Optimizing Your Character Through Enchanting

[TAKR86]

I’ve only extensively used enchanting with my mage character, so if anyone can add info about stealth and warrior based characters that would be great .

The most important enchantments imo for a mage is fortify skill (whatever magic skill you feel is most important), I fortify destruction to around 91% (fortifying a magic skill means it costs less; in my case 91% less than the base cost) which means that I can throw thunderbolt (expert lvl) without there being any serious risk of depleting my magicka reserves (it costs me 9 magicka per cast, which is lower than the base cost for Flames) – basically I’m an unstopable destruction mage (even the master lvl spells have a negligible cost). Secondly magicka regeneration should be prioritized and probably more than fortifying your magicka reserves – the faster your magicka regenerates the faster you can cast new spells, when you run out of magicka. Thirdly fortifying your magicka reserves are also something to consider, but don’t go overboard (as I probably did a little myself) as magicka regeneration is more important in terms of enchanting (you can always increase your magicka reserves when lvling up). I would generally recommend fortifying destruction as most other spells can be cast when needed for the magicka reserves you build up through lvling up (+ investing in novice etc. perks will reduce cast cost) and rarely needs to be cast as much as destruction spells. Keep in mind that there are limitations to what enchantments can be used on the specific parts of your equipment (fx you can’t enchant your gloves with all the samme effects as your ring).

The perks needed in the enchantment skill-tree (for mages it's the only enchanting perks you need, but it might be different for other class types) are: Enchanter (all possible upgrades for this perk are necessary for full optimization), Insightfull Enchanter, Corpus Enchanter and Extra Effect.

My equipment is as follows: Ring with fortify destruction 26% and fortify magicka regeneration 65%; Circlet with +62 magicka and fortify destruction 25%; Boots with 37% fire and frost resistance; Gloves with +62 magicka and fortify lockpicking 40%; Archmage’s Robe (the one you get awarded with at the end of the College of Winterhold questline) with all spells fortified by 15%, + 50 magicka, fortify magicka regeneration 100%; Amulet with +62 magicka and fortify destruction 25%. To add it all up: fortify destruction 91%, fortify magicka +236 (in retrospect i should have prioritized regeneration more than the actual magicka pool – but hey I can always enchant new equipment), fortify magicka regeneration 165%, fortify lockpicking 40%.

All in all my mage character (currently lvl 47) is very powerfull and the talk about magic users being underpowered at higher lvls in Skyrim is something I simply can’t recognize at all.

For stealthy characters I guess fortifying skills like pickpocket, lockpicking, sneak and maybe archery and one-handed to increase damage would be good choices; also fortifying stamina will be a very good choice (and maybe a little health increase). Also some side equipment with alchemy fortified to use when making potions and poisons would probably be a good idea.

[swcarter]

For stealthy characters I guess fortifying skills like pickpocket, lockpicking, sneak and maybe archery and one-handed to increase damage would be good choices;

There isn't any need to fortify pickpocket or lockpicking. My mace-and-shield warrior mostly focused on one-handed damage and magic resistance. I didn't sneak seriously enough to find out if sneaking needs a boost.

also fortifying stamina will be a very good choice (and maybe a little health increase). Also some side equipment with alchemy fortified to use when making potions and poisons would probably be a good idea.

Starting around level 30 it was a pretty rare fight where I needed potions or extra stamina. I created rings for waterbreathing, enchanting, and blacksmithing.

SWC

[TAKR86]

Ok how much resistance to magic do your character have? What equiptment did you enchant? Did you use any standing stones etc. to boost your resistance?

I have a Dunmer stealth character that uses dual-wield and archery and with both skills a good amount of stamina is very helpfull for powerattacks and zooming. I was thinking that if you enchanted a ring or something, you could put more points in to health when lvling up.

Is waterbreathing really a good enchantment? I have yet to experience a real need for it, but I might be missing something here.

[Crenshinibon]

In my opinnion, Magicka regeneration is a pointless enchantement when using something like fortify Destruction. By the time you have 100 invested in Enchanting, you should already have plenty of Magicka, instead of that, you should use enchantments that add to health.

After all, since your destruction spells barely cost anything (why not go the extra step and get 100%?) and the only other spells you probably cast are Conjuration (summons/soul trap) and Alteration (armor type spells), you should have enough mana either way. Instead, I would invest in health, since that would make you much tankier - my mage have over four hundred by the end of the game or, try to get Restoration to 100% in order to keep up a permanent ward, however, health is the better choice since by using wards, you give up your ability to stagger your opponents.

There really isn't any point to Waterbreathing. Worst case, you use a potion. I've never had to though.

Instead of investing in Stamina, Lockpicking or Pickpocket, invest in One Handed damage and Archery. That will make sniping be the killing blow more often and make your backstabs a bit smoother (since early on, you usually have to power attack as a backstab to kill someone without having everyone else turn hostile).

For Archery, every point of damage is three as a sneak attack, for One-Handed, every point of damage translates into 30 for sneak attack damage (depending on glove choice).

If you raise your magicka/stamina to about 300, you don't really have to worry about depleting it. In there rare instances you do, you can always take a breather for a second or quaff a potion.

[TAKR86]

In my opinnion, Magicka regeneration is a pointless enchantement when using something like fortify Destruction. By the time you have 100 invested in Enchanting, you should already have plenty of Magicka, instead of that, you should use enchantments that add to health.

After all, since your destruction spells barely cost anything (why not go the extra step and get 100%?) and the only other spells you probably cast are Conjuration (summons/soul trap) and Alteration (armor type spells), you should have enough mana either way. Instead, I would invest in health, since that would make you much tankier - my mage have over four hundred by the end of the game or, try to get Restoration to 100% in order to keep up a permanent ward, however, health is the better choice since by using wards, you give up your ability to stagger your opponents.

Good points. It does however depend on how much you use other spell than destruction spells, since some of them can be quite costly if you haven't invested in the neccessary perks to reduce their cost, but I think I might try enchanting some gear with health points instead of magicka regeneration to see how it works for me (also; I play an Altmer so I always have the Highborn ability that drastically boosts magicka regeneration, so I would still be capable of quickly refiling my magicka pool if needed).

How did you get 100% fortified destruction? I can't seem to get it up to more than 93% if I use a robe I enchanted myself instead of the Archmage's Robe - maybe through potions to make your enchanting even better? Anyway I don't think I want to take it that far - I still like that there's a possibility of running out of magicka, which can happen if you use a lot of your other magic school spells in combat situations.

[swcarter]

Is waterbreathing really a good enchantment? I have yet to experience a real need for it, but I might be missing something here.

It's not a good enchantment at all. That's why I put it on a ring in my inventory (which weighs less than a potion). If you want to explore every nook and cranny of every location, then there are a few places where waterbreathing comes in handy, but you could also just ignore it.

SWC

[Lemmus]

Here's my take on things, also from a Stealth perspective. I go over a lot of the same ground as SWCarter, unfortunately. I'd been typing up my response but got distracted.

I'm currently playing an Argonian assassin type character, so I cannot help you with the fighter aspect of it. My play-style is to sneak everywhere, use bows when possible, and then in close combat have a dagger in one hand and spell in the off-hand and kite the mob. As I'm sure that you're aware, specifics of enchantments will be highly based on availability, and thus chance, until the late game. Here's some suggestions from my play, though.

I don't want to give you any details to avoid spoilers, but both of the stealth themed guilds will give you sets of light armour with appropriate bonuses quite early in the quest chain. Actually enchanting stealth, pickpocketing, and lockpicking is a waste; they are easy to do, easy to level, and easy to abuse, so bonuses aren't really necessary. High stamina (or fortify carry weight) would be great, late in the game, but early on you have more pressing concerns.

Instead, I'd say that you want to maximise survivability by using damage output. In MMO terms, stealth characters are "spiky"; you do high damage with stealth attacks, but your stealth skills will likely be a lot higher than your combat skills, so toe to toe damage output is low. My gear loadout from the late teens to mid-30's has changed only very slightly, and is as follows:

My armour is the Shrouded set (guild), because I like the bonuses. I wear a ring with a Fortify Archery (bow damage) enchant, to maximise the damage output of my first shot. My weapon (dagger) has an Absorb Health enchant. My necklace is usually some variation of pre-enchanted faster magicka regeneration. I'll usually also carry a ring with the on-hand damage enchant in case I get stuck in melee combat with a tough opponent. This is rarely useful, since anything tough enough to survive a 30x damage sneak attack from my dagger is likely going to eat me no matter what.

I usually keep soul trap on my bow, and use it for weaker opponents, bandits, and trash. This lets me stockpile weak gems without having to micromanage the spell. A bow shot from stealth with the perk will do enough damage that you don't need a damage enchant.

[Crenshinibon]

Well, the thing about Magicka regeneration is that it stops completely for a few seconds after you cast a spell, making it less desirable than a large Magicka pool. With Magicka regeneration, if you empty your pool, you essentially have to run around, dodging enemy blows and waiting while you have enough to case a spell - not a good thing. I realize that they can be costly - I believe that Ebonyflesh took almost have of my Magicka pool, but that was the one draining spell I used.

At 100 Enchanting, with several of the perks, you should be able to enchant at 25% fortify destruction per piece of equipment. I didn't use potions.

[Enwah]

I read somewhere that Magic resistance is capped at 85% so I play a Breton and enchant a shield with it.
Water Breathing is a good enchantment to put on headgear with a Petty soul gem for resale, since the Petty provides the same constant effect as using a grand.
My character is a Breton male, level 16, that has not began the main quest. My goal was to get the Black Star, which I did at level 9. I've been making Daggers to reach level 30 smithing and enchanting them with Absorb health. I got in the Brotherhood as soon as I could but have hung up their armour for a Elvin set. Gilded Armor & helmet have Fortify Destruction, boots have Fortify Sneak, gloves have Fortify Archery, Bow has Soul Trap and dagger has Absorb Magica. All enchanted with the Black Star. I keep several Absorb Health Petty Iron Daggers to keep me alive or sell. Rings and necklaces for everything else. Love to buy & sell in Solutude because of the altar and Noster stays put.
I use PC and Steam forced the v1.4 patch on me. Now, fortify enchant potions do not seem to work. I understand this patch helped many things but they don't need to pull a "New Vegas" and kill all the exploits. Bethesda, don't change the rules while I'm in the middle of building my character. What am I going to do with all this Hagraven Claw I bought ?

[Enwah]

fortify enchant potions do not seem to work

I am wrong. The exploit still works and can still break the game. A ring with Fortify Health 18779 pts goes beyond Optimizing Your Character Through Enchanting .

[Fearless]

Everyone wants the best for their character.

In my case I am a warrior, so the first thing I maxed was my armour and weapons, all Daedric. The way that I did that was to "max" (100) out in smithing. this enabled me to make "Lengendary" armour and weapons. Then I went for Enchanting max (100) which made them even more powerful by giving my weapons "fire" and "Ice" and my amour (body) 50% health, gauntlets and boots "carry weight" and a ring of archery. I went for Daedric armour because the "Dragon plate" made me look like one of Darth Vader's soldiers. My greatest use of magic has been "Soul trap" and my "Shouts" of "Fire Breath" .
I rely quite a bit on potions for health and strength (when I'm over weight)

I have to say I love sneaking, but let's face it, after the first shot your cover is invariably blown, so then I move to my Great sword which reallly knocks em down.

For all of this, there was a situation where I had to take all my amour off or it was taken from me, it doesn't matter. Well further on I forgot to put it all back on again and I had been fighting for some time before I realised I only had a loincloth on and hadn't made a bit of difference.

[Fearless]

By the way, further to my last another aspect of this enhancing is that the value of your armour and weapons becomes even greater and guess what,

YOU CAN'T SELL IT, why because no one can afford to buy it. My Daedric armour and weapons are all around 4000 to 5000 gold.

The smithys usually have arouind 1000 to 1200 and the general stores and apothacarys 750 in gold.

The only way that you can increase their buying power is to buy from them.

Well you wouldn't buy weapons or armour cos you can make your own. So you would have to buy an awful lot of metal ingots so that they can buy your goods.


So I have dressed the dummies in my houses in VERY expensive equipment. They appear to have given the bartering system very little consideration

[GawainBS]

Unless I have overlooked it, it's just as important to mix a potion of Fortify Enchant, quaff it, then enchant as much gear as possible with Fortify Enchant, and wear that, drink another potion, THEN enchant your desired effects on the gear you'll be wearing.
Of course, you can make loopholes by making Fortify Alchemy gear, wearing it, making a stronger Fortify Enchantment potion, then stronger gear, then potion again, ad infinitum. For best results, put in some effort in Blacksmithing too.

[swcarter]

YOU CAN'T SELL IT, why because no one can afford to buy it. My Daedric armour and weapons are all around 4000 to 5000 gold. The smithys usually have arouind 1000 to 1200 and the general stores and apothacarys 750 in gold.

If you complete the Thieves Guild quests (including jobs from Delvin and Vex), then Tonilia in the Ragged Flagon will have 4000 gold.

SWC

[GawainBS]

Off-topic; Bethesda's merchant system always bugged me.

[Fearless]

Thank you SW. I am in the middle of the thieves guild quests and I had not tried to sell her anything, come to that I hadn't bought anything either, but I will

[Lord++Revan]

A lot of the time on i turn a blind eye to enchanting since TG master armor is all you could need for a stealth guy or gal. But for mages i get fortify restoration and destruction mainly but those are my preffered main skills for mages. On my warriors i dont use fortify skill because i dont enchant until i have daedric armor and by then i have 100 or close in my mainly used skills. So i focus on health reserves. Usually really effective for melee warriors. sorry for grammar issues havent been on a computer in a LONG time. Hope i helped a little