So, I'm currently playing a stealth/magic character, primarily an archer, and not yet skilled in illusion.

So the problem he has is identifying targets at range, because being on the 360, a dark cave can be so dark I can't tell if my character's weapon is drawn at times. Detect life's all well and good, but 60ft's a little closer than he'd like to get. So, he took a different approach:

Open very easy lock.

He's been firing it off down corridors and the like, since it gives off good light and doesn't draw any attention, unless the enemies so close you don't need the spell to spot them. I've also found that it can even strike an enemy, who won't even notice. So he's been sneaking around using it to scout for targets.

Another one would be that I used to use a minimum power, maximum duration frost shield spell, as a magical umbrella sort of thing.

Which got me wondering: Do any of you guys use spells for other purposes? Either for gameplay or roleplay reasons?

I've used FLARE for that. ARENA (TES I) had the usual light radius spell, but also had WANDERLIGHT which floated slowly away down a corridor lighting up everything along the way. It's a great idea for a new spell tho, area effect that does nothing but light up creatures and NPCs for a short time.