I'm starting out as a Mage character but I'm not sure which group to join. I've heard that the mage guild and the telvanni are at opposition so I don't want to join one and decide later that i should have joined the other. Of course, joining the telvanni won't be easy since they're on the other side of the world but i'm willing to wait. any advice?
i have already finished the game more than once but i have never played a mage character nor joined the telvanni faction. so if you have some comments or advice to make things easier i'd really appreciate it. i've heard that its slightly more difficult playing a pure mage character which is what i'm aiming for.

thank you in advance.

Nope, your advice is incorrect, there is no conflict - indeed, joining the Telvanni household is a natural progression from your career in the mages guild.

As for general advice, my comments in this thread would be a good start:

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...;f=20;t=001951

Enjoy! I love playing a mage. So much less boring than a fighter at higher levels because there are so many different ways to fillet your opponents :D Any other questions, feel free to ask..

[ 10-17-2004, 08:44 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]

Bar the 3 great houses where you can only join one only. You can join all the other guilds in the game.

[ 10-18-2004, 02:54 AM: Message edited by: Kakero ]

You can join both guilds immediately. There is no conflict among them except the last quest given by Trebonius, the Archmage in Vivec. As a Telvanni, you won't like the quest at all. But you can bypass the quest and become Archmage of the Mages Guild still.

If you join both guilds, do the Ald'Ruhn quests given by Edwinna as the latest one. Edwinna can promote you to Archmage, too. That's the way of bypassing the Trebonius' quest (kill all Telvanni masters).

You do not need to do that quest. That is an optional quest just like the " investigate the disappeareance of the dwarwes " quest which is also obtainable from trebonius. you do not need to do it to obtain Archmage post.

i stand corrected then. a long time ago when i took a stab at playing a mage i could have sworn that the telvannis liked me less after i had joined the mage guild. oh well.

another Q: what are the two components required to create a spell that boosts speed? if they exist at all. (note: please don't mention Tribunal as I know that I can find the components there but I don't wish to venture there til i've completed the original story)

1. Yes, your reputation will go down in both guilds, even now. That's because Telvanni and Mages Guild don't like each other. But it does not matter too much. Doing quests will restore your reputation faster than you will lose it by doing quests in the other guild.
I have played both guilds several times. In all cases I was able to become an Archmage of the Mages Guild and the Archmagister of Telvanni.

It's the same as with other guilds. There is a small group of guilds, which members do not object against being a member of another member of the group. All other guilds like only themselves and they will object against your becoming a member of any other guild.
For example, the temple. It likes only itself. You will lose reputation at the temple if you join any other guild and if you do any quest for the other guild. The Telvanni is the same story. It also likes only itself.

2. Recipes:
Fortify SPD = Moon Sugar + Kagouti Hide or Shalk Resin
Restore SPD = Raw Ebony + Resin