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About this mod
Enhanced Vanilla Magic aims to tweak the magic system of Skyrim in order to allow magic-based characters to scale alongside other builds at high level while preserving the style and structure of the vanilla game.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
-
Translations
- Polish
- German
- Changelogs
- Enhanced Vanilla Magic -
== If you enjoy this mod please don't forget to endorse it! ==
UPDATE LOG
============
- 1.4 (May 2, 2019) Halved damage and duration bonuses. Slightly decreased skill use multipliers for all schools to balance need for more frequent casts. Added "Ignore spell reflect/absorbtion" tag to all summon spells.
- 1.3 (Dec. 17, 2016) Increased skill use multipliers for Destruction, Restoration, and (slightly) Alteration to balance the speed at which magic skills level up. Fixed bug that caused all atronachs summoned to be "Potent", whether or not the player possessed the Elemental Potency perk.
- 1.2 (Nov. 27, 2016) Applied changes to match fixes made by the Unofficial Patch. EVM does *not* have any dependencies on USLEEP or any other mod.
- 1.1 (Nov. 26, 2016) Removed ITM records
- 1.0 (Nov. 25, 2016) Original release
DESCRIPTION
============
Enhanced Vanilla Magic aims to tweak the magic system of Skyrim in order to allow magic-based characters to scale alongside other builds at high level. To accomplish this, EVM does four things:
1. Adds 10% to the Magnitude and Duration of all spells of a given school for each tier of mastery perk the player unlocks.
2. Increases the base duration of most summons and buffs to three minutes.
3. Reduces the cost and increases the effectiveness of dual casting.
4. Increases the speed at which Destruction and Restoration level (to counter the increased effectiveness of these spells).
FAQ
============
Q) Why make yet another magic balancing mod? Aren't there already several mods that do basically the same thing?
A) There are several mods available which rebalance vanilla magic in a similar manner, but none that quite suited me. Most take the approach of scaling magic duration and magnitude with the player's skill level. The problem I found with that approach is that the easiest way to implement such a multiplier is to tie it to the Novice spell perks, which leaves the player with very little incentive to take the higher level perks. ilovecarpet's Full Magic Scaling takes the approach of capping the scaling effect for each rank, which is effective but (in my view) needlessly complex. It also has some issues with compounded bonuses which lead to a massively overpowered multiplier at high levels.
I decided to look to other perk trees for a solution. The One-handed, Two-handed, Archery, and Sneak perk trees all have a five-rank base perk which offers a 20% bonus per rank. This lines up perfectly with the Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, and Master level perks for each magic school. With EVM, magic perks now offer a similar (albeit smaller) bonus as other perk trees, which allows players to scale the effectiveness of their chosen skill up to double the original strength. This method also gives players ample reason to invest in the higher ranks of magic perks.
Q) Why change dual casting?
A) By default, dual casting costs 2.8x as much mana and produces 2.2x the effect. That means that dual casting was only useful out of combat (when mana doesn't matter) or when using the Impact perk. It's a quality of life change that makes dual casting more accessible.
Q) But you didn't change Impact! Isn't that a bigger balance problem than any of these issues?
A) Impact is pretty powerful. In the base game, there is a strong argument to be made that Impact has to be so powerful just to keep mages viable. With these changes, that's probably not the case.
The problem is that reducing the effectiveness of Impact while keeping it relevant is tough. If I were to change Impact so it only has a chance of staggering enemies, it becomes wholly unreliable and therefore much less appealing. As a baseline, I'd prefer to leave it alone than to make the perk not worth taking. I'll do some playtesting and see if I can find a solution that preserves the spirit of the original design while toning down it's effect somewhat.
INSTALLATION
============
Simply drop the "Enhanched Vanilla Magic" .esp file into your data folder. To uninstall, remove that file. Or (even better) use the Nexus Mod Manager!
CONTACT
============
If you have any questions about or suggestions for Enhanched Vanilla Magic, feel free to email the author at [email protected].
LICENSING
============
Feel free to reuse or repackage this mod for your own work. I only ask that credit me if you do so.
If for some reason you can't find this mod on your platform of choice, you have my permission to repost it anywhere you please. I only ask that you credit me as the author.
== If you enjoy this mod please don't forget to endorse it! ==
UPDATE LOG
============
- 1.4 (May 2, 2019) Halved damage and duration bonuses. Slightly decreased skill use multipliers for all schools to balance need for more frequent casts. Added "Ignore spell reflect/absorbtion" tag to all summon spells.
- 1.3 (Dec. 17, 2016) Increased skill use multipliers for Destruction, Restoration, and (slightly) Alteration to balance the speed at which magic skills level up. Fixed bug that caused all atronachs summoned to be "Potent", whether or not the player possessed the Elemental Potency perk.
- 1.2 (Nov. 27, 2016) Applied changes to match fixes made by the Unofficial Patch. EVM does *not* have any dependencies on USLEEP or any other mod.
- 1.1 (Nov. 26, 2016) Removed ITM records
- 1.0 (Nov. 25, 2016) Original release
DESCRIPTION
============
Enhanced Vanilla Magic aims to tweak the magic system of Skyrim in order to allow magic-based characters to scale alongside other builds at high level. To accomplish this, EVM does four things:
1. Adds 10% to the Magnitude and Duration of all spells of a given school for each tier of mastery perk the player unlocks.
2. Increases the base duration of most summons and buffs to three minutes.
3. Reduces the cost and increases the effectiveness of dual casting.
4. Increases the speed at which Destruction and Restoration level (to counter the increased effectiveness of these spells).
FAQ
============
Q) Why make yet another magic balancing mod? Aren't there already several mods that do basically the same thing?
A) There are several mods available which rebalance vanilla magic in a similar manner, but none that quite suited me. Most take the approach of scaling magic duration and magnitude with the player's skill level. The problem I found with that approach is that the easiest way to implement such a multiplier is to tie it to the Novice spell perks, which leaves the player with very little incentive to take the higher level perks. ilovecarpet's Full Magic Scaling takes the approach of capping the scaling effect for each rank, which is effective but (in my view) needlessly complex. It also has some issues with compounded bonuses which lead to a massively overpowered multiplier at high levels.
I decided to look to other perk trees for a solution. The One-handed, Two-handed, Archery, and Sneak perk trees all have a five-rank base perk which offers a 20% bonus per rank. This lines up perfectly with the Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, and Master level perks for each magic school. With EVM, magic perks now offer a similar (albeit smaller) bonus as other perk trees, which allows players to scale the effectiveness of their chosen skill up to double the original strength. This method also gives players ample reason to invest in the higher ranks of magic perks.
Q) Why change dual casting?
A) By default, dual casting costs 2.8x as much mana and produces 2.2x the effect. That means that dual casting was only useful out of combat (when mana doesn't matter) or when using the Impact perk. It's a quality of life change that makes dual casting more accessible.
Q) But you didn't change Impact! Isn't that a bigger balance problem than any of these issues?
A) Impact is pretty powerful. In the base game, there is a strong argument to be made that Impact has to be so powerful just to keep mages viable. With these changes, that's probably not the case.
The problem is that reducing the effectiveness of Impact while keeping it relevant is tough. If I were to change Impact so it only has a chance of staggering enemies, it becomes wholly unreliable and therefore much less appealing. As a baseline, I'd prefer to leave it alone than to make the perk not worth taking. I'll do some playtesting and see if I can find a solution that preserves the spirit of the original design while toning down it's effect somewhat.
INSTALLATION
============
Simply drop the "Enhanched Vanilla Magic" .esp file into your data folder. To uninstall, remove that file. Or (even better) use the Nexus Mod Manager!
CONTACT
============
If you have any questions about or suggestions for Enhanched Vanilla Magic, feel free to email the author at [email protected].
LICENSING
============
Feel free to reuse or repackage this mod for your own work. I only ask that credit me if you do so.
If for some reason you can't find this mod on your platform of choice, you have my permission to repost it anywhere you please. I only ask that you credit me as the author.