Magic plays a very important role in Daggerfall. It can make your life much easier if you use it well, but can also make your life difficult if it's used against you when you are not prepared for it.
An important factor to keep in mind when planning to use magic is that it's only useful for characters with a natural affinity for it. The Intelligence of a character determines the maximum amount of magicka (spell points) he or she can have. However, by default, a character may only have a total of 0.5 x Intelligence in spell points. Thus, a character with 100 Intelligence can have at most 50 spell points by default. Usually this is much too small a spell point pool to allow the effective use of magic, or even to train magical skills to lower the cost of related spells. In addition, skills that are not primary, major, or minor will only start at around 5%, and with the default supply of spell points, it will be impossible to cast even the simplest of spells in this case. Two exceptions to this rule are Buoyancy and Water Breathing, the cheapest spells in the game; however, even these two spells will consume the majority of your spell points with each cast, making it difficult to train in the related magical skills. Higher skill in a school of magic reduces the spell point cost of spells from that school. The minimum amount of spell points a spell may consume when cast is 5, but some high-cost spells will never consume only 5 spell points even with a skill of 100% in the related school.
Considering these restrictions, if you want to use magic effectively you should choose a bonus in spell points during character creation, as well as some magical skills for your primary or major skills.
Summary of Spells and EffectsEdit
The following table lists, organized by the respective spells' and effects' governing schools of magic, all circinate spells (i.e. "canned" purchasable spells that are not created using the Spell Maker), all effects used in circinate spells and available for you to use to create your own custom spells with the Spell Maker, and all enemies that may cast circinate spells from each school. This table may therefore be useful for creating a low-cost practice spell for each school. Custom spells can be created by faction members of appropriate rank at a Spell Maker in any Mages Guild or Temple of Kynareth. More details regarding the listed circinate spells available within each school and their related effects may be found on the respective schools' dedicated pages linked within the table below, while an overview of all circinate spells within all six schools may be found on the Spells page.
Note: The Force Bolt and Wizard Rend circinate spells are unique in that each of these two spells belongs to two schools of magic rather than one. These spells are marked with the 1 symbol in their primary school (Destruction in both cases) and with the 2 symbol in their secondary school (Alteration in both cases). However, no other circinate spells, and no effects whatsoever, belong to more than one school.
| School | Description of School | Circinate Spells | Effects | Enemies Casting School's Circinate Spells |
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| The school of Alteration is one of the six avenues of magical study. This school concerns itself with magicka's ability to change, often radically, the structure and composition of any object. Unlike the school of Illusion, Alteration deals with actual change, not the appearance of it. Slowfalling and Shield are two classic spells of the school of Alteration. Buying, creating, and casting spells of alteration are less expensive for mages skilled in this path. |
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| The school of Destruction is one of the six avenues of magical study. This school is concerned with the purely destructive capabilities of magicka, evident in spells like Fireball and Ice Storm. Buying, creating, and casting a spell devised to harm or destroy a target are less expensive for mages skilled in this path. |
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| The school of Illusion is one of the six avenues of magical study. This school works with magicka in its capacity to camouflage, illuminate, or obscure without changing an object's structure. Invisibility and Light are two of the school's most basic spells. Buying, creating, and casting spells of illusion are less expensive for mages skilled in this path. |
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| The school of Mysticism is one of the six avenues of magical study. This school experiments with the most arcane aspects of magicka and expanding these "accidents" into a useful if eclectic range of spells. Because the forces being manipulated by Mysticism are dangerous and unknown, the spell effects are purposefully specific. This is evident in spells like Far Silence and Soul Trap. Buying, creating, and casting spells of mysticism are less expensive for mages skilled in this path. |
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| The school of Restoration is one of the six avenues of magical study. This school is devoted to the salubrious and soothing powers of magicka, evident in spells like Cure Poison and Troll's Blood. Buying, creating, and casting a spell devised to heal a target are less expensive for mages skilled in this path. |
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| The school of Thaumaturgy is one of the six avenues of magical study. This school concentrates on exposing or manipulating known forces and objects within their natural laws. This is evident in spells like Levitate and Water Walking. Buying, creating, and casting spells of thaumaturgy are less expensive for mages skilled in this path. |
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Summary of Default HUD Magic Icon AssignmentEdit
An overview of icon-to-spell association for all spells for sale, magic items, traps, potions, and HUD (de)buffs caused by you or the enemy.
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