Conan Exiles Sorcery Guide: Unlock, Spells & Corruption

Sorcery is Conan Exiles' magic system, added in the free Age of Sorcery 3.0 update (September 1, 2022), and it's not a skill tree — it's a journey. You find a hidden book in a cave, build a Thaumaturgy Bench, and grind rare ingredients (black blood, witchfire powder, Fragments of Power) to upgrade the Tome of Kurak and unlock Words of Power. Every spell you cast feeds the corruption that powers it, permanently cutting your max health and stamina until you cleanse it. This guide covers the full unlock path, the spells worth casting, the corruption economy, and the two items everyone searches for: Fragments of Power and black blood.

Here's what you'll learn:

• Where the Sorcery Book is on both maps (Shaleback Hollow and Riverwatch Keep)
• The Thaumaturgy Bench and Tome of Kurak upgrade path
• Every major Word of Power and what it actually does
• How corruption works — and the dancer-thrall cleanse
• Fragments of Power: where they drop and what to do with them
• Black blood, sacrificial blood and the sorcerer-page crafting lottery
• Undead pets and golems: the summoning side of the system

How to Unlock Sorcery

Sorcery isn't taught — it's found. The official wiki's Sorcery page lays out the path:

1. Find the Sorcery Book. On the Exiled Lands it sits in Shaleback Hollow, a cave just north of the Noob River (TeleportPlayer -117949 167080 -13503); on the Isle of Siptah it's in the cave beneath Riverwatch Keep. You'll usually learn its location from a map piece dropped by sorcerers in NPC camps.
2. Interact with the tome on the stone altar. You learn Basic Sorcery and your first two Words of Power: Ice Bridge (create a temporary ice walkway) and Reveal Corruption (see corruption in the world).
3. Build the Thaumaturgy Bench with your Construction Hammer, then craft the Tome of Kurak and an Arcane Staff at it.
4. Upgrade the Tome — the bench lists each upgrade tier and its material cost. Every tier unlocks more Words of Power from the Sorcery tab in the knowledge menu.

Per the official Age of Sorcery announcement on the wiki, sorcery "was introduced on September 1, 2022 with the free update Conan Exiles 3.0 — The Age of Sorcery" on PC, PlayStation and Xbox — a full magic system added free to the base game.

Words of Power: The Spells Worth Learning

The Tome of Kurak unlockable spells include the well-documented core set:

The upgrade materials are the grind: community guides list Spell Pages (20), Black Blood (100), Witchfire Powder (100) and Fragments of Power (5) as the headline costs across the tome's tiers, with Dragon parts and other rare drops filling in the gaps. Spell Pages come from the failed-page lottery: combine Papyrus Scroll + Sacrificial Blood + Inkling Brush at the Thaumaturgy Bench for a ~60% chance at a real page — otherwise you get a Failed Sorcerer Page, which is a pure material loss. Plan for failures.

Corruption: The Price of Magic

Corruption is sorcery's entire economy. Every spell you cast raises your corruption level, and corruption permanently reduces your maximum health and stamina until cleansed. The wiki is explicit: uncorrupted characters lose survivability the moment they start casting, so a sorcerer's build is a deliberate trade — many endgame mages deliberately corrupt themselves to unlock corrupted attribute perks (huge Strength or Authority bonuses at the cost of health).

How to manage it:

• Cleanse with a Performer thrall — dancers are the classic corruption removal; place one at your base and use their ability when your bars get painful. The thralls guide covers capturing performers.
• Cleansing items — crafted consumables exist for on-the-go removal.
• Don't let it stack — uncontrolled corruption stacks and will get you one-shot by a shaleback. Cast, cleanse, repeat.

Fragments of Power: What to Do With Them

Fragments of Power are the endgame knowledge currency, and "what to do with fragments of power" is one of the most-searched Conan questions. The official wiki's Fragment of Power page is definitive:

• What they are — a stone inscribed with a bizarre symbol; stack to 100, weigh 0.10 each, and "could be offered up to the Archives in order to obtain ancient wisdom".
• Where they drop — guaranteed from the Unnamed City bosses (Guardian of the Flame, The Brute, The Gravewalker, The Red Mother, Winged Death and the rest), with a ~1.1% chance of a second fragment; also from the Ancient Scorpion Queen, The Executioner, Khari Remnants and Relic Fragment chests in the Unnamed City and the Wine Cellar. On Siptah, farm The Grey One's Pool and the Tower of Siptah.
• How to use them — two options: consume for +10 Feat Points each (bypassing the level-60 feat cap), or hand them to The Archivist in the Archives (5 fragments) to learn recipes from the Library of Esoteric Artifacts or trade up to Tablets of Power. Fragments are also a crafting ingredient — the Tome of Kurak and various sorcerous recipes (Essence of Rot, Oils, Skeleton summons) consume them.

Black Blood and Blood Components

"Black blood" and "blood" searches usually point at the sorcery ingredient family:

• Black Blood — a corruption-adjacent crafting component harvested from corrupted/undead sources, required in bulk (100+ per guide count) for Tome of Kurak upgrades. It's one of the ingredients that makes sorcery progression a real endgame grind.
• Sacrificial Blood — the blood component of the sorcerer-page recipe (Papyrus Scroll + Sacrificial Blood + Inkling Brush). Fits the lore: magic in the Hyborian Age runs on sacrifice.
• Demon Blood — the classic boss-drop component used across the game (boss doors, legendary crafting, and Fragments of Power crafting: the wiki lists a craftable Fragment recipe of 50 Corrupted Stone + 50 Demon Blood + 100 Steelfire + 20 Star Metal Bar at the Alchemist's Bench).

Undead Pets and Golems

Sorcery has a whole summoning side. Undead pets — including the much-searched Undead Dog — are crafted at the Alchemy Bench from the Ancestral Knowledge branch (community guides route you through the Witch Doctor skill), and they behave like pets with undead themes. The bigger summoning investment is Golems: craftable followers built from parts at the Guardian Assembly Station, with no leveling and huge health pools. Since golem loadout and weapon arms are a constant question, we cover the best weapons for golems separately — including why hardened steel is the best arm tier and why star metal shreds hostile golems at 8× damage.

Sorcerer thralls also exist as a profession — capture one and place them at the Thaumaturgy Bench to speed up and expand your tome crafting.

FAQ

How do you unlock sorcery in Conan Exiles? Find the Sorcery Book in Shaleback Hollow (Exiled Lands) or the cave under Riverwatch Keep (Siptah), interact with the tome to learn Basic Sorcery, build a Thaumaturgy Bench, and craft the Tome of Kurak. Upgrading the Tome at the bench unlocks more Words of Power, funded by black blood, witchfire powder, spell pages and Fragments of Power.

How does corruption work in Conan Exiles? Casting spells raises your corruption level, which permanently reduces max health and stamina until cleansed. Remove it with a Performer (dancer) thrall or cleansing items, or embrace it deliberately to unlock corrupted attribute perks for high-risk, high-damage builds.

What do you do with Fragments of Power in Conan Exiles? Two main uses: consume them for +10 feat points each (bypassing the level-60 feat cap), or hand 5 to the Archivist in the Archives to learn Library of Esoteric Artifacts recipes or trade for Tablets of Power. They're also crafting ingredients for the Tome of Kurak and sorcerous items. They drop from Unnamed City bosses and Siptah's Grey One's Pool.

What is black blood used for in Conan Exiles? Black blood is a sorcery crafting component, consumed in bulk (community guides list ~100 for tome upgrades) alongside witchfire powder, spell pages and Fragments of Power. It's harvested from corrupted and undead sources in the world.

Can you have undead pets in Conan Exiles? Yes. Undead pets — including the Undead Dog — are crafted at the Alchemy Bench from the Ancestral Knowledge/Witch Doctor branch of sorcery. They fight like normal pets with undead theming. Golems are the bigger crafted followers, built from parts at the Guardian Assembly Station.

Related Guides

• Conan Exiles Best Weapon for Golems
• Conan Exiles Thralls Guide
• Conan Exiles Religion Guide
• Conan Exiles Gameplay Guide
• Conan Exiles Interactive Map Guide
• Conan Exiles Best Mods Guide

Official resources: Steam store page · Official wiki — Sorcery · Official wiki — Fragment of Power · Official blog — Golem Shaping

Last Updated: August 13, 2026