Skyrim: 10 Best Restoration Spells, Ranked (2024)

While some mages might argue that Restoration isn't a viable school of magic in Skyrim, it most certainly is. Restoration is less focused on offensive spells like Destruction, but rather on healing and degens.

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No other school of magic in The Elder Scrolls series lets you project magical shields in one hand and restore all of your health with the other. You can even use a few spells to poison an enemy or deal sun damage to undead, mixing perfectly for Paladin playstyles. From standard melee fighters to full-on casters, here are the ten best Restoration spells you can use in Skyrim.

Updated August 11th, 2021, by Charles Burgar: Restoration is a powerful school of magic for players that love clearing dungeons. This school's focus on damaging undead and healing allies make it a universally good school for all builds, particularly paladin-themed characters. To help you find the perfect spell, we've updated this article with more in-depth information about each spell, including specific effects, duration, and Magicka costs. Show the people of Skyrim that Restoration is not just a viable school of magic but one of the best.

10 Turn Greater Undead

On lower difficulties, the necessity of crowd control is non-existent. For Expert and above, any ability that can influence an AI's behavior becomes invaluable.

Turn Greater Undead causes nearby undead up to level 21 to flee for 30 seconds. Level 21 includes most of Skyrim's tougher undead, including powerful variants of skeletons and Draugr enemies. This gives you time to heal, reposition, or counterattack. It won't work on most bosses, but it is a fantastic tool for changing enemy positions and generating space.

9 Steadfast Ward

Ward spells are incredibly niche in Skyrim, serving as a magic shield that casters can use while fighting other mages. Steadfast Ward serves as one of the best ward spells, granting a nice balance of defenses and Magicka cost.

While projecting a ward, enemy spells and associated effects will impact your ward first. This works with mage spells and dragon breath attacks. Are you getting roasted by a dragon repeatedly on Legendary? Channel a Steadfast Ward to absorb the attack in its entirety. If you pair Steadfast Ward with the Ward Absorb perk, you can even regain Magicka while doing this. It might not beat Spellbreaker in terms of utility, yet its availability in the early game makes Steadfast Ward an excellent spell for all mage builds.

8 Sun Fire

Added in the Dawnguard DLC, Sun Fire is an offensive Restoration spell. While that sounds like an oxymoron, Sun Fire deals sun damage to undead targets, fitting the theme of Restoration healing people and harming undead.

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It deals 25 points of sun damage in a small area, similar to Destruction's Firebolt spell. Unlike Firebolt, Sun Blast is much cheaper to cast. It won't save you against dragon attacks, but it is invaluable when clearing out Draugr dungeons or any content in the Dawnguard DLC.

7 Guardian Circle

If Bane of the Undead is too offensive-oriented, the alternative master spell named Guardian Circle might be more your style. This spell constantly heals allies inside while causing the undead to flee.

The heal it provides is 20 per second without perks, meaning that it provides a heal that matches dual-cast Healing. The flee is nice as well, granting you and your companions time to recuperate lost HP while the undead flee. This is one of the best ways to turn a fight around for Restoration users.

6 Stendarr's Aura

If you are about to explore a crypt or undead dungeon, consider using Stendarr's Aura. This cloak-like spell deals constant sun damage to undead in melee range for 60 seconds.

While 10 damage a second seems rather low, consider that this bonus damage will almost always be active during melee combat, making this a perfect spell for Paladin characters. There are plenty of undead that exist in Skyrim, and DLCs like Dawnguard added even more undead bosses to slay. Do not underestimate this spell.

5 Poison Rune

Characters that want to use poison frequently typically have to use alchemy and run melee weapons. Magic users had no methods of applying poison on targets until this spell was introduced in Dragonborn.

Poison Rune deals 3 points of poison damage on a target per second for 30 seconds. What makes this so strong, however, is that few enemies resist poison compared to magic or elemental damage. Best of all, the poisons you can deal stack. If a tough boss is resistant to magic, Poison Rune is a fantastic solution for damaging or even killing them outright.

4 Heal Undead

Heal Undead only works on undead targets, granting 75 points of healing when used. Now the main issue is the player isn't undead, and very few NPCs you will bring on your adventures are undead.

However, becoming a vampire will classify you as an undead, meaning this spell will work. Better yet, perks like Necromage work on this spell, increasing its potency on you because you're undead. When you consider perks, you can heal up to 140 points of health per cast! For an adept spell, very little can beat the potential healing Heal Undead provides.

3 Healing

Most players will start with this simple yet powerful spell. Being able to heal yourself continuously for 10 points per second is an excellent alternative to chugging health potions during Skyrim's early game.

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Because Healing is a continuous spell, it can be used in the offhand while swinging in the main hand with ease. If you can find a way to reduce your Magicka costs for your abilities, Healing can be used almost indefinitely, providing a near-permanent health regeneration bonus.

2 Close Wounds

What does beat out Heal Undead is Close Wounds. This Restoration spell replenishes 100 points of health to the caster when used. With other healing perks allocated, Close Wounds can heal 150 HP per cast.

What makes Close Wounds so good is how Magicka efficient it is. Compared to Fast Healing or even Healing, Close Wounds provides a high amount of HP per Magicka spent on it. This gets even better if you get perks that decrease its cost and increase its healing potential. Its main downside is how it must be charged before it is cast once, rather than a continuous spell like all other forms of healing. Still, it is hard to argue against Close Wounds' amazing healing potential.

1 Bane of the Undead

If you are playing a Paladin character or just hate Draugr, you need to get Bane of the Undead. Locked behind the master Restoration quest, this spell makes all undead light aflame and flee in terror.

Unlike typical fear spells, this spell also damages undead it makes contact with, turning them into ashes if they are weak or low enough level. This is a fantastic spell to use in nearly any dungeon in Skyrim, as most dungeons and crypts in Skyrim are packed with Draugr, skeletons, and other undead creatures.

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