Skyrim Enchanting Guide

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There is a wide array of skills for players to experiment with and level up in a Skyrim playthrough. There are 18 total perk trees with 251 perks spread out between them. While it is technically possible for players to unlock all of them in a single playthrough, most players will focus on just a handful of perk trees and put their effort into leveling those throughout their game.

One very popular skill that players can focus on is Enchanting. Enchanting is considered one of the six Mage skills in Skyrim and one of the three crafting skills alongside Alchemy and Smithing. The skill lets players buff their equipment with a wide array of magical effects that help strengthen a player’s build or even just make items sell for some extra gold.

Bottom Line Up Front: Enchanting is a very powerful skill to take advantage of in Skyrim. It is a great way for players to make powerful armor, staves, and weapons, especially if players level it up to 100 and complete its perk tree.

Players who reach high levels can also use the perk to fill up other perk trees by making it Legendary repeatedly and redistributing the perk points to other trees. 

How to Enchant Items in Skyrim

Once players get the hang of enchanting in Skyrim, it is a pretty straightforward process, but there are some quirks that newcomers will have to figure out. However, the most important aspect to learn is what is all required to actually enchant an item. To do so, players will have to track down an arcane enchanter, learn some enchantments, and get a filled soul gem.

Arcane Enchanter Locations

College of Winterhold

Arcane Enchanters are magical tables covered in runes that can be used to channel the energy of captured souls from a soul gem to a piece of equipment.

The tables are located throughout the province of Skyrim, and all of them are accessible for the player to use as long as there are not any enemies nearby. This means that early on in a playthrough players will simply have to track an Arcane Enchanter down whenever they want to enchant something. All of the Arcane Enchanter locations are:

City Location(s)
Dawnstar
  • In the White Hall
Falkreath
  • Jarl’s Longhouse
Riften
  • Mistveil Keep
Riverwood
  • Delphine’s Secret Room in the Sleeping Giant Inn
Markarth
  • Understone Keep
Morthal
  • Falion’s House
Solitude
  • Blue Palace
  • Castle Dour
  • Erikur’s House
Whiterun
  • Dragonsreach
Windhelm
  • Palace of the Kings
  • Behind Niranye’s shop
Winterhold
  • College of Winterhold (2)
Wilderness/Dungeons
  • Anise’s Cabin
  • Ansilvund Burial Chambers
  • Brittleshin Pass
  • Broken Fange Cave
  • Cragwallow Slope
  • Cronvangr Cave
  • Falkreath Sanctuary
  • Darkwater Pass
  • Dead Crone Rock
  • Dead Men’s respite
  • Deepwood Redoubt
  • Crelas’ Cottage
  • Dustman’s Cairn
  • Fellglow Keep
  • Forelhost
  • Fort Amol
  • Fort Dawnguard
  • Fort Snowhawk prison (unless controlled by the Imperials)
  • Glenmoril Coven
  • Haemar’s Shame
  • Hag’s End
  • High Gate Ruins
  • Hob’s Fall Cave
  • Illinalta’s Deep
  • Japhet’s Folly
  • Kilkreath Ruins
  • Orphan Rock
  • Ragnvald Temple
  • Serpent’s Bluff Redoubt
  • Sinderion’s Field Laboratory
  • Sunderstone Gorge
  • Ustengrav Depths

Once players get a little bit more gold in their coffers, they can also purchase or build a home. Any player home except for Breezehome in Whiterun can have an Arcane Enchanter added either through purchasing or building it.

This can be a big help for enchanters who don’t want to travel as much to practice their craft. For players looking to build on in their Hearthfire home, it requires one each of the following: Sawn Log, Nails, Glass, Refined Moonstone, Iron Ingot, Grand Soul Gem filled with Grand Soul, and Gold Ingot.

Disenchanting

Of course, before players can enchant anything, they have to actually know some enchantments. Enchantments in Skyrim are learned by disenchanting magical items that aren’t unique such as Dragonbane or any of the Daedric artifacts.

To do so, players have to take the item that has the enchantment they wish to learn to an Arcane Enchanter, where the item will be listed under the disenchant menu. Disenchanting an item destroys it, but the enchantment is then learned and can be applied to as many weapons as the player wishes from then on.

Soul Gems

Soul Gems

Soul Gems are another integral part of the enchanting process, as a filled soul gem is required to imbue any piece of equipment with enchantment as well as recharging enchanted weapons as they get used.

There are six levels of souls that can be collected with higher rarity souls allowing players to make more powerful enchantments or recharge weapons more. However, the player also must have big enough Soul Gems to hold the souls they wish to collect and use.

Soul Size Creatures
Petty
  • Chicken
  • Cow
  • Deer
  • Dog
  • Draugr
  • Elk
  • Fox
  • Frostbite Spider
  • Goat
  • Horker
  • Mudcrab
  • Rabbit
  • Skeever
  • Skeleton
  • Slaughterfish
  • Wisp
  • Wolf
Lesser
  • Alpha Wolf
  • Ash Hopper
  • Bear
  • Chaurus
  • Draugr Overlord
  • Draugr Wight
  • Falmer
  • Falmer Skulker
  • Flame Atronach
  • Giant Frostbite Spider
  • Horse
  • Ice Wolf
  • Ice Wraith
  • Restless Draugr
  • Sabre Cat
  • Spectral Warhound
  • Snowy Sabre Cat
  • Spriggan
  • Troll
  • Venomfange Skeever
  • Werewolf
  • Wounded Frostbite Spider
Common
  • Ash Spawn
  • Cave Bear
  • Chaurus Reaper
  • Curalmil
  • Draugr Scourge
  • Draugr Scourge Lord
  • Falmer Gloomlurker
  • Falmer Nightprowler
  • Falmer Shadowmaster
  • Frost Atronach
  • Frost Troll
  • Hagraven
  • Hulking Draugr
  • Lurker
  • Riekling
  • Snow Bear
  • Seeker
  • Spriggan Matron
  • Udefrykte
Greater
  • Chaurus Hunter
  • Draugr Death Overlord
  • Draugr Deathlord
  • Giant
  • Storm Atronach
  • Wispmother
  • Spriggan Earth Mother
  • Burnt Spriggan
Grand
  • Ash Spawn Immolator
  • Corrupted Shade
  • Daedra
  • Dragon Priest
  • Draugr Death Overlord
  • Draugr Deathlord
  • Falmer Warmonger
  • Guardian Saerek
  • Guardian Torsten
  • Mammoth
  • Riekling Charger
Black
  • Any Character
  • Dremora
  • Vampire
  • Forsworn Briarheart
  • Soul Fissures

Players can purchase empty or filled Soul Gems either at the Winterhold College or at most general stores as well as randomly in loot. However, Black Soul Gems can only be obtained in loot or through transforming Grand and Greater Soul Gems in the Soul Cairn in the Dawnguard expansion.

Players can then fill empty Soul Gems by killing enemies affected by the Soul Trap spell or using an enchanted weapon that steals souls. However, players should be warned that higher Soul Gems can be filled with souls smaller than them if there are no other options in the player’s inventory.

Enchanting Equipment

Once players have located an Arcane Enchanter, have a piece of equipment to be enchanted, have learned an enchantment, and have a filled soul gem, the fun can actually begin.

Once players interact with an Arcane Enchanter, they will be shown a menu that prompts them to select an item, an enchantment, and a soul gem. From there, players simply have to select one in each category, and that is all there is to it.

Within the menu, players also have the option to rename the object in case they want to either label what it does or just give it a cool and unique name.

When enchanting weapons, players also get the choice to determine just how powerful the enchantment is. The more powerful it is, the fewer charges the weapon will have before it needs to be recharged while the size of the Soul Gem used will also increase the power of the enchantments as well.

Leveling Enchanting

Leveling Enchanting

Players looking to take full advantage of enchanting will definitely want to level it up as high as possible to make their enchantments even more powerful. Luckily, there are a few different ways that players gain experience for the skill, and most don’t take much effort.

Obviously, enchanting items awards players with experience every time, with using larger Soul Gems rewarding more experience than smaller ones. Disenchanting enchantments also gives players some experience, but this is not as reliable as a source because there are only so many enchantments players can learn.

Using Soul Gems to recharge magical items also rewards players Enchanting experience with the amount again depending on how large of a soul is used. Players can also get a boost to their Enchanting by completing the quest “Find Pantea’s Flute” at the Bards College in Solitude.

There are also six different skill books that will raise the player’s skill by one when read, which are: A Tragedy in Black, Catalogue of Armor Enchantments, Catalogue of Weapon Enchantments, Enchanter’s Primer, Twin Secrets, and Oghma Infinium.

Players can also purchase training from three different trainers across Skyrim but can only get five skill levels for player level. The trainers are:

Trainer Skill Level Location
Sergius Turrianus Expert (Up to level 75) College of Winterhold
Hamal Master (Up to level 90) Temple of Dibella in Markarth
Neloth Master (Up to level 90) Tel Mithryn

Enchanting Perk Tree

Enchanters will also want to familiarize themselves with the different perks held within the Enchanting perk tree, as there are some great perks within it for players to make their gear even more powerful.

Players should also know that even without investing in any perks in the tree, their enchantments will get 1% stronger for every 10 levels of their Enchanting skill. The following are all of the perks within the Enchanting perk tree.

Perk Requirements Description
Enchanter (Has 5 ranks) Enchanting level 0/20/40/60/80 New enchantments are stronger (+20% for each rank up to 100%)
Soul Squeezer Enchanting level 20

 

 

Enchanter Perk unlocked

Soul Gems provide extra Magicka for recharging
Fire Enchanter Enchanting level 30

 

 

Enchanter Perk unlocked

Fire enchantments on weapons and armor are 25% stronger
Soul Siphon Enchanting Level 40

 

 

Soul Squeezer Perk unlocked

Death blows to creatures, but not people, trap 5% of the victim’s soul, recharging the weapon
Frost Enchanter Enchanting level 40

 

 

Fire Enchanter Perk unlocked

Frost enchantments on weapons and armor are 25% stronger
Insightful Enchanter Enchanting level 50

 

 

Enchanter Perk unlocked

Skill enchantments on armor are 25% stronger
Storm Enchanter Enchanting level 50

 

 

Frost Enchanter Perk unlocked

Shock enchantments on weapons and armor are 25% stronger
Corpus Enchanter Enchanting level 70

 

 

Insightful Enchanter Perk unlocked

Health, Magicka, and Stamina enchantments on armor are 25% stronger
Extra Effect Enchanting level 100

 

 

Storm Enchanteror Corpus Enchanter Perk unlocked

Can put two enchantments on the same item

A player’s enchantments can also be made more powerful through perks in the perk trees for other skills as well, particularly other Mage skills. These are listed below.

Enchanting Perk

Perk Requirements Description
Augmented Flames (2 ranks) Destruction 30/60

 

 

Novice Destruction Perk unlocked

Fire enchantments do 25% more damage for each rank
Augmented Frost (2 ranks) Destruction 30/60

 

 

Novice Destruction Perk unlocked

Frost enchantments do 25% more damage for each rank
Augmented Shock (2 ranks) Destruction 30/60

 

 

Novice Destruction Perk unlocked

Shock enchantments do 25% more damage for each rank
Master of the Mind Illusion 90

 

 

Rage Perk unlocked

Quiet Casting perk unlocked

Illusion enchantments work on undead, daedra, and automatons
Necromage Restoration 70

 

 

Regeneration perk unlocked

All enchantments are 25% stronger and last 50% longer against undead

Armor Enchantments

Armor Enchantments

Armor enchantments are some of the most valuable available to players because they never have to be recharged once the enchantment is finished. A couple of armor enchantments are also particularly good for leveling as the size of the Soul Gem used for them does not determine the strength of the enchantment.

Armor enchantments can also be placed on jewelry, which makes them very good for having multiple rings or amulets in the player’s inventory that can be swapped out for different situations.

The following table outlines all of the armor enchantments in Skyrim as well as what types of equipment they can be put on.

Enchantment Head Chest Hands Feet Shield Amulet Ring
Fortify Alchemy X   X     X X
Fortify Alteration X X       X X
Fortify Alteration and Magicka Regen   X          
Fortify Archery X   X     X X
Fortify Barter           X  
Fortify Block     X   X X X
Fortify Carry Weight     X X   X X
Fortify Conjuration X X       X X
Fortify Conjuration and Magicka Regen   X          
Fortify Destruction X X       X X
Fortify Destruction and Magicka Regen   X          
Fortify Healing Rate   X       X X
Fortify Health   X     X X X
Fortify Heavy Armor   X X     X X
Fortify Illusion X X       X X
Fortify Illusion and Magicka Regen   X          
Fortify Light Armor   X X     X X
Fortify Lockpicking X   X     X X
Fortify Magicka X   X     X X
Fortify Magicka Regen X X         X
Fortify One-Handed     X X   X X
Fortify Pickpocket     X X   X X
Fortify Restoration X X       X X
Fortify Restoration and Magicka Regen   X          
Fortify Smithing   X X     X X
Fortify Sneak     X X   X X
Fortify Stamina   X   X   X X
Fortify Stamina Regen   X   X   X  
Fortify Two-Handed     X X   X X
Fortify Unarmed     X       X
Muffle (not affected by Soul size)       X      
Resist Disease   X     X X X
Resist Fire       X X X X
Resist Frost       X X X X
Resist Magic         X X X
Resist Poison   X     X X X
Resist Shock       X X X X
Water Breathing (not affected by Soul size) X         X X

Using a number of armor enchantments, players can bolster their characters by not only helping them resist types of damage to better survive tough encounters. They can also be combined across multiple pieces of equipment to strengthen the skills players want to focus on, such as one-handed weapons or to craft better items through alchemy, enchanting, or smithing.

Weapon Enchantments

Weapon Enchantments

Enchanting weapons is also one of the best ways for a player to increase their combat abilities. Players can purchase a variety of enchanted weapons throughout their playthrough, but enchanting them oneself allows players to better tailor their build for their preferences.

There are only 18 weapon enchantments that can be put on any weapon in Skyrim which are all detailed below.

Enchantment Effect
Absorb Health Steals an amount of Health from enemies per hit and gives it to the player. 
Absorb Magicka Steals an amount of Magicka from enemies per hit and gives it to the player.
Absorb Stamina Steals an amount of Stamina from enemies per hit and gives it to the player. 
Banish Sends summoned Daedra up to a certain level back to Oblivion.
Chaos Damage Gives each attack a 50% chance of dealing a certain amount of fire, frost, and shock damage simultaneously.
Fear Causes enemies up to a certain level to flee from combat for 30 seconds.
Fiery Soul Trap Soul traps the affected enemy if they die within a certain amount of time while also dealing extra fire damage. Enemies on fire also take extra damage.
Fire Damage Deals a certain amount of fire damage per hit. Enemies on fire also take extra damage.
Frost Damage Deals a certain amount of damage per hit to an enemy’s Health and Stamina.
Huntsman’s Prowess Deals extra points of damage per hit, but only to animals.
Magicka Damage Deals a certain amount of damage to enemy Magicka each hit.
Notched Pickaxe Raises smithing skill and deals a certain amount of shock damage to enemy Health and Magicka each hit.
Paralyze Targets that fail to resist the effect are paralyzed for 10 seconds. Increases to 15 seconds with the Stability Perk unlocked.
Shock Damage Deals a certain amount of fire damage to enemy Health and half as much to Magicka per hit.
Silent Moons Enchant While the moons are out, deals a certain amount of fire damage to the enemy per hit.
Soul Trap Soul traps the affected enemy if they die within a certain amount of time.
Stamina Damage Does a certain amount of Stamina damage each hit.
Turn Undead Causes undead up to a certain level to flee from the player.

Using an enchanted weapon takes quite a few Soul Gems as they have to be repeatedly recharged, but they frequently sway the tides of battles to the player’s favor. Soul trap enchantments are especially useful for enchanters to keep their supply of Soul Gems well stocked.

Certain weapon enchantments can also only be gained through specific weapons. These include Huntsman’s Prowess, Notched Pickaxe, and Silent Moons Enchant.. Huntsman’s Prowess can be found on the Poacher’s Axe at Halted Stream Camp.

Notched Pickaxe can only be found on the Notched Pickaxe located at the very top of the Throat of the World. Silent Moons Enchant only appears only on Lunar Weapons found at the Silent Moons Camp to the northwest of Whiterun.

Staff Enchantments

Staff Enchantments

Enchanting staves is one of the more complicated enchanting processes in Skyrim and was only added with the Dragonborn expansion. Rather than using a typical Arcane Enchanter, staves require a Staff Enchanter. Players can find Staff Enchanters in Tel Mithryn after completing the quest “Reluctant Steward” as well as in the Creation Club player houses Myrwatch and Bloodchill Cavern.

The process for creating staves is also unique in that it requires players to acquire specific types of Unenchanted Staves associated with the school of magic the spell is associated with as well as using Heart Stones rather than Soul Gems.

Heart Stones are only obtainable in Solstheim and are said to be pieces of the Red Mountain that broke off when it erupted. They are obtained by mining Heart Stone veins that are scattered across Solstheim that recharge some time after being depleted.

Heart Stones veins can be found in the following locations.

Location Number of veins
Brodir Grove 3
Fort Frostmoth 2
Tel Mithryn 3
Broken Tusk Mine 2
Hrodulf’s House 2
White Ridge Barrow 2
Fort Frostmoth 2
Coldcinder Cave 3
Ashfallow Citadel 2
Old Attius Farm 1
Wreck of the Strident Squall 1
Highpoint Tower 1
Kolbjorn Barrow 1

Players looking to create their own staves should also know that doing so will quickly increase their Enchanting skill. However, the power of created staves is not impacted by potions that fortify enchanting. All of the staves that can be created in Skyrim are listed below.

Staff of Dread Zombies

Staff School of Magic Spell Hearts Stones
Staff of Magelight Alteration Magelight 2
Staff of Paralysis Alteration Paralysis 4
Staff of Banishing Conjuration Banish Daedra 3
Staff of Daedric Command Conjuration Command Daedra 4
Staff of Dread Zombies Conjuration Dread Zombie 4
Staff of Explusion Conjuration Expel Daedra 4
Staff of Reanimation Conjuration Reanimate Corpse 2
Staff of Revenants Conjuration Revenant 3
Staff of Soul Trapping Conjuration Soul Trap 2
Staff of Zombies Conjuration Raise Zombie 1
Staff of the Familiar Conjuration Conjure Familiar 1
Staff of the Flame Atronach Conjuration Conjure Flame Atronach 2
Staff of the Frost Atronach Conjuration Conjure Frost Atronach 3
Staff of the Storm Atronach Conjuration Conjure Storm Atronach 4
Staff of Chain Lightning Destruction Chain Lightning 3
Staff of Fireballs Destruction Fireball 3
Staff of Firebolts Destruction Firebolt 2
Staff of Flames Destruction Flames 1
Staff of Frostbite Destruction Frostbite 1
Staff of Ice Spikes Destruction Ice Spike 2
Staff of Ice Storms Destruction Ice Storm 3
Staff of Icy Spear Destruction Icy Spear 4
Staff of Incineration Destruction Incinerate 4
Staff of Lightning Bolts Destruction Lightning Bolt 2
Staff of Sparks Destruction Sparks 1
Staff of Thunderbolts Destruction Thunderbolt 4
Staff of the Flame Wall Destruction Wall of Flames 4
Staff of the Frost Wall Destruction Wall of Frost 4
Staff of the Storm Wall Destruction Wall of Storms 4
Staff of Calm Illusion Calm 2
Staff of Courage Illusion Courage 1
Staff of Fear Illusion Fear 2
Staff of Frenzy Illusion Frenzy 3
Staff of Fury Illusion Fury 2
Staff of Inspiration Illusion Rally 3
Staff of Vanquishment Illusion Rout 4
Grand Staff of Repulsion Restoration Repel Undead 4
Grand Staff of Turning Restoration Turn Greater Undead 4
Minor Staff of Turning Restoration Turn Lesser Undead 2
Staff of Mending Restoration Heal Other 3
Staff of Repulsion Restoration Repel Lesser Undead 3
Staff of Turning Restoration Turn Undead 3
Staff of the Healing Hand Restoration Healing Hands 2

Tips for Playing an Enchanter

Skyrim Enchanting Azura's Star

Using enchanting in Skyrim is very powerful, but it also can get to be pretty expensive to keep up with, especially for players who want to utilize the other forms of crafting as well. For that, there are a few tips that every player who wants to enchant should know before they get too far into their playthrough.

Always Enchant Before Selling

One of the best ways to raise the enchanting skill, as well as making some good money in the process is to always enchant anything that can be before it gets sold.

Enchanting an item always raises its value, which will more than cover the cost of the Soul Gems needed to perform the enchantment. Certain enchantments also go for more money so players will want to use the right ones when just enchanting items to sell them.

Weapons should be enchanted with either Banish or Paralyze, chest armor with Fortify Destruction, head armor with Fortify Archery, hands and feet armor with Fortify Sneak, shields with Resist Magic or Fortify Block, and Jewelry with Waterbreathing at low levels and Fortify Sneak at high levels.

Azura’s Star and The Black Star

Players using enchanting should also make sure they track down the Deadric quest “The Black Star.” Upon completing the quest, players are rewarded with either Azura’s Star or The Black Star, two versions of the same artifact. The artifact is effectively an infinite Soul Gem that does not disappear when it is used.

The only difference between the two items is that The Black Star functions similarly to Black Soul Gem while Azura’s Star is more akin to a Grand Soul Gem. This does make The Black Star a bit more valuable as it can hold the souls of human enemies as well, but either one is invaluable to players who enchant as it can save them tons of gold on gems over time.

Low-Cost Soul Trap Enchantments

Another great tool for enchanters to use is the Soul Trap weapon enchantment. Using the enchantment on primary weapons will allow players to keep all of their Souls Gems stocked full with souls for enchantments without having to constantly switch to the Soul Trap spell.

Using Soul Trap on a weapon also helps ensure that the player will always trap an enemy’s soul as the time window of the Soul Trap doesn’t matter when the enemy is killed with the weapon.

This is a particularly useful tip for players who are playing a stealth character that uses a bow and arrow or dagger. Sneak attacks with bows and daggers usually kill enemies with a single hit, meaning that the Soul Trap enchantment can be weakened to only give the player a one-second window to kill the enemy, giving them a ton more charges to use.

Of course, players who primarily fight with spells will instead want to equip either the Soul Trap spell or a Staff of Soul Trapping.

Use Enchanting to Fill Other Perk Trees

When a player’s skill gets to 100 in Skyrim they have the option of making the skill Legendary. This reduces the skill down to level 15 and refunds the player all of the skill points in its tree to reassign.

This allows players to continuously level up with the skills they like to use, and enchanting is a perfect candidate for this as making it Legendary will not negatively impact the player in combat.

FAQs

Question: What is the Fastest Way to Level Up Enchanting in Skyrim?

Answer: The easiest way to level up enchanting is to use the Transmutation spell to turn iron into gold and then smith that gold into rings to then enchant and sell.
This will net a cozy profit while also quickly leveling the player’s enchanting, smithing, and speech skills. To make it even faster, players can do so in Tel Mithryn to have merchants nearby to sell the rings to as well as train enchanting and purchase filled soul gems.

Question: Can You Add Second Enchantments to Magic Weapons?

Answer: When players reach an enchanting level of 100, they can unlock the Extra Effect perk, which allows them to put two enchantments on each piece of gear.
Unfortunately, this can only be done on freshly enchanted equipment. Players are unable to add a second enchantment onto a magic item that already has an enchantment attached to it.

Question: What Alchemy Ingredients Fortify Enchanting?

Answer: Players looking to make fortify enchanting potions will want to track down the following ingredients.
• Ancestor Moth Wing
• Blue Butterfly Wing
• Chaurus Hunter Antannae
• Dreugh Wax
• Hagraven Claw
• Snowberries
• Spawn Ash
• Spriggan Sap
• Stoneflower Petals

Skyrim Enchanting Guide: Conclusion

Enchanting is an incredibly valuable crafting skill for players at every level of their playthrough. Not only can it make the player more powerful in combat, but it can also help solidify one’s build while also making a lot of extra gold on the side.

All of the options in Skyrim are pretty great, and enchanting is one that can benefit every type of character out there. Players who want to take full advantage of it, however, will want to familiarize themselves with their options as well as how it will impact their playthrough.

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