My question is about the Absorb Magicka spell. I have never seen it offered by a vendor, but I don't look thoroughly through the list all the times either. So how does this spell work. I'm just wondering if the gain of magicka used through the spell outweighs the magicka used to cast it. Even if you receive more magicka than used to cast is this spell worth having/using? I've never used it so that's why I'm asking. Thanks. Oh and in explainations could you use examples from your spell list if you have any please.

In my experience unmodded while casting it as a single person touch spell its pretty useless as drain will do more and last longer.
Most creatures don't have that much magicka so looking to power up an atronach is not really possible, the effect itself is expensive and even later on will absorb more than you gain.

I think the best use of it is if you make it an AoE touch spell with invisibity tagged, then just rush into a group of casters cast some spells then use your absorb spell.

Edit: also quite a few casters use potions of restore magicka, so again drain is more use imo.

Thanks Madoc, since I don't want to make a new thread I'll ask on this one. What's the difference between "fine" and non "fine" swords. A fine steel shortsword costs like 93 gold and a regular steel shortsword costs only 40. What's up with that?

The fine weapons do more damage.

'Fine' weapons have just a little more weight*, durability, damage and cost than their 'normal' counterparts. The damage difference is small enough that you may not really see it until your blade skill gets up fairly high. Oh, and the 'fine' weapons also look a little snazzier.

Back to absorb magicka, my favorite use of it was as one of several components enchanted onto the melee weapon of an atronach battlemage. Just a little helper to keep topped up with blue juice.

*Edit: Oops. The fine ones actually have less weight, not more. :blush: Thanks for the 'right stuff' from Vyper and Pseron below. :foodndrink:

"Fine" weapons are lighter, have more health, have a greater value and do more damage than their non "fine" counterparts. And they can only be obtained from vendors in un-modded Oblivion.

Edit: Wow. Double ninja'd. :ninja: :ninja:

Thank you Acadian and Clawhammer for the info. One more question for you guys. I did a quest today (Azuras star) and one of the vamps I killed had an enchanted sword. It was enchanted with shock damage 5 points on strike. When you unsheath the sword it glows blue for a brief second. Is this a glitch? I have only seen swords when unsheathed that glow red for a breif second. If this isn't a glitch, I'm assuming it has something to do with the type of enchantment placed on the weapons, and if so, are there other colors? Also thank you Vyper. When I originally posted I did not see your post

I forgot about enchanted weapons sorry Deltace, and thanks Acadian.
Yes it's greatest use is an enchanted weapon, you can also find a very nice blunt one in game, but no spoilers here sorry.

The glow effect depends on the enchantment.

The color an enchanted weapon glows depends on the enchantment. If there are multiple effects, the color depends on which one is the strongest (Shock Damage is usually it, if present).

You received conflicting answers to this so I'll give you the actual numbers involved. We'll look at Steel Longswords and Fine Steel Longswords:

Steel Longsword:
Weight: 20
Health: 140
Value: 20
Damage: 10

Fine Steel Longsword:
Weight: 18
Health: 154
Value: 40
Damage: 11

I just throw it on a dagger at max and walk around with two of said dagger (two, because I'm an Altmer Atronach so I have a huge magicka pool).

you can use it as an AOE for crowd control. add drain fatigue, and for the first minute, you'll gain mana and everyone will be on the floor trying to get up. or pair it with absorb health, and your enemies will literally fall down before you, healing your health/magicka and then dying. works best for 4 or 5 enemies, consider the breakpoint, then cast. a good rule of thumb is take the amount of mana You've regened since last cast, and multiply by enemies.

It works by changing a spell that is negative into a positive. Instead of being damaged or cursed in some way it blocks that spell completely and gives you a little mana in return. Thinking of the spell as a way to regain mana is only looking at the glass half full the best effect is stopping a negative spell the bonus magicka points is just the icing on top.
I don't like wasting time buffing myself with spells before I attack, a lot of the time I just want to hack n' slash or it will give me away if I want to sneak up on something.
if you're expecting something might try to pummel you with spells it's worth it if its easier or more beneficial for you to use than resist or reflect magic.

yeah it definitely works best as an area spell. Make an area spell with absorb magicka, health, and fatigue and you will dominate groups of enemies, as long as they have a magicka supply. Also it works way better if you spread it out over a few seconds, like 3-5 or so. My 360 is broken so I cant give you the exact spell but I can tell you that if you like fighting huge groups, this will make it way more fun. I made my spell really powerful, it takes about 3/4 of my magicka to cast it, but against groups it restores its cost every time and allows me to hack my way through crowds at full health and fatigue.