Conjuration in Skyrim is one of those skills that separates the casual adventurer from the tactical mastermind. While your warrior friend is swinging a greatsword and chugging potions, you’re summoning Dremora Lords to do the heavy lifting and soul-trapping enemies to fuel your enchantments. It’s efficient. It’s powerful. And when you nail the timing on a well-placed atronach summon, it’s deeply satisfying.
This guide covers everything you need to dominate with Conjuration in 2026, from the fastest leveling methods to essential spell choices, perk builds, and advanced combat tactics. Whether you’re starting fresh or min-maxing an endgame mage, you’ll find actionable strategies that hold up across all platforms, including the Anniversary Edition and Special Edition on PC, PS5, Xbox, and Switch.
Key Takeaways
- Skyrim Conjuration dominates through action economy: summons tank damage, split enemy aggro, and fight for free after the initial cast, making it one of the most powerful magic schools.
- Soul Trap is the fastest leveling method, allowing players to reach Conjuration 100 in under 90 minutes by repeatedly casting on corpses while magicka regenerates.
- Twin Souls is the essential capstone perk that lets you summon two permanent Dremora Lords simultaneously, effectively turning you into a three-person raid team that trivializes endgame content.
- Binding cost-reduction perks and enchantments together enables near-zero Conjuration spell costs, letting you sustain long dungeon crawls without depleting magicka potions.
- Pre-summoning before combat engagement and layering defenses with Ward spells creates a three-part defensive strategy that scales beautifully across all difficulty settings.
What Is Conjuration in Skyrim?
Conjuration is one of Skyrim’s six magic schools, focused on summoning allies, reanimating corpses, and binding weapons from Oblivion. At its core, it’s about battlefield control: you’re not just dealing damage, you’re adding bodies to your side, splitting enemy aggro, and often avoiding direct combat entirely.
The skill tree breaks into three main branches: Summoning (atronachs and Daedra), Necromancy (reanimation spells), and Bound Weapons (conjured swords, bows, and battleaxes). Each spell you cast increases your Conjuration skill, and the higher your level, the more powerful your summons and the longer they last.
Conjuration synergizes well with almost any build. Stealth archers use Bound Bows for unlimited arrows. Two-handed warriors swap to a Dremora Lord when outnumbered. Pure mages use summons as tanks while they nuke from range. It’s versatile, scalable, and, once you invest in the right perks, borderline overpowered.
Why Conjuration Is One of the Most Powerful Skills
Conjuration doesn’t just compete with other magic schools, it outpaces most of them in sheer utility. Here’s why it’s consistently ranked among the best skills in the game:
Action economy. Every summon is effectively a second player character. Your atronach tanks, deals damage, and draws aggro while you heal, cast Destruction spells, or reposition. That’s value you can’t get from a single fireball.
Zero resource cost after the initial cast. Once your summon is active, it fights for free. You’re not burning through magicka every second like you would spamming Destruction spells. Summoners can sustain long dungeon crawls without chugging potions.
Scales into endgame. At Conjuration 100 with the right perks, you can have two permanent Dremora Lords. They’re tanky, hit hard, and trivialize most content, including dragon fights and high-level dungeons. The magic damage reduction from powerful enchanted rings can further boost survivability for pure mage builds.
Soul Trap integration. Conjuration isn’t just combat-focused. Soul Trap feeds your enchanting economy, turning every kill into a filled soul gem. That’s passive income for gear upgrades and a massive quality-of-life boost.
If you’re playing on Master or Legendary difficulty, Conjuration becomes even more critical. Summons scale with your level and perks, and they don’t suffer the same damage penalties you do.
How to Level Up Conjuration Fast
Conjuration levels based on spell cast count and spell tier, not damage dealt. That means spamming low-cost spells in safe environments is the fastest route to 100.
Best Early-Game Conjuration Spells
Conjure Familiar is your starter spell. It’s cheap (50 magicka), widely available, and levels you steadily from 1-25. Cast it before every fight, dismiss it with a melee attack, and recast. Repeat.
Once you hit Conjuration 25, switch to Conjure Flame Atronach. It costs 150 magicka and levels you faster per cast. You can buy the tome from Farengar in Dragonsreach or from most court wizards.
Soul Trap is the real leveling MVP, though. It’s cheap (100 magicka), spam-friendly, and doubles as a utility spell. Cast it on corpses, critters, or already-dead enemies, you’ll still get experience even if the target can’t be soul-trapped. This is the method speedrunners use to hit 100 Conjuration in under an hour.
Soul Trap Leveling Method
Here’s the step-by-step:
- Get the Soul Trap spell. Buy it from court wizards or find the tome in Ansilvund (southeast of Riften).
- Find a low-level enemy or corpse. Mudcrabs, horses, or any non-essential NPC work.
- Cast Soul Trap repeatedly. Wait for your magicka to regen between casts, or chug magicka potions.
- Equip magicka-regen gear. Archmage’s Robes or enchanted gear speed this up significantly.
You can hit Conjuration 100 in about 90 minutes with this method. It’s tedious, but it works. Some players prefer a more organic approach, leveling through actual gameplay, both are valid depending on your tolerance for grind.
Essential Conjuration Spells You Need to Know
Conjuration has over 20 spells, but only a handful are worth running in your loadout. Here’s the breakdown by category.
Summoning Spells: Atronachs and Daedra
Conjure Flame Atronach (Conjuration 25) is your early-game workhorse. It deals fire damage, tanks decently, and costs 150 magicka. Great for Draugr-heavy dungeons.
Conjure Frost Atronach (Conjuration 40) trades DPS for survivability. It’s bulkier than the Flame Atronach and deals frost damage, making it ideal against melee-heavy enemies.
Conjure Storm Atronach (Conjuration 75) is the top-tier atronach. High health, high damage output, and ranged lightning attacks. It’s your go-to summon until you unlock Dremora Lords.
Conjure Dremora Lord (Conjuration 100) is the endgame summon. It dual-wields a Daedric greatsword, regenerates health, and hits like a truck. With the Twin Souls perk, you can summon two at once, and at that point, you’re basically running a three-person raid team.
Reanimation Spells: Raise the Dead
Necromancy spells reanimate corpses to fight for you. They’re magicka-efficient and thematically cool, but come with a level cap per spell tier.
Reanimate Corpse (Conjuration 25) works on enemies up to level 6. It’s niche, but useful in bandit camps where you can chain-resurrect fresh bodies.
Revenant (Conjuration 40) raises enemies up to level 21. Much more practical for mid-game content.
Dread Zombie (Conjuration 65) and Dead Thrall (Conjuration 90) are the necromancer’s endgame tools. Dead Thrall is permanent, your thrall doesn’t disintegrate after 60 seconds. You can gear them up, and they’ll follow you indefinitely. Just don’t let them die.
Many guide sites like Twinfinite recommend Dead Thrall for endgame builds, especially when paired with high-level NPCs like the Companions or named mages.
Bound Weapon Spells
Bound weapons are conjured Daedric-quality weapons that scale with your Conjuration level and relevant weapon skill (One-Handed, Two-Handed, or Archery).
Bound Sword (Conjuration 1) is available from the start and deals solid damage. With the Mystic Binding perk, it’s equivalent to a Daedric sword.
Bound Bow (Conjuration 50) is arguably the best bow in the game. It fires Daedric arrows for free, pairs beautifully with stealth archer builds, and weighs nothing. You can find the tome in Fort Amol, or buy it from court wizards after level 50.
Bound Battleaxe (Conjuration 50) is DLC-exclusive (Dragonborn). It’s powerful, but the Bound Bow outshines it in most scenarios.
The Best Conjuration Perks to Unlock
Conjuration’s perk tree is straightforward: you’ve got a main spine that boosts all Conjuration spells, and two side branches for summoning and necromancy. Here’s how to prioritize.
Must-Have Perks for Summoners
Novice Conjuration through Master Conjuration (5 perks total) reduces casting cost by 50% per tier. Max these out as you level. Cost reduction is mandatory, you don’t want to chug magicka potions mid-combat.
Mystic Binding makes Bound Weapons deal more damage and can soul-trap targets. If you’re running a Bound Bow build, this is non-negotiable.
Summoner (2 ranks) doubles the duration of all summons. Your atronachs last 120 seconds instead of 60. That’s fewer recasts and more uptime.
Atromancy makes atronachs 50% stronger and grants 30% spell absorption when they’re active. The absorption effect is borderline broken, it’s a passive defense layer that stacks with other resistances.
Elemental Potency increases atronach damage by 50%. Simple, effective, worth it.
Twin Souls is the capstone perk. Summon two creatures at once. Two Dremora Lords. Two Storm Atronachs. It’s absurd.
Necromancy Perks Worth Taking
If you’re leaning into reanimation, these perks are crucial:
Dark Souls increases the level cap of reanimated creatures by 10. This extends the viability of mid-tier necromancy spells.
Necromancy makes reanimated corpses explode on death, dealing 50 frost damage in an AoE. It’s a nice bonus for crowd control, though not essential.
Most summoners skip the necromancy branch entirely and double down on atronachs + Dremora Lords. But if you’re roleplaying a pure necromancer or want to experiment with Dead Thrall, the perks are there.
Building the Ultimate Conjuration Character
Conjuration is flexible enough to anchor multiple builds, but some race and skill combinations outperform others.
Race Selection for Conjurers
Breton is the top pick for pure mages. The 25% magic resistance racial and the Dragonskin power (absorb 50% of spells for 60 seconds) make you incredibly tanky. You’ll survive burst damage while your summons clean up.
High Elf (Altmer) gives you +50 starting magicka and faster magicka regen via the Highborn power. You’ll cast more spells early-game and reach your summoning thresholds faster.
Dunmer (Dark Elf) is a solid hybrid choice. Fire resistance helps in certain dungeons, and the balanced stat spread supports battlemage builds (Bound Weapons + Destruction).
Honestly, race matters less in Skyrim than in most RPGs. Pick what fits your roleplay or aesthetic, you can make any race work.
Complementary Skills and Builds
Destruction is the classic pairing. Your summons tank while you nuke from range. Prioritize AoE spells like Fireball or Chain Lightning for crowd control.
Illusion synergizes beautifully with Conjuration. Cast Frenzy or Mayhem to turn enemies against each other, then summon atronachs to mop up the survivors. Muffle and Invisibility let you reposition safely.
Enchanting is mandatory for endgame builds. Reduce Conjuration casting cost to zero, boost magicka regen, and fortify your elemental resistances. Pair this with soul-trapping for a self-sustaining economy.
Heavy Armor or Light Armor depends on your playstyle. Mages typically run robes for the magicka bonuses, but a tanky conjurer in Daedric armor with two Dremora Lords is a legitimate strategy.
For inspiration on unique gear combinations, several builds featured on IGN’s Skyrim guides lean heavily into Conjuration-Destruction hybrids with enchanted artifacts.
Where to Find Powerful Conjuration Spell Tomes
Spell tomes are scattered across Skyrim, but the most reliable sources are vendors and faction questlines.
Court Wizards are your primary merchants. Farengar in Whiterun, Sybille Stentor in Solitude, and Calcelmo in Markarth all sell Conjuration tomes. Their inventory scales with your level, so check back as you progress.
The College of Winterhold is the mage’s headquarters. Phinis Gestor, the Conjuration trainer, sells most spells and becomes a Master trainer at Conjuration 90. Complete the College questline for access to high-tier tomes and the Archmage’s Robes, which boost all magic schools.
Random dungeon loot can drop tomes, especially in mage-heavy locations like Labyrinthian, Ansilvund, and Fellglow Keep. Save before looting, tome drops are randomized.
Bound Bow specifically is found in Fort Amol (a prison near Windhelm). It’s sitting on a table in the courtyard. No combat required.
Conjure Dremora Lord is sold by Phinis Gestor once you hit Conjuration 100 and complete a short ritual quest. He’ll give you a spell to summon an Unbound Dremora, defeat it, and claim the tome as a reward.
If you’re on PC, the modding community on Nexus Mods has expanded Conjuration spell packs that add dozens of new summons, including custom Daedra, elemental variants, and even mechanical constructs.
Top Conjuration Gear and Enchantments
Your gear setup can push Conjuration from strong to unstoppable. Focus on cost reduction, magicka pool, and regen.
Archmage’s Robes (from the College of Winterhold questline) provide 100% magicka regen and +50 magicka. They’re the gold standard for mages.
Morokei (Dragon Priest mask, found in Labyrinthian) grants 100% magicka regen. Stack it with the Archmage’s Robes for absurd sustain.
Savos Aren’s Amulet (College of Winterhold questline reward) reduces Conjuration spell cost by 25%. Pair it with enchanted gear for near-zero casting cost.
Conjurer’s Robes, Hoods, and Boots are random loot drops that reduce Conjuration cost. You’ll find them in mage dungeons or sold by radiant vendors. Disenchant them and apply the enchantment to better gear.
Custom Enchantments: Once your Enchanting is leveled, craft:
- Fortify Conjuration on head, chest, neck, and ring slots (4 total). At 100 Enchanting with perks, you can hit 100% cost reduction.
- Fortify Magicka to expand your spell pool.
- Fortify Magicka Regen for faster recovery between casts.
The Necromancer’s Amulet (found during “Blood on the Ice” in Windhelm) gives +50 magicka and reduces Conjuration/Restoration cost by 25%, but drains health and stamina regen. It’s a high-risk, high-reward option for pure mages.
Some players also combine Conjuration with the Skull of Corruption for hybrid dream-manipulation builds, though it’s more niche than core meta.
Advanced Conjuration Combat Tactics
Once you’ve got your spells and perks sorted, it’s all about execution. Here’s how to maximize battlefield control.
Pre-summon before engagement. Don’t wait until you’re taking damage. Cast your atronach or Dremora Lord before entering a room or triggering a boss fight. Let them initiate combat while you position.
Use summons to split enemy aggro. Dragons, giants, and named bosses have powerful AoE attacks. Summon on one side of the arena, then reposition to the opposite side. The boss has to choose a target, and you’re safe either way.
Layer your defenses. Summon two creatures with Twin Souls, cast a Ward or defensive Illusion spell, then DPS from range. You’re essentially a three-person party.
Soul Trap on cooldown. Every enemy kill is a filled soul gem. Even if you’re not actively enchanting, stockpile Grand and Black soul gems. They’re sellable, tradeable, or useful for late-game crafting.
Reanimation for utility, not DPS. Necromancy is best used for disposable frontline bodies. Reanimate a bandit, let them soak damage, then resummon an atronach once they explode. Don’t rely on thralls for endgame DPS, they scale poorly compared to Dremora Lords.
Dismiss and recast for positioning. If your summon is stuck on terrain or too far from the fight, hit it with a weapon to dismiss, then recast closer to the action. It’s faster than waiting for the duration to expire.
Combine with Slow Time or Paralysis. Shouts and Illusion spells synergize well with Conjuration. Paralyze a high-threat target, summon your DPS, and focus fire.
These tactics hold up across all difficulty settings and scale beautifully into modded content or challenge runs.
Conclusion
Conjuration is a skill that rewards planning, experimentation, and a willingness to let your summons do the heavy lifting. Whether you’re running a pure mage, a battlemage with Bound Weapons, or a necromancer raising an undead army, the toolkit is deep enough to support dozens of viable builds.
Focus on leveling efficiently with Soul Trap, prioritize cost-reduction perks and gear, and don’t sleep on the Twin Souls capstone. Once you’ve got two Dremora Lords active, Skyrim becomes a very different game, and you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with stealth archery in the first place.
