Enchanting

Echoes · Post by **Echoes** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 12:32 am

I am confused on enchanting... Can you enchant any thing? Including weps and armor and rings? If you pay for it to be done, do you have to have a certain amount of int or willpower to do it? What can you do with enchanting things? Could you enchant a bow to do 100 frost dmg? That sort of thing? Any help on enchanting would be greatly appreciated

Dorian_ertymexx · Post by **Dorian_ertymexx** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:35 am

Heh, this is my arena...

If you pay for it, you don't need any skills or attributes at all (except perhaps social skills to get a lower price). If you want to do it yourself, you'll need HIGH skillvalues. See my thread "Enchantment wrath" on that one. :/

The power of the spells you can imbue into an object depend greatly on the object. With clothing and jewelry, the rule is that the more expensive the garment, the more enchantment it can hold.
With weapons and armor, it depends on which part of the armor, what weapon and what material.

Another important point is what soulgem and soul you use. This defines how much power there is for the spells to work on. In short, they are the batteries. Small gems have little power, and they can support very small and weak spells. They are better used for scrolls and such (enchanted papers).
The greater the soulgem, and the greater the soul trapped in it, the better. If you find Grand soulgems, the ones looking like omelets, keep them until you can find and defeat the best of souls, namely Golden Saints and Ascended Sleepers. With these souls trapped in grand gems, you can create Constant Effect objects. It is extremely costly, though, but well worth it if you can combine good effects. This is generally better spent on defense spells, fortify attributes, water breathing and such.
As for weapons, the "On Strike" effect is often better. Strong gems are still better, for more "batterypower" (more strikes before the battery needs to be recgarged with soulgems or rest).

Was that enough info, or did I miss something?

Echoes · Post by **Echoes** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 10:29 am

So you have to use your own soul gem after trapping a monster in it? How do you do that? I have a few Soul Trap scrolls but I don't understand how does it work? Do I cast it on a monster then kill him and then what? give him the soul gem? Throw it at him?

UncleScratchy · Post by **UncleScratchy** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 1:34 pm

Originally posted by Echoes
So you have to use your own soul gem after trapping a monster in it? How do you do that? I have a few Soul Trap scrolls but I don't understand how does it work? Do I cast it on a monster then kill him and then what? give him the soul gem? Throw it at him?

Exactly. Cast Soultrap on your victim and kill him. Its soul will be trapped in the appropriate sized soul gem. My suggestion is after you buy the Soultrap spell go to a Spellmaker and have them make a custom Ranged Soultrap spell for you. Now you can cast it from a distance and have time to switch to weapon (the targeted creature will attack you once you've hit them with the spell). There is a dagger called Souldrinker that does casts on strike Soultrap. Its good for the coup-de-grace. Bash a creature you want to soultrap with your fav weapon until almost dead then switch to Souldrinker for the last one or two thrusts. Or make your own Souldrinker weapon - just hire an enchanter to put a soultrap spell on a weapon. There is also the Sword of Umbra which is a two-handed sword with a cast on use Soultrap enchantment, but I find this almost useless as you don't want to be switching between the spell and the weapon in the heat of battle. Highlight for locations of Souldrinker and Umbra:

Souldrinker is found in Sargon - its the second quest you get from the Ald Ruhn fighters guild. Umbra is found on an Orc, aptly named Umbra, found in the mountains east of Suran. You'll have to give him an honorable death to get it (but killing him dishonorably works just as well).

Be careful not to waste high level soul gems on lesser creatures like scribs or rats. Try to carry an array of different sized gems so the soul will go into the appropriate gem. My suggestions: Only use grand soul gems (gold/yellow) for Golden Saints and Ascended Sleepers. Don't waste them on Dremora Lords, Daedroth's, Hungers, Winged Twilights, etcs. (They will be to expensive to sell and cannot be use for constant effect enchantments). Use greater soul gems (purple) for Ogrims and Storm and Frost Atronachs only. Use Common Soul gems (light blue) on Scamps, Fire Atronachs and Betty Netch. Use lesser soul gems (dark blue) on Bull Netch. Use petty soul gems (also light blue) on shalks, alits, etc.

Sir chris · Post by **Sir chris** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 2:28 pm

Adding a bit to that if you get Azura's star use it on either Vivec if you decide to kill him ummmm i think you can use it on Dagoth ur but im not sure and also try golden saint.

p.s. theres only 1 azura's star wich is reusable so use it wisely

Dorian_ertymexx · Post by **Dorian_ertymexx** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 6:09 pm

It doesn't work on Dagoth Ur, I tried several times.

It DOES work on Almalexia, however, if you have the Tribunal add-on.

slay night · Post by **slay night** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 3:30 pm

ok i am confused.....how exactly do you enchant a weapon your self, i looked for the enchantment wrath thread but couldn't find it, so if you could help me here it would be greatly appreciated.

UncleScratchy · Post by **UncleScratchy** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 4:35 pm

Originally posted by slay night
ok i am confused.....how exactly do you enchant a weapon your self, i looked for the enchantment wrath thread but couldn't find it, so if you could help me here it would be greatly appreciated.

Works similar to using armorer's hammers to repair your equipment or alchemy equipment to make potions. Just drag the charged soul gem over your char's picture as though you were going to try to equip it. Then a menu will come up asking if you want to us the gem to recharge and existing item or to enchant an item. Choose the enchanting menu. It will prompt you to choose an item in your inventory to enchant and then will give you a list of spells you've learnt to choose from. Try practicing with cheap rings and petty soul gems. Use the selection box at the bottom left of the screen to choose between cast on strike, cast on use, or constant effect (CE won't be an option if you don't have the right gem available). NOTE: Enchanted items are NOT worth any more than the original item - a 10 gp fancy ring will still be worth only 10 gps after its enchanted.

slay night · Post by **slay night** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 4:39 pm

duh, why didn't i think of that, thanks for the help.

slay night · Post by **slay night** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 6:38 pm

i need help on how to use soul trap? do i have to have soul gems on me, and what skill do i need up to make it succesfully cast more often

Kool69 · Post by **Kool69** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 6:45 pm

Put your mouse over a spell to see its school (Computer) or Press Y when its highlighted (Xbox) I think its mystism

UncleScratchy · Post by **UncleScratchy** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 8:38 pm

Originally posted by slay night
i need help on how to use soul trap? do i have to have soul gems on me, and what skill do i need up to make it succesfully cast more often

Yes you need the soul gems on you. Think about it.

The Soultrap spell belong to the school of Mysticism. Higher mysticism means better chance of successful cast. Or for 100% casting at low levels of the skill you can use an item enchanted with soultrap spell, like Umbra sword or Souldrinker dagger. Or have an enchanter make you one with a ring or amulet. Probably cheaper to have some mage guild types train you up to 50 points in mysticism.

slay night · Post by **slay night** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 3:51 pm

ok so how do i use soul trap? do i just cast it on the dude then kill him?

Locke Da'averan · Post by **Locke Da'averan** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 3:37 am

yes, you just cast the soultrap, on the person, you want to capture, and then kill him within 60 seconds, or the spell will wear off...

When i try to enchant smth, it says, i must have atleast one effect to add to the item, so how, can i get those effects??? and is there a way to scribe spells dows, so i can use it more than just once.. and how does spell-making work(when you pay someone to do it for you..??)

Kool69 · Post by **Kool69** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 5:44 am

You have to select a spell from your list of spells, set the damage, duration, and etc, then hit ok, and it will become an effect that you want to enchant the item with.

UncleScratchy · Post by **UncleScratchy** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 5:58 am

Originally posted by Locke Da'averan
yes, you just cast the soultrap, on the person, you want to capture, and then kill him within 60 seconds, or the spell will wear off...

When i try to enchant smth, it says, i must have atleast one effect to add to the item, so how, can i get those effects??? and is there a way to scribe spells dows, so i can use it more than just once.. and how does spell-making work(when you pay someone to do it for you..??)

Enchanting is confusing because there are so many variables involved. First is the type and quality of the item you want to enchant. Each item has a predetermined number of enchantment points available. A common ring has very few, an expensive ring has more, an extravagant ring even more and an exquisite ring the most points as rings go. A tower shield will have more points than a regular shield. An ebony shield will have more than a steel or bonemold shield. You can always take your loot to an enchanter and pull up the enchantment option to see how many points any given item has. You might want to take some notes but generally ebony and daedric items and exquisite items (rings, amulets, clothing) are the best for enchanting.

Second is the type of soulgem and the soul entrapped in it. This combination determines how many charges an item can have. Also only grand soulgems with golden saint or ascended sleeper souls can be used for making Constant Effect (CE) items. A grand soul gem with a scrib soul won't have many charges and is a waste of a good gem as a petty soul gem would have held the same soul. A scrib, nixhound, rat, etc will fit into any soul gem but a golden saint will only fit into a grand soul gem.

Third is the "Effects" you've learned. You learn these effects by buying spells (not scrolls) from a mage or priest. The spell determines the effect. So if you buy a Poisonbloom spell you have gained the effect for poison. It doesn't matter which Poison based spell you bought - even the lamest poison spell will give you the poison effect for enchanting pursposes (same thing applies when making custom spells). For example: the soultrap spell. You can buy a generic soultrap for 30 seconds type spell that requires you to touch the targe then go to a spellmaker and have a ranged soultrap spell made that lasts 45 or 60 seconds. If you've also learned one of the paralyze spells you can make a ranged spell (cast on a distant target) that has soultrap and paralyze combined into one spell. This same idea applies to enchanting items.

Fourth is the type of spell casting. There are two concepts. First is an item is either cast on use, cast on strike, or constant effect. Second the item is either cast on a target by touching or ranged attacks or cast on yourself. A weapon can be cast on strike which implies that it is also a cast on touch type enchantment. A weapon can also be made to be cast on use - i.e. heal yourself, harm a victim by touching him or harm a victim by casting a ranged spell. Normally weapons are made with cast on strike spells that do harm.

Fifth is the magnitude, duration and area of effect of a particular spell effect. Water walking has no magnitude variable - you either walk on water or don't. So it only has a duration variable and area of effect variable. A poison effect will have damage magnitude (min and max) variable , a duration variable and an area of effect variable. Carefully read how the variables work when you click on a particular spell effect so you understand what those variable actually do. These decisions all use up enchantment points. The effects and variables you choose cannot exceed the total enchantment points for the item you want to enchant. If it has a lot of enchantment points you may be able to add a second spell to the item.

The type of spell effect and how you choose the variables will determine how many charges are used on each casting. The number of charges can't exceed the number of charges provided by the soulgem. If a spell effect takes 5 charges to cast and the the soulgems provides 30 charges you can cast it 6 times before the item is drained and has to be recharged (by sleeping/resting or by using soulgems to recharge it).

To use an enchanter you simply walk up to one with your item, soulgem, bank of learned spell effects and gold and go through the choices the same way as if you were doing it yourself. The only difference is that a paid enchanter will always succeed and will charge you a fee. So first you select the left window which gives you a list of items in your inventory that could be enchanted. Select one and it shows up in the left window. Then you click the right window and it shows you all the charged soulgems you have available. Choose one and it appears in the right window. Then you choose the type of enchantment - cast on strike, cast on use or constant effect (CE only is an option if you have chose a grand soul gem with a golden saint/ascended sleeper trapped in it). Then you choose the spell effect, note how the variable work, and set the magnitude/duration/area of effect. If you've chosen a cast on use type enchantment you need to select whether it will be a "touch" or "target" type cast on use spell. Cast on strike is always a "touch" enchantment. You play around with these choices until you are happy with the amount of enchantment points it takes up, the amount of charges it uses and the amount of gold it will cost you. Final choice is to give your item a new unique name if you want to then pay for it.

Twoback23 · Post by **Twoback23** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 11:36 pm

OK, i have a trapped soul, the item i want enchanted, and im at the enchanter... but i dont have any magic affects or whatever... help!

UncleScratchy · Post by **UncleScratchy** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 7:40 am

Originally posted by Twoback23
OK, i have a trapped soul, the item i want enchanted, and im at the enchanter... but i dont have any magic affects or whatever... help!

What spells do you know? If you don't know any you won't have any "effects". Solution: Buy spells (scrolls don't count). You learn a spell by buying it from a priest or mage who sells them - its like buying training. Check the mage guilds, Temples and Imperial Cult areas in Imperial Legion forts. for people selling spells. Even the innkeeper in Seyda Neen had a few basic spells for sale.

Twoback23 · Post by **Twoback23** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 10:27 am

Ha thanks, after i played for a while after i posted that question i realized that i needed to buy a spell lol... im trying to enchant my daedric dai katana with some fire damage off of fire bite... but it costs sooooo much so idk if its worth it. I have 15k now, should i try it again?

Also, because you (unclescratchy) seem very wise, i have a stat lowering of my strength by 8 points, but there is no icon that shows anything like a disease. Whould it be a daedric shrine that i need to visit, or an ancestral tomb deal? or would both work?

Thanks again

Kool69 · Post by **Kool69** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 10:35 am

Just visit your handy-dandy alchemy friend in your local mages guild and look for a potion to restore strenght