Elder Scrolls Online – Enchanting Guide 101

Let’s talk about enchanting. What is it? How about leveling enchanting? We have all the answers.
 

What is enchanting?

Imagine having a weapon or armor piece and being able to magically enhance or “imbue” it with magical properties. Well, with enchanting you can do exactly that. Enchanting is one of 7 professions in the Elder Scrolls Online(ESO). (Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Clothing, Enchanting, Jewel Crafting, Woodworking, and Provisioning.) Enchanting an item will add a property to the weapon/armor or jewelry you decide to enchant. This can either be in the form of a weapon dealing poison damage, or an armor giving extra magicka. Enchanting is the hardest skill to level up. 2 must-have skills that will help you in your enchanting adventure are a Keen eye and Hireling.

Keen Eye: 1/3 – Allows you to spot runestones easier
Hireling: 1/3 – Sends enchanting stuff to your mail.

I started enchanting much later than others but man oh man, it sure is fun. I know pretty much all there is to know about enchanting…and you can too.

Runes

There are 3 runes that are needed to make a glyph (which can then be used to enchant an item). The 3 runes (in alphabetical order) are:

- Aspect rune
- Essence rune
- Potency rune

You can acquire these runes by interacting with runestones (can be found pretty much all over Tamriel.) Let’s dive a bit deeper into what these runes are, and what they do. I have created tables to help show and identify the different aspects of the runes. There are tons on the internet, but I tried to make mine as simple as possible so that everyone can read and understand them. The runes have the following “responsibilities”: Potency affects the level, Essence affects what the rune does, and Aspect affects the quality.

Aspect rune  – These runes are gathered from red runestones and it’s their job to determine the quality outcome of the created glyph. As with most things, they come in different levels (quality).

 

Rune	Translation	Quality (Item color	Aspect Level
Ta	Base	White	Level 1
Jejota	Fine	Green	Level 1
Denata	Superior	Blue	Level 2
Rekuta	Artifact	Purple	Level 3
Kuta	Legendary	Gold	Level 4

 

Essence rune  – Now these runes will determine what the rune actually does. Albeit poison damage, stamina regen or good old health regen. They are acquired from yellow runestones.

 

Rune	Translation
Dekeipa	Frost
Deni	Stamina
Denima	Stamina Regen
Deteri	Armor
Haoko	Disease
Kaderi	Shield
Kuoko	Poison
Makderi	Spell Harm
Makko	Magicka
Makkoma	Magicka Regen
Meip	Shock
Oko	Health
Okoma	Health Regen
Okori	Power
Oru	Alchemist
Rakeipa	Fire
Taderi	Physical Harm

 

Potency rune  - Lastly, we have potency runes. These can be acquired from purple runestones. Potency runes determine what level your gear must be for the glyphs to be applied and how strong the enchants will be. There are 2 categories for potency runes: Subtractive and additive.

 

Additive
Jora	Develop	Trifling	Level 1	Level 1-10
Porade	Add	Inferior	Level 1	Level 5-15
Jera	Increase	Petty	Level 2	Level 10-20
Jejora	Raise	Slight	Level 2	Level 15-25
Odra	Gain	Minor	Level 3	Level 20-30
Pojora	Supplement	Lesser	Level 3	Level 25-35
Edora	Boost	Moderate	Level 4	Level 30-40
Jaera	Advance	Average	Level 4	Level 35-45
Pora	Augment	Strong	Level 5	Level 40-50
Denara	Strengthen	Strong	Level 5	Level 40-50
Rera	Exaggerate	Greater	Level 6	VR1-VR3
Derado	Empower	Greater	Level 7	VR3-VR5
Recura	Magnify	Grand	Level 8	VR5-VR8
Cura	Intensify	-	Level 9	VR8-VR10

 

Subtractive
Jode	Reduce	Trifling	Level 1	Level 1-10
Notade	Subtract	Inferior	Level 1	Level 5-15
Ode	Shrink	Petty	Level 2	Level 10-20
Tade	Decrease	Slight	Level 2	Level 15-25
Jayde	Deduct	Minor	Level 3	Level 20-30
Edode	Lower	Lesser	Level 3	Level 25-35
Pojode	Diminish	Moderate	Level 4	Level 30-40
Rekude	Weaken	Average	Level 4	Level 35-45
Hade	Lessen	Strong	Level 5	Level 40-50
Idode	Impair	Strong	Level 5	Level 40-50
Pode	Remove	Greater	Level 6	VR1-VR3
Kedeko	Drain	Greater	Level 7	VR3-VR5
Rede	Deprive	Grand	Level 8	VR5-VR8
Kude	Negate	-	Level 9	VR8-VR10

 

Now that you know what each rune is and does, let's proceed to what to do with them. As stated at the beginning of the article, these 3 types of runes form a glyph. How do you do this you ask? Well, make your way to any enchanting station. All you need to do after that is choose the rune you want (desired trait/ability) and combine them. Once the glyph is created, you can go to any weapon, armor, or jewelry item and select the enchant option. You can enchant your items from glyphs that you come across, but why not make your own and determine exactly what you want to increase? Enchanting is a very time-consuming (and sometimes expensive) profession. So, keep this in mind early if you wish to focus on enchanting in your playthrough. To effectively enchant, you will need to spend skill points in the enchanting skill tree.

15 skill points are recommended if you wish to effectively enchant.

 

The below table is just skills taken from the Elder Scrolls Online game skill tree. Thought it would be convenient to include it for you. (Kind, aren’t I?)
 

Skill level	Skill name	Benefit
4	Aspect Extraction (1)	Increases the chances of extracting Aspect Runestones from glyphs.
5	Potency Improvement (2)	Allows use of Potency Runes which make glyphs for items of level 10-15+.
6	Aspect Improvement (2)	Allows the use of Denata Runes to create Superior (blue) glyphs.
10	Potency Improvement (3)	Allows use of Potency Runes which make glyphs for items of level 20-25+.
15	Potency Improvement (4)	Allows use of Potency Runes which make glyphs for items of level 30-35+.
16	Aspect Improvement (3)	Allows the use of Rekuta Runes to create Artifact (purple) glyphs.
19	Aspect Extraction (2)	Further increases the chances of extracting Runestones from glyphs.
20	Potency Improvement (5)	Allows use of Potency Runes which make glyphs for items up to CP 10+.
25	Potency Improvement (6)	Allows use of Potency Runes which make glyphs for items up to CP 30+.
29	Aspect Extraction (3)	Significantly increases the chances of extracting Runestones from glyphs.
30	Potency Improvement (7)	Allows use of Potency Runes which make glyphs for items up to CP 50+.
31	Aspect Improvement (3)	Allows the use of Kuta Runes to create Legendary (gold) glyphs.
35	Potency Improvement (8)	Allows use of Potency Runes which make glyphs for items up to CP 70+.
40	Potency Improvement (9)	Allows use of Potency Runes which make glyphs for items up to CP 100+.
45	Potency Improvement (10)	Allows use of all Potency Runes enabling glyphs for items of any level.

 

Leveling enchanting

Keep in mind that being a member of ESO+ grants a 10% boost to inspiration gain and you can spend 30 Champion Points in the Tower for a passive 20% boost to inspiration gain. These small % gains will help you a lot in the long run.

Translating a rune grants a bonus to inspiration. “Translating” a rune means the first time you use the rune to make a glyph. Since this bonus increases as you level enchanting, I recommend holding off on unnecessary translations until your enchanting level is in the mid-40s. As you can see there is a big difference in the translation bonus received at level 2 (1060) and level 45 (11072).

 

Enchanting Level	Translation Bonus
2	1060
5	1876
10	2646
15	3518
20	4610
25	5569
30	6762
35	7909
40	9310
45	11072

 

Please keep in mind that creating glyphs is not the best way to level. Runes should be used to create glyphs. Never deconstruct a glyph you created as this will get you less XP, instead of trade or sell it to another enchanter. Deconstructing glyphs created by other players gives you substantially more Inspiration Points, so pair up with friends or guildmates and trade various glyphs with each other. If you don’t have anyone to trade with directly then simply join a trading guild.

You can also purchase glyphs for ESO gold. These are usually made by someone in the Guild, so this will get you a lot of Inspiration, especially if you buy higher-tier Glyphs.

Here is a chart showing the XP you get for crafting and deconstructing other player's glyphs. Deconstructing your own glyphs doesn’t get you the same % of these numbers. Thanks go out to @kly/Kneeneth Younger III for making this chart.

 

Enchanting is time-consuming, sometimes expensive, and is not for everyone. But once you get the hang of it, you will wish you started sooner. So, what are you waiting for?