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 July 6, 2022 by Michael Caruso: Mage builds are often more fun than melee builds, due to the fact that you can summon many elements to aid you on your journey. There are dozens of ways to create the perfect wizard in Skyrim by using five different schools of magic. However, there are even magical items you can use to enhance your builds too. Here are five more mage builds you should try if you want to become a master of Tamriel’s elements.

20 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. You earn Spellbreaker by completing “The Only Cure” quest.

19 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, which you can earn by joining the Dawnguard faction. You can acquire Elemental Bolts by purchasing them from Gunmar and Sorine inside Fort Dawnguard. These bolts are a type of magical ammo for Crossbows 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.

18 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, primarily Destruction and Conjuration magic. 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. It’s a good idea to prioritize both stamina and magicka while leveling up. You can become a Werewolf during the “The Silver Hand” quest, which is a part of the Companions storyline.

17 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.

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.

16 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.

15 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 use of the Conjure Dremora Lord spell to conjure a Dremora Lord to Skyrim.

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. You can obtain the Sanguine Rose by finishing the “A Night To Remember” quest.

14 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. 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.

13 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.

12 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 obtain Miraak’s Staff by defeating Miraak during the Dragonborn DLC questline.

You can pair Miraak’s Staff with poison runes to create a deadly combination. If you want to take this build even further, then 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.

11 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. The Rune Master isn’t a build for everyone because it functions very differently than other builds and requires a lot of planning; however, it’s a rewarding feeling when you manage to defeat multiple enemies with a single rune. There is even an illusion rune if you prefer to send your enemies into a frenzy before defeating them.

10 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 Spell-Sword 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 Spell-Sword, including illusion, restoration, conjuration, and alteration magic.

9 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. Unfortunately, the Paralyze spell requires a lot of Magicka to cast; however, this build is still viable as long as your character is skilled with using other types of magic as well while prioritizing the Paralyze spell in one of your two hands. You can also craft a poison of paralysis for situations where you run out of Magicka during combat.

8 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.

The Healing Hands spell is the most important asset for this build, as it is a spell that you can use to heal your followers during combat. 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.

7 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.

For this build, you should head to White Ridge Barrow immediately and craft some spider scrolls. 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.

6 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.

Any race is viable for the Illusionist build; however, High Elves and Bretons are the best choices because of their natural talent with magic. 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.

5 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.

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.

4 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.

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.

3 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. Your destruction magic skills will benefit the most from becoming 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. The best way to use this build is by switching in and out of the Vampire Lord form.

2 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.

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. The storm atronachs are the strongest type of atronach in the game, and once you reach conjuration level 100, you can have two atronachs by your side at all times.

1 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. You can find this ring in the Dragonborn DLC, inside of Kolbjorn Barrow. You must progress through the quest “Unearthed” to receive this powerful ring.

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.

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