Arena style Mages in Morrowind

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Has anyone had any luck running a mage using the limitations in Arena,
the first of the Elder Scrolls? They could not wear any armor, use any
weapon except a dagger or staff, or use any shield except a buckler.

 

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And Michael W. Ryder spoke to the gathered crowd thusly :

> Has anyone had any luck running a mage using the limitations in Arena,
> the first of the Elder Scrolls? They could not wear any armor, use
> any weapon except a dagger or staff, or use any shield except a
> buckler.

My current mage uses no weapon, shield, or armor. It's working out
fine. He uses a crossbow for fun sometimes picking off small vermin,
but that's it.

I was surprised to find it worked so well.

-mb

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

markB wrote:

> And Michael W. Ryder spoke to the gathered crowd thusly :
>
>
>>Has anyone had any luck running a mage using the limitations in Arena,
>>the first of the Elder Scrolls? They could not wear any armor, use
>>any weapon except a dagger or staff, or use any shield except a
>>buckler.
>
>
> My current mage uses no weapon, shield, or armor. It's working out
> fine. He uses a crossbow for fun sometimes picking off small vermin,
> but that's it.
>
> I was surprised to find it worked so well.
>
> -mb
>
>
I was doing fine for the first ten levels, in fact some encounters were
easier as a mage than as a fighter. After that the encounters were with
creatures able to shrug off the best attacks I could do and then hit me
for more damage than I could handle. I may try again but work more on
ambushing opponents and keeping a lot of potions for recharging mana.
Probably have to get a lot of magical items also for getting away when
the battle goes sour.

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

Michael W. Ryder expounded thusly :
> markB wrote:
>
>> And Michael W. Ryder spoke to the gathered crowd thusly :
>>
>>
>>> Has anyone had any luck running a mage using the limitations in
>>> Arena, the first of the Elder Scrolls? They could not wear any
>>> armor, use any weapon except a dagger or staff, or use any shield
>>> except a buckler.
>>
>>
>> My current mage uses no weapon, shield, or armor. It's working out
>> fine. He uses a crossbow for fun sometimes picking off small vermin,
>> but that's it.
>>
>> I was surprised to find it worked so well.
>>
>> -mb
>>
>>
> I was doing fine for the first ten levels, in fact some encounters
> were easier as a mage than as a fighter. After that the encounters
> were with creatures able to shrug off the best attacks I could do and
> then hit me for more damage than I could handle. I may try again but
> work more on ambushing opponents and keeping a lot of potions for
> recharging mana. Probably have to get a lot of magical items also for
> getting away when the battle goes sour.

Yep, lotsa room for tactics And the heavy hitters are dangerous.
Sanct and Chameleon help a lot, and I put points into Agility and Speed.
I use Paralyze quite a bit, too.

I have an Absorb Health targeted, and a touch with a 20' range for when
I get surrounded. I like targeted Shock for 10 sec or so, weakening
them by the time they get to me.

Way more complex as a magic user, which is the attraction for me

-mb

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 07:51:02 GMT, with the help of 10,000 Little
Computer Monkeys (LCM'S) "Michael W. Ryder" <mwryder@_worldnet.att.net>
wrote:

>markB wrote:
>
>> And Michael W. Ryder spoke to the gathered crowd thusly :
>>
>>
>>>Has anyone had any luck running a mage using the limitations in Arena,
>>>the first of the Elder Scrolls? They could not wear any armor, use
>>>any weapon except a dagger or staff, or use any shield except a
>>>buckler.
>>
>>
>> My current mage uses no weapon, shield, or armor. It's working out
>> fine. He uses a crossbow for fun sometimes picking off small vermin,
>> but that's it.
>>
>> I was surprised to find it worked so well.
>>
>> -mb
>>
>>
>I was doing fine for the first ten levels, in fact some encounters were
>easier as a mage than as a fighter. After that the encounters were with
>creatures able to shrug off the best attacks I could do and then hit me
>for more damage than I could handle. I may try again but work more on
>ambushing opponents and keeping a lot of potions for recharging mana.
>Probably have to get a lot of magical items also for getting away when
>the battle goes sour.

My current character is a level 38 Spellcaster (not a True Mage since
she also casts Restoration spells) with her only armor being the "Boots
of Blinding Speed", I figure that enchanted boots are not out of
character for exploring wilderness areas (plus I like the speed bonus).
She's got a high Sneak skill, and her only weapon is a Short Blade
(skill now maxed). Along with her CE enchanted clothing items and a few
potions, at around level 22 (pre Naverine) she was actually able to kill
the LUCKY Guy in the Temple area of Tribunal (one of the toughest foes
in the game) in a Toe-Toe fight using her enchanted Daedric Wakizashi
AFTER he attacked her!

I'll admit that my character's spells are not always able to kill foes
before they get withing weapon/attack range (unless she's flying),
however she's scrappy in a close fight, though she prefers to limit
those to sneak attacks from behind, often killing a foe in a critical
strike along with maybe 1 or 2 additional blows to finish the job. Her
main strategy in toe-toe fights is to keep attacking with her short
blade, and hopefully never give her foes a chance to use their lethal
but Much SLOWER (to use) weapons. In most cases when sneaking, foes
never see my character even after she's struck the first blow. Granted
by now, she's more of a Mage Assassin than a Pure Spellcaster, however
I've TRIED to limit what she wears and does (skill wise) to that of a
Mage (with the exceptions listed above)...

My Spellcaster is doing so well (which surprised me), that I'm actually
looking forward to having her explore Solstheim after she finishes
Tribunal.


That's my 2¢,

FTA


"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

-Martin Luther King Jr.