Enchanting (Skill)
Enchanting is a powerful crafting skill in Skyrim that allows you to imbue weapons, armor, and jewelry with magical properties. By disenchanting existing enchanted items and learning new enchantments, you can create custom gear tailored to your specific needs and playstyle, sificantly boosting your character's power and versatility.
The Enchanting skill tree offers perks that enhance the potency and variety of your enchantments, as well as reduce the Magicka cost of casting them. Mastering Enchanting requires finding soul gems, filling them with the souls of defeated creatures, and then using them at an Arcane Enchanter to apply your desired magical effects to your equipment.
Key Aspects of Enchanting
- Soul Gems: These are containers that capture the souls of slain creatures. Different sizes of soul gems can hold different tiers of souls, affecting the strength of your enchantments.
- Disenchanting: By bringing an enchanted item to an Arcane Enchanter, you can learn its enchantment, destroying the item in the process.
- Learning Enchantments: Once an enchantment is learned, it is permanently added to your repertoire and can be applied to any compatible item.
- Arcane Enchanter: This is the crafting station where you combine soul gems and items to create enchanted gear.
Common Enchantments
Here are some of the most useful enchantments you can learn:
| Item Type | Enchantment | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Fire/Frost/Shock Damage | Adds elemental damage to attacks. |
| Weapon | Absorb Health/Magicka/Stamina | Drains target's resources on hit. |
| Armor (Chest) | Fortify Health/Magicka/Stamina | Increases maximum resource pools. |
| Armor (Chest) | Fortify Destruction/Restoration/etc. | Reduces Magicka cost of spells. |
| Jewelry (Ring/Necklace) | Fortify Archery/One-Handed/etc. | Increases damage with specific weapon types. |
| Jewelry (Ring/Necklace) | Resist Fire/Frost/Shock/Magic | Provides elemental or general magic resistance. |
| Armor (Hands) | Fortify Carry Weight | Increases the amount of items you can carry. |
Enchanting Perks
The Enchanting perk tree allows you to create stronger and more diverse enchantments:
- Enchanter: Increases the effectiveness of your enchantments.
- Insightful Enchanter: Skill enchantments are stronger.
- Corpus Enchanter: Health, Magicka, and Stamina enchantments are stronger.
- Extra Effect: Allows you to apply two enchantments to the same item.
By combining the right enchantments, you can create gear that makes you virtually unstoppable, whether you're a warrior, mage, or thief.