Skyrim:Destruction

Skill: Destruction

Specialization: Magic

Destruction magic provides many means of inflicting damage on enemies. Destruction spells use elements (fire, frost, or shock) to damage health; an enemy's magicka and stamina can also be reduced. Increasing this skill reduces magicka cost when casting Destruction spells. Historical information about the School of Destruction is provided in the lore article. The Destruction skill tree has a total of 14 perks, requiring a total of 17 perk points to fill.

In-game Description: The School of Destruction involves the [sic] harnessing the energies of fire, frost and shock. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Fireball, Ice Spike, and Lightning Bolt.

[edit] Summary

Destruction is the principal damage-dealing school of magic. Destruction mages can use perks to specialize in one or more of the elements—fire, frost, and shock—gaining the ability to do extra damage. Since some enemies are resistant to particular forms of magic, anyone relying on Destruction is well-advised to learn spells from more than one element, and perhaps to specialize in two or more.

[edit] Elements

[edit] Fire

Lowest magicka cost of the three elements.
Deals only health damage.
Sets targets on fire, usually dealing an additional 10% damage over 1 second, but some spells do more.
Special perk: Intense Flames. Causes enemies below 20% health to run away.

Many inhabitants of Skyrim are weak against fire damage, including trolls and all creatures with "Frost", "Ice", or "Snow" in their name. In some dungeons there are pools of flammable liquid which you can ignite with fire magic, resulting in impressive conflagrations that can wipe out enemies in seconds. The Intense Flames perk is of limited use, firstly because humanoid enemies will drop down to their knees when their health is below 10%, and secondly because enemies that do not drop down will run away, forcing you to kill them some other way.

In addition, by casting the Flames spell repeatedly in short bursts, you can apply the "on-fire" effect several times, which will dramatically increase your damage output. If you take the Aspect of Terror perk from the Illusion skill tree, it will make this trick even more devastating and potentially viable even at high levels despite being a Novice-level spell. It should also be noted that even without Aspect of Terror, Flames is the second-most magicka-efficient spell in the game (after Firebolt), and Aspect of Terror will make it an uncontested first place. This trick also works well when combined with the Slow Time shout.

[edit] Frost

Middle magicka cost of the three elements.
Deals damage to health and stamina (typically the same amount).
Slows targets by 50% for a few seconds (duration varies).
Special perk: Deep Freeze. Causes enemies below 20% health to be paralyzed.

Unfortunately, all the enemies that are weak to fire are also resistant to frost, and Nords—the most common NPCs in Skyrim—resist it as well. The Deep Freeze perk is useful, but almost exactly the same effect can be achieved with dual-casting and Impact. The Adept-level area effect missile spell, Ice Storm, is distinct from the other two elements in that it covers an area of effect as the projectile itself travels, instead of just projecting its effect area upon impact. Large swaths can be attacked by rapid-fire tandem casting of Ice Storm.

Usage of any frost attacks against bandits or other primarily melee-based foes shows the utility of the stamina-damage and slow effects, as it can impair their ability to power attack or shield bash, as well as allow you to stay out of their melee range. However, its primary weakness is that unlike Fireball and Chain Lighting, it has a limited range (though still three times as far as your typical concentration spell) and is also quite slow, making it more difficult to target fast opponents in open areas.

[edit] Shock

Highest magicka cost of the three elements.
Deals damage to health and magicka (magicka damage is typically 50% of the health damage).
Generally shorter range, but projectiles hit instantly.
Special perk: Disintegrate. Instantly kills enemies below 15% health.

In practice, enemy mages tend to have more magicka than health, which combined with the fact that you deal more health damage than magicka damage might make the magicka damage meaningless. However, skilled mages with the proper magicka reserves will win in a mage-vs-mage duel of attrition. The magicka damage is also effective against dragons who are unable to shout once their magicka pool is depleted. Shock spells have three chief advantages: firstly, while there are few enemies weak to shock (such as Daedra and Dwarven automatons), only the uncommon storm atronach and unique Orchendor resist it, making it equally useful against practically all enemies and allowing you to save perks by specializing only in one element. Secondly, unlike fire and frost, all shock spells hit instantly wherever you're aiming them, making aiming less of an issue, even though at a more limited range than fire and frost spells. Finally, shock gets an effective specialization perk, Disintegrate, which effectively reduces HP of all enemies in the game by 15% (though it may cause some looting problems as of patch 1.3, so be careful). This perk is particularly useful when dealing with necromancers, or anything else capable of raising the dead, since it ensures that the disintegrated target cannot be reanimated. At the same time, if you wish to reanimate enemies, you should either avoid this perk or avoid using shock damage on enemies you want to revive.

[edit] Spell Types

Within each elemental family, the pattern of spells is consistent:

Type	Level	Fire	Frost	Shock	Effect	Base Damage
Spray	Novice	Flames	Frostbite	Sparks	Short range spell that deals damage as long as you cast	8/s
Missile	Apprentice	Firebolt	Ice Spike	Lightning Bolt	Single-target missile	25
Rune	Apprentice	Fire Rune	Frost Rune	Lightning Rune	Cast on a surface and triggered like a proximity mine	50
Area Missile	Adept	Fireball	Ice Storm	Chain Lightning	Multiple-target missile	40
Cloak	Adept	Flame Cloak	Frost Cloak	Lightning Cloak	Harms all enemies in melee range	8/s
Heavy Missile	Expert	Incinerate	Icy Spear	Thunderbolt	Single-target missile	60
Wall	Expert	Wall of Flames	Wall of Frost	Wall of Storms	Persistent sprayed-down obstacle that does damage when walked through	8/s
Storm	Master	Fire Storm	Blizzard	Lightning Storm	Constant wide area of effect	varies

[edit] Perks

Novice Destruction

Apprentice Destruction

Adept Destruction

Expert Destruction

Master Destruction

Rune Master

Augmented Flames

Intense Flames

Augmented Frost

Deep Freeze

Augmented Shock

Disintegrate

Destruction Dual Casting

Impact

Destruction Perk Tree

Perk	Rank	Description	ID	Skill Req.	Perk Req.
Novice Destruction		Cast Novice level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000f2ca8
Apprentice Destruction		Cast Apprentice level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000c44bf	25 Destruction	Novice Destruction
Adept Destruction		Cast Adept level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000c44c0	50 Destruction	Apprentice Destruction
Expert Destruction		Cast Expert level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000c44c1	75 Destruction	Adept Destruction
Master Destruction		Cast Master level Destruction spells for half magicka.	000c44c2	100 Destruction	Expert Destruction
Rune Master		Can place runes five times farther away.	00105f32	40 Destruction	Apprentice Destruction
Augmented Flames	1	Fire spells do 25% more damage.	000581e7	30 Destruction	Novice Destruction
Augmented Flames	2	Fire spells do 50% more damage.	0010fcf8	30 60 Destruction	Augmented Flames Level 1
Intense Flames		Fire damage causes targets to flee if their health is low (under 20%).	000f392e	50 Destruction	Augmented Flames
Augmented Frost	1	Frost spells do 25% more damage.	000581ea	30 Destruction	Novice Destruction
Augmented Frost	2	Frost spells do 50% more damage.	0010fcf9	30 60 Destruction	Augmented Frost Level 1
Deep Freeze		Frost damage paralyzes targets if their health is low (under 20%).	000f3933	60 Destruction	Augmented Frost
Augmented Shock	1	Shock spells do 25% more damage.	00058200	30 Destruction	Novice Destruction
Augmented Shock	2	Shock spells do 50% more damage.	0010fcfa	30 60 Destruction	Augmented Shock Level 1
Disintegrate		Shock spells disintegrate targets if their health is low (under 15%)	000f3f0e	70 Destruction	Augmented Shock
Destruction Dual Casting		Dual casting a Destruction spell overcharges the effects into an even more powerful version.	000153cf	20 Destruction	Novice Destruction
Impact		Most destruction spells will stagger an opponent when dual cast.	000153d2	40 Destruction	Destruction Dual Casting

[edit] Spells

Spell Name (IDs)	Skill Level	Tome	Magicka Base Cost	Description and Effect Details	Where to Get
Flames Spell ID: 00012fcd Tome ID: 0009cd51	10 Novice	50	001414/s	A gout of fire that does 8 points per second. Targets on fire take extra damage: Concentration spell Range: 36 feet Speed: 47 fps Flames, 8 pts for 1 sec Sets targets on fire, dealing 1% of the immediate spell damage over 0.1s Intense Flames Fear, 99 pts for 15 secs; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	All players start with this spell Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Nelacar, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB Can be found in Labyrinthian Chasm, Forelhost Refectory, Hag's End, Mzulft Aedrome
Frostbite Spell ID: 0002b96b Tome ID: 0009cd52	10 Novice	47	001616/s	A blast of cold that does 8 points of damage per second to Health and Stamina: Concentration spell Range: 36 feet Speed: 47 fps Frostbite, 8 pts for 1 sec Slow, 50 pts for 4 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Nelacar, Riverwood Trader, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB Can be found in Labyrinthian Thoroughfare, Mzulft Aedrome, Serpent's Bluff Ruins
Sparks Spell ID: 0002dd2a Tome ID: 0009cd53	10 Novice	46	001919/s	Lightning that does 8 points of shock damage to Health and Magicka per second: Concentration spell Range: 48 feet Speed: instant Sparks, 8 pts for 1 sec Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Dunmer start with this spell Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Nelacar, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB Can be found in Fellglow Keep, Helgen Keep (during Unbound)
Fire Rune Spell ID: 0005db90 Tome ID: 000a2700	225 Appren.	90	0234234	Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of fire damage when enemies come near: Cast on ground Fire Rune, 50 pts for 1 sec Sets targets on fire, dealing 10% of the immediate spell damage over 1s	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Firebolt Spell ID: 00012fd0 Tome ID: 000a26fd	225 Appren.	96	004141	A blast of fire that does 25 points of damage. Targets on fire take extra damage: Missile Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Firebolt, 25 pts Sets targets on fire, dealing 10% of the immediate spell damage over 1s Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Intense Flames Fear, 99 pts for 15 secs; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Frost Rune Spell ID: 0006796f Tome ID: 000a2701	225 Appren.	92	0293293	Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of frost damage when enemies come near: Cast on ground Frost Rune, 50 pts for 1 sec	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Ice Spike Spell ID: 0002b96c Tome ID: 000a26fe	225 Appren.	96	004848	A spike of ice that does 25 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina: Missile Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Ice Spike, 25 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Slow, 50 pts for 3 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB Can be found in Raven Rock Mine^DB
Lightning Bolt Spell ID: 0002dd29 Tome ID: 000a26ff	225 Appren.	95	005151	A bolt of lightning that does 25 points of shock damage to Health and half that to Magicka: Missile Range: 141 feet Speed: instant Lightning Bolt, 25 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Lightning Rune Spell ID: 00067970 Tome ID: 000a2702	225 Appren.	93	0323323	Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes for 50 points of shock damage when enemies come near: Cast on ground Shock Rune, 50 pts for 1 sec	Can be purchased from: Calcelmo, Enthir, Falion, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving, Wylandriah, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Chain Lightning Spell ID: 00045f9d Tome ID: 000a2708	350 Adept	390	0156156	Lightning bolt that does 40 points of shock damage to Health and half to Magicka, then leaps to a new target: Missile (instant impact) Range: 141 feet Speed: instant Chain Lightning, 40 pts in 20 ft Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec in 20 ft; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Fireball Spell ID: 0001c789 Tome ID: 000a2706	350 Adept	345	0133133	A fiery explosion for 40 points of damage in a 15 foot radius. Targets on fire take extra damage: Missile, explosive Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Explosion radius: 15 feet Fireball, 40 pts in 15 ft Sets targets on fire, dealing 20% of the immediate spell damage over 2s Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Intense Flames Rout, 99 pts for 15 secs in 15 ft; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Flame Cloak Spell ID: 0003ae9f Tome ID: 000a2703	350 Adept	325	0289289	For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range take 8 points fire damage per second. Targets on fire take extra damage: Cast on self Flame Cloak, 8 pts in 10 ft for 60 secs Sets targets on fire, dealing 20% of the immediate spell damage over 2s	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas Fathryon^DB Can be found on the shoreline east of Dawnstar, next to Yisra's corpse
Frost Cloak Spell ID: 0003aea2 Tome ID: 000a2704	350 Adept	340	0316316	For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range take 8 points frost damage and Stamina damage per second: Cast on self Frost Cloak, 8 pts in 10 ft for 60 secs	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Ice Storm Spell ID: 00045f9c Tome ID: 000a2707	350 Adept	360	0144144	A freezing whirlwind that does 40 points of frost damage per second to Health and Stamina: Missile (area of effect while traveling) Range: 96 feet Speed: 24 fps Ice Storm, 40 pts in 15 ft Slow, 50 pts for 5 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs in 15 ft; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Lightning Cloak Spell ID: 0003aea3 Tome ID: 000a2705	350 Adept	355	0370370	For 60 seconds nearby opponents take 8 points of shock damage and half magicka damage: Cast on self Shock Cloak, 8 pts in 10 ft for 60 secs	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Wuunferth the Unliving, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Icy Spear Spell ID: 0010f7ec Tome ID: 0010f7f3	475 Expert	725	0320320	A spear of ice that does 60 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina: Missile Range: 469 feet Speed: 117 fps Icy Spear, 60 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Slow, 50 pts for 3 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Incinerate Spell ID: 0010f7ed Tome ID: 0010f7f4	475 Expert	710	0298298	A blast of fire that does 60 points of damage. Targets on fire take extra damage: Missile Range: 469 feet Incinerate, 60 pts Sets targets on fire, dealing 10% of the immediate spell damage over 1s Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Intense Flames Fear, 99 pts for 15 secs; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Thunderbolt Spell ID: 0010f7ee Tome ID: 0010f7f5	475 Expert	750	0343343	A Thunderbolt that does 60 points of shock damage to Health and half that to Magicka: Missile Range: 188 feet Speed: instant Thunderbolt, 60 pts Perk Impact Stagger, 0.25 pts; if the Impact perk has been unlocked Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Wall of Flames Spell ID: 00035d7f Tome ID: 000a2709	475 Expert	680	0118118/s	Sprayed on the ground, it creates a wall of fire that does 50 points of fire damage per second: Constant cast on ground (each impact lasts for several seconds) Fire Barrier, 8 pts for 1 sec Sets targets on fire, dealing 33% of the immediate spell damage over 2s Intense Flames Fear, 99 pts for 15 secs; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked Fire (HazardWallofFireSpell), 20 damage every 2 seconds. The hazard effect lasts for 30 seconds on the ground	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Wall of Frost Spell ID: 00035d80 Tome ID: 000a270a	475 Expert	700	0137137/s	Sprayed on the ground, it creates a wall of frost that does 50 points of frost damage per second: Constant cast on ground (each impact lasts for several seconds) Frost Barrier, 8% for 1 sec Slow, 50 pts for 5 secs Deep Freeze Paralyze, for 3 secs; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked Frost (HazardWallofFrostSpell), 20 damage every 5 seconds, Slows enemy for 5 seconds. The hazard effect lasts for 30 seconds on the ground.	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Wall of Storms Spell ID: 00035d81 Tome ID: 000a270b	475 Expert	725	0145145/s	Sprayed on the ground, it creates a wall of lightning that does 50 points of shock damage per second: Constant cast on ground (each impact lasts for several seconds) Wall of Storms, 8 pts for 1 sec Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; if the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked Shock (HazardWallofShockSpell), 20 shock damage every 1 second. The hazard effect lasts for 30 seconds on the ground	Can be purchased from: Enthir, Faralda, Talvas Fathryon^DB
Blizzard Spell ID: 0007e8e4 Tome ID: 000a270d	5100 Master	1350	11061106	Targets take 20 points of frost damage for 10 seconds, plus Stamina damage: Cast on self Blizzard, 20 pts for 10 secs in 40 ft On Ice Paralyze, for 3 secs in 40 ft; if the Deep Freeze perk has been unlocked	Can be purchased from: Faralda (only after Destruction Ritual Spell has been completed)
Fire Storm Spell ID: 0007a82b Tome ID: 000a270c	5100 Master	1290	14261426	A 100 point fiery explosion centered on the caster. Does more damage to closer targets: Cast on self; large area of effect Fire Storm 100, 100 pts in 100 ft Sets targets on fire, dealing 40% of the immediate spell damage over 4s. Fire Storm 65, 75 pts in 65 ft Fire Storm 25, 50 pts in 25 ft It Burns Hysteria, 99 pts for 7 secs in 100 ft; if the Intense Flames perk has been unlocked	Reward for quest Destruction Ritual Spell
Lightning Storm Spell ID: 0007e8e5 Tome ID: 000a270e	5100 Master	1400	0138138/s	Target takes 75 points of shock damage per second to Health, and half that to Magicka: Cast then constant; no impact Lightning Storm, 75 pts for 1 sec Disintegrate, 200 pts for 1 sec; regardless of whether or not the Disintegrate perk has been unlocked Note: This spell can be tremendously powerful if a large enough supply of magicka is available. It is even capable of disintegrating ancient dragons in a few seconds. Also note that casting incinerate, icy spear or thunderbolt has a higher damage per second, but is less magicka efficient, and can be more difficult to aim than the constant beam this spell provides.	Can be purchased from: Faralda (only after Destruction Ritual Spell has been completed)
Arniel's Convection Spell ID: 0006a104 No Tome	0N/A	N/A	00011/s	Burns the target 1 points per second. Targets on fire take extra damage. Flames, 1 pt for 1 sec Specifically intended to be used for heating Dwarven Convectors in the related quest	Not available for purchase Given to you by Arniel Gane during the quest Arniel's Endeavor
Vampiric Drain Spell IDs: 0008d5bf / 0008d5c0 / 0008d5c1 / 0008d5c2 No Tome	0N/A	N/A	00066/s 10/s 13/s 17/s	Absorb <mag> points of health per second from the target Drain Health, <mag> pts for 1 sec <mag> is 2, 3, 4, or 5, depending upon your level of vampirism	Not available for purchase Spell is automatically added when you become a vampire

[edit] Spell List Notes

The base cost for spells is the amount of magicka that would be necessary to cast the spell at 0 skill without any perks. The magicka cost at 100 skill is 41% less than the base cost; the cost can also be reduced via enchanted apparel and by unlocking various perks. See Spell Cost for the full magicka cost equation.
Skill level indicates which skill perk needs to be unlocked to decrease the spell's magicka cost. "N/A" is used for special spells whose cost is not affected by any perks.
The "Where to Get" column only lists guaranteed locations for obtaining the spell tomes. Most spell tomes are also available in random loot; see Spell Tome Locations for details.
For higher-level spell tomes to become available for purchase, your skill in the school must be high enough. Also, master-level spell tomes can only be acquired once that school's ritual spell quest has been completed.
All spell tomes have a weight of 1.

[edit] Magical Effects

The following individual effects are all considered to be part of the school of Destruction (see the individual effect pages for full details on availability; the Magical Effects article also provides a summary):

[edit] Skill Usage

Be aware that your Destruction skill level decreases the casting cost, but does not increase the spell damage. To keep using Destruction magic effectively against tougher opponents, you will need to either learn stronger spells, pick the damage increasing perks, or both. Higher-level spells are also required to level up the skill quicker, as the amount of skill progress you receive is higher for higher-level spells.

Shock spells reach their target nearly instantaneously, much faster than the other elements, so you do not have to lead as much when targeting moving opponents.

Note that Rune spells can only be placed close to the caster, and that the continuous-damage Novice-level spells Flames, Sparks, and Frostbite have a very limited range. However, the range of Rune spells can be improved with the Rune Master perk.

It is best to use Rune spells in close quarters or tight entrances, and is especially useful for those that mix stealth and magic. They are also useful for triggering draugr that are hidden in crypts. What's more, if you have the Rune Master perk, runes can be used as an instantaneous mid-range attack.

Use the various cloak spells for battle, as any nearby opponent that you are not focusing on will still take damage.

When facing a difficult opponent with high health, such as a dragon priest, it is often helpful to make use of the dual casting Impact perk. This effectively allows you to stagger-lock the opponent, preventing retaliation by your opponent.

Note that the Dual Casting perk is magicka inefficient, as it means only 10% damage increase for 40% higher magicka cost. Unless you have a lot of magicka or a lot of casting-cost-reducing gear, it is more efficient to cast two normal spells with both hands (you can still cast two single-cast spells after acquiring the perk by activating one hand then the other in rapid succession, rather than activating both hands simultaneously for the dual-cast version). However, dual casting has two advantages that, situation depending, may outweigh the additional cost: the DPS of dual casting is higher, and the Impact perk provides a guaranteed stagger, depending on the spell. The stagger effect has no effect if the target is already staggering, thus a good balance between efficient damage and shutdown of the target is to alternate a dual-cast with two quick double casts. Impact does not work with constant 'stream' spells (Flames, Frostbite), Novice-level spells, the Wall-type Expert spells, or Master-level spells.

Note that any spells that require preparation time to be cast stop your magicka from regenerating for the duration of the charge up until the spell is cast. This means that both preparing and holding spells, and casting spells in rapid succession reduce the amount of time available for magicka regeneration, and make sustained casting difficult. In order to maximize natural magicka regeneration while in combat, it's best to minimize any time spent "waiting" to cast a fully-charged spell.

[edit] Skill Increases

[edit] Character Creation

The following races have an initial skill bonus to Destruction:

+10 bonus: Dunmer
+5 bonus: Altmer, Imperial, Redguard

[edit] Trainers

Wuunferth the Unliving in Windhelm (Common)
Sybille Stentor in Solitude (Expert)
Faralda in the College of Winterhold (Master)

[edit] Skill Books

[edit] Free Skill Boosts

+1 Destruction reward (and other magic skills) from Pantea Ateia (Bards College) for completing the quest Pantea's Flute.
+5 Destruction (+5 every magic skill) by selecting "The Path of Magic" when reading the Oghma Infinium after completing the quest Discerning the Transmundane.

[edit] Gaining Skill XP

The XP gain for Destruction skill is the base magicka cost of the spell, when the spell is used effectively. For example, when you cast a lightning rune, and it is triggered by a target, you gain 323 XP. Dual Casting does not increase XP gain.
To level this skill, you must cast a spell on a valid target. Some valid targets include Shadowmere, Hadvar/Ralof during Unbound, Derkeethus, Esbern before A Cornered Rat (use Sparks or Ice Storm to hit him through the door, or place runes right next to where he's standing, and then activate the door when his health gets too low to reset him and any bounties you might acquire), Paarthurnax (before starting his quest) and M'aiq the Liar, conjured creatures, and torture victims.
Regenerate Magicka effects help reduce downtimes while training.
It is possible to reduce or even completely eliminate the magicka cost of spells by stacking Fortify Destruction enchanting effects.
If you jump up and down repeatedly in a forge, you will be set on fire, which will slowly increase your Destruction skill. This does not work with special forges like the Skyforge.

[edit] Notes

Projectile spells shoot at 1 spell per second (2 if dual casted), much faster than even the fastest bow with quick draw perk.
When you bash an opponent with your torch, it will count towards the Destruction skill: the fire damage from the torch is registered as magical fire damage like that of a spell, similar to how dragon shouts can be blocked by Ward spells, because they are considered magical attacks.
Destruction Dual Casting enables one to cast a 220% strength version of the spell at 280% of normal cost when simultaneously casting the same spell from both hands.
Impact does not normally work on dragons. To make it work, also take Augmented Flames, Augmented Frost, and/or Augmented Shock and use the respective spell type. If you have enough magicka, or sufficiently enchanted armor, you can potentially 'stun lock' even dragons indefinitely.
Rune spells can be used to draw draugr out of their sarcophagi. Even "at rest," they will set off nearby runes and take damage from them. This is useful in barrows with large numbers of draugr, as it allows you to take them on one at a time. Furthermore, since Wall of Flames does not wake enclosed draugr, it can be applied around or in front of a sarcophagus before awakening the draugr within, resulting in nearly instant kills as they emerge.
Ice Storm can travel through walls or other obstructions.
With a high enough level of Destruction, passing guards may say, "Destruction magic's fine; just don't go burning down any buildings".
Fireball and Chain Lightning will only stagger the target they hit directly, not others that are within the area of effect. The exception is Ice Storm.

[edit] Bugs

With the Disintegrate perk, if Lightning spells are used as a finishing blow to kill a dragon, the dragon's soul may not be absorbed.
- This bug is fixed by the Official Skyrim Patch.
The Cloak spells will dismiss summoned creatures because they are programmed to dispel any spell with the "that spell looks dangerous" flag. This was meant to dispel an existing cloak, but also affects other spells.
- This bug is fixed by version 1.0 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
Many effects are not correctly affected by the Augmented Flames, Augmented Frost, and Augmented Shock perks. These perks rely upon the MagicDamageFire, MagicDamageFrost, and MagicDamageShock keywords to identify which magic effects should be enhanced by the perks, however many spell effects are missing those keywords—specifically, all Rune and Cloak spells.
- This bug is fixed by version 1.0 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
- Conversely, all Damage Stamina enchantments are affected by the Augmented Flames perk.
  Mod Notes: EnchStaminaDamageFFContact incorrectly has MagicDamageFire applied.
The Deep Freeze, Intense Flames, and Disintegrate perks will cause your cloak spells to kill followers who are in bleedout.
- This bug is fixed by version 1.2.3 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
If you kill anything with a frost spell, have the Deep Freeze perk, and try to reanimate them, they will just walk in place and do nothing. ^?