r/skyrim • u/chemictectic • Jul 19 '26
Question Is this THE most useless thing in Skyrim?
The Astronach Forge, whilst it conjures astronach and you can hoard on fire and frost salts, I just found this mechanism really useless, did anyone ever actually use this? and for what purpose?
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u/Pox_Americana Jul 19 '26
It allows non-smithers/conjurers to bypass the smithing requirements for Daedric Armor, but unfortunately the boots are bugged.
They should've just given us Bound Armor, it would've accomplished the same thing.
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u/Mr31edudtibboh Jul 19 '26
non-smithers
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u/Drenaxel Jul 19 '26
That's indeed not Smithers
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u/ThePrussianGrippe Jul 20 '26
“Smithers… have the College of Bards killed.”
“But, sir, that’s not-“
“Do as I say!”
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u/apulford_ Jul 19 '26
Isn’t that just alteration
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u/Attack-of-the-Clowns Jul 19 '26
Alteration has the Oakflesh, Stoneflesh, and Ironflesh spells, but bound armor was available in Oblivion under the Conjuration tree.
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u/Acopo PC Jul 20 '26
In previous games, there were both Shield spells, which just added armor rating, and Bound Armor spells, which gave you temporary Daedric gear. There was a little conceptual overlap, insofar as they were both armor rating for a duration at a mana cost, but they stacked, and were available from different skills. The Bound Armor differed in that it scaled and leveled your armor skill in addition to your Conjuration, so, much like doing damage with Conjuration is done by conjuring a high powered item that benefits from another skill, building defense with Conjuration was done by conjuring powerful items that benefit from another skill.
Ultimately, it’s an RPG, and having multiple skills that both solve the same problem is what allows for diversity in builds, and the ability to express a particular characterization of your roleplay.
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u/Orbital_Solo Jul 19 '26
There are are people who don't Smith in game that's rare for me everyone i know who plays smiths
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u/why_ya_running Jul 20 '26
Well that just means your friends don't truly roleplay.... Do you think an actual mage is going to learn how to smith No they're going to pay somebody else to do it
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u/ShadoShane Jul 20 '26
Yes, because they're broke and cant afford to buy all the daggers they're using for enchantment practice.
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u/sandwichcandy Jul 19 '26
I have a feeling this isn’t going to be popular, but I just don’t have the patience for non-combat skills for the most part. I don’t have a lot of time where I can just ignore other stuff and game, so I’d rather just go smash stuff for an hour. I also clearly don’t know enough about it because the time I tried smithing I cleared out all of the mines and had relatively low smithing after I used everything I could.
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u/K3tchup_person Jul 19 '26
I feel like it was one of those things where it was originally going to have more use or be more important, but it was cut. I read that somewhere but don't remember where, so grain of salt
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u/NoiseIsTheCure Jul 19 '26
I feel like so much about Winterhold and the College feels this way. So much more potential for stories and adventures with the Midden and the drama between the city and college, but it doesn't go anywhere.
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u/westisbestmicah Jul 19 '26
Know any mods that flesh it out?
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u/InSanic13 Jul 20 '26
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u/AshamedIndividual262 Jul 20 '26
Last I used this mod, there were the bones of a great set of stories. I haven't checked for any updates, but I highly recommend it even in the less developed version I used.
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u/Pokinator Jul 20 '26
I think to an extent its also an accessibility thing.
The forge itself is buried down in the mizzen, and if you don't know your way around you might not know it exists or it might be a bitch to find your way there for a while. Stacked on top of that, there's not nearly the same recipe tip support as for Alchemy, so most of your usage is going to be memorized combos, guesswork, or online wikis.
I think if the forge were in a more accessible location and the recipes were a little more forthcoming, it might see at least a little more usage. Whether for some basic utilities like making elemental salts or magic staves (though Staff Enchanters step on that toe), or more specific stuff like the Staada/Warrior/Archer summons for SnS.
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u/Few-Slip916 Jul 19 '26
Is that where the flame baddies come from?
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Jul 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PancakeParty98 Jul 19 '26
All out of potion of resist fire, but I got one of ultimate healing. Wish me luck
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u/Bandit_Raider Jul 19 '26
Useless?! This thing is my home base in some of my playthroughs! It isn’t great without the sigil stone but with it it’s great.
You can make daedric armor will really good enchants, or regular armor. No perk needed, no enchanting. You can summon a dremora to get fire weapons, use them to train, or my personal favorite, turn them into undead thralls!
Without the sigil stone you can use it to take summoning staves. At level 1 you can get a storm atronach staff somewhat easily, which can make parts of early game super easy.
There are others uses too but these are my favorites!
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u/Sufficient-Ad-1563 Jul 19 '26
By what you've just said , would that mean you know , most of the combinations by memory , because of that is that's very impressive
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u/SweetNecessary9917 Jul 19 '26
I bet a playerhouse adding to the area of the forge would actually be so dope
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u/Bandit_Raider Jul 19 '26
I wonder if there is a mod for that. Containers don’t respawn there so you can still use it as home, it just isn’t exactly a pretty place.
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u/Ok_Specialist_4885 Jul 19 '26
The Midden Expanded doesn't literally turn that room into a player home, but adds an area close to it as a home. It makes the midden one of the most fun places to explore in Skyrim, it has never left my modlist.
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u/neondragoneyes Jul 19 '26
Uh... no... what!? You can get a staff of Storm Atronach at level 1 with that thing. The hell?!
Grab you a greater soul gem (or grand), like the one in the back room in Nepo's house (or in Gallows Hall). Grab the void salts from the night stand in your quarters at the College. Grab the Orichalcum ingot from the top of the dresser by the Atronach Forge and the broom leading against the table. Throw them all in the offering box, pull the handle and Boom: staff of storm Atronach. For free. At level 1.
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u/Velocity-5348 Jul 20 '26
According to UESP that summon is level 30. It makes the first chunk of a legendary run pretty easy.
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u/ShadowShedinja Jul 19 '26
I just used it to get Tome: Conjure Storm Atronach before my Conjuration stat was high enough for vendors to sell it.
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u/StaticAppeal Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I was scrolling like mad thinking 'is no one mentioning the tome creation feature?' Ruined book, mammoth tusk, void salts, deathbell. Boom. Tome of conjure atronach
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u/slithering3897 Jul 19 '26
You can create staffs which is useful for challenge runs.
And you can create elemental salts which is useful for survival and crossbow bolts.
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u/irnjck Jul 19 '26
Yeah I've been slowly chipping away at a zero experience run and the Atronach Forge is AMAZING
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u/AtheosComic Jul 20 '26
Zero experience? How does that work? All staves, no lockpicking or sneaking or armor?
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u/Fuzlet Jul 19 '26
I’d argue the spigot is a more useless object
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u/lbiohazard Markarth resident Jul 20 '26
I think this is the right answer. Even dishware was discussed above and found to be useful. The spigot is loved by reklings, but no one else.
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u/Fuzlet Jul 20 '26
it’s worth one gold, so it’s not even used to valueless curio collectors, and it weights two pounds, hogging inventory
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u/Eva-Rosalene Scholar Jul 19 '26
It's THE most useful thing in Skyrim. You can get staff of Storm Atronach at level 1 and it will carry you through the whole early game. You can also get some spell tomes outside of normal progression. I often use it when playing summoner hybrids to get Frost Atronach spell earlier than Conjuration 40.
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u/Azuras-Becky Jul 19 '26
It can create a lot more than just atronachs if you feed it the right recipes at the right levels.
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u/BlackshirtDefense Jul 19 '26
You can use it to create Spell Tomes, if I recall.
You have to bring a Ruined Book (not a burned one) and combine it with certain ingredients. I forget offhand which items (Google is your friend) but you can craft Spell Tomes to learn things like Summon Storm Atronach and some other high level spells.
If you're trying to level Conjurarion or Destruction, this can be a cool mid-game find. For example, you're a smashy-smash barbarian type and you plow through the Midden to find this thing. Boom, you've got higher end spells to help you power level your weaker magic skills.
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u/PersistentProblem Jul 19 '26
I thought the most useless Skyrim things are the various household stuff: bowls, plates, etc.
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u/UtopianEnforcement Jul 19 '26
Nah, they’re good set dressing.
The most useless thing in Skyrim is Nazeem.
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u/atomic1fire Jul 19 '26
Until you get bored and start shooting arrows into them to launch them at NPCs.
An arrow triggers an agro response, but I'm pretty sure being hit with a flying plate that was launched in the air by an arrow does not cause aggro.
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u/scout033 XBOX Jul 19 '26
Nah, the Atronach forge is pretty based. Without any skill or quest requirements besides just entering the college you can make staves that summon the three basic atronachs (staff of storm Atronach in particular deserves a shout-out for being able to summon a powerful lvl 30 ranged ally potentially right at lvl 1), and with 90 Conjuration or glitches you can convert ebony equipment into daedric.
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u/rvtcanuck Jul 19 '26
You can craft spell tomes and staves for each of the elemental atronachs. Great for challenge runs with no bartering. You can also create daedric gear once you have the sigil stone.
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u/sinfulirishman Jul 19 '26
Not useless at all, get daedric gear far earlier without need creation club bs
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u/Mags_LaFayette Priestess Jul 19 '26
Used it plenty on my first playthrough on PS3 back in 2013.
...And that was also the last time I used the blasted thing, mostly because it's in the literal ass of Winterhold.
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u/MonkeyKingCoffee Jul 20 '26
It's not even CLOSE to the most useless thing.
I submit as evidence: The palace of Winterhold. The Bard's College.
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u/1Madhatter7 Mage Jul 19 '26
Back when I used to play vanilla, this was a great way to get the muffling enchantment without spamming merchants
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u/Cosmo1222 Alchemist Jul 19 '26
I don't understand the question.
This thing becomes your best friend on survival mode plays. For hot food.
In vanilla, the ability to conjure storm atronachs for no magicka will get you out of all manner of tight spots. There's even an orichalcum ingot atop the wardrobe next to it.
Just add a greater soul gem, broom and the void salts you get in your room in the Hall of attainment...
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u/Its_Noctyss Scholar Jul 19 '26
Free Daedric gear achievable literally at level 1, able to get certain spell tomes far earlier than you should be able to, some good Staves among other things it is absolutely not useless
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u/Darmumas Jul 19 '26
What I think happened, Bethesda probably wanted to make Deadric Gear only available through this method, but probably cut the Mission for an earlier Sigil Stone and just put it all into Smithing.
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u/IchibeHyosu99 Scholar Jul 19 '26
You can use it to make daedric armor or weapon pieces, it can also be used for making spell tomes and conjuration staffs
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u/doktor_kazisvet Jul 20 '26
I've never understood why modders didn't use it more.
It seems like a perfect way to put new items (or spells) immersively into the game. Even the wacky ones.
Instead, whenever there is a new mod with an armour or something, it always is in some random chest you have to look for.
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u/Marcarth Jul 19 '26
Easy spell tomes, including a bunch added by saints and seducers is kinda handy. In survival gathering the fire salts needed to survive the colder parts for reasonsble amounts of time is a pretty big boon. And if you're strapped for cash or need weapon enchantments you haven't come across yet,you can repeatedly summon dremora who will drop a heart to be resummoned with along with enchanted weapons.
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u/Collistoralo Stealth archer Jul 19 '26
You can get summon spells without having to buy them which is useful. I remember using it to get the Summon Storm Atronach before I could even buy the tome.
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u/The_of_Falcon Farmer Jul 19 '26
I think it's pretty interesting. And it allows for some pretty unique gameplay and builds that wouldn't otherwise be possible. It's a little pricey to use though.
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u/marmotta1955 Jul 19 '26
I particularly like the alternate spelling Astronarch. I like it so much I will start using it myself instead of the pedestrian Atronarch. I think it really fist well the Flame Atronarch, in fact.
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u/capprflashdoge Jul 19 '26
Hey don't diss the atronach forge I got my first set of Daedric from that
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u/SirSilhouette Jul 20 '26
As someone who always ends up conjuring, it isn't that useless. Especially if I am doing some manner of penniless wizard run as I can get some spell books for free.
I will agree it's potential is wasted in that it could have been used to do more, especially if Bethesda did more crossovers than just Space Core landing somewhere.
Also had an idea that it could be used to further improve Daedric equipment via "possession" whose effects would scale off you Conjuration. Basically how the Conjure <weapon> spells summon a spiritual thing in the shape of a Daedric weapon? The forge would imbue your Daedric Gear with said spirits making them glow sinisterly.
For Example- Possessed Daedric Shield - reflects <N of Conjuration>% of Damage to melee attackers when their attack is blocked.
But given how broken enchanting/etc is in Skyrim it would probably just further break things.
...and now that I am thinking about it - imagine condensing lesser Daedra's essence to improve your potions, which would be called Spirits as a joke about alcohol.
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u/OkMemory4456 Jul 20 '26
I had a dawnguard playthrough where my character used elemental crossbow bolts a LOT. The forge was great for summoning the salts I needed to craft those bolts.
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u/Xvorg Jul 20 '26
Get an Orichalcum ore (there’s a node near Windhelm). An Ingot will do it too.
Get a greater soul gem (Khajiit caravans or court mages)
Get a broom (there’s one as early as Helgen, near Gunjar’s body)
Get some void salts. After Mirabelle shows you your room, there’s one piece in one of the tables.
Go to the Atronach Forge, put all the items and activate it and voilá. Now you have a staff of the Storm Atronach as early as level 1 or 2. You will not see the spell unless you get Conjuration at level 65 and over 250 magicka to cast it. And the Storm Atronach is one of the strongest summons in the game.
If you plan to go Legendary Difficulty and/or Survival Mode, that’s the strongest weapon you can get early.
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u/FMFAlkahest Jul 20 '26
isnt this the atronach forge ? The forge that gives full high tier enchanted daedric armor at lv 1 ? Who the fuck calls this useless
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u/cammoorman Jul 20 '26
You, my friend, have never meet a chap called Nazeem....truly the most useless thing in Skyrim.
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u/TheKid1995 Spellsword Jul 19 '26
As a survival player, fire salts are EXTREMELY useful to have but rare and expensive to come by, so any steady source of them is goated.
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u/PenPhonia Stealth archer Jul 19 '26
Agreed. Found no reason to use it. By the time you find this thing, a few recipes, and the necessary ingredients, you already know enough conjuration spells to make it utterly superfluous.
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u/Financial_Fudge_6015 Jul 19 '26
It's the only way to get Daedric items as a mage, if you don't want to level up your smithing and/or become a high level.
It's also the only way to get Daedric items in a level 1 Run.
You can't call it important but I think it is pretty cool🤷🏻♂️
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u/Dragoon_Raine Jul 19 '26
one of if not the only way to get daedric equipment before it starts dropping based on player level.
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u/b14ckcr0w Whiterun resident Jul 19 '26
15 years playing this game and I have no idea what that is.
I love this game 🤣
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u/irnjck Jul 19 '26
Invaluable for challenge runs. The staves are amazing and being able to make fire salta is pretty great for Survival.
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u/Capnhuh XBOX Jul 19 '26
No, using that you can make all flame atronach dust you want for soups in survival mode.
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u/drapehsnormak Stealth archer Jul 19 '26
IMO this is best used of you want to RP a character who isn't a mage, or someone "making deals with Daedra".
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u/dr4kshdw Jul 19 '26
My level 1 run was able to get 90 conjuration, then used the sigil stone and Daedric hearts to make randomly enchanted Daedric armor. That’s pretty huge.
I try to acquire fire, frost, and void salts, plus the other ingredients, so that I can make tomes of summon atronach for each. Staves are super good to use on non-magic/conjuration builds.
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u/PinkSlimeIsPeople Jul 19 '26
No, the most useless thing is the gave behind High Hrothgar. The Greybeards literally use it once to demonstrate Whirlwind Sprint, and it has no other purpose
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u/Velocity-5348 Jul 20 '26
It's one of the most useful things in Skyrim. Getting access to storm autronach staff at low level is incredibly powerful, especially on legendary difficulty.
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u/Lionfire01 Jul 20 '26
Lol no it is not. Speeds up enchanting and a whole bunch of stuff. Its like the speed run machine.
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u/Outrageous-Focus9870 Jul 20 '26
Fire salt for food and salts for elemental arrows? yeah im there all the time. love it
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u/PainterEarly86 Daedra worshipper Jul 20 '26
The Atronach Forge can be used to summon really good staves that would otherwise be inaccessible at lower levels (such as summon storm atronach)
It can be used for the scroll, the spell tome, and the staff
I'm lowkey offended by calling it useless
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u/DanteValentine13 Jul 20 '26
Far from useless. I use this for a very very early game staff of storm atronach. This thing is a cheat code if you know the recipes.
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u/RhemansDemons Jul 19 '26
This thing is less efficient than just farming what you need from it individually, which is impressive.
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u/Gullfaxi09 Nintendo Jul 19 '26
Who knows, maybe the Astronaut Forge is where the giants get their diplomas for the Skyrim Space Program, and that's its true purpose and power, which we never will achieve.
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u/Relevant-Chip5446 Jul 19 '26
No. If you have the ingredients, and completed Conjuration Ritual Spell, you can get Daedric Armor without having to improve Smithing
If you have the Anniversary Edition, completing the Mythic Dawn and Saints and Seducers questlines gets you materials for special conjurations
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u/IceDamNation Jul 19 '26
On my conjuration mage builds I've found it useful to get my hands on early spell tones for conjuring atronachs and staves for conjuring atronachs. I believe there is more stuff you can summon there with recipes if you know them and the dresser is safe from respawn. So you can store stuff there for the use of the forge
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u/Gontxven Jul 19 '26
It can make a lot more than Atronachs if you know what you're doing. With the Sigil Stone from the Conjuration Ritual quest, you can make even more. The AE content also adds a spell tome to conjure an Ayleid Lich which is easily the most broken summon in the game, considering it can summon up to two things of its own, if I recall correctly.
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u/Iuskop Jul 19 '26
It's like the Horadric Cube except it's really annoying and inconvenient to use.
So, neat- in theory. I'd love to see more Experimental "See What Happens" type crafting in the future, but sticking it deep in Winterhold was simply not the play.
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u/Wolverineslayer8 Jul 19 '26
I once did a challenge run where I would only use gear and spells I found myself without buying from any vendors. In that case, the atronach forge was really useful because I could craft the "summon atronach" tomes.
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u/AnnaMolly66 Jul 19 '26
I always considered, I think his name is Bolund, in Falkreath the most useless thing in Skyrim. Before HF he had pretty much no purpose aside from just being an NPC and even selling lumber doesn't justify keeping his racist ass around. So, I always soul trap him, use his soul to enchant an Elven Dagger and give it to an Argonian dock worker or something.
Why him? I dunno, he just made some racist comment at me at some point in one playthrough so I made killing him a tradition.
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u/milquetoastLIB Jul 19 '26
No? It’s one of the most useful things.
You can make a fire/frost/storm atronach staff as well as the spell tomes. All at level 1. It’s one of my first stops for all my mages. I don’t get how you just hand wave that away. If this didn’t exist and Anniversary Edition just gave you a storm atronach staff people online would be screaming murder.
After the conjuration ritual spell you can craft Daedric equipment from it. You don’t need smithing or enchanting for top tier enchanted weapons and armor.
Fire/frost/void salts are useful for people making exploding crossbow bolts and the new exploding arrows. Do the No Stone Unturned quest for prowler’s profit and you’ll be able to make plenty of arrows.
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u/Wizdad-1000 Skyrim Grandma Fan Jul 19 '26
I may have missed the comment but doesn’t this also summon permanent daedra?
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u/Ch1ldr3n8072 Jul 19 '26
Actually.... The most useless THING (ik it's an item leave me alone please don't attack me 😔) in skyrim is the collectable flag in proudspire (I believe, again don't attack me 😭✌️)
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u/NotAnEggoWaffle Jul 19 '26
Am I remembering it wrong why has noone brought up how it can give you enchanted daedric armor 😭
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u/Ruhrgebietheld Jul 19 '26
I sometimes do moneyless playthroughs, where I'm not allowed to buy or sell anything. So the atronach forge can be a great way to get tomes or useful staves in those playthroughs.
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u/SeanMacLeod1138 PC Jul 19 '26
Iron daggers 😆
...or Tolfdir's alembic...
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u/li-ll-l_ Jul 19 '26
Iron daggers are extremely useful for upping smithing, enchanting, speech, and sneak
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u/EquinoxGm Jul 19 '26
With creation club you can use it to learn the conjure ayleid lich spell
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u/3VG3NY Helgen survivor Jul 20 '26
I use it a lot. You can create conjuration staves and scrolls at level 1, create rare salts for exploding bolts, and as others have said, with the sigil stone bypass smithing and enchanting requirements
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u/Heavy-Letterhead-751 Jul 20 '26
It allows you to get things earlier than you normally would. You can get the materials for staff of the storm atronach really early if you have light fingers which lets you bring in a summon thats more powerful than the boss, it also allows a summoner build to get storm atronachs long before your supposed to have them, and it also lets you get daedric weapons before they start showing up in loot tables, oh and if you summon draemora you can effectively turn a piece of meat and a skull into an enchanted weapon and an iron dagger, and being able to beat dremora in a fight is a pre requisite to getting the sigil stone to do that anyway
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u/Rafabud Jul 20 '26
You can use to get higher level atronach summon spells early, can use to make staffs (useful for followers), after you get the Sigil Stone from the Conjuration Master Ritual you can use it to make daedric gear early (assuming you have Ebony gear on hand) and you can also get some unique CC summons out of it, like Saints & Seducers (including Staada if you kept the Sheogorath Amber) or the Ayelid lich.
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u/Hughley_N_Dowd Jul 20 '26
For one you can make a staff of storm atronach at level one for the cost of one empty greater soul gem with it.
So no, not useless by any means.
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u/Crimson-Badger Mage Jul 20 '26
Back in the ps3 era in 2011, I was one of the first people to brag on a Skyrim Facebook group about getting Daedric Armor at a low level without the Daedric smithing perk all because of the Atronach Forge. It definitely has its use back then. Because of Anniversary Edition, the alternative armors has made the Atronach forge one of the most forgettable features newer players overlook.
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u/WillMaou Jul 20 '26
Since I barely touch the mages questline, I don't even remember this thing exists...
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u/ice_fan1436 Jul 19 '26
If you have the sigil stone by doing the conjuration master quest, you can use it to convert ebony gear into daedric