Low Level No-Crafting Mage (Legendary/Survival)
This is a Low level No-Crafting No-Followers Mage build for Legendary Survival.
At just level 14, you are strong enough to take on the entire game, including Kartstaag; and, if you use cheats to increase your level, the Ebony Warrior.
Recommended for those who want to trivialize the game early on, without relying on the three Crafting Skills.
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More: Boss Killer builds, Close Range builds, Glass Cannon builds, Long Range builds, Mage builds
Take Aspect of Terror AFTER Augmented Flames 2/2.
Fast travelling to the other side of the map while casting Unbound Storms is the fastest way to level up Destruction.
However, that's not an option for Survival Mode.
If your roleplay rules allow it, find a Destruction Trainer early on (Wunfred in Windhelm and/or Faralda in Winterhold), train for one level and then pickpocket the money you just paid them.
While relying on save scumming, this method allows you to quickly get to Destruction Level 60, provided you have enough money (around 2000 Gold) and you also spend some points in Pickpocket, to increase your chances of successfully getting your gold back.
Spell Absorption gives you a proportional chance of your Conjuration summons (Familiar/Atronachs) to "fail" and recharge your Magika instead.
With the Atronach Stone, you have a 50% chance of any cast of Flame Atronach to fail and give you back the original cost of the spell. This means that by stacking Conjuration cost modifiers, you can get back more Magika than you spent casting the spell, essentially turning Atronachs into a 50% chance to replenish your Magika.
While the Impact Perk is borderline broken, there are solid arguments against taking the Dual Casting Perk.
The most obious is that, without Impact, Dual Casting Destruction Spells is inefficient. You are paying 1.4 times the Magika for a mere 1.1 times increase in damage. Moreover, the Elemental series spells (Bolt, Flare, etc...) actually deal MORE damage if you cast with both hands WITHOUT having the Dual Casting perk.
For these reasons I would hold off taking Dual Casting and Impact until you have obtained Ignite (which you can cast by equipping Azhidal's Ring of Arcana, which you can get in Kolbjorn Barrow in Solstheim during the Unearthed quest).
Once you get access to Ignite, the higher damage provided by Dual Casting, coupled with the stagger effect of the Impact perk and the low Magika cost of Ignite iteself make it more efficient to slay high HP foes, that if you hadn't taken Dual Casting + Impact.
Main Spell: Elemental Bolt.
Other: Ignite for high HP targets. (In this case, replace the RIng of the Erudite with Azhidal's Ring of Arcana).
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Breton: the ability to selectively turn on a 50% Spell Absorption effect for 60 seconds trivializes any fight with magic users (such as most Dragon Priests) if coupled with the Atronach Stone (as you get 100% Spell Absorption for those 60 seconds during which you Dragonskin ability is active).
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High Elf: +50 Magika helps a lot in the early game, even though it becomes less relevant later on. Your racial ability and your resistance to Fatigue are also nice to have.
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Nord: Resistance to cold makes exploring Skyrim way less annoying. Your racial ability can come in handy if you get cornered.
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Orc: in a vacuum, the best race in the game. Having resistance to both Cold AND Fatigue, as well as the ability to halve any incoming physical damage for 30 seconds can come in handy. Recommended if you are the type of person that gets bored with magic and will eventually switch to a physical build.
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Dunmer: resistance to Fatigue and level 25 Destruction right from the get go are nice to have. Your 50% resistance to Fire Damage increases your survivability as a Vampire.
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Bosmer: only here for the resistance to Fatigue.
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Khajit. only here for the resistance to Cold.
Gauntlets: CORRUPTED Ebony Spell Knight Boots.
Obtained by completing the "Cript Of the Heart" quest WITHOUT purifying the heart.
Boots: up to you.
In that case you will miss out on the Ring of the Erudite.
Good replacements are the Ring of the Mentor, obtained as a random rare drop while fishing, or any ring enchanted with Fortify Destruction.
Those under the sign of The Atronach absorb a portion of incoming spell damage and have a larger pool of Magicka, but recover it more slowly.
Condition
Loadout
Increases Magicka by 50 points, Destruction and Restoration spells cost 20% less to cast.
Sneaking is 28% better.
All spells cost 15% less to cast, and Magicka regenerates 100% faster.
Increases Shock Resistance by 70%.
Carrying capacity increased by 75 points.; Increases your Magicka by 20 points.
While wearing this ring, you will receive 100 extra Magicka as well as regenerate Magicka faster.
Increases your Magicka by 50 points, Conjuration spells cost 25% less to cast, Health and Stamina regenerates 75% slower.
Powers
Your Argonian blood gives you 50% resistance to disease.
Your Argonian lungs can breathe underwater.
Invoke the power of the Hist to recover Health ten times faster for 60 seconds.
Increases Magicka by 50 points, absorb 50% of the Magicka from hostile spells, and Magicka regenerates 50% slower.
Increases Magic Resistance by 15%.
All spells cost 10% less Magicka. Enchantments are 10% more powerful.
Spells cost no Magicka for 30 seconds.
Shouts
Shout at time, and command it to obey, as the world around you stands still.
The Thu'um reaches out to the Void, changing your form to one that cannot harm, or be harmed.
Consumables
Potions, food and drink you find or buy. Their buffs are counted into your stats.
For potions you plan to brew yourself, just pick the effects you want. Their strength follows this build's Alchemy skill, perks and gear. For the actual ingredients and bottles, use the Alchemy calculator below.