Skyrim:Destruction

Skill: Destruction
Specialization: Magic

Destruction magic provides many means of inflicting damage on enemies. Destruction spells use elements (fire, frost, or shock) to damage health; an enemy's magicka and stamina can also be reduced. Increasing this skill reduces magicka cost when casting Destruction spells. Historical information about the School of Destruction is provided in the lore article. The Destruction skill tree has a total of 14 perks, requiring a total of 17 perk points to fill.

In-game Description: The School of Destruction involves the [sic] harnessing the energies of fire, frost and shock. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Fireball, Ice Spike, and Lightning Bolt.

Summary

Destruction is the principal damage-dealing school of magic. Destruction mages can use perks to specialize in one or more of the elements—fire, frost, and shock—gaining the ability to do extra damage. Since some enemies are resistant to particular forms of magic, anyone relying on Destruction is well-advised to learn spells from more than one element, and perhaps to specialize in two or more.

Elements

Fire

• Lowest magicka cost of the three elements.
• Deals only health damage.
• Sets targets on fire, which deals damage over time using a tapering effect.
• Special perk: Intense Flames. Causes enemies below 20% health to run away.

Many inhabitants of Skyrim are weak against fire damage, including trolls and all creatures with "Frost", "Ice", or "Snow" in their name. In some dungeons there are pools of flammable liquid which you can ignite with fire magic, resulting in impressive conflagrations that can wipe out enemies in seconds, particularly at low levels. The Intense Flames perk is of limited use, firstly because humanoid enemies will drop down to their knees when their health is below 10%, and secondly because enemies that do not drop down will run away, forcing you to kill them some other way.

In addition, by casting the Flames and Wall of Flames spells repeatedly in short bursts (exploiting their charge time of 0), you can output the underlying 8 damage hits faster than the baseline of once per second, which will dramatically increase your damage output. If you take the Aspect of Terror perk from the Illusion skill tree', it will make this trick even more devastating, and potentially viable even at high levels, despite being a Novice-level spell, even without Augmented Flames. It should also be noted that even without Aspect of Terror, Flames is the second-most magicka-efficient spell in the base game (after Firebolt), and Aspect of Terror will make it an uncontested first place. This trick also works well when combined with the Slow Time shout. With Dragonborn installed, Ignite is much more magicka-efficient, but will not advance your Destruction skill very quickly. With the Unofficial_Skyrim_Patch installed, Aspect of Terror no longer applies to Fire spells, even with Augmented Flames.

Frost

• Middle magicka cost of the three elements.
• Deals damage to health and stamina (typically the same amount).
• Slows targets by 50% for a few seconds (duration varies).
• Special perk: Deep Freeze. Causes enemies below 20% health to be paralyzed.

Unfortunately, many enemies boast a resistance to Frost damage, and Nords—the most common NPCs in Skyrim—resist it as well. Vampires have a bonus 50% Frost resistance and Nord vampires are completely immune, as are all Dwarven automatons. The Deep Freeze perk is useful, but almost exactly the same effect can be achieved with dual-casting and Impact. The Adept-level area effect missile spell, Ice Storm, is distinct from its counterparts in the other two elements in that it covers an area of effect as the projectile itself travels, instead of just projecting its effect area upon impact. Large swaths can be attacked by rapid-fire tandem casting of Ice Storm.

Usage of any frost attacks against bandits or other primarily melee-based foes shows the utility of the stamina-damage and slow effects, as it can impair their ability to power attack or shield bash, as well as allow you to stay out of their melee range. However, Ice Storm's primary weakness is that, unlike Fireball and Chain Lightning, it has a limited range (though still three times as far as your typical concentration spell), and is also quite slow, making it more difficult to target fast opponents in open areas, particularly since it primarily hurts targets in a straight line.

Shock

• Highest magicka cost of the three elements.
• Deals damage to health and magicka (magicka damage is typically 50% of the health damage).
• Generally shorter range, but projectiles hit instantly.
• Special perk: Disintegrate. Instantly kills enemies below 15% health.

In practice, enemy mages tend to have more magicka than health, which combined with the fact that you deal more health damage than magicka damage might make the magicka damage meaningless. However, skilled mages with the proper magicka reserves will win in a mage-vs-mage duel of attrition. The magicka damage is also effective against dragons who are unable to shout once their magicka pool is depleted. Shock spells have three chief advantages: firstly, there are few enemies that are resistant to shock damage, and in the base game, only storm atronachs and Orchendor have 100% shock resistance, making it equally useful against practically all enemies and allowing you to save perks by specializing in just one element (Dawnguard and Dragonborn add a couple of unique creatures with shock resistance, along with netch, seekers and shock spiders). Secondly, unlike fire and frost, all shock spells hit instantly wherever you're aiming them, making it easier to hit moving targets, though at a reduced range compared to fire and frost spells. Finally, shock gets a specialization perk, Disintegrate, which effectively reduces hit points of all enemies in the game by 15% (though it may cause some looting problems as of patch 1.3, so be careful). This perk is particularly useful when dealing with necromancers, or anything else capable of raising the dead, since it ensures that the disintegrated target cannot be reanimated. At the same time, if you wish to reanimate enemies, you should either avoid this perk or avoid using shock damage on enemies you want to revive.

Spell Types

Across each elemental family, the pattern of spells is consistent:

Type	Level	Fire	Frost	Shock	Effect	Base Damage
Spray	Novice	Flames	Frostbite	Sparks	Short range spell that deals damage as long as you cast	8/s
Missile	Apprentice	Firebolt	Ice Spike	Lightning Bolt	Single-target missile	25
Rune	Apprentice	Fire Rune	Frost Rune	Lightning Rune	Cast on a surface and triggered like a proximity mine	50
Area Missile	Adept	Fireball	Ice Storm	Chain Lightning	Multiple-target missile (projectile behaviors vary specific to which element)	40
Cloak	Adept	Flame Cloak	Frost Cloak	Lightning Cloak	Harms all enemies in melee range	8/s
Heavy Missile	Expert	Incinerate	Icy Spear	Thunderbolt	Single-target missile	60
Wall	Expert	Wall of Flames	Wall of Frost	Wall of Storms	Persistent sprayed-down obstacle that does damage when walked through	20/s
Storm	Master	Fire Storm	Blizzard	Lightning Storm	Constant wide area of effect	varies

Skill Perks

Novice Destruction

Apprentice Destruction

Adept Destruction

Expert Destruction

Master Destruction

Rune Master

Augmented Flames

Intense Flames

Augmented Frost

Deep Freeze

Augmented Shock

Disintegrate

Destruction Dual Casting

Impact

Destruction Perk Tree

Perk	Rank	Description	ID	Skill Req.	Perk Req.
Novice Destruction		Cast Novice level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000f2ca8
Apprentice Destruction		Cast Apprentice level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000c44bf	25 Destruction	Novice Destruction
Adept Destruction		Cast Adept level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000c44c0	50 Destruction	Apprentice Destruction
Expert Destruction		Cast Expert level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000c44c1	75 Destruction	Adept Destruction
Master Destruction		Cast Master level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000c44c2	100 Destruction	Expert Destruction
Rune Master		Can place runes five times farther away.	00105f32	40 Destruction	Apprentice Destruction
Augmented Flames	1	Fire spells do 25% more damage.	000581e7	30 Destruction	Novice Destruction
	2	Fire spells do 50% more damage.	0010fcf8	60 Destruction	Augmented Flames Level 1
Intense Flames		Fire damage causes targets to flee if their health is low (under 20%).	000f392e	50 Destruction	Augmented Flames
Augmented Frost	1	Frost spells do 25% more damage.	000581ea	30 Destruction	Novice Destruction
	2	Frost spells do 50% more damage.	0010fcf9	60 Destruction	Augmented Frost Level 1
Deep Freeze		Frost damage paralyzes targets if their health is low (under 20%).	000f3933	60 Destruction	Augmented Frost
Augmented Shock	1	Shock spells do 25% more damage.	00058200	30 Destruction	Novice Destruction
	2	Shock spells do 50% more damage.	0010fcfa	60 Destruction	Augmented Shock Level 1
Disintegrate		Shock spells disintegrate targets if their health is low (under 15%).	000f3f0e	70 Destruction	Augmented Shock
Destruction Dual Casting		Dual casting a Destruction spell overcharges the effects into an even more powerful version.	000153cf	20 Destruction	Novice Destruction
Impact		Most destruction spells will stagger an opponent when dual cast.	000153d2	40 Destruction	Destruction Dual Casting

†This effect is affected by any Alteration-modifiers, such as the Stability perk.

††Deals an extra 200 damage on any lighting spell when the target is under 15% health.

Spells

	Spell Name (IDs)	Skill Level	Tome	Magicka Base Cost	Skill XP	Description and Effect Details	Where to Get
	Choking GraspCC Spell ID: FExxx85A Tome ID: FExxx869	0 Novice	65	39	39	Absorb 8 points of health per second from target, for 3 seconds. Aimed Absorb Health, 8 points for 3 seconds.	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Elemental FlareCC Spell ID: FExxx850 Tome ID: FExxx862	0 Novice	65	45	22.5	An elemental explosion for 15 points of fire damage, 15 points of shock damage, and half as much damage to stamina. Aimed	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Flames Spell ID: 00012fcd Tome ID: 0009cd51	0 Novice	50	14/s	20/s 14/sDB	A gout of fire that does 8 points per second. Targets on fire take extra damage: Concentration spell Range: 36 feet Speed: 47 fps Flames, 8 pts for 1 sec Sets targets on fire, dealing 1% of the immediate spell damage over 0.1s Intense Flames Fear, 99 pts for 15 secs; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	All players start with this spell Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Nelacar, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB Can be found in Labyrinthian Chasm, Forelhost Refectory, Hag's End, Mzulft Aedrome
	Frostbite Spell ID: 0002b96b Tome ID: 0009cd52	0 Novice	47	16/s	23/s	A blast of cold that does 8 points of damage per second to Health and Stamina: Concentration spell Range: 36 feet Speed: 47 fps Frostbite, 8 pts for 1 sec Slow, 50 pts for 4 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Nelacar, Riverwood Trader, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB Can be found in Labyrinthian Thoroughfare, Mzulft Aedrome, Serpent's Bluff Ruins
	Sparks Spell ID: 0002dd2a Tome ID: 0009cd53	0 Novice	46	19/s	26/s	Lightning that does 8 points of shock damage to Health and Magicka per second: Concentration spell Range: 48 feet Speed: instant Sparks, 8 pts for 1 sec Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Dunmer start with this spell Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Nelacar, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB Can be found in Fellglow Keep, Helgen Keep (during Unbound)
	Elemental BoltCC Spell ID: FExxx85F Tome ID: FExxx863	25 Apprentice	95	62	31	An elemental explosion for 20 points of fire damage, 20 points of shock damage, and half as much damage to stamina. Aimed	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Fire Rune Spell ID: 0005db90 Tome ID: 000a2700	25 Apprentice	90	234	234	Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of fire damage when enemies come near: Cast on ground Fire Rune, 50 pts for 1 sec Sets targets on fire, dealing 10% of the immediate spell damage over 1s	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB
	Firebolt Spell ID: 00012fd0 Tome ID: 000a26fd	25 Apprentice	96	41	41	A blast of fire that does 25 points of damage. Targets on fire take extra damage: Missile Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Firebolt, 25 pts Sets targets on fire, dealing 10% of the immediate spell damage over 1s Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Intense Flames Fear, 99 pts for 15 secs; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB
	FreezeDB Spell ID: xx02732d	25 Apprentice	N/A	30	0	A spike of ice that does 20 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina and slows the target for 15 seconds: Missile Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Freeze, 20 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Slow, 50 pts for 15 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Only available with Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana equipped. Only available with the Dragonborn add-on
	Frost Rune Spell ID: 0006796f Tome ID: 000a2701	25 Apprentice	92	293	293	Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of frost damage when enemies come near: Cast on ground Frost Rune, 50 pts for 1 sec	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB
	Ice Spike Spell ID: 0002b96c Tome ID: 000a26fe	25 Apprentice	96	48	48	A spike of ice that does 25 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina: Missile Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Ice Spike, 25 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Slow, 50 pts for 3 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB Can be found in Raven Rock MineDB
	IgniteDB Spell ID: xx02732b	25 Apprentice	N/A	30	7	A blast of flame that sets targets on fire, doing 4 damage per second for 15 seconds: Missile Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Ignite, 4 pts for 15 secs Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Intense Flames Fear, 0.25 pts; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Only available with Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana equipped. Only available with the Dragonborn add-on
	Lightning Bolt Spell ID: 0002dd29 Tome ID: 000a26ff	25 Apprentice	95	51	51	A bolt of lightning that does 25 points of shock damage to Health and half that to Magicka: Missile Range: 141 feet Speed: instant Lightning Bolt, 25 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB
	Lightning Rune Spell ID: 00067970 Tome ID: 000a2702	25 Apprentice	93	323	323	Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of shock damage when enemies come near: Cast on ground Shock Rune, 50 pts for 1 sec	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB
	StrangulationCC Spell ID: FExxx859 Tome ID: FExxx86A	25 Apprentice	95	84	84	Absorb 16 points of health per second from target, for 3 seconds. Aimed Absorb Health, 16 points for 3 seconds.	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Chain Lightning Spell ID: 00045f9d Tome ID: 000a2708	50 Adept	390	156	78	Lightning bolt that does 40 points of shock damage to Health and half to Magicka, then leaps to a new target: Missile (instant impact) Range: 141 feet Speed: instant Chain Lightning, 40 pts in 20 ft Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec in 20 ft; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas FathryonDB
	Elemental BurstCC Spell ID: FExxx85B Tome ID: FExxx864	50 Adept	350	96	48	An elemental explosion for 30 points of fire damage, 30 points of shock damage, and half as much damage to stamina. Aimed	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Fireball Spell ID: 0001c789 Tome ID: 000a2706	50 Adept	345	133	66	A fiery explosion for 40 points of damage in a 15 foot radius. Targets on fire take extra damage: Missile, explosive Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Explosion radius: 15 feet Fireball, 40 pts in 15 ft Sets targets on fire, dealing 20% of the immediate spell damage over 2s Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Intense Flames Rout, 99 pts for 15 secs in 15 ft; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas FathryonDB
	Flame Cloak Spell ID: 0003ae9f Tome ID: 000a2703	50 Adept	325	289	0	For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range take 8 points fire damage per second. Targets on fire take extra damage: Cast on self Flame Cloak, 8 pts in 10 ft for 60 secs Sets targets on fire, dealing 20% of the immediate spell damage over 2s	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas FathryonDB Can be found on the shoreline east of Dawnstar, next to Yisra's corpse
	Frost Cloak Spell ID: 0003aea2 Tome ID: 000a2704	50 Adept	340	316	0	For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range take 8 points frost damage and Stamina damage per second: Cast on self Frost Cloak, 8 pts in 10 ft for 60 secs	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas FathryonDB
	Hangman's NooseCC Spell ID: FExxx858 Tome ID: FExxx86B	50 Adept	350	143	143	Absorb 26 points of health per second from target, for 3 seconds. Aimed Absorb Health, 26 points for 3 seconds.	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Ice Storm Spell ID: 00045f9c Tome ID: 000a2707	50 Adept	360	144	72	A freezing whirlwind that does 40 points of frost damage per second to Health and Stamina: Missile (area of effect while traveling) Range: 96 feet Speed: 24 fps Ice Storm, 40 pts in 15 ft Slow, 50 pts for 5 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs in 15 ft; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas FathryonDB
	Lightning Cloak Spell ID: 0003aea3 Tome ID: 000a2705	50 Adept	355	370	0	For 60 seconds nearby opponents take 8 points of shock damage and half magicka damage: Cast on self Shock Cloak, 8 pts in 10 ft for 60 secs	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas FathryonDB
	Whirlwind CloakDB Spell ID: xx01772d Tome ID: xx0177ad	50 Adept	395	338	0	For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range have a chance of being flung away: Cast on self Whirlwind Cloak, 10 pts for 60 secs	Can be purchased from Talvas Fathryon after completing the quest Wind and Sand. Only available with the Dragonborn add-on
	Elemental BlastCC Spell ID: FExxx856 Tome ID: FExxx865	75 Expert	650	144	72	An elemental explosion for 40 points of fire damage, 40 points of shock damage, and half as much damage to stamina. Aimed	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Icy Spear Spell ID: 0010f7ec Tome ID: 0010f7f3	75 Expert	725	320	320	A spear of ice that does 60 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina: Missile Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Icy Spear, 60 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Slow, 50 pts for 3 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB
	Incinerate Spell ID: 0010f7ed Tome ID: 0010f7f4	75 Expert	710	298	298	A blast of fire that does 60 points of damage. Targets on fire take extra damage: Missile Range: 469 feet Incinerate, 60 pts Sets targets on fire, dealing 10% of the immediate spell damage over 1s Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Intense Flames Fear, 99 pts for 15 secs; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB
	Mara's WrathCC Spell ID: FExxx855 Tome ID: FExxx868	75 Expert	650	329	0	For 30 seconds, opponents in melee range take 16 points fire damage per second. Undead up to level 26 flee for 30 seconds. Swim unharmed in freezing cold water. Cast on self Mara's Wrath, determines that damage is dealt in 15 feet per second for 30 seconds; extends the duration of the cloak visual effect for an additional 2 seconds. Flames (FExxx854; ccBGSSSE014_MarasWrath_FlameCloakDmg) Flames, deals 16 points of fire damage for 1 second; hostile targets receive a burning effect that lingers, dealing an additional 0.16 fire damage for 0.1 seconds. Turn Undead Fear, demoralizes undead targets up to level 15 for 30 seconds. Intense Flames Fear, demoralizes targets up to level 15 for 15 seconds; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked. Resist Freezing Water, grants resistance to freezing cold water for 32 seconds.	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Thunderbolt Spell ID: 0010f7ee Tome ID: 0010f7f5	75 Expert	750	343	343	A Thunderbolt that does 60 points of shock damage to Health and half that to Magicka: Missile Range: 188 feet Speed: instant Thunderbolt, 60 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB
	Touch of DeathCC Spell ID: FExxx857 Tome ID: FExxx86C	75 Expert	650	316	316	Absorb 40 points of health per second from target, for 4 seconds. Aimed Absorb Health, 40 points for 4 seconds.	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Unbounded FlamesCC Spell ID: FExxx80E Tome ID: FExxx815	75 Expert	950	78/s	78/s	Casts a stream of long-distance fireballs in an arc. Impact creates a wall of fire that does 50 points of fire damage per second. Concentration Unbounded Flames, deals 8 points of fire damage for 1 second in 6 feet; targets receive a burning effect that lingers, dealing an additional 2.67 points of fire damage for 2 seconds. Fire (0008F3EE; FireBarrierHazard) or Fire (000590FB; FireBarrierHazardDrop), determines that damage is dealt in 3 feet for 30 seconds. Fire (0008F3F1; HazardWallofFireSpell). (Note that this is a separate spell linked with the above hazards, which allows for the grouping of the following effect.) Fire hazard, deals 20 points of fire damage for 1 second; targets receive a burning effect that lingers, dealing an additional 0.67 points of fire damage for 1 second. Intense Flames Fear, demoralizes targets up to level 99, with health below 20%, for 15 seconds; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked.	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Faralda (only after Destruction Ritual Spell has been completed) Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Unbounded FreezingCC Spell ID: FExxx80D Tome ID: FExxx816	75 Expert	950	69/s	69/s	A freezing wind envelops the caster, knocking down nearby enemies and freezing them for 50 points of damage per second to Health and Stamina. Constant cast on self Unbounded Freeze, determines that damage is dealt and targets are knocked down in 15 feet. Frost Cloak Freeze (FExxx825; ccBGSSSE014_FrostCloakDmg). Unbounded Frostbite, deals 50 points of Frost Damage to the Health and Stamina of targets for 1 second. Deep Freeze Paralyze, paralyzes targets (with Health below 20%) for 2 seconds; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked. Silent Empty Area Push explosion (FExxx81A; ccBGSSSE014_SilentEmptyAreaPush), knocks down targets. Unbounded Freeze, paralyzes targets in 12 feet.	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Faralda (only after Destruction Ritual Spell has been completed) Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Unbounded StormsCC Spell ID: FExxx808 Tome ID: FExxx817	75 Expert	950	69/s	69/s	Targets in melee range take 40 shock damage per second to Health, and half that to Magicka. Random lightning strikes deal an additional 30 damage. Constant cast on self Unbounded Storms, determines that damage is dealt to nearby targets Lightning Cloak Drain (FExxx824; ccBGSSSE014_LightningCloakDmg) Sparks, deals 40 points of Shock Damage to Health and Magicka per second. Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked Storm Lightning, randomly casts lightning bolts at nearby targets Storm Call Lightning Bolt (FExxx808; ccBGSSSE014_ShockBoltSpell) Shock Bolt Storm, 30 pts	Can be found in Hob's Fall Cave during The Lost Library quest. Can be purchased from: Faralda (only after Destruction Ritual Spell has been completed) Only available with the Arcane Accessories creation.
	Wall of Flames Spell ID: 00035d7f Tome ID: 000a2709	75 Expert	680	118/s	118/s	Sprayed on the ground, it creates a wall of fire that does 50 points of fire damage per second: Constant cast on ground (each impact lasts for several seconds) Fire Barrier, 8 pts for 1 sec on targets hit directly Sets targets on fire, dealing 33% of the immediate spell damage over 2s Intense Flames Fear, 99 pts for 15 secs; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked Fire (HazardWallofFireSpell), 20 damage every 1 second and tapers for another. The hazard effect lasts for 30 seconds on the ground	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB
	Wall of Frost Spell ID: 00035d80 Tome ID: 000a270a	75 Expert	700	137/s	137/s	Sprayed on the ground, it creates a wall of frost that does 50 points of frost damage per second: Constant cast on ground (each impact lasts for several seconds) Frost Barrier, 8 points for 1 second on targets hit directly. Slow, 50 points for 5 seconds. Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs, if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked. Frost (HazardWallofFrostSpell), 20 damage every 1 second, Slows enemy for 5 seconds. The hazard effect lasts for 30 seconds on the ground.	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB
	Wall of Storms Spell ID: 00035d81 Tome ID: 000a270b	75 Expert	725	145/s	145/s	Sprayed on the ground, it creates a wall of lightning that does 50 points of shock damage per second: Constant cast on ground (each impact lasts for several seconds) Wall of Storms, 8 pts for 1 sec on targets hit directly Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked Shock (HazardWallofShockSpell), 20 shock damage every 1 second. The hazard effect lasts for 30 seconds on the ground	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas FathryonDB
	Blizzard Spell ID: 0007e8e4 Tome ID: 000a270d	100 Master	1350	1106	1106	Targets take 20 points of frost damage for 10 seconds, plus Stamina damage: Cast on self Blizzard, 20 pts for 10 secs in 40 ft On Ice Paralyze, for 3 secs in 40 ft; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Faralda (only after Destruction Ritual Spell has been completed)
	Fire Storm Spell ID: 0007a82b Tome ID: 000a270c	100 Master	1290	1426	1426	A 100 point fiery explosion centered on the caster. Does more damage to closer targets: Cast on self; large area of effect Fire Storm 100, 100 pts in 100 ft Sets targets on fire, dealing 40% of the immediate spell damage over 4s. Fire Storm 65, 75 pts in 65 ft Fire Storm 25, 50 pts in 25 ft It Burns Hysteria, 99 pts for 7 secs in 100 ft; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Reward for quest Destruction Ritual Spell
	Lightning Storm Spell ID: 0007e8e5 Tome ID: 000a270e	100 Master	1400	138/s	0	Target takes 75 points of shock damage per second to Health, and half that to Magicka: Cast then constant; no impact Lightning Storm, 75 pts for 1 sec Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; regardless of whether or not the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Faralda (only after Destruction Ritual Spell has been completed)
	Arniel's Convection Spell ID: 0006a104	N/A	N/A	1/s	1/s	Burns the target 1 points per second. Targets on fire take extra damage. Flames, 1 pt for 1 sec Specifically intended to be used for heating Dwarven Convectors in the related quest	Not available for purchase Given to you by Arniel Gane during the quest Arniel's Endeavor
	Vampiric Drain Spell IDs: 0008d5bf, 0008d5c0, 0008d5c1, 0008d5c2	N/A	N/A	6/s 10/s 13/s 17/s	6/s 10/s 13/s 17/s	Absorb <mag> points of health per second from the target Drain Health, <mag> pts for 1 sec <mag> is 2, 3, 4, or 5, depending upon your level of vampirism	Not available for purchase Spell is automatically added when you become a vampire

Spell List Notes

• The base cost for spells is the amount of magicka that would be necessary to cast the spell at 0 skill without any perks. The magicka cost at 100 skill is 41% less than the base cost; the cost can also be reduced via enchanted apparel and by unlocking various perks. See Spell Cost for the full magicka cost equation.
• Skill level indicates which skill perk needs to be unlocked to decrease the spell's magicka cost. "N/A" is used for special spells whose cost is not affected by any perks.
• The "Where to Get" column only lists guaranteed locations for obtaining the spell tomes. Most spell tomes are also available in random loot; see Spell Tome Locations and the table below for details.
• For higher-level spell tomes to become available for purchase, your skill in the school must be high enough (see the table below). Also, master-level spell tomes can only be acquired once that school's ritual spell quest has been completed.
• All spell tomes have a weight of 1.
• Skill XP can be modified by scripts and by the game engine itself under various circumstances. The exact XP you receive may vary from the numbers listed here.
• Magicka cost and skill XP are rounded down, both in game and on this page. Because of this, you may find that you cannot cast a spell even though it appears you have exactly enough magicka to do so.

Tomes by Level

Spell Level	Skill Level	Character Level, Boss Chest	Character Level, Random Chest
Novice	0	1	1
Apprentice	0	11	10
Adept	40	23	-
Expert	65	35	-
Master	0/90	-	-

†Master level spell tomes require the appropriate ritual spell quest to be completed to be sold; while the quests have a skill level requirement of 90 to initiate, if you have completed the quest and reset the skill by making it legendary, the spell tome should still be available for sale.

Magical Effects

The following individual effects are all considered to be part of the school of Destruction (see the individual effect pages for full details on availability; the Magical Effects article also provides a summary):

• Fire Damage
• Frost Damage
• Shock Damage
• Whirlwind Cloak ^DB

Skill Usage

Be aware that increasing your Destruction skill level decreases the casting cost, but does not increase the spell damage. To keep using Destruction magic effectively against tougher opponents, you will need to learn stronger spells, pick the damage increasing perks, or use potions of Fortify Destruction.

Shock spells reach their target nearly instantaneously, much faster than the other elements, so you do not have to lead your shot when targeting moving opponents.

Rune spells can only be placed close to the caster, and the continuous-damage Novice-level spells Flames, Sparks, and Frostbite have a very limited range. However, the range of Rune spells can be improved with the Rune Master perk.

It is best to use Rune spells in close quarters or tight entrances, and is especially useful for those that mix stealth and magic. They are also useful for triggering draugr that are hidden in crypts. What's more, if you have the Rune Master perk, runes can be used as an instantaneous mid-range attack.

Use the various cloak spells when battling multiple enemies, as any nearby opponent that you are not focusing on will still take damage. Be aware, however, that cloak spells will only level your Destruction skill on a per cast basis, not a per damage basis.

When facing a difficult opponent with high health, such as a dragon priest, it is often helpful to make use of the dual-casting Impact perk. This effectively allows you to stagger-lock the opponent, preventing them from retaliating. Larger opponents like dragons and Dwarven Centurions can only be staggered if you have the Augmented perk that corresponds to your spell (for example, Augmented Fire for Firebolt).

Note that the Dual Casting perk is magicka inefficient, as it means only 10% damage increase for 40% higher magicka cost. Unless you have a lot of magicka or a lot of casting-cost-reducing gear, it is more efficient to cast two normal spells with both hands (you can still cast two single-cast spells after acquiring the perk by activating one hand then the other in rapid succession, rather than activating both hands simultaneously for the dual-cast version). However, dual casting has two advantages that, situation depending, may outweigh the additional cost: the DPS of dual casting is higher, and the Impact perk provides a guaranteed stagger, depending on the spell. The stagger effect has no effect if the target is already staggering, thus a good balance between efficient damage and shutdown of the target is to alternate a dual-cast with two quick double casts. Impact does not work with constant 'stream' spells (Flames, Frostbite), Novice-level spells, the Wall-type Expert spells, or Master-level spells.

Note that any spells that require preparation time to be cast stop your magicka from regenerating for the duration of the charge up until the spell is cast. This means that both preparing and holding spells, and casting spells in rapid succession reduce the amount of time available for magicka regeneration, and make sustained casting difficult. In order to maximize natural magicka regeneration while in combat, it's best to minimize any time spent "waiting" to cast a fully-charged spell.

When using Fireball or Chain Lightning, it is better to aim at the ground or wall near the target than at the target itself. There is no proximity falloff to damage in the area of effect, and the wall or ground near a moving target is far easier to hit than the target itself. Use those spells (and Ice Storm as well) to attack areas, not specific targets.

Skill Increases

Character Creation

The following races have an initial skill bonus to Destruction:

• +10 bonus: Dunmer
• +5 bonus: Altmer, Imperial, Redguard

Trainers

• Wuunferth the Unliving in Windhelm (Common)
• Sybille Stentor in Solitude (Expert)
• Faralda in the College of Winterhold (Master)

Skill Books

• The Art of War Magic
• Horror of Castle Xyr
• A Hypothetical Treachery
• Mystery of Talara, v3
• Response to Bero's Speech

Free Skill Boosts

• +1 Destruction reward (and other magic skills) from Pantea Ateia (Bards College) for completing the quest Pantea's Flute.
• +5 Destruction (+5 every magic skill) by selecting "The Path of Magic" when reading the Oghma Infinium after completing the quest Discerning the Transmundane.

Gaining Skill XP

• Unlike any other skill, Destruction XP is reduced on higher difficulties. On Legendary difficulty, XP gain is reduced by 75%. However, XP gain maxes out on Adept difficulty, and does not increase further on lower settings. To maximize XP gain, play on Adept difficulty, to avoid XP reduction, while leaving enemies the most HP possible to allow for more spell castings.
• The XP gain for Destruction skill is otherwise dependent on the base magicka cost of the spell, and is unaffected by any damage boosts such as potions or perks.
• Dual Casting does not give extra XP, and only gives the same XP as a one-handed casting. To maximize leveling speed, avoid dual casting whenever possible.
• To level Destruction, you must cast a spell on a valid target. This can be exploited by casting the spells on essential targets that will not turn hostile. Some of these targets include Shadowmere, Hadvar or Ralof during Unbound, the Riekling Chief during The Chief of Thirsk Hall^DB, Esbern before A Cornered Rat, Paarthurnax before starting his quest, M'aiq the Liar, Ancano before the conclusion of Revealing the Unseen, and conjured creatures.
  • Note that the target in question must actually sustain damage for it to count. For this reason, casting spells on invincible targets such as Children and Brynjolf will not level your skill.
• Regenerate Magicka effects help reduce downtimes while training.
• It is possible to reduce or even completely eliminate the magicka cost of spells by stacking Fortify Destruction enchanting effects. The Secret of Arcana^DB power does the same thing, but only for 30 seconds.
  • The Secret of Arcana power can be exploited using concentration spells, as the spell will continue to cost 0 so long as spell is uninterrupted.
• Casting Blizzard will increase Destruction Skill even if there is no opponent. Since the spell does a small amount of damage to you, this appears to count as a valid opponent. Although you can only obtain Blizzard at skill level 100, if you subsequently make your Destruction skill legendary, you can then use Blizzard to level it.
• Rune spells will also quickly increase your Destruction skill, provided an enemy triggers them.
• Adept-level spells are particularly bad for leveling against single targets, as they give half the XP/Magicka of other spells. Unless hitting multiple targets at once, Apprentice-level spells may level Destruction more rapidly.
• Repeatedly re-equipping Fortify Magicka equipment is a quick and easy way to power destruction spells. When unequipped, the player's magicka reserves will bottom out at zero, and then be re-fortified up by the enchantment amount when equipped, allowed for instant casting. Favoriting the Novice Hood found in Helgen is a particularly convenient way of doing this.

Notes

• Projectile spells shoot at 1 spell per second (2 if dual cast), much faster than even the fastest bow with the Quick Shot perk.
• Destruction Dual Casting enables you to cast a 220% strength version of the spell at 280% of normal cost when simultaneously casting the same spell from both hands.
• Rune spells can be used to draw draugr out of their sarcophagi. Even "at rest," they will set off nearby runes and take damage from them. This is useful in barrows with large numbers of draugr, as it allows you to take them on one at a time. Furthermore, since Wall of Flames does not wake enclosed draugr, it can be applied around or in front of a sarcophagus before awakening the draugr within, resulting in nearly instant kills as they emerge. J'zargo's Flame Cloak Scrolls will also draw out draugr as the Rune Spell.
• Ice Storm can travel through walls or other obstructions and damage unseen foes.
• With a high enough skill level in Destruction, passing guards may say, "Destruction magic's fine; just don't go burning down any buildings".
• If the Impact perk is taken, Ice Storm will stagger all foes within its area of effect when dual cast, unlike Fireball and Chain Lightning, which will only stagger the target they hit directly.
• Apprentice-level Destruction spells are better than Expert-level in terms of damage per magicka cost.
• Area effect spells such as Fireball, Ice Storm and Chain Lighting can damage more than one target, allowing you to destroy groups of enemies more quickly than with single-target spells.

Bugs

• With the Disintegrate perk, if Lightning spells are used as a finishing blow to kill a dragon, the dragon's soul may not be absorbed.
  • The Official Skyrim Patch fixes this bug.
• The Cloak spells will dismiss summoned creatures because they are programmed to dispel any spell with the "that spell looks dangerous" flag. This was meant to dispel an existing cloak, but also affects other spells.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.0, fixes this bug.
• Many effects are not correctly affected by the Augmented Flames, Augmented Frost, and Augmented Shock perks. These perks rely upon the MagicDamageFire, MagicDamageFrost, and MagicDamageShock keywords to identify which magic effects should be enhanced by the perks, however many spell effects are missing those keywords—specifically, all Rune and Cloak spells.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.0, fixes this bug.
  • Conversely, all Damage Stamina enchantments are affected by the Augmented Flames perk.
    Mod Notes: EnchStaminaDamageFFContact incorrectly has MagicDamageFire applied.
• The Deep Freeze, Intense Flames, and Disintegrate perks will cause your cloak spells to kill followers who are in bleedout.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2.3, fixes this bug.
• If you kill anything with a frost spell, have the Deep Freeze perk, and try to reanimate them, they will just walk in place and do nothing.
• If you jump up and down repeatedly in a forge, you will be set on fire, which will slowly increase your Destruction skill. This does not work with special forges like the Skyforge or with similar natural hazards.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2, addresses this issue. This no longer gives you Destruction experience.
• If you have the Disintegrate perk and use Lightning spells to kill enemy soldiers during the Civil War battles where they continuously respawn, the respawned enemy soldiers may be invisible. This is due to the way the quest respawns dead soldiers for additional waves; disintegrated soldiers respawn still disintegrated.
• The Wall spells do a direct damage of 8/sec and 20/sec to anything that touches them. At no point do they do the 50/sec stated in the spell description.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 2.0.7, fixes this bug. (details)
• The description of all Cloak and Wall spells does not reflect damage increases given from the Augmented Flames/Frost/Shock perks nor from Fortify Destruction potions. ^?
• Although cloak spells aren't supposed to grant any skill XP, they actually do, albeit very, very slowly. The number of enemies hit by the effects of the spells increases the Xp gained, though this gain is also very small. ^?