Healing

School	Restoration
Level	Novice
Magicka Cost	12 per second
Casting	Concentration
Delivery	Self
Effect	Heals the caster 10 points per second.
Duration	-
Perk	Novice Restoration (1)
Spell Tome	Spell Tome: Healing
Game/DLC	Skyrim

Healing is the Novice Restoration spell that every character knows from the start of the game. While the caster holds it, it restores 10 points of health every second. It is slow but cheap, and the other hand stays free for a weapon or a second spell. Fast Healing and Close Wounds heal in a single burst instead.

Spell Tome

Healing is learned by reading Spell Tome: Healing. Calcelmo, Colette Marence, Falion, Farengar Secret-Fire, Madena, Nelacar, Sybille Stentor, Wuunferth the Unliving and Wylandriah sell the tome.

How It Plays

Healing is a concentration spell cast on the caster alone. It restores health for every second the hand stays raised, and it drains a little magicka for each of those seconds. The flow stops the moment the button is released. The spell suits quiet moments between fights better than the middle of a brawl, because the heal arrives slowly.

Every race starts the game with Healing, together with Flames. Many early characters keep a sword or an axe in one hand and Healing in the other. That pairing gives a warrior a steady way to recover without stopping to drink a potion. A mage can pair it with a Destruction spell in the same way.

Dual casting makes the spell restore health more quickly. The Restoration Dual Casting perk is needed for this, and it raises the magicka cost as well. Dual casting also ties up both hands while the spell runs.

Compared with Other Heals

Restoration offers several ways to heal, and each fits a different moment. Fast Healing, an Apprentice spell, restores a chunk of health in one cast. Close Wounds, an Adept spell, restores twice as much in one cast. Both are better in an emergency, since the health comes back at once instead of over several seconds.

Healing Hands is the Apprentice version that works on other people. It heals a follower or a friendly character at the same steady pace. It cannot heal undead, atronachs or machines. Heal Other, an Adept spell, does the same job in a single burst.

Grand Healing is the Expert spell that heals everyone close to the caster at once. It helps a whole group of followers in one cast. Healing remains the cheapest of all these spells, which keeps it useful long after the stronger ones are learned.

Perks and Builds

The Novice Restoration perk halves the cost of Healing. It is the first perk in the Restoration tree. The Regeneration perk makes every healing spell stronger, and the Respite perk lets healing spells restore stamina too. Respite makes Healing useful for a warrior who spends stamina on power attacks and sprinting.

Recovery is a two rank perk that makes magicka regenerate faster. It keeps a long Healing cast going for more seconds. The Avoid Death perk sits at the top of the tree. Once a day it heals the caster automatically when health falls very low.

Sailor's Repose is a permanent ability that makes healing spells 10% stronger. It is the reward for the Frostflow Abyss quest. Fortify Restoration enchantments lower the cost of Healing, and enough of them can bring it down to nothing.

Avoid Death is the last perk on that branch. Once a day, it heals 250 points at once when health drops below 10%, as long as the blow itself does not kill.

Levelling Restoration

Restoration only rises when a healing spell restores health that was really lost. The trick is to take small, controlled damage and then heal it back.

A popular method pairs Healing with Equilibrium, an Alteration spell that turns health into magicka. The caster casts Equilibrium to lose health, then casts Healing to restore it. The magicka spent on Healing comes back from Equilibrium, so the loop can run for a long time. Care is needed, because Equilibrium can kill the caster.

Other methods use the world itself. Jumping into a blacksmith's forge burns the caster a little at a time. The magical wind behind High Hrothgar deals steady frost damage. Dungeon traps that reset, such as spike traps and flame traps, also work. Letting a weak enemy land hits while healing trains Restoration and armor skills together.

Trainers and Lore

Colette Marence teaches Restoration at the College of Winterhold up to expert level. She often complains that the other mages there do not respect her school. Danica Pure-Spring, the priestess at the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun, trains it to master level. Keeper Carcette in the Hall of the Vigilant also trains it to expert level.

The in-game description says the School of Restoration involves control over life forces. It names Healing first among the spells the skill makes easier to cast.

Guards notice a skilled healer. A guard who meets a character with high Restoration may say that Skyrim "could use a lot more healers."

Florentius Baenius at Fort Dawnguard trains Restoration to master level in the Dawnguard DLC. Aphia Velothi at the temple in Raven Rock trains it in the Dragonborn DLC.

Cost and Efficiency

Healing costs 12 magicka for each second it is held at a skill of zero. That is cheap enough for a new character with a small magicka bar to heal between fights. Once the magicka pool grows, Close Wounds gives more health for each point of magicka, and it heals at once.

Dual casting is a poor trade for this spell. Two hands heal only a little faster than one, while the magicka cost climbs far more. A steady single stream in one hand and a weapon in the other is the usual way to use it.

A higher Restoration skill lowers the cost of every Restoration spell. Four pieces of gear with 25% Fortify Restoration each bring the cost down to nothing. With free casting, Healing works like a near permanent health regeneration.

Gameplay Tips

The Regeneration perk raises the healing to 15 points per second.
The Respite perk makes the spell restore stamina as well.

Spell Categories

All Restoration Spells

Novice

Novice spells are the first a mage learns and cost the least magicka.

Name	Image	Cost	Casting	Effect
Healing		12 per second	Concentration	Heals the caster 10 points per second.
Lesser Ward		34 per second	Concentration	Increases armor rating by 40 points and negates up to 40 points of spell damage or effects.

Apprentice

Apprentice spells need a little practice in the school.

Name	Cost	Casting	Effect
Fast Healing	73	Fire and Forget	Heals the caster 50 points.
Healing Hands	25 per second	Concentration	Heals the target 10 points per second, but not undead, atronachs or machines.
Steadfast Ward	58 per second	Concentration	Increases armor rating by 60 points and negates up to 60 points of spell damage or effects.
Turn Lesser Undead	84	Fire and Forget	Undead up to level 6 flee for 30 seconds.
Necromantic Healing	37 per second	Concentration	Heals the undead target 10 points per second, but not the living, atronachs or machines.
Sun Fire	24	Fire and Forget	Ball of sunlight that does 25 points of damage to undead.

Adept

Adept spells are the middle rank and hit noticeably harder.

Name	Cost	Casting	Effect
Close Wounds	126	Fire and Forget	Heals the caster 100 points.
Greater Ward	86 per second	Concentration	Increases armor rating by 80 points and negates up to 80 points of spell damage or effects.
Heal Other	80	Fire and Forget	Heals the target 75 points, but not undead, atronachs or machines.
Repel Lesser Undead	115	Fire and Forget	All affected undead up to level 8 flee for 30 seconds.
Turn Undead	168	Fire and Forget	Undead up to level 13 flee for 30 seconds.
Heal Undead	115	Fire and Forget	Heals the undead target 75 points, but not the living, atronachs or machines.
Stendarr's Aura	248	Fire and Forget	For 60 seconds, undead in melee range take 10 points sun damage per second.
Vampire's Bane	72	Fire and Forget	Sunlight explosion that does 40 points of damage in a 15 foot radius to undead.
Poison Rune	246	Fire and Forget	Targets that fail to resist take 3 points of poison damage per second for 30 seconds.

Expert

Expert spells are powerful and expensive to cast.

Name	Cost	Casting	Effect
Circle of Protection	171	Fire and Forget	Undead up to level 20 entering the circle will flee.
Grand Healing	254	Fire and Forget	Heals everyone close to the caster 200 points.
Repel Undead	353	Fire and Forget	All affected undead up to level 16 flee for 30 seconds.
Turn Greater Undead	267	Fire and Forget	Undead up to level 21 flee for 30 seconds.

Master

Master spells are the strongest in the school and need the most skill.

Name	Image	Cost	Casting	Effect
Bane of the Undead		988	Fire and Forget	Sets undead up to level 30 on fire and makes them flee for 30 seconds.
Guardian Circle		716	Fire and Forget	Undead up to level 35 entering the circle will flee. Caster heals 20 health per second inside it.