Thedas vs. Tamriel- Magic

In terms of sheer power? Tamriel. Hands down. Even if we ignore the daedric princes and aedra (who are god tier in terms of magic) mortal mages have been able to do things like create plagues, break time, create pocket realms, and with great enough knowledge or by meddling with the right magical artifact can wipe an entire race (ex. the dwemer) from existence.

Part of the reason why all those things are possible that there seems to be no clear limits on who can wield magic and what it can do. It seems like anyone can become a mage if they really wanted to. And indeed, Tamriel has something of a 'mage problem' with how there seems to be a never-ending number of necromancers, daedric cults, murder cults, etc. So they don't really rack up a lot of points in terms of regulation. But I guess that is to be expected of a setting where god-like beings who love to meddle with mortals exist.

hmm, we actually agree on something! we should mark this day on the history books! mind you, i find dragon age lore more interesting in general than elder scolls, i mean i love the games and all, but tamriel never did it for me. but personal subjective opinions aside, when it comes to handling mages, the chantry fucked up big time, kirkwall is proof of that. it does add to the fun though =D

on to the topic of the thread, i find it pointless to compare two different franchises, especially since every fantasy setting is different, it have it's own twists and it's own rules, so some things that work for a group for one universe won't work for the other and vice versa.
that is to say, i'm not criticizing anyone who choose to engage in this sort of conversation, i hope they enjoy the interaction, just giving my two cents on the matter.

furthermore, since i'm not really invested in tamriel's world i don't have desire to discuss it's lore very much, but i'm more than happy to discuss thedas lore, should the need arise

As has been stated previously, I also find the lore of Thedas more interesting than Tamriel.

As for which setting has more POWERFUL magic?
I'm gonna say Thedas again.

Yes, Tamriel has more mages. Even if you play the most fanatical "SKYRIM BELONGS TO THE NORDS" non-magic character, you still get Flames and Healing as spells.
I haven't played Oblivion, so I can't comment on that area of Tamriel.

But with Thedas, what we now know is that due to the sundering of the Fade and reality due to Solas, what we have seen magically is the equivalent of a toddler learning to use crayons.

Tamrielian magic is a sandbox, with everyone bringing their toys and making strange things.

Thedosian magic is so powerful that Solas had to sunder the fabric of reality to stop a single group of mages, which had a centuries-long effect.

There's a difference between potential widespread destruction (Tamriel) and a possible rewrite to the laws of creation (Thedas).

Though, to be fair, Tamrielian magic seems more versatile and a heck of a lot safer to use.
Just being a mage in Thedas means potential death by possession/mob/templar/other mage.

I remember hearing about a Tevinter Magister who sacrificed themself to create a storm that wiped out a qunari fleet. Which when you think about it is only a scaled up version of stuff a Mage Warden or Inquisitor can do.

The Psijics have done things I don't think are posssible in Thedas, but conjuring a natural disaster isn't one of them. That one should be quite doable. Especially with multiple casters, lyrium, or a number of blood sacrifices.

Of course, as Michaeln7 pointed out we are all talking about a Thedas after the Veil was erected. And since merely tearing a giant hole in it made time travel possible, who even knows what was possible before there was one?

But the thing is: They don't need blood sacrifices to gain powerful magic, they simply are powerful mages and able to wield powerful magic at anytime in Tamriel. Now, there are mages are close to become mages with godly power only requiring powerful divine artifacts, such as the Heart of Lorkhan which was used by the Tribunal to reach godhood. And the Eye of Magnus to make the user invincible to all damage by the Thalmor agent in the College of Winterhold.

It's almost like playing discount Thanos. You can use Illusion spells to manipulate foes to go frenzy to turn against each other, slow down time with the Slow Time shout, use the Atronach perk and stone to absorb magic, and briefly become nigh-indestructable with the Ethereal shout while prepping a Fire Storm spell to obliterate foes.

Skyrim is versatile when it comes to magic, and there are so many ways to use magic for devastating results.

As I mentioned earlier about spell crafting from Oblivion that it is fun! It is one of the best things about Oblivion is to experiment different combinations of spells. I once made a bound full Daedric Armor w/Greatsword, and a fire spell that creates a huge explosion w/ weakness to fire, and burning for 20 seconds. Cost me a lot of money and a lot of investment on Magicka, but it was worth it on the long run.



For those of you are playing Oblivion and experimenting with magic, this is the link for you to experiment different magic w/ spell crafting.

en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Useful_Spells#Provoke

Keeping in mind my lack of TES lore knowledge or intensity of care about DA magical lore knowledge:
-Tamriel has more powerful magic abounding (it is normal and it is great)
-Thedas has more usual powerful mage potential (not that most hit it; but the risk is a 'magical bomb' of a person being born)
-Tamriel has more mages with more normalcy of their magic (the cults are everywhere!)
-Thedas had more powerful magical entities but they're either slumbering/dead/away from Thedas now (almost Lovecraftian level)


I read Tamriel as a place which is in more constant magical upheaval and expectations that reality will get warped - to the ironic point that magic itself is arguably more mundane - while Thedas is a place that is presumed more actually mundane by its residents, but is awakened to more magic (potentially more magical extent than Tamriel has had since its creation), of past, present, or inventions for the future, whenever the developers want to unlock that in story and mechanics. Magic to whatever level necessary is the justification for Tamriel changing (including timelines), while DA developers make magical justifications for whatever new epicness they want to convey or let you activate.

Since I consider what Daedra do to be magic and the Daedra are very numerous and love to interact with Tamriel, I put that above what Dragon Age normally experiences in the timeline (age of Dragon) we play. With the Aedra also arguably interacting with Tamriel more provably than entities of Thedas, including the Maker.

But in terms of mortal mages, I get the sense that a fully unleashed, trained, and Fade-attuned mage in Thedas would wreck almost all Tamrielic mages' shit, including the ones deigned more to be like demi/gods. Their stuff is like super-MassEffect-biotics and that's just the basic attacks.
However I do think the normal mage of Tamriel has a greater variety of more interesting abilities. Summon a familiar? Sure. Etc. Magic itself is less of a big whoop to them. Magic in Dragon Age is whatever the writers want to unleash next (see: weird Qunari experiments of Tresspasser). If anything, TES has been paring down magical variety and power, while DA has been paring it up to a lore-bending level.


TLDR I'll say Tamriel as I'll include Daedra etc as magic using entities and their stuff, powers, boons, and artifacts are all over, while I still don't quite know what DA has going on, post-DAI.
But if asked about general powerful potential, Thedas for sure. I'd expect a DA7 (or earlier) to have mages be on some universe-creating level, sheesh.

The question isn't as easy to answer as it might seem.... observations:

(1) Tamriel's magic as observed in the games is way more versatile, but that's only because TES gameplay is way less restricted than DA's. In terms of what magic is capable of, we don't know all that much. The ancient elves apparently built with magic, but it is not clear if this is changed because of the Sundering (my name for the creation of the Veil) or whether it's just not done because mages are now too rare, or the knowledge has been lost.

(2) Tamriel's magic is more ubiquitous, for reasons already mentioned. This is related to power, so in this aspect Tamriel's magic is significantly more powerful.

(3) In terms of what magic is theoretically capable of, that's harder to estimate. Tamriel has a lot of epic magic in its history, on the other hand, on Thedas magic was used to rewrite its own laws and sunder the Fade from reality. Also, Corypheus attempted a kind of magic that would have let him control all creatured infeced with the Blight.

My preliminary answer would be this: in terms of raw power, present-day mages of Tamriel are, on average and as a group, signficantly more powerful than Thedosian mages. However, Thedosian magic is usually not used to its full potential, the limits of which may be embodied by someone like Corypheus or Solas. Power levels like that are possible in Tamriel as well, so I'd call it a draw. What happens if the Veil comes down is anyone's guess, though, and Thedosian magic has been used to sunder reality and rewrite its own laws. That is hard to top.
In terms of versality and ease-of-use, which also influences how "magical" a culture can be in general, Tamriel wins hands down against present-day Thedosian magic, but may find its equal or more in the magic of old Elvhenan, if it returns.