Illusion and Alteration: 2 Schools that are a Joke

[Natrilis]

Seriously... I've heard people say these two are good schools, but come on? Arguably, alteration has only 1 good group of spells-the flesh spells. And illusion, clairvoyance is all i need. I have no use for either of them, and IMO, they are worthless. Prove me wrong. I dare you. I'd love to be put down, but seriously, what is the point? I'm ready.

 

[kirak95197]

Alteration is where Candlelight is isn't it? I use that often, only spell I have for it though.

I don't use Illusion at all, and I'm a mage.

 

[Oren74]

Have to agree...only spell I used was the line that boosts your armor. And seeing how most of the time I die it's because of magic damage, makes the spell worthless. One of the reasons I retired my mage.

 

[M'aiqaelF]

Illusion could be useful for thieves/assassins but I think the sneak perk tree is better for stealth
Alteration is useful for mages and that's about it

 

[Couthful]

I agree Illusion is kind of useless because there is no need for crowd control in Skyrim. Rarely are there ever 3 enemies attacking at once and even still they can usually be dispatched easily. If one chooses to go this path exclusively it can be fun though. Same goes for Muffle and Invisibility, nice to use but not really needed at all.

I disagree about Alteration, the PERKS are where its benefits come from and in addition to this its the only defensive option for those who use cloth instead of armor. Mage types have a tougher time against magic since they have no armor points so obviously the flesh spells but also the magic resistance come in handy. These "passive" bonuses help in another way with Enchanting being that casters need Fortify <school> but they ALSO need magicka points and/or regen to last more than one battle without resting. A melee character doesn't really need Stamina points or regen on gear to be effective in more than one consecutive fight. I suppose Alteration would be the cloth wears equivalent of Light Armor or Heavy Amor tree.

Keep in mind they are mostly meant as support magicka.

 

[The Barefoot Nord]

So as a budding Level 1 Mage, should I bother with one handed perks or just focus on teh Restoration and Destruction trees? Never used magic for much so have ignored those posts up to now.

 

[M'aiqaelF]

I just started a new character that is a mage and I put 1 perk into 1H and 1 perk into heavy armor just for protection until I can level up my magic.

 

[Pete]

I found a transmute alteration spell that's great. Turns iron ore into silver ore, turns silver ore into gold ore. Along with a pick to mine it, a little bit of gold smithing, and I'm never, ever poor.

Being a werewolf, i don't like silver

 

[Couthful]

So as a budding Level 1 Mage, should I bother with one handed perks or just focus on teh Restoration and Destruction trees? Never used magic for much so have ignored those posts up to now.

I found that its harder at the start as a pure magic user since you run out of mana so fast. The mana cost to damage done ratio is just not good dare I say its terrible until you put a perk into Destruction. I hate to waste perks so I wouldn't take something just to make the starting levels easier, besides at that level unperked melee attacks will be just fine while mixed with Destruction.

 

[Gore gro-Gijakudob]

Clairvoyance can be very useful if like me you don't fast travel, Candlelight is underrated as I have used it to draw pesky magic users to me, and transmute alteration is possibly my favorite spell in the game.

 

[Blackst0rm]

I just powerleveled both of those schools to 100, played with mass paralysis a few times. Other then that I dont use them.

 

[Gore gro-Gijakudob]

Couthful, it's the same for a warrior at early levels, it's tough. Stamina is gone in no time, tactics are important but they don't tell you those on the loading screens, which is great.

 

[Ironclad]

Illusion could be a greater magic, imagine if you could mirror yourself once or twice so the enemy didn't know which image to attack!
Candlelight is useful at times, magelight is utter pants.

 

[Gore gro-Gijakudob]

It is useful in breezehome when your candles go out and you just can't be arsed to get up.

 

[MushroomGenius]

Illusion could be a greater magic, imagine if you could mirror yourself once or twice so the enemy didn't know which image to attack!

There are a couple Draugrs that can do this...

 

[iLouis]

Seriously... I've heard people say these two are good schools, but come on? Arguably, alteration has only 1 good group of spells-the flesh spells. And illusion, clairvoyance is all i need. I have no use for either of them, and IMO, they are worthless. Prove me wrong. I dare you. I'd love to be put down, but seriously, what is the point? I'm ready.

I couldn't disagree more. Paralyze, an alteration spell, is sooo OP. Invisibility is another great Illusion spell. Calm spells are great too.

 

[MushroomGenius]

Your view of the usefulness or worthlessness of this school's skills and perk tree are dependent on how you choose to play Skyrim. There are so many different ways to achieving the end (if you so choose) of this game, that to completely discredit the usefulness of these skills and perk trees only show narrow mindedness... now cooking on the other hand....

(Elsweyr Fondue notwithstanding)​

 

[Niflheimr]

Illusion is useless. Alteration is not. Candlelight and Magelight are useful. (And the Flesh/armor ones too)

 

[MushroomGenius]

Illusion is useless. Alteration is not. Candlelight and Magelight are useful. (And the Flesh/armor ones too)

I dunno, I find the Invisibility spell along with the Quiet Casting perk quite useful on my Thief-type.

 

[Professor Skalvar]

Once I casted a Paralyze spell on a Giant while I had a Dremora Lord out there fighting for me. I have to say, I was screaming like a little school girl on the inside when it fell. So that along with the Dragonhide spell(80% damage resistance) pretty much gives me enough reason to say Alteration is useful. Also, I would like to make a case for Illusion not being useless since a number of you happen to think it is. Illusion is GREAT for stealth characters! Why? Well, I'll give you several reasons. Frenzy spells are great when you feel like you can't handle the huge crowd on your own. Now when will you need to cast this? Most likely it is useful in Forsworn camps and in forts that are occupied by bandits. Also, Muffle and Invisibility are perfect for sneaking by if you don't wish to sneak. Or if you want to sneak anyway, Muffle alone works very well with Sneak as it eliminates any possible sound you could make while sneaking, helping the Sneak skill level up. Not to mention you can take the silent casting perk, which makes for a perfect stealth/mage hybrid. The perk itself applies to ALL schools of magic! Also, the Calm spell is a great way to stop a fight that you don't think will win. Not only will your target stop attacking momentarily, you have time to run as far as possible if you don't want to risk your life. Hell, you could accompany this method with Invisibility. The Fury/Frenzy spells can be very useful in this odd situation I like to get myself into. Since I use Conjuration a lot and have plenty of empty soul gems, I find random animals that have Petty Souls. Once I cast a Fury spell, I can use Soul Trap and then summon an Atronach so that I can get a filled soul gem. I can substitute this method with Paralyze. However, I would have to revert to using Bound Sword, which is fine for me. So really, both schools are useful for multiple situations