Okay, you can NOT ignore this thread :)

[Daelon DuLac]

So, started a new character, Kaitilin, based on the same named from the Robert Jordan books.

She's high-elf (I know wrong race, but, hey, wanted to bonuses! )

Restoration, Alteration, Conjuration and Illusion.

Wearing robes only, no weapons (although she does have a dagger and keeps a bow on hand until she can get conjured weapons for emergencies only).

So far so good, although it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. Picked up Sven in Riverwood and y'all are right that he's pretty good at 2 handed.

Queries:

1) Flesh spells - I'm not really noticing a big difference here, but, since it's only Oakflesh. Any ideas on this one? It seems to take up a lot of magicka.
2) Restoration - healing hands is great for followers, eh? Turn Undead really makes them skamper too (away that is), but, why do some of them just stand there like idiots and suddenly become non-hostile? Also: what's the trick with wards? All they do is suck up magicka. I'll admit that they stop a spell, but are they any good against other weapons?
3) Conjuration - I seem to be freaking Sven out by raising dead enemies to assist him, although he doesn't have a problem with my flame antronach, although he can't seem to stay out of her way. Is this usual for followers?
4) Illusion - fury is fine, but I'm finding fear and courage are much more useful. Do y'all find this as well?
5) Destruction - while trying to avoid it, I find that, in a pinch I've been using sparks and lightning bolt, especially when facing mages. Does that work with the build, or should I think about giving followers staves instead?

Just my thoughts, yours?

 

[Seanu Reaves]

1. You will notice if you get the stronger versions (Getting 1 shotted by Bandit chiefs helps you remember how important Armor is...)

2. Mechanics of the Turning, still does it job anyway. It "Turned" them peaceful. And Wards are only for Magic projectiles.

3. Aye it happens (getting ranged followers hitting melee players or other follows)

4. But... What will I do if I can't make my enemies fight for my amusement, like a mobile Roman Emperor making gladiator fights occur everywhere?

5. Hell if I know. Usually when I have characters inspired by other fiction I make it work then adapt their "build" to work better with Skyrim. Having the option to be more... Direct is never a bad thing.

 

[Twiffle]

I'm not going to ignore this thread.
I'm just not going to comment.

so there (sticks out tongue) ,, ,, ,,

 

[Daelon DuLac]

I'm not going to ignore this thread.
I'm just not going to comment.

so there (sticks out tongue) ,, ,, ,,

Oh! And I forgot to mention - Alchemy... LOTS & LOTS OF ALCHEMY, or, as I've taken to referring to it... LOTS & LOTS OF TWIFFLING!

 

[W'rkncacnter]

1. When running with robes only you will want the flesh spells. A single arrow or bolt will kill you otherwise.

2. Wards, to me, are generally worthless. They burn through magicka quicker than anything. You can't just keep them up to defend yourself which means you have to predict when an enemy mage is going to cast. They are the equivalent to being hit by a shock spell without the health drain. I'm not seeing how that is positive at all. . .
And given that they are magic specific their usefulness is diminished that much more. They may be good against dragons but since I never use them I won't ever know.

3. Never had a follower be upset with raising but I don't do it all that often.

4. Ugg. I despise illusion. The concept is great but I find little use for the spells in actual combat.

5. Not sure you described a build (unless I'm supposed to know the book character). Pretty sure a build is what you make of it (i.e. whatever is fun for you).

 

[raido KASAI]

It's more fun to ignore something. That said, one item #1, dragonhide is quite effective but cost a good bit. Haven't used the others too much but the little I have, there didn't seem to me to be much of a difference between them either. I've always had good armor though so that may cloud my opinion

 

[Daelon DuLac]

1. When running with robes only you will want the flesh spells. A single arrow or bolt will kill you otherwise.

2. Wards, to me, are generally worthless. They burn through magicka quicker than anything. You can't just keep them up to defend yourself which means you have to predict when an enemy mage is going to cast. They are the equivalent to being hit by a shock spell without the health drain. I'm not seeing how that is positive at all. . .
And given that they are magic specific their usefulness is diminished that much more. They may be good against dragons but since I never use them I won't ever know.

3. Never had a follower be upset with raising but I don't do it all that often.

4. Ugg. I despise illusion. The concept is great but I find little use for the spells in actual combat.

5. Not sure you described a build (unless I'm supposed to know the book character). Pretty sure a build is what you make of it (i.e. whatever is fun for you).

1. Fortunately I NEVER run on that kind of difficulty. I like one-shotting others, but don't want to be one-shotted myself I'm funny that way.
2. Absolutely agree. Unfortunately I'm not psychic and frankly don't pay that much attention.
3. Sven never gets upset, it just seems really creepy to do that to the poor guy.
4. I've learned to tolerate illusion. It has it's uses.
5. Sorry, I thought I did describe the build (although not super specific). I thought everybody knew Robert Jordan's books, after all, they're always #1 on the NYT Bestseller list... Oh wait, so's Chelsea Handler... I get your point.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

3. Sven never gets upset, it just seems really creepy to do that to the poor guy.

That depends on how you roleplay it. My current Nord mage has a Khajiit companion. But like most other Nords doesn't consider him to be much more than a slave (servant at best). Perhaps over time he will come to realize that a person's worth is related to so much more than their looks. He may have had a slight break-through the other day when he actually gifted a nice weapon to the cat. . .

Regardless, a slave/servant's feelings on the matter needn't concern their master.

I thought everybody knew Robert Jordan's books, after all, they're always #1 on the NYT Bestseller list... Oh wait, so's Chelsea Handler... I get your point.

Sorry, I'm a little behind on popular culture. I become even more absorbed in books than in video games so I try to limit my reading for the sake of my marriage.

 

[FarmGirl]

At the risk of losing more of my life:
Conjuration has saved my butt many times when playing full mage.

I agree with most everyone about Wards, they use too much magicka to be useful.

Sven has lived a sheltered life. It will be good for him to see some new and exciting things.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

At the risk of losing more of my life:
Conjuration has saved my butt many times when playing full mage.

I agree with most everyone about Wards, they use too much magicka to be useful.

Sven has lived a sheltered life. It will be good for him to see some new and exciting things.

Agree on the conjuration. On this build it's being a big help. I just worry about the whole necromancy thing on a "good" character.

I'm just sticking with Sven until I can upgrade to Eric the Slayer and then someone who can actually keep up at higher levels. probably a red-head though, given those two it seems to be a pattern. No elves though, my Altmer doesn't like other elves, especially those dirty, dirty Dunmer...

 

[FarmGirl]

At the risk of losing more of my life:
Conjuration has saved my butt many times when playing full mage.

I agree with most everyone about Wards, they use too much magicka to be useful.

Sven has lived a sheltered life. It will be good for him to see some new and exciting things.

Agree on the conjuration. On this build it's being a big help. I just worry about the whole necromancy thing on a "good" character.

I'm just sticking with Sven until I can upgrade to Eric the Slayer and then someone who can actually keep up at higher levels. probably a red-head though, given those two it seems to be a pattern. No elves though, my Altmer doesn't like other elves, especially those dirty, dirty Dunmer...

No, I can't see your Altmer hanging out with a dark elf.

Does necromancy really always have to be considered "dark" magic, really? As long as your not killing innocents or doing weird experiments on them. You are just raising a few already dead bandits to help you out..

 

[W'rkncacnter]

Does necromancy really always have to be considered "dark" magic, really? As long as your not killing innocents or doing weird experiments on them. You are just raising a few already dead bandits to help you out..

Messing with the dead (eating, raising, etc) is generally considered "dark". Where destroying the raised dead would be considered "light".

 

[Daelon DuLac]

At the risk of losing more of my life:
Conjuration has saved my butt many times when playing full mage.

I agree with most everyone about Wards, they use too much magicka to be useful.

Sven has lived a sheltered life. It will be good for him to see some new and exciting things.

Agree on the conjuration. On this build it's being a big help. I just worry about the whole necromancy thing on a "good" character.

I'm just sticking with Sven until I can upgrade to Eric the Slayer and then someone who can actually keep up at higher levels. probably a red-head though, given those two it seems to be a pattern. No elves though, my Altmer doesn't like other elves, especially those dirty, dirty Dunmer...

No, I can't see your Altmer hanging out with a dark elf.

Does necromancy really always have to be considered "dark" magic, really? As long as your not killing innocents or doing weird experiments on them. You are just raising a few already dead bandits to help you out..

But I can't resist doing weird experiments with them! Like seeing how far I can fling 'em off cliffs when I fus them or seeing how long they can last while I roast them or seeing if they'll follow me in to a trap when I go ethereal... and on and on and on...

 

[FarmGirl]

Agree on the conjuration. On this build it's being a big help. I just worry about the whole necromancy thing on a "good" character.

I'm just sticking with Sven until I can upgrade to Eric the Slayer and then someone who can actually keep up at higher levels. probably a red-head though, given those two it seems to be a pattern. No elves though, my Altmer doesn't like other elves, especially those dirty, dirty Dunmer...

No, I can't see your Altmer hanging out with a dark elf.

Does necromancy really always have to be considered "dark" magic, really? As long as your not killing innocents or doing weird experiments on them. You are just raising a few already dead bandits to help you out..

But I can't resist doing weird experiments with them! Like seeing how far I can fling 'em off cliffs when I fus them or seeing how long they can last while I roast them or seeing if they'll follow me in to a trap when I go ethereal... and on and on and on...

Well, then, all I can say is, good luck doing a "good" character!!

 

[Rimfaxe96]

The thread title hooked me.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

The thread title hooked me.

OYE!

 

[FarmGirl]

The thread title hooked me.

OYE!

Yes, Daelon has us all questioning the very fiber of our beings today.

 

[The Wanderer]

-Ignores everything-

 

[The Wanderer]

In regards to conjuration: Get used to your followers getting in the way of atronachs.

 

[JoeReese]

My followers are forever in my way, in my atronach's way, in my Dremora Lord's way...you name it. It's like furniture, at this point.

That being said, especially while you're fighting the armor wars, I would strongly recommend giving your follower a conjuration staff. If you're upsmithing them, they'll likely do more damage with a bow or sword than destruction spells, but it can't hurt to have four fighters, where you now have three. The only down side is they will pop an atronach or Dremora for even the smallest mud crab. Not too terrible, but will use some petty souls up.

If you can make time to get the Sanguine quest out of the way, you can give the rose to your follower and always have a Dremora handy when you need one...or when you don't.

Magicka, Regen, and favored school enchantments are your friends here...big time. If you're working on raising dead or summoning anyway, might as well look for conjuration and alteration. Destruction doesn't seem to be (to me anyway) worth the magicka it costs to use, so I'd put my enchantments into the ones I really need. In a bit, your conjuration will get you an extra fighter and a bow/sword to use more effectively than lightning bolts.

Carry a good destruction staff, just in case. If you need destruction magic, may as well not burn your magicka pool doing it.