I really love to roleplay pure melee type characters and one thing that I find a bit difficult is the fact if I want an enchantment on my gear I have to do it myself or use the loot I find. I personally would like the option to pay to have an enchantment put on my mace or armour from a mage. It would also make sense for me joining the college of winterhold as I could think complete these tasks and they will put enchantments on my gear. Or perhaps rather than pay you have to complete serious of specific difficult tasks for a wizard. My character being a big bad orc cares less about fiddling around with enchantments like a big girl when you could be cracking skulls. But he values the damage and protection they offer. I can't see why it would be game breaking as enchanting at the moment is easy and very powerful as it is.

Or you could buy it from merchants. You might have to wait a while if you want a specific enchant but that's the price you pay for not doing it yourself.

You raise a valid point, if anything it allows more options for money sinks in game.

It's like roleplayers playing mages. Lockpicking mages just don't feel right...hence an open lock spell option would have been a good option...Or warriors with "Bash Lock" skill, each chest type requires higher strength to break open, etc.


It is what it is.....

You are right, Oblivion had open lock spells... why an earth did they get rid of them?

Thing is if you could just buy enchantments there'd be no reason to raise the skill. I like it how it is, unless the people you could pay would only be able to put lesser enchants on your gear.

They should add scrolls or books to the game that are rare/valuable depending on the enchantment, that you can use on a weapon or armour at an Enchanting table for people who plays Rogues and Warriors. The thing that would hinder these enchantments is that they would be overall weaker than the ones you could make yourself, still giving some people reason to get up the Enchanting skill.

Yes, there would be. It's called roleplaying.

And let's not forget perks.

This is such a ludicrous blanket response. Of course roleplaying is an option, but the vast majority of players don't role play. For them, what would be the point in raising a skill if you could just buy it instead?



This is a good point, however. I'd forgotten perks somehow.

The merchants do offer equipment on a par with crafted stuff, with the exception of rank 100 dual-enchantments. But even the lore clarifies that dual enchanting is a lost art, you find a notebook on how it was done passed down by a guy who learned the secret from the last living dragon in Morrowind centuries ago. Presumably anyone who plays long enough to reach max enchanting will've found that book thus explaining why you are unique amongst enchanters and can craft dual enchantments.

If you're roleplaying a character that disdains spellcraft, you have no reason to raise the skill. It makes no sense that a PC with money cannot buy what he needs from a professional.
Its the same as a city with no automotive mechanics, and the folks living there having to fix their own cars ~when that's not their interest or there is reason they are not capable of it.

Streamlining.

You misunderstand me (like the guy above). Of course you can role play a character who disdains Enchanting, they'll get by just fine because they don't have to do any themselves but can still reap the reward by buying enchantments.

What about the flipside though? What about my character who absolutely loves Enchanting, and I build my character around that - but then I find out that there's no point raising the Enchanting skill, since I can just buy it instead? There would be no benefit to putting in the time and effort to raise that skill, and the skill would become utterly redundant.

Its true, there should be high level spells and even secret tomes that are long lost and have unfamiliar spells (that you can't usually buy).

Still... There is no reason a mage who cannot match the seller's skill for the same enchantment ought not to buy it instead ~until they learn to do it themselves; and even so... There should be a guarantee that any mage PC will surpass all others? Myself I'm more for having a few acknowledged experts in an RPG. The kind where they can enchant (in this case) in ways that the PC will likely never be able to manage or duplicate; (perhaps unless they rob them and study their books :chaos:). They could also enchant for high dollar, and have it just not be worth it if your PC has a chance of doing it themselves.

Agreed. If enchantments can be purchased, then the purchasable enchantments should be inferior to the best enchantments a player enchanter can make. The top level bought enchantments should also be extremely expensive.

:foodndrink:

But I don't [always] agree here... IMO there could be enchantments that outclass the PC's ability (for most of the game), and that cost an arm and a leg (perhaps someone else's ~literally).

I am not opposed to certain high level magic opponents knowing spells that the PC does not have option to learn anywhere in the game; (consider a high level mage that learned a spell in another dimension ~and they are the only one that knows it in Tamriel :shrug:); granted its always cool if at least one (or a few?) high level spells can be used by the PC ~but even then they should not necessarily learn them. Certainly not all of them.

If some exist to be found, I would hope that the nature of how they are acquired precludes acquiring the others (or at least most of them).

Hey guy, this is 2011 and there will be no purchasing enchantments.

What do you think this is, Morrowind? Sheesh... We've come a long way since then.

Hmm... maybe one or two high-level enchanters capable of the same level enchantments that a PC can do, but only as long as you have to complete a series of quests to access it, and it would still have to be seriously expensive...

But then, sure why not

I have never enchanted anything for myself. You can find tons of stuff with enchants already on them, it may not be the exact one you want but most often any enchant is better than no enchant. I have rolled through the game wielding a glass sword with an electric enchant i found and a mace from one of the daedric quests. You do not have to enchant your own gear to be powerful.

Yeah I think that NPC's should be able to enchant or upgrade your gear but cost A LOT of money.

Money. If it was expensive to purchase enchantments compared to doing it yourself it can make a difference. Early game when you don't have a lot of money you might be able to get low level enchantments. But to get the high level stuff that you can normally make yourself might cost in the 10's of thousands to buy.

I have said this before in OB forums. I didn't like how you had to join the mages guild in OB to enchant. I thought it would have been better that a) You join the guild and make your own enchanted items with the effects that you know (fire damage, frost shield, etc....) or b ) you pay an enchanter (much more costly than doing it yourself) to enchant items with the effects that THEY know. Meaning, unlike Morrowind where they enchanted items for you with effects that you know, if you wanted a certain enchantment you might have to find the right enchanter to do it. Not all enchanters have the same effects that can be enchanted.

And yes, to some of us, roleplaying is a factor even if it isn't to many.

EDIT: I haven't gotten that far, but isn't the Master Enchanting perk being able to put two effects on an item? If they had enchanters I don't think they should be able to do this. Another reason why some players might want to enchant themselves instead of buying.