The Enchanting System in Skyrim
Enchanting in Skyrim allows you to imbue weapons, armor, and jewelry with magical properties, sificantly boosting your character's combat effectiveness and utility. By learning enchantments and applying them to items using soul gems, you can create custom gear that perfectly suits your playstyle. Mastering Enchanting is key to becoming a truly powerful Dragonborn.
To begin enchanting, you will need an Arcane Enchanter, typically found in cities or within your own player homes. You will also need Soul Gems, which come in various sizes (Petty, Lesser, Common, Greater, and Grand), filled with the souls of slain creatures. The size of the soul gem determines the strength of the enchantment you can apply.
Learning Enchantments:
There are two primary ways to learn new enchantments:
- Disenchanting Magic Items: Find a magic item with an enchantment you wish to learn. Then, go to an Arcane Enchanter and choose to disenchant the item. This will destroy the item but permanently add its enchantment to your knowledge. You will only learn one enchantment per item, even if it has multiple.
- Finding Enchanted Items: Many weapons, armor pieces, and jewelry found throughout Skyrim come pre-enchanted. While you can use these items as they are, their true value lies in their potential for disenchanting.
Enchanting Process:
Once you have learned an enchantment and acquired a filled Soul Gem, you can proceed to the Arcane Enchanter:
- Select an unenchanted item (weapon, armor, or jewelry) to enchant.
- Choose the enchantment you wish to apply from your learned list.
- Select the filled Soul Gem you wish to use. The strength of the enchantment will be determined by the size of the soul gem and your Enchanting skill level.
- Confirm the enchantment. The item will be imbued with the chosen magic.
Key Perks in the Enchanting Tree:
- Enchanter: Increases the strength of your enchantments.
- Insightful Enchanter: Skill enchantments (like Fortify Destruction) are stronger.
- Corpus Enchanter: Health, Magicka, and Stamina enchantments are stronger.
- Elemental Enchanter: Fire, Frost, and Shock enchantments are stronger.
- Extra Effect: Allows you to put two enchantments on the same item. This is a game-changing perk.
- Soul Squeezer: Filled Soul Gems have a 25% chance to grant an extra soul.
- Soul Syphon: When you learn an enchantment, you learn more about the soul gem.
- Poisoner: Poisons applied to weapons last for two additional hits.
Tips for Effective Enchanting:
- Prioritize Extra Effect: This perk is arguably the most powerful in the entire tree, allowing for incredibly potent gear.
- Use Grand Soul Gems: For the strongest enchantments, always use Grand Soul Gems filled with powerful souls (like Giants or Mammoths).
- Craft and Disenchant: To level Enchanting quickly, craft simple items like Iron Daggers and then disenchant them to learn new enchantments.
- Fortify Enchanting Gear: Create or find gear that boosts your Enchanting skill to make your enchantments even stronger.
- Alchemy Synergy: Combine Enchanting with Alchemy to create powerful Fortify Enchanting potions, which can then be used to create even more powerful enchanted gear.
With dedication and the right perks, you can create legendary equipment that will make you a force to be reckoned with in Skyrim.