Just started Oblivion and my mage is having some trouble. Should I be wearing armor? and if so what kind? And what about weapons? Should I be using the sword I have?

Thanks : )

Originally posted by Ozreth

Just started Oblivion and my mage is having some trouble. Should I be wearing armor? and if so what kind? And what about weapons? Should I be using the sword I have?

Thanks : )

It's completely your choice.  The term "Battlemage" comes to mind.

Originally posted by rendus

Originally posted by Ozreth

Just started Oblivion and my mage is having some trouble. Should I be wearing armor? and if so what kind? And what about weapons? Should I be using the sword I have?

Thanks : )

It's completely your choice.  The term "Battlemage" comes to mind.

 This is true, it is your choice, but I think armor decreases your spell effectiveness. The heavier the armor the spell effectiveness % drops. Its been a while sence I have played but im pretty sure thats right.

some types of armor might hinder your spellcasting ability, i wouldnt go above leather if you are going pure mage...if you play it right, you can even play as a mage naked without any worries, just get a spell that gives you health when you touch a mob anmd your gtg

Gotcha. Is there any way in game to see how much a certain armor will decrease your spell %? 

I think it's more about wearing armor where you are not proficient in its use.

So one can wear heavy armor but make sure you have it as one of your main skills. You might notice that you have a better time of it as you get higher in your armor skill.

I never really go pure mage and usually have a a mage using a "cool 2 hander" (something more slender for and suitable for a fast movign character such as addonay's elven weaponry) and light armor.

But realy it is what you make of it.

Don't wear it. Get your conjuration skill up high, and start buying the "Bound" items. All across cyrodill are mages that sell these kinds of spells. Get the full set, and voila, summoned Daedric heavy armor. Use you 7th slot for something like alchemy so you can buff your guy up more, and keep lots of mana potions on your person so you never have to worry about running out of mana(summoning all those items will take a good chunk of your mana away, but you won't have to worry about leveling a skill that will take a while to level, as mages aren't supposed to get hit much). If you Want a melee fighter, with a little bit of magic usage, like destruction, I'd roll a Dark Elf. Their skill bonuses reflect more of a Battlemage than any other race.

I'll also add that since a pure mage doesn't really have high sttrength and won't be doing much to level strength, wearing heavy amor will weigh you down.

One thing that one can do is to level conjuration and summon your "tank" when needed.

in Oblvion, enemies tend to attack your summon first. get one of those larger "giant alligator" looking deadra and you have your meat shield.

Of course, if there are a lot of enemies you might have to contend with an enemy or two.

A way around that is using invisibility though I think it's game breaking.

of course one can download spells that fling your opponents across the roomto keep them away from you. Usuallly I use the construction set to make these things heavy in mana usage because again, they can be game breaking.

Originally posted by Ozreth

Gotcha. Is there any way in game to see how much a certain armor will decrease your spell %? 

The spell menu shows your current spell effectiveness somewhere near the bottom.

What I suggest you do is go to IC and cast restoration, mysticism and conjuration spells over and over in the market until you have 100 skill. At 100 you won't get a penalty for wearing armor when casting spells from that school, not to mention you'll get some very nice modifiers.. Avoid Illusion unless you REALLY want +5 personality modifiers on level up... Chances are you'll gimp yourself if you do that.

Stick to light armor unless you plan on dumping coin into leveling heavy, because heavy slows you down big time and you'll be doing a lot of back peddlin' as a mage.

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

 yes there is a way to see the magic deficiency %. i think in the magic tab. just look for it a little bit. it will show how much you have at the time, but not what pieces give what %'s.

also. if you are a full on mage, you should (hopefully) have alteration. it has sheild spells. you can enchant armor/clothing with the 10% shield enchant (grand soul gem of course. lower tier gems will give less %). armor rating is displayed on your equip tab as a shiled with a number by it. it caps at 85, and nothing past 85 has any further effect on armor. so enchant some normal clothing/robes, and what not, with the shield, and when you enter battle, cast the actual sheild spell on top of it. you end up with plenty of armor, even in comparison to someone in heavy armor, depending on on how many items you enchant with the sheild.

i assume you have the game on PC. so i will suggest you check out this site.

Planet Elder Scrolls - and look for player made mods. they really expand well on the game if you get ones that please your playstyle. there is even a mode for 'armored robes' so you can have look like a caster and still have armor (will still give deficiency i imagine). i have mods for different armor/wepons, dungeons, wearable cloaks, a rideble dragon that can fly, and plenty more. my favorite is one that allows me to befriend a large % of  the NPCs in the world, equip them, giving them battle directions, and even hire fighters from the fighters guild, making it useful without even joining it.

have fun with the game. i hope this helps in some way.