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About this mod
SBMS adds a few spells and makes a host of tweaks to balance the magic system in Skyrim. **UPDATED 1/15/12**
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SBMS (Skyrim Balanced Magic System)
By Akfek Branford
Version 1.01
**Updated 1/15/12** See Changelog section for details.
About
--------------
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but in Skyrim once you have hit a high
enough level, the sword becomes mightier than an exploding fireball to the face. This mod
seeks to fix this little oversight.
SBMS adds a few spells and makes a host of tweaks to balance the magic system in Skyrim.
Most of these spells are destruction spells. The goal was to keep tactical options in
destruction viable, so destruction mages don't just end up spamming incinerate. The mod
changes some things that don't make sense; Like why a powerful enchanter can't craft a
robe any better than what Belethor would sell to an adventurer fresh off the prison cart,
or how powerful healers can't even cure the common cold. It also empowers some artifacts
to reflect some of the changes.
I have listed what changes I made below, but if you want to know more about how I
balanced the magic system, keep reading. Otherwise just skip the rest of this section and
move on to the changes section below.
After spending a ton of time examining the damage formulas and how bow damage and spell
damage relate (I used bow damage, because destruction is primarily a ranged attack, and
should be compared to other ranged attacks) the damage output from destruction is
generally higher than the damage output from archery+ enchanting+ smithing at the same
level, meaning a character with level 50 destruction spells can do considerably more
damage than a character with 50 archery, smithing and Enchanting. But once a character
gets incinerate and has taken both fire damage bonus perks, that ends. A character with
incinerate, 2/2 augmented flames and dual cast has roughly the same DPS as an archer
with a legendary smithed Daedric Bow, +160% in damage gear and Daedric arrows. Of course,
that does not take into account Enchanted bows, or sneak attack bonuses, poisons,
elemental fury, or any of the other ways damage can be increased.
So magic stops scaling at the expert level, and archery keeps scaling until all relevant
stats are at 100. Magic also burns through the resource you need to use it too fast.
Fight a moderately powerful foe with magic and you might run out before you kill him. If
he brings friends, you will find yourself chugging potions for dear life. Do the same
with steel and though you might need a quick rest afterwards, you can generally save
your potions for bosses. This mod changes all of this. Destruction spell costs are
reduced. You still might need a potion on bosses (at least until you reach 100
enchanting) but there will be far fewer instances of chugging for dear life in the middle
of a battle. I have also increased the amount of magicka regen rate available to players
through enchanting and artifacts. This will make a build without 100% reduction viable
again if a player so wishes.
Finally, I have greatly increased the potency of the existing master level destruction
spells. In Vanilla, they suck. They are only rarely worth using. These new spells pack
the earth shaking punch they are supposed to (Message me on the nexus or post on their
forums if you think the spells are too strong.)
Changes
--------------------
Decrease the base cost of all destruction spells by 50%
Greatly increase the potency of the existing Master level destruction spells.
Decreases the cost of dual casting from x2.8 to x2.3
Increase the duration of several utility spells.
Increase the Duration of Dragonhide.
Raise the level cap for Dead Thralls
Increase the potency of the flesh spells.
Increase the armor provided by ward spells.
Increase the power of Guardian Circle
Reduce the mastery needed to cast cloak spells
The wall spells now actually do 50 points of damage.
Increase the potency of Elemental Resistance, Magicka Regen, and Fortify Magic school
enchantments.
Increased the power of Morokei, Nahkrin, Otar, Vokyr and the Arch Mages Robe to fall more
in line with the new enchantments.
Morokei now has the shout recharge reduction it was supposed to have in the first place.
Added 15 new spells (mostly destruction) and placed them in the merchants leveled lists.
New Spells
--------------------
Note: New spells are in the vendor lists. Just visit a spell salesman when they would
normally sell a spell of the level you are looking for, and the spell should be there.
Or, if that is too much work, there is a complete set in the testing hall spell tome
cabinet (qasmoke).
Night Eye (Alteration Adept) - Gives the player a night eye effect for 2 minutes
Bane (Alteration Apprentice)- Inflict weak weakness to magic on a foe
Scourge (Alteration Expert) - Inflict strong weakness to magic on a foe
Flame Barrier (Destruction Expert) - Cloak effect. 30dmg/s
Frost Barrier (Destruction Expert) - Cloak effect. 30dmg/s
Lightning Barrier (Destruction Expert) - Cloak effect. 30dmg/s
Fire Blast (Destruction Master) - 90 points of fire damage. Explodes.
Thunderstorm (Destruction Master) - 90 Points of shock damage. Hops from Target to Target
Deep Freeze (Destruction Master) - 90 Points of frost damage. Moves like Ice Storm.
Flame Mine (Destruction Expert) - 120 point mine.
Frost Mine (Destruction Expert) - 120 point mine.
Thunder Mine (Destruction Expert) - 120 point mine.
Blink (Illusion Apprentice) - Invisible for 15s
Vanish (Illusion Master) - Invisible for 120s
Cure Disease (Restoration Adept) - Cure Diseases.
Screen (Alteration Apprentice) - Increase Magic Resistance by 20 for 60 Seconds.
Force Field (Alteration Expert) - Increase Magic Resistance by 35 for 60 Seconds.
Known Bugs:
----------------
The mastery school displayed on screen is lower on some of the new spells than it should
be. However, the new spells still use the perk they are supposed to when calculating
magicka cost.
Some users are reporting that their game crashes when they learn a mine spell, and then access their magic menu.
Unknown bugs:
---------------------
Let me know, yo.
Installation
----------------
It's a standard esp with no additional files. Just drop it in your data folder and enjoy.
Uninstallation
-------------------
It's a standard esp with no additional files. Just find it in your data folder, highlight
it, and delete it.
Notes
------------
This should be a complete mod, but if you find a mistake, just message me and I will fix
it. Hope you enjoy!
I have included a new spells only esp as well as an esp that keeps the new spells and all the changes I made directly to spells, but does not keep the rest of the changes. Choose only 1 ESP.
Changelog
---------------
Reduced the base damage of the new master destruction spells from 90 to 85
Decreased the base damage of Firestorm and Lightningstorm, increased the power of Blizzard.
Fixed some casting time issues on a few spells.
Assigned Torchlight the proper mastery and increased its duration.
Adjusted the power of the various turn undead spells (generally made them not a waste of gold)
Restored Fire Storm's casting animation.
Fixed an Issue where Bane did not work
Fixed an Issue where Bane and Scourge did not have a visible projectile.
Added 2 new spells: Screen and Force Field
By Akfek Branford
Version 1.01
**Updated 1/15/12** See Changelog section for details.
About
--------------
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but in Skyrim once you have hit a high
enough level, the sword becomes mightier than an exploding fireball to the face. This mod
seeks to fix this little oversight.
SBMS adds a few spells and makes a host of tweaks to balance the magic system in Skyrim.
Most of these spells are destruction spells. The goal was to keep tactical options in
destruction viable, so destruction mages don't just end up spamming incinerate. The mod
changes some things that don't make sense; Like why a powerful enchanter can't craft a
robe any better than what Belethor would sell to an adventurer fresh off the prison cart,
or how powerful healers can't even cure the common cold. It also empowers some artifacts
to reflect some of the changes.
I have listed what changes I made below, but if you want to know more about how I
balanced the magic system, keep reading. Otherwise just skip the rest of this section and
move on to the changes section below.
After spending a ton of time examining the damage formulas and how bow damage and spell
damage relate (I used bow damage, because destruction is primarily a ranged attack, and
should be compared to other ranged attacks) the damage output from destruction is
generally higher than the damage output from archery+ enchanting+ smithing at the same
level, meaning a character with level 50 destruction spells can do considerably more
damage than a character with 50 archery, smithing and Enchanting. But once a character
gets incinerate and has taken both fire damage bonus perks, that ends. A character with
incinerate, 2/2 augmented flames and dual cast has roughly the same DPS as an archer
with a legendary smithed Daedric Bow, +160% in damage gear and Daedric arrows. Of course,
that does not take into account Enchanted bows, or sneak attack bonuses, poisons,
elemental fury, or any of the other ways damage can be increased.
So magic stops scaling at the expert level, and archery keeps scaling until all relevant
stats are at 100. Magic also burns through the resource you need to use it too fast.
Fight a moderately powerful foe with magic and you might run out before you kill him. If
he brings friends, you will find yourself chugging potions for dear life. Do the same
with steel and though you might need a quick rest afterwards, you can generally save
your potions for bosses. This mod changes all of this. Destruction spell costs are
reduced. You still might need a potion on bosses (at least until you reach 100
enchanting) but there will be far fewer instances of chugging for dear life in the middle
of a battle. I have also increased the amount of magicka regen rate available to players
through enchanting and artifacts. This will make a build without 100% reduction viable
again if a player so wishes.
Finally, I have greatly increased the potency of the existing master level destruction
spells. In Vanilla, they suck. They are only rarely worth using. These new spells pack
the earth shaking punch they are supposed to (Message me on the nexus or post on their
forums if you think the spells are too strong.)
Changes
--------------------
Decrease the base cost of all destruction spells by 50%
Greatly increase the potency of the existing Master level destruction spells.
Decreases the cost of dual casting from x2.8 to x2.3
Increase the duration of several utility spells.
Increase the Duration of Dragonhide.
Raise the level cap for Dead Thralls
Increase the potency of the flesh spells.
Increase the armor provided by ward spells.
Increase the power of Guardian Circle
Reduce the mastery needed to cast cloak spells
The wall spells now actually do 50 points of damage.
Increase the potency of Elemental Resistance, Magicka Regen, and Fortify Magic school
enchantments.
Increased the power of Morokei, Nahkrin, Otar, Vokyr and the Arch Mages Robe to fall more
in line with the new enchantments.
Morokei now has the shout recharge reduction it was supposed to have in the first place.
Added 15 new spells (mostly destruction) and placed them in the merchants leveled lists.
New Spells
--------------------
Note: New spells are in the vendor lists. Just visit a spell salesman when they would
normally sell a spell of the level you are looking for, and the spell should be there.
Or, if that is too much work, there is a complete set in the testing hall spell tome
cabinet (qasmoke).
Night Eye (Alteration Adept) - Gives the player a night eye effect for 2 minutes
Bane (Alteration Apprentice)- Inflict weak weakness to magic on a foe
Scourge (Alteration Expert) - Inflict strong weakness to magic on a foe
Flame Barrier (Destruction Expert) - Cloak effect. 30dmg/s
Frost Barrier (Destruction Expert) - Cloak effect. 30dmg/s
Lightning Barrier (Destruction Expert) - Cloak effect. 30dmg/s
Fire Blast (Destruction Master) - 90 points of fire damage. Explodes.
Thunderstorm (Destruction Master) - 90 Points of shock damage. Hops from Target to Target
Deep Freeze (Destruction Master) - 90 Points of frost damage. Moves like Ice Storm.
Flame Mine (Destruction Expert) - 120 point mine.
Frost Mine (Destruction Expert) - 120 point mine.
Thunder Mine (Destruction Expert) - 120 point mine.
Blink (Illusion Apprentice) - Invisible for 15s
Vanish (Illusion Master) - Invisible for 120s
Cure Disease (Restoration Adept) - Cure Diseases.
Screen (Alteration Apprentice) - Increase Magic Resistance by 20 for 60 Seconds.
Force Field (Alteration Expert) - Increase Magic Resistance by 35 for 60 Seconds.
Known Bugs:
----------------
The mastery school displayed on screen is lower on some of the new spells than it should
be. However, the new spells still use the perk they are supposed to when calculating
magicka cost.
Some users are reporting that their game crashes when they learn a mine spell, and then access their magic menu.
Unknown bugs:
---------------------
Let me know, yo.
Installation
----------------
It's a standard esp with no additional files. Just drop it in your data folder and enjoy.
Uninstallation
-------------------
It's a standard esp with no additional files. Just find it in your data folder, highlight
it, and delete it.
Notes
------------
This should be a complete mod, but if you find a mistake, just message me and I will fix
it. Hope you enjoy!
I have included a new spells only esp as well as an esp that keeps the new spells and all the changes I made directly to spells, but does not keep the rest of the changes. Choose only 1 ESP.
Changelog
---------------
Reduced the base damage of the new master destruction spells from 90 to 85
Decreased the base damage of Firestorm and Lightningstorm, increased the power of Blizzard.
Fixed some casting time issues on a few spells.
Assigned Torchlight the proper mastery and increased its duration.
Adjusted the power of the various turn undead spells (generally made them not a waste of gold)
Restored Fire Storm's casting animation.
Fixed an Issue where Bane did not work
Fixed an Issue where Bane and Scourge did not have a visible projectile.
Added 2 new spells: Screen and Force Field