Saw a video on the YouTubez; apparently, the Ritual Stone power lasts about ten minutes, and you can raise a lot of zombies with it. Any confirmation? Going to try this ASAP, but ASAP is not now.

Also, a video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ3TfvFrnYY&feature=related) goes over a strategy for raising an entire undead army. Very good looking stuff.

It is my favorite of the stones.

I made a courier charcter. With him, I don't carry many weapons but a fine iron dagger and a hunting bow with some arrows. Got to the point where dragons started spawning, decided to ingnore my destiny. Tried to get to Riften, as I knew of a courier-like quest going on there.

On the way, picked the Ritual Stone. Go in the Eastmarch area or so, near Darkwater Crossing.
Dragon attacks. I see a giant near his dead mammoth, run towards him. Then a Saber cat attacks.

Mind you, this charcter has a hunting bow, some arrows, clothes, and a hat with an Oak flesh spell.
Yeah, Pretty much dead.

Dragon fights the Giant, Giant kills Saber cat when Dragon flies away. Guess what? Another Saber cat.
I use the Ritual Stone power. The dead sbaer cat kills the living one.
Now I have a saber cat, a Giant, and one mammoth on my side verus a Dragon. The animals mainly just sit there, but the giant and dragon have a epic showdown, with my imperial mainly sending arrows into the Dragon's hide. I win the fight with my undead pets, and the Giant who stays friendly after the fight.

If not for the Ritual Stone, I would have died that day.

I'll have to try this stone. I had always heard 3 minutes of duration, not 10. If that's the case, it certainly changes things.

That sounds wonderful. It must be a lot of fun playing a nearly defenseless, low-level character, really


I believe you're right; it was just a YouTube comment that said otherwise, but after trying it, I thought it was two minutes.

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I'm really having a problem, folks. I'm going to roll someone new soon (a dedicated necromancer), but my level 81 Altmer mage just had a lot of trouble with this.

I had eleven perks left over and decided to pour three of them into Conjuration. Namely, Necromancy, Dark Souls, and Dual Casting (I figured it would either give my non-thrall undead much greater duration, and while I know thralls are nice, I'd prefer a mammoth once in a while). Mind you, I had been using Conjuration since day one, but I was always partial to Atromancy.

I could not raise a single undead enemy. Not with a dual-casted Dread Zombie, the expert level spell. In fact, it's the strongest of them next to Dead Thrall, which also could not raise a single undead enemy. Do the raise spells, even Dead Thrall, have level caps? And I thought enemies don't level after 50--I certainly don't have any trouble with Illusion spells! Why can't I raise the dead with my high level character?

If it's of any consequence, I've been using Illusion and Conjuration since the beginning and got them to 100 very early, but never perked the necromancy part of the Conjuration tree. If enemies do in fact level beyond 50, there's no reason any of my Illusion spells should work, even when dual casted (and I have never been a vampire in this file, so I don't have the +25% Illusion buff).

The only way that I can raise any undead is by using the Ritual Stone, and for some reason, it only reanimates one body!

Someone please help!

ResidentPianist, are you getting the "X is too powerful for Y spell" message or is just nothing happening?
I've had the latter case with the dread zombie spell- even on what I know to be low-level mobs. I recall reading somewhere that if a creature respawns later after being killed, then it can't be raised for some reason.
That might explain late-game necromancy failure.

Did you pick up necromage perk? That would give 25% Bonus to raising an already undead creature.

I am indeed getting the "X is too powerful for [spell]" message, even on Dead Thrall. And, while that bug sounds terrible (especially given that a necromancer would leave a lot of dust piles all over the world, and those don't clean up), I made it to a giant's camp I've never been to and still failed; those are enemies that I've never killed and thus have never had the opportunity to respawn. I also had the Ritual Stone problem in that camp; it would only reanimate one enemy.

I don't really remember when or where, but I have, on occasion, gotten no message at all. I don't know what that indicates.


That sounds nice, but what kind of bonus? A more powerful creature, a longer lasting one, or a more powerful spell (that is, the spell can effect stronger undead)?


EDIT: My 400th post! I feel so special with my gold star

It affects levThrillinglling a vampire which is one of the (or maybe THE only) undead creature you can thrall results in level 50 possible pet instead of the previous max 40.

I also used standard raise dead spells successfully on draugr deathlords.

I don't understand anything before the second sentence. Nothing at all.

Once a day powr that needs a lot of corpses nearby to be effective
Not that great IMO. Better than the other once a day powers but I'd still rather have the Lord, Lady, Steed or Atronach which I know are going to be useful

At level 4 I was faced with a gloomstalker and a steam centurion together... basically impossible. After Lydia and I died and reloaded 20 or so times, I stacked up the corpses of everything else in the level (4 chaurus and 3 falmer), and let loose the ritual stone. They tore through the centurion with ease.