Oblivion talk:Useful Spells

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Recuperate usefulnessEdit

OK, I crunched some numbers, and found that in order for a Willpower increase of 100 to be cost-effective you need to have a total magicka of 450 or more, otherwise it costs more to use the spell than the extra magicka regeneration you would gain for its duration. This is a photo of my working, if you can understand the handwriting and logic behind it. [1]

Basically, I'm suggesting amending the information of that spell (to say need you need a total magicka of over 450 for it to be mathematically useful), or deleting it. As for the restore health part of the spell, that would cost more, but not affect the magicka regeneration change. InvisibleMuffin 22:36, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

A 'heavily edited" headlineEdit

I don't know how to do it, but I would like to suggest someone who knows should a one of those "This article is heavily edited" boxes, because this article is always having random spells made up and added to it and such. Eric Snowmane 01:20, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Done. --AKB ^{Talk Cont Mail} 01:40, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Will this spell train my illusion?Edit

I have made this spell with paralysis 5 seconds with 100pts fire damage. The spell is from the school of destruction, but will it improve my illusion? GoHurtSomething 16:59, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

No, it fully counts as a destruction spell. You could check that by seeing whether your illusion skill did rise after casting the spell :) -Borbarad

Analysis of Spell Chaining and the mechanicsEdit

I see you goth ther real nice Brain worck in analise of my Self sufficient Chaining spell [2]. And it only took like 2,5 years to break them and all that to be removed after. Is realy shame thet behevior and ignoring of my ideas in frst pleace becouse of bad English. now thing i do not understand, do moders of this sections play this game or they only know game from reading abouth it?

From what I understood, I think one of the main people around here (Rpeh?) was not able to make a chainspell successfully and claimed they don't work, so he removed the chainspell section in the first place. -Borbarad 20:27, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

I dont understand whay he dont understand my spells. They are they are child's play for me and i think they will be for all now when i explain them in such a way. Frst of all you must bear in mind are only 2 things.

Frst Fortify Magicka When the Fortify Magicka effect wears off, you will have lost all the excess Magicka but YOU WILL NEVER BE LEFT WHIT NEGATIVE MAGICKA POOL. Now this part in Caps is for some reson removed from Fortify Magicka page but i clearly remember its correct and it whas ther before and it is weri important information.

Second Drain Magicka,Drain Intelligence This part of my spells is just one that make your magicka pool att 0 wen your Fortify Magicka effect is on, and i do hope you understand whay.

So now i hope all can understand base mexanic of this spell and i repeat base only, so you now mast aggre they are loggic and ther is no reson whay they will not worck especialy becouse i use them in game in time they are posted here.....nEVER_BoRN

Well i got some fre time and i dicided to just upload save file which have character whit some spells i deskribed and they names start whit "Spell" (1-5). So if you have doubth you can test them your self, and i mast say they are just a miner version of power they can have whit proper skill level and intelligence. And please use console to restore Restoration to 35 and well you will need to get minimum level 25 Destruction skill, so just use console so you can see how spell worck....nEVER_BoRN

Spell chaining does in fact work, of course, as has been explored thoroughly in the archives of this talk page, especially Archive 5. Nevertheless, I think it relies a lot on the mechanics of the spell system, rather than just applying straight-forward effects in unusual combinations, which makes it a bit more of a dubious addition to the article. I wouldn't object to seeing a small explanation of spell chaining with one or two proof-of-concept spells to demonstrate, but my impression is that spell chaining isn't something that most players use in their games, so the section should be left appropriately small, if it's added at all. Also, before being added to the page, you'd have to ensure that the English was high quality, or we're just going to revert it based on that alone. If we weren't all busy with Skyrim right now, we might have time to help you with it, but at the moment, unless the finished product is fairly high quality right from the start, we're not going to spend the time on it. – Robin Hood↝talk 08:23, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

I used spell chaining all the time… One of my favourite was a Munchink combination with fortify intelligence + fortify magicka + drain magicka for 300 permanent magicka; Weakness to magicka + Weakness to element + element damage for offense; and invisibility on self to escape retaliation. You can clear areas in seconds with this one. Tends to break the game balance, though. Loup-vaillant (talk) 18:31, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

I believe nEVER_BoRN is correct.

From my test on PC, the drain effects always take effect before fortify effects regardless of the sequence in custom spell, probably because of some predetermined sequence, like dispel always takes effect at the last one. The order of two fortify effects can be tuned by changing the sequence in the custom spell. But the drain effects can not. Instead, the order between these two was actually determined by alphabetic order of effect names, maybe because they share the same icon?

Since drain magicka takes effect between drain intelligence and fortify intelligence, drain intelligence and fortify intelligence will not really cancel out each other. And the trick works to infinitely using spells within 500 pts costs.

The order of two drain effects is critical to this chain spell, and it's affected by the game language. If it fails, use modder tools to edit the effect names of "drain attribute" and "drain magicka". This should fix the problem.--100.34.19.156 23:18, 12 September 2021 (UTC)

Drain Intelligence have nothing to do with Drain magicka properties.

Drain Magicka is fortify effect that substract instead of adding, if you look on properties of Fortify magicka you see that it add to maximum magicka and to current magicka and have a property to reset negative magicka to zero when it expire.

To understand how fortify effects and spell casting actually happen i give a example and then its easier to understand relevance.

Fortify skill level is good example. If you create a spell that cost 100 magicka and after its cast fortify effect of that spell make same spell cost 50 magicka, what actually happens when you attempt to use the skill with only 50 magicka is you go to negative -50 magicka.

If you add a Drain magicka 3pts for x seconds to such a skill you will notice that your mana will not be negative and you maximum mana will be increased for all negative mana you other vise have with out it. Drain magicka - current magicka, as magicka is in negative, two - become +. Magnitude of drain magicka is irrelevant because it can only consume positive magicka, and what you end up with is actual fortify effect that is positive and identical to consumed negative magicka and it behave same as fortify magicka.

Let me explain tis bit more with another example of a spell to better sink in properties of Drain magicka as positive fortify effect in case of this next spell. If you create a spell that fortify 100pts Magicka and cost 100 magcka and have 3pts drain effect for 120 sec. If you cast this skill that be otherwise not possible to chain cast you notice its now possible and the reason is that Drain magicka is behaving as additional fortify magicka of same magnitude as negative magicka there fore neutralizing it and in addition bosting maximum magicka for the same magnitude behaving as you expect from fortify magicka.

I will say that first example make clear distinction of how things actually interact and that same skill effects don't cross over as you may imagine and there are steps before, during and after in process of casting spell. nEVER_BoRN

Need help creating spellsEdit

I've joined the Mages Guild and I'm trying to figure out how to use the Spellmaking Altar to empower my Breton Mage (Level 9). After looking at the "Useful Spells" page, I thought I'd try to create some of them. The first problem was that many of the suggested spell components don't seem to be available to me. Is it because of my low level? Then I decided to attempt to apply spell-chaining logic to the few that WERE available. I found Weakness to Fire, and Flare. I tried creating a Weakness-to-Fire-100 plus Flare-20, both in a 10 foot radius, thinking that would give me superior fire damage, then I tacked Fortify Magicka onto it to give me a boost every time I cast it. I promptly went out to test it against a warthog in a nearby field. It was completely ineffective. Is there some wise sensei who could provide this ignorant wanna-be mage some guidance? Jacovny (talk) 01:56, 3 November 2012 (GMT)jacovny

In order to unlock a certain spell effect, you must have a spell with that same effect. So if you want a Paralyze spell effect, for instance, then you need to have a spell that has the "Paralyze" effect.

The "Weakness to <Element>" spell effect does not work properly with other spells the moment you cast it, due to a bug. You will have to cast a Weakness spell with a decent duration on your target and thereafter cast the spell you would normally combine said Weakness spell with. In your case, a Weakness to Fire spell and then the second, separate spell, for Fire damage. Alternatively, you could always make a Fire spell with a Weakness to Fire effect, with the latter lasting for about 5 to 10 seconds, and then repeatedly cast it on someone so it would fortify the damage every time as well as renewing the Weakness duration. Hope this helps. --Dremora Lord 19:00, 22 February 2014 (GMT)

Over-powered chain casting spellEdit

This is a spell I made which relies on the chain casting technique. It uses a large amount of magicka and as such is only practical for high level characters who have at least 300 magicka and mastery of all magic schools. It deals a total of 370 damage over two seconds (740 damage if the weakness to magic effect is active when the target is hit), and will temporarily lower speed to zero (so the target can't do anything about what's happening).

• Fortify Magicka 100 pts for 2 seconds on self
• Fortify Intelligence 100 pts for 2 seconds on self
• Drain Magicka 3 pts for 2 seconds on self
• Damage Health 30 pts for 2 seconds on target
• Fire Damage 50 pts for 2 seconds on target
• Frost Damage 55 points for 2 seconds on target
• Shock Damage 50 points for 2 seconds on target
• Weakness to Magic 100 points for 2 seconds on target
• Drain Speed 100 points for 2 seconds on target

Bear in mind that a more optimization could be done, and if you don't mind doing it on touch, well, you'd dish out one helluva lot of damage. A more general spell would be:

• Fortify Magicka X pts for 2 seconds
• Fortify Intelligence Y pts for 2 seconds
• Drain Magicka 3 points for 2 seconds (if appropriate)
• Effects to use up the remaining magicka (casting cost of above effects-X-2Y)

Anyways, should this be added or not (I'm asking because chain casting spells have been removed before, it's kind of obvious to someone who knows of chain casting)--Sapien (talk) 22:13, 5 February 2013 (GMT)

Probably not, all who need mor of tips can just look on arhive. And your spell is not bad but it can be way beter, just some tips, dont be scared to up your drine effect and its duration, well experiment some or just look in old arhive. In time i played this game i chained spell from 50 magicka to 1500, but most of them wen used right way can give you magicka pool of 1500 only by casting them, and if combined whit similar spelss even mor. But its not something you ever need in game, except higer magicka pull you get this way do effect your regeneration of magicka. nEVER_BoRN

Chain SpellsEdit

Chain Spells seem to have caused an awful lot of controversy on this page and I want to understand why. From what I see they allow you to do a lot of damage with a high-cost spell, but they replenish your magicka in such a way that you can cast them over and over without running out of time. This sounds both extremely useful and bypasses the requirement of using too much magicka too be useful to the average spell-maker. From the amount of posts asking about adding it I'm confident they can be reproduced.

I ask two things from those who want it: #1, Are they usable to the mid-range spell user whose magic skills usually end around 50/70, and #2, is it breaking anything (eg. what happens if you are left with a negative magic value). While undoubtedly useful to high-end magicka users if they cannot be used by more than those who specialize in magicka use they will fail a usefulness test (but I would advocate they be documented somewhere more suitable). If they break anything or have that potential I would be against their reinstatement, otherwise there is no-reason why they should not be here (as far as I can tell). Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 00:56, 14 October 2013 (GMT)

There is nothing new to add in the field of chain spells and spell stacking as it's been the most heavily researched, experimented, tested and explained custom spell system ever on this site. If you look through the archives, various peoples pages associated with this testing and older versions of this page, you will see a lot of work done by a lot of people in an attempt to document this. You may also discover a concerted effort by a minority of editors to remove it for no good reason. Good luck. l)474(4V57 23.29.221.123 22:12, 14 October 2013 (GMT)

That's my point, there are two sides to this, some say it can't be replicated (very dubious claim considering the amount that can do it), they are so expensive to start using they are impractical to anyone but pure and very high-skilled mages. These types of posts mostly went unchallenged, so there is no real proof to disclaim them. This section here is an opportunity to show that they are practical and useful, fobbing me off to the archives when I've tried to read and understand them already isn't helping the case. I mostly understand how they work, but there's virtually nothing to say they don't break anything. Address my concerns and you may well see them restored, fob me off and I won't care, I'm not overly interested in them for personal use, I just see a possible massive injustice done and want to make sure it was done correctly. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 22:32, 14 October 2013 (GMT)

Well to my knowledge there are three types of chain spell; 50, 150 and 300 magicka cost, this should make them useful to mages of any level. In all my experience using them and judging from the experiences of others there is no way they can "break" any aspect of your game. I can't even think of any post where this was suggested. I directed your attention to the archives because it would not have been easy for me to go over everything that has been discovered by so many people contributing time and effort towards this. Being able to repeatedly cast a spell again and again infinitely, (During the required time frame outlined by the spell design.) is so blatantly practical and useful I can't understand what definition of those words one must ascribe to in order to believe they are not. Please, please don't mistake my attention to this matter as a desire to 'fob you off'. I as much as anyone respect the fact that people care about this issue as I myself at one time cared enough to put chain spells and spell stacking back up on this site. I stopped caring. Yes, an injustice was done. An injustice to all new fans of the elder scrolls series looking to learn about the past games that step by step propelled this series and this site to it's current glory. If there is anything I can do to help right this I will. It's not fair that people looking for information must wade through archives to obtain it. Regards, Datacaust. 23.29.221.250 23:49, 14 October 2013 (GMT)

SpelunkingEdit

In Morrowind, it was best to light caves with an area light spell, as it illuminated enemies and not yourself. Is that the case here? JabberwockySR (talk) 18:27, 12 July 2014 (GMT)

Removing Bound FarmerEdit

According to the rules, Bound Farmer should be removed because it exploits a glitch, right? — Unsigned comment by Alonshow (talk • contribs) at 06:00 on 13 September 2014 (GMT)

That's correct. I've removed it from the page. Good find! Zul se onikaan^{Laan tinvaak} 12:34, 13 September 2014 (GMT)

Suicide bomberEdit

Pretty sure this spell is impossible to make, you can't add a radius on a self effect.--82.46.172.251 10:24, 7 May 2015 (GMT)

How about changing it to on touch? 209.65.56.40 06:56, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

The original poster is correct - it's impossible to have an on-self spell with an area effect. On touch would work, but then it wouldn't look like you were the one exploding. Given that inherent contradiction, I've simply deleted it. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 09:27, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Name change of Unda Equus spell.Edit

I've changed the name to Equus Aquaticus as the Latin form stated previously is incorrect and is not grammatical since Unda (wave/foam) cannot agree in feminine gender with the masculine 'Equus' which means horse. Also, Latin would say watery/ aquatic horse rather than the English 'water horse'. — Unsigned comment by 82.26.37.131 (talk) at 22:44 on 5 April 2017

A note in regards to lava walkingEdit

One thing I have recently discovered which has made all the difference in exploring areas with lava is the shield effect. Added for your consideration only as a useful addition/slight "alteration" (get it?) to the spell listed here. FIrst mate Malvulis (talk) 06:06, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

"Neutralize" - QuestionEdit

For the custom spell, "Neutralize", why is the value of Disintegrate Weapon set to 35? It seems completely arbitrary, it seems like a blank x or 100 would make more sense. Bushwhacker (talk) 23:31, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

Disintegrate is not a percentage based spell, 100 would only be 100 points of health damage, only barely enough for most iron weapons. It would need to be 1000 for covering all but the highest health weapons. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 00:42, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

Right, that's why I'm confused as to why it specifies '35' and doesn't just give a blank variable 'x'. Bushwhacker (talk) 16:28, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

Cost perhaps, but I have no idea if 35 is more cost-effective for your magicka than any other value. It could also just be an arbitrary number similar to almost every other number on the page. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 17:05, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

Predator spells don't workEdit

The section on Predator spells just doesn't work. The Fortify magicka adds 100 to your max Magicka but you still spend and lose the cost of casting the spell, when fortified magicka wears off the max goes to normal and you've still are minus the casting cost. I just tried this and I can confirm it doesn't work.

Lavacross spell calculator.Edit

I made a simple calculator for determining how many point of healing per second you want on your lavacross spell and added it to the lavacross section. — Unsigned comment by 78.71.220.209 (talk) at 22:43 on 20 August 2022 (UTC)

While a neat idea, I don't think the use case there justifies having an external link. I'm not sure the information is that necessary considering how much lava there is to cross in the game, but if it is, a simpler explanation of how long you have or an explanation of the formula on this page would be better in my opinion. --AKB ^{Talk Cont Mail} 22:43, 20 August 2022 (UTC)