Conjurer builds actually need Illusion more than people admit

[WhiterunModder]

I've been running a pure conjurer on my current playthrough and hit a wall around level 35 where my summons just get shredded instantly. Started looking at perk trees out of desperation and realized I was missing the obvious - the Illusion perks that let you cast spells silently and reduce magicka costs are basically mandatory if you want your atronachs to stay alive long enough to matter.

Like, you can dump everything into Conjuration and Restoration, but if you're standing there casting Summon Dremora Lord out in the open while enemies are already on top of your previous summon, you're dead before the spell finishes. Grab the quiet casting perk and suddenly you're repositioning, summoning from stealth, and your conjured stuff has actual breathing room. The magicka reduction perks in Illusion also let you summon twice as often, which is way more valuable than people think.

Has anyone else found that mixing in even a few Illusion perks completely changes how viable conjurer actually is? Or am I just bad at positioning and should git gud instead.

 

[TamrielTactician]

nah you're onto something real here. the difference between casting Summon Dremora Lord while enemies are already swinging at you versus casting it from a corner with quiet casting is night and day - your summon actually gets to do its job instead of dying to a power attack while it's still materializing.

that said I'd push back a tiny bit on "mandatory." I've run pure conjurers without touching Illusion and it works fine if you're willing to play around it differently - keeping distance, summoning before combat starts, letting your summons tank while you hang back. it's slower and clunkier, but not unviable. what you're describing is just the efficient way to do it, which is different.

the magicka cost reduction though, yeah that's the real pull. I'm on my 3rd playthrough right now and went heavy into the Illusion magicka perks specifically for this reason - suddenly you're not choosing between summoning twice or having mana for a healing spell, you're doing both. combine that with quiet casting and you've basically got a toolkit that lets you actually play like a conjurer instead of a guy who summons once and then stands there hoping.

I think the real issue is that pure Conjuration feels complete on paper but plays like garbage at higher levels without some support. Restoration for heals is obvious, but yeah, Illusion is the unsung third piece that makes the whole thing click.