Skyrim offers a lot of customization, and with this customization comes the ability for you to create your own unique build. Many adventurers have experimented with different types of builds over the past several years that the game has been out, and some of the magic builds that you can create in Skyrim are worth a try.
A character focused on raising your enemies from the dead to fight for you and a build rendering your enemies immobile with paralysis spells are just a few of the most unique magicka characters you can create to give new life to your Skyrim playthrough.
Updated August 10, 2023, by Gabrielle Huston: We've added details to every build here that should give you an idea of what to focus on in order to make this work for you in-game! Enjoy!
The Shield-Wielding Mage
The Shield-Wielding Mage is one of the most powerful mage builds you can create. Not only will you be dealing high damage with Destruction spells in one hand, but your other hand will also carry a shield, which allows you to block most of the incoming damage you get from enemies.
You can take it one step further and use the Spellbreaker shield, which casts a ward, allowing you to block massive damage from magical spells. As such, you can easily defeat dragons because their breath attacks won't be capable of dealing almost any damage while you're blocking.
How To Get Started
To have high-damage spells in the hand that isn't holding a shield, the easiest route is to focus on Destruction magic. When you do this, decide early on whether you want to focus on fire, frost, or shock spells. Otherwise, you'll wind up splitting your skill points between them unnecessarily.
As we mentioned above, the Spellbreaker shield will really take this to the next level. You earn Spellbreaker by completing "The Only Cure" quest.
Our guide on building a sword and shield character may be useful; it doesn't focus on magic as much, but you'll get some useful tidbits about the shield side of things.
The Magical Werewolf
If you want to create a hybrid build that prioritizes magic and melee combat, but you don't want to dedicate a weapon slot to a sword or axe, then the Secret Werewolf may be perfect for you.
You'll start off in human form casting magical spells. When a fight gets difficult, you'll hop into your Werewolf form for the ultimate surprise, then easily defeat your enemies with the power of a Werewolf. This build is a lot of fun and it offers the best of both worlds without sacrificing at all.
How To Get Started
You can become a Werewolf during the "The Silver Hand" quest, which is a part of the Companions storyline. If you want to improve the experience, there are tons of mods you can install, too!
It's a good idea to prioritize both stamina and magicka while leveling up. You can put your perks into your preferred magic type, but at least a good chunk of your spells should be high-damage, like Destruction. For a secondary magical focus, you could try Conjuration or Illusion; both of these are really great to use right before you transform into a Werewolf, since they'll help you out for a while.
The Underwater Wizard
Unfortunately, the underwater sections of Skyrim aren't used for anything exciting, with a few notable exceptions. However, there's lots of water that you can use to your advantage during combat.
You can hop into the water and make your escape when a fight isn't going your way, along with using the water as an alternative method of stealth, so you don't alert any enemies nearby.
How To Get Started
For The Underwater Wizard, you'll be using frost magic since it matches perfectly with the water theme. You can summon a Frost Atronach using Conjuration magic, then dive underwater and let your conjured entity defeat your enemies.
Make sure you pick an Argonian for this build since they can breathe underwater indefinitely.
The Elemental Archer
Although you don't typically use bows in a magic-based build, the Elemental Archer isn't your typical magicka character. You'll wield a crossbow and elemental bolts, a type of magical ammo that explode upon impact.
There's an Elemental Bolt for fire, frost, and shock, so there's a lot of variety for you to choose from. Creating magical explosions is fun using spells, but it's even better while wielding a crossbow since archery is so satisfying in Skyrim.
How To Get Started
Crossbows can be acquired during the Dawnquard expansion. Head to Fort Dawnguard, and you'll find an Orc outside practicing with his crossbow. If you talk to him, you'll learn he's a vampire hunter named Durak, and he can give you a crossbow (plus 45 bolts).
You can acquire the exploding elemental bolts by crafting them or purchasing them from Sorine inside Fort Dawnguard. However, you need to do a quest first: Ancient Technology. There are two tiers of elemental bolts (just like the regular bolts): steel bolts and dwarven bolts. Sorine will sell, and give you the ability to craft, the steel bolts after completing the second part of the Ancient Technology quest. Then, you can buy and craft the stronger dwarven bolts after completing the final part of the Ancient Technology Quest.
The Elemental Storm
As you might assume by its name, The Elemental Storm is a build that primarily uses Destruction magic. Although Conjuration spells that summon entities such as a Flame or Storm Atronach also work well. However, the primary type of spell that you'll use are cloaks, such as a Flame Cloak.
Flame Cloak, along with Frost Cloak and Lightning Cloak, all deal damage to nearby enemies when you cast them. The cloak will remain around you for a set period of time, and you can run up to enemies to deal damage. After casting a cloak, the rest of your damage should come from other Destruction spells such as Flames.
How To Get Started
If you want to play as an Elemental Storm, consider making your character a Dunmer (a dark elf)! Their racial power, Ancestor's Wrath, functions exactly the same as the Flame Cloak spell. It can only be used once per day, so you still shouldn't skip out on the actual spell, but it does save you a bit of magicka from time to time, not to mention freeing up a hand.
As with other elemental Destruction builds, we recommend focusing on one particular element rather than splitting your attention between two or more. You'll save yourself perk points and be able to focus other buffs.
Other than the core of the build, the cloaks, the spells you use depend on your playstyle preferences. You might opt for more Destruction spells (and we do recommend at least a couple of those, since you'll already be leveling up that tree), but you could also try Conjuration and Illusion spells that create even less work for you! You could practically just sit in the middle of the fight and watch it happen around you.
One final thing you should also know is that dual-casting a cloak spell will double its range.
Necromancer
Necromancers are mages that raise enemies from the dead to fight for their cause. They utilize conjuration spells to raise zombies, and sometimes these zombies can be major story characters that have died during quests.
The most powerful spell of this type allows you to permanently raise a character from the dead to fight by your side until they die during combat.
How To Get Started
The ideal race for a Necromancer build is a Breton since they have a talent for magic, and they are the most powerful Necromancers in Tamriel.
If you want to step up your Necromancer playthrough, we have a list of some of the very best mods for Necromancers in Skyrim.
The Daedric Commander
There are a plethora of ways to create a unique build using conjuration spells, and using your magic to conjure Daedric entities to fight by your side is one of the most fun ways. The Daedric Commander primarily makes special use of the Conjure Dremora Lord spell.
Dremora Lords are powerful enemies, and depending on your perks in the conjuration skill, it may be possible to conjure it alongside another entity such as a Frost Atronach. However, Dremora Lords are the primary focus with this build, and on top of the Conjure Dremora Lord spell, you can also use the Sanguine Rose to conjure Dremora Lords if you aren't skilled in conjuration magic.
How To Get Started
As we said, Conjuration is your main focus here. You'll want to level it up as quickly as possible (so don't skimp on Conjuration spells even in the early game). That's because some of the best perks require a high level in the skill: the Twin Souls perk requires level 100 Conjuration and allows you to have two conjured creatures active at once.
Just like we recommended that you focus on one kind of element in the Destruction skill tree for other builds, you should focus on one type of conjured creature. Maybe you can swing two, if you have a lot of points to share. But this pointed focus will allow you to place perks strategically when you level up.
You can obtain the Sanguine Rose we mention above by finishing the "A Night To Remember" quest. Even if you do focus on Conjuration, it can't hurt to have it around. Plus, it's just a stunning unique weapon.
Mage Of Ahzidal
The Mage of Ahzidal build is themed around using the two unique spells that are added to your spell list when you equip Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana. This is the only way to get these two spells.
The two spells that you gain by wearing Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana are called Ignite and Freeze. Ignite sets the enemy on fire for 15 seconds, dealing four points of damage every second. Freeze deals health and stamina damage and also has the unique effect of slowing the enemy down. Combining these two spells makes for a powerful combination that can rival almost every type of enemy in Skyrim, and this build is worth trying for fans of the Destruction school of magic.
How To Get Started
You can find the necessary ring in the Dragonborn DLC, inside of Kolbjorn Barrow. You must progress through the quest "Unearthed" to receive this powerful ring.
Since you'll already be focusing on the fire and frost damage types, you may as well go all-in on the Destruction skill tree! There are lots of high-powered spells to choose from, and armor that can boost your stats. Throw in a dash of Restoration magic for healing and wards and you've got yourself a build!
Master Of Telekinesis
Telekinesis is one of the most fun abilities in Skyrim, and you can use it effectively in many different situations. Although the Telekinesis spell by itself isn't particularly powerful when you compare it to destruction spells, you can create unique ways to use it.
For example, you can use the Telekinesis spell to grab weapons from far away and equip them to fight an enemy. You can also shoot objects at enemies with the Telekinesis spell, which is a lot of fun and is a unique challenge since you have to practice aiming. You can even grab multiple objects if you dual cast the spell (so long as the objects are close together).
How To Get Started
Telekinesis is an Adept level Alteration skill, so it's not too difficult to track down and learn. You can get it from, among other places:
- the Proudspire Manor safe
- buying it from Wylandriah at Mistveil Keep, so long as your Alteration skill is already level 40
- a chest inside the Uttering Hills Cave
- a chest near the Word Wall of Autumnwatch Tower
- buying it from Tolfdir at the College of Winterhold, so long as your Alteration skill is already level 40
Pairing Telekinesis with one-handed weapons or destruction spells can create a one-of-a-kind build, especially since you can grab one-handed weapons and equip them alongside the spell. It may sound strange, but you may alternatively want to combine the use of Telekinesis with a focus on archery. That's because the Archery skill perk Eagle Eye will affect Telekinesis' range, too!
As far as magic goes, we recommend you focus on other Alteration spells. They pair well with a dual focus on some weapon type, because they're mostly not damaging spells; they're meant to assist you in other ways. It's also a good magical focus because Telekinesis makes it almost absurdly easy to level up the Alteration skill, so you'll quickly find yourself very powerful. Some skills you may find useful include:
- Oakflesh/Stoneflesh/Ironflesh/Ebonyflesh
- Detect Life
- Detect Undead
- Dragonhide
- Paralyze/Mass Paralysis
Vampire Lord Mage
Vampire Lords are incredibly skilled with magic; however, even outside of this powerful form, you will still gain extra bonuses to the schools of magic by being a vampire.
You can only use unique spells such as Vampiric Drain while you are a Vampire Lord, and this is the main spell you should use as a Vampire Mage. However, there are downsides to being a vampire as well, such as taking more damage from fire spells.
How To Get Started
The best way to use this build is by switching in and out of the Vampire Lord form. It's a dance that has to be learned, for sure, but you'll get it with practice.
As for magic, you'll find that your Destruction magic skills will benefit the most from becoming a vampire. Choose an element to focus on, as we've mentioned previously, and watch your foes be annihilated!
If you want a boost to your vampire playthrough, check out this list of mods for vampire characters; they can seriously improve the abilities and realism of the experience.
The Magical Blacksmith
Bound Weapons are a special weapon type in Skyrim where you use Conjuration magic to summon weapons such as swords and bows. Unlike regular weapons, Bound Weapons don't last forever; however, they're unique because they resemble a spectral version of Daedric weapons, and the Bound Bow doesn't require arrows to use.
If you want to play as a mage and an archer or warrior at the same time, then you should try The Magical Blacksmith build for a truly unique experience.
How To Get Started
In order to find a copy of every Bound Weapon spell, check out our guide on the topic!
Bound Weapons are a type of Conjuration; as we mentioned before, be selective with your perk choices when you level up. You can put them all into perks that will beef up your bound weapons!
In addition to being selective in the Conjuration skill tree, you'll also want to be selective about the weapon type you're using. There are four types in total:
- Bound Battleaxe
- Bound Dagger
- Bound Sword
- Bound Bow
You'll want to choose one or two of those and stick with them so they'll level up quickly and you can choose perks from those skill trees.
As far as other magic to pair with it, that depends a little on the type of Bound Weapon you're using. Bound Bows and Bound Battleaxes are two-handed, for example, so your decision about which other spells to use will be informed by the fact that you can't use the weapon and the spell at once. Destruction spells are generally a safe choice for high damage. If you'll be in melee range, you'll probably also want to focus on Restoration spells; pouring points into magicka when you level up means you won't have as much health as other melee fighters.
The Rune Wizard
Runes are a unique variant of Destruction spells that allow you to create magical traps that deal damage when enemies walk into them. You can obtain rune spells for many different elements, including fire, frost, and lightning.
Runes are fun if you want to trap enemies and lure them into magical damage instead of dealing direct damage with other spells. Runes can also damage multiple enemies at once, which is great if you're fighting a group of enemies.
How To Get Started
The Rune Master isn't a build for everyone because it functions very differently than other builds and requires a lot of thought and planning before you even start a battle; however, it's a rewarding feeling when you manage to defeat multiple enemies with a single rune.
The Apprentice-level runes are in the Destruction school and include...
- Fire Rune
- Frost Rune
- Lightning Rune
... and the Adept-level runes, which come from varied schools, are...
- Ash Rune, in the Alteration school
- Poison Rune, in the Restoration school
- Frenzy Rune, in the Illusion school
You can purchase the Destruction runes from Faralda at the College of WInterhold. All of the Adept-level runes were added as a part of the Dragonborn expansion, so they can be purchased from Talvas Fathryon at Tel Mithryn, so long as you are at a high enough level in the rune's school.
Of course, you'll want to have spells to damage your enemies with after they've tripped your runes, so don't forget to think about that! Destruction spells are an obvious damage-dealing choice, and would go well alongside some ward spells from the Restoration school.
Spell-Sword
Most adventurers either prioritize magic or melee weapons; however, the Spell-Sword build proves that it is possible to create a balanced character that focuses on both one-handed weapons and on the schools of magic.
The most popular way to use a Spellsword is to equip a one-handed weapon while having a destruction spell present in your other hand. However, you can create many different combinations with the Spellsword, including illusion, restoration, conjuration, and alteration magic.
How To Get Started
You're in luck, because we actually have an entire guide dedicated to building a Spellsword character! However, we'll hit the highlights here to give you a taste:
- Apply buffs before a fight
- Have a Shout or Illusion spell ready in case of emergency
- Breton is the best race due to their innate magic resistance, but Altmer (high elves), Dunmer (dark elves), and Imperial are also good choices
- Use The Lord, The Lover, or The Atronach Standing Stone
- Dragon Masks can provide excellent buffs
- Focus on leveling the Light Armor, One-Handed, and Destruction skills
The Poisonous Adventurer
Poison damage exists in Skyrim in multiple forms; however, you may not know about the Poison Rune spells or Miraak's Staff, which both deal poison damage without the need to apply poison to your physical weapons.
You can pair Miraak's Staff with poison runes to create a deadly combination and a killer mage build.
How To Get Started
You can obtain Miraak's Staff by defeating Miraak during the Dragonborn DLC questline.
The Poison Rune is also added as part of the Dragonborn DLC, and you can purchase a copy from Talvas Fathryon at Tel Mithryn. It falls under the Restoration school, so be sure to level that up as quickly as possible.
To take this build one step further, you can also acquire the Ebony Mail by completing the "Boethiah's Calling" quest. The Ebony Mail deals poison damage when you get close to enemies, so it's a lot of fun to use.
Restoration Healer
The Restoration Healer is a unique build because, instead of doing the fighting yourself, you will be healing a follower while they fight for you in combat.
This build is particularly viable on harder difficulties because your followers can sometimes take many more hits without dying than you can. The main skill that you will use for this build is restoration magic.
How To Get Started
Spells that allow you to heal a target are the most important asset for this build, as they can be used to heal your followers during combat. There are three tiers of the spell that allows you to heal a target:
|
Healing Hands |
Apprentice (Restoration level 25) |
Heals the target 10 points per second, but not undead, atronachs, or machines. |
|---|---|---|
|
Heal Other |
Adept (Restoration level 50) |
Heals the target 75 points. Does not affect undead, atronachs, or machines. |
|
Grand Healing |
Expert (Restoration level 75) |
Heals everyone close to the caster 200 points. Does not affect atronachs, machines or undead. |
Make sure not to accidentally heal an enemy while your follower is fighting them, though; this is a common mistake you may make with healer builds.
As for the follower you choose, you'll want someone who can deal a lot of damage. Your exact choice will depend on your personal preferences, access, and morality level needs, but we recommend these followers because of their classes, damage outputs, and high maximum level caps:
- Teldryn Sero
- Jordis the Sword-Maiden
- Ralis Sedarys
- Rayya
- Gregor
- Farkas
- Vilkas
- Ingjard
- Celann
Illusionist
A lot of mages completely ignore illusion spells when they first play Skyrim because they don't seem initially useful, especially the lower-level illusion spells.
However, the expert and master-level illusion spells allow you to affect many enemies in your radius at once and force them to flee from combat and even attack each other. Invisibility is a particularly useful spell for an illusion build.
How To Get Started
Any race is viable for the Illusionist build; however, Altmer (high elves) and Bretons are the best choices because of their natural talent with magic.
It's worth noting you will need to suffer with the weaker, low-level Illusionist spells before you get to the powerful ones in order to level up the skill.
It is advisable to level up a secondary combat type so that you can still fight enemies if you happen to run out of magicka or if the enemies you are fighting are too high of a level to be affected by your Illusion spells. For the latter problem, Destruction magic is ideal; fire burns no matter what level you're at, really. For the former problem, you could really choose any weapon to use that doesn't take magicka, but we recommend One-Handed ones, since you can use them with a spell in your other hand. Daggers in particular are great because they're so fas.
Paralysis Mage
The Paralysis Mage is incredibly fun to use, and it is arguably one of the strongest builds in Skyrim because it can render enemies completely immobile for short periods.
You can use the Paralyze spell on an enemy, and then you can use a destruction spell or weapon to finish off the enemy that is lying on the ground. You can also craft a poison of paralysis for situations where you run out of magicka during combat.
How To Get Started
Unfortunately, the Paralyze spell requires a lot of magicka to cast. You'll want to make sure you have a lot of magicka potions on-hand to ensure you don't run out. You can also help alleviate some of this strife by choosing to play as an Altmer (high elf) in character creation, since they start the game with an additional 50 magicka.
You have two options for fighting after you've paralyzed your opponent, as we mentioned: powerful, damaging destruction spells or a weapon. If you find that you're running out of magicka a lot, opt for a weapon until you're high enough level that you have sunk more points into your magicka stash. Unlike other mages, you don't need to be as anxious with a melee weapon. Mages usually avoid them because their robes make for flimsy armor and a melee hit is a major blow, but a paralyzed enemy can't hit you back if you're careful!
Atronach Master
Similar to the Necromancer build, the Atronach Master build is focused on conjuring other beings to fight for you. However, this build is even more powerful because of the power that fire, frost, and storm atronachs possess.
How To Get Started
Your first priority is leveling up the Conjuration skill. Once you're high enough level, the master spells for summoning atronachs will allow you to keep them around indefinitely, which means that they won't leave your side until they die, and even then, you can simply re-summon them. Once you reach Conjuration level 100, you can have two atronachs by your side at all times.
Your secondary focus should be your Destruction skills. The storm atronachs are the strongest type of atronach in the game, so we recommend you focus on lightning Destruction spells, so you can focus your buffs and perks on that type of damage.
The tertiary focus can be Restoration. It may sound strange after all this talk of damage, but you can use the healing skills (which we actually detail in the healing build above) to keep your atronachs healthy and thriving in a battle.
Master Of The Spider Scrolls
While using spider scrolls doesn't directly make you a "mage" in the typical sense, they are a special type of magical weapon that you can craft within White Ridge Barrow on the island of Solstheim.
Spider Scrolls have the appearance of regular spiders; however, these creatures have unique magical abilities that you can use against your enemies.
How To Get Started
For this build, you should head to White Ridge Barrow immediately and craft some Spider Scrolls. If you need help crafting them, check out our guide on it.
Some of these spiders deal destruction damage, while others have different effects, including a spider that latches on to an enemy and forces them to fight for you.
The Master Of The Spider Scrolls build might require you to pair Restoration magic alongside using the spiders; this is so that you can stay alive while your spiders deal magical damage toward your enemies. Restoration magic is especially helpful at the beginning of a new playthrough.
Stealth Mage
Although stealth and magic don't seem to go hand-in-hand, they can actually be the deadliest combination in the game if utilized correctly.
Using invisibility spells and potions can make it almost impossible for other characters to detect you while you are sneaking around, and you can also use destruction runes to set traps for enemies.
How To Get Started
Illusion, Destruction, and Alteration are the most important schools of magic for a Stealth Mage since they focus on dealing damage and keeping the character concealed from enemy eyes. Paring magic with archery is also a great strategy for this build.
As we mentioned in the Telekinesis build, the Eagle Eye perk in the Archery skill tree also affects the Telekinesis spell, so learning that can also give you a leg up.
To get some extra advice, we recommend you take a look at our guide for building a Stealth Archer character. It's not focused on magic like we are here, but it will give you some great insight into the perks, abilities, races, and Standing Stones you should choose.