While it’s certainly notthe best school of magicto prioritize inOblivion Remastered, the school ofAlterationlives up to its name and even comes with a few surprises. If you’re a mage, then chances are you’re foregoing using Heavy Armor as protection, given its limiting effect it places on your spells.
As such, Alteration will come in handy, as it allows you to emulate the protection of armor pieces and the effects of their associated perks. Whether you need to shield yourself from damage or lighten your load so you’re not over-encumbered, the best Alteration spells have you covered.
The cost of each Alteration spell varies depending on your Alteration skill value.
Reaching Master Alteration will give you lower costs to cast these spells.
8Protect Other
Protect Other is a top spell choice if you’re playing a support mage focused on enhancing your allies or summons before yourself. Protect Other allows you to keep one of your companions safe for up to 20 seconds, depending on how much damage they’re receiving.
While a ten percent shield isn’t incredibly strong, it’s a great way to offer your friends some help for a relatively low Magicka cost. Spells that are easier to cast are useful earlier, so while there might be better versions of spells like this,we’ll be considering each option’s accessibility alongside potency.
7Sea Stride
Even if you’re not a Master-level Alteration user yet, this spell is very cheap to cast and allows you to walk on water for the duration. This effect also applies to lava, making it much easier to get around obstacles in various Oblivion gates so you can rush to the end.
Make sure you have fire resistance, though, as you’ll still take damage while touching the lava.
This spell is an excellent stand-in if you haven’t reached Expert level in Acrobatics, which lets you jump off the water’s surface. However, if you’ve already reached that threshold, then this spell loses its luster and becomes surplus to requirements.
6Water Breathing
On the other side of the coin, Water Breathing is an exceptionally useful spell regardless of your expertise in any other skills. While this maysound like powerful Illusion magic,your character isn’t faking it, as they can breathe underwater without losing any health for the entire duration.
Immediately after this spell ends, your breath meter will start depleting, which will then reduce your HP if you let it empty. However, if you cast this spell again, you’ll stop losing HP and breath, regaining your water breathing again.
5Fire Shield
Fire Shield is an excellent spell to combine with Water Walking if you’re trying to walk across the lava in Oblivion without taking damage. While this spell only provides a 30 percent shield, it’s possible to supplement this boon with armor pieces that offer additional resistance to Fire damage.
Besides walking on lava, several Daedra also use fire-based attacks, and it’s one of the most popular elements used by other mage enemies in the game. Overall, Fire damage is the most prevalent, and thus gives this spell an edge over its Frost and Shock companions.
4Buoyancy
While Water Breathing is still a great option, it’sstrictly outclassed by Buoyancy,which costs less to cast but provides more benefits than its cousin. The only possible downside to Buoyancy is that you have to complete the Cheydinhal Recommendation quest for the Mages Guild to learn it, but that hardly takes much time.
Once you learn this spell, there’s no reason to go back to Water Breathing, as the lower cost makes this spell more efficient. You can even use this as an emergency Feather potion if you’re just a few pounds over the limit.
3Open Hard Lock
If you’re not interested inlearning how to pick locks using your Security skill,but you’re a mage with plenty of Magicka to burn, then this spell is perfect for you. Using this spell and its prior versions to open locks will make exploration easier and continue to increase your Alteration level simultaneously.
Unfortunately, you won’t level up your Security skill, which will cause you to lose out on potential level ups if you’re trying to reach the level cap.
Most of the locks you encounter in the game will be Hard-level or below, so this spell is easily the most versatile and will be used far earlier than the Very Hard version.
2Aegis
Aegis is an incredibly effective shielding spell that will keep you safe from some ofthe most lethal Destruction spells in Oblivion Remastered.You won’t need much armor at all with this shield, as you’ll increase your armor rating by 50 percent with each cast.
While this spell is an excellent way to mitigate damage without armor, it can become even more effective with armor, as it uses your armor rating to determine exactly how much it increases your defensive abilities. This spell is most effective with a full set of Light Armor, given how the armor rating impacts its effect.
1Pack Mule
While you canuse powerful Restoration spellsto fortify your strength, one of the most useful ways to lighten your load is with Feather spells, given their direct impact on your carry weight and relatively affordable casting cost, particularly for Masters of Alteration.
Pack Mule is the main alternative to having a high Strength value, which is helpful for characters who are going all-in on their magic abilities. While other Feather options can fill in if your skill is too low, this spell balances potency and accessibility.
