Of all the skills that come under The Mage playstyle, Destruction is the one best known for inflicting direct damage. Most commonly appear as spells that hurl fireballs, shoot ice spikes, or blast lighting at adversaries, and there is a generous variety of them with which to scorch, freeze, and shock foes.
There are a ton of mechanics that one can abuse to increase one’s skill faster in this area, as well as bits of information that can grant players the know-how to take advantage of every situation. That is, if one is well equipped and adventurous enough to brave the wild tundra of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as a destruction mage.
10 Three Branches
There are three main types of magical spells in Destruction: Ice, Fire, and Lightning. Ice slows down targets and drains their stamina, though the projectiles from Ice spells are typically quite slow. Fire does the more damage overall out of the three branches because, in addition to hurting foes, it applies a burn that does damage over time. The projectiles are faster than that of Ice spells, though can still be dodged by more nimble enemies.
Last, but not least, there is Lightning, which deals damage to both health and magicka, making it ideal for facing off against those who also utilize spells in combat, such as hagravens or dragon priests. Lightning spells travel very fast; almost instantly, so they can also be great for quickly killing weaker foes.
9 Books
There are two main types of books that aspiring masters of Destruction magic should keep their eyes out for: skill books and spell tomes. Skill books give the Dragonborn a level up in Destruction and can be found throughout Skyrim. They’re literally everywhere, so be sure to scan the covers and spines of all of one finds for some free experience.
Spell tomes are more important, as they give the player access to new spells. Like skill books, many can be found laying among other books or in the usual places books can be found. Sometimes they’re even in places they usually shouldn’t be. Thankfully, many can be bought from merchants around the province, particularly at the College of Winterhold.
8 Quests
There are also some quests that have a guaranteed level-up in the Destruction skill. The first is one that can be picked up in Solitude by speaking to a member of the Bard’s College. By speaking with Pantea Ateia, usually found walking around the city in fine robes, one can begin a quest to retrieve her prized flute from Hob’s Fall Cave. When completed, the grateful bard will reward the Dragonborn with a level-up in all of The Mage playstyle’s skills.
The other can be found when speaking with the orcish librarian in the College of Winterhold, Urag gro-Shub. He will ask the player to fetch some writing from a radiant location that is randomly selected each time the quest is activated. When completed, Urag has an uncommon chance to increase the player’s level in one of The Mage playstyle’s skills instead of the usual reward of some scrolls. This quest is repeatable, and can potentially be an easy source for free magical level-ups if one has already cleared many of the dungeons in the game.
7 Training
Blasting draugr and zapping skeevers aren’t the only ways to level up one’s Destruction skill outside of reading books and doing quests. Players can also purchase a few level-ups by paying various skilled individuals to train them.
Wuunferth the Unliving is the court wizard for Ulfric Stormcloak in Windhelm and is an adept trainer for mid-level Destruction mages. Sybille Stentor can be found in Solitude’s Blue Palace if one needs an expert trainer. Finally, Faralda from the College of Winterhold can teach one at higher levels because she is a master in Destruction magic herself.
6 No Magicka Required
As expected from a Bethesda game, there are many quirks one can abuse to expedite certain processes. Using the coolest and deadliest spells requires a lot of magicka, often needing the help of stat-boosting equipment. However, if one has enough pieces of the correct equipment, casting spells can be free.
Putting on four different pieces of equipment that have at least a 25% or more reduction to the cost of Destruction spells will allow one to cast said spells for 100% less magicka. The numbers really should not stack this way, but they do, and no one would blame the Dragonborn for taking advantage of it.
5 Magic Runes & Master Rank Spells
The way a player earns experience for the Destruction skill is by how much damage they do to targets. More damage in a shorter period of time results in faster experience gain. This works in concert with the level of the spell cast, with higher tier ones granting more.
Magic Runes deal the most damage in short periods, making them one of the quickest ways to level Destruction. Simply keep casting them before the feet of foes for the most efficient method. Master rank spells, like Fire Storm, grant so much experience per casting that it’s possible to level up after only a single spell is launched.
4 Torture An NPC
In the Restoration skill, there is a spell known as Healing Hands, which allows one to heal a target instead of themselves. This is usually meant to support allies during a battle, however, there are different applications that can benefit Destruction mages with little concern for NPC welfare.
By alternately casting a low damage per second Destruction spell, like the basic Flames that all players start with, and Healing Hands, it is possible to hurt NPCs and gain experience for it while not committing any crimes or aggravating anyone. This works the best on essential NPCs since there is no risk of killing them by accident.
3 Perks
There are quite a lot of perks to choose from in the Destruction tree. Many should be selected with one’s playthrough goals in mind, though there are a few that should be considered by all mages seeking to destroy.
The Augmented Flames, Augmented Frost, and Augmented Shock perks towards the center-right of the tree all increase damage by a generous 50% for their respective element. Each of these can be upgraded once as well for another 50% on top of the initial buff acquired when unlocking the perk.
2 Destructive Masks
There are masks that can also increase the damage of the individual elemental branches making up the Destruction skill. They can be found in the Dragonborn DLC and come from defeating and looting new dragon priests. Each increases their elemental damage by 25%.
The reddish-brown one can be taken from Ahzidal for more Fire damage. They are found in Kolbjorn Barrow when one reaches the end of the quest “Unearthed”. Dukaan’s mask increases Ice damage and can be looted from their corpse after defeating them in White Ridge Barrow. Lastly, Zahkriisos’ mask raises one’s Lightning potency and can be removed from their possession after a magical duel in Bloodskal Barrow.
1 Forged For Battle
There is also a bug that can help one level up Destruction even more unconventionally than other methods. At least, there was in the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 versions of the game.
Gamers in the past have reported that they were gaining experience for Destruction while standing in forges. How or why these players were just standing in forges is not explained, though anything is possible in Tamriel. If one can take the heat and needs a way to gain skill experience while away from their controller or keyboard, maybe try leaving one’s character standing in an active forge and return later for the most efficient leveling method to date.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply