Skyrim:Absorb Health

	Absorb Health
School	Destruction
Type	Offensive
Enchanting
ID	000aa155
Base Cost	40
Items	Weapons
Availability (Click on any item for details)
Weapons

Enchanting description: Absorb <mag> points of health.

Absorb Health (a.k.a. Drain Health) transfers <mag> points of Health from the target to the person wielding the weapon. On the target, the effect is comparable to Damage Health; on the attacker, the effect is comparable to Restore Health.

Enchanting

The following items use this effect. You can learn how to enchant custom items with Absorb Health if you find one of the following items and disenchant it:

• All weapons of Absorption, of Consuming, of Devouring, of Leeching, and of the Vampire
• Blade of Woe
• Drainblood Battleaxe
• Gauldur Blackblade

Artifacts and unique items that use the effect but cannot be disenchanted include:

• Bloodscythe^DB when wielded with Soulrender^DB
• Bloodthirst^CC
• Bloodthorn
• Dwarven Black Bow of Fate^DB
• Ebony Blade
• Harkon's Sword^DG when inflicted with Vampirism
• Keening
• Lord's Mail (item)^CC
• Nightingale Blade
• Umbra (item)^CC
• Wabbajack (5% chance)

Spells

The following spells use the Absorb Health group of effects.

• Choking Grasp^CC
• Strangulation^CC

Notes

• In Skyrim, there appears to be no distinction between "Drain Health" and "Absorb Health". Ravage Health replaces the "Drain Health" effect from previous games.
• For those enchanting for profit, absorb health provides the third most lucrative profitable enchantment in the game, after Paralysis and Banish. It is, however, the most lucrative weapon enchantment that is available at the beginning of the game.
• Absorb Health will not work against Dwarven Automatons; you can't leech their health in battle to heal you.
• The Ebony Blade has a unique form of this enchantment, which varies in magnitude as the blade is powered up.
• The book Notes On The Lunar Forge incorrectly states that Lunar weapons give you a vampire-like effect that transfers health from the victim to the user like this one, when their real enchantment doesn't absorb health at all.
• The Lord's Mail Creation Club armor has a constant absorb health effect that will absorb the health of foes by 5 pts per second within a certain radius.

Bugs

• Combining Absorb Health with Frost Damage will result in fewer charges than the enchanting altar indicates. The magnitude of problem gets worse when fortify enchanting potions are used. ^?
• The Absorb Health shader (EnchRedFXShader) has incorrect UV scale settings which can lead to the effect causing distortions on weapons it was applied to.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch, version 3.0.4, fixes this bug.

See Also

Other effects that alter your health include:

• Damage Health, Damage Health Regeneration, Fortify Health, Regenerate Health, Restore Health

Other absorb effects are:

• Absorb Magicka, Absorb Stamina