Unleash Your Inner Mage! Master the Ultimate Spell-Blocking Strategy in Skyrim

Highlights

Spellbreaker is a powerful shield in Skyrim that can block spells and provide spell Ward, but it turns out there are other wards to deflect spells too.

Players have found a unconventional technique to obstruct incoming enemy projectiles by moving objects in their path.

Although Skyrim's combat system might be deemed antiquated, the game's modding community has elevated it, and Bethesda can take inspiration from popular mods for their upcoming titles.

While Ward spells from the Restoration school in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim can effectively block spell projectiles, one player discovered an alternative means of protection using one of the game's most iconic shields. Skyrim offers a variety of unique weapons and armor scattered throughout the Nord province, which can be obtained by completing Daedric Shrine quests. This Elder Scrolls tradition, carried over from Oblivion, includes several Daedric artifacts that were faithfully adapted in Skyrim.

An example of such an artifact is the Spellbreaker heavy shield, attributed to Peryite. Not only has its model been meticulously recreated for Skyrim, but it also possesses a similar magical effect when wielded. In Oblivion, players would passively receive a 30% Spell Reflect bonus, while in Skyrim, they can acquire a 50-point spell Ward when blocking. Utilizing Spellbreaker provides a decent strategy for countering enemy spellcasters. However, blocking with a shield in Skyrim hinders character movement, leading players to seek alternative methods to close the gap more swiftly.

Shared on the official Skyrim subreddit by JonathanTheMighty, this method is simple yet effective. By dragging an object in front of the player character and using it to block enemy projectiles, the game's collision system reacts with the object instead, effectively preventing damage without hindering player movement. Surprisingly, the star of the video is Spellbreaker, Peryite's tower shield, which provides ample cover. However, any random object can do the trick, as Skyrim players have even used enemy corpses as makeshift shields against incoming arrows.

While the game's combat system still allows for a variety of builds, many players find it outdated compared to more recent action RPGs. Despite Bethesda's releases of Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield over the past decade, it may take some time before players see the developers revisit sword-and-sorcery combat. Fortunately, there is no shortage of combat overhaul mods for Skyrim, and the advancements made by the game's modding community have truly pushed the boundaries of Skyrim's original vision.

Nevertheless, numerous players have expressed a fondness for the somewhat unpolished nature of combat in Bethesda games. Despite the acclaimed gunplay in Starfield, this endearing aspect remains present even in its Settled Systems. It is conceivable that future Elder Scrolls games will adopt a combat system similar to Skyrim, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to anticipate Bethesda drawing inspiration from its highly regarded mods. Currently, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim can be enjoyed on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.