This guide will show you how to reduce the casting cost of spells from all schools of magic by 100% without using exploits!
How to Get 100% Casting Cost Reduction for All Schools (No Exploits)
Hey there! It took me a while, but I was finally able to find a way to reduce the casting cost for all schools of magic by 100% – without using any exploits. When I say no exploits, I mean it can be done without using anything I consider exploits. There are two tricks you must use however, which some may consider exploits. The first, is you must be a necromage vampire. this basically means that you are both a vampire, and have the necromage perk. I won’t go over what this means in it’s totality here, because there are plenty of guides on the subject. It essentially means that most perks, enchantments, and potions will be 25% stronger and last 50% longer. The second trick is that you must wear a circlet and a helmet which can be worn with circlets, such as the falmer helmet. This will also not work if you have the Unofficial Skyrim Patch installed, as it stops the necromage vampire from working.
Beyond these, nothing outside of normal game play is needed. However, I did use a few exploits and cheats to speed things up. I used the save-hit-reload exploit to reset shop keep’s inventories. I used this to get soul gems, money, and an enchanter’s elixir, but this can be replaced by traveling to different merchants or waiting two days. I also used an exploit to make waiting go faster, so that alchemy ingredients would grow at my house. Lastly, I used no clip to get unstuck a couple times, and gave a merchant a load of gold so I could sell them potions. All of these can be easily replaced by waiting, traveling, and not getting stuck like me.
Skills & Perks
In order to make strong enough potions and enchantments, you need 100 enchanting, 100 alchemy, and 70 restoration. In order for this to work, you need to become a necromage vampire before getting any enchanting or alchemy perks. This means you need to get up to 70 restoration and become a vampire(vampire lord is okay) before you use any perks in those trees. If you have already done so, then you’ll need to complete the dragonborn dlc and reset your perks in enchanting and alchemy, or legendary the skills and get them back to 100.
As for perks, this is what you’ll need. For alchemy, you will need all 5 levels of alchemist and benefactor. For enchanting, all 5 levels of enchanter, insightful enchanter, and extra effect. For restoration, you only need necromage. For all three trees, there are other perks you must get as prerequisites to some of the required perks.
Items
Here is a list of all the items you will need to pull this off:
- Ingredients to make 1 potion of fortify enchanting
- 1 Enchanter’s Elixir
- Ahzidal’s boots and three other pieces of Ahzidal’s set
- Black Book: The Sallow Regent
- 2 unenchanted circlets
- 2 unenchanted amulets
- 2 unenchanted rings
- 2 unenchanted helmets that can be worn with circlets
- 1 unenchanted pair of hand wear
- 1 unenchanted piece of chest armor
- 10 soul gems filled with grand souls
In addition to this list, you will need to know the fortify alchemy enchantment and the fortify enchantment for each school of magic. You will also need to defeat the black book and gain access to the effects at the end.
Getting the Cost Down
To do this, you will need to be in Solstheim, otherwise the black book won’t work. I would suggest Ravenrock, since there is an alchemy bench in the market place and an enchanting table in Morvayn Manor which are fairly close together, unless you own Severin Manor, in which case you should do this there. Anytime you enchant an item, use a soul gem with a grand soul.
Once you have gathered the required items, skills, perks, and enchantments, head to an enchanting table. Read the black book and select the seeker of sorcery ability. Exit Apocrypha and equip exactly four pieces of Ahzidal’s armor, one of which must be Ahzidal’s boots. Now go into your inventory and down the Enchanter’s Elixir. Due to being a necromage vampire, the potion should last 90 seconds. Quickly enchant 1 of your circlet-compatible helmets, a circlet, a ring, an amulet, and a pair of hand wear with fortify alchemy. When renaming or confirming crafting, time is paused, so you can use this time to recuperate. This should all be fairly easily doable within the 90 seconds.
Now head to an alchemy bench and use the black book again, this time to gain the seeker of shadows ability. Equip your new alchemy gear, and make a fortify enchanting potion. Now, head back to an enchanting table, re-equip the Ahzidal’s armor, and reactivate seeker of sorcery. Drink the fortify enchanting potion, and get ready to enchant quickly. Enchant a circlet-compatible helmet, a circlet, a ring, an amulet, and a piece of chest armor. Enchant any two of the pieces with fortify destruction and fortify restoration. Enchant a third with fortify alteration and fortify conjuration. On the fourth, put fortify alteration and fortify illusion. On the final piece put fortify conjuration and fortify illusion. This may be a bit confusing, but use the time pause of rename and confirming crafting to figure out what piece to enchant next.
Conclusion
You will know if you have succeeded if each item reduces the cost of it’s schools by 40% or more when viewed in your inventory or at the enchanter. When you equip all five pieces, you being a necromage vampire should boost them up to 50% reduction or more each. Since you have 2 of each fortify, this adds up to 100%, since these effects stack additively.
I had this idea a little bit back, and it took me a while to get a character to this point, and if you start from scratch, it will likely take you a while too. In case it wasn’t obvious, I did go through this whole guide from start to finish and made a character with 100% cost reduction in all schools, so this is tested to work. However, if this was not enough for you to reach 100% for whatever reason, you can follow these steps to increase the amount:
Before you enchant your fortify school effects gear, enchant another set of alchemy gear using the fortify enchanting potion you made. Then, head back to an alchemy bench, equip the new alchemy gear and regain seeker of shadows, then make another fortify enchanting potion. Re-equip Ahzidal’s armor and get seeker of sorcery again, and return to the enchanting table. Make the fortify gear just like before, but using the new fortify enchanting potion.
