From empty to full: ESO Soul Gem Guide
Soul Gems have been a staple in the Elder Scrolls franchise. If you’ve been playing the older games, you’ll be well-acquainted with what they’re for and how you can acquire them. ESO soul gems, however, are entirely different trinkets compared to those from the solo sandboxes. So whether you’re new or a veteran to Elder Scrolls, here’s a guide on how you can get them in the Elder Scrolls MMO.
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What exactly are Soul Gems and how can you get them?
Traditionally, soul gems are items that trap enemies’ souls and are then used to charge magical weapons. And in ESO, they have an additional purpose: to resurrect yourself and your teammates. Soul gems can either be empty or full. Obviously, only the latter can be used.
Soul gems vary in quality, which in turn determines the level of souls they can contain. They are as follows:
- Petty – 1-9
- Minor – 10-19
- Lesser – 20-29
- Common – 30-39
- Greater – 40-49 Souls
- Grand – 50+
- Leveled – Any
- Crown – Any level; fully charges weapon
There are many ways to obtain soul gems that are below Greater. You can get them from dungeons and world bosses. The latter always drops 1 empty soul gem and 1 full soul gem. On the other hand, if you have the money and want to save time, you can buy either empty or full ones from the Mages Guild. The empty ones are cheap, while the full ones are significantly more expensive. Nevertheless, if you have enough to spend for the latter and want to save even more time, go for the full ones. Otherwise, you’re better off sticking with the empty ones.
How do you fill Soul Gems?
Should you choose to trap souls, here are the ways how. Both involve the Soul Magic skill line. The more reliable method is to use the special skill Soul Trap. It’s a damage-over-time spell that traps the target’s soul in a soul gem if the enemy is killed while it’s active.
There’s also the Soul Lock passive skill, which gives you a considerable chance to fill your empty soul gems every time you kill an enemy. While Soul Trap is a more surefire way to create full soul gems out of empty ones, Soul Lock practically requires much less effort.
What are weapon enchantments?
Once you have full soul gems, it’s time to charge your weapon. But before that, here’s how to check if the weapon still has enough magicka for the special effects to work. If it’s zero, the weapon won’t be able to apply special effects upon attack.
Since we’re already on the topic of enchanted weapons, let’s talk about glyphs. These are the enchantments affixed to your weapons and are created by combining runes. Only weapon glyphs, however, have charges.
There are 14 weapon glyphs, and each one has a unique effect. Most of them are for dealing more damage, and some are for utility and debuffs. In the end, it’s up to you which glyphs you’ll put on your weapons depending on your preference, build, and play style.
How do you charge weapons?
To charge your weapons, simply right-click on the weapon to bring up the drop-down menu and then click on “Charge”. This will prompt you to a window asking you to select which soul gem you’ll use to charge the weapon.
For high-level weapons, petty and lesser soul gems aren’t going to cut it as they only charge 5% of the total weapon’s pool. Instead, they’ll need Greater and Grand soul gems. They’re pretty pricey gems, but they can last for quite some time until they need to be recharged again.
Unlike Thanos’ Soul Stone, ESO soul gems are a dime a dozen. Nevertheless, they’re important items if you want your weapons to be in tip-top combat shape. So hopefully, our handy guide taught you how to gather and use them.
