Conan Exiles Sorcery: How to Unlock and Master It (2026)
- ๐ฎ What sorcery in Conan Exiles really is
- ๐บ๏ธ Step 1: Unlock sorcery and find the Tome of Kurak
- ๐ Step 2: Casting spells with the staff, runes and Words of Power
- โ๏ธ Step 3: The Thaumaturgy Bench and learning new spells
- โจ All spells at a glance
- ๐ฉธ Corruption: the price is the power
- ๐ก Starting as a caster: 4 practical tips
- โ Frequently asked questions about Conan Exiles sorcery
- ๐ More Conan Exiles guides
You unlock Conan Exiles sorcery by going to the Thaumaturgy Bench in Shaleback Hollow (Exiled Lands) or the Cave of Kurak (Isle of Siptah). The Dead Sorcerer's Map Note, dropped by slain sorcerers, shows you the way, but you don't need it. There you learn basic sorcery and get the Tome of Kurak plus an Arcane Staff. Every spell costs corruption, which lowers your max health and stamina. In return, you can turn it into strong sorcery perks with a glass-cannon build.
๐ฎ What sorcery in Conan Exiles really is
Forget fireballs and wizard turrets. Sorcery in Conan Exiles is a dark, creeping power in the spirit of Robert E. Howard. You don't throw colorful spells. You sacrifice part of yourself to summon demons, raise the dead, call down lightning storms and cross ice bridges.
The price is corruption: every spell eats into your max health and stamina. That balancing act is what makes the system so appealing. The core system still applies in Conan Exiles Enhanced (Unreal Engine 5). Funcom did rework sorcery in the December 2025 update, though: tier 1 spells no longer cost reagents, the three tiers of pouches were replaced by unified, reduced casting requirements, and Tome of Kurak progression is faster. This guide takes you from the first step to the endgame.
๐บ๏ธ Step 1: Unlock sorcery and find the Tome of Kurak
The entry point is hidden on purpose. The Dead Sorcerer's Map Note shows you the way. It isn't a requirement, though: if you know the location, you can go straight there. You get the note by killing sorcerers in NPC camps. They often walk in pairs near altars and carry a "Sorcerer" tag. With bad luck you'll have to kill several before the note drops. It leads you to one of two places:
- Exiled Lands: the cave Shaleback Hollow in the desert, in the center of map square E5 according to the GamerGuides database. Admin teleport coordinates:
TeleportPlayer -117949 167080 -13503. - Isle of Siptah: the Cave of Kurak beneath Riverwatch Keep. The entrance is on the southwestern riverbank in front of the fortress portcullis. Coordinates:
TeleportPlayer 214707 51524 -22909.
At the end of the cave stands a Thaumaturgy Bench with a book on it. Interact with it and you learn basic sorcery and get your starter kit right away:
| What you get | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tome of Kurak | Your spellbook and skill tree, a unique item you carry with you |
| Arcane Staff | Required to cast any spell |
| Burlap Pouches (5 according to community guides) | Sorcery consumable; the December 2025 update unified the pouch tiers, and according to the Enhanced patch notes, older pouches grant Sorcery Reagents when used |
| Spell: Detect Corruption | Shows corrupted objects and creatures nearby |
| Spell: Ice Bridge | Summons a frozen bridge across gaps |
๐ก A tip few guides mention: the basic sorcery knowledge is permanent. You don't lose it with a Potion of Natural Learning or when you reset your knowledge points. So you only do the cave run once per character.
๐ก Right behind the bench there's a chasm with four loot chests (gold and silver, among others) on the other side. It's the perfect practice spot for Ice Bridge. Careful: leave your followers behind or set them to guard first, or they'll fall off the narrow bridge and die. Coordinates, enemies and loot for both caves are in our Tome of Kurak location guide.
๐ Step 2: Casting spells with the staff, runes and Words of Power
Casting doesn't run through the hotbar. You equip the Arcane Staff and "attack", and runes appear in front of you. First you pick a school of magic, then the specific spell. Higher-tier spells add another rune layer. Every rune has a short description, so you don't have to waste expensive components to find out what a spell does. Since the December 2025 update, tier 1 spells no longer cost reagents. Higher-tier spells still consume materials when cast, so plan them before you head into a fight.
โ๏ธ Step 3: The Thaumaturgy Bench and learning new spells
The knowledge also unlocks the recipe for your own Thaumaturgy Bench. There you upgrade the Tome of Kurak step by step and craft sorcery gear. You learn new spells by combining Sorcerous Spell Pages at the bench. The pages drop from slain sorcerers or can be crafted. Each upgrade adds new spells, and the reagents you need get rarer, from Putrid Meat all the way to Demon Blood and Soul Essence.
๐ก Passive farming: station a sorcerer thrall (any tier will do) at the Thaumaturgy Bench and they'll produce spell pages over time. You stock up while you do other things. How to capture and use thralls is covered in our thralls guide, and which jobs exist in the thrall professions guide.
โจ All spells at a glance
The spells are spread across several schools. Here are the most important ones, sorted by use:
| Category | Spell | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Mobility | Ice Bridge | Frozen bridge across water and gaps |
| Mobility | Call of Nergal | Summons a bat demon you can glide far with |
| Mobility | Transportory Stone | Buildable teleport circle that links with other stones |
| Mobility | Slow Fall | Slows your fall and prevents fall damage |
| Exploration | Detect Corruption | Marks corrupted objects and creatures |
| Exploration | Wisp spells | Create a light source at a target or around you |
| Summoning | Abyssal summons | Call a demonic creature at the Circle of Power |
| Summoning | Abyssal Mount | Demonic horse or rhino as a mount |
| Summoning | Abyssal weapons and armor | Summoned demon gear, lasts 60 minutes by default; kills refill the timer, the Item Spoil Rate Scale server setting changes the duration, and it vanishes when you die |
| Summoning | Raising the dead | Undead servants that fight for you |
| Combat | Lightning Storm | A storm of destructive lightning around you |
| Combat | Wall of Fire | A wall of flames |
| Rituals | Blood rite | Draws the blood of a captive NPC at the sacrificial stone |
| Rituals | Soul harvesting | Pulls the soul from a captive NPC and yields Soul Essence |
| Rituals | Elixir of Rebirth | Randomly rerolls the learned perk of a thrall |
| Stealth | Invisibility Self | Makes you invisible for a short time |
| Stealth | Conceal Corruption | Hides your visible corruption from other players |
For the abyssal summons, raising the dead, the blood rite and soul harvesting we describe the effect instead of naming the spell, because we couldn't confirm the exact Word of Power names in the English client.
๐ New since patch 3.0.0 (October 6, 2026): part two of Legacy of the Giant-Kings added four new sorcery spells according to the patch notes, unlocked with materials from the new Rifts: a defensive ward spell, a Void control spell for battlefield manipulation, a corruption-spreading spell that affects enemies, and a swift casting preparation spell. We haven't confirmed their exact names in the client yet.
๐ฉธ Corruption: the price is the power
Casting builds corruption. It lowers your max health and stamina and makes your body visibly wither. But it's not just a penalty. At high corruption you can corrupt your attributes instead of raising them normally. For that you need Soul Essence in your inventory. Corrupted points go into Strength, Vitality and Authority, and the matching perks turn into special sorcery perks that get stronger with every point. That's the classic glass-cannon caster: fragile, but brutally strong.
๐ The clever loop: harvesting souls from captive NPCs yields exactly the Soul Essence you need to corrupt your attributes, so the system feeds itself. If the corruption gets too much, you cleanse it near dancing entertainer thralls. According to Funcom, corruption you've already put into attributes stays bound at that level, though. You reset corrupted attributes with a Potion of Bestial Memory (without a point refund). More on attributes and perks is in our attributes guide.
๐ก Starting as a caster: 4 practical tips
- Mobility first, power second: Ice Bridge, Call of Nergal and the Transportory Stone save you a lot of travel time. They're often worth more than your first combat spell.
- Stock reagents: keep reagents, blood and Soul Essence on hand for higher-tier spells. Nothing's worse than standing in a fight without a component.
- Put a sorcerer thrall to work: a caster at the bench produces spell pages in the background, which speeds up every Tome of Kurak upgrade.
- Dose your corruption: handle the glass-cannon build on purpose. If you always play at the limit, you'll drop fast in PvE. Keep a way to cleanse ready.
โ Frequently asked questions about Conan Exiles sorcery
How do I unlock sorcery in Conan Exiles?
Go to Shaleback Hollow (Exiled Lands) or the Cave of Kurak (Siptah) and interact with the book at the Thaumaturgy Bench. That unlocks basic sorcery. The Dead Sorcerer's Map Note, which sorcerers in NPC camps drop, shows you the way, but you don't need it.
What do I get when I unlock it?
The Tome of Kurak, an Arcane Staff, Burlap Pouches (five, according to community guides) and the spells Detect Corruption and Ice Bridge.
What is corruption?
The price of sorcery. It lowers your max health and stamina. In return, at high corruption you can use Soul Essence to corrupt your attributes and turn their perks into stronger sorcery perks.
How do I learn new spells?
At the Thaumaturgy Bench you upgrade the Tome of Kurak step by step and combine Sorcerous Spell Pages, which drop from slain sorcerers or can be crafted.
๐ More Conan Exiles guides
- Attributes guide: perks, corruption and builds
- Tome of Kurak location: caves, enemies and loot
- Brimstone farming: all locations and recipes
- Capturing, breaking and using thralls
As of October 11, 2026 (Conan Exiles Enhanced, current version: patch 3.0.0 from October 6, 2026 with hotfix 3.0.1 from October 8, 2026). Checked against Funcom's official sorcery dev post, Funcom's December 2025 update notes, the item database conanexiles.gaming.tools (Elixir of Rebirth, Transportory Stone), the gamerguides database (Abyssal armor duration, location of Shaleback Hollow) and established community sources. The Conan Exiles Wiki on Fandom (conanexiles.fandom.com) calls itself the "Official Conan Exiles Wiki" and is linked from Funcom's site conanexiles.com, but by its own description it is written and maintained by players. Not confirmed in the English client: the exact Word of Power names for the abyssal summons, raising the dead, the blood rite and soul harvesting, and the name of the basic sorcery knowledge. Individual values can change with future updates.
