First of all, what are black soul gems for? They have the same power and refilability towards weapons.
Second, how does one go about increasing the power of the enchantment i want to make at the mages guild. I want to make an uber fire damage weap but i can only go to 85 (the power of the gem) which is only like 10 fire damage in a small area. Is this connected to a skill?

I haven't started enchanting or soul trapping very much yet, but I think the power depends on the soul you've trapped. A grand/black (yes, I think they're the same) soul gem should be grand soul level to get max out of it (1800 I think, but I'm not sure).

So if you've trapped a rat in a grand soul gem it will have very little enchanting power. I'm not sure what creatures give max power in Oblivion. Golden Saints and Ascended Sleepers(?) gave max power in Morrowind, but I don't think they're in Oblivion. Anyone?

And I'm not sure if the skill level is relevant, but probably, although there is no longer enchantment skill in Oblivion like in Morrowind.

X-it got it right.Your enchantment depends on the power of your soul gem.
Best soul gems have 1600 points and those are either grand or black soul gems.Best souls you can capture are Xivalai,Goblin Warlord,and Lich (at least those are the ones i'm traping).

Black Gems have the power to trap human (all 10 great races) souls.Human soul has the same amount of power as a powerful creature soul....They are easy to capture,because bandits are easyer oponents than goblin warlords.

Interesting info about the black soul gems! Didn't know you could trap humans. Haven't seen any black soul gems yet, except one from a quest which I had to give away, I think. Hope they start popping up soon... (I suspect they're related to a certain faction, but no spoilers please )

I have to still to try the soultrapping. How is it done?
I know u need a scroll or spell, but does the "object" have to be alive or dead?

Also, how does it work? By touch or...?

If I have a soul gem, can I fill it by trapping multiple souls in one or is one stone only able to contain one soul, and always have its power depended on the soul trapped?

Just follow the Arcane University quest.You will learn how to create them.


Simple really.

1) Get a soul trap spell (you can buy the lowest at Edgar's Disscount spells i think)

2) Soultrap usualy works at touch.However you can make your own spell that works on target.I don't know where to buy pre-made ranged soul trap.

3) Cast soul trap on the creaure (or human,but you need black soul gems for them).Depending on the spell duration,you will have certain time to kill the creature.Best way is to get the creature near death,cast soul trap and finish it of.

4) The soul is captured! But not all souls have the same quality.....some tough creatures as liches have stronger souls than for example rats or mudcrabs.

5) You can trap only one soul in one gem.Make sure you don't waste your grand soul gem on a rat.That would be a really poor choice.

6) And Voila! You have a charged soul gem! You can use it to enchant your non-enchanted stuff(at Arcane University altar),or to recharge your allready enchanted stuff.No need to pay rediculus gold prices to recharge your sword or staff or whatever.Now you can do it yourself.

Soul traping is useful to just any class......Warriors need their melee weapons fully charged,stealth need their daggers and bows fully charged,and mage's need their staffs fully charged.You should start traping souls as soon as posible.

I'm a mage, and I'm only now starting to see the great benefits of staffs in Oblivion (compared to Morrowind, where you hit the enemies with the staff. Pretty silly). They are light, and can have very powerful spells, like for example 80 shock damage on target is quite handy. Besides, I feel like a real wizard when I use a staff to cast lightning at my foes. Move over Saruman!

So now I've recently started collecting even those small soul gems, and trap creatures I summon myself to get 'fuel' for my staffs.

Keep up the good work
Those rechargers at mage's guild will just rip you off.And take my advice about black soul gems.Best quility souls for killing such weak oponents as bandits.Besides you will need a black soul gem for a certain daedric shrine quest.

I will, thanks a bunch!

When I try to trap a Daedroth that I summon myself, I get a message saying I have no soul gems large enough for it. I currently have 9 empty grand soul gems, as well as several of all other types (and Azura's Star).

Can the Daedroth not be trapped, or is it regarded human and needs a black gem?

Daedroth counts as a creature,and it's soul fits the great soul gem.I traped a lot of Daedroths myself (non-summoned though).
My allmost certain guess is that you're experiencing a bug.

Damn,these bugs are really geting on my nerves

Ok, thanks for that.

Earlier today I also tried to trap another creature in a cave (think it was called Netch Lich?) It wouldn't trap either, and I didn't even get any messages. I reloaded and tried again and again, but nothing so I gave it up.

Seems I have some bugs with trapping then... I'm using a 30 second soul trap on target spell that I made myself though. Perhaps I should try one of the standard spells and see if that helps.

Ok another enchanting question while we're at it:

Is the quality/value of rings and amulets of no relevance when enchanting them like in Morrowind? It seems I can create just as good an enchanted ring out of a bronze ring as an emerald gold ring. Or am I missing something? Is the only factor the charge of the soul gem when creating enchantments?

Every ring and amulet is equal.
It's enchanting properties depend only of soul gem.

I see, thanks.

And by the way, it wasn't a Daedroth I was summoning and trying to soul trap, but a Dremora. Sorry about that. Should still be possible to trap it?

LOL
Dremora can't be traped.
MAYBE you can trap it in a black soul gem,but i'm not sure,never tryed it.

Ah thanks. That explains it, then... Why can't it be trapped? It's not considered a 'creature'?

Well,Dremoras are not ''creatures'' obviusly.

''The Dremora refer to themselves as 'The Kyn' ('the People'), contrasting themselves to other Daedra, whom they consider unthinking animals. The term 'kynaz' refers to a member of the Dremora race ('he of the Kyn').''
You can read more about it here if you're intrested in that kind of stuff.

very interesting to know about the black soul gems, I was wondering what they are for. I have a question concerning trapping human souls .... are they all equal to the power of the black soul gem? Or might a mage's soul be more powerful than a bandit's? Just a thought.

Every human soul has the same power which is 1600 PT (equal to souls from tough creatures such as Xivalai or Lich)

About the Dremora, they're NPCs in the Construction Set, so they count as NPCs in the game. So, you'll need a Black Soul gem for them.

Thanks guys. Haven't really put myself into TES lore & literature properly, but I started reading the book that came with the collector's edition of Oblivion last night. Seems the Dremora are some kind of 'wannabe' mortals...

Thanx, HyPNO