Summary
- Players in Oblivion Remastered should focus on defensive spells like Fortify Endurance and Resist Magic for survival.
- Restoration, Alteration, and Mysticism schools offer the best defensive spells for magical defense in the game.
- Using spells like Shield and Elemental Shield from Alteration can significantly increase armor ratings and resistances in combat.
The release of Oblivion Remastered came as gamers' favorite kind of game announcement, one that's in their hands as soon as it's made official. That means plenty of players are already deep into re-exploring Cyrodiil, or exploring it for the first time. The remaster has done an excellent job of making the old feel new again, and there are plenty of reasons to go back to this classic Bethesda RPG in the modern gaming landscape.
Oblivion Remastered: Best Weapons For Mages
It's a good idea for a mage to have a backup weapon or staff in Oblivion Remastered. These are some of the best weapons that players can find.
Journeying through the wilds of Oblivion Remastered and closing the Oblivion gates is not without its dangers. Players would do well to pack a good defense as well as a strong sword arm if they want to survive, especially at the game's higher difficulties. One of the best ways to augment the player's defense is with spells, and most of the best defensive spells are found in the Restoration, Alteration, and Mysticism schools. For players who want the best magical defense, these are the best defensive spells in Oblivion Remastered.
8 Fortify Endurance
The Health Attribute
- Magic School: Restoration
- Effect: Fortifies Endurance attribute by the specified number for a duration
Fortify Attribute from the Restoration school is a spell type that can boost any of a player's attributes. Endurance is the attribute that has the biggest effect on maximum health. That means fortifying this attribute will give players a maximum health boost for the duration of the effect.
The value of the buff and its duration will be determined by the spell, so players who have higher Restoration skills will be able to create spells to give themselves bigger buffs for longer durations.
7 Fortify Health
Direct Health Bonus
- Magic School: Restoration
- Effect: Fortifies Health by the specified number for a duration
As well as fortifying the attribute that governs maximum health, Restoration mages can also fortify their health directly with the spell effect Fortify Health. This adds health points to the player's maximum health for a duration, according to the magnitude of the spell.
Players should note that Fortify Health won't actually heal them; it's an increase to the player's health cap. It can be stacked with Fortify Endurance for an even bigger health boost, though.
6 Spell Absorption
Magika Drinker
- Magic School: Mysticism
- Effect: Percentage chance to absorb spells and gain magika when hit
Spell Absorption from the Mysticism school can be a powerful defensive effect. The spell gives players a percentage chance to absorb a spell that hits them, nullifying damage and absorbing the magika of the spell.
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The percentage chance correlates to the points in the effect (e.g., 25 points equals a 25% chance to absorb a spell). The most basic version of the spell that players can buy is Superior Spell Absorption, which is an expert-level Mysticism spell, so players might have to wait a while to use this effect.
5 Restore Health
Healing Up-Front Or Over Time
- Magic School: Restoration
- Effect: Healing, can be instant or regeneration over time, can also be cast on others
Restore Health really needs no explanation as an effect. This spell effect is more versatile in Oblivion than players might think, though. If players know any healing spell, like Heal Minor Wounds, then they can create other healing spells at a spellcrafting altar.
These spells don't have to do instant healing like Heal Minor Wounds, they can also apply healing-over-time effects, or even be used as heal-on-touch or heal-on-target spells that can be used to keep friendly NPCs alive. A high-level restore health over time spell can overwhelm most basic enemies' DPS, making master Restoration users very hard to kill.
4 Resist Magic
Total Magical Resistance
- Magic School: Restoration
- Effect: Increases players' magic resistance
Resist Magic from the Restoration school provides resistance to magical effects and non-elemental magic damage, like the damage from some magic weapons, or spells like Damage Health.
The only Resist Magic spell available to purchase is Minor Magic Resistance, a Journeyman-level Restoration spell. That means players will have to craft better versions themselves if they want higher resistance.
3 Shield
Physical Damage Reduction
- Magic School: Alteration
- Effect: Increase players' armor rating
For Armored players, the Shield spell from the Alteration school is their best friend in a melee fight. This spell increases the armor rating of the player by a percentage for the duration of the spell.
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Applying enchantments to weapons in Oblivion Remastered can make players more powerful than ever before, and give them an edge in hard battles.
Higher-level spells can provide more than 50% additional armor rating, so heavily armored players with skill in Alteration can be unstoppable tanks in melee combat. Players should note that this is not general damage reduction, though. The lower a player's base armor rating, the less effective this spell will be.
2 Elemental Shield
Fire/Frost/Shock Resistance
- Magic School: Alteration
- Effect: Increases players' elemental resistance and armor rating
Fire, Frost, and 
Shock Shield are elemental versions of the Shield spell that also offer increased elemental resistance along with increased armor rating. The downside of these spells is that they only affect one element at a time, so players will need to use the right spell for the right battle.
On the upside, the elemental resistance is applied separately to the increased armor rating, so these spells can also be useful for lightly armored or unarmored players who need extra elemental protection.
1 Spell Reflect
Revenge Damage
- Magic School: Mysticism
- Effect: Percentage chance to reflect spells back at their caster
Spell Reflect is one of the strongest spells in the Mysticism school, and one of the strongest defensive spells in Oblivion Remastered. Players will have to get to Expert level in Mysticism before they can use the first spell in this category that's available to purchase, Superior Spell Reflection.
This version of the spell has a 20% chance to reflect spells back at their caster for 20 seconds, and even better versions can be created at master level. A couple of guild masters sell this spell, but the easiest source is Raminus Polus, as he's usually hanging out at the front of the arcane university.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 87%
- Released
- April 22, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- The Elder Scrolls
- Number of Players
- Single-player
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action, RPG, Open-World, Adventure
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
