With Mysticism gone from Skyrim, Alteration is the main school of magic that deals with changing the world. This school of magic allows its practitioners to snatch items from afar, illuminate surrounding environments, and even paralyze attacking enemies.
Any player in The Elder Scrolls series will benefit greatly from modification. Although it lacks certain options for doing damage to enemies in battle, it provides an unrivaled degree of utility as opposed to other schools of magic. When you don’t have a fire, lighting the room is useful, and being able to morph your health into Magicka is useful for any wizard. The following are the top ten Modification spells in Skyrim.
Telekinesis
Telekinesis is a drainer of Magicka in and of itself, but it’s a powerful spell. It allows you to pick up things from a distance, so you won’t have to get close to those terrifying monsters to get the loot they’re defending.
The only drawback to this Adept-level spell is that it consumes 170 points of Magicka per second, so you’ll need a lot of it to avoid running out of steam. You’ll be able to add some object to your inventory or actually throw an item as far as possible using your modification abilities.
Detect Life
Detect Life is an excellent spell to use when investigating or unsure whether hostiles are nearby. It will show you how many people are in the area. All entities other than robots, zombies, and daedra can be marked by the spell as it passes through surrounding walls. The spell has a width of up to 200 feet indoors and up to 100 feet outdoors. With 100 Magicka per second, you’ll have to be careful how you use the spell.
Ash Rune
Ash Rune is similar to Ash Shell, except it is first inscribed in a rune, serving as a magical landmine that enemies can set off by walking on. Ash Rune, like Ash Shell, can cover an opponent with Ash and keep them from acting.
What’s very cool about this is that you can stick runes on any surface to set up traps for your enemies. In dungeons or other confined spaces, this may be a lifesaver. Attract a tough enemy into a rune to briefly remove them from the battle, then eliminate their minions before they can attack again. It’s a good idea in a lot of cases than you would expect.
Transmute
While Transmute is a difficult spell to master, it is one of the most powerful ways to amass wealth in Skyrim. The spell helps you to turn even the most simple metals into something much more precious. You’ll be able to do alchemy without having to use any resources! It’s also an Adept-level spell, which means you’ll be able to use it until you’ve hit level 50 in the School of Modification.
Dragonhide
Dragon Hide is a defensive spell that works differently from all of the Flesh spells mentioned above. It is one of two Mastery degree modification spells. Dragon Hide resists incoming damage rather than increasing the raw armor points.
Dragon Hide cuts the overall amount of damage you take by 80% for 30 seconds after it is cast. This spell will help you withstand a significant amount of trauma. The only reason it isn’t higher on the list is that Master level spells have a crisis.
Master-level spells must be cast with two hands, and if you are caught in the middle of a spell, it will be broken. This makes casting Dragon Hide in the middle of a fight very challenging. Using the yell Become Ethereal as a trick. When in an ethereal state, you cannot take or cause harm. You can’t be interrupted when preparing to cast Dragon Hide so you only break ethereal form when a spell is finally cast.
Mass Paralysis
This power’s only flaw is its exorbitant Magicka expense, which pales in comparison to its ridiculously powerful influence. In a single cast, you can paralyze an entire room’s worth of enemies for 15 seconds with Mass Paralysis.
Before you can use it, you’ll need both paws, no movement, and at least 5 seconds of casting. Furthermore, this is a spell of mastery degree. To use this spell, you must first complete the quest “Alteration Ritual Spell.”
However, be prepared for virtually any experience in the game to be trivialized until you’ve finished it. This can be used to paralyze everything in the game as long as it isn’t a machine or a dragon. However, this spell has an effect on allies, so use it with caution.
Mage Light
Mage Illumination, the clear successor to Candlelight, provides the same lighting effect as Candlelight. It has the same advantages and lasts 60 seconds. It may be used to illuminate dark areas or to entice insects to be harvested.
Mage Light varies from the other spells in that it does not follow the caster. Instead, you fire a light ball at a stationary target or NPC. These glowing balls of light can be used to guide you back through tricky passages or to show you where a chest is. One of our favorite Skyrim modification spells, this can be a very handy weapon in the hands of a talented mage.
Ebonyflesh
Ebonyflesh raises the caster’s armor level by 100 for 60 seconds, which can be improved by using simultaneous casting and other bonuses. There isn’t a better choice if you need armor fast. The majority of Skyrim’s Modification vendors sell this expert spell. You can take considerably less damage from physical damage if you can invest the Magicka to cast this.
Since Skyrim’s armor limit is just under 600, acquiring 100 armor—300 with three Mage Armor perk ranks—is a decent way to go. Gaining over 50% damage reduction for over a minute with perks is insanely strong.
Paralyze
Paralyze is a potent spell that leaves one opponent immobile for 10 seconds. It costs twice as much as Mass Paralysis, but it only affects one enemy at a time. Thankfully, it doesn’t matter how tall the enemy is as long as they can’t resist a strong Alteration spell to the chest. They won’t be able to travel fully, so make sure to do as much damage as possible before they get up!
