Restoration (Skyrim)

''The School of Restoration involves control over life forces. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Healing, Turn Undead, and magical Wards.'' "I've a lot of respect for the Restoration School. Skyrim could use more healers."

- Guard

Restoration is a skill in and is one of the six skills that falls under The Mage play-style.

Description
Skill experience is gained by healing when hurt and blocking damage with wards (if you are at full health or are not absorbing damage with wards, your skill will not raise). These spells will identify themselves as Restoration spells and will generally focus on healing and protection.

A highly useful school of magic for any adventurer, a wide variety of characters (especially the weapon master and berserker archetypes of the warrior skill set) can find themselves using these spells for survival. Since Skyrim does not feature custom spell creation, Restoration spells are learned from Spell Tomes found in dungeons or purchased from specific merchants.

Books
These books increase the Restoration Skill: The following Miscellaneous Quest increases the Restoration Skill:
 * 2920, Rain's Hand, v4
 * Mystery of Princess Talara, v2
 * Racial Phylogeny
 * The Exodus
 * Withershins
 * Oghma Infinium - can raises Restoration (and all other magic skills) by five levels. Only if you pick the correct option, otherwise it can increase all the Thief or Warrior skills five levels.


 * Find Pantea's Flute for Pantea Ateia in the Bards College in Solitude. This quest also raises Alteration, Enchanting, Conjuration, Destruction, and Illusion.

Spells
The following is a complete list of Restoration spells: Master spells can't be purchased initially. To unlock Master Restoration spells, the Restoration Ritual Spell quest must be completed upon reaching level 90 Restoration.

Starting Spells
The following are Restoration spells that the character can start with if the correct race is selected:
 * Healing spell is unlocked for all races at the start of the game.

Perks
The following are the perks that become available to select as the skill is leveled up

Note : Necromage 's vague description is actually 25% more effective. The effects against undead will even count on yourself if you are a vampire. Spells cast on self and buffs gained from items will be 25% more effective.

Training

 * Keeper Carcette (Expert): Hall of the Vigilant, south of Dawnstar and North West of Fort Dunstad
 * Colette Marence (Expert): The College of Winterhold
 * Danica Pure-Spring (Master): Temple of Kynareth, after the Dragonborn retrieves the sap from the Eldergleam Tree for her, or alternately, brings her an Eldergleam Sapling.

Leveling techniques

 * The spell Circle of Protection may be cast anywhere and can raise this skill effectively.
 * When combined with level 100 enchanting, the player can enchant four different items so that each item (head, chest, ring, necklace) reduces the cost of restoration by 25% each, ultimately reducing the cost by 100% (requires no magic). This allows the player to cast Circle of Protection at no cost, allowing the player to level up even more effectively.
 * If you can find a dungeon with 7-10 Draugr of any kind, round them all up, while wearing a set of -100% Magica cost for Restoration spells armour, all you need to do is spam any of the Repel Undead spells. It helps to cast one in each hand, instead of overcharging the spell. Just box them into a corner somewhere and your Restoration skill will improve faster than any other method I have tried.
 * If you enchant a head, chest, ring and necklace to reduce the cost of restoration and destruction spells 25% you can use both Flames and Healing Hand on your horse infinitely.
 * Cornering an undead creature such as a Skeleton or Draugr and then using Turn Undead upon them can raise this skill.
 * Casting Equilibrium and Healing simultaneously will raise Restoration but will not raise Alteration. This will keep your Magicka full, but slowly drain your Health. Eventually Equilibrium will sap more Health than Healing can keep up with. However, if the difficulty is turned down to novice, the health sapped with be reduced so that this method becomes sustainable. I found fast healing or close wounds a far more effective way to level restoration as it allows greater amounts of health being healed and therefor should level the skill faster. With the regeneration perk I managed to do it on expert difficulty. However, You need to be very cautious not to kill yourself. On adept mode it's easy to keep up with healing.
 * Flame trap - Find a flame trap or flame turnstile, usually in Dwemer Ruins and step on it or approach it, cast Healing. If the player's hit points drain too quickly, wear fire resistance gear or use a shield and Elemental Protection while blocking.
 * Using a spike trap (such as the one at Halted Stream Camp or Pinewatch) the player may damage themselves by walking into the side of the trap and healing the damage. Jumping upon the spikes will kill the player far too quickly on any difficulty, inch up to them from the side until damage is received and then back peddle quickly.
 * At High Hrothgar the icy wind blocking the path to The Throat of the World can be used to damage the player while casting a healing spell. This works well for lower levels.
 * Attacking essentials - With a Destruction spell in one hand and Healing Hands or Heal Other in the other hand, simultaneously damage and heal essential NPCs or Horses to level both Restoration and Destruction. This method may however cause a bounty for attacking the NPC.
 * Falling may harm the player without killing them, though this method is tedious at best as you must then spend time returning to a high area to repeat the process. Markarth is a good place to utilize this strategy safely.
 * Stepping repeatedly on a floor trap that triggers the swinging spiked wall will damage your character and a follower (follower takes more damage). Dual casting Healing and Healing hands level the skill up quickly. Similarly, walking into swinging axe traps have no reset time like swinging spiked wall traps to accumulate damage faster. (Wear restoration spell reducing armor for continuous healing)
 * Yet another method that can be used is a combination of Conjuration, the Atronach Stone, and the Heal spell. At any location with a corner, summon a Flame Thrall and use Frostbite to make it attack. Cornering it will make it use a spell similar (if not the exact spell) to Flames, which can be absorbed for magicka used to cast Healing. (Ward Absorb has not been tested, although this may prove faster than this method, will be tested shortly.)
 * Try finding a low-level warrior without a follower, equip both your shield and your your restoration.once the opponent attacks use your shield, once your health is low use your healing spell. This may increase both your blocking and restoration.
 * Another tedius method for levelling is to jump continuously on a forge fire until your health is low and then heal the damage and repeat.

Trivia

 * Necromage also will affect the player if they are a vampire. As a vampire, the game will tag you as an undead, thus all spells/effects/buffs on yourself will have greater effect. This means, for example:
 * Enchanted equipment stats will improve somewhat. 100% magicka regen can become 125%. This also allows crafting to be improved considerably, as any fortify alchemy or smithing gear will gain a 25% bonus which in turn can apply to the creation of other fortify potions, such as enchanting elixirs.
 * Shouts last longer and cool-down is improved.
 * Dead Thrall can be cast on higher level undead. Past the Lv40 cap.
 * Conjuration summons will last longer.
 * Bear in mind this will also make the weakness to fire 25% weaker. It is wise to offset this with resist magic or fire enchantments even more than already if choosing to play a vampire with Necromage. The Dunmer fire resistance perk will improve and allow vampires to offset the increased weakness naturally.
 * Casting the Guardian Circle spell and standing inside it's area of effect counts as a spell affecting the player, and, as such, can be used to create a magicka-regenerating pool in synergy with the Atronach Stone or the Alteration "Atronach" perk.