Illusion (Skyrim)

"You're the one that casts those illusions. Impressive."

- Hold Guard

Illusion is a skill in and is one of the six skills that fall under The Mage play-style. Targeted Illusion spells include Calm, Frenzy, Fear, or Courage and spells cast on one's self such as Invisibility. Casting Illusion spells raise the corresponding skill.

Books

 * 2920, Sun's Dawn, v2
 * Before the Ages of Man
 * Incident at Necrom
 * Mystery of Talara, Part 4
 * The Black Arts on Trial
 * The special Daedric artifact Oghma Infinium can also raise Illusion and all other magicka-based skills by 5, if the "path of the Mage" is taken.

Quests

 * Defeat the Master Vampire for Sybille Stentor in Solitude
 * Find Pantea's Flute for Pantea Ateia in the Bards College in Solitude. This also increases Alteration, Enchanting, Conjuration, Destruction, and Restoration.

Spells
The following is a complete list of Illusion spells:

Master spells can't be purchased initially. To unlock Master Illusion spells, the Illusion Ritual Spell quest must be completed upon reaching level 100 Illusion.

Starting spells
The following are Illusion spells that the character can start with if the appropriate race is selected:
 * Fury spell is unlocked for Altmer at the start of the game.

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

Trainers

 * Atub (Expert): Largashbur in the Rift.
 * Drevis Neloren (Master): The College of Winterhold.

Leveling tips
Illusion is often overlooked because it is associated with staying out of combat, which is contrary to what most players want. Illusion can be compared to crowd control spells in other games. Here are some methods to bring the Illusion skill to its full potential:

Where to practice

 * The Muffle spell, which can be obtained at the beginning of the game from Farengar Secret-Fire, can be continually cast to level up the Illusion skill. This allows for extremely fast leveling, with minimal effort required.
 * Once Animage is obtained, the player can just cast buffs like Calm and Courage on the Cow that's sitting in the pen in Whiterun.
 * The above technique works particularly well in Labyrinthian Tribune, using the Infinite Magicka Trick after the fight with Morokei.
 * Calm can be cast alternately with Fear or Fury to level it up (Note: this is rather costly in Magicka).
 * One of the fastest ways to power-level Illusion is to use the Magicka bonuses from doing the minor quest for Drevis Neloren to 'fix' the focal points in the College of Winterhold. Using those, Muffle can be infinitely dual-cast because the player's Magicka regenerates virtually instantly. This can be done until the bonus runs out, which will last two real time hours.
 * Casting spells like Pacify, Rally, and Courage on the jarls in the basement of the Blue Palace is a quick way to raise the Illusion skill.
 * In The College of Winterhold, cast Illusion Spells like Pacify and Rally on Nirya. Almost all Illusion Spells can be cast on her because of her weak level.
 * Cast Courage on any non-hostile character in Skyrim. Since they will not attack, it is possible to go from 25 to 50 in under 10 minutes.
 * Some houses and all homesteads with main halls have interior doors that can be opened or closed, and these can be used to practice casting invisibility spells.  This is so because the invisibility spell is interrupted whenever the player does something else while the spell is active, such as equip a weapon, or interact with a door.  So if a player stands next to one of these interior doors they can cast the invisibility spell, and then interact with the door, which will instantly cancel the spell.  Then, the spell is cast again, the player interacts with the door again, and the spell is canceled again.  And again.  And again...  This process can be carried out repeatedly in order to increase illusion skill and level up fairly quickly.  This method also works for exterior doors, but the time it takes to transition from the outside of the house or homestead to the inside means the process would take much, much longer.  Breezehome in Whiterun is an example of a house that has at least one interior door; Honeyside in Riften is another.  (Xbox 360)

Combination with other schools

 * Combine Illusion with Conjuration to let others do the fighting, instead. A player with decent levels in both skill trees can clear a dungeon without personally killing a single enemy. It is especially fun to observe the effect of Fear on the enemy attacked by one of the Dragonborn's conjured beings.


 * A high level in Illusion can make a high level in Restoration obsolete. The use of powerful charm spells will give the player enough time to heal with lower level spells. Turn undead spells are not as effective as Illusion with the right perks (i.e., Master of the Mind).

Stealth usage

 * Players using Invisibility and Muffle in conjunction with Sneak can become completely undetectable.
 * Illusion and Sneak: with the right perks (i.e., Hypnotic Gaze, Kindred Mage, Quiet Casting ) in Illusion, the player will be able to calm almost any enemy not immune to Illusion magic. When an enemy is calmed, it will return to its original location, thus turning its back and allowing the player to sneak behind the enemy, back-stab, charm, and repeat.
 * In addition to using Calm to sneak-attack enemies, the player can use the Expert-level Illusion spell Invisibility, combined with the Sneak perk Shadow Warrior, to escape almost any enemy (for a time). While in combat, cast Invisibility, then run off and crouch to activate Shadow Warrior just before leaving the enemy's line of sight. This works best after casting Frenzy spells or when the player has more allies.
 * Casting Frenzy automatically breaks stealth (detection goes from Hidden to fully Detected). The perk "Quiet casting" doesn't prevent detection like it does for Fury.
 * Any spell that generates light (i.e. Candlelight) will increase the chance of detection; therefore, the player can be detected even while sneaking. (It is possible that Magelight may be less revealing, since it creates light but "attaches" it to the ground rather than following the player around.)
 * Vampirism synergizes extremely well with the Illusion school, as it grants both Stealth and Illusion bonuses. The Illusion bonus provided increases the power of Illusion spells by 25%; the stealth bonus is 25% better sneaking.

Usefulness of Illusion spells

 * Invisibility is invariably useful for thieves. Casting the spell will allow the player to steal any item at will. However, this will cause the invisible effect to end, requiring the player to use the spell multiple times to steal more than one item. The spell can also help with pickpocketing, as being hidden allows for a greater chance to successfully take items from characters.
 * Calm, Fury, and Courage spells can be useful for hunting skittish prey.
 * Rally and Courage are useful on a horse, since they will increase its stamina and allow it to sprint for much longer.
 * Wards block Illusion spells; wait for the ward to go down before casting.
 * Calm spells are useful for avoiding confrontations or buying time in a fight, or for a stealth character to perform a Backstab. Calmed enemies seem to lose detection of the player more quickly.
 * Fury spells cause the target to attack friends and foes alike, which can allow the player to virtually sit out of a battle and let his or her enemies decimate each other. One should be careful, however, as a target under the influence of fury may still attack the player. It is best to cast this spell at a distance while making use of stealth or invisibility.
 * Courage spells are useful to keep running creatures from rallying others, as well as for followers.
 * Fear spells are useful for escaping and buying time in a fight.
 * Muffle allows a player to move silently whether or not the player is sneaking.
 * Invisibility is largely self explanatory in regard to its utility. However, even while invisible, the caster can be detected if an enemy gets too close. Casting Muffle beforehand, or making use of stealth, can help reduce the chances of being detected.
 * The Quiet Casting perk will prevent enemies from hearing dragon shouts, which helps the player remain undetected.