Alteration (Skyrim)

''The School of Alteration involves the manipulation of the physical world and its natural properties. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Waterbreathing, magical protection, and Paralysis.''

Alteration is a skill in and is one of the six skills that falls under The Mage play-style. Alteration skill raises by using certain kinds of spells; these spells identify themselves as Alteration spells. The Alteration skill can also be advanced by paying a trainer (see below).

Description
Alteration spells include the ability to envelope oneself in Magic Armor, detect entities either by illumination of the area or by magically sensing their presence; the ability to temporarily stun foes (paralyze), and a few special spells marked with * in the list below.

Changes from previous games
Since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim does not feature custom spell creation, all Alteration spells are learned through Spell Tomes. Open Lock spells have been removed.

Books
The following books provide a permanent skill up to Alteration; locations are listed under each title, and may not be exhaustive. Skill books are one time use only. After a skill book is read once, reading the same book does not increase skills.
 * Breathing Water
 * Ilinalta's Deep underwater room, next to a submerged chest.
 * Kraldar’s House, Hidden inside the basket on the shelf.
 * Snapleg Cave in the most north-eastern room.
 * North of Ysgramor's Tomb is a Shrine to Talos; the book can be found on a barrel next to the cage.
 * Daughter of the Niben
 * Reward for completing the quest Hitting The Books by Urag gro-Shub.
 * Understone Keep - straight ahead, up the stairs, on a table to the right.
 * On top of the fireplace in Brandy-Mug Farm.
 * Under an overturned rowboat on the shore East of the Wreck of the Brinehammer.
 * Reality & Other Falsehoods
 * Snowshod Farm basement on the bookshelf in the first room.
 * On a table in the Yngvild throne room, next to Arondil's throne.
 * On a barrel in a Forsworn tent between Sundered Towers and Red Eagle Redoubt. Alteration_perks_tree.jpg
 * Sithis
 * Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary on the bookshelf in front of the map of Skyrim.
 * On the second floor of Cradle Stone Tower next to the linen wrap and troll skull.
 * On Krag's body in Nchuand-Zel.
 * The Lunar Lorkhan
 * Faldar's Tooth at the top of the tower to the right of the chest.
 * Solitude Lighthouse on the shelf in between the two tankards and ale keg.
 * In the central chamber on the Arcane Enchanter in Cragwallow Slope.

Quests
The following Quests increase the Alteration Skill: There is a quest in order to obtain the master level Alteration spells:
 * Retrieve Frost salts for Dravynea the Stoneweaver in Kynesgrove
 * Find Pantea's Flute for Pantea Ateia in the Bards College in Solitude (Note: also increases Illusion, Enchanting, Conjuration, Destruction and Restoration)
 * Discerning the Transmundane
 * When reading the Oghma Infinium, select the Path of Magic to boost your Alteration skill by 5, along with all other Mage skills.
 * Tolfdir, at the College of Winterhold, gives you the quest Alteration Ritual Spell, which allows for the purchase of Master-level Spell Tomes when the Dragonborn's Alteration reaches level 90.

Alteration Spells
The following are the spells that are governed by the Alteration class of magic: * Special Spells

Master spells can't be purchased initially. To unlock Master Alteration spells, the Alteration Ritual Spell quest must be completed upon reaching level 90 Alteration.

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

Trainers

 * Melaran (Adept): Solitude
 * Dravynea (Expert): Kynesgrove
 * Tolfdir (Master): Hall of the Elements or the Hall of attainment at The College of Winterhold

Leveling
{{Attention|Needs to be condensed and rewritten for tone. One can easily level up Alteration with these tactics:
 * With 100 Enchanting, it is possible to enchant armor to reduce Alteration spell magicka usage (Fortify Alteration effect) to 0. With this armor equipped, it is a simple matter to raise the skill using virtually any spell.
 * Using the same method described above, the player can cast paralyze on almost every single enemy, giving him or her 10 seconds to finish them off with other means (possibly increasing the player's level with other skills).
 * If the player has a Telekinesis (Adept) spell, then he or she can use it repeatedly to boost up their alteration spell really quickly. However, it is very magicka-costly, as it is an Adept Alteration spell. Alternatively, with enough "Fortify Alteration" gear to reduce mana usage to zero, you can simply hold the same object levitated for an extended period of time, leveling up alteration very quickly
 * The player can raise his or her level, albeit slowly, by casting Magelight and Candlelight as often as possible. Since these spell levels are Novice-level, they are easily attained early on. *Edit: You only get experience when the light disperses, so the easiest way would be to cast Magelight on the statue in the courtyard of the Winterhold College. The light disperses instantly when it hits the statue.
 * The player can use Transmute Mineral Ore to convert Iron Ore into Gold Ore (Iron -> Silver -> Gold) after purchasing the starting ore from a blacksmith. From there, the player may craft Gold jewelry to repay the losses. This method is time-consuming, but using Magicka Regen items or the Highborn Power (exclusive to Altmer) helps the process. Crafting the Gold jewelry raises Smithing, and if you like, you can take the gold rings and level Enchanting using your collected Soul gems and adding whatever you like to the rings, then selling them. You will make more money this way than by simply selling the gold rings, and you get to level Enchanting and Speech to boot.
 * Casting Detect Life is a very quick way to level Alteration. The more "Life" the Dragonborn detects, the faster this method works. Such areas are: the marketplaces in Whiterun and Riften, The Winking Skeever in Solitude, the lower level of The Bannered Mare in Whiterun at night, and the The Ragged Flagon (if player has restored the Thieves Guild). Alternately, if the player has chosen to side with the Stormcloaks, the Blue Palace in Solitude will be full of the Jarls and their Housecarls from the various territories the player has conquered. Waiting one hour to restore Magicka or equipping items that give extra Magicka is beneficial to this method also. Four items enchanted with 25% casting cost reduction allows continuous casting with zero cost but requires 100 enchanting skill to create.
 * Using Telekinesis is a very quick way to level up Alteration. Stand on one side of a big room and grab something at the other end. The Dragonborn gains experience simply by maintaining a telekinetic hold of the object. This can be especially effective if you have enough enchanted items to reduce alteration magicka costs to zero, allowing you to keep from releasing the hold to recharge Magicka. If you do not have the gear to reduce magicka cost, you can just pull the item from across the room, wait one hour, then repeat the process with another object.
 * Standing in shallow water and repeatedly casting Waterbreathing also raises the Dragonborn's level.
 * Wearing Master Robes of Alteration, Morokei (Mask), The Apprentice Stone, and an Amulet of Akatosh, the player can acheive a base 375% magicka regen. This can be brought even higher with an enchanted ring of magicka regen depending on enchanting skill.
 * Sit next to an immobile enemy (like the caged wolves in Cragslane Cavern) and repeatedly cast Stoneflesh (Level 100 in very little time with no perks invested in the skill).
 * Cragslane Cavern is involved in the quest Skooma Trade, a bug exists that may prevent that quest from being completed if it is visited before the quest sends the player there. Note, however, that there should be two caged wolves immediately outside of Cragslane cavern, which may be used for this purpose without triggering the bug.
 * Alternatively one could go to Bloodlet Throne southwest of Helgen and practice any spells you want with the vampires on the other side of the barricade.

Bugs
Altération
 * The master spell Dragonhide doesn't increase the armor rating, at least not while wearing dragonscale or dragonplate armor. If changing the apparel while being under the effect of the Dragonhide spell, the armor rating will be brought down to 1.