Enchanting | Skills TES V: Skyrim Guide

Last update: 11 December 2019

This TES V: Skyrim World Atlas page describes Enchanting skill. It is closely related to the archetype of the magician. Our tutorial, in addition to the said skill, will tell you how to develop it and what best traits related to it are worth unlocking.

How to increase skill: This skill can be increased by interacting with arcane enchanters (screen above). The largest growth takes place if you've successfully enchanted a weapon or an armor. Thankfully this isn't the only option, because you can also develop this skill by disenchanting magical items to learn their effects and by recharging magical items from the main character's inventory with the help of soul gems.

Main purpose of developing this skill: Improving the quality of enchanted items.

Available perks: 13.

Best perks: Enchanter, Fire/Frost/Storm Enchanter, Soul Siphon.

Comments:

1. Before you make any attempts to enchant something make sure you're well prepared. You must have an item that can be enchanted (a weapon or a piece of armor), know at least one effect which can be used for enchanting purposes and posses at least one filled soul gems. Remember that the only way to learn new effects is to disenchant unwanted magical items and you should be "sacrificing" them from the very beginning of the game (instead of selling them with a small profit). As for the soul gems, you can purchase/find filled soul gems or you can fill them on your own thanks to proper spells and weapons with that ability. Make sure to read the last chapter of this guide (Crafting) to learn even more about how this all works.
2. As for the perks available in this skill category, focus on those with similar effects to what you do when you're enchanting. Here's an example - if you like to enchant weapons by granting them with fire damage you should consider unlocking the Fire Enchanter perk. Of course there's nothing against being versatile, but skill points are a rare thing and therefore it's just wise to choose what's best.

• ENCHANTER
• FIRE ENCHANTER
• FROST ENCHANTER
• STORM ENCHANTER
• INSIGHTFUL ENCHANTER
• CORPUS ENCHANTER
• EXTRA EFFECT
• SOUL SQUEEZER
• SOUL SIPHON

ENCHANTER

This perk has five ranks and each time you unlock a new rank it gets better.

Requirements (rank 1): None.

Requirements (rank 2): Enchanting skill increased to at least 20 points.

Requirements (rank 3): Enchanting skill increased to at least 40 points.

Requirements (rank 4): Enchanting skill increased to at least 60 points.

Requirements (rank 5): Enchanting skill increased to at least 80 points.

Description (rank 1): 20% increase in strength of the enchantments.

Description (rank 2): 40% increase in strength of the enchantments.

Description (rank 3): 60% increase in strength of the enchantments.

Description (rank 4): 80% increase in strength of the enchantments.

Description (rank 5): 100% increase in strength of the enchantments.

Comments: Unlocking all five perks from this group is something rather obvious if you're seriously thinking about becoming a master enchanter. Make sure to hold off with enchanting the best items from your inventory until you've unlocked the last rank (and other perks from this skill tree), so that you'll ensure they have excellent qualities.

FIRE ENCHANTER

Requirements: Enchanting skill increased to at least 30 points. Unlocked Enchanter perk (rank 1).

Description: 25% increase in strength of fire enchantments (weapons & armor).

Comments: There are three similar perks on this branch of the skill tree (Fire Enchanter, Frost Enchanter and Storm Enchanter) and it's up to you to decide whether you want to unlock only one perk or all three. Bonuses from each of the perks are very useful when enchanting weapons, allowing you to improve their effectiveness on the battlefield.

FROST ENCHANTER

Requirements: Enchanting skill increased to at least 40 points. Unlocked Fire Enchanter perk.

Description: 25% increase in strength of frost enchantments (weapons & armor).

Comments: There are three similar perks on this branch of the skill tree (Fire Enchanter, Frost Enchanter and Storm Enchanter) and it's up to you to decide whether you want to unlock only one perk or all three. Bonuses from each of the perks are very useful when enchanting weapons, allowing you to improve their effectiveness on the battlefield.

STORM ENCHANTER

Requirements: Enchanting skill increased to at least 50 points. Unlocked Frost Enchanter perk.

Description: 25% increase in strength of shock enchantments (weapons & armor).

Comments: There are three similar perks on this branch of the skill tree (Fire Enchanter, Frost Enchanter and Storm Enchanter) and it's up to you to decide whether you want to unlock only one perk or all three. Bonuses from each of the perks are very useful when enchanting weapons, allowing you to improve their effectiveness on the battlefield.

INSIGHTFUL ENCHANTER

Requirements: Enchanting skill increased to at least 50 points. Unlocked Enchanter perk (rank 1).

Description: 25% increase in strength of skill enchantments (armor only).

Comments: It's highly recommended to unlock this perk as soon as possible, assuming of course you plan on enchanting armors often.

CORPUS ENCHANTER

Requirements: Enchanting skill increased to at least 70 points. Unlocked Insightful Enchanter perk.

Description: 25% increase in strength of health, mana and stamina enchantments (armor only).

Comments: This is a very useful perk, especially since a good armor should provide bonuses to health, mana or stamina regeneration. Obviously it's up to you which one of these effects you want to combine with an armor while enchanting it.

EXTRA EFFECT

Requirements: Enchanting skill increased to 100 points. Unlocked Storm Enchanter perk or Corpus Enchanter perk.

Description: Ability of putting two enchantments on a single object.

Comments: This if by far the best perk available in this skill tree and therefore it's important to try and unlock it as soon as the main character has reached 100 points in the Enchanting category. Being able to put two enchantments on one object results in much greater quality. Make sure to posses as many enchantment bonuses as possible to grant yourself the possibility of receiving the best possible enchanted items.

SOUL SQUEEZER

Requirements: Enchanting skill increased to at least 20 points. Unlocked Enchanter perk (rank 1).

Description: Soul gems give extra mana for recharging.

Comments: Make sure to unlock this perk early in the game, assuming of course you like to regularly recharge magical items.

SOUL SIPHON

Requirements: Enchanting skill increased to at least 40 points. Unlocked Soul Squeezer perk.

Description: Killing a creature using an enchanted weapon allows to recharge it by capturing a small fragment of the monster's soul.

Comments: This is a useful perk, however it has two very important restrictions. First of all, you can capture only 5% of the soul of the killed creature. Second of all, this method works only on monsters, so you can't count on recharging your weapons when fighting people. If you don't mind these things unlock the perk the first chance you get.