Skyrim talk:Summon Arvak

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Conjuration leveling[edit]

Most Conjuration spells level Conjuration if you cast them before combat and later on enter combat. For example, if you raise a dead bandit after the end of a combat, you do not get any immediate Conjuration experience. However as soon as you do enter combat, you get the usual Conjuration experience from casting the spell.

Summon Arvak doesn't work that way. I have a character who's not casting any other Conjuration spells and it doesn't matter how many times I go into combat with Arvak, I don't get any Conjuration experience. It's the same as Clairvoyance, which doesn't level Illusion no matter what context you cast it in (Illusion is peculiar though; at least Muffle and Invisibility grant experience outside of combat, not sure about the others). --Morrolan (talk) 22:47, 3 March 2013 (GMT)

Clairvoyance definitely levels Illusion. Not very much mind you - it's a Novice spell with a very low casting cost. But if you have very low Illusion skill and cast Clairvoyance repeatedly in front of neutral NPCs, it will eventually level. It's nearly undetectable at higher skill levels, but still works. It's hard to tell because you can't see numbers normally, just a meter that moves up very slowly. But you can see the actual numbers with the console. As for Arvak, it's not like the other undead raising spells. It's more like the Atronach spells, since he's summoned out of nothing, rather than requiring a dead body. All of these level if cast during combat, and not if cast before combat. Since Arvak is generally used for transportation rather than combat, he's less likely to be cast in a context where it will help your skill, but trust me, it DOES help your skill if cast during combat. The only Conjuration spell that doesn't increase skill is Arniel's Shade, and that's because of the 0 casting cost. (Not sure about Unbound Dremora, since you can pretty much only cast that three times during the quest.) — TheRealLurlock (talk) 23:46, 3 March 2013 (GMT)
I guess you could try summoning the Unbound Dremora during a fight with College members, or a dragon attack (it happens so often there) but even then, it only costs 100 to summon him so I don't think it will help much. I suppose that at high level, Arvak's low summoning cost might not make you level Conjuration very much. 92.134.250.196 07:27, 4 March 2013 (GMT)
I've held the button down on Clairvoyance to try and level Illusion with a 15 Illusion skill; usually Clairvoyance is the first Illusion spell you learn, there's a book for it in Embershard Mine. Nothing. I assumed it was because unlike every other Illusion spell, Clairvoyance doesn't affect anyone except the caster so perhaps there were no witnesses. Unbound Dremora isn't available until you have a 90 Conjuration at least so it would take a colossal number of castings to level Conjuration with such a low-cost spell, and by the time you get to 90 Conjuration anyway you normally have more options to level it, like, say, Conjure Storm Atronach. Which does level if cast before combat (as long as combat begins with the spell still active), because that's the only time I cast it when I'm playing a conjurer. Same with the Alteration Ebonyflesh and lower spells: cast them before combat, then get the XP when combat starts. --Morrolan (talk) 03:24, 5 March 2013 (GMT)
Ah, that may be where you're having a problem. I had more luck leveling with Clairvoyance by rapidly casting it on and off over and over, rather than just holding it down. I think it only levels once per casting, and again, not much but you can see it if you're patient. — TheRealLurlock (talk) 03:35, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

Summoning Arvak in the Forgotten Vale[edit]

I've actually summoned Arvak within the Forgotten Vale. However, I am also running the latest Unofficial Skyrim, Dawnguard and Dragonborn patches, so this may be the reason why. — Unsigned comment by 99.33.198.238 (talk) at 01:32 on 2 October 2017 (UTC)