Most useful destruction energy type and managing perks

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I'm playing a pure mage build (might try to do the thief/assassin quests when done with the mage quests).

Right now, I use perks sparingly. There are perks specific for fire, electricity, cold based destruction spells.

I'm wondering if one energy type fits all in this game. Should I just focus on electricity? Or do certain energy types work better against certain opponents? I think I read that dragons are vulnerable to cold, but ice-trolls are vulnerable to fire, so my suspicion is that I'm going to need to invest in all of them.

At the same time, is it wise to be careful with one's perks? I summon a lot of flame antorachs, but plan on upgrading the monster I summon to the next level (whatever comes after apprentice). So should i skip the perk that lessens the cost of apprentice level summons and just get the next one? Is that even possible? I haven't tried to skip a perk in a chain in the various asterisms…

Best Answer

My mage knowledge is mostly second hand but I can give out these pointers so far:

  • You can not get a higher tier perk with out getting the lower ones. For example you can do nothing in the destruction tree with out starting with the Novice perk. This applies for all of them as well.
  • There is no end all be all elemental skill. A lot of people find Electrical the most useful simply cause it instantly strikes what is under your target, you do not have to lead your target. But Ice works against fire based dragons (and I've found it very useful against giants), fire works against both kinds of trolls, all of the undead, and electrical works good against mages. If you are trying to be an offensive mage you will really want to go with all of the elements in the long run so you are never stuck with just one choice.
  • Impact is pretty much a Must Have. When my brother got this he went from having to do some fancy kiting of enemies to being able to constantly stumble them. This is -not- the win button, but it definitely puts you on a bit more even footing than you are with out it.
  • When considering Conjuration keep in mind that the max level summons, known as thralls, are permanent until they die. You will need to have enough mana on hand to cast them, but it may not be worth while to put perks in here aside from those that allow you access to have 2 summons at once.

I hope this high level overview has been helpful and addressed your questions. Any more concerns ask in the comments and I will try and add in more information as I currently understand it.

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