Let's pretend that I just purchased an (Empty) Grand Soul Gem. I understand that capturing a Mammoth's soul will yield a (Grand) Grand Soul Gem; a bunny's will yield a (Petty) Grand Soul Gem. But what I want to know is, do they stack? Does it take X amount of bunny souls to eventually reach a (Grand) Grand Soul Gem? Or do Soul Gems only contain one soul at a time?

If so, let's pretend that I have a (Petty) Grand Soul Gem that I gained from stealing a bunny soul. If I just have that in my inventory and cast Soul Trap on a Giant, will it then replace the bunnies and yield me a (Greater) Grand Soul Gem? Or will it stay permanent as a (Petty) Grand Soul Gem because of the bunny soul already inside?

Lastly, if I have an (Empty) Grand Soul Gem and an (Empty) Common Soul Gem, what happens if I kill a bunny? Does it automatically send the soul to the lesser of the two?


Sorry for all that! I've checked the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Soul_Gem and Skyrim http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Soul_Gem_%28Skyrim%29 about Soul Gems, but something is still not clicking.. Thanks for all your help!
:hugs:

No, the souls do not stack. The soul goes into the lowest common denominator. One gem per soul.

Need a black soul gem to get a person's soul.

Thanks for the speedy reply! So if you have a (Petty) soul inside a Grand Soul Gem--it's permanent? You can't replace the (Petty) soul with something greater? :sadvaultboy:

yup, its a wasted soul gem, throw that puppy into recharging your weapon enchant, also getting a black soul star helps cut down on cost alot to, its from a quest and it doesn't break when you use it to enchant, it just takes a while having to go out kill something, then go back to an enchant table over and over...but its free so what the hell, amiright?

Aw man. Oh well. :glares at my four Grand Soul Gems that say (Petty):

And yeah. I just didn't want to go enchant my chest piece. Run outside. Kill a bandit. Run Back. Etc. Haha. Thanks for the info, though.

No. And the simple fact that lesser souls automatically go into higher gems when there is no gem of the correct size in your inventory is a pain IMO. There is not even icons on your screen showing the empty gems you have. You have to constantly open your inventory to see exactly which empty gems you have when you want to trap a soul, and that's pretty boring. To me, it got so boring that I decided to not care anymore with souls. Now I always sell my empty gems, buy gems with souls inside when I need them, and also don't carry soul trap weapons anymore. The game is so much nicer this way.

same here, svcks killing something you think would have a grand soul and it having greater or common, but i solved the problem with the black soul star though, if the soul isn't greater, i just use it to re-charge my weapon...speaking of which...i thought it wasn't even supposed to be able to capture non-black souls to begin with....

Made worse because the soul gems are mixed up together with everything from iron ignots to linen wraps and sorted alphabetically instead of something useful, like by type.

I would LOVE a method of restricting soul gems sizes, if its not an exact fit, it shouldn't let me fill the gem. Seeing (Petty) Grand Soul Gem, just makes me want to turn the game off (I have OCD when it comes to being wasteful)

For filling up soul gems with the magnitude of soul you want and easier management, you can try what I do, but it helps to have purchased a home (like in Whiterun, for instance):

I use each container in my home for specific item types, one for everything stolen, one for gear I wish to keep for later use, one for everything I'll sell to vendors, one for smithing materials, one for ingredients, you get the idea.

Build up a stash of soul gems over time, and when you feel like you have a big enough stash, put away everything you've got except for just the gear you'll need for combat, load up on all your soul gems, and go soul hunting.

It's probably not the most efficient method for keeping things organized and for enhancing your gear over time, but it works well enough for me.