How to Enchant Weapons and Armor in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Enchanting weapons and armor in Elder Scrolls V Skyrim can be very valuable. However, enchanting can be relatively difficult when you first start, mainly because you have no enchantments in the beginning. You can become quite powerful in Skyrim if you enchant weapons with fire, frost, lightning etc.

In order to enchant in Elder Scrolls Skyrim, you need to find an Arcane Enchanter table. In order to use new enchantments, you need to destroy a weapon/armor that already has an enchantment. Yes, this is the only way, but it can be beneficial in the long run. Once you learn an enchantment such as fire, you can add that enchantment to any future weapons. Think carefully before destroying a weapon that has an enchantment, you may want to wait and use it a while before destroying it to learn the enchantment.

Enchanting weapons & armor in Elder Scrolls Skyrim

What you need to enchant

• An enchantment (learned by destroying an item that has one, such as fire or lightning)
• A non-enchanted item (such as a sword or armor etc.)
• A filled Soul Gem
• An Arcane Enchanter

Soul Gems for enchanting in Skyrim

Soul Gems are very important because you will not be able to enchant an item without one. You will need a "filled" Soul Gem, not an empty one. There are different types of Soul Gems in Skyrim; petty soul gems, common soul gems, grand soul gems etc. The grand soul gem, for example, allows you to capture powerful souls while a petty soul gem can only capture weak souls.

Where to get Soul Gems in Elder Scrolls Skyrim

Soul Gems can be found in caves, dungeons, and other various locations throughout Skyrim. You can also purchase filled soul gems or empty soul gems from merchants. This can be quite expensive though, especially filled grand soul gems.

Filling Soul Gems in Elder Scrolls Skyrim

There are two ways to fill a soul gem in Skyrim; using the Soul Trap spell or using a Soul Trap enchantment that is on a weapon. When you use a Soul Trap spell on a creature, you need to kill it before the spell wears off. Also remember that you can't capture more powerful creatures if you have a weak soul gem.

Warning about capturing souls to fill Soul Gems in Skyrim

Understand that it's not the soul gem that makes an enchantment's charge last longer, it's what type of soul that is inside. For example, a grand soul gem with a petty soul is no better than a petty soul gem with a petty soul. If you only have a grand soul gem, and kill a weak creature, it's soul will be trapped in the grand soul gem. Make sure you know what types of soul gems you have before wasting a good soul gem.

If you cast a Soul Trap spell on a creature, and you don't have a soul gem powerful enough to capture it's soul, the soul will be destroyed. Basically, the spell had not affect.

Recharging an enchantment on Weapons or Armor in Elder Scrolls Skyrim

Eventually, an enchanted item will run out of charge and will require more soul gems. You will need to recharge it by using filled soul gems. Your enchanting skill will go up when recharging enchanted items.

To recharge an enchanted item; select it in your inventory, select recharge, then pick the soul gem you want to use.