Simple question:
Is there any reason to enchant a weapon using a grand soul gem instead of, say, a common gem?

I mean, when I recharge a weapon really seems to not matter which gem was used on creation, only the gem being used on recharge. So, even if I create an enchantment using a grand gem, I would still spend the same amounts of other gems to keep the charges up, right? Or is there any other factor I'm missing?

NOTE: For apparel and jewelry, using a grand soul is obviously better. My question is related to weapon enchats only.

The strength of an enchantment depends on the size of the soul used.

For instance: reduce destruction spell cost on an item, made with a common soul would get you 10%, but with a grand soul it would be 15%.
(Example, not actual figures.)

No, I'm talking here about weapon enchants only.

For apparel and jewelry, using a grand soul is obviously better.

It would be the exact same thing.

Fire damage on strike with a common soul gem - 10 pts
Fire damage on strike with a grand soul gem - 15 pts

Similar.
Put absorb health on a weapon with a common soul and you would get 10hp on hit.
With a grand soul it would be 15 hp.

For enchanting it is always best to use grand or black souls.
For that reason recharging a weapon is always best with smaller souls, because you want to save the big ones to enchant stuff.

I believe it influences the amount of "power" used per use.

So for example, using a grand gem might use |_| much magic, while using a lesser gem would use |____| magic per use, requiring it to be recharged more often.

Hm, something is wrong here. All my weapon enchants have the exact same strength (default 10), no matter which gem is used. Only thing that changes is the amount of charges.

That is possible. I'll try to check it in game.

On weapons the gem value changes the number of charges, the power of the enchant relates only to skill. Thus, the only advantage is how frequently have to recharge it (especially the first time). Example with fake numbers:


Petty Gem: Absorbs 10 health, 7 charges. (When recharging, anything above a petty gem is a wast because the max charge is 7).
Common Gem: Absorbs 10 health, 14 charges. (Common gem will recharge to full)
Grand Gem: Absorbs 10 health, 87 charges. (When recharging common gem = 14 charges, grand gem = 87 charges).

Oh, thanks. So it's more a question of how long you want to stay away of your inventory recharging your weapons..

No, you seem to be correct.
A test done on my enchanting altar in my house:

Daedric bow, absorb health, is same with petty and black soul when it comes to strength.

Meaning, I get 20 hp absorb per strike (can be set to values below 20) no matter what gem I use.

The difference is that with the petty soul I get 6 charges, and with the black soul I get 77 charges.

My mistake, sorry.
Still better to use a grand soul gem or black soul gem then, as you will get more charges on your weapon.

without starting a new thread , where can i see how many charges a weapon has or has left? it only seems to allow me to charge it every now and then.

The weapons don't really show a number of charges per-se. You will see a meter/bar showing how much power the weapon has. When you use or equip weapons, the bar will display in the lower right corner of the screen (and lower left if you're dual wielding). Or you can look at the meter in the inventory. The grey portion will show how much you have left, and the blue portion shows how much will be used each hit.

When you look at the weapon it has a bar underneath it. I don't think it gives a precise number of charges but I could have just missed it, it always looks 95% full at most, but when you start using it the bar decreases.