All of the magical skills in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim can be a great deal of fun to play around with. Regardless of one's preferences for the arcane, there is always something to be found within The Mage playstyle's six core skills that can enhance a playthrough, or even make for an interesting challenge run. Conjuration is one that focuses on summoning allies and ethereal weapons as well as manipulating souls for one's own gain.
With so much of this school of magic pertaining to dealing with creatures from other planes of existence and death, this playstyle is better suited for the Dragonborn unafraid of delving into the darkest parts of this Elder Scrolls game. There are tons of interesting facts about this skill that players have learned since Skyrim's release; many of which can be useful to those interested in Conjuration-heavy playthroughs, experienced mages in this field reflecting on past summonings, or those simply needing a laugh at some of exploitable mechanics players can abuse.
10 Summoning
The most famous spells in Conjuration have to do with calling an ally from another dimension to aid in battle. Players can summon a variety of different creatures, such as spectral wolves with Conjure Familiar. The Dragonborn can also gain the assistance of far larger and more powerful minions.
The mightiest of which are the three variations of atronach as well as Dremora lords. These can be summoned with the respectively named Conjuration spells. It should also be mentioned that spells exist that allow players to banish enemy summons, such as Expel Daedra. This can be handy in a fight against rival conjurers.
9 Ethereal Weapons
As some of the most interesting armaments, "Bound" weapons are those that players can use Conjuration spells to coalesce into existence temporarily. They are composed of wavering, translucent blue energy and come in many varieties. There are sword, battleaxe, and bow versions of this spell.
The most useful is Bound Bow since it grants the player a ranged weapon with infinite ammunition, albeit for only a couple of minutes at a time. However, in the time it takes for the bound weapon to dissipate, the Dragonborn will surely have recovered all Magicka by then, making this one of the most cost-efficient methods for ranged assaults.
8 Manipulating The Dead
Of the three main branches of Conjuration, this one is the most macabre. After slaying foes in combat, the Dragonborn can reanimate their corpses once each with spells like Raise Zombie to attack remaining enemies with their fallen brethren.
The most functional aspect of these kinds of spells outside of combat pertains to another of the skills that fall under The Mage constellation: Enchanting. To enchant items, one needs souls as fuel, though they must be contained within soul gems to be useable. Casting the Soul Trap spell on a target before killing them will siphon their life into an appropriately sized gem, though the player must be carrying empty soul gems for this to work properly.
7 Where To Find The Best Resources
Understandably, the best place for Conjuration spell tomes and quests is the College of Winterhold. Phinis Gestor, the Conjuration instructor, sells plenty of relevant books and can also be spoken with to unlock the quest that leads to him gaining master tier Conjuration spell tomes to sell. He is also a master in these arts and can teach the Dragonborn a lot about summoning and soul trapping adversaries.
South of both the college and the town of Winterhold, players can find a grand shrine atop a peak. This one is dedicated to Azura, the Daedric Prince of dawn and dusk. Speaking with the sole priestess there, Aranea Ienith, will allow the Dragonborn to start the quest "The Black Star", which leads to a reusable soul gem capable of housing the largest specimens.
6 Master Tier Spells
After completing Phinis' quest and unlocking the master tier spells, players can enjoy summoning a permanent atronach with the corresponding "Thrall" spell to one's side that will last until they die. Thankfully, they can be resummoned, making these elemental beings some of the most convenient of the powerful ally-summons.
There is another master rank spell, however, and it is aptly called Dead Thrall. Much like the atronach thralls, this is a permanent spell. One that raises a dead body until it is defeated and crumbles to dust.
5 Preferable Perks
As with the other magical skills, there are perks for decreasing spell cost and dual-casting, along with the other more generic ones. However, the Conjuration perk tree has quite a few that summoners should take a close look at. For those seeking to improve their bound weapons, be sure to pick up the Soul Stealer perk for automatic Soul Trap casting when striking a foe with an ethereal armament as well as Oblivion Binding, which grants the same translucent equipment capabilities of banishing enemy summons and converting raised dead to the player's side when struck.
Those more focused on summoning allies instead of weapons should take the Elemental Potency perk for 50% more powerful atronachs and the greatly useful Twin Souls that grants the Dragonborn the power to have two conjured companions active simultaneously as opposed to just one.
4 Sadistic Summoner
The best way to increase one's proficiency in Conjuration is to use spells simultaneously. Though, instead of doing so in combat with real enemies, it is much more efficient to turn one's ghostly blade upon summoned allies. Both conjuring up an atronach and calling forth a bound weapon will yield experience, though it is when these things do damage that a better flow of level-ups can be acquired.
The way Skyrim's engine tracks skill experience is by damage done, and with Conjuration this applies to such done by summoned objects and beings. Calling upon an atronach and then attacking it with a bound weapon will grant the player experience from hitting it with their ghostly armament, which will then aggravate the atronach into attacking. However, getting struck by one's own atronach apparently counts towards skill experience gain, making a fight with one's own summon worth a fair bit of skill-ups. If things get dicey, the Dragonborn can always cast the summoning spell again to banish the atronach.
3 Confused Corpse
Some things persist after death for humans. The need for a weapon in combat, due to humanity's mostly lackluster barehanded fighting techniques against beings like dragons and mammoths, lead to their programming acting in specific ways, even when raised from death.
Human characters that have no weapon when reanimated in combat will instinctively look for one, regardless of where they are. However, these beings can no longer function as proper people, so they fall victim to unexpected forms of demise. For example, in seeking a weapon, resurrected humans may try to run into a house to search for a sword or axe to aid their summoner. Though since undead cannot apparently enter a house, they will disintegrate into a pile of ash upon crossing the doorway.
2 Recruiting Enemy Raised Dead
Since necromancy is so common in Tamriel, players will often go up against enemy mages wielding Conjuration spells to resurrect dead creatures. Though, if one is skilled enough, this can be beneficial in combat. While the animation for a foe's Raise Dead spell is happening, the Dragonborn can cast a stronger version of this spell upon that same corpse, such as Revenant or Dread Zombie, in order to take control of the body that the adversary was trying to raise.
Interestingly, this does not count towards one's own summoned creature slots, meaning that the Dragonborn can call upon more allies while taking up a creature slot of the enemy mage.
1 Friend Into Foe
Accordingly, something similar can happen to the Dragonborn if they are not careful when battling a dragon priest. Some of these ancient liches have the spell Command Daedra, which grants them the power to turn the player's summoned atronachs and Daedra against them.
This is more prevalent of an issue at lower levels, therefore conjurers should be wary when tackling these levitating spellcasters early in their playthrough.