Enchanting
From the OblivioWiki – your guide to everything Oblivion
Enchanting is the process of adding magical properties to a non-magical weapon or other item. An item can only be enchanted once. However, multiple effects can be placed on it at that time, if the item enchanted is a charge based item (see below).
Enchanting an item requires magical knowledge of the type of enhancement to be added (i.e. you must know the particular spell and be able to cast it in order to place that effect on an item), as well as a Soul Gem containing a trapped soul. The greater the soul trapped, the more powerful an enchantment can be made.
You may also purchase or steal soul gems from Mages Guild halls and the Arcane University itself. The Grand Soul Gems and Greater Soul Gems are primarily found in locked cases. Mages Guild members may simply pick up these loose soul gems for free.
Enchantments can be performed at an Altar of Enchanting in the Arcane University or the Archmage's Quarters. Alternately, if you have purchased the Frostcrag Spire add-on, you may use your own personal Altar of Enchanting there.
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[edit] Soul Gems
- For the main article, see: Soul Gem.
Soul Gems are a very important part of the enchantment process. They are magic stones that are able to hold the captured souls of your enemies. They come in different sizes and power and are used to transfer magicka to items being enchanted (or recharged, in most cases). There are five different types of gem, each more powerful than the last, found throughout the game. They are as follows:
Soul Gem – Charge
- Petty – 150
- Lesser – 300
- Common – 800
- Greater – 1200
- Grand – 1600
Soul Gems are single-use items. Once used to recharge or enchant an item, they disappear. Azura's Star is a special Grand Soul Gem that is reusable.
[edit] Black Soul Gem
- See main entry Black Soul Gem for more information on Soul Gems, their use, and their acquisition.
It is possible through quests centered around the Mage Guild to acquire "Black Soul Gems". These grand-quality soul gems can be used to trap human souls; all other Grand Soul Gems, including Azura's Star, can only capture souls from creatures, not from humans.
The easiest way to create black soul gems without doing the Mages Guild quest is to head southeast out of Cheydinhal into the mountains, to Dark Fissure. Right outside is a Necromancer Altar that may be used to create black soul gems, when a purple beam falls on it (when this happens depends on the altar), and cast a soul trap spell on the altar. This will result in the altar's inventory changing from a grand soul gem to a black soul gem.
[edit] Sigil Stones
- See main entry Sigil Stone for more information on Sigil Stones, their use, and their acquisition.
Sigil Stones are the reward you get for closing an oblivion gate, whether part of a quest or simply a random gate. The glowing sphere you activate to close a gate is in fact a Sigil Stone, and is added to your inventory automatically. They are like soul gems in that they can be used to enchant weapons and armor, but instead each Sigil Stone comes with two fixed enchantments, one for a weapon and one for a piece of armor. These enchantments are picked from a random list of stones, and vary in strength depending upon your level when receiving the stone. You can identify which enchantments a stone has in the same way you identify the enchantments on a weapon or armor, the info box displayed for your inventory items.
There are two benefits to using Sigil Stones. First, their enchantments tend to be much stronger than if you had used a regular soul gem to create the effect, although this is of course dependant upon your level. Second, you don't need an Altar of Enchanting to use a Sigil Stone, so they can be used anywhere in the world even right after you obtain one. The obvious downsides to a sigil stone are their rarity compared to soul gems, as you only get one from each gate and that the enchantments a particular stone provides is fixed. Happily, the enchantment is fixed only when the sigil stone is harvested from the gate. A character can save the game before picking up the stone from its holding field. The character can keep the stone, or reload as many times as he wants each time generating a different stone. Other than level or quantity, the only thing preventing the discovery of the sigil stone of choice is impatience.
Using a Sigil Stone requires you to simply activate the stone you wish to use, and then select a non-enchanted weapon or armor upon which to apply its magical effect. Once you use the stone, it is gone forever.
[edit] Charge-based enchantments
Weapons that are enchanted have a number of charges determined by the Soul Gem used during the enchanting. Each time the weapon hits a target, it uses a certain number of charges (as determined by the magnitude of the effect produced). Typically, weapons are enchanted with destruction magic to increase its effectiveness. It is also possible to combine different effect types, such as Soul Trap and fire damage on strike. Some greater magical artifacts have 3000 charges, which exceeds even the strength of a Grand Soul Gem.
Staffs are also charge-based enchantments, but there is no known way for the player to enchant one (other than in the quest A Mage's Staff).
Recharging a weapon costs 1
per charge (this can get very costly), or through the use of a Soul Gem. It is much cheaper to simply purchase soul gems from a Mage Guild Vendor and recharge your items yourself.
Weapons may also be recharged with a Varla Stone. Varla Stones are one-use items that recharge ALL magical items in your inventory.
It should be noted that if you have Azura's Star in your possession you can use the star to recharge your own weapons easily, as it is a reusable Soul Gem.
Using Azura's Star in conjunction with a Soul Trap spell and a summon spell can save a player thousands in recharge costs.
[edit] Constant Effect enchantments
Armor, Shields, Clothing, Rings and Amulets can be enchanted with constant effects. These enchantments are applied to the player whenever the item is equipped. The magnitude of the constant effect vary depending on the Soul Gem used to enchant it, and is typically much lower than that of a charge-based enchantment. For example, with a grand soul gem, the most powerful light enchantment you can place upon it is up to 40 feet, where as you can get spells that illuminate up to 100 feet and beyond. Certain constant effects that do not have a capacity for variation (such as Night-Eye, Water Breathing, and Water Walking) may be placed on an item to full effect using only a petty soul. Player-enchanted items can contain only one constant effect enchantment.
