Morrowind: Playing a pure magic-user?

[warning]

Theres a part of me that wants to jump back into Morrowind again (gee thanks BH I'll be playing this game when I'm an old man thanks to your CD). Last time around I played as a thiefly character who never used magic. This time I want to be a pure magic-user.

I recall back at GG people saying this was difficult which is partly why I want to do it. What do you recommend as the best setup for a pure mage? And should I be a traditionalist and use staves or go all Gandalf and get myself a sword?

[Grundbegriff]

What do you recommend as the best setup for a pure mage? And should I....

What is this "should" you speak of?

[Fitzy]

Theres a part of me that wants to jump back into Morrowind again (gee thanks BH I'll be playing this game when I'm an old man thanks to your CD). Last time around I played as a thiefly character who never used magic. This time I want to be a pure magic-user.

I recall back at GG people saying this was difficult which is partly why I want to do it. What do you recommend as the best setup for a pure mage? And should I be a traditionalist and use staves or go all Gandalf and get myself a sword?

Be a real man, don't use any weapon

[warning]

What do you recommend as the best setup for a pure mage? And should I....

What is this "should" you speak of?

As Albert Ellis would say "You just should on yourself! Don't do that!"

That part was basically irrelevant and I suppose a matter of personal taste.

I'm really wondering what schools/disciplines of magic I would want to specialize in. I really have no idea since I didn't touch magic the first time around. I don't want to get 20 hours in and realize "Oh crap! That seemed obvious to specialize in _____ but why didn't I see it?"

[Blackhawk]

[de-duplicate post]

[Blackhawk]

Theres a part of me that wants to jump back into Morrowind again (gee thanks BH I'll be playing this game when I'm an old man thanks to your CD). Last time around I played as a thiefly character who never used magic. This time I want to be a pure magic-user.

I recall back at GG people saying this was difficult which is partly why I want to do it. What do you recommend as the best setup for a pure mage? And should I be a traditionalist and use staves or go all Gandalf and get myself a sword?

Use whatever weapon you want. It doesn't matter. If you need to draw it, you're already dead, so go with something you like and fits your character image, or something with a good power (lots of paralyzation blades out there - good for escaping when things go bad.)

There was some good advice in this thread, including a link to this site. I do recommend the Magicka Regen, Dodge Mod, and Cast Reduction plugins for a pure mage. You may also want to either avoid GIANTS or tone it down with the difficulty slider, at least until you gain a few levels.

/edit for your last question. You have ten available skill slots. One will need to be unarmored (or an armor of your choice if you aren't a traditionalist), and you can choose to include a single weapon of your choice if you like. That leaves you with eight or nine available slots. There are only eight magic skills, so it is more a matter of which you choose as primary and which as secondary (primary start a bit higher than secondary).

My only recommendations is that you may want Destruction and Restoration higher on the list.

Final note: Choosing your birthsign and race is more important for pure mages than for any other character type. More magicka is your friend!

[Kyosho]

Be a real man, don't use any weapon

Agreed. I've had a lot of fun playing pure mage characters. No weapons, unarmored, alchemy, all schools of magic, and The Atronarch birthsign. Lots of magicka, but unable to regen it. That's where your alchemy skill comes in handy. Make Restore Magicka potions. Buy them as well (you'll have tons of cash right away because you're selling pretty much everything, because you don't need it).

Very difficult. Very fun. Whee.


Edit: What am I talking about? Forget the alchemy! Put something else there. Like speechcraft. You don't want everything to be so easy, as with alchemy. No no.

[warning]

There was some good advice in this thread, including a link to this site.

Thanks. I didn't even think to check for recent threads. Muy estupido! And I have no idea why I started this thread in PC Gaming in General. Ugh. Feel free to close this thread, move it, nuke it from orbit, whatever.

And thanks for the suggestions!