Skyrim talk:Spell Absorption

Content for New Page Creation

I've run across references to this effect several times, and there is no page or redirect for it. When referenced on other pages, other effects receive their own links, but this effect will be clearly lacking a link. Seems it should be a page; especially when considering people may look it up to see if it is a "percent of effect" or a "percent chance" effect. I randomly came across this description on the Magic Overview page:

Magic Absorption is a rare and more complicated effect, obtainable in only three ways in the game: The Atronach Stone (50%), Atronach perk from Alteration skill tree (30%) and Breton's Dragonskin racial ability (50% for 60 seconds, once/day). All three effects stack with each other.

• Magic Absorption is separate from Magic Resistance. It is calculated before Magic Resistance.
• Magic Absorption is a random chance to completely nullify effects of a spell and, if the spell had a Magicka cost, add the casting cost of a spell to your Magicka. So if you activated the Atronach Stone and an enemy mage hit you with a Firebolt, you have 50% chance to negate all damage from the Firebolt and gain 41 Magicka.
• Magic Absorption works not only with all spells, but also with just about any effect that isn't physical damage. You can absorb effects from weapon enchantments, poisons, diseases and even damage from being on fire.
• There exists a bug with Magic Absorption where you can absorb your own summoning spell. In that case nothing happens - the summoned creature does not appear, but you don't lose any Magicka either (because the Magicka spent is immediately refunded to you). Sneak's Shadow Warrior perk can also be absorbed.

--Amsuko 19:16, 3 January 2012 (UTC)

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UPDATE NOTE: Shadow Warrior's "spell absorption" bug has been corrected by the latest version of the USKP, as of the latest release. 12.22.2013

So this is why with high Spell Absorption I can no longer rely on Conjuration? — Unsigned comment by 121.212.2.149 (talk) at 06:52 on 8 February 2012

equilibrium

this spell usually trades life for magicka. with 100% spell absorption, it simply regenerates mana at a rapid rate - the magicka loss is refunded as spent, the health loss is absorbed and refunded as additional magicka. this is a convenient way to bypass the slower magicka regeneration. — Unsigned comment by 68.124.184.99 (talk) on January 6, 2012 04:59

has this been patched? I tried it with 100% spell absorption and it didn't work. — Unsigned comment by 74.233.23.205 (talk) at 20:31 on 6 July 2012

Would having 100% free conjuration from enchantments affect the alteration/conjuration glitch when summoning

Buff?

Are any of the Spell Absorption effects buffed if you use the Necromage, vampire combo? 121.203.57.88 23:42, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Yep, (50% Stone + 30% perk)*1.25=100% - immune to everything except swords and arrows. --147.251.215.82 00:02, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

related question: since the article says the Alteration perk Atronach is related to the Destruction school, would a Potion of Destruction make the effect stronger? maybe if you drank the potion and then leveled up & selected the perk while the potion is active?166.248.107.16 18:27, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

Absorbs Circle of Protection

Glitch? It's a AoE timed spell to fear undead, but if I stand in it with even the 30% from Alteration perk I have basically unlimited magicka while spamming Chain Lightning on a Dragon and healing both it and myself. Greyslayer 05:52, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

I've also encountered this glitch on several occasions (playing on PS3). I have no idea what causes it, since it doesn't happen 100% of the time, but after some testing I do know that using some master-level spells can randomly cause this glitch to stop functioning altogether. --Rhonijin 22:06, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

It's not really a glitch, and I think you mean Guardian Circle. It is the circle that casts a healing spell on you, and therefore you absorb it. It can lead to OP, because you can continuously cast a healing spell with one hand and a Destruction spell with the other whout magicka loss. — Unsigned comment by 79.162.208.100 (talk) at 15:52 on 2 April 2012

Just like to add that under certain circumstances the spell absorption will no longer work with the circle. This happened to me after I was hit by a dragon's fire breath. For the circle to start being aborsobed again the player needs to be hit by another explosion of sorts. I would suggest angering a storm atronach. A video of this in action can be found here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JQ0DGglu9I — Unsigned comment by 203.122.241.170 (talk) on 14 April 2012

There is a 85% absorption cap, so you could not become immune to spells in this way. — Unsigned comment by 24.179.174.169 (talk) at 05:28 on 22 August 2012

FALSE on the 85% absorption cap. There is an 85% Spell RESIST cap, but there is no cap on Spell Absorb. Never has been. Take my word for it, or read a book.

-Malekai

Atronach perk

I got the atronach perk on my breton but I can't find an entry on "active effects" list. — Unsigned comment by 46.246.178.189 (talk) at 07:46 on 14 February 2012

Regarding Vampirism/Necromage and Spell Absorption

I can personally confirm that the Atronach Stone with the Atronach Perk in Alteration, in conjunction with being a Vampire with the Necromage perk, does not grant 100% Spell Absorption. Suffice to say that on master difficulty without having fed for some days, an ancient dragon's fire breath can still kill you in short order.

It's my suspicion that this is because Necromage does not effect constant abilities that cannot be properly equipped, such as the Atronach Perk. This might be because I picked up the Atronach Perk before picking up Necromage, but I play on 360 and can't easily check if getting Necromage first grants 37.5% out of the Atronach Perk as expected.

As such the real value achievable for Spell Absorption through Necromage Vampirism, at least in my case, is 62.5% from the Stone (boosted by Necromage) and 30% from the Perk (unaffected by Necromage) for a total of 92.5%. Still not shabby.

--209.234.142.248 16:27, 28 March 2012 (UTC)Anid Maro

This needs double checking, I picked up Necromage Vampirism then got the Atronach Perk and Stone and so far haven't been hurt by any spells. Even when standing in the a flamethrower trap stream for five minutes. Even then cured myself of Vampirism and retained 100% absorption.

Tested on PS3 - 08 May 2012 — Unsigned comment by 86.158.185.131 (talk) at 00:20 on 10 May 2012

Just checking back here, picked up Skyrim again to enjoy the new Dawnguard content. Loaded up the same Vampire character, and he is as before. Most of the time spells are absorbed, but sometimes they get through. Again, I suspect this may be because I obtained the Atronach Perk before obtaining Necromage thus preventing me from getting the full 100% (as the Atronach perk was "equipped" prior to getting Necromage, and thus does not get the bonus).

As 86.etc said, this requires further confirmation. However given the nature of the Alchemy restoration loop and how permanent bonuses will retain temporary bonuses, I think that temporary bonuses will not retroactively affect relevant existing bonuses (so long as they are not refreshed) and explains my case with Vampirism/Necromage.

--209.234.142.248 05:49, 6 July 2012 (UTC)Anid Maro

confirmed that necro/vamp needs to be gained before the atronach perk and stone for 100% absorption. — Unsigned comment by 74.233.23.205 (talk) at 20:35 on 6 July 2012

I'm kinda wondering, isn't the absorbtion with Necromage + Atronach perk and stone just 99% instead of 100? I mean, 50 * 25% are 12.5, which is rounded down(like Skyrim always does ._.) 12, and 30*25% is 7.5, which is rounded down 7. 37%+62% = 99%, which would mean that the effect has a chance of 1% to fail. -Two-Eyed Jack --178.1.112.87 18:30, 7 March 2013 (GMT)

100% is correct. While the displayed value is usually rounded down (in this case the displayed values are hard-coded, anyway), the engine is still using the real values for its calculations. --79.221.75.67 12:34, 24 April 2013 (GMT)

(←) My necromage is still hurt by fire despite getting necro/vamp before the atronach perk. He has not hurt by any other types of magic besides fire. Needs more reviewing. Tested on Ps3. anonymous, 02:28 16 July 2012 (UTC)

^you also need the atronach stone. — Unsigned comment by 98.64.138.198 (talk) at 15:49 on 8 August 2012

Hello! Isnt that because you took necromage after the either atronacy or the atronach stone? Necromage doesnt work on Permanent Effeccts took before it... it only boosts effects (including perks) took after it. You should "re equip" the atronach stone again. — Unsigned comment by 177.23.178.158 (talk) at 08:13 on 4 April 2013

Can anyone verify the rather substantial claim added to the notes by an anonymous contributor this past January that the Necromage effect only works on the Atronach perk and it stacks the 25% magnitude effect and 50% duration effect, nothwithstanding that it doesn't stack the duration effect onto any other effect that it's applied to?--DagmarH (talk) 01:27, 13 April 2013 (GMT)

That note is completely wrong. If it worked that way, you also wouldn't get +62 Magicka when activating the stone as a Necromage Vampire. Boosting the stone's power with Fortify Restoration potions wouldn't be possible, either. I suggest someone removes this note. --79.221.75.67 12:34, 24 April 2013 (GMT)

List of spells that are messed up by Spell Absorbtion perks/stones/enchantments?

Anyone know of a list of spells that are affected (messed up) by Spell Absorbtion? There are plenty of 'on self' spells that I can think of - Destruction Cloak Spells/Healing/Summon Creature/Summon Bound Weapon/Muffle/Mage Armour etc - Which are affected? - HK— Unsigned comment by 87.86.169.66 (talk) at 13:16 on 18 April 2012

I use this stone all the time and I have never experienced any problems with other spells. Are you affected by some kind of glitch? RIM 13:32, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

The only spells I ever had an issue with were the summon creature spells. There might be other spells similarly affected, though. Wolok gro-Barok 16:35, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

Summon creature spells target the player, allowing spell absorption effects to interfere. No other spells target the player, so no other spells are affected by this bug. — Unsigned comment by 24.179.174.169 (talk) at 05:23 on 22 August 2012

Summon vs Reanimate

One thing that isn't made clear by this article, at least not to me, is if the conjuration glitch only effects spells with the Summon Creature effect or all Conjure Ally or Weapon spells. From the context of this article and other pages on the wiki, it would seem the only spells rendered ineffectual by a high or maximized Spell Absorbation would be the ones that summon Daedra, Atronachs, and Familiars, allowing a high level mage to have a 100%+ Spell Absorbation and still be able to raise powerful undead allies. I haven't had a chance to test this myself yet, but if this is the case, or even if it isn't, should the article not be updated to clearify this distinction? -- Cait Feirr — Unsigned comment by 99.127.200.216 (talk) at 04:30 on 20 June 2012

I have tested it, and Spell Absorbtion does not interfere with Necromancy. Camron J. H, 68.229.253.168 21:40, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

From my testing only summoning Daedra, Atronachs, Familiars, and Durnehviir is effected by it. Summon Arvak works with 100% absorption as do all other spells that fall under the conjuration skill tree. I haven't tested to see if summon Arniel's Shade works but I think it will seeing as it isn't any of the above mentioned. 98.252.253.101 06:47, 28 November 2013 (GMT)

Summoning

So does 100% spell absorption prevent ALL summoning spells. Because that would mean I'd have to avoid it completely. Anyone know? — Unsigned comment by 81.151.88.171 (talk) at 07:29 on 7 August 2012

Yes, you will not be able to conjure anything with 100% absorption.

Testing done with version 1.7.7.0.6 shows a 85% cap for spell absorption

Since I observed the Drain Vitality shout from dragons was never absorbed by my 100% spell absorption I decided to do some testing. My first test was to check if other resists were affecting Drain Vitality and the answer is NO. The only thing affecting it are the wards (they block it). At the same time I observed some regular spells were bypassing my spell absorption as well from time to time. I started Meridia's quest which provides a source of continuous damage every second (the beams of light). While standing in a beam you can count the number of times you take damage over a period of time - in my case it was 44 times over 300s - which indicates 85.3% spells absorbed. --213.49.225.235 13:39, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

I think you may have messed up on your spell absorption. On patch 1.7.10.0.6 on the Xbox 360 I'm still getting 100% spell absorption. Drain Vitality has always bypassed spell absorption for me. You should try regaining the Atronach Stone's blessing while you are a vampire, since that percentage is close to 86%, which is what you can get with necromage only affecting the Atronach perk. LoftedAphid86 (talk) 10:35, 15 September 2012 (GMT)

Explain why my health didn't drop a single point on Master difficulty with 100% Spell Absorbtion (from the Stone, Atronach Perk and Nercromage) when I stood in front of a Legendary Dragon's breath attack. (Latest patch installed)--89.168.120.212 13:45, 15 September 2012 (GMT)

This is an unreliable testing methodology to conclude that there is an 85% cap on damage with a 100% effect. If you're taking any damage from a constant damage effect it's likely that your Spell Absorption is less than 100% and is occasionally failing. A more reliable way of testing would be to subject yourself to multiple burst attacks to witness if you suffered 15% damage from each attack. Consequently your conclusion that there is an 85% cap on the damage absorbed is incorrect. The mechanics remain the same as they have always been as of 1.7.7.06. I just ran multiple tests using my Breton with the Atronach Stone as the effective Standing Stone and using the Breton racial power Dragonskin against 10 Pyromancers and took zero damage for the duration of the Dragonskin effect after running the test 10 times. I've posted a video of one of the tests here. You can see the version is 1.7.7.0.6, the basis for my 100% Spell Absorption and that I didn't take a single point of damage while it was effective (while dying rather quickly once the Dragonskin effect expired). If your conclusion were correct you would see multiple small decreases to my health bar for the duration of the test with each hit from a Pyromancer, but you don't. What's the basis of your 100% Spell Absorption? If you take the Atronach perk before taking the Necromage perk and before becoming a Vampire you can't achieve 100% Spell Absorption because the Necromage perk wont affect your Atronach perk percentage value. --DagmarH (talk) 05:13, 25 September 2012 (GMT)

Dragonborn DLC 100% spell absorption

If you have the DLC and beat the main story; Atronach Stone + 3/3 Spell Absorption Perk + Miraak's Armor (minus hood) will give you 100% Spell Absorption without having to be a Vampire.— Unsigned comment by 66.87.2.30 (talk) at 00:45 on 14 December 2012

There is no 3/3 Spell Absorption Perk. The only perk that gives Spell Absorption is the Alteration perk Atronach, which normally grants 30% spell absorption. The 3/3 perk grants magic resistance, a separate number. --Morrolan (talk) 16:16, 4 February 2013 (GMT)

Also, you don't need both gloves and boots to get the 100% spell absorbtion. As far as I know, the boots, although displayed as Light Armor, do not disable the Mage Armor effect. The Robes/Boots combination might be useful for characters that rely on Mage Armor for protection. -Two-Eyed Jack --88.78.56.66 18:00, 8 March 2013 (GMT)

Spell absorption on Followers/Summons

While creating a mod I used the Spell absorption effect from the atronach stone on a summonable creature. I tried it out with my mage character who used cloak spells frequently, and the summoned creature sometimes died even without an enemy near damaging it. So it seems that damage effects, if not absorbed, damage even friendly characters. (Anyone with partial spell absorption ever stepped in a followers cloak spell?) SarthesArai (talk) 20:45, 30 December 2012 (GMT)

Durnehviir

Between the Atronach Stone and the Atronach perk, my current PC has 80% Spell Absorption. As expected, I've had some difficulty with conjuring familiars and such, but it's not something I do regularly. I recently replayed Dawnguard with this character and found that Arvak is not affected; he always appears every time I cast the spell. Durnehviir, however, is another matter. He isn't appearing at all, even when I'm sure that I have a large, open piece of land for him to appear. Any ideas? Or do I need to spend a dragon soul clearing my Alteration perks just to learn Soul Tear? SonGoharotto (talk) 03:16, 3 January 2013 (GMT)

May have spoken too soon. Durnehviir is definitely affected by Spell Absorption, but summoning him is still doable. Temporarily swapping out the Atronach Stone for another another helps. SonGoharotto (talk) 21:14, 3 January 2013 (GMT)

For a better ease of use it should be easier to use the Aetherium Crown to switch the Atronach Stone On and Off. — Unsigned comment by 151.24.22.102 (talk) at 15:35 on 26 March 2013‎ (GMT)

Alteration Conjuration Glitch

i have ps3 320gb skyrim 1.7 playing as a dunmer with alteration atronach perk & nectomage perk & atronach stone i have no problems with bound weapons nor reanimate spells however if i use conjure flame,frost,storm,familiar or dremora lord i get sound but nothing happens if i change stone even with perks i've had said it works is anyone still having problem with alteration conjuration glitch its been said that one of the updates fixed this?--99.195.224.39 14:42, 24 January 2013 (GMT)

It's been fixed by the Unofficial Skyrim Patch, which is only available on the PC. Bethesda never bothered to make this easy fix, which is unfortunate for all the console players. --79.221.75.67 12:39, 24 April 2013 (GMT)

100% Spell Absorbtion

I didn't see it mentioned above, so here goes: Fortify Restoration Potions boost the effects of the Atronach Stone; an Elixir of the Healer (50%) takes the stone's absorbtion to 75%, which combined with the Atronach Perk totals 105%. No Vampirism and no DLS's required. Tested and working. — Unsigned comment by 212.117.45.216 (talk) at 11:31 on 17 March 2013 (GMT)

Confirmed. Using a crafted 100% Fortify Restoration potion before activating the Atronach Stone gives 100% Spell Absorption without necessitating the Atronach perk. Tried it on that annoyingly powerful Ice Storm trap at Lost Tongue Overlook and the spell was absorbed completely. However, doing it this way kills your magicka regeneration, making it a lot more like the Atronach birthsign in Morrowind and Oblivion. You can simply cast a summoning spell to regain your magicka, though, like the telekinesis trick in Oblivion. Ejia (talk) 13:19, 28 June 2013 (GMT)

->Theoretical (needs confirmation): Putting the Atronach Stone into the Aetherial Crown, then removing the crown to drink Fortify Restoration potion and then putting the crown back on will provide the Spell Absorbtion bonuses. This is for if you can only craft a 65% Fortify Restoration at the time, and use it for a 65% Spell Absorb (which you can verify by looking at your Magicka. Where you started before activating the stone, should have a +65 increase to confirm you have the Spell Absorbtion). Then at a later time when you can craft the 100% Fortify Restoration for a full 100% Spell Absorbtion by re-equipping the crown. - 22:32, 20 March 2014 (GMT) by TheUndreaming

Conjuration Staves and Spell Absorbtion

So, I guess summoning staves are affected as well by the absorbtion bug, right? Couldn't they be used as magicka 'batteries' that way? — Unsigned comment by 178.1.115.130 (talk) at 08:25 on 23 June 2013

Yes. Using a Staff of the Familiar, for example, will recharge some of your magicka if you have some sort of spell absorption on. — Unsigned comment by 121.1.11.99 (talk) at 12:17 on 29 June 2013

So it's probably a safe bet that scrolls are also affected? I haven't tried it but that's what it sounds like. — Unsigned comment by 98.28.225.144 (talk) at 23:41 on 16 November 2016

Ward absorb Perk

Is this a spell absorbtion effect, attached to wards from the resoration school? If so, what is its magnitude?

Testing required. — Unsigned comment by 95.149.119.156 (talk) at 12:33 on 7 August 2013

Confirmed that Ward Absorb works similar to regular spell absorption in the sense that it only grants a chance to absorb magicka per spell hitting the ward. However, it does NOT stack with other spell absorption effects and in fact supercedes them. Even worse, it doesn't absorb the full magicka cost of the spell but only a portion of it.

For testing purposes, I gave myself 100% spell absorption (drinking a potion of 100% Fortify Restoration before taking the Atronach stone), took the Ward Absorb perk, and I also equipped Spellbreaker, which allows you to cast a ward without draining your magicka. When blocking spells with Spellbreaker's ward, I noticed that I absorbed much less magicka than without blocking. Furthermore, I did not absorb magicka constantly as I should have (i.e. 100% of the time) but instead only about 30% of the time a spell connected with the ward. Equipping Ahzidal's Gauntlets of Warding allowed Spellbreaker's ward to absorb more magicka per spell hitting the ward (i.e. 50% more as adverstised), but it still seemed to be only absorbing about 30% of the time while the ward was up. Once I stopped using Spellbreaker's ward I went back to 100% spell absorption and absorbed every spell I was hit with for full cost.

TLDR; Ward Absorb is pretty useless if you have spell absorption from other sources such as the Atronach stone, Atronach perk, Miraak's outfit, etc. Sdgundamx (talk) 11:28, 15 June 2016 (UTC)

A Really Easy Fix for Spell Absorption of Conjuration Spells (Using the CK)

I haven't found this anywhere but from what I've discovered, it's /super/ simple to disable conjured minions being "eaten" by absorption, to fix it simply open the Creation Kit, move to the spells tab, find the summon spell you wish to disable absorption for (I do it for all of them typically), open it and tick the box that says "Disallow spell absorb/reflect", save it under a name (something like "conjuration spell absorb fix" would work), enable it and play away! Never lost another summon to absorption after I did that. :) — Unsigned comment by 192.26.142.44 (talk) at 02:55 on 12 December 2014‎

Confirmed, I just did the same thing and it works perfectly. Thanks for the tip. — Unsigned comment by 98.28.225.144 (talk) at 22:36 on 17 November 2016‎

A much easier way to fix it is to go into the effect of the atronach stone responsible for absorbing spells and set a precise condition: EP_MagicSkill, Conjuration == 0, target Subject, Swap Target and Subject. The same condition can also be set in the spell (as well as in the effect) — Unsigned comment by 109.53.18.225 (talk) at 11:13 on 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Item enchant for Spell Absorption

Is there a way to custom enchant items to get to 100% absorption in the game at all? Or are you stuck using Miirak's gear forever? Had an idea for a character, but would need to do custom enchants for him. FMPhoenixHawk (talk) 05:52, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Reanimate still works

I've been doing a little testing and confirmed that Reanimate spells still work with 100% Spell Absorption. Given the severity of the loss of Summon abilities, I think it's worth noting that Reanimate will still work as an alternative. Adding this to the Notes section. — Unsigned comment by 98.28.225.144 (talk) at 23:47 on 16 November 2016‎