The Magic system in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim wasn’t quite everything some fans wanted. Many spells are considered underpowered though an exception seems to be Conjuration magic, which many consider one of the best magic schools in Skyrim.
Conjuration lets players summon both weapons and followers, though the latter is the main event. But it can be tough to decide which of Skyrim’s summonable flowers are worth their weight in Magicka and which should stay benched in Oblivion. Fortunately, at least one Reddit user seems to have an answer.
Redditor noob_master_69II uploaded a tier list rating the fourteen summonable creatures from Skyrim’s conjuration school. Gracing the bottom of the barrel are the Bonemen and Mistmen from Skyrim’s Dawnguard expansion. The undead creatures are both comparatively weak and relatively expensive to summon, making their low rank unsurprising. Their cousin, the Wraithman, occupies the “C” tier. It shares that rank with the basic wolf-like Familiar, the Flaming Familiar, and the Lovecraft-inspired Seeker from the Dragonborn DLC.
Moving on to more valuable minions, The Storm Atronach, Ash Spawn, and Ash Guardian make up the “B” tier. The latter of the three is a relatively powerful creature stat-wise, comparable to mini-bosses like the Dwarven Centurion. However, it costs a Heart Stone to summon and loiters in an area instead of following the player. “A” tier is occupied by Skyrim’s powerful Flame and Frost Atronachs, the undead mount Arvak, and Arniel’s Shade. Arniel’s Shade, in particular, stands out for being immune to poison and physical damage. Combined with his powerful array of spells, it’s unsurprising the ghostly mage ranked so highly.
However, the top spot goes to the sole “S” ranked summon, Skyrim’s Dremora Lord. These powerful Daedra warriors charge into battle with a high-level flaming greatsword and have enough armor and hit points to shrug off most attacks. The Dremora Lord’s only weaknesses are their lack of ranged attacks and extremely high Magicka cost. However, players can work around the former by simply summoning the Dremora Lord close to their enemies. High-level players can also conjure one using the Sanguine Rose, which summons a level scaled Dremora warrior.
Notably, the list excludes Skyrim’s Zombies and their various subtypes. Granted, players don’t summon these undead minions so much as resurrect them, though the associated spells are still considered part of Skyrim’s Conjuration school. However, a Zombie’s usefulness depends heavily on the level and equipment of the resurrected character, so it’s understandable they weren’t included in the list. Yet despite that omission, it is still a helpful guide that many Skyrim fans would agree with.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available on PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions in development.