Forums » Elder Scrolls

Most Underused Spells

    • 622 posts
    May 14, 2015 3:10 AM EDT

    For me, probably all Master spells...

    • 22 posts
    May 14, 2015 4:39 AM EDT
    You talk like as if the enemies in skyrim have complex pathways and we have to setup taps for them. But that isn't true. And luring in skyrim is quite boring to be honest. The game isn't designed for that. So runes are useless. And they also won't deal that much damage in master difficulty when you reach high level.

    Blizzard is a good spell concept. But useless in game. It may only play a role in role playing. the spell is a master spell. Costs a lot of magicka but it suits best the sword fighter. And is cast on the place where you are. Meaning that you must come near your enemy drop your defenses to cast it. And considering the amount of mana required to cast it, you will have to balance it out by either not adding many points in health or by wearing destruction fortify apparel.

    The frost atronachs are only an issue in tight spaces. I guess banish daedra may come useful there But often I prefer to simply end whoever conjured the atronach and done.

    Wards are very useful against other mages and dragons. The only downside is that they don't block arrows.

    I agree paralyse is op... But not useless at all. Quite the opposite. Transmute is a waste of time. It is purely for role playing. and not effective to make gold. It would be if the merchant system and blacksmithing were more effective and entertaining.

    How does Telekinesis work with marked for death?

    courage: yet you will basically be working with one or at most 3 followers. With exception of civil war, you will never have enough people on your side to make the most out of it. And civil war sucks.

    Dragonborn dlc spells can be awesome like some spells you mentioned BUT for example dragon aspect shout. I love it too but it's really hard to get all words and by the time you get it you have probably done so much on skyrim already that there won't be much more to do with your new powers. I find dragonborn dlc a good idea gone wrong.
    • 622 posts
    May 14, 2015 4:50 AM EDT

    You can start the DLC very early on though, which renders your last point moot.

    • 627 posts
    May 14, 2015 4:56 AM EDT

    It's more about how you use the spells, for example the lower level turn undead spells become useless at higher levels according to some people, but since they will always, and I mean always cause an undead to stagger they can be used to open up opportunities to attack much stronger undead without using a large amount of magicka.

    The same can be said for other spells.

    Place a rune in a doorway and it will be activated by the first person to come running through, how is that not useful? Combine them with sneak and the quite casting perk and you can be placing them under the feet of bandits without having to worry about being seen.

    Blizzard can be used with a little help from Become ethereal or depending on the character sneak or a well timed invisibility potion, it's the same for other master level spells. And if I remember correctly you can get Dragonskin to last for a couple of minutes with the right perks.

    • 22 posts
    May 14, 2015 5:03 AM EDT
    You can start early on but you will be in trouble.
    • 22 posts
    May 14, 2015 5:09 AM EDT
    Blizzard is strong but I don't find it useless due to its damage. I find it useless due to how it is cast centered on the player, it should be cast somehow that the blizzard happens where the spell hits. And doesn't kill that easily. You must be playing in adept.
    • 22 posts
    May 14, 2015 5:11 AM EDT
    Problem I have with crowd control spells is that. .. There is rarely a crowd to control.
    • 1467 posts
    May 14, 2015 5:49 AM EDT

    I think the major thing to think about is that you can boost any spell in Skyrim to be more successful or use it in a way that makes it successful.

    Conjure Familiar can be boosted with positive poisons, hit with and Ash Shell and become an immortal wall for 30 seconds (although that can be boosted)

    Runes can be used to deal fairly decent damage to enemies that walk into them and can be set before the battle even starts, let your Magicka regenerate and then have a bomb ready to go off. 

    Ash Shell and Rune can be used with Fury to create an immortal punching bad while you fire Poison Runes or Ignite Spells into the enemies that can still attack, dealing more damage and keeping you safe.

    Blizzard can be pumped up to high damage but also slows enemies, sadly it does have that bug so that it is weakened by your Frost Resistance but oh well.  

    Transmute can earn you a fair amount of gold when you consider that 1 Iron = 1 Silver = 1 Gold... Iron is ridiculously cheap and easy to come by so transmuting that into Gold early on can mean a lot of Gold and it raises Smithing faster then any early-level Smithing. 

    Guardian Circle can be combined with the Atronach Stone to heal your Magicka up pretty damn fast...Really good for Mages with High Magicka and low Regen.

    High Tier Illusion Spells have that handy area of effect ability, quite powerful when a small horde of Bandits. I mean from just the Rage and Kindred Mage perks you can cast Frenzy at all level 47 human enemies..

    Pretty much any spell can be combined with other's or used in interesting ways to become quite powerful in its own right. Just gotta be creative.

    • 622 posts
    May 14, 2015 6:23 AM EDT

    Well said!

    • 622 posts
    May 14, 2015 6:24 AM EDT

    I just finished it at Level 20 on Expert with my shield-mage 

    • 22 posts
    May 14, 2015 8:04 AM EDT
    Positive poisons?
    • 22 posts
    May 14, 2015 8:07 AM EDT
    What do you mean by increase the damage of blizzard by quadruple?
    • 1467 posts
    May 14, 2015 8:07 AM EDT

    Poisons with positive effects that can boost the Familiar in some way (Such as Fortify Health)

    • 22 posts
    May 14, 2015 8:10 AM EDT
    Hum. .. Never thought of the positive effects of poison that way. Can be used to boost an ally. Must think of a build based on that!
    • 1467 posts
    • 1467 posts
    May 14, 2015 8:16 AM EDT

    Aye, it's an interesting effect that has been done a few times. Conjured Familiars are just one instance of it being used.

    • 485 posts
    May 14, 2015 8:24 AM EDT

    Quite a few popular builds have made use of that. Raidriar's 'Crusader' build uses them in conjunction with 'Companions Insight' to provide followers with powerful buffs. 'The King of Worms' by me and Raidrair uses positive poisons to buff undead thralls.  

    • 6 posts
    May 14, 2015 9:09 AM EDT

    My first playthrough was set in adept I think because,well it was my first playthrough. After that I raised it to master and from that point onward I never decreased it. However it's true that few of my characters went past Lv 30 and none was a mage. I like to set a small story like become the Archmage,do this good deed and that good deed which is related to a mage something and Archmage would probably do. But after a while I run out of ideas. So I delete that character and start a new one.

    p.s. I never fast travel so it lasts longer and I also love the random encounters.

    • 485 posts
    May 14, 2015 9:13 AM EDT

    Flaming familiar makes a pretty nice homing fireball. 

    • 22 posts
    May 14, 2015 9:35 AM EDT
    How do you say to pump up blizzards damage?
    • 237 posts
    May 14, 2015 12:57 PM EDT

    "without using a large amount of magicka"

    Nearly as much magicka as a dual-cast firebolt, with a longer casting time, for zero damage.

    • 485 posts
    May 14, 2015 1:06 PM EDT
    Here's something interesting that can be play tested for usefulness:

    Do these ash rune affected familiars prevent enemies from passing thru them? And if so would they make for an effective way to block off a choke point or tunnel?
    • 249 posts
    May 14, 2015 3:01 PM EDT
    Ash rune = no

    Mora's Agony = yes
    • 249 posts
    May 14, 2015 3:19 PM EDT
    Edit: Mora's Grasp lolZ
    • 8 posts
    May 14, 2015 6:52 PM EDT

    For me I'd Say it would be:

    Conjuration: All of them

    Destruction: A majority of the Frost Spells and some Fire Spells, all the elemental cloaks

    Illusion: All of them

    Restoration: Wards

    Alteration: All of them