The School of Destruction involves the harnessing the energies of fire, frost and shock. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Fireball, Ice Spike, and Lightning Bolt.
- ""Destruction magic's fine, just don't go burning down any buildings.""
- ―Hold Guard
Destruction is a skill in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and is one of the six skills that falls under The Mage play-style.
Description
Destruction skill is raised by the use of certain kinds of spells that the in-game character can use; these spells will identify themselves as Destruction spells and entirely focus on causing damage with fire, frost, and lightning. Destruction spells are the primary weapons for any magic focused character, as it is the only school of magic that causes direct damage. Since custom spell creation no longer exists, Destruction spells and other spells must be learned by reading Spell Tomes found in various dungeons and purchased from various characters.
Branches
Destruction is divided in three types of damage: Fire, Frost and Shock. Each has its own characteristics, costs and effects, as listed below.
Fire
Fire spells consume the least amount of magicka of the three types of Destruction spells. Fire spells travel at an average velocity and inflict damage on contact as well as over time. Most fire spells inflict a "burn" effect on enemies, which boosts damage from other weapons. Dark Elves are 50% resistant to this kind of spell, which can be helpful in fighting fire-breathing dragons.
Frost
Frost spells consume an average amount of Magicka, but its spells travel at a slower velocity compared to shock spells. Frost spells slow the target's movement, while dealing damage to health and stamina. Nords are 50% resistant to this kind of spell, which can be an advantage when fighting frost-breathing dragons. Also, vampires resist between 25% and 100% of frost damage, depending on the stage of vampirism.
Shock
Shock spells consume the most Magicka of the three types of Destruction spells, but its spell velocity is instant. Shock spell damage drains health and magicka, making it a choice against mages. Altmer (High Elves) may benefit more from using this kind of magic, as they have a Magicka recovery-boosting ability called Highborn. Only Bretons, with a 25% resistance to all magic, have an innate resistance to shock spell damage.
Books and Quests
The following is a list of books that raise the Destruction skill:
- A Hypothetical Treachery
- Found at Fellglow Keep.
- The High Gate Ruins next to a skeleton on the west side of the of the first hall balcony.
- In a pit at an unnamed Nord monolith south east of Sleeping Tree Camp (Puzzle Stones)
- The Horror of Castle Xyr - Found at Glenmoril Cavern, in a box containing ingredients that is inside a tent.
- Mystery of Talara, v3
- Found deep in Tolvald's Cave, in the Tolvald's Crossing part. It is in a pile of books and bones after you cross a bridge that is being sprayed with mist. Also found in Steepfall Burrow right by the skeleton in the room with the chest.
- Found in Winterhold (City), inside Birna's Oddments on a dresser on the second floor.
- Response to Bero's Speech - Found at Haemar's Cavern and Witchmist Grove. Also given as a reward from Urag Gro-Shub after completing Hitting The Books.
- The Art of War Magic
- Found in The bandit camp right below The Statue of Diabella.
- Found in White Hall of Dawnstar, second floor.
The following Miscellaneous Quest increases the Destruction Skill:
- Find Pantea's Flute for Pantea Ateia in the Bards College in Solitude (Note: also increases Alteration, Enchanting, Conjuration, Restoration and Illusion)
- returning to urag gro-shub in the college of winterhold after completing Shalidor's Insights when he has completed translating it may increase destruction instead of providing scrolls.
After finishing the Discerning the Transmundane quest, you can select The Path of Magic to increase your Destruction by 5, as well as the other Mage skills.
Destruction Spells
The following is a complete list of Destruction spells (Individual Spell pages in need of images and magicka cost):
| Rank | Skill Level Requirement | Spell Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novice | 0 | Flames | A gout of fire inflicting a base damage of 8 points per second. Targets on fire take extra damage. |
| Frostbite | A blast of cold inflicting a base damage of 8 points per second to Health and Stamina. | ||
| Sparks | Lightning which inflicts a base damage of 8 points per second to Health and Magicka. | ||
| Arniel's Convection* | Burns the target 1 point per second. Targets on fire take extra damage. | ||
| Vampiric Drain* | Absorb health from the target. | ||
| Apprentice | 25 | Firebolt | A bolt of fire that inflicts 25 points of damage. Targets on fire take extra damage. |
| Ice Spike | A spike of ice that inflicts 25 points of damage to Health and Stamina. | ||
| Lightning Bolt | A bolt of lightning that inflicts 25 points of damage to Health and half as much to Magicka. | ||
| Fire Rune | Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of damage when enemies come near. Affected targets take extra damage. | ||
| Frost Rune | Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of damage to Health and Stamina when enemies come near. Movement speed is reduced for affected targets. | ||
| Lightning Rune | Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of damage to Health and half as much to Magicka when enemies come near. | ||
| Adept | 50 | Chain Lightning | A lighting bolt inflicting 40 points of damage to Health and half as much to Magicka, then leaps to a new target. If the character has learned Augmented Shock 2/2, the lightning jumps on one additional target and does 60 damage. Caution! Friendly-fire is possible. |
| Fireball | A fireball which explodes on impact for 40 points of damage in a 15 foot radius. Targets on fire take extra damage. If the character has learned Augmented Flames 2/2, the radius of the fire explosion is increased by 5 and damage increases to 60 points. Does harm Followers, but not Dragonborn. | ||
| Ice Storm | A freezing whirlwind that does 40 points of damage per second to Health and Stamina. The whirlwind radius is increased if the character has Augmented Frost 2/2. Spell range is smaller if cast with Destruction Dual Casting. Does harm Followers, but not Dragonborn. | ||
| Flame Cloak | For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range take 8 points of damage per second. Targets on fire take extra damage. Does not harm Followers. Does harm neutral NPCs like town guards. | ||
| Frost Cloak | For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range take 8 points of damage per second to Health and Stamina. Does not harm Followers. Does harm neutral NPCs like town guards. | ||
| Lightning Cloak | For 60 seconds, nearby opponents take 8 points of damage per second to Health and half as much to Magicka. Does not harm Followers. Does harm neutral NPCs like town guards. | ||
| Expert | 75 | Icy Spear | A spear of ice that does 60 (90) points of frost damage to Health and Stamina. |
| Incinerate | A blast of fire that does 60 (90) points of damage. Targets on fire take extra damage. | ||
| Thunderbolt | A thunderbolt that does 60 (90) points of shock damage to Health and half that to Magicka. | ||
| Wall of Flames | Sprayed on the ground, it creates a wall of fire that does 50 points of fire damage per second. Does not harm Followers or Dragonborn. | ||
| Wall of Frost | Sprayed on the ground, it creates a wall of frost that does 50 points of frost damage per second. Does not harm Followers or Dragonborn. | ||
| Wall of Storms | Sprayed on the ground it creates a wall of lightning that does 50 points of shock damage per second. Does not harm Followers or Dragonborn. | ||
| Master | 100 | Blizzard | Creates a blizzard that surrounds the caster. Targets take 20 point of frost damage every second for 10 seconds, plus stamina damage. |
| Fire Storm | A 100 point fiery explosion centered on the caster. The closer a target is, the more damage they take. | ||
| Lightning Storm | Fires a continuous stream of lightning. Target takes 75 points of shock damage per second to Health, and half that to Magicka. |
*Special Spells
- Note: Master Spells can't be bought in Winterhold College or any shops initially. To get Master Destruction spells, you must reach level 100 in Destruction magic and complete the Destruction Ritual Spell quest starting with Faralda, at The College of Winterhold. The quest rewards Fire Storm, and she begins to sell Blizzard and Lightning Storm.
Destruction Starting Spells
The following are confirmed Destruction spells that the character can start with if the correct race is selected:
- Flames spell is unlocked for all races at the start of the game.
- Sparks spell is unlocked for Dunmer/Dark Elves at the start of the game.
Perks
The following are the perks that become available to select as the skill is leveled up
A grand total of 17 Perk Points are required to max out the tree. Note: Impact (dual-cast destruction spells stagger opponents) seems to work on all NPCs, including dragons and even Alduin, so a high enough Magicka pool, or a 100% cost reduction set of Fortify Destruction gear, will probably take any challenge out of combat against single foes. This makes a mage nearly invincible and most encounters become mundane.
| Perk (Ranks) | Requirements | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Novice Destruction | None | Cast Novice level Destruction spells for half magicka |
| Destruction Dual Casting | Destruction 20, Novice Destruction | Dual casting a Destruction spell overcharges the effects into an even more powerful version |
| Apprentice Destruction | Destruction 25, Novice Destruction | Cast Apprentice level Destruction spells for half magicka |
| Augmented Flames (2) | Destruction 30, Novice Destruction | Fire spells do 25% more damage (50% for second rank) (Affects all fire weapon enchantments, not just self-enchanted ones.) |
| Augmented Frost (2) | Destruction 30, Novice Destruction | Frost spells do 25% more damage (50% for second rank) (Affects all frost weapon enchantments, not just self-enchanted ones.) |
| Augmented Shock (2) | Destruction 30, Novice Destruction | Shock spells do 25% more damage (50% for second rank) (Affects all shock weapon enchantments, not just self-enchanted ones.) |
| Impact | Destruction 40, Destruction Dual Casting | Most destruction spells will stagger an opponent when dual cast |
| Rune Master | Destruction 40, Apprentice Destruction | Can place runes five times farther away |
| Adept Destruction | Destruction 50, Apprentice Destruction | Cast Adept level Destruction spells for half magicka |
| Intense Flames | Destruction 50, Augmented Flames | Fire damage causes targets to flee if their health is low |
| Deep Freeze | Destruction 60, Augmented Frost | Frost damage paralyzes targets if their health is low |
| Disintegrate | Destruction 70, Augmented Shock | Shock damage disintegrates targets if their health is low |
| Expert Destruction | Destruction 75, Adept Destruction | Cast Expert level Destruction spells for half magicka |
| Master Destruction | Destruction 100, Expert Destruction | Cast Master level Destruction spells for half magicka |
Note: Impact will fail if the target is taking damage from Wall of Storms. Confirmed on PC, Draugr Deathlord could not be staggered while he was walking through a Wall of Storms.
Training
- Wuunferth the Unliving (Adept): Palace of the Kings, Windhelm
- Sybille Stentor (Expert): Blue Palace, Solitude
- Faralda (Master): The College of Winterhold
Levelling
- Wearing 4 items with 25% reduction to the cost of Destruction spells will completely negate the magicka cost, allowing you to utilize many of these methods continuously.
- Using a spell in both hands will level faster than Dual Casting because Dual Casting uses more magicka per point of damage unless you negate the magicka cost as described above. (unconfirmed)
- Using Magic Runes can level Destruction more quickly because they can be cast to cause more damage per second than other lower level destruction spells. If using these on a non-hostile NPC, however, they must be set off by the player using another Destruction spell or the Unrelenting Force shout.
- Conjure a Frost Atronach and blast it with a fire spell; or Conjure a Flame Atronach and blast it with ice. These creations explode upon death. Note also: Frost Atronachs are too large to fit through many doorways. You can exploit this weakness and get them stuck before blasting them to avoid being attacked.
- When joining the Companions you must fight Vilkas. He is immune to magic damage and the fight won't end until you hit him with melee a number of times. Vilkas will tell you to not use magic and may tell you not to use magic many times before he stops. *WARNING: If using this method, it may lead to your system periodically freezing for a moment every half a minute or so. (Xbox tested)* Vilkas can glitch outside of the courtyard of the Companions Guild and can deliver his sword without ever doing physical damage. (Xbox tested delivered sword to character in Solitude)
- It is advised NOT to use the exploit listed above. Continuously using magic against Vilkas can glitch him into an infinite loop where he won't progress the quest. He will just stand there, repeating the phrase "What do you think this is, we don't do battle with magic around here, new blood". Even if you switch back to a melee weapon to hit him, he won't stop to give you the next part in the quest. He will keep blocking your hits until his health runs out, which will recover in time, only for him to repeat the whole process again. (Tested on PS3)
- Using Flames in one hand and Healing Hands in the other, fire both at the same time on a horse owned by the Dragonborn. Shadowmere is particularly useful for this purpose because of its high health and health regeneration rate.
- Using the Flames and Healing Hands method on an essential (unkillable) NPC can be used to level Destruction, Restoration, and Heavy Armor or Light Armor simultaneously. Using a shield-bash while sneaking undetected will cause the NPC to become hostile without raising bounty.
- If your Destruction Level is 25 or higher (Novice spells are ineffective), go to High Hrothgar during the daytime. Arngeir should be inside the central area and wait for Wulfgar to come and pray behind the statue. Use one of your most powerful spells on Arngeir three times, then repeat on Wulfgar. You can use Equilibrium to regenerate your Magicka if you wish. Repeat this process until you see fit. If you do it three times each in succession, they shouldn't attack you. But do not go over unless you have a "Heal Other" spell active and are willing to use it quickly.
- Repeatedly jumping up and down on a forge, causing you to take fire damage, will slowly level Destruction and also level Restoration if you use it to heal. (Confirmed PC, PS3 & Xbox)
See also
- Skill (Skyrim)
- The Mage