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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Hints
How can I get enough magicka to cast the higher-level spells?
1 of 11: One way is to choose to increase magicka most or all of the time when you level up. However, that'll leave your health dangerously low.
2 of 11: For temporary increases to your magicka, you can equip items and drink potions that fortify magicka.
3 of 11: Each spellcasting skill has perks you can get that reduce the cost of casting some of its spells. However, it'd take several perk points to get the cost of master-level spells reduced, and you'd have to take those perks for every spellcasting skill that had master-level spells you wanted to use.
4 of 11: A much better way is to get enchanted equipment that reduces the cost of every spell that's in a particular spell school. There are special robes that will do that, plus increase your magicka regeneration. If you can't find the robes you want elsewhere, check with the mages in the College of Winterhold.
5 of 11: There are also three unique artifact items that'll decrease the cost of every spell school's spells by a certain amount: the Saarthal Amulet, the Diadem of the Savant, and the Archmage's Robes. See the Unique Item Lists to find out how to get them.
6 of 11: After you practice your Enchanting skill up and get some of its perks, enchant your own gear with Fortify Alteration, Fortify Conjuration, or whatever you're most wanting to reduce the spell cost of.
7 of 11: You can enchant headgear, chest armor, rings, and necklaces with those effects. It would be a good idea to use the best unenchanted helmet and chest armor you can find of whatever type you prefer to wear. That way, you'll be getting a good armor rating boost besides your spell cost reduction.
8 of 11: If you have the Extra Effect perk for the Enchanting skill, you can put two spell-school-fortifying enchantments on each piece of your equipment set. Pick whichever two of the five magic schools you most want to cast high-level spells from, then fortify those two.
9 of 11: Once you max out your crafting potential (see the Item-Crafting Tips), you could make a full set of Daedric armor and enchant its helmet and chest piece to reduce the cost of spells for two spell schools by 29% each. If you then put the same effects on a ring and a necklace, the percentages would add up to more than 100%, and all the spells in those two schools (including the master-level ones) would cost zero magicka to cast.
10 of 11: As an example of how useful this can be, you can make your character into a near-unkillable "combat support" specialist by enchanting his helmet, chest armor, ring, and necklace with Fortify Conjuration and Fortify Restoration effects. That'll allow you to summon powerful creatures (including thralls that never time out) all the time, plus cast the Grand Healing spell over and over during combat to keep yourself and your follower at full health. To make your follower even more effective, give him a full suit of Daedric armor with useful enchantments, plus a two-handed Daedric weapon. As for yourself, put some useful enchantments on the other three pieces of your Daedric armor set (gauntlets, boots, and shield), and get your magic resistance up high. (See the 100% Magic Resistance hints.)
11 of 11: Reducing the cost of casting a certain category of spells to zero will also cause magic weapons (including staffs) enchanted with that category of spell to use zero charge. For instance, if you made and wore the above-mentioned Fortify Conjuration and Restoration outfit, all staffs that summon creatures would have unlimited uses without ever needing to be recharged. If you made a Fortify Alteration and Destruction outfit, wearing it would allow you to use weapons enchanted with effects like Paralyze, Fire Damage, and Absorb Health all the time without ever recharging them. (Note that this won't work for followers, so don't bother giving them any spell-cost-reducing gear.)
