Magic scaling?

[Tris]

How well does magic scale in D3? I recall destruction magic being... ineffective later on in Skyrim. Nothing like pounding a position from afar with enough fireballs (perked up) to incinerate the landscape and slag metal armour, and still seeing stuff alive. Even the master level lightning spell (perked up) wasn't all that great; and lightning seemed to have issues hitting a stunned/stagged target. Was playing a level 61-62 conjuration/destruction mage.

Guess I'm wondering if the mage is a viable D3 char. Considering maybe getting D3, but just wondering.