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A Conan Exiles magic guide will be useful if you haven’t played since 2022. Magic in Conan Exiles has always existed, hence the Witch Queen and other bosses that have powers that can’t be explained otherwise.
But players had never had a chance to use sorcery until 3.0. Now, it has become an important part of the game and a wonderful way to take down enemies and explore the Exiled Lands in unique ways.
When I first played Conan Exiles with Age of Sorcery, I loved the new fantasy elements added to an otherwise flat game in that area. I was an instant fan, and I hope they do more to expand on the magical world of Conan Exiles. Until then, let’s see what we can cover.
Conan Exiles Magic Overview
- Magic was added in Age of Sorcery
- To unlock the first spells, visit Shaleback Hollow
- There are 15 sets of spells
- You need a staff to cast spells
- Some spells cause corruption, which can be converted to attribute points
- Spells have different powers. Some damage, others utility
How to Unlock Sorcery in Conan Exiles
Sorcery began as a mystery in Conan Exiles that was slowly unlocked as people figured out the puzzle to do so. This isn’t something you can just learn in your Knowledge tab or begin the game with. It takes a few specific steps to do it right.
Find a Sorcerer (Optional)
The proper way to learn magic involves finding and defeating a wild Sorcerer. There are Sorcerers all over both maps, but if you want a load of them to search through, I suggest Mounds of the Dead or New Asagarth.
Loot The Dead Sorcerer’s Map (Optional)
Once you find a Sorcerer, take them down for a chance to get a Dead Sorcerer’s Map. This map will lead you to Shaleback Hollow. So if you want to head straight there without the map, then you can.
Learn Your First Spells
Once you get to Shaleback Hollow, make your way to the back of the cave to find the Thaumaturgy Table. Interact to learn Basic Sorcery (Knowledge) which will teach you two spells and the items you need to start crafting more spells. It also teaches you how to craft the Thaumaturgy Table so you can make one at your base.
The two spells it teaches you are Reveal Corruption and Ice Bridge. The two are quite self-explanatory and will teach you how to use magic. To learn more spells, access the bench to see what you can make.
What You Need to Use Magic (and How to Cast Spells)
Casting spells is easy once you get used to it. There’s a rune system that seems complicated, but after you learn how to navigate it, then it’s no different than using your hotbar becoming natural.
Staff
You need a staff to cast spells in Conan Exiles. This is a familiar requirement for those who play D&D. There’s only one staff in the base game, the Arcane Staff, which is easy to make.
Once you wield the staff, you can “attack” with it to cast spells. The way to choose which spell you cast is outlined below in the “Runes” section.
Spell
There are two types of Words of Power in Conan Exiles. The first is the item type, which teaches a recipe, usually for a potion ingredient. The other type has a rune ucon, which lets you know it is a spell. You have to know the spell (have the knowledge) to cast it.
These spell knowledges are only learned through upgrading your Tome of Kurak at the Thaumaturgy Bench.
Components
Some spells require pouches to cast and the pouches are consumed when you cast the spell. Most of the 3rd Rune spells require a component, while most of the 2nd Rune spells do not.
Runes
- 1st Rune: School of Magic
- 2nd Rune: Spell or sub-category
- 3rd Rune: Spell (strong)
This was the most confusing part for me, and I ended up learning by trial and error. The way it works is you use your staff, and then you get to choose a school of magic. Each spell falls under a specific school, so the second page of runes will allow you to choose one of the spells to cast.
For higher-tier spells, you’ll have to choose a specific rune again, which will lead you to the final page of runes. Thankfully, there is a short description of the spell, so you don’t have to waste resources to cast each spell to test it.
Schools of Magic
- Divination
- Necromancy
- Demonology
- Illusion
- Thaumaturgy
How to Upgrade Spells in Conan Exiles
| School | Basic Description | Spells |
| Divination | The third eye spells, seeing things that the untrained eye cannot |
|
| Necromancy | Summoning dead or spirits |
|
| Demonology | Summons demon (spells) |
|
| Illusion | Sneaky spells |
|
| Thaumaturgy | Elemental spells |
|
To upgrade spells, you need to use the Thaumaturgy Bench. You see, in Conan Exiles, you can’t pick which spells you learn, you have to learn them in a certain order, which is why you learn them by upgrading your spell book, Tome of Kurak, which is not consumed when you upgrade the spell.
Upgrade 1 – Let There Be Light
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 1x Stone
- 1x Putrid Meat
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Blood Rite (Knowledge) – a recipe for Sacrificial Blood in a Flask, an alchemy ingredient
- Word of Power: Soul Drain (Knowledge) – a recipe for Soul Essence, which can help reroll your attributes
- Word of Power: Embed Wisp (Knowledge) – a ranged light source spell
- Word of Power: Imbue Wisp (Knowledge) – a close-quarter light source spell
Upgrade 2 – Featherfoot
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 1x Feral Flesh
- 5x Feathers
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Slow Fall (Knowledge) – removes fall damage
Upgrade 3 – We Ride At Dawn
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 1x Savoury Flesh
- 10x Glowing Goop
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Abyssal Mount (Horse) (Knowledge) – temporary horse mount
- Word of Power: Abyssal Mount (Rhino) (Knowledge) – temporary rhino mount
Upgrade 4 – Check Your Firewall
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 1x Human Flesh
- 15x Volatile Glands
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Wall of Fire (Knowledge) – magma summoning that comes up in a 5×5 area
Upgrade 5 – Let There Be Darkness
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 5x Blood
- 20x Brimstone
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Creeping Darkness (Knowledge) – spider web-infested area 80 meters around the target that slows and darkens any lights
Upgrade 6 – Expert Miner
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 10x Blood
- 15x Alchemical Base
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Mass Call (Knowledge) – harvests all resources within 30 meters
- Word of Power: Detect Resources (Knowledge) – makes resources glow
Upgrade 7 – Give Me My Stuff
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 15x Blood
- 1x Weathered Skull
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Summon Corpse (Knowledge) – the last corpse you left is brought to you
Upgrade 8 – Walking Dead
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 20x Blood
- 20x Weathered Skulls
Spells
- Word of Power: Call of the Dead (Knowledge) – creates a god 80 meters around the caster and fills it with zombies, each with 100 HP
- Word of Power: Raise Dead (Knowledge) – can reanimate corpse in Shallow Grave (crafted item)
Upgrade 9 – So Sneaky
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 10x Demon Blood
- 10x Grey Lotus Powder
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Mirror Mark (Knowledge) – creates a clone that draws aggro
- Word of Power: Invisibility Self (Knowledge) – makes you invisible
- Word of Power: Conceal Corruption (Knowledge) – removes the physical effects of corruption
Upgrade 10 – Getting Schooled
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 15x Demon Blood
- 5x Soul Essence
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Elixir of Rebirth (Knowledge) – lets followers re-roll perks
Upgrade 11 – Fly Me to the Moon
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 20x Demon Blood
- 5x Sacrificial Blood in a flask
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Call of Nergal (Knowledge) – summons a bat to fly you around
- Word of Power: Abyssal Call (Knowledge) – summons a demon
Upgrade 12 – Free Weapons
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 30x Demon Blood
- 20x Dragonhorn
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Abyssal Bow (Knowledge) – endless ammo bow that goes away when you die
- Word of Power: Abyssal Maul (Knowledge) – really strong mace that goes away when you die
Upgrade 13 – The Predator
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 20x Black Blood
- 10x Blackpowder
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Abyssal Armor (Knowledge) – demonic armor
Upgrade 14 – Call the Power of Thor
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 30x Black Blood
- 5x Fragments of Power
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Lightning Storm (Knowledge) – calls down lightning in a 40-meter area around you that causes damage
Upgrade 15 – Corrupt Yourself
Ingredients
- 1x Tome of Kurak
- 1x Sorcerer Spell Page
- 50x Black Blood
- 100x Witchfire
Spells/Items
- Word of Power: Transportory Stone (Knowledge) – corrupts player when station is used
The Sorcerer Thrall
Sorcerer thralls are another addition from Age of Sorcery that can help you on your journey. They aren’t ideal for following you around but they do help you out with the Thaumaturgy Bench.
Crafting Speed Bonus of a Sorcerer
- T1 – 25%
- T2 – 50%
- T3 – 75%
- T4 – 100%
Sorcerer Unique Recipes
Sorcerers are the only way to make Sorcerer Spell Pages. They can turn 10 Failed Spell Pages into one Sorcerer Spell Page with a 100% success rate. You need these to make spells.
Or they can turn one Papyrus Scroll, Sacrificial Blood, and Inkling Brush into one with a 60% chance of success. Otherwise, it turned into a Failed Sorcerer Page, which is a waste of materials.
How Magic Corruption Works
This is one of the most confusing parts of magic in Conan Exiles. Before 3.0, corruption was all-around horrible and only could reach 50%. But now, there are certain spells, items, and more to corrupt you in a new way.
The new type of corruption has a benefit if you want to be a glass cannon. Once you reach 50% corruption, you can “corrupt” your abilities instead of leveling them, which makes them much stronger but also permanently makes your health and stamina much lower.
To corrupt abilities, ensure your corruption is at least 50% and that you have Soul Essence in your inventory. Then you can corrupt attributes up to a maximum of 20. Once corrupted, the perks you normally gain turn into something a little different too, which is a fun surprise.
The only way to get rid of this type of corruption (no point refund) is to use a Yellow Lotus Potion or a Potion of Bestial Memory to reset attributes. After you do this, then you can remove it the normal way by watching a dancer.
FAQs
Question: Do You Need the Dead Sorcerer’s Map to Unlock Sorcery?
Answer: No. You can head straight to Shaleback Hollow and use the Thaumaturgy Bench without the map. The map was created so that the first people (or those who don’t use guides) can find out how to unlock magic.
Question: How Did Magic Get to Conan Exiles?
Answer: This is never stated by Funcom. Sorcerers began to plague the land, and a Thaumaturgy Bench is left in a cave. There’s not much of a story behind it yet however, magic has always been part of the Hyborian age.
Question: Can Thralls Use Magic?
Answer: No. Thralls cannot learn spells in Conan Exiles yet. This is likely because they’d have to choose which spells to cast and that would be complicated without player adjustments, which would be difficult to set up in a failproof way.
The Magic of the Exiled Lands
Magic in Conan Exiles is relatively new, which is why many veteran players aren’t familiar with it. It wasn’t even released until late 2022, bringing a whole crew of new players to check it out.
What I like about Age of Sorcery is that you don’t need to utilize it to really enjoy Conan Exiles. I find it to be a little extra icing on the cake rather than something to be your game around.
So if you want to set it on the back burner, then you do you. But if you want to explore everything Conan Exiles has to offer, then you may want to start looking for a Dead Sorcerer’s Map.