The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is replete with plenty of subtle magical effects and obscure blessings for the Dragonborn to take advantage of. However, many of them are locked away behind various quests and obscure conditions, making it entirely unlikely for a given player to encounter all of them over the course of a casual playthrough.
The same can be said of Skyrim's extensive roster of spells, and that's before considering the rarity of a player willingly peeling themselves away from the stealth archer gimmick long enough to invest their time and skill points. Dusty old spell tomes, overlooked buffs provided as quest rewards, or rare, one-of-a-kind potions with unique effects are easy to miss if you don't know where to look.
Updated February 24, 2022 by Erik Petrovich: The Creation Club has a variety of addons that enhance or add to the base game and its original DLCs, including the addition of new unique spells to Skyrim. The Rare Curios creation, for example, adds dozens of new potion possibilities for Alchemists. The Anniversary Edition of the game has been out for a few months now, so many players have had the chance to mess around with these unique effects. However, because of the requirements to cast them, some are still rarely wanted and even more rarely used. These Skyrim rare spells and effects are much more powerful than they might at first appear, though, which can make leveling up skills like Pickpocketing and Illusion much more gratifying.
12 Poisoned Apple Damage
A unique effect that was added with the Rare Curios creation, included with Saints and Seducers (and also included in Anniversary Edition), is the poisoned apple damage-over-time effect. Poisoned apples can now be bought from Khajiit Merchants with the creation installed, which function almost identically to how they worked in Oblivion.
Putting a poisoned apple into an NPC's inventory with a high-level pickpocketing perk makes them start taking a small amount of damage over a very, very long time. It's not too useful otherwise, though not many players have seen this effect in action thanks to the chance of being caught, plus the lackluster damage it does.
11 Fenrik's Welcome
Fenrik's Welcome is a spell added with the Arcane Accessories creation, included alongside Rare Curios in Anniversary Edition. It's a surprisingly useful spell despite its unassuming description. It's part Skyrim invisibility spell and part Lockpicking tool - Fenrik's Welcome lets the caster become invisible briefly and unlocks any lock rated Expert or below, but only for five seconds.
This might not seem great – what is five seconds of invisibility going to do, after all – but in practice Fenrik's Welcome is a perfect tool for dungeon-crawlers who want to get through Skyrim's labyrinths with fewer obstructions. Most of the locks in the game are rated Expert or below, and five seconds of Invisibility is actually much, much more useful than it might seem. Being an expert-level Illusion spell, though, few players have seen it in action because leveling Illusion is tedious.
10 Sailor's Repose
Sailor's Repose is a neat little buff that permanently increases the effectiveness of all healing spells by ten percent. It may not seem like much, but considering it's always active and doesn't cost you anything beyond a little time, it's totally worth snagging.
In order to obtain it, locate the Frostflow Lighthouse, on the coast near Winterhold. Entering will reveal that the Redguard family inhabiting it has been murdered by Falmer that tunneled their way inside, and you'll be prompted to avenge them. Follow the quest, and you'll be rewarded with this upon delivering Habd's remains back to the lighthouse.
9 Transmute
Have you ever wished that you had the Midas touch? Well, this spell will get you halfway towards living your fantasy, at the very least. Casting Transmute will convert iron ore into silver ore and silver ore into gold ore. Priority is given to silver ore conversion, so some slightly frustrating inventory management might be necessary depending on what you're trying to make.
Needless to say, this is one of those rare spells in Skyrim that can be used to generate gold pretty quickly, and it can even be cast in each hand to speed up the process. One copy of the spell tome needed to learn it can be located at the Halted Stream Camp near Whiterun and another can be found in the tomb of Ansilvund, north of Riften.
8 Ghostveil
Ghostveil can only be obtained by drinking a Philter of the Phantom, of which there are precious few. It's easily missed as it's attached to a quest in Ivarstead, with most players rushing through to fulfill the early story missions concerning the Greybeards in High Hrothgar. The effects are purely aesthetic, providing the imbiber with a spectral, ghostly, and semi-transparent appearance for thirty seconds.
They're obtained after killing Wyndelius Gatharian, who has been using them to spook Ivarstead's inhabitants away from Shroud Hearth Barrow. A few are also laying around his makeshift abode within the barrow. Alas, that makes up their entire quantity, as the potion cannot be brewed utilizing alchemy.
7 Dragonhide
If you've never bothered maxing out your Alteration skill, then Dragonhide should provide you with more than enough reason to do so, and subsequently suffer through the "Alteration Ritual Spell" quest at the Mage's College in Winterhold.
You'll need to level your Alteration past ninety and do quite a bit of dragon hunting, but upon being able to snag the spell tome necessary to learn Dragonhide, it'll all be worth it. This spell reduces all incoming physical damage by a staggering eighty percent, easily turning the tide during difficult encounters.
6 Gift of the Gab
How many people actually bothered with the Bards College quests, anyway? Well, those that didn't miss out on permanently reducing the headache involved with raising their speech skill by fifteen percent, because that's precisely what this quest reward does. Needless to say, it's best done as early as possible.
After cleaning up a few prerequisite errands, the Dragonborn can take on the quest entitled "Tending the Flame," in which they'll retrieve an old book, make up some lines for an epic poem, and attend a radical bonfire party. Afterward, they'll be a full member of the Bards College and possess this underrated magical effect.
5 Guardian Circle
Being able to cast this spell requires steep investment in the Restoration skill and the completion of the "Restoration Ritual Spell" quest at the Mage's College, but facing any undead threat from that point and on is going to be rendered trivial.
Guardian Circle establishes a small bubble around the Dragonborn that will simultaneously send any undead up to level 35 into a panic while healing the player so long as they remain within the circle. As a fun fact, possessing a high degree of magic absorb will cause the Dragonborn to regenerate massive amounts of Magicka while they're inside the bubble.
4 Voice of the Sky
You might remember encountering several Nords that were "walking the steps" and "meditating on the emblems" as you made your ascent to High Hrothgar for the first time, and as it turns out, they might've had more reason for examining those stone tablets along the way than to pay their respects.
Examining all ten of the stone tablets along High Hrothgar's famed seven thousand steps will provide the Dragonborn with this neat effect, which keeps animals from attacking or fleeing from the player for one day. Attacking an animal will end the effect, and it can be renewed by reexamining the tablets. Curiously, this effect also extends to vampires, for some weird and likely unintended reason.
3 Conjure Seeker
If you find yourself longing for the cozy and comforting Eldritch horrors of but can't make the trip, make sure to take a little piece of it with you by picking up the Conjure Seeker spell while you're there. The spell can't be obtained anywhere else, but at least there are several copies to be located within.
Casting it, as predicted, will summon forth one of those cuddly, tentacled Cthulhu-like monsters to aid you in combat. Or at least just sort of hang out, if you just happen to find yourself in dire need of a little unsettling company.
2 Prowler's Profit
The reason for this effect's rarity has a lot to do with the immense timesink associated with the quest necessary to obtain it, the infamously drawn out and frustrating scavenger hunt known as "No Stone Unturned." In fact, those players that are perfectly aware of it often ignore it, feeling that the reward is entirely unworthy of the quest.
After managing to hunt down all 24of Barenziah's stones, the Dragonborn is gifted this buff, which simply boosts the number of precious gems found when searching a container that might harbor them. It's good for a decent bit of coin, but by the time it's finished, gold isn't really all that hard to come by.
1 Ash Shell & Ash Rune
Ash Shell and Ash Rune are odd little spells. They can only be obtained in Tel Mithryn on the island of Solstheim, during the events of the Dragonborn DLC expansion. While there are other spells that fulfill their niche a bit more effectively, they're certainly unique.
Ash Shell encases a target in hardened ash for half a minute, knocking them over and preventing them from taking action. Ash Rune does the same thing, but functions as more of an AOE trap spell that affects multiple targets. They're essentially lengthy versions of Paralyze, but the key difference is that targets affected by Ash Shell can't be hurt while under its influence.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is available on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S