Enchanting (Skyrim)

The more powerful the enchanter, the stronger the magic he can bind to his weapons and armor. "Don't suppose you'd enchant my sword? Dull old blade can barely cut butter."

- Guard

Enchanting is a skill in and is one of the six skills that falls under The Mage play-style.

Description
Enchanting is the art of using filled Soul Gems to place permanent and unchangeable magical effects on items. It is one of three crafting skills in Skyrim falling under The Mage with parallels to Alchemy for The Thief and Smithing for The Warrior. As such it is affected by The Mage Stone and as with all skills is affected by The Lover Stone.

Mechanics
The act of enchanting requires an item with no existing enchantments (as of the Dawnguard add-on, the Amulet of the Gargoyle can be enchanted even though it has a previous one. However this is likely a bug and may be fixed in later patches), a Soul Gem, knowledge of an enchantment, and the use of an Arcane Enchanter which can be found in all major cities, typically in the palace or longhouse, in the court wizard's quarters. They are also found in many locations that feature humanoid, magic using enemies such as necromancers and mages. All player-owned houses (except Breezehome in Whiterun) can be equipped with an Arcane Enchanter. There is even one in Sinderion's Field Laboratory in Blackreach.

Staff Enchanting
With the DLC Dragonborn you can buy (unenchanted staves) and Enchant Staves with a Staff Enchanter. There is only one Staff Enchanter in the world of Skyrim and it's locked in a room, only accessible after completion the quest Reluctant Steward for master Neloth (Dragonborn). It can be found in Tel Mithryn on the island of Solstheim (southeast of the island). Enchanting Staves increases your Enchanting Skill, Perks N/A.

Racial Bonuses
Altmer, Imperial, and Orc characters gain a + 5 boost to Enchanting at the start of the game.

Enchantment Types
Enchantments fall into two categories based on type of item:
 * Weapons have charged enchantments that cast a spell on the weapon's target when it strikes. Larger soul gems result in more charges on the enchantment allowing for more strikes before the charge is depleted. Soul Gems can be used to restore depleted charge as well as the perk Soul Siphon.
 * Armor and other apparel items cast a constant effect on the wearer as long as the item is worn. Larger soul gems create greater magnitude effects. Muffle and Waterbreathing, being all or nothing effects, are not dependent on the size of soul gem used, a petty soul will do as well as a grand.

Obtaining Enchantments
The Dragonborn initially has no knowledge of enchantments. To learn an enchantment a magic item with the enchantment that one wants to learn must be disenchanted at an Arcane Enchanter. The strength of the enchantment on the item does not matter as all enchantments of the same type will yield the same learned enchantment with the exception of those marked with an * below. Disenchanting destroys the item but grants permanent knowledge of the base enchantment allowing its use when enchanting. Some items cannot be disenchanted to learn their effects such as quest items, daedric artifacts, Amulets of the Nine Divines, and many, but not all, items with unique names. Staves, also, cannot be disenchanted.

Leveling
The following actions raise the Enchanting skill:
 * Disenchanting items yields enchanting experience as well as the ability to use that enchantment on other items but destroys the enchanted item in the process. Skill gain increases with the value of the item. Each enchantment may only be learned once.
 * Enchanting items that do not currently possess an enchantment. Same skill gain regardless of item and size of soul (possibly not true post 1.6).
 * Using a Soul Gem to recharge weapons (Soul Siphon does not count but casting it improves enchanting like any other low level spell). Skill gains from recharging weapons are based on size of soul used, regardless of actual charge gained. The easiest way to do this is to put Soul Trap on a weapon and kill creatures with that weapon. Use the soul gems to recharge said weapon. (Only Black Soul Gems or the Black Star can hold the souls of sentient humanoid beings.)
 * One can buy many cheap soul gems with souls already in them, cast with a staff at a wall or toward the sky draining it quickly, and then recharge on the spot with the purchased gems. Having Azura's Star (Skyrim) or The Black Star can save a lot of gold during this process.

Books
Books that raise the Enchanting skill:
 * A Tragedy in Black
 * Catalogue of Weapon Enchantments
 * Complete Catalogue of Enchantments for Armor
 * Enchanter's Primer
 * Twin Secrets
 * Oghma Infinium

Quests

 * Discerning the Transmundane can award the player with five levels of every Mage governed skill, including enchanting.
 * Find Pantea's Flute for Pantea Ateia in the Bards College in Solitude. This also increases Alteration, Illusion, Conjuration, Destruction, and Restoration.

Perks
The following are the perks that become available to select as the skill is leveled up.



Weapon Enchantments
There are 18 weapon enchantments available. The enchantments dullen out after excessive use, and to keep the Enchantment in effect, it has to be "refilled" by using Soul Gems to increase the uses. The higher quality of a soul gem used, the more uses that can be given.
 * Absorb Health
 * Absorb Magicka*
 * Absorb Stamina*
 * Banish
 * Chaos Damage (Only available after downloading the Dragonborn add-on)
 * Fear
 * Fiery Soul Trap
 * Fire Damage
 * Frost Damage
 * Huntsman's Prowess
 * Magicka Damage
 * Notched Pickaxe
 * Paralyze
 * Shock Damage
 * Silent Moons Enchant
 * Soul Trap
 * Stamina Damage
 * Turn Undead

Apparel Enchantments
Table shows only enchantment and item combinations that can be created at an Arcane Enchanter. Only certian items can be enchanted with certian enchantments, unlike Weapon Enchantments. The strength of the Enchantment is dependent on the quality of Soul Gem used. * means that an Enchantment's magnitude is not affected by the Soul Gem used; a Petty Soul Gem will provide the same enchanement strength and value as a Grand.

Trivia

 * Some enchantment and item combinations that cannot be created at the Arcane Enchanter can be found as loot.
 * A space or special character (e.g. !@#$%^&*) in front of the item's name will sort it at the top of the appropriate inventory list. Likewise, starting an item with lower case letters puts it at the bottom of the list.
 * Once an enchantment is selected for an item, it will remain in place until the player exits the enchanter or creates the item.
 * For single enchantments that have a pair of effects, e.g. Fiery Soul Trap or Fortify and Magicka Regeneration, the second effect is constant and the number of charges, if applicable, is based on the first effect.
 * Enchantments are affected by perks from their relevant magic school e.g. Shock Damage is affected by Enhanced Shock including enchantments with damage effects that are secondary. Drain and damage effects are all destruction school effects.
 * Having a higher enchantment level slightly raises the player's defense stats against enchanted weaponry. This can be anywhere from 1%-15% and is an invisible stat.
 * If the player has a high enchanting skill, guards may ask them to enchant their weapon.
 * Even with the "Extra effect" perk, an enchantment cannot be added to an already enchanted item. Any enchantments must be placed the first time an item is enchanted.
 * To recharge an enchanted weapon, select the weapon in the items menu and press RB/R2 and select a soul gem. The larger the soul gem, the more a weapon is recharged. The soul gem will be destroyed.
 * Vampires, with the necromage perk from restoration, and the extra effect perk can get 50% spell cost reduction on a single piece of clothing by enchanting it with the "fortify (School)" and "fortify (School) and magicka regen"

Method for Maximum Strength Potions and Enchantments

 * Prerequisites: Level 100 in Alchemy and Enchanting, five points in Alchemist, one point in Benefactor, five points in Enchanter, one point in Insightful Enchanter, three pieces each head and hand apparel with no enchantments, three rings with no enchantments, three amulets with no enchantments, and twelve grand souls.
 * Craft a set of Fortify Alchemy gear, including a Falmer Helmet at 25% boost.
 * Craft several potions of Fortify Enchanting at 30% boost.
 * Craft a new set of Fortify Alchemy gear at 28% boost with the aid of the potions.
 * Craft several potions of Fortify Enchanting at 32% boost using the new set of gear.
 * Craft a final set of Fortify Alchemy gear at 29% boost with the aid of the potions.
 * Vampires that have the restoration perk necromage, can reach up to 33% alchemy gear boost and 46% enchanting potion boost. (Using Falmer Helmets worn over circlets.)

The final set of gear will not improve the results of a Fortify Enchanting potion but will improve the results for other potions. Additional potions can be brewed to improve enchantments of all types. One common application is to enchant a set of Fortify Smithing gear and combine it with a maximum strength Fortify Smithing potion to improve weapons and armor.

Bugs

 * The sale value of items the player enchants drops each time the player enchants a further item with the same enchant. This makes mass enchanting for profit gradually less profitable. This bug can be "fixed" using the following method: Save your game when you first learn the enchant you intend to use for profit (usually a high cost weapon enchant such as banish) but before enchanting any items with it. It helps to save next to an enchanting table with materials for at least one enchant. Keep this save! When mass enchanting in future, when you have finished your enchanting batch, save, then load your pre-prepared save from above, enchant once *only* with the enchant being used for profit and then reload your more recent "mass-enchant" save. The items will have returned to their correct, full value.
 * The Amulet of the Gargoyle in the Dawnguard DLC can be enchanted regardless of its initial enchantment. The effects put on the Amulet will not appear when viewing it in the inventory. However the effects will appear in the "Active Effects" menu. The bonus to "Summon Gargoyle" will still work in Vampire Lord form, but the custom enchantments won't.
 * Enchanting any equipped items will make all of the player's weapons appear enchanted, even if they aren't (confirmed Xbox 360).
 * Soul Siphon does not appear to work with certain Daedric weapons (ex., Dawnbreaker).
 * Enchanting bonuses from perks may not always function properly e.g. only allowing enchantments of 22% in alchemy and/or blacksmithing as opposed to 25%
 * PS3 solution was to delete Skyrim Game Data and Game Update and reinstall again from fresh.
 * Several enchantments exist that cannot be placed on anything or are duplicates of existing enchantments. These have been marked above with an *. The Shadowsight, Shadowstrength, Shadowstrike, and Shadowthrive enchantments are learned from disenchanting Linwe's Armor, Linwe's Boots, Linwe's Gloves, and Linwe's Hood. The Blessing of Mara is obtained by disenchanting The Bond of Matrimony. Known items that cause duplicate enchantments are the Drainheart weapons and the Shield of Solitude.
 * Apparel with two identical enchantments, will correctly have these two enchantments, but the figures shown in active list may be incorrect. Weapons with two identical enchantments on the other hand will only have one of the two effects.
 * With the Extra Effect perk both a weapon and an armor enchantment can be selected before selecting an item to enchant. If a weapon is chosen as the item and enchanted it will appear as an enchantment. However, the 'armor' enchant on the weapon will have no effect and is not listed on the Active Effects section of the Magic Menu.
 * The value of enchanted items goes down as Enchanting skill increases; however, sometimes after restarting the game, it may register a higher value; also if one has a dead thrall, store these items in them, resurrect, kill and then loot the items, they may be of higher value, (only worked on apparel).
 * Weapon charge count may be bugged after exiting and relaunching Skyrim and loading a save.
 * Two items of the same type with the same enchantment but different names will eventually both have one of the two names. With the Extra Effect perk, switching the order of enchantments can prevent this.
 * Movement glitches can occur when exiting an enchanting table. On the PC they appear to be related to using the mouse wheel to scroll through lists when the game incorrectly adjusts the camera perspective at the same time. Reloading a previous save will fix this issue but is not always necessary as the glitch is often temporary. If the camera is being controlled by the mouse wheel while in the menu, switch to third person view when exiting the table menu. Then the camera controls normally, no reload needed.
 * If a companion uses a Soul Trap enchanted weapon with (x) Soul Gems in their inventory to capture a (x) soul and the player then uses fast travel every (x) Soul Gems in the companion's inventory will be filled, x = petty, etc.
 * The destruction perks that improve damage for a specific magic damage type exhibit odd stacking behavior when applying these damage types to weapons as enchantments. The bonus can apply to affects it should not apply to based on the damage specific description as well as stack with other bonuses from the other damage perks.
 * Fortify school enchantments do not interact with weapon enchantments in the same way across all platforms. On the PC weapons appear to always drain charges when used. On the PS3 and 360, 100% or more fortification in any school will reduce the charge cost of a weapon enchantment to zero. It is unknown which situation is a bug and which is the intended mechanic.
 * Fortify Restoration potions improve the results of Alchemy. This can be exploited to create stronger sets of Fortify Alchemy and/or Smithing equipment by creating stronger Fortify Enchanting potions.Additionally weapons can be made that aren't linked to an improve twice as much perk such as a Falmer Sword have the same end result damage a Dwarven Sword, (which is the Falmer Swords equivalent damage wise), would have with four 29% Fortify Smithing set and a 130% potion using this restoration method effectively making it as if it had a perk. This could also make Daedric Artifacts (Skyrim) with no perk linked to them such as Mace of Molag Bal (Skyrim) (higher Base Damage than a Daedric Mace (Skyrim)).
 * Fortify restoration potions can be stacked using two sets of increased alchemy armors one at 29 pct and one at 34 percent to create two different strength potions. Use the two potions alternating in a set of three (seems to reset/drop after three potions). (XBoX360)
 * Fortify Restoration potions improve the strength of enchantments when they are equipped. If a potion is taken immediately before equipping armor the effects will be permanently improved until the equipment is taken off again. This can also be exploited to create stronger Fortify Smiting and/or Alchemy effects.
 * Fortify Conjuration potions or some perks in this school may have an effect on Banish, making it a prolonged effect. If one has absorb health/stamina/magicka put together with Banish, these effects may also become prolonged.
 * Sometimes dropping items enchanted by the player will cause them to lose the enchantment(s) permanently, as if they were soul gems being dropped.
 * Falmer Helmets and circlets can be worn at the same time. This can be exploited to create stronger sets of Fortify Alchemy equipment, which then allows the creation of stronger Fortify Enchantment potions.
 * Characters with Vampirism and the Restoration perk Necromage will see improved strength of enchantments when they are equipped—the fortify alchemy gear can be maxed at 33%, the enchanting potion at 46%, and smithing potion at 184% (in conjunction with the Falmer Helmet + Circlet exploit.) With Necromage, the bonuses from the 33% gear will show up as 41% in the active effects.
 * Fortify One-Handed has no effect on daggers. Fortify One-handed on daggers does work with the PS3 version.
 * Sometimes, enchanting with the "Fortify Magicka" enchantment will cause the item to give the player infinite magicka when their magicka bar is empty.
 * Sometimes when enchanting an improved weapon, the improvement disappears in the enchanting menu, but will be there when it is crafted or enchanting is exited.
 * Combination Fortify X + Magica Regeneration enchants (X=school of magic) do not improve the magicka regeneration rate.