Best sign and skills for a mage on oblivion?

Question

Hi i never made a mage on oblivion before and i want to. Im going to have a brenton but i dont know what the best skills are and what sign i should have. Please give me a full list of skills i need to have a really good mage.

Answer 1

Well, to be a mage, obviously, The Mage is the best birthsign. It gives you a good Magicka boost without side effects. As for skills, Destruction and Restoration are key to be major skills, as is Conjuration and I would suggest, Illusion. You want to have Alchemy and Alteration as minor skills, (or at least a few schools of magic in reserve) since increasing minor skills lets you increase you Intelligence and Willpower more. Intelligence and Willpower are your key attributes, since Intelligence affects you Magicka, and Willpower influences how fast your magicka recharges.



You should also consider Blade and either Light or Heavy armor as major skills, since you'll need a weapon for backup and people are going to get close in enough to do some damage, so you shouldn't neglect you melee skills. You also want to take care that you don't level up too quickly, since the environment levels to you, and leveling up too quickly can leave you vulnerable in the long run.

Answer 2

Sign

#1. Mage - Extra 50 Magicka. This is a pretty good one to pick.

#2. Apprentice - Extra 100 Magicka + Weakness to Magicka 100%. This is an aggressive choice. More magicka but with a big downside. If you go with this one, try not to get hit.

#3. Atronach - Extra 150 Magicka + Spell Absorption 50 points + Stunted Magicka (no regen). Use this one with caution. You have a huge Magicka reserve and the large benefit of the 50% chance to absorb spells, but that means you will need to spend a lot of time making Restore Magicka Potions since it won't refill on it's own.



The class you choose is very unimportant, as almost all characters will become a jack-of-all-trades by level 20. I would pick one based purely on your personal roleplay tastes. I usually create my own custom classes and choose the skills that I know I will be using (and then I prohibit myself from using anything else).



However, here are some tips:

#1. Never take all three skills governed by the same attribute (i.e. Mysticism, Conjuration, and Alchemy are all Intelligence) as your majors. This will allow you a degree of control on the attribute modifiers when you level up.

#2. Pick ones that you want to use on a regular basis.

#3. Avoid useless skills unless you are roleplaying. Don't take Speechcraft, Mercantile, or More than one direct combat or armor skill.





EDIT: Also, after reading justin's suggestion below I thought that I would add this;



If you fortify a magic skill, it will decrease the cast cost. It will not, however, allow you to cast a spell outside of your current base level (journeyman, apprentice, etc.). It will also slow your levelling in that skill. Also, please note that there is no benefit to fortifying a magic skill past level 100.

Answer 3

Oblivion Skill List

Answer 4

the skills the others have suggested are all good so i'll only comment on sign. i would go with apprentice since you say you need to have a really good mage. this is because the apprentice sign gives you a higher end game potential than if you would choose mage. also since you're breton and get the 50% magicka resistance all you would need is the mundane ring which you acquire early in the main quest to completely negate the horrible 100% magicka weakness of the apprentice.

Answer 5

get the apprentice sign and make the type of magic you use least a main skill and all the others even alchemy minor so you can get max intelligence and willpower without leveling too quickly

then put some combat skills in main to beef yourself up if you run out of magicka

after that get a penta magic loop (ring) and equip it it fortifies most of the magic schools 5 points

then learn as many spells and get master alchemy equipment

if you want train up your sneak and security to have an easier time