aside from being able to regenerate magica faster ... do they have a magica stat bonus? an are there any battle Mage advice

Are you playing on PC or 360/PS3? The answer will drastically change my recommendation as a Battlemage.

@project343 I'm actually playing on 360

You get the benefit of everybody discriminating against you

Also, I think they start with 50 more magicka then everybody else

@Chriseg: High Elves also start with +50 magicka. Check here to see all the benefits.

@Zacagawea said:

You get the benefit of everybody discriminating against you

Yup, cause we rock and almost wiped out the Imperials!

+50 magicka. Also I have not been discriminated against once that I can recall in more than 70 hours aside from being called an elf, so I'm not so sure about that. Maybe I'm just jaded about what qualifies as an insult.

I've restarded the game one time because I wasn't satisfied with my charecter so hopefully a high elf.will be better ... I'm.a battle Mage type with heavy enchanted armour

@Chriseg said:

I've restarded the game one time because I wasn't satisfied with my charecter so hopefully a high elf.will be better ... I'm.a battle Mage type with heavy enchanted armour

A Dark elf might be a better way to go then as they have a +10 on destruction magic I think. The high elf has a +10 on illusion magic.

@Chriseg: Not going Alteration then?

I wondered for a while if Altmer might have been a mistake as 50 Magic isn't much really and the Bretons (I think) have that magic immunity. All in all though it's been fine and that Magic Boost you get once a day has come in handy.

@sup909 yeah but the regenerate magika faster is more benificial but then again +10 on destruction will save me a lot of time

@Crash_Happy I'm actually going to use all magic. but focus the most on destruction

At first it looks like the poor elves are hapless victims of discrimination, and the humans are just plain racist, but you eventually learn that there's more to it. The high elves especially have it coming (but the other elves are part of it). Their empire, which now overrules the human empire is downright fascist, elf-supremacist and slowly working to push all humans off the continent. The religious persecution of Talos worship is only one aspect of it. Maybe elves can be cool as individuals, but everyone in their ruling class should die.

I'm hoping the next Elder Scrolls takes place in the Summerset Isle so I can assassinate all their dickhead leaders.

So yeah, you'll get discriminated against if you're an elf, but it makes total sense.

@Chriseg said:

@project343 I'm actually playing on 360

Then I'll recommend you focus on the following trees: Alteration, Restoration, Heavy Armor, One-Handed, Block.

Because you don't have the wealth of hotkey options that PC users enjoy, and instead simply have left and right on the d-pad, I recommend primarily sticking to buffing yourself with alteration, mashing dudes in the face with a mace, and swapping in healing whenever you need to. I, personally, recommend the Orc as a starting class for their invaluable Berserk ability.

Perks to avoid: any dual-wielding perks, any dual-casting perks, Mage Armor, Avoid Death, Ward Absorb

Perks to seek out (aside from filler): Respite (free stamina with heals), Regeneration (more healing), Recovery (more mana faster), Atronach (more free mana, less magic damage taken in), Bone-Breaker (focus on maces), Elemental Protection (more magic defense)

Now, I'm telling you to avoid Destruction and Conjuration because they typically involve quickly swapping hands around, dual-casting, and whatnot to be effective. You don't want to spend all your time in menus. For this reason, I'm also telling you to avoid two-handed weapons. A two-handed Battlemage requires swapping between spells and that big ol' sword rather quickly. These are things that can be effortlessly accomplished on PC, but not on console. I mean, favourites are wonderful, but I personally don't like pausing every 3 seconds.

Moving on, one notable suggestion is the focus on maces, which may puzzle you. I'm giving you this recommendation because Alteration and Blocking provide ample defense against magic. Mages will tickle you (as opposed to absolutely decimate, like most people are complaining about). With that ample magic defense established, you'll need a little more non-magic offense against those hulking brutes that lunge at you. This is where the mace's armor penetration comes in. I'm also telling you to avoid dual-casting due to your lack of hotkeys/hands.

Now, this is a very 'follow this' recommendation. Obviously you should play with whatever you enjoy. I'm just giving you some rigid suggestions that I wish I followed earlier on. If you have any questions, just throw them my way. I figure I should also say that I personally find Destruction and Conjuration to simply not be worth it unless you plan on dual-casting. They simply aren't viable at high levels without it.

Uh, ok mr. PC master race.

@project343 I never considered maces I always thought of them as big and bulky and I had no idea they could pierce armour. I don't think I can leave my destruction spells all together tho

@project343 said:

@Chriseg said:

@project343 I'm actually playing on 360

Then I'll recommend you focus on the following trees: Alteration, Restoration, Heavy Armor, One-Handed, Block.

Because you don't have the wealth of hotkey options that PC users enjoy, and instead simply have left and right on the d-pad, I recommend primarily sticking to buffing yourself with alteration, mashing dudes in the face with a mace, and swapping in healing whenever you need to. I, personally, recommend the Orc as a starting class for their invaluable Berserk ability.

Perks to avoid: any dual-wielding perks, any dual-casting perks, Mage Armor, Avoid Death, Ward Absorb

Perks to seek out (aside from filler): Respite (free stamina with heals), Regeneration (more healing), Recovery (more mana faster), Atronach (more free mana, less magic damage taken in), Bone-Breaker (focus on maces), Elemental Protection (more magic defense)

Now, I'm telling you to avoid Destruction and Conjuration because they typically involve quickly swapping hands around, dual-casting, and whatnot to be effective. You don't want to spend all your time in menus. For this reason, I'm also telling you to avoid two-handed weapons. A two-handed Battlemage requires swapping between spells and that big ol' sword rather quickly. These are things that can be effortlessly accomplished on PC, but not on console. I mean, favourites are wonderful, but I personally don't like pausing every 3 seconds.

Moving on, one notable suggestion is the focus on maces, which may puzzle you. I'm giving you this recommendation because Alteration and Blocking provide ample defense against magic. Mages will tickle you (as opposed to absolutely decimate, like most people are complaining about). With that ample magic defense established, you'll need a little more non-magic offense against those hulking brutes that lunge at you. This is where the mace's armor penetration comes in. I'm also telling you to avoid dual-casting due to your lack of hotkeys/hands.

Now, this is a very 'follow this' recommendation. Obviously you should play with whatever you enjoy. I'm just giving you some rigid suggestions that I wish I followed earlier on. If you have any questions, just throw them my way. I figure I should also say that I personally find Destruction and Conjuration to simply not be worth it unless you plan on dual-casting. They simply aren't viable at high levels without it.

This seems super over the top...

Unless he was doing some sort of no healing potions Master difficulty run, it's safe to say he can do whatever he wants and the game will still be okay.

I'm on the PC with a 360 controller and I've run into no issues with difficulty on Expert..

Orc, 2-hander, Heavy Armor, with destruction magic and I dual cast all the time when I don't use my sword.

@Chriseg: Just play the character you want and whichever option you think is cool, this game seriously doesn't need to be min-maxed. If you put points in the specific weapon you like it will work out just fine.

@Doctorchimp said:

This seems super over the top...

Unless he was doing some sort of no healing potions Master difficulty run, it's safe to say he can do whatever he wants and the game will still be okay.

I'm on the PC with a 360 controller and I've run into no issues with difficulty on Expert..

Orc, 2-hander, Heavy Armor, with destruction magic and I dual cast all the time when I don't use my sword.

@Chriseg: Just play the character you want and whichever option you think is cool, this game seriously doesn't need to be min-maxed. If you put points in the specific weapon you like it will work out just fine.

My recommendation wasn't min-maxing. It was more designed to accommodate the 360 controller. Personally, I find excessive use of the favourites menu to be incredibly disrupting to the general flow of combat. It's downright annoying and not fun.

And my perk suggestions were just logical compliments.

When your strategy is reduced down to keeping a buff up, healing when you need to, and using a mace/shield, things go really smoothly. And to be honest, late-game Destruction and Conjuration are barely worth the mana cost. So unless you're running around with 100% destruction spell cost reduction via enchants (read: free destruction casting), sword, board and buff gameplay is the ideal battlemage setup.