Hitting Conjuration 100 in Skyrim is one of the fastest ways to unlock the school’s heavy hitters, Dremora Lords, Storm Atronachs, and the bound weapons that carry early-game builds. But grinding spells in the wild is slow. Trainers cut that grind significantly, letting players spend gold to buy levels directly. With the Anniversary Edition still receiving small fixes into 2026 across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X
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S, and Switch, the trainer system remains identical to its original design. Here’s exactly where to find every conjuration trainer and how to squeeze the most XP from each session.
Key Takeaways
- Conjuration trainers let players buy skill levels directly with gold, bypassing the tedious grind of casting low-level spells and making them essential for summoning-focused builds.
- Skyrim has three conjuration trainers across three tiers: Talvas Fathryon (Adept, level 50) in Tel Mithryn, Phinis Gestor (Expert, level 75) at the College of Winterhold, and Falion (Master, level 90) in Morthal.
- The money-back trick—training with a conjuration trainer and then pickpocketing or trading back the gold—works in Anniversary Edition and lets players repeat sessions for no cost up to the five-per-level cap.
- Players can reach level 90 with trainers alone, but the final ten levels to 100 require actual spell casting using efficient methods like Bound Bow or Soul Trap exploitation.
- Stacking the Mage Stone’s 20% magic boost, the Well Rested 10% bonus, and the Apprentice Hood creates the fastest path to maxing Conjuration when combined with trainer sessions.
What Conjuration Trainers Do and Why They Matter
Trainers are NPCs who, for a gold fee, instantly raise a chosen skill by one level per session. Each character can buy five trainings per character level, across any combination of skills and trainers. That cap resets every time the player levels up.
For Conjuration specifically, this matters because casting low-level spells like Conjure Familiar repeatedly is tedious and offers diminishing returns once a player hits the 40–50 range. Trainers bypass that entirely. The cost scales with the target skill level, going from 89 to 90 costs around 4,275 gold, but it’s often worth it for builds that revolve around summons or bound weapons.
Three tiers exist for Conjuration: Adept (up to 50), Expert (up to 75), and Master (up to 90). No trainer can take a skill to 100: the final ten levels require actual casting.
Every Conjuration Trainer Location in Skyrim
Skyrim has exactly three conjuration trainers, each tied to a specific tier. Two of them require some legwork to reach, and one is locked behind the Dragonborn DLC. Players coming from other Elder Scrolls titles may notice the structure mirrors what Oblivion’s training system established years ago, tiered NPCs with hard caps.
Adept Trainer: Talvas Fathryon in Tel Mithryn
Talvas Fathryon is Neloth’s apprentice on Solstheim, found inside the mushroom tower of Tel Mithryn. He trains Conjuration up to level 50 and requires the Dragonborn DLC, which is bundled with Anniversary Edition and Special Edition on all platforms.
To reach him, players need to travel to Solstheim via the boat in Windhelm’s docks (cost: 250 gold to Northshore Landing, or fast-travel after the first visit). Talvas is also a potential follower after completing his quest “From the Mouth of Babes,” which is a nice side benefit. RPG fans who track these companion details often dig into deeper character build breakdowns for follower synergy.
Expert Trainer: Phinis Gestor at the College of Winterhold
Phinis Gestor is the College of Winterhold’s conjuration instructor and trains up to level 75. He’s almost always inside the Hall of Countenance or the Hall of Attainment, depending on the time of day.
Phinis is also the questgiver for “Conjuration Ritual Spell,” which unlocks the Master-level spell tomes including Dead Thrall and Flame Thrall. Players don’t need to be College members to train with him, but joining via the quest “First Lessons” gives easier access to his location and the rest of the magic-school trainers in one spot.
Master Trainer: Falion in Morthal
Falion lives in Morthal, the swampy hold capital in Hjaalmarch. He’s the only Master-level conjuration trainer in the game and pushes the skill to its 90 cap.
Falion is a redguard mage with a side business in soul gems, he can also recharge black soul gems for the player, which pairs nicely with conjuration builds focused on Soul Trap and reanimation. His house sits near the town’s center, and he’s accessible from the start of the game with no quest requirements.
How to Use Trainers Efficiently to Maximize Gold and XP
Trainer fees scale aggressively. A level 89-to-90 session costs roughly 4,275 gold, while early sessions are dirt cheap. That makes efficient use of the five-sessions-per-level cap critical.
Here’s the standard money-back trick that’s worked since the original 2011 release and still functions in Anniversary Edition:
- Train with the NPC until the per-level cap is hit.
- Open their inventory via pickpocket (requires the Pickpocket skill) or, if they’re a follower like Talvas, simply trade items.
- Take back the gold just paid.
Talvas Fathryon is the standout here because he can be recruited as a follower. That means his inventory is fully accessible without any pickpocket risk, players hand him gold for training, then trade it right back. This works up to level 50 only, but it’s the cheapest path through the early grind.
For Phinis and Falion, pickpocketing is the workaround, though the Misdirection perk (Pickpocket 50) is required to lift equipped gold. Skyrim leveling guides on popular walkthrough sites often recommend stacking this with the Thief Stone for faster Pickpocket gains.
Best Spells and Strategies to Pair With Trainer Sessions
Trainers handle the bulk of leveling, but the final stretch from 90 to 100 still requires casting. The most efficient self-leveling spells in Conjuration are:
- Bound Bow (Adept): Casting it grants Conjuration XP, and using it in combat grants Archery XP. Easily the most broken leveling spell in the school.
- Soul Trap on a dead body: A classic exploit, casting Soul Trap on corpses still grants XP without consuming a soul gem.
- Dead Thrall (Master): Slower but useful for builds that already lean necromancer.
A standard 2026 leveling loop looks like this:
- Cast Bound Bow outside combat to grind to ~40.
- Visit Talvas in Tel Mithryn for adept-tier training to 50.
- Switch to Phinis at the College for expert training up to 75.
- Finish with Falion in Morthal for the push to 90.
- Grind the last 10 levels with Soul Trap spam or Bound Bow casts.
The Mage Stone (near Riverwood) boosts magic skill gains by 20%, and sleeping in a bed adds another 10% Well Rested bonus. Stacking both with the Apprentice Hood and any Fortify Conjuration gear shortens the final grind considerably.
Unlike other skyrim trainers tied to combat skills, conjuration trainers pair unusually well with passive XP exploits, making this one of the fastest schools to max in the entire game.
