Elder Scrolls Oblivion: Best Mage Build

Discover everything you need to know about the best Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion, including some valuable tips and tricks to optimize the build.

The Mage build in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a high-damage-dealing build using only magic. Embarking on a journey through Cyrodiil, the Imperial Province, will let you meet numerous NPCs and engage in a fight with a wide variety of enemies. As the Mage class possesses attributes of Intelligence and Willpower, it allows you to cast all sorts of spells to damage, repel, absorb, heal, and shield in the battleground. Using all the best spells from each magic school can allow you to eliminate enemies easily. The Mage can utilize both weapons and spells to dominate the battlefield. Balance your Magicka and Health, use defensive skills, and heal to keep yourself alive in battle. Use spells from all magic schools to both explore and fight in Cyrodiil.

However, it all depends on how you choose to play the Mage class, as there are a lot of systems in the background that enhance the effectiveness of a Mage. From faction and specialization to weapons and armor, everything is crucial for a Mage build. Choosing the right race for your Mage build is important to maximizing your effectiveness. Choosing the best race, attribute, and skills are crucial for the Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion as your gameplay mostly depends on it. With the right combination of skills, race, and weapon choices, you can easily become a confident Mage with no fear. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion, including the best skills, weapons, and armor to choose from.

Table of Contents

Everything About Mage Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion

The Mage Build is all about spamming the right spells on the battlefield for crowd control and damage to the enemies. Due to Intelligence being one of the prioritized attributes for the Mage, you can learn spells from each magic school. Leveling up the main skills will let you unlock the powerful spells that you can utilize accordingly to destroy the enemies. There is no doubt that Conjuration is probably the best magic school in Oblivion. You can summon allies and let them do the fighting for you. Moreover, the Destruction spells will be your bread and butter to cast different elemental spells on enemies. Furthermore, Alteration spells can help you reduce the incoming damage with Shield or even make you lighter to carry more stuff.

Now, playing a Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion highly depends on your initial decisions of choosing the effective Race and Birthsign. The Breton stands out as the best race for the Mage class due to the bonus of magic resistance and the Dragon Skin trait. Moreover, this race grants bonuses for all the major skills, making you more effective in the core play style. For the Birthsign, the Mage stands out the best as you will be able to cast more spells right from the beginning. The Mage Birthsign grants 50 Magicka points permanently.

Last but not least, choosing the best Major Skills, Minor Skills, Specialization, and armor is crucial for this build, as picking the wrong one can negatively impact your build.

Mage Build Pros	Mage Build Cons
High Damage Output	Resource Management
High Survivability	Heavy Armor Penalty on Magic
Crowd Control

Build Key Aspect

Below are all the essential aspects of the Mage Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Class: Mage
Race: Breton
Birthsign: Mage
Specialization: Magic
Attributes: Intelligence, Willpower, Endurance
Major Skills
- Alteration
- Destruction
- Conjuration
- Illusion
- Mysticism
Minor Skills
- Blade
- Athletics
- Acrobatics
- Armorer
- Mercantile
- Light Armor
Weapons: Apotheosis and Daedric Dagger
Armor: Shrouded Armor or Elven Armor
Faction: Mage Guild
Trainer: Falion

Class

Making a Mage Build will require you to select a number of things in the initial hour of the game. Before you can reach Cyrodiil, you will have to select and confirm your race, birthsign, and class. The class plays a major role in defining your character in Cyrodiil. The best Class for the Mage Build is the “Mage” class. You can choose and make a Custom Class and select the 2 attributes yourself, but the Mage class offers the attributes of Intelligence and Willpower by default. So, overall, it is the best class to pursue right from the beginning to make a strong Mage build.

Moreover, selecting the Mage class will give you access to its seven Major Skills. It includes Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism, and Restoration. All of these skills are for unlocking various types of spells from different magic schools. As a Mage, it is crucial for you to cast every type of spell during combat and during exploration to deal with the threat/situation. In the case of choosing the Armor, you must stick with the Light Armor or Robe. It is because wearing a Heavy Armor negatively impacts the overall magic in Oblivion.

However, you will have to decide in which playstyle you want to optimize the build. In addition to the major skill, you will also have to utilize the minor skills to enhance other attributes, especially Endurance, Agility, Speed, and maybe Personality. We have explained more about the Minor Skills in its respective section below.

Best Race

Choosing a potential race for your character is necessary to optimize a build. For the Mage Build, we recommend you select the “Breton” race. It is one of the best races under the Human race options in Elder Scrolls Oblivion, especially for spellcasters. This race has a touch of elven ancestry, which makes them the best mages and spellcasters. Acquiring this race will provide you bonuses for all the major skills of the Mage. Furthermore, this race provides great stats for the Intelligence, Luck, and Willpower attributes. All of these are essential for a Mage build.

The Breton comes with four special bonuses. The first one is Fortify Magicka, which lets you gain +50 points to Magicka. It also provides 50 points for Magic Resistance and a bonus to Disposition while with other Bretons. Lastly, it gives a Dragon Skin trait, which is a greater power and increases the armor rating by 50 for 60 seconds once a day. This trait specifically works as a shield, and while we will be using Light Armor with Robes, it will increase our survivability in tougher fights.

However, there are some negative effects of this race. The major negative impact is that you have lower Agility. It means you will have low Marksman, Security, and Sneak skills. Moreover, the male form of Breton also has a lower Speed attribute. The female form of Breton has a lower Strength. We recommend you go for the Male form of Breton to have a bit more strength right from the beginning.

Best Birthsign

The final major choice for effective optimization of the Mage Build is choosing a potential Birthsign. You will get to make this choice earlier in the game and before leaving the sewer to explore the world. The best Birthsign that is effective for the Mage build is the Mage. It provides a +50 points bonus to Magicka, which is crucial for spellcasting, without any significant drawbacks. However, this Birthsign doesn’t offer any other significant bonuses or drawbacks, making it a safe, general-purpose choice. This Brithsign focuses more on Agility that benefits skills like Sneak, Block, and Security.

You can also choose Atronach because it provides a 50% chance to absorb magic and 25% magic resistance. This makes it very resilient to magic attacks, especially useful for a melee-focused Mage.

Best Specialization

The base specialization of a Mage Class is Magic, which gives you major skills in all magic school techniques. Overall, the best specialization for a Mage Build is also Magic. If you have chosen the custom class, then it is best to pick the Magic specialization. Magic is the best specialization for the Mage build because it provides illusion, buffs, and versatility to your character. Mages can use Illusion magic to control enemies, making them fight each other. Restoration magic is the best buff you can gain for this specialization because it bonuses to character such as increased strength, armor, or health regeneration.

Magic allows for a wide range of playstyles, allowing you to dominate enemies with the magic. However, the magic can be expensive in terms of Magicka. Choosing the specialization heavily impacts how your skill progresses, so choose the best one according to your playstyle and build. Skills associated with your chosen specialization level up than the skills that are not in the specialization.

Best Attributes

Intelligence, Willpower, and Endurance are the best attributes for the Mage Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. The more you invest in these attributes, the more effective your build becomes. Investing in Intelligence will affect your overall Magicka and magic use. The more Magicka you have, the more repeatedly you will be able to cast the spells. Moreover, this attribute also governs the Conjuration and Mysticism skills, which are the major skills of a Mage. The Willpower affects how quickly you regenerate Magicka. As a Mage, you must regenerate Magicka quickly to cast spells repeatedly. Running out of Magicka can be bad for you, especially during tougher fights. The Willpower also increases the overall Fatigue. Moreover, it governs the Skills of Destruction, Alteration, and Restoration. All of these are the major skills of a Mage, so enhancing Willpower will enhance the use of magic for the corresponding spells.

The Endurance is crucial for the overall Fatigue and Health of your character. Having more Endurance will let you have more Fatigue and Health. Moreover, every time you level up, the Health will increase more than usual. Lastly, this attribute is also crucial for breathing underwater. You will have less chance of drowning with high Endurance.

In addition to these attributes, you can also choose to enhance Agility, Speed, Strength, Personality, and Luck. However, these attributes are not associated with the Mage. The only way to increase the additional attributes is to level up the Minor Skills of the Mage.

Major Skills

Selecting the Mage class will grant you seven Major Skills that are crucial for the Mage build. Out of those seven, the five best major skills to improve for the Mage Build are Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Mysticism, and Illusion. The Restoration is only viable until mid-game. You can choose to enhance the Alchemy or Illusion if you like. Alteration is helpful both in exploration and combat. You can utilize the Feather spell to become lightweight if your Strength is low. Moreover, you can use various Shield spells to negate the incoming damage. Conjuration offers the most overpowered spells in the game, as you can just summon allies to fight for you. There are a variety of summoning spells that you can utilize during tougher fights.

Destruction will be your main source of damaging enemies with direct magic. You can cast different elemental spells to damage a target’s health, fatigue, or magicka. Moreover, you can apply elemental weaknesses to the targets, which can help you deal additional damage with respective elemental spells. Mysticism will help you more in exploration. It contains various viable spells like Detect Life, Trap Soul, Telekineses, and more. Lastly, Restoration will help you restore your health, fatigue, and magicka, absorb them from a target, fortify them, cure diseases, and gain resistance to different elemental effects.

As you play the game, you must utilize the major skills to enhance them. The Major Skills are enhanced easily than the Minor Skills. So, make sure to do corresponding actions to the skills to enhance them.

All Major Skills for a Mage Build

Here is a brief overview of all the Major Skills for a Mage Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Alteration: Allows you to alter the physical world. Gain shield to negate incoming damage.
Conjuration: Allows you to summon various minions to assist you in combat.
Illusion: Use it for crowd control and paralyze the enemies.
Destruction: Use it to deal direct damage to the enemies with various elemental spells.
Alchemy: Boosts intelligence, allowing you to increase Magicka.
Mysticism: Allows you to open lockboxes, move objects, detect life nearby, and more.
Restoration: Use it to restore health, fatigue, and magicka and boost other attributes.

Minor Skills

Minor Skills play a small role in the overall effectiveness of the Mage Build. Unlike Major Skills, these skills are harder to level up and are usually associated with other attributes than your main attributes. However, there are still some crucial Minor Skills that you can utilize to optimize the Mage Build. The best Minor Skills that we recommend you to improve and level up are the following.

Acrobatics: Jump longer distances and avoid damage when falling great distances.
Athletics: Run and swim faster and regenerate lost fatigue faster.
Armorer: Maintain weapons and armor at top efficiency.
Blade: Increases the damage for sharp weapons such as Daggers, Shortswords, Longswords, and Claymores.
Mercantile: Get better deals when buying or selling goods.
Light Armor: Gain decent defensive stats by wearing Light Armor.

These minor skills are associated with Agility, Speed, Endurance, and Personality. Leveling up these skills will let you improve the other attributes for further bonuses.

Equipment

Equipment in Elder Scrolls Oblivion consists of weapons, armor, clothing, and various other items. Players can equip them to increase their character’s abilities and stats. Weapons are crafted from different items, and each has different stats and appearances. You can even enchant the weapons with magical effects like damage, debuff, or health regen. Use the soul gems to recharge the enchanted weapons. Armor is another equipment that protects you from incoming attacks from enemies. Each piece of armor has an armor rating, which determines how much damage it can absorb. You can equip up to 9 pieces at one time. Light Armor or Robe is the best option available for the Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Best Spells

Here are the best spells to use as a Mage in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Detect Life: Reveals all visible and invisible creatures with a soft purple glow.
Soul Trap: Trap the soul of a creature in an empty soul gem.
Summon Skeleton: Summon a Skeleton for 40 seconds to fight beside you.
Guard: Shield 30% for 30 seconds on self, reducing the incoming damage.
Flash Bolt: Deals 20 Fire Damage to a target on impact.
Lightning Bolt: Deals 35 Shock Damage to a target on impact.
Weakness to Fire: Makes a target weaker to Fire by 25% for 30 seconds.
Weakness to Shock: Makes a target weaker to Shock by 25% for 30 seconds.
Debilitate: Paralyze the enemy for 3 seconds on Touch.
Night Mother’s Caress: Restore health for 10 points for 2 seconds.

NOTE: Feel free to change the spells according to your playstyle. Moreover, enhancing the major skills will let you unlock the better version of these spells. If you have enough Magicka at your disposal, acquire the latest spells for more effectiveness.

Best Weapons

For the actual weapons, I recommend you use a staff. It will allow you to continuously cast damaging spells on targets if you run out of Magicka or your spells are on cooldown. However, you still can use melee weapons like Daggers or Shortswords. Here are the best weapons to use for the Mage Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

1 Apotheosis

Apotheosis is the best staff weapon that you can use to deal damage to enemies without using Magicka. It deals 33 Fire, Shock, and Frost Damage to enemies on impact. If you run out of Magicka or your spells are on cooldown, you can switch to staff to continue dealing elemental damage. Since it is an expensive staff to get, you can use the Lesser Staff of Frost in the early/mid-game. This staff will allow you to deal 20 Frost damage on a target on impact.

2 Daedric Dagger

Damage: 19
Health: 532
Base Value: 2700
Weight: 10

The Daedric Dagger is a one-handed weapon that has the highest base damage among any other dagger in the game. Daggers are the fastest melee weapons, allowing you to deliver their enchantments faster. Use this dagger to take down enemies in melee range or for stealth take down. You can enchant the Daedric Dagger with effects like Poison, damage, or fatigue. Daggers are lightweight but deal less damage than swords or maces. Pair it with skills like Blades to enhance the effectiveness of this weapon.

Best Armor

For the Armor, use either the Robes or the Light Armor. We do not recommend using any Heavy Armor on the Mage class. The main reason for it is that wearing Heavy Armor has a negative impact on magic in Oblivion. In order to negate the negative impact on your magic, it is best to stick with the Light Armor. Moreover, you will still have high survivability as you can increase the armor rating and gain a shield with your spells.

1 Shrouded Armor

Armor Health: 520
Base Armor: 17.5
Base Value: 0
Class: Light Armor

Shrouded Armor is one of the best Armors to use while running the Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. This armor set consists of two parts, the Shrouded Armor and the Shrouded Hood. It offers several enhancements that favor stealth-oriented characters. The Ancient Shrouded Armor is relatively easy to acquire. Shrouded armor is a single piece of equipment that covers the whole body except the head. It also has unleveled stats and enchantments, meaning the effectiveness increases as you level up in the game. This armor includes the enchantment that boosts backstab damage and poison resistance.

2 Elven Armor

Armor Health: 3520
Class: Light Armor
Base Value: 1740
Weight: 35.1

Another great armor to equip for a Mage build is an Elven Armor because it can protect your player from any incoming attacks. It grants you a good balance of protection and stealth, especially the cuirass and boots. It can be looted from Azani Blackheart through the Fighters Guild questline. Elven armor is a good option for early to mid-game characters. Elven armor has a distinctive appearance, with a metallic sheen and red cloth under the armor. There are variants of Elven armor, such as the Light Elven Armor and Gilded Elven Armor.

Leveling Strategy for the Mage Build

Focus on using magic skills to level a Mage effectively in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Use skills like Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Mysticism, and Restoration to gain +5 bonuses at each level. Use Alteration spells to buff yourself and explore the environment. You need to heal yourself and others with Restoration spells to keep your skills active. Invest in attributes that will enhance your major skills.

Leveling up is based on Skill Increases and the Attributes you assign. Every time you level up, you will get to increase three attributes. Focus on attributes that align with your playstyle. Your Birthsign gives a significant bonus to your stats. You must sleep in a bed to level up. Leveling in Oblivion can take time, so try to balance your activities between exploring, combat, and practicing skills.

Factions

Mage Guild is the best choice for the Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion because it focuses on magic and skills that complement a Mage’s abilities. Mage excels with skills like Destruction for potential damage, Alteration for buffs, and Restoration for healing. This makes the Mages Guild a good fit for their playstyle, allowing you to dominate enemies.

Trainers

Falion is the best trainer for the Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. He is a redguard mage in Morthal who studies vampires and can cure vampirism. Falion is available in Morthal, a town near the north end of the map, southwest of Ustengrav. He can perform a ritual to cure vampirism, but it requires a filled black soul gem. Trainers allow you to spend gold to increase your skill levels, which can help you level up skills. Different types of trainers allow you to reach different skill level caps. These trainers can train a specific skill for a set number of times per character level.

How to Play the Mage Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion

Level up the skills like Mysticism, Destruction, and Restoration, while also investing in skills like Alteration and Conjuration. The best combat strategy for running this Mage build is using the magic for both combat and exploration. It will allow you to level up in your major skills quite easily. If you run out of Magicka, you can switch to the Staff weapon to start casting damage spells on targets. Alternatively, you can switch to melee in close-range combat and use defensive buffs. Magicka is crucial for casting spells, so use your magic wisely. Cast any buffs that might be helpful before engaging any enemy.

Since you’ll be on the frontlines, wear a decent Light Armor and enhance it with spells to protect your character. Focus on attributes like Willpower, Intelligence, and Endurance to enhance your combat effectiveness while running this build. Use the high ground to use spells for maximum damage output. It’s best to craft the potions that buff your character and debuff the enemies. Equip Daedric Dagger to deal massive damage in close-range combat. Use a dagger to deal melee damage or stealth take down in combat. Keep your distance and use spells to eliminate enemies if you’re fighting them in ranged combat.

Best Gameplay Tips and Tricks for Mage Build

Here are the best gameplay tips and tricks for Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Use magic to weaken the enemies from a distance, then switch to melee when required.
You need to use stamina wisely, or else you can become vulnerable in most combat situations.
Use your weapons wisely, as equipping a lower damage-dealing weapon gives room for the enemies to attack you.
Use Speechcraft and your charisma to avoid unnecessary conflict.
Use Alteration spells to increase the armor rating for enhanced defense.
Choose the faction, race, and specialization that complements your playstyle and synergizes with the build.
Use potions to heal your character from time to time in combat, so carry them in your inventory.
Joining the Mages Guild is a great choice as a Mage in ESO, as it provides access to magical resources, training, and spells.
Focus on leveling your Destruction, Alteration, Restoration, Conjuration, and Mysticism for casting higher level magic spells.

FAQs about Mage build in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion

What is a Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion?

The Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion is a high damage-dealing build using only magic. However, they have the ability to equip melee weapons to take out enemies effectively in close-range combat.

Which is the best weapon for a Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion?

Apotheosis is the best weapon for a Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. It is the best staff weapon in the game, allowing you to deal Fire, Frost, and Shock damage to enemies without consuming Magicka. In addition to the staff weapons, use the Daedric Dagger to tackle physical combat along with magic spells.

Which is the best race for a Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion?

Breton is the best race for Mage build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion due to its 50% magic resistance and the Dragon Skin trait.

Looking For More About Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remake?

Thank you for reading the Elder Scrolls Oblivion: Best Mage Build Guide. We provide the latest news and create guides for Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, ARK Survival Ascended, and more. Also, watch Deltia play games on Twitch or visit his YouTube channel!