A Guide to the Best Weapons and Armor (Includes "God" Armor)

[Kirbster117]

Originally Posted by CelticWinter

If I wanted to enchant that gear afterwards, would I need to create the "ultimate enchanting" set as well or is the +32% potion enough to maximize the effects?

Pretty sure you can't enchant armours with "fortify enchanting". In this case, the potion (that you made with the alchemy increasing armours) is all you need to enchant.

Thanks for the guide! Have started using the alchemy guide at the top and it is the best I have found so far!

[delong212]

u r my F*N hero

[Iceman9482]

Absolutely Amazing Method! 5 stars *****

[choppersx]

Nice guide but I really think putting perks into Alchemy is a waist, when you get to a high enough level it is possible to buy or steal from several potion dealers(one in riften) a enchanting exlir which does plus 25% to enchanting so for that possible extra 4% for enchanting is it worth the spending of perk points?

[Method]

Originally Posted by choppersx

Nice guide but I really think putting perks into Alchemy is a waist, when you get to a high enough level it is possible to buy or steal from several potion dealers(one in riften) a enchanting exlir which does plus 25% to enchanting so for that possible extra 4% for enchanting is it worth the spending of perk points?

The enchanting potion isn't' too important, but the +130% smithing potion is critical as the highest I've ever seen for sale is +50%. The smithing potion is what gives you the super high armor rating and makes you a damage sponge.

[IDiivil]

Originally Posted by BSH 1975

When you've done all this, what lvl will your character be?

Because, I've read that if you lvl up, the enemies insides caves and stuff will be levelling up with you.

and I don't want to face a dungeon/mine boss with low lvl one handed/two handed weapon.

Enemies do not scale with you, so there should be no problem following this guide in that regard. Only a few enemies end up scaling... daedras and some human enemies (hunters, guards, etc, or some such).

According to Prime guide, anyways, which has been wrong before.

[choppersx]

Originally Posted by Method

The enchanting potion isn't' too important, but the +130% smithing potion is critical as the highest I've ever seen for sale is +50%. The smithing potion is what gives you the super high armor rating and makes you a damage sponge.

Would it just be easier to lower the difficulty if you dont want to die because if your armour and weapon damage goes to a UBER level thats what playing on the hardest difficulty will become with this level of Alchemy removing all challenge from the game lol... as I said I'm not knocking the guide but just think the perk points are waisted when you can get potions that will improve your enchanting (+25%) and smithing (+50%) without making the game too easy.

[exsiben]

I'm not sure if it's confirmed or not. The wiki states that there is an 85% cap on damage resistance (same as oblivion) and that occurs at 567 displayed armor rating. So your estimated 3000+ is unnecessary and you've already reached the cap. In regards to armor this process appears more beneficial to those utilizing light armor with which it is marginally more difficult to reach the cap. This process should work wonderfully for weapons.

[xxShabutie]

Good Guide.

[Method]

Originally Posted by choppersx

Would it just be easier to lower the difficulty if you dont want to die because if your armour and weapon damage goes to a UBER level thats what playing on the hardest difficulty will become with this level of Alchemy removing all challenge from the game lol... as I said I'm not knocking the guide but just think the perk points are waisted when you can get potions that will improve your enchanting (+25%) and smithing (+50%) without making the game too easy.

To each his own right? This guide isn't meant to force anything on you, just show you a path to get the best equipment so you can play on harder difficulties and and get the feeling of accomplishment for doing so. If you don't want to do it that way, then have fun with your way

Originally Posted by exsiben

I'm not sure if it's confirmed or not. The wiki states that there is an 85% cap on damage resistance (same as oblivion) and that occurs at 567 displayed armor rating. So your estimated 3000+ is unnecessary and you've already reached the cap. In regards to armor this process appears more beneficial to those utilizing light armor with which it is marginally more difficult to reach the cap. This process should work wonderfully for weapons.

I unfortunately think you're right. I fortified my armor to 1250 and didn't notice any difference from the 580 I had. I'll put this info into the guide. On a positive side, this means you don't really need to spend any perks into increasing armor % if you do this method as you'll be at 567 without it (at least with heavy). This is still great for making enchanted items and super weapons though. Just a shame I can't get my armor rating so high I don't take damage

[exsiben]

Agreed hitting the cap with no perks is quite nice. Just felt like sharing to save people from trying to get so high when it's unneeded. Good guide.

[Kraderic]

You can also add +Smithing/Alchemy enchantments to two equipped daggers, increasing your overall Smithing/Alchemy skill by another 58%, I believe. Haven't crafted items with it yet, so I can't confirm if it works or not.

Here's the glitch allowing you to do so, from GameFaqs:

For this glitch to work you must have 100 enchantment and the perk that allows you to add 2 enchantments to a weapon. First thing you do is go to the enchantment table and select the soul gem you wish to use. Then is to choose a weapon enchantment i.e. Frost damage, Stamina damage, Soul Trap etc. Then select a fortify enchantment, de-select the fortify enchantment, then select it again. You should now be able to select a weapon to enchant.

[Method]

Originally Posted by Kraderic

You can also add +Smithing/Alchemy enchantments to two equipped daggers, increasing your overall Smithing/Alchemy skill by another 58%, I believe. Haven't crafted items with it yet, so I can't confirm if it works or not.

Here's the glitch allowing you to do so, from GameFaqs:

I tried the above and although it works, the enchantment doesn't seem to actually take. By that I mean that even if I equip the dagger with the +smithing enchantment, it doesn't show up in my active effects menu.

[Kraderic]

Originally Posted by method

i tried the above and although it works, the enchantment doesn't seem to actually take. By that i mean that even if i equip the dagger with the +smithing enchantment, it doesn't show up in my active effects menu.

. . . . . .

[MusicInjection]

nice work!

[JFAUDEL]

whats a good way to sell any enchanted weapons over 1000 gold if i don't have any perks in speech? my speech is already 100.

[MaelstromALPHA]

Awesome guide! I'm level 43 and doing this now as i've done a lot of the game, may aswell be an uber god for the rest of it ;D

[DeZmonD88]

Any idea why my Enchanting for Fortify Alchemy has a base of 20%? I have all the necessary perks in enchanting and 7 relevant perks in Alchemy.

My equipment enchantment cap at 22% and my potions cap at 28%.

I managed to get to 23% on equipment and 32% on potions only by using a Falmer Helment, where you have 2 head pieces equipped (together with a circlet).

So I actually have +23%, +22%, +22%, +22%, +22%.



What I'm wondering is why everyone seems to have a base of Fortify Alchemy 25% (no potion use, just 100 in Enchanting). A poster on Gamefaqs claimed that it was because of an update. But I'm running the latest version and my base is still 20%...

[dragonpwnr99]

I. Fucking. Love. You.

Haha Method your a boss! When I get back from thanksgiving Vacation IM doing this, I'm just ganna do it with my current character though, he's only level 30 so it shouldd still work and I already have 65K so I should easily get my 100K and be able to buy the solitude house finally haha

Did I say I love you?

[mathgod9]

Alright, I posted on the last page before this guide was finished about it being great. I was correct. The reason why I love this guide so much and what sets it apart from others is how systematic it is. You could literally create a new character and start from step 1. I realize that many other guides for other tasks or games may require more inputs, thus making it impossible to begin at any moment, but this 100 enchanting, 100 smithing, 100 herb, (almost) 100 speech, best gear guide begins the moment you "leave the sewer" and carries you step by step until you have your gear. My only problem came with acquiring the absorb magicka enchant. I had to restock for about a month in game time before it finally appeared. In the mean time, I managed to get just about every other enchant, including Turn Undead and the seemingly rare Paralysis (I saw a topic on either this forum or Bethesda where people discussed the difficulty of obtaining that one).

Now, to answer the question of "what level will you be" at the completion of the guide -- I'm not yet finished, but I am currently level 24 with 100 Alchemy, 38 enchanting (only from disenchanting gear), 73 speech (only from buying/selling potions and enchanted gear**), and 49 smithing (one batch of 100 daggers). I'll update when I get 100/100/100. I have not boosted any other skills. My combat skills have not increased more than a couple of points - not enough to increase my overall level by more than 1. I also have 90k gold after having spent 20k on enchanted gear.

**Note: I made a lot more potions than needed for 100 alchemy due to making all my potions at once. Once I was unable to sell all potions made, I simply would buy all ingredients, sell what I could, restock, buy all, sell what I could, restock, repeat as needed and then once all potions I had were gone, I would make what I could from the mass influx of ingredients I had. As a result, I went from 94 to 100 in the first quarter of my last batch (which was HUGE). I would estimate I would have gone up to 110 or so skill had leveling continued. I ended up putting points into speech and selling it at the vendor in Riverwood who has 11k after being invested in. In total, I made over 50k from that last batch alone.



Anyways, as far as best enchant for the iron daggers, assume all traits hold the following values:

- 38 enchanting
- 73 speech with 3/5 haggling (+20) -- though I don't think this increases value, I'll leave it up here anyways
- Enchanted with a petty soul gem
- Max amount of enchantment power, lowest charge
- First enchant on dagger ever -- in case diminishing returns are based on quantity made

With the following enchantment, my value was:

Absorb health - 632
Absorb Magicka - 424
Absorb Stamina - 440
Fear - 336
Fire Damage - 232
Frost Damage - 280
Paralyze - 696
Shock Damage - 280
Soul Trap - 192
Turn Undead - 600

Unless there is something I'm not factoring in, paralysis seems to be the best enchant for money. It should be noted that value is not synonymous with what you get paid for it. I suspect that after diminished prices and the merchants mark up, thus cutting your profits (even with speech up), the 400+ value spells (at 38 enchanting) probably are pretty similar in price. The higher values ones obviously take bigger cuts due to percentages.


Now, to test if enchanter points change values, I held the attributes above constant and added two points to Enchanter (2/5, +40% enchanting). This did not change the values. I'm assuming based upon this, increased enchanter skill lowers value.

EDIT: Just started producing and values are plummeting as my skill rises.


One question I may have as I am currently working on enchanting: Did you only use petty/lesser filled soul gems from Farengar (after the initial purchases from the general goods store)? I probably didn't buy as many from general goods as I tried to rapidly get Alchemy up by only buying and selling with Arcadia to forgo load screens, but I'm only getting 2-4 gems per restock from Farengar. I could keep this pace up and get 100 enchanting relatively soon, I'm just wondering if there was a less tedious way -- such as, perhaps, splurging on common filled soul gems.

[BONECRUSHER]

Is this guide useful with any character build? Sorry for the noob question but it's my first Elder Scroll game I play.

[mathgod9]

Originally Posted by BONECRUSHER

Is this guide useful with any character build? Sorry for the noob question but it's my first Elder Scroll game I play.

I would say yes, with exception to maybe a cloth wearing mage (not sure if armor, heavy in particular, negatively impacts magic like it did in previous elder scrolls games). While I think mages would be more benefited by wearing light or heavy armor (therefore using 100 smithing), there are those who choose to use robes. As Method said in an edit for a previous post, it is possible to make it so spells are free. This alone should be enough to justify armor over cloth.

EDIT: Guide worked perfectly. After getting 100 smithing, alchemy, and enchanting I had 74 speech and was level 35 overall. Took a few tries to get my crafting gear up to par, but that was mostly error on my part. Also, one error - you can only have alchemy on helmets, not smithing. On gloves, however, you can have both. In the guide it says 2 on the helmet, one on the gloves. Minor error, same overall alchemy/smithing bonuses.

[mchunthunt]

I'm currently on the alchemy stage of this... I have the skill up in the mid 50's. Raised it up from the low 20's in only a few hours. I have a looooong way to go still. Any tips on how to speed the process up? I've made it a habit to go back to my archmages quarters to harvest my garden and pick up useful ingredients from around the room.

Anyway, quick question which might be stupid because I feel like I'm missing something obvious here, but Arcadia isn't holding on to the cash I'm paying her for the expert training like the guide says she is supposed to whenever I "restock." It seems like she defaults back to 500 gold every restock. Any idea why, or am I just reading the guide wrong?

[mathgod9]

Originally Posted by mchunthunt

I'm currently on the alchemy stage of this... I have the skill up in the mid 50's. Raised it up from the low 20's in only a few hours. I have a looooong way to go still. Any tips on how to speed the process up? I've made it a habit to go back to my archmages quarters to harvest my garden and pick up useful ingredients from around the room.

Anyway, quick question which might be stupid because I feel like I'm missing something obvious here, but Arcadia isn't holding on to the cash I'm paying her for the expert training like the guide says she is supposed to whenever I "restock." It seems like she defaults back to 500 gold every restock. Any idea why, or am I just reading the guide wrong?

I don't know if this is the reason why, but are you leaving the shop after purchasing skills? I, for the most part, did not leave her shop except after she no longer had enough money to buy all of my stuff. When she was training me, however, she would have say 6000 at a time and it would take me a few restocks to deplete that. One time, however, I waited until a time when she was technically closed and had to leave and wait more in order to get the next restock. I could be wrong in this, but I'm pretty sure at that moment I lost like 1000 from training. It was one of those things that I briefly noticed in a "I expected her to have more" sort of way -- without definitive notice. Perhaps leaving to harvest ingredients in the archmage's quarters has caused her to reset her money? Try doing so without leaving the shop?

[mchunthunt]

Originally Posted by mathgod9

I don't know if this is the reason why, but are you leaving the shop after purchasing skills? I, for the most part, did not leave her shop except after she no longer had enough money to buy all of my stuff. When she was training me, however, she would have say 6000 at a time and it would take me a few restocks to deplete that. One time, however, I waited until a time when she was technically closed and had to leave and wait more in order to get the next restock. I could be wrong in this, but I'm pretty sure at that moment I lost like 1000 from training. It was one of those things that I briefly noticed in a "I expected her to have more" sort of way -- without definitive notice. Perhaps leaving to harvest ingredients in the archmage's quarters has caused her to reset her money? Try doing so without leaving the shop?

yeah. i basically trained from 70->75 and she ended up having 8000+ gold. once i made enough to get that back (which wasn't hard at this point) and restocked, it went back to 500. and i stayed in her shop the entire time to see if it was maybe cause i was leaving. i mean it's not thaaaat big of a deal beacause i'm already lv82 in alchemy but i'd be nice if i didn't have to restock every three minutes because i sell like 4 potions and she can't afford to pay me anymore :/

[Ser Snow]

Class guide and cheers to the rest of you's as well, I'll be trying this tonight

[BSH 1975]

Originally Posted by Method

ingredients:

• Hanging Moss
• Hawk's Beak
• Vampire Dust

I've started on buying ingredients and I've got almost everything except the above.

But I still can't make any potions. When I'm on that table i can't choose anything to make.
Do I have to buy the recipes of her first to be able to make any potions?

What are the best city's to buy ingredients? I'm currently pending between Riverwood & Whiterun.

On the other hand:My smithing is up to lvl 78, so I'm almost at lvl 90 for that armor.

[toxincram]

Going to be starting again tonight with this. have only just started so dont mind starting again

[Captain Redeye]

Awesome guide, thank you very much.

[xLastKnightx]

Not sure if you would like to add this to the enchanting part, but if you are able to drop everything in your inventory when ready to enchant iron daggers, just max you carry capacity with the iron daggers. Travel to the College of Winterhold, enter the Hall of Countenance, wait till 2-3 am when all the NPCs go to sleep. Then you will be in the same building as an Arcane Enchanter (second level) and you will have 4 mage vendors that will all sell petty/lesser souls gems. Then once you reach the same amount as daggers carried, just crawl your way upstairs and there you have it. This was how I did it. Just throwing in my two cents.