Items

The inventory in Skyrim hides a simple rule under its weight limit: some items are spent, some are kept, and some are only worth anything when the set is complete. A grand soul gem vanishes the moment it enchants a sword, and so does a potion, a skill book's bonus and a sawn log. The Skeleton Key never breaks, the Black Star never empties, and a werewolf ring works on every full moon. The Stones of Barenziah are worthless one at a time and become a permanent bonus at twenty-four. This guide sorts the folder's fifteen item pages by that rule, so you know before you spend a gem or sell a ring which kind of thing you are holding.

Used once

Soul gems

A soul gem holds one soul and is destroyed when it enchants or recharges. Five tiers hold five bands of creature: petty for levels 1 to 4 (chickens, foxes, wolves, skeevers), lesser to 16 (bears, horses, trolls, ice wraiths), common to 28 (draugr wights, sabre cats, spriggans, flame atronachs), greater to 38 (giants, frost trolls, dwarven spheres, hagravens) and grand above that (mammoths, dragon priests, storm atronachs, elder and ancient dragons). Filling one needs Soul Trap, a spell tome sold by Phinis Gestor at the College or Falion in Morthal, or a weapon carrying the effect, and the target has to die before the spell wears off. The page's farming tip is Blackreach, where geode veins yield gems to a pickaxe and the Falmer hives carry them. Merchants in Solitude, Riften and Falkreath sell them too.

A black soul gem is the tier the list above leaves out: it alone holds the souls of people, whether human, elf or orc, and it is also single-use. Fixed copies sit in Broken Fang Cave, at the bottom of the pond in Steepfall Burrow, in Fellglow Keep's sarcophagus room, in Shroud Hearth Barrow beside a gold ingot, and in the hidden room of Hjerim once its arcane enchanter is bought. Filling one is the same Soul Trap routine on a humanoid, and the page notes the console command for anyone who would rather skip the hunt.

Potions

Every potion is one swallow. The ten best recipes page is built around pairs of ingredients whose shared effect is the potion's name, and the more effects a pair shares, the more Alchemy experience the brew gives.

The Fortify One-Handed potion page shows how a single effect can be reached nine ways: pearlfish, heart of order, rock warbler egg, bear claw, small pearl, canis root, hawk feather, hanging moss or stoneflower petals, any two together, with the other effects of the pair riding along. Pearlfish and heart of order, for instance, also restore health and resist frost. Where to learn the alchemy skill that governs strength is in the skills guide.

Skill books and building materials

A skill book raises its skill by one level the first time it is opened and never again, and it does not have to be taken, so reading on a shelf is not theft. The page lists five titles for each of the eighteen skills and, for most, two places to find each, from A Game at Dinner in the New Gnisis Cornerclub for Alchemy to Words and Philosophy in the Riften barracks for Two-Handed. Reading fifty is an achievement. The one way to make a book work twice is the Scholar's Insight power from the Black Book The Winds of Change, which the quests guide covers; take it before you start reading.

Hearthfire's building materials are consumed plank by plank. Every plot's chest starts you with 30 clay, 30 quarried stone, 6 iron ingots and a corundum ingot; clay and stone are mined on the land itself, sawn logs come from lumber mills such as Hert's at Half-Moon Mill, glass from the Dawnguard's vendors, straw and horns from general traders like Lucan in Riverwood, and hinges, nails, locks and fittings are made at any anvil from iron. The page lists the exact bill for every room, from the small house's foundation (one log and ten stone) to the cellar (eight logs and fifty stone), and adds that a steward buys materials for you if you would rather not haul them; the plots themselves are priced in the locations guide.

Works forever

The four werewolf rings are priced and weighted differently. The Ring of Bloodlust (1,500) adds half again to your damage and to the damage you take; the Ring of Instinct (3,000) slows the world for twenty seconds on transforming; the Ring of the Hunt (3,500) regenerates health; and the Ring of the Moon (2,250) stretches your howls by a quarter. The werewolf page explains how the Companions give the blood in the first place.

Spell books are permanent knowledge, and the page is a catalogue of what each school's tomes do and who sells them. Farengar Secret-Fire in Dragonsreach and Wuunferth the Unliving in Windhelm carry the low tiers, Faralda and Phinis Gestor at the College the higher ones, and master-level spells are rewards for the ritual quests at 90 in a school. A few are placed rather than sold: Equilibrium in the Labyrinthian Chasm, Transmute at Halted Stream Camp, Candlelight in Fort Snowhawk, Banish Daedra and Bound Bow in Fort Amol. Every spell, from Flames at 8 points a second to Lightning Storm at 75, is listed with its effect and level gate.

Counted sets

Twenty-four Stones of Barenziah

Each unusual gem is a curiosity until Vex in the Thieves Guild names it, and the twenty-fourth completes No Stone Unturned. The stones page warns that four areas have to be opened first: the Thalmor Embassy through the main quest, the Dark Brotherhood, Proudspire Manor at 25,000 gold, and the Arch-Mage's quarters through the College. The count by hold is the useful check: four in Eastmarch, three in Falkreath, four in Haafingar, one in Hjaalmarch, three in the Reach, two in the Rift, four in Whiterun and three in Winterhold, which adds to twenty-four exactly.

Fifteen Daedric artifacts

One artifact earns Daedric Influence and all fifteen earn Oblivion Walker. The artifacts page is marked a work in progress and covers thirteen; the two missing, Volendrung and the Ebony Blade, are on the unique weapons page and in the weapons guide.

Unique weapons, armor and rare jewelry

The unique weapons and armor page is the folder's largest list: dozens of named two-handers, one-handers, bows and staves, then shields, helmets, gloves, masks, boots and full sets, each with a location, base damage or armor, weight and value. Its opening note matters more than any single entry: most of these are leveled, so the version you receive depends on your level when the reward is handed over, and some never improve afterwards. The sets are where the numbers get large. Ebony Mail from Boethiah's Calling has 45 armor, muffles and poisons anything nearby; the Nightingale set from Trinity Restored adds stamina, frost resistance, muffle, lockpicking, one-handed and illusion across its four pieces; the Guild Master's set from Under New Management gives 50 carry weight, 35 percent to pickpocketing and lockpicking and better prices; the Ancient Shrouded set from Hag's End brings 35 percent archery, muffle, full poison resistance and double sneak damage; and the Armor of the Old Gods, earned by siding with the Forsworn in No One Escapes Cidhna Mine, adds sneak, archery, magicka, smithing and cheaper Destruction. The armor guide sets these against everything the forge can make.

The rare items page gathers the jewelry and oddments: the Mage's Circlet from Good Intentions, the Gauldur Amulet assembled from three fragments at Reachwater Rock, the Nightweaver's Band from Festus Krex, Kyne's Token and the Diadem of the Savant at Froki's shack, the vampire-only Amulets of Night Power and Rings of Blood Magic, the Cursed Ring of Hircine that transforms you at random, and a long tail of wedding bands, family rings and lockets tied to favor quests. Two entries there overlap with the forever list above, the Skeleton Key and the Black Star, and both are counted as Daedric artifacts.

Item questions

Which soul gems can be reused?

Two, and both are quest rewards: Azura's Star for creature souls and the Black Star for any soul. The page is explicit that black soul gems, despite the name, are single-use.

Do I lose the Skeleton Key?

Only if you give it back, which Darkness Returns asks you to do to continue the Thieves Guild line. The Unbreakable perk in Lockpicking does the same job with ordinary picks once your skill is high enough.

How many books do I need for the achievement?

Fifty skill books read, out of the full list of five titles per skill. Who sells the potions, gems and enchanting services around all of this is in the characters guide, and every page here is filed by edition on the Skyrim hub.