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Frost mage early game is actually viable if you stop trying to freeze everything

WhiterunModder

New Member
yeah so I've been doing a pure frost playthrough on my second character and I kept hitting this wall around level 12-15 where I'd cast frost spell, enemy would shrug it off, and I'd just... die. but then I realized I was treating frost like it's supposed to do the same thing as fire, when it's actually got a completely different job.

the thing nobody tells you is that frost is about slowing down the fight, not winning it. you're not trying to one-shot anything. you cast frost, the enemy moves slower, you kite backward and cast again. it's genuinely tedious compared to just fireballing everything, which is probably why people say it sucks early on.

but once you grab the perk that increases frost damage and the one that staggers enemies with frost (or at least slows their attacks), it actually clicks. suddenly you're not getting rushed by bandits because they're literally moving at half speed. the damage is lower but the survivability goes way up.

also I'm pretty sure the frost slow effect scales with your frost skill, so if you're leveling it you're automatically getting better at kiting. by the time I hit level 20 I was actually having fun with it instead of just respeccing to destruction and pretending frost doesn't exist.

anyway if you're thinking about trying it don't bail at level 10 like I almost did. it's a patience game, not a damage game.
 
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