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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Hints
What are black soul gems for and how can I get them?
1 of 13: You need a black soul gem instead of a regular grand soul gem or Azura's Star if you're wanting to trap the souls of dremoras or NPCs.
2 of 13: If you're level 5 or higher, you can find black soul gems randomly on Necromancer Adepts in necromancer lairs (like Fort Linchal), but the main way to get them is to make them.
3 of 13: You first need an empty grand soul gem, or one that was empty when you got it.
4 of 13: Then you need to use a special necromancer altar to transform your grand soul gem into a black soul gem.
5 of 13: First, get your Mysticism skill up to 25 or more and buy yourself a regular Soul Trap spell. Check the Spell Finding list if you want to know who all sells it. (An alternative is to make a staff that casts Soul Trap during Raminus Polus' first Mages Guild quest.)
6 of 13: Then go to Dark Fissure (location 59 on the Nibenay map), Wendelbek (location 13 on the same map), Fort Istirus (location 5 on the West Weald map), or Fort Linchal (location 8 on the Colovian Highlands map).
7 of 13: At each location, the altar you seek is outside of the cave/fort, near its entrance door.
8 of 13: The altars will only be active and usable on certain days.
9 of 13: You'll know if the current day is one of them by looking directly above the altar to see if a spectral light is shining down upon it from the sky.
10 of 13: If you can get to one of those altars on a spectral light day, put a grand soul gem into its inventory and then cast your Soul Trap spell on the altar.
11 of 13: Now if you look at the altar's inventory, you'll see that your grand soul gem was successfully transformed into a black soul gem.
12 of 13: NOTE: If you put more than one grand soul gem at a time on an altar, you'll have to cast Soul Trap on the altar more than once to get them all transformed.
13 of 13: GLITCH NOTE: If you have more than one grand soul gem to transform, you can use a peculiar glitch to get unlimited black soul gems.
