Suggestions on how to set up a good mage character

[Emma]

I have never played as a mage (I always end up as a 'Jack-of-all-trades), partially because I have never really figured out how to choose skills etc to make it work (cause it's a lot harder than playing as a fighter, isn't it?)

Probably, others feel the same when they are setting up new characters.

Just thought that maybe some of you who have played MW in mage-style would care to share your experiences and give your recommendations for race, class, skills, and good mods to use.

[Dark Diva]

*sigh* Playing as a pure mage in Morrowind is almost as hard as trying to play a very pious/good healer type character

The last time I attempted it, I made sure to surround myself with strongish companions. Make sure you have some skill in destructive magicks to help you out in a fight and I recommend at least a skill with blunt as well, that way you can carry a staff for those times magicka runs out. I've heard it recommended that mages take the atronach as their sign, but found it annoying at low lvls because you're magicka doesn't restore... ever

Mage guild rewards, Korana's mage tower home, and any and every other magick like mod that suits your fancy are also good ideas. But I can't emphasis taking a good fighter type companion with you. Let them do the bashing while you toss fireballs from a nice safe distance and you can make it through the game without becoming a jack of all. Playing more on the evil side too doesn't hurt. My evil Telvanni Killyara did quite well, but then again she'd take along a cheap slave or two and toss them in front of her as living shields

[Peter]

Now you really make me post like crazy tonight. But as I mostly play as a mage-thief vampire, your questions may as well be answered. :-)

Playing a pure mage is tough, I prefer to go the mage/thief combo instead. As vampire, I usually select Aundae, which boost magic skills.

To enhance the mage experience, one word (but I know you won't like it): GCD. Yes, really. There is no other mod which improves playing as mage as much as GCD. Your magicka pool will be ungodly, once you got some skills. At the cost of physical attributes, as one would expect from a mage. The Aundae boni are very noticable with GCD.

Race and birthsign are rather important for a mage. You need magicka, lots of. Breton or Altmer are good choices. Any birthsign which increases magicka is useful.

More mods:
- Magical Trinkets of Tamriel IV: Adds a lot of cool features for mages. Must have.
- Any cast reduce mod (Daggerfall system: Higher skill -> less spellcost). Must have. There are various ones: Horatios spellcasting, Aragons CastReduce (a fixed version of Horatios mod), another version by HotFusion and a MWE version I recently downloaded from Summit. I use the MWE version, as it offers most features and includes a better magic skill improvement.
If you don't want MWE mods or the skill stuff, then go with Aragons CastReduce. Works fine and just does the reduced spellcosts, nothing else. Horations original mod has some bugs, which were fixed in Aragons version.
- Wakims Game Improvements. Must have. But get the modular version, then you can decide to not install those features you dislike. But you should install the spell and mage esps.
- Scripted Spells - already covered in vampire thread
- Sris Alchemy (I use Taddeus Balanced Alchemy, which is just a modified Sris Alchemy). Coz without alchemy sucks.
- Srys Herbalism for purists, or any other herbs-are-no-containers mod. Coz "opening" plants sucks.
- Srys At Home Alchemy - nice to have, but can live without

Two questmods I find suitable for any spellslinger:
- Cult of Clouds - nice mage questmod
- Illuminated Order - great questmod for mages. Note you do NOT have to become a lich at the end, entirely optional (I didn't like unlife as lich much, personally). You can play the complete mod before the lich option occurs, so you won't miss anything

There are lots of pure-mage weapon and clothing mods, but I personally don't bother as I usually equip my char with thief gear.


Enough posting for today. :-)

[LilKid]

Mage char? Then get conjuration skill ^-^.. even an anchestor ghost would buy you some time in early level. I also cant live with GCD like Peter is as I feel its more natural to progress level that way.

Mods.. gameplay improvement (for PC) besides GCD
1) leveled magicka .. gave you 4% extra magicka per level ...
2) Horatio spell casting
3) Improved Spell Magicka ... let you improve spell based on magicka spent .. not how many time you cast ... no more cantrip cheat 
4) Genetic with Magicka addon ... Mage char are damn weak at beginning level when combined with GCD but ridiculously strong later on... (Starting with a puny 20+ HP at level 1 is normal for a mage char) -- and dont forget that endurance is hard to gain with GCD

I think Peter have covered the overall gameplay mod to use .. I also used 3 that didnt get mentioned in Peter's post..
1) Inscription .. allow scrolls to be made
2) Apprentice Scroll and quiver ... Add some quills that allow some game scroll to be learnable.
3) Infernal Summoning... Summon a creature and its stays as long as it dont die ^-^ . Its a purist mod so no cheating (you can only summon one at a time ) --although you might think differently if you *managed* to summon a dragon. 

I used Breton and for birth sign, I use my own custom sign .. gave a little random boost for each magic skills for a little lost of all combat skills

Major skill for me is Light Armor, Dest, Conju, Illusion, Alter .. Minor would fit in other spell school and short blade ^-^ . Pretty much tell how I play my char eeh? Destruction and Conjuration would be my offensive arsenal.. Illusion and Alteration is my defensive spell. Illusion and Alteration also became an automatic choice for any type of char I made as well.. simply because Night Eye and levitation/water breathing are simply essential tool for adventuring for me 

Early level with AG and skellie try to not use any fire based spell.. as they suffer the most on area spell. Oh .. I also used Tome of Ancient Knowledge mod simply because I dont buy the fact even tho I'm the most powerfull wizard in the whole MW world I still have to depend on others to make a new spell 

[OldeCow69]

You may find Aragon's Mage Strategy Guide useful.

For magely mods you might also consult Reffa's Mage Mods.

[Seeker]

Hail!

I played Cincaid as a Battlemage, a pure mage indeed IS a challenge! 

I can also recommend the aforementionetd mods - they are great for mages and get them started on earlier levels very well. 

I play a pure Altmer Mage now and enjoy Cult of the Clouds and Illuminated order very much. If you're going to join the Telvanni and intend to live in Tel Uvirith, you may want (desperately? ) to expand and retailor it a bit - my favourite mods for this are (sorry, forgot tge authors):
Green Uvirith
(Gives you a green land and your own Mages' Guild around the tower, very nice - although I use the non-expanded version, 1.1 got a bit too crowded to my taste...and you have to check if you're okay with the imperial involvement in this settlement, for me it's tolerable ...)
Mora Uvirith
(A village just a rock throw away from the tower, has a feel of a small Telvanni settlement and adds to the atmsophere of a bristling, thriving city when used with Green Uvirith, although has a few minor landscape conflicts with the latter...I use them both anyway, I quite like the combination! )
Uvirith Inside
(If you want to make Tel Uvirith your home, this is for you! Trust me, this is great!  It's actually a packackge of three older mods in a new bundle, glued together by a new story, quests and items...: It gives you the Tel Uvirith Vault: storage/mannequins, Alchemy lab, prison/jail and a nice little subquest which provides you with a teleport ring at the end...then there are some architectural changes to the entrance hall and some in the tower, also a new display room and a nice staircase...and lastly but imho even more great, this gives you a personal study in the upper tower which seems a bit empty at first, but if you have your mouth Fast Eddie in Sadrith Mora, he'll send you on little quests and you'll be able to furnish your study subsequently with an alchemy table, a potion rack and some enchanted books....already there are useful teleportation facitlies - befitting a telvanni archmage, imho! Also there is a secret quest which begins in the new display room in the upper tower, which will make your vault teleportation ring more capable and provide you with a new companion...just try the quest(s) and have fun! )

So, so much for Tel Uvirith - I have another thing to add: For alchemists, there's a useful little mod out there, called "AlchemistHelper". It is a little pouch you carry in your inventory, in which you can store your ingredients and save a bit of weight capacity of your backpack and at the same time have a more orderly inventory...I use it with all my flower-picking mage characters! )

I hope you have fun playing this mage, Emma! I would be thrilled to know how it goes...Have a great time bending the world to your will by magic!

Seeker

[Jenn]

For those of us that are abbreviation challenged What is GCD? I have never had a Mage character get far off the ground, mainly because it is extremely hard! I end up being a combo or a jack of all trades as well. Full Mage character really interests me!

[Some Old Norman]

A little tip for practicing and improving your skills...  When you buy your first spell in a school, say a fireball for Destruction, have someone who crafts spells do a 1 magicka cost version of that.  Then, go some place where you know you won't hit someone you don't want to hit with the spell, and practice away.  My mage would walk down the road throwing weak 1-point fireballs into the air, and gradually get the notes saying he's increased his Destruction skill by 1!  I made a Conjuration spell I called 'Spook', a 1-second conjuring of a ghost, and walked along throwing THAT.  I can only imagine what onlookers must have thought as Merlin made his way down the road...  

[Dark Diva]

GCD= Galshia's Character Developement.

It's a leveling system type of mod. I've never tried it :don'tknow:

[Peter]

Link to GCD homepage, which has some more information what this mod is about:
http://uk.geocities.com/galsiah/

Concerning those cheapo training spells to boost skills, I personally find this game design idiotic. You learn as much from casting a most complicated spell which costs 200 magicka as from casting a cheap training spell which costs 1 magicka. Same result, that's most dumb. So you end up creating cheap training spells as otherwise some skills, especially Conjuration, are almost impossible to increase.
This already annoyed me to no end in Daggerfall.

Fortunately there are some mods which fix this problem. HotFusions MagickaSkillImprovement 2.0 is currently enjoying a lively discussion on the official forum. I personally use a MWE mod, which does more or less the same: MWE_MagickaSpells. Includes a fixed version of Horations spellcasting mod, plus adjusted skill increases so you gain more experience casting a complex spell than a cheap one. No more boredom due to repeated clicking of simply training spells.

I find the vanilla systems for levelling and spellcasting increases too primitive, so thanks to the modders who fixed them.

[Emma]

Yes, I do find spellcasting skill improvement the most annoying with mage characters - when you are low level, you cannot practice much during combat, and if you have destruction and conjurations as major skills, you will remain low level... as you cannot practice them much. Seems to me that when tailoring a mage character, it must be an advantage to add alchemy among the major/minor skills, in order to be able to mix new magicka restore potions...

I played Daggerfall, too, and although I liked the level-by-practice setup, it was annoyig both with the spells and with some other things, too.... Gosh, so many nights I spent in Daggerfall city being invisible and waterbreathing while jumping up and down on the floor, in order to improve three skills at the same time. The people in the rooms next to me must have slept reallly tight, else they would have complained...     Uuh... guess there were only npcs, as it was in Daggerfall, and they probably weren't programmed to complain... wonder if Oblivion RAI will add that 

[Candyman]

I know what you mean. Raising attributes in many games can be so annoying and time consuming. I want to play the game, not waste hours performing repetitive actions that have little to do with the plot/quest just so I can raise some statistic. And by the end of the game your character is so powerful s/he could squish that beginner with a flick from a pinky.

There is also the fact that, realistically, one can not go from a mere beginner to one of the most skilled persons in the world in a matter of weeks (or less, depending on the game). It takes years of dedication and practice to achieve such levels in abilities. Of course, it wouldn’t be much fun in a game to go through those “years” of practice.

Still, it would be nice if some games started the player off better than a complete noob.

[Dark Diva]

Emma check this out http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=209652

Rapture created an amazing mage pc capable of toppling Vivec at level 1. They didn't use any mods besides her face or anything that would usually be considered a cheat. That character design looks like a good hearty way to start out with a pure mage character

[Emma]

LOL, not to sure that I WANT to beat Vivec at level 1 

....or ever 


....isn't he better off alive?? 

[Candyman]

I've seen a video where a person beat Dagoth Ur, in about all of 7 1/2 minutes after he exited the ship at Seyda Neen! It's insane!

You can see the video and an explantion of what he did at Speed Demos: Morrowind

[Dark Diva]

Yeah I heard about that vid when they player was arguing that they'd already beaten Dagoth Ur with Rapture. I think their general methods differ.

Emma - I know that the characters actions are rather - extreme. But the pc model (specificly the basic spells that the pc bough in Balmora) might be useful for a pure mage character.

It should at least show that with the right spells it's should be possible for the player to manage pure mage without too much more difficulty than average.

[Emma]

I think a mage character would benefit quite a lot from a sturdy companion, too... Like Hurdy or Beryl, for instance. Or Laura. If you can't rely on your own muscles, maybe it's time to rely on someone elses.

Seeker and Peter, you mention playing as an altmer mage... Isn't  that extra tricky, considering the altmer's vulnerability to magical damage? Or have you find a birth sign that will compensate for this?

Is birth sign the Mage always the best, or are there better alternatives?

[Seeker]

Hail!

I have to admit, the Altmer Mage is a bit of a challenge - but after a "sort of battlemage", I wanted to play a "pure" mage after that. The Mage birthsign is in my opinion very fine, you'll need all the magicka to compensate for your vulnerabilities. But, the altmer is fun to play nevertheless! 
Another birthsign that I quite like, won't help with compensating disadvantages though: The Lady. It is quite nice to able to sweet-talk all the store owners from th start, saving lots of money and keeping it for your first enchanted items, for all these cases, when your magicka runs out in the middle of a combat...again! 

So, the Altmer: If you like the challenge, definitely yes! 

Seeker

[Emma]

Yes, I was thinking of playing as this one:


She is actually one of the teenage girls from CoM, but I would probably convert the head to a young adult altmer. Guess she *could* be 18-19 or something. Or whatever that would be in elf-time.

[Seeker]

  Wow! 

This face looks great! Playing with an Altmer can be very rewarding, even if there are some disadvantages. I hope you have great fun with this girl! 

By the way: Here is a picture of my Altmer Mage Calmethas, standing in the Magus Realm, where he lives in Korana's cozy tower..


Seeker

[Emma]

HA!!! THAT'S MY ALTMER BOYFRIEND!! 

My very favorite face of Don Salus, but he has another hair in my game. 

I have always loved Don Salus' male altmer heads - they looks both masculine and sensitive and, well... 
In fact, I liked those faces so much that when I made an altmer headpack long ago, I couldn't manage to make any male ones that I liked, or rather, the only ones I liked were those that were practically clones of his... only that I liked his better.

There are some newer male altmer heads around nowadays, but although they are of good quality, I still prefere those old by Don Salus. Maybe partially because they are handmade rather than recolored photos.

EDIT: You gave him a female hair??

[Seeker]

Boyfriend? 
May I say that our good taste in faces is seemingly mutual?
I liked those heads from the start and for my mage, there was simply no way around this particular one...! 

As for the hair:... Yeah, well, I guess I did...but it somehow seemed to fit his countenance and the form of his face for me. I have to say that after playing with him for a bit of time, I quite like his..well...effiminate hairdo... .

So, I promise that I won't go for a Laura Craft-Ponytail for him in the future! 

Seeker

[Candyman]

I've seen mods that give men a good, healthy head of hair. That doesn't necessarily make them look girly. Sheesh.

Hell, in real life, I have hair half way down my back! And I like it that way.

[Emma]

Candyman,
Oh, I was just refering to that in Morrowind, this hairstyle originally belong to dunmer females, and sometimes the female hairs won't even fit the male heads.

Seeker,

as I couldn't find any old screenshot of him, I had to tell Wulfren that I needed to go to Ald-ruhn for some urgent shopping, and there he was...



Same face, isn't it?

[Peter]

Seeker and Peter, you mention playing as an altmer mage... Isn't  that extra tricky, considering the altmer's vulnerability to magical damage? Or have you find a birth sign that will compensate for this?

Is birth sign the Mage always the best, or are there better alternatives?

Well, weaknesses increase the fun of the game. :-) You can always counter your weakness with spells or enchantments, like resistance to magicka. You are a mage, after all. So use the knowledge.

Birthsign? I mostly pick the Apprentice. It has a better magicka bonus than the Mage, and I don't care about the weakness. You need all the spellpoints you can get. Weaknesses on the other hand can be worked around.

Atronach is an interesting choice, too, for some different gameplay style. You need to adjust your tactics with this. It's difficult in the beginning, but very powerful for an advanced character. Once you can mix restore mana potions, the lack of regeneration while sleeping is irrelevant. However, with GCD you also regenerate slowly when awake, but I am not sure if this is still the case with the Atronach.

Breton & Apprentice is my personal favourite. For Altmer, I'd pick Apprentice or Atronach.

[Emma]

Well, I guess Atronach could make sense if I 'tailor' my mage and gives him Alchemy as a major skill (it is after all within the range of mage-character skills).
Apprentice sounds a bit dangerous but as you say one can compensate for one certain known weakness.

[Peter]

Dangerous... quite the contrary. Playing a mage with too little spellpoints is dangerous. Running out of spellpoints will get you killed faster than the weaknesses. I don't like the Mage birthsign because of the rather small magicka boost. The weakness from Altmer and Apprentice is noticable, but the spellpoint boost is even more. You get more than you give.

Now if you for example play an Altmer vampire with Apprentice birthsign, of course you have a lot of nasty weaknesses. Should you decide to try running up to the next flame atronach trying to beat it with your staff, it will turn out badly. But you are a mage, so play like one. Cast resistance to fire to protect against the fire spells, then resistance to frost to protect against reflected spells, then fry it with a frostball. Just one example, of course. Play a mage as a mage, not as a warrior. Then there are no problems with the weaknesses.

Besides that, Alchemy is always a good choice. I take it as Minor skill for all my characters, regardless of the main class. It's a bit wasted on Major, as it improves quite fast, though. Additional to the usual restore health/magicka, having a couple of resistance potions available is always handy. I usually don't leave home without a couple of resist fire potions in my backpack. :-)

[Seeker]

Seeker,

as I couldn't find any old screenshot of him, I had to tell Wulfren that I needed to go to Ald-ruhn for some urgent shopping, and there he was...

Same face, isn't it?

Yes, it definitely is! Reminds me why I chose it in the first place! Me like!

@Peter: You are right, Spellpoints decide everything, when you decide to play a "pure" mage, not some spellsword. You can enchant and create new spells that indeed do work around your weaknesses - which you simply HAVE to, playing an altmer . The apprentice sign may be a wise choice in that respect, though I still like the Lady also, even if it wouldn't help you very much mage-wise  ...seems to depend on personal taste - but when playing an Altmer Mage first time, I also would go for more spellpoints, period! 

Seeker

[Master Sam]

Why do I get the feeling, Emma that your going to finish Morrowind
All good mages have to have bonus so they dont get slaughted when a fighting NPC come up to them. You also need lots of Magic, and potions. But I guess you knew that, having a big thread.

[cdcooley]

Well, I guess Atronach could make sense if I 'tailor' my mage and gives him Alchemy as a major skill (it is after all within the range of mage-character skills).
Apprentice sounds a bit dangerous but as you say one can compensate for one certain known weakness.

I like a Breton with Atronach because they are naturally almost immune to magic and great alchemists.  The combination can be deadly.  Join the Imperial Cult, learn Mark, Recall, and Divine Intervention and you don't really even need too many magicka restoring potions.  Mark, cast Intervention, restore magicka at the shrine and recall back to continue.  The only problem is that you can't really use recall for anything else.  Of course if you take someone like Beryl along, things get even easier. 

[Candyman]

The only problem is that you can't really use recall for anything else.

Well... not unless you get Multi-Mark (12 Mark slots) or Improved Teleporation (8 Mark slots if I remember correctly)

[LilKid]

GCD wont regenerate magicka if you use atronach birthsign... btw, I used that birthsign for a warrior char .. with quite a nice result when fighting mages

[Emma]

Why do I get the feeling, Emma that your going to finish Morrowind
All good mages have to have bonus so they dont get slaughted when a fighting NPC come up to them. You also need lots of Magic, and potions. But I guess you knew that, having a big thread.

Well, not finish like in 'quitting', if that is what you mean .

The current plan is to start two new characters (as the char I started this summer has so corrupted saves because I have messed with almost every mod I used).

One for regular Morrowind playing with Constance as main companion - a thief characer for this.

One that will later turn into a vampire and beat The Underground - a mage character for this.

As all you people are so kind and reply with so much knowledge, hopefully these threads can also be of use for others who are looking for recommendations on how to set up characters .

[Emma]

Well, I guess Atronach could make sense if I 'tailor' my mage and gives him Alchemy as a major skill (it is after all within the range of mage-character skills).
Apprentice sounds a bit dangerous but as you say one can compensate for one certain known weakness.

I like a Breton with Atronach because they are naturally almost immune to magic and great alchemists. The combination can be deadly. Join the Imperial Cult, learn Mark, Recall, and Divine Intervention and you don't really even need too many magicka restoring potions. Mark, cast Intervention, restore magicka at the shrine and recall back to continue. The only problem is that you can't really use recall for anything else. Of course if you take someone like Beryl along, things get even easier.

Oooh!! You know what - I never discovered that one can restore magicka at the scrines! I simply haven't thought about it, but now that I know, I will certainly use it! Sounds like an excellent strategy to me! And your Improved teleportation or Companion teleportation mods will be even more of a musthave if you are using this strategy with some companions in tow.

Yes, Beryl and Hurd will naturally tag long with me, although I may later replace Beryl with Ingred from Domehome - she is a little more talkative .

[Seeker]

Salutations, Emma!

I think that you have some pretty good strategies set up here. If you are going to play an Altmer or Breton won't matter so much now, if you adhere to the excellent advice of the posts here - taking companions will further enable you to not become mortally imperiled in every little fight with a three-legged mudcrab on crutches, like it happens to so many "pure" and lone mages in MW... (that I've played... ).
So, race choice imho becomes imho mainly a question of taste, for as we have learned, even big weaknesses like those of the Altmer can be compensated by thoughtful playing style - Have fun! 

I also want to thank all of the posters of this thread - personally, I have learned much about the mage class which I didn't really know before and will be able use for my own Altmer Mage in upcoming adventures ...I would therefore indeed recommend this thread to anyone who thinks of setting up a "pure" mage in MW without getting frustrated by numerous deaths and slow and unsatisfying character development! 

Seeker

[cdcooley]

I noticed the magicka regen at shrines when I tried restoring attributes after a bonewalker attack in one of the tombs.  I used the shrine in the tomb because my strength was so low I couldn't even carry my minimal equipment that I had brought into the tomb, much less any a loot I discovered.

[Seeker]

Saluatations, cdcooley!

I didn't know that before, either (I had a not very religious mage... ), but I have tried it for myself now and am going to pay much more visits to shrines than before - thanks for the tip! 

Seeker

[Jenn]

I am actually going to try a Mage after reading all of this, I never have before because the spells just seemed so weak, and I died constantly :(

I already have GCD in and holy cow it's cool!! Think I will add scripted spells and multi-mark as well, I love the idea of marking in all my homes so I can stash my loot!!

The birthsigns always kinda confused me, like I didn't know that antioch regenned magicka, course with GCD it doesn't anymore, but still! That's cool, I always go for the Lady really, I like it, now I am going to have to try some others.

Thank you all for the suggestions and the wealth of knowledge you have shared here!

Jenn

[Dark Diva]

The Atronach never regains magicka, with or without GCD. You use it and have to use shrines or potions to restore (I prefer potions they can be made cheap and strong and carried with for use in battle.)

[Emma]

I have always used the Mage as birthsign, but I haven't known about the shrines. It really changes things quite a lot!
I think Atronach sounds quite iintriguing now.
Still, I guess a mage cannot purely count on his spellcasting abilities. He (or she) would have to have a good weapon, too... Are there any specific weapons that would be extra good for a mage? Maybe try to get one that will trap souls??

[cdcooley]

Still, I guess a mage cannot purely count on his spellcasting abilities. He (or she) would have to have a good weapon, too... Are there any specific weapons that would be extra good for a mage? Maybe try to get one that will trap souls??

Conjuration.  You can either summon creatures or use a bound weapon.  I prefer the bound spear because it has the longest reach is still fairly fast and does decent damage.   The +10 bonus you get with bound weapons is quite useful even at low levels.   You can even practice on those mudcrabs without fear if you are careful.  With the spear your reach is long enough and the crabs are slow enough that you can keep them at a distance where you can hit them and they can't hit you.  It doesn't take too long to train yourself up to a skill of 10 or 15 that way if you kill every mudcrab you see and spend a bit of time walking along the coast at the start of the game.  You'll also practice your conjuration skill and when you get bored with mudcrabs, scrib and rats, you'll probably have enough cash to user a trainer to raise the skill to around 25 which is about all you'll need until later in the game when you encounter those stronger magic resistant creatures.  Of course you could take a weapon as a minor skill, but I find it's not really needed.

[Dark Diva]

I have always used the Mage as birthsign, but I haven't known about the shrines. It really changes things quite a lot!
I think Atronach sounds quite iintriguing now.
Still, I guess a mage cannot purely count on his spellcasting abilities. He (or she) would have to have a good weapon, too... Are there any specific weapons that would be extra good for a mage? Maybe try to get one that will trap souls??

The best weapon for a pure mage is a none magical, fighter type companion. Let your companion jump in while you gulp a few restore magicka potions and read off your scrolls. You'd need to get used to fighting this way though, because you don't want to kill your companion accidently, but it's really the way to go with a pure mage and remain pure imho/

[Emma]

I have always used the Mage as birthsign, but I haven't known about the shrines. It really changes things quite a lot!
I think Atronach sounds quite iintriguing now.
Still, I guess a mage cannot purely count on his spellcasting abilities. He (or she) would have to have a good weapon, too... Are there any specific weapons that would be extra good for a mage? Maybe try to get one that will trap souls??

Sounds like I should use Laura, then, as she will actually benefit from practicing her skills

The best weapon for a pure mage is a none magical, fighter type companion. Let your companion jump in while you gulp a few restore magicka potions and read off your scrolls. You'd need to get used to fighting this way though, because you don't want to kill your companion accidently, but it's really the way to go with a pure mage and remain pure imho/

[colmcorbec]

A little tip for atronach players. The Temple ans imperial cult shrines are a cheap way of getting yor magicka filled very quick fo a little gold

[Not Quite Dead]

If you play an atronach that way, I highly recommend to you to use the mod multimark.

That way you can put a mark before an imperial/tribunal altar, run into some trouble, use up nearly all your magicka, mark on the spot, then recall to shrine, fill up your magicka, and recall back to the fight.

[Dark Diva]

I actually found making Magicka Restore potions to be the best option. Just find a restocking vendor of the cheaper materials and then stock up with 50 low wieght high restore high value potions I do the same with restore health.

http://morrowind.melian.cc/index.php

That's an invaluable link for finding the restocking vendors. As well as figuring out what components you'll need before you might be able to identify them in game. Keeping in mind that it's best to invest some serious time into making your potions at first. Grab like a hundred a piece of the components and then plug away. Your skill will increase quickly and you'll soon have lots of high quality low weight potions on hand. Then your set for the wilds of Morrowind You won't need to teleport away often (leaving your companion behind) or visit shrines ritualisticly :lol:

You'll also be pleasantly surprised at the number of potions you can carry, especially when you're not weighting yourself down with things like armor and weapons. The only problem with this method is that when quick keyed the potions run out every fast -ish. See everytime your skill improves the potions improve. When they improve they aren't the same item any more. So when you quick key them (I usually start with my cheapest potions and work my way up, don't want to be caught in a fight going the other way) everytime you run out of one potion you have to re-assign the quick key. Still not such a bad option when faced with that or running back and forth to a shrine

[Emma]

I always have alchemy as one of my major skills. And that is *really* useful!! My own potions weight absolutely nothing, I can make them and consume them to my hearts desire . I think my current char carries like 100 health potions, but as they have no weight, it doesn't matter.

[Candyman]

PC made potions have no weight? 

That doesn't make sense.

[Emma]

Well, maybe it doesn't make sense, but it is quite handy. Try it and you'll see for yourself. They are weightless.

[Seeker]

Yes, Alchemy is one of my favourites, too! 

I use it with almost all my PCs and I quite enjoy the relaxing activity to sort all the ingredients after a long quest at home in my lab...

Okay, in a few housemods I use, I also happily use the sorter, if there...

And I also really enjoy to whip up apotion for every occasion, escpecially with the Altmer Mage who really needs them! 

Seeker

[Peter]

PC made potions have no weight? 

That doesn't make sense.

I completely agree it makes no sense. The potions weight is actually determined by the ingredients weight. But the vanilla ingredients are all extremely light, so potions will be almost or completely weightless as well.

Fortunately there are some mods which fix this oversight, I personally use Taddeus Balanced Alchemy, which makes ingredients significantly heavier, which affects the potions weight as well. So it really matters what from you mix your potions: Restore health from marshmerrow and salstrice is rather heavy with 0.6 per bottle, but mixed from Trama root and Corkbulb it's only 0.2. So you need to put some thoughts into this as well, which is a welcome challenge.

Of course, if you play unmodded alchemy, it really makes no sense. But then it's like with most game features, they only make sense when fixed by mods. :-)

[Emma]

I'm obviously not as righteous as some of you - I'm just happy that they don't weight anything!

[Seeker]

 ...Me, too!...

Seeker

[Dark Diva]

After haggling with my vendors, dragging out my equipement and creating potions for a solid afternoon, I kinda feel like the reduced wieghts of the higher level potions is partly my due for working so hard

edt - also in rl herbs and such don't wiegh much and if you squezzed the juice out of something, say an orange, the result is much much less heavy than the original.

[Jenn]

I would have to agree, the lighter the better in my opinion, sometimes bugs are a nice thing, we shouldn't fix them!

[Candyman]

I've never been a big potion user anyway. I carry just enough for emergencies. Otherwise I prefer to use spells. After all, it doesn't take much skill to be able to cast decent supportive spells.

[LilKid]

The higher your alchemy skill.. and the better equipment you use.. the less weight for your home made potion .. my favourite ingredient ... heather and chokeweed.. I love my feather potions so much ^-^

[Emma]

Ah... so the alchemy skill matters? Mine has been 100 for such a long time, so I didn't think of that.

[Jenn]

Yep, high alchemy, good equipment, little to no weight potions.

[Jenn]

I have discovered something very useful. You can be in both the Mage's Guild and House Telvanni at the same time, and get the benefits of both. 

I started my character as a Earth Mage, custom Mage, but the same exact skills as a normal Mage, just flipped around a little for my preferences. Joined the Mage's Guild early, used it to get bigger, bought the spells cheap once people liked me, got herbs and potions, equipment and enchantments, got to Warlock in the Guild.

Then using a little telvanni bugmusk     I got one of the Telvanni Mouths to like me enough (since they all hate you by this point) to let me join  Instant Telvanni liking, and the Mage's guild still love you, so you can enjoy both and get the cool stronghold too 

[Seeker]

Interesting.

A few years ago, I did nearly exactly the same thing with Cincaid the Breton. Didn't realize, though, that it was something especially extraordinary - I always thought: Mage's Guild and House Telvanni - cool, that was easy...! 
(It may have helped choosing the Lady Birthsign and polishing up those smooching skills of mine, hmmm... )

Seeker

[Dark Diva]

Ah... so the alchemy skill matters? Mine has been 100 for such a long time, so I didn't think of that.

Matters quite a bit. One of my characters started off with such terrible skill that she couldn't even be certain that the restore health potions she bought would do thier jobs  It took her longer than usual to tell what was what, even though I used my for knowledge to help her gather the right ingredients for potions. That was an uphill battle

[Jenn]

Well it was a lot easier before I got GCD, personality was easier to come by. But for the first time I am trying a full Mage, so I didn't pick the Lady for once as the birthsign, heh. So when you start out with a personality of 45, it doesn't take much to get people in Sadith Mora to not even want to speak with you, or sell you anything.

So I thought it was really cool that I managed to do both without cheating, and with just what I had, my whits and my skills.