Illusion | Skills TES V: Skyrim Guide
Last update: 05 December 2019
This TES V: Skyrim World Atlas page describes Illusion skills. These skills are related to the magician archetype. Our tutorial in addition to describing the skills will tell you how to develop them, and what related best features are worth unlocking.
How to increase skill: This skill can be increased by casting spells from the illusion school of magic. The skill growth will take place only if a spell has achieved its result (for example, if casting a spell has injured other people or at least changed their attitude towards the main character).
Main purpose of developing this skill: Lowering the mana costs of casting illusion spells.
Available perks: 13.
Best perks: Illusion Dual Casting, Expert Illusion, Master of the Mind.
Comments:
- Illusion has at least one thing in common with other schools of magic. You must remember that casting even the basic spells from this school can very quickly drain your mana bar. Furthermore, some of the more advanced spells may even be blocked at the beginning of the game, because they may require more mana points than the main character has at the moment. This all leads to one obvious conclusion - you must constantly work on increasing the mana pool and improving mana regeneration rate.
- The most important concept of the illusion spells is the ability of taking control over the minds of your opponents. I would strongly suggest that you take interest in spells which allow you to convince enemies to stop fighting or even to turn on each other. Illusion school also has several other interesting spells and some of them will be very useful to a thief or an assassin. Make sure to obtain them if your character acts that way.
- Some of the illusion spells have a limit which you should remember about. For example, an illusion spell may allow you to take control over minds of opponents that are on the ninth or lower experience level. Some of the perks described below can increase these limits and you should definitely unlock them to keep the illusion spells useful later in the game.
- NOVICE ILLUSION
- ILLUSION DUAL CASTING
- APPRENTICE ILLUSION
- ADEPT ILLUSION
- EXPERT ILLUSION
- MASTER ILLUSION
- HYPNOTIC GAZE
- ASPECT OF TERROR
- RAGE
- ANIMAGE
- KINDRED MAGE
- QUIET CASTING
- MASTER OF THE MIND
NOVICE ILLUSION
Requirements: None.
Description: Ability of casting novice illusion spells for half the mana cost.
Comments: You must purchase this perk to gain access to all the remaining ones from this skill tree, however it also improves using the basic spells of the illusion school of magic.
ILLUSION DUAL CASTING
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 20 points. Unlocked Novice Illusion perk.
Description: Ability to dual cast illusion spells which improves their effectiveness.
Comments: This is a very interesting perk and the only exception is if you're controlling a character who is a mix of different classes, because in order for things to work you need both hands. Dual casting offers great bonuses - it makes the spells last longer and it allows to affect enemies from higher experience levels which comes in handy later in the game. Make sure to unlock this perk as soon as you have a free skill point.
APPRENTICE ILLUSION
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 25 points. Unlocked Novice Illusion perk.
Description: Ability of casting apprentice illusion spells for half the mana cost.
Comments: This is definitely a good choice for a purchase, because there are some very interesting apprentice spells in the illusion school of magic.
ADEPT ILLUSION
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 50 points. Unlocked Apprentice Illusion perk.
Description: Ability of casting adept illusion spells for half the mana cost.
Comments: Make sure to unlock this perk to lower the costs of useful adept spells.
EXPERT ILLUSION
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 75 points. Unlocked Adept Illusion perk.
Description: Ability of casting expert illusion spells for half the mana cost.
Comments: It's very important to unlock this perk as soon as you've increased Illusion to 75 points, because the expert level has some of the best illusion spells out there (including an invisibility spell).
MASTER ILLUSION
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to 100 points. Unlocked Expert Illusion perk.
Description: Ability of casting master illusion spells for half the mana cost.
Comments: This perk is also very useful, especially since all master illusion spells need tons of mana before they can be casted.
HYPNOTIC GAZE
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 30 points. Unlocked Novice Illusion perk.
Description: Ability of casting calm spells on high level opponents.
Comments: You should consider unlocking this perk if you like to cast spells which allow you to take over the minds of your opponents to calm them down. Thanks to this perk the limit of their experience level is raised by up to eight levels. It's worth mentioning that unlocking this perk doesn't interfere with bonuses granted by other perks.
ASPECT OF TERROR
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 50 points. Unlocked Hypnotic Gaze perk.
Description: Ability of casting fear spells on high level opponents.
Comments: You should consider unlocking this perk if you like to cast spells which allow you to take over the minds of your opponents to cause fear . Thanks to this perk the limit of their experience level is raised by up to ten levels. It's worth mentioning that unlocking this perk doesn't interfere with bonuses granted by other perks.
RAGE
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 70 points. Unlocked Aspect of Terror perk.
Description: Ability of casting rage spells on high level opponents.
Comments: You should consider unlocking this perk if you like to cast spells which allow you to take over the minds of your opponents to make them go into rage status . Thanks to this perk the limit of their experience level is raised by up to twelve levels. It's worth mentioning that unlocking this perk doesn't interfere with bonuses granted by other perks.
ANIMAGE
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 20 points. Unlocked Novice Illusion perk.
Description: Ability to affect high level animals with illusion spells.
Comments: This is a useful perk and one of its advantages is that you can unlock it early in the game. The limit of affected animals is raised by up to eight experience levels and this mean you'll be allowed to take control over most of them. It's worth mentioning that unlocking this perk doesn't interfere with bonuses granted by other perks
KINDRED MAGE
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 40 points. Unlocked Animage perk.
Description: Ability to affect high level people with illusion spells.
Comments: This perk is a nice addition to the one described above and what's great about is that it doesn't force the main character to use only certain types of illusion spells if he wants to receive the bonus. The limit of affected people is raised by up to ten experience levels and this mean you'll be allowed to take control over most of them. It's worth mentioning that unlocking this perk doesn't interfere with bonuses granted by other perks
QUIET CASTING
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 50 points. Unlocked Kindred Mage perk.
Description: Casting all spells without making any noise.
Comments: This particular perk isn't too useful, because its only purpose is to allow the mage to remain hidden while casting spells (from any school of magic). In my opinion it's good to rely on companions and magical creatures or to maintain safe distance from enemy units instead of trying to hide. The only exception is if you want to use spells while playing as a thief or an assassin, however even then you'll have to spend several skill points on perks you won't necessarily find useful.
MASTER OF THE MIND
Requirements: Illusion skill increased to at least 90 points. Unlocked Rage perk or Quiet Casting perk.
Description: Ability to affect the undead, daedra and automatons with illusion spells.
Comments: You should definitely consider unlocking this perk, of course as long as you use illusion spells mostly to control other beings. The best part of this perk is a chance to affect the undead (draugrs and skeletons), because you'll encounter a lot of them while exploring various crypts, dungeons and caves.