Skyrim Illusion Guide: All Spells, Perks, and How to Level

Skyrim‘s Illusion spells have a huge variety of uses in combat and otherwise, from bending creatures to your will to shrouding yourself in magicks for protection. This guide will go over how to learn Illusion spells in Skyrim and highlight why you may want to learn this powerful magic.

How to Learn Illusion Spells in Skyrim

Illusion spells in Skyrim are primarily learned by reading tomes, which are purchased from vendors. We suggest visiting Drevis Neloren, the Master Illusion trainer in the College of Winterhold as he has most of the magic abilities that you need.

However, there are certain requirements, too. For instance, some books can only be purchased as you get closer to a particular Illusion skill level (i.e., you probably won’t see spell tomes like Rally or Invisibility if you’ve got a very low Illusion skill).

Others, meanwhile, are directly related to Vampirism, which means you need to follow those particular quest chains and instances to obtain a spell.

Skyrim Illusion Spells and Levels

Novice Level 

The tomes are available by default. You can purchase these from vendors like Drevis Neloren in the College of Winterhold or Farengar Secret-Fire in Whiterun – Dragonsreach:

• Clairvoyance – Shows the path to the current goal (i.e., tracked quests).
• Courage – The target won’t flee for 60 seconds; gains extra health and stamina.
• Fury – Creatures up to level 6 will attack anything nearby for 60 seconds.

Apprentice Level

These spell tomes, barring one example, can be purchased from various vendors, including Drevis Neloren. Ideally, though, you’ll want to rank up a bit if you don’t see them in their wares:

• Calm – Creatures up to level 9 won’t fight for 30 seconds.
• Fear – Creatures up to level 9 will flee from combat for 30 seconds.
• Muffle – Move more quietly for 180 seconds.
• *Vampire’s Seduction – Calms creatures up to level 10 for 30 seconds. This is only acquired once you reach the second stage of Vampirism.

Adept Level

Increase your Illusion skill further to see these:

• Frenzy – Creatures up to level 14 will attack anyone nearby for 60 seconds; can be purchased from Drevis Neloren.
• Rally – Targets won’t flee for 60 seconds; gain extra health and stamina; can be purchased from Drevis Neloren.
• Frenzy Rune – Creatures up to level 20 will attack anyone nearby for 30 seconds; can be purchased from Talvas Fathryon in Soltsheim – Tel Mithryn.

Expert Level

Drevis Neloren should be your main source for these particular tomes:

• Rout – Creatures up to level 20 flee from combat for 30 seconds; requires at least Illusion 60.
• Pacify – Creatures up to level 20 won’t fight for 60 seconds; requires at least Illusion 65.
• Invisibility – You become invisible for 30 seconds; activating an object or attacking will break the spell; requires at least Illusion 75.

Master Illusion Spells

These Illusion spells in Skyrim can only be obtained from Drevis Neloren once you’ve hit Illusion 100. At this point, Drevis Neloren will give you the “Illusion Ritual Spell” quest. Completing that lets you purchase the spells directly.

• Call to Arms – Targets have improved combat skills, health, and stamina for 10 minutes.
• Harmony – Creatures up to level 25 nearby won’t fight for 60 seconds.
• Hysteria – Creatures up to level 25 flee from combat for 60 seconds.
• Mayhem – Creatures up to level 25 will attack anyone nearby for 60 seconds.

Skyrim Illusion Perks

These are the Illusion perks available by default in Skyrim. However, we encourage you to try the Ordinator – Perks of Skyrim mod made by Enai Siaion. It adds more perks to various skills, making the leveling process and combat casting more engaging.

• Novice Illusion (no requirement) – Cast Novice-level Illusion spells for half magicka.
• Illusion Dual Casting (requires Illusion 20 and Novice Illusion) – Dual casting an Illusion spell overcharges the default effect into a more powerful version. This means selecting the same spell for both your left and right hands, then simultaneously using left-click and right-click to fire that empowered spell.
• Left branch (mana cost reduction):
  • Apprentice Illusion (requires Illusion 25 and Novice Illusion) – Cast Apprentice-level Illusion spells for half magicka.
  • Adept Illusion (requires Illusion 50 and Apprentice Illusion) – Cast Adept-level Illusion spells for half magicka.
  • Expert Illusion (requires Illusion 75 and Adept Illusion) – Cast Expert-level Illusion spells for half magicka.
  • Master Illusion (requires Illusion 100 and Expert Illusion) – Cast Master-level Illusion spells for half magicka.
• Middle branch (boosted effects for each type of spell):
  • Hypnotic Gaze (requires Illusion 30 and Novice Illusion) – Calm spells now work on higher-level opponents.
  • Aspect of Terror (requires Illusion 50 and Hypnotic Gaze) – Fear spells now work on higher-level opponents.
  • Rage (requires Illusion 70 and Aspect of Terror) – Frenzy spells now work on higher-level opponents.
• Right branch (effects can work on additional types of enemies):
  • Animage (requires Illusion 20 and Novice Illusion) – Illusion spells now work on higher-level animals.
  • Kindred Mage (requires Illusion 40 and Animage) – All Illusion spells work on higher-level people.
  • Quiet Casting (requires Illusion 50 and Kindred Mage) – All spells cast from any school of magic are silent to others. This allows you to use Sneak and, if no one else can see you, cast a spell on a target. Because the spell is considered silent, you won’t be automatically revealed.
  • Master of the Mind (requires Illusion 90, as well as both Rage and Quiet Casting) – Illusion spells work on undead, daedra, and automatons/golems.

Illusion Skill Leveling

One of the fastest ways to level the Illusion skill in Skyrim is by helping the Master Illusion trainer, Drevis Neloren. If you ask him about certain tasks, he’ll give you the Mystic Tuning Gloves for a miscellaneous quest.

The objective here is to cleanse the fonts in the College of Winterhold while you have the Mystic Tuning Gloves equipped. Once you cleanse the first one, you’ll receive a +100% magicka regeneration buff.

Make the most out of this since it lasts for two hours in real-time, and cast low-level spells like Muffle to increase your Illusion skill.

Related Guides

• Skyrim Ill Met by Moonlight Guide
• Skyrim Potion and Poison Recipes
• How to Build and Buy Houses in Skyrim
• How to Find Invisible Chests in Skyrim
• Skyrim Enchanting Guide

That’s it for our Skyrim Illusion magic guide. If you found it helpful, check out some of our other Skyrim guides here on GameSkinny.