in order to make up for this lack of power at higher levels.
8 Not Experimenting With Unique Items
Many players who jump into the Mage class will try to use magic skills for just about everything and ignore the use of certain items, such as staves, shields, or weapons, in order to maintain a pure build. This is something that can be done in other fantasy RPGs, but in Skyrim, this will only set the player up for failure.
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Powerful relics like the Staff of Magnus and Dragon Priest masks are great additions to any mage-centric build, as they can not only give the player another avenue of skills to use but also enhance the skills that they are more focused on.
7 Going Straight To The College Of Winterhold
Guilds returned in Skryim with some slight alterations on previous iterations. The Mages Guild and Fighters Guild are completely absent and, instead, are replaced with the College of Winterhold and the Companions respectfully. While many players will make a beeline for the appropriate guild when first starting the game, this can lead to a few more game overs in the case of the College of Winterhold, as many of the quests will pit the player up against high-level enemies, including the Dragon Priest Morokei.
6 Not Having A Backup Weapon
Unless the player is late in their playthrough and has managed to enchant their gear so that their spells cost little to no Magicka, there is a very strong chance that they will, at some point, run out of Magicka while fighting due to the high cost of spells, especially those in the Destruction skill. With this in mind, it is important for players to have a backup way of dealing damage, with the best options for a mage being the many staves that can be found around Skyrim, which allow them to continue dealing magical damage without using up their precious resources.
5 Not Using Armor
For many mage builds, it is tempting to stick with the Alteration skill in order to gain some kind of armor rating, as many see wearing Light or Heavy Armor as going against the traditions of the build. However, even with every correct skill, glitch, and exploit taken, the player will still not hit the armor cap while using the Flesh spells. The highest attainable number is in the 400s, which, while close, isn't close enough to ensure survival at higher levels.
4 Using The Apprentice Stone
There are many Standing Stones around Skyrim, with a good number of them dealing with mage skills in one way or another. One of these, which should be left alone at all costs, is the Apprentice Stone, which is one of the weaker Standing Stone effects in the game. While it does double Magicka regeneration, it also makes the player twice as weak against magic damage of all kinds, which isn't something players should have in Skyrim.
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Aside from there being a large number of mages in the game, particularly the Forsworn and various enemies encountered throughout the College of Winterhold questline, every dragon shout also deals magical damage, meaning the player is more likely to die against a random dragon attack if they have the Apprentice Stone.
3 Not Incorporating Shouts
Speaking of shouts, there is no reason why players shouldn't mix their regular spells with various dragon shouts in order to boost their damage potential, summon more allies, or as extra ways of casting Illusion spells. Most notably for those heavily invested in Destruction, the Fire Breath and Ice Breath shouts both increase in damage when the Augmented Flames and Augmented Frost perks are taken, making them great ways of dealing large chunks of damage fairly quickly.
2 Mixing The Atronach Stone And Conjuration Spells
One of the best Standing Stones in Skyrim is the Atronach Stone, found in the southeast near Riften, which grants the player 50 extra points of Magicka while also granting them a percentage chance to absorb a spell without taking damage. While this sounds great on paper, it has some unfortunate interactions with certain skills, most notably the Conjuration skills. While the Raise Undead spell and its variations will all still work normally, spells that summon Atronachs or other similar beings from Oblivion or the Soul Cairn may fail, as the Atronach Stone may absorb the spell instead of casting it.
1 Not Becoming A Vampire
While being a Vampire may seem like a good idea for a stealth build due to the inherent boost in the Sneak skill and the overall aesthetic, the best class for being a Vampire in Skyrim are mages. Aside from gaining access to decent Absorb Health spells and some unique Conjuration spells with the Vampire Lord form, the Restoration perk Necromage, which increases the effectiveness of all spells on undead, also works on the player and will boost the efficiency of all spells, perks and enchantments once the perk is taken.