The School of Alteration involves the manipulation of the physical world and its natural properties. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Waterbreathing, magical protection, and Paralysis.

Alteration is a skill in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and is one of the six skills that falls under The Mage and Night-Blade play-style. The Alteration skill is raised by using certain kinds of spells that identify themselves as Alteration spells. These Alteration spells include the ability to envelop oneself in Magic Armor, detect entities either by illumination of the area or by magically sensing their presence; the ability to temporarily stun foes (paralyze), and a few special spells marked with * in the list below.

Contents 1 Changes from previous games 2 Books 3 Quests 4 Spells 5 Perks 6 Trainers 7 Leveling 8 Usefulness 9 See also 10 Bugs 11 Appearances

Changes from previous gamesEdit

Since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim does not feature custom spell creation, all Alteration spells are learned through spell tomes. Open Lock, Burden and Feather spells have been removed.

BooksEdit

Main article: Skill Book (Skyrim)

The following books provide a permanent skill up to Alteration; locations are listed under each title, and may not be exhaustive. Skill Books are one time use only. After a skill book is read once, reading the same book does not increase skills.

• Breathing Water
• Bravil: Daughter of the Niben
• Reality & Other Falsehoods

• Sithis
• The Lunar Lorkhan

QuestsEdit

The following Quests increase the Alteration Skill:

• Retrieve Frost salts for Dravynea the Stoneweaver in Kynesgrove
• Find Pantea's Flute for Pantea Ateia in the Bards College in Solitude (Note: also increases Illusion, Enchanting, Conjuration, Destruction, and Restoration)
• Discerning the Transmundane
  • When reading the Oghma Infinium, selecting the Path of Magic will increase all magic skills (including Alteration) by 5 points.
• Alteration Ritual Spell is given by Tolfdir at the College of Winterhold and, upon completion, allows for the purchase of Master-level Spell Tomes when the Dragonborn's Alteration skill level reaches 100.

SpellsEdit

The following is a complete list of Alteration spells:

Rank	Spell Name	Description	Magicka Base Cost
Novice (Skill level 0)	Candlelight	Creates a hovering light that lasts for 60 seconds.	21
	Equilibrium	Convert health into magicka at a rate of 25 points per second. Caster can be killed by this effect.	0 (25 health per second)
	Oakflesh	Improves the caster's armor rating by 40 points for 60 seconds.	103
Apprentice (Skill level 25)	Magelight	Ball of light that lasts 60 seconds and sticks where it strikes.	84
	Stoneflesh	Improves the caster's armor rating by 60 points for 60 seconds.	194
Adept (Skill level 50)	Ash Shell DB	Targets that fail to resist are immobilized in hardened ash for 30 seconds.	149 per second
	Detect Life	Nearby living creatures, but not undead, machines, or daedra can be seen through walls.	100 per second
	Ironflesh	Improves the caster's armor rating by 80 points for 60 seconds.	266
	Telekinesis	Can pull an object to you from distance. Add it to your inventory or throw it.	170 per second
	Transmute	Transmute one piece of unrefined Iron Ore to Silver, or Silver Ore to Gold, if the caster is carrying any.	100
	Waterbreathing	Can breathe under water for 60 seconds.	222
Expert (Skill level 75)	Ash Rune DB	Cast on a nearby surface, it explodes when enemies are nearby, immobilizing them in hardened ash for 30 seconds.	248
	Detect Dead	Nearby dead can be seen through walls.	148 per second
	Ebonyflesh	Improves the caster's armor rating by 100 points for 60 seconds.	341
	Paralyze	Targets that fail to resist are paralyzed for 10 seconds.	450
Master (Skill level 100)	Dragonhide	Caster ignores 80% of all physical damage for 30 seconds.	837
	Mass Paralysis	All targets in the area that fail to resist are paralyzed for 15 seconds.	937

Master spells can't be purchased initially. To unlock Master Alteration spells, the Alteration Ritual Spell quest must be completed upon reaching level 100 Alteration.

Note: Unlike other protection spells, such as Ironflesh or Ebonyflesh, Dragonhide is not affected by the Mage Armor perk, so the player can use light or heavy armor without losing any bonus of the spell.

PerksEdit

The following are the perks that become available for selection as the skill is leveled up:

Perk (Ranks)	Requirements	Description
Novice Alteration	None	Cast Novice level Alteration spells for half magicka
Alteration Dual Casting	Alteration 20, Novice Alteration	Dual casting an Alteration spell overcharges the effects into an even more powerful version
Apprentice Alteration	Alteration 25, Novice Alteration	Cast Apprentice level Alteration spells for half magicka
Mage Armor (3)	Alteration 30/50/70, Apprentice Alteration	Protection spells like Stoneflesh are 2x as strong if not wearing armor (+0.5x per additional rank)
Magic Resistance (3)	Alteration 30/50/70, Apprentice Alteration	Blocks 10%/20%/30% of a spells effect. Note:Magic resistance does not stop friendly spells from affecting the player. See also: Breton, Agent of Mara and The Lord Stone for a method of achieving 95% resistance without requiring any gear.
Adept Alteration	Alteration 50, Apprentice Alteration	Cast Adept level Alteration spells for half magicka
Stability	Alteration 70, Adept Alteration	Alteration spells have greater duration (+50%)
Expert Alteration	Alteration 75, Adept Alteration	Cast Expert level Alteration spells for half magicka
Atronach	Alteration 100, Expert Alteration	Grants 30% Spell AbsorptionNote: Spell absorption will block friendly spells as well as hostile ones.
Master Alteration	Alteration 100, Expert Alteration	Cast Master level Alteration spells for half magicka

TrainersEdit

• Melaran (Adept): Solitude
• Dravynea (Expert): Kynesgrove
• Tolfdir (Master): Hall of the Elements or the Hall of Attainment at the College of Winterhold

Leveling Edit

The Alteration skill level can be increased by using these tactics:

• With 100 Enchanting, it is possible to enchant armor to reduce Alteration spell magicka usage (Fortify Alteration effect) to 0. With this armor equipped, it is a simple matter to raise the skill using virtually any spell.
• Wearing Master Robes of Alteration, Morokei, The Apprentice Stone, and an Amulet of Akatosh will increase the base magicka regen to 375%. This percentage can be raised even higher with a ring enchanted with Regenerate Magicka, depending on Enchanting level.
• Water Breathing can be cast while standing in shallow water for easy experience.
  • To train Alteration as well as Pickpocketing or Archery quickly, join the Thieves Guild in Riften, go into the Cistern, and stand in the water in the middle and cast Water Breathing. Upon gaining a character level, talk to Virpir the Fleet to train Pickpocketing or Niurin for Archery.
• Telekinesis, while very Magicka-expensive, will raise Alteration very quickly. One option is to just wait an hour every time magicka runs out, and face a wall or corner so when the item is thrown it doesn't hit anyone or get lost. Absolutely any item that can be picked up (and by extension, dropped from the inventory) can be used.
  • Since Telekinesis is a sustained-cast spell, using Secret of Arcana (only available through the Dragonborn expansion) while casting Telekinesis continuously is especially efficient, and can raise Alteration to 100 in less than 10 minutes. Note continuing to sustain the spell past the 30-second duration of Secret of Arcana will keep casting it cost-free.
• Casting Magelight and Candlelight as often as possible provides a slow but easy flow of experience. Since Candlelight and Magelight are Novice and Apprentice level spells respectively, they are obtainable early in the game.
• Transmute Mineral Ore can be used to convert Iron Ore into Gold Ore (Iron -> Silver -> Gold) after purchasing the starting ore from a blacksmith. From there, Gold jewelry can be crafted to repay the losses. Enchanting obtained items will increase prices, thus providing Alteration, Smithing, Enchanting, and Speech experience.
• Casting Detect Life is a very quick way to level Alteration. The more 'life' that is detected, the faster this method works. Good areas for using this spell are: the marketplaces in Whiterun and Riften, The Winking Skeever in Solitude, the lower level of The Bannered Mare in Whiterun at night, and the The Ragged Flagon (if it has been restored through the Thieves Guild quest line).
• Detect Life can also be pretty useful in other places, but you will have to complete the Civil War questline. For example, if allied with the Stormcloaks, the Blue Palace in Solitude will be full of the Jarls and their Housecarls. If you are with the imperials, The Palace of Kings in Windhelm has plenty of people in the throne room. In both places, most of the people never goes to sleep, thus having a constant increse. Having multiple followers also helps a lot, specially in these cases. By having both Dark Brotherhood Initiate, Cicero , and a normal follower can boost the time to roughly 100 skill in an hour.
• Repeatedly casting Stoneflesh or Oakflesh next to an immobile enemy (like the caged wolves in Cragslane Cavern) quickly levels Alteration.
  • Cragslane Cavern is involved in the quest Skooma Trade; a bug exists that may prevent that quest from being completed if it is visited before being sent there by the quest. Note, however, that there should be two caged wolves immediately outside of Cragslane cavern that may be used for this purpose without triggering the bug.
  • Alternatively, the Bloodlet Throne southwest of Helgen could be used to practice spells with the vampires on the other side of the barricade.
• Repeatedly cast Paralysis on a follower. The follower will not turn hostile, and the skill will increase very quickly.

UsefulnessEdit

For players who are just getting started and are interested in becoming mages, the Alteration school of magicka, like the Illusion school, certainly seems to be one of the places to begin.  There is no doubt that it is fun and impressive to face off against an enemy by casting powerful Destruction spells with one or both hands, but the fact is that it takes a lot of time and dedicated practice before the majority of players will be able to do this.  Alteration spells, however, can be useful whether a player is in a combat situation or not, and that makes them an invaluable tool for improving magicka abilities in general.  A number of them can be cast by the player no matter where they are, whether an enemy combatant is nearby or not, and consequently skill points can be acquired virtually at will: this simply isn't true for Destruction spells.  Candlelight is a good example of this, and so are Detect Life and Telekinesis.  Just practicing these spells repeatedly, as a player goes about his or her regular business of a day, enables the player to level up sooner, and that, in turn, means that the player will be able to start casting those powerful Destruction spells earlier in the game.  Ultimately, that is probably the goal most mage-oriented players aspire to.  If the College of Winterhold actually functioned in the game like a true learning institution with classes and assignments, it seems logical to assume that Alteration spells, along with Illusion spells, would be the educational foundation upon which everything else is built.  They would be learned first, the Destruction spells would come later, and precisely because the Alteration and Illusion spells were learned first, the learning and mastery of the Destruction spells would occur much more quickly.               

See alsoEdit

• Skills (Skyrim)

BugsEdit

This section contains bugs related to Alteration (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following: Confirm all bugs with other editors on the talk page before adding them below. Always try reloading an old save first, before asking for assistance. Don't discuss possible bug fixes or origins. Leave those and all other first-person-anecdotes on the talk page, not the article. Always add  360  ,  PS3  , and  PC   to clarify which system the bug appears on.

• The master spell Dragonhide doesn't increase the armor rating, at least not while wearing dragonscale or dragonplate armor. If changing the apparel while being under the effect of the Dragonhide spell, the armor rating will be brought down to 1.
• Casting the Waterbreathing spell while underwater can result in the spell not working. It is currently not known what causes this.
• Killing a paralyzed enemy will prevent it from being resurrected with conjuration spells.

AppearancesEdit

• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (First appearance)
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Alteration Spells
Candlelight • Detect Dead • Detect Life • Dragonhide • Ebonyflesh • Equilibrium • Magelight • Mass Paralysis • Oakflesh Paralyze • Ironflesh • Stoneflesh • Telekinesis • Transmute Mineral Ore • Waterbreathing
Schools of Magic
Alteration • Conjuration • Destruction • Illusion • Restoration
Related topics
Alteration Ritual Spell • Mage Armor • Magicka • Perks • Magic • The College of Winterhold • Alteration trainers

Skills in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Mage	Alteration · Conjuration · Destruction · Enchanting · Illusion · Restoration
The Thief	Alchemy · Light Armor · Lockpicking · Pickpocket · Sneak · Speech
The Warrior	Archery · Block · Heavy Armor · One-Handed · Smithing · Two-Handed

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