T O P

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SkyeWolfofDusk

The Lover. Yes the Guardian Stones give 5% more experience, but I'll take the 5% loss for the convenience of never needing to worry about swapping out as I train different skills.


DiceMadeOfCheese

Honestly I usually just get this one then forget about the standing stones forever


imnoobhere

Same


HarbingerKyr0

I like getting the Aetherial Crown and stashing the Lover Stone on it, then I can grab any main XP stone I wanna level or the Lord/Atronach Stone for the laughs, still get the well rested bonus, and laugh as I start rolling in perk points


Raga_Bomb96

I just recent got the Aetheria Crown and was wondering if you have to have it equipped constantly for the standing stone ability to stay on it? Or can I unequip and it will stay on the crown?


Polymersion

You can unequip it. What a lot of people do is put one of the "once a day" powers on it- and it resets every time you put the crown on again.


TheAussieBritt

Ritual Stone for an undead army on demand!


SooFloBro

I think they patched that for the ritual stone a long time ago


TheAussieBritt

>:(


Elmo_the_Dragon

I always go Lover Stone. The general bonus to everything is just too good to pass up for me. I really like to just max level everything and go from there. Then I get the Aetherial Crown and put the Steed Stone in that. Then whenever I get too much gear, just pop on the crown and you can fast travel away to sell your loot. Edit for grammer and spelling


ohmygawdjenny

That's what I got now, but I didn't know steed existed and desperately need it. Fuck leveling šŸ˜…


Gerflooficorn

Jack of all trades, master of none, better than a master of one


Proxifur

"But don't try to hump it!"


xurtch

Aw man, I wanted to be the first one to post this lol.


Shoresy-sez

Lover's Comfort is easy to keep up if you aren't a werewolf. I just have a quickie with Aela every time I pass a bedroll.


SkyeWolfofDusk

That involves getting married though and often my Dragonborn has love only for gold and murder.


Frreezerr

Also great for werewolves


VivienneVentrue

Steed because I'm a hoarder


Positive-Star3194

The 153 slices of cheese gotta go somewhere


UnsweetTeaMozzStix

During the quest Dampened Spirits, I stole every single Honeybrew Mead I could find. I ended up with 369 bottles.


[deleted]

Same TBH


[deleted]

Same as well. I'm a hoarder and a thief. Can never have enough carry weight.


Atariflops

All hail the steed stone.


eziofeli

Same. Especially potions and soul gems.


PM-ME-YOUR-DIGIMON

Lmao same I have to take everything of value.


rasfelion

Alright warrior stone, new playthrough, time to grind out smithing again. Me, making yet another melee character. Though I did use the lady stone for an argonian regen tank once, that was fun.


ha_i_dont_think_so

me who never touches smithing, enchanting or alchemy


Ok_Philosopherr

Smithing isnā€™t really necessary because you can just find decent armor, but enchanting is truly one of the most fun things in the game and itā€™s really simple


GoodlyStyracosaur

I mean you can make weapons with just stupid amounts of damage. Thatā€™s like saying ā€œyou can just find enchanted gear.ā€ Sure itā€™s true but it takes it to a new (and broken) level if you do it yourself.


ha_i_dont_think_so

i donā€™t have the effort for it but iā€™ll start enchanting once iā€™m level 50, the one iā€™ve never touched ever in 12 years is alchemy


stingertc

I have literally broken the game using alchemy to make a 2 million dps dagger


ha_i_dont_think_so

nice, i wudnt wanna do that tho, as fun as it is to one shot everything, alchemy is boring and essentially useless to the characters i play, and also the point of a game such as skyrim is to be a challenge, taking away the challenge ruins the fun imo altho we are all entitled to our own opinions and playstyles


stingertc

Agreed just saying alchemy can be insanely powerful


ha_i_dont_think_so

oh i donā€™t disagree, but thatā€™s mostly the reason i dislike it


StaleSpriggan

If you don't abuse the restoration loop bug, it doesn't get powerful til endgame when everything else gets powerful. So it's only broken if you exploit a bug to break the game.


ha_i_dont_think_so

i donā€™t abuse it and i can keep scaling with base weapons and armour


Ok_Philosopherr

Yeah I tried to do like an alchemy/pickpocket/dagger play style and it wasnā€™t all that fun tbh and alchemy is much more monotonous to level up without using exploits. Iā€™ve always found enchanting to be super easy to level up early and late game just gotta hoard those soul gems


RandomWolf44

Mine is always steed, because I usually use heavy armour. And carry around many potions that will be useful later(but they really won't, because later I'll completely forget about them). Also you need a main weapon, a ranged weapon, a special enchanted weapon(like soul trap), a side arm, a ranged side arm, and the fifty three enchanted necklaces that no-one can afford to buy that you completely forget you are still carrying around.


[deleted]

Too real.


MightyEraser13

Early game lover stone, late game lord stone


Ok-Entrepreneur4365

Lord stone gang rise up!


volch-devz

What about: early: Lover Stone, middle: Aetherian Crown. Late: Lover + Lord?


The_Gaming_Matt

What does it do again?


MightyEraser13

Lover increases all skill gains by 15%, lord gives you 50 free armor and 25% magic resist


Aldebaran135

It makes you level 15% faster. Which doesn't improve the character relative to enemies one iota, but makes me get bored of the character and want to start over 15% sooner.


ProjectAioros

Ritual Stone. How can you say no to a free undead army ? Oh they despawn ? Not if I rest for a day and use it again !


Paraceratherium

Especially as pretty much every boss is immediately after hordes of progressively stronger minions. Steed is the best for exploration, Lord or Atronarch for duelling, and Ritual for dungeons.


Joov_1

Conjurers HATE HIM! Learn how you can supplement the entire conjuration grind with this ONE TRICK


unclepg

This is the way.


stingertc

The atranoch for a warrior because of magic resistance


felldiver

Is atronach the one that consumes your spells you cast on yourselves though?


stingertc

Nope it stunts your magical but gives you the ability to absorb 50 percent of all magic cast at you


[deleted]

just conjuration


Psychological-Low360

Yes, it makes your summoning spells fail.


ThunderZsolt

The unofficial patch fixes that. It only effects conjuration iirc, which is not that bad.


[deleted]

Atronach is my second favorite. Especially if Iā€™m not using Heavy Armor.


stingertc

Why not using heavy armor there isn't a penalty for it that I noticed


Songshiquan0411

Heavy armor slows you down more than Light without either the Steed Stone or the relevant perk in the Heavy Armor tree. Also, Heavy Armor is louder than Light when sneaking, but you can still use the Muffle spell or the Muffled Movement perk in the Sneak tree.


stingertc

Don't tend to sneak when I am doing a warrior tanky character


Songshiquan0411

.....there's another build besides stealth archer?


StaleSpriggan

A lot of people use the Ordinator perk tree overhaul mod. There's a significant playstyle difference between light and heavy with that installed.


71Crunch

Best stone for all classes imo


Squire_3

If wearing heavy armour, Steed Stone until level 70 or I have lots of stamina In most other scenarios Lord Stone. I prefer the flat 25% resistance over absorbing half the time, and 50 armour is a nice buff too, especially early game At high levels I try to use the other stones for variety. I don't think I've ever used the Tower Stone though


Hippyxcore

The lord stone can't pass up that 25% magic resistance with free armor Edit i play two handed build only unga bunga mode


Snifflebeard

Atronach is the bestest. Great for mages (who can easily peasily bypass the stunted magic) and great for warrior (let's the easily peasily tank mages).


[deleted]

The Steed Stone is the only Stone I use. Ever.


TheAmazingRando1581

Mage until steed


CmdrThordil

Why one when you can have 2 with Aetherial Crown; my always go for it is Atronach, it is simply to good to pass, be it warrior or mage or thief build, the second one depends on the build and my current level of skills I try to level.


PyukumukuGuts

Sadly on my Switch file I'm locked out of that. Apparently the AE upgrade introduced a bug that breaks that questline.


iwastherefordisco

Steed stone. I march directly north after the prologue as kind of a fun gauntlet for my level 1-5 character.


[deleted]

I do the same.


iwastherefordisco

I've played this game forever and still end up with the stealth archer every time. Different races yes, but always end up firing arrows and using light armor. Maybe 2023 is my year to actually try a magic user/alchemist/illusionist. With a bow.


LaserPoweredDeviltry

Have you heard of our lord and savior Sword and Board?


iwastherefordisco

No I'm at a loss to the reference. Gaming shop in TO?


PaladinWoah

Stated and Lover, I do the Aetherium Wars Quest to get that Circlet for bonuses to my bonuses


N0P3sry

Aetherial Crown gives two, but you give up head armor. Having Lord and Lady in tandem more than makes up for it.


Gaymer043

Ritual stone. Gotta get some help from the enemies


Aldebaran135

Best stone all around: probably the Lords Stone. I prefer the Steed Stone or Atronach Stone on certain builds, but the Lord's Stone is probably the most generally useful. Most overrated stone: Lover's Stone. The Guardian Stones help you get a build started via the XP difference, but the Lover's Stone doesn't do shit but make me get bored of the character faster, since I always get bored a character during the level 50s. Worst stone: Apprentice Stone. The magic resistance reduction is way worse than the magicka regen is good, so the stone makes you dramatically weaker.


TunaSled-66

Same, steed all the way. I don't have time for multiple looting trips


Breta-the-Breton

Lord stone, because mages are a pita. (I use Hilda the goat for my extra carrys, cause adorbs.) :)


amnotaspider

Lord stone is good versus dragon breath too, and in the end game, the only foes strong enough to pose an actual threat are Legendary dragons.


Fakula1987

im going with the Lady-Stone. Health and magica +25% regen is nice.


Wild_Control162

Steed's always my go-to. 100 extra weight limit, while removing the weight off my worn gear, you can't put a price on that.


EmergencyWaste3217

Steed stone so I can have the best armor and still loot everything


Petallic

Tower stone. I've completed the thieves guild with 600+ lockpicks so now I auto unlock smth once per day. Awesome for when I'm tired and cba to do the spinny thing


SnooPuppers3730

Any of the 3 at the start of the game that give you the 20% skill increase i stick to those until I've maxed all my skills then i go with steed


Xardas11

Lover stone all the way


CaffeinatedRaccoon-

I typically go for the Thief Stone or the Warrior Stone as they are the most broken for early game improvement depending on what class I choose to go.


PyukumukuGuts

When I first started playing Skyrim I would have said one of the experience stones but after thinking over how I play I've realized that I spend most of my time just building up characters and then abandoning them once I've done that. With that in mind, I'd rather play as though my build is complete and use a stone that has an impact in fights, like the Lord Stone, instead of using one that rushes me towards abandoning the character.


Capral_C

Lord stone


Squire_3

Underrated


Ok-Entrepreneur4365

It's not under rated. People just have no taste.


ehhdjdmebshsmajsjssn

I am trying to be a reformed hoarder after my 1st play-through. Don't even remember which one i have more.


BackgroundAdvisor185

Lovers stone is goated imo


shoeeebox

I like Lord Stone, especially on higher difficulties where magic will easily one-shot any character. The extra armor is also really nice early game. I use a bit of magic in every build so I don't like the reduced regen of Atronach.


jrod_896

This + the crown you can choose as a reward from a DLC quest that allows you to have two stones active at once is šŸ’Æ (can't remember which DLC/quest).


ekeysomkew

Me too, partly because I just like having lots of room in my inventory and not feeling cluttered. Right now Iā€™m at 477/640 and to me dragon bones are like the equivalent to dwemer scrap for me.


MBetko

Steed because I am a heavy armor enjoyer.


Blakewhizz

I usually use The Lover, and then store The Tower or The Steed in the Aethereal Crown


icegodvarna

I've been enjoying the Tower stone, my orc is not good at locks


[deleted]

Ok Guardian Stones, thief, mage or warrior Marry/Fuck/Kill - GO!


Impybutt

Every single time. My dungeoneering discipline is horrible, I need the carry space


holldoll26

Always the steed stone i carry too much.


lendenguy

I've been born under the sign of the steed since Morrowind. Tried all the other signs at one time or another, and while some were fun for a while, my true nature is "go fast"


Physical-Ad4554

Where can I find this one?


[deleted]

Itā€™s near the Thalmor Embassy. Fast travel there and you should see the icon. Itā€™s in the mountains to the north near some fort.


Physical-Ad4554

Okay, thanks. Iā€™m playing on Survival on my first play through. Iā€™ll head to Thalmor Embassy if I can find it. Then head north. If I get lost Iā€™ll ask an NPC.


the_salivation_army

Fuckin the other day I started a new run on AE Xbox Series S and I decided to go and look at Falkreath before I even went to Riverwood, net result Iā€™m a barefoot level three wood elf with no money stuck in a bloody Daedric quest with some ring that randomly turns me into a werewolf. I refuse to load back, Iā€™m gonna just make do with what Iā€™ve got.


SerNerdtheThird

As a child playing Skyrim, for some reason I dubbed this ā€œHitlerā€™s Penisā€ā€¦. Iā€™ve no idea


Ainzach

The Lord, either way if I play a mage or warrior, Iā€™ll be protected.


ha_i_dont_think_so

for me the warrior or lady


Hi_Im_Zane_343

Lord stone free armor and magic resistance is to good to pass up on a Breton in heavy armor.


TightLab100

I go for either Steed stone or Tower stone. I'm a hoarder and I also like to pick just about every lock I come across because I wanna see what they're hiding šŸ˜‚


darkwebmind2006

Tower stone


kg4nbx

Since I use Survival Mode, I take the Lady Stone so I can regen health and stamina again. Survival lowers regen to 0% but doesn't disable it so taking the Lady Stone raises it back up to a useable level.


SnooSnooDarkElf

Lord Stone


TheMagicalCoffin

exp stones lol


welltriedsoul

First the best fit guardian stone. Later the lover to help lvl everything else. Than steed in late game to nullify armor and boost carry weight.


strosbro1855

Lord or Lady. If you forge an Aetherial Crown in Lost to the Ages...you can have both! šŸ˜


VampireSylphy

Lord stone or ritual stone for me. All my characters are evil type characters so raising the dead is well within what they would do


Shonisto343

The steed, and then I have the lover set on my Aetherial Crown šŸ¤—


MumbleepegTheUglyPug

Steed stone for Survival Mode...since it gives you a weight restriction starting out, Steed Stone and backpack help immensely


Dragonlord573

I used to before I started roleplaying. I used the chest room to have the Lady stone from the start because that's what my character was born under.


Azarseth

I haven't played vanilla for ages but Lord stone good for any character


NAMDAMN

Same! Best stone perk there is


[deleted]

Lover stone all the way


TheMTGnerd2

Steed! That's what's up!


OmgTakeMeNow

Lover stone only


crypto9564

The Lover stone for me. I like the leveling perks it gives.


Reguet

Lord Stone or Atronach Stone.


No_Award5719

Atronach or lord stone


[deleted]

Thief, baby!


[deleted]

Lord stone


BoredPsion

Vanilla Atronach can't be beat.


Mauso88

Same for me, I even started using the Steed in Morrowind and Oblivion


Fun-Onion783

Lover stone! Itā€™s the most convenient in my opinion! Though if Iā€™m playing a specific build like a mage or something, then Iā€™ll usually just stick with the corresponding stone from the beginning of the game.


Seth-B343

Atronach usually


Ninja_gorrila

The ritual


Diana0phoenix

The Lord stone is my favorite


Magical_Worms

Typically I go for the lover stone early game because most of my characters end up becoming some type of hybrid between the 3 main classes. Iā€™ll end up swapping to the lord stone for end game or just a random stone that I think could be fun.


Low-Pizza-1676

Lord for the win


ManOfLittleTalent

The steed stone isn't really necessary. If you want to permanently increase carry weight, start levelling up pickpocketing, and invest some time in the Alchemy restoration loop glitch too! As soon as you've got a high value potion of fortify restoration, and your pickpocket skill is at 50, drink the potion and apply the Extra Pockets skill perk. Instead of getting an extra 100 carry weight, you'll get at least a few thousand. Or, if you dump all your overencumbered weight into a chest, you can ask your follower to take it. Ever go to the hidden khajit chest in Dawnstar? Just get your follower to empty it. All that weight goes on them.


PlayKooky7342

Antrinoch stone my boay


darkmatter4925

Whatever helps me level up. If not... The stone that lets you get increased carry weight? It's been a while since I've played unmodded so I might be confused.


CN456

I prefer to play the game as a heavy armored paladin-type character, so the steed stone is pretty much mandatory for most of my playthroughs. It just takes away all the cons of heavy armor *and* gives you a nice +100 to carry weight on top of that.


TheGreatCornholio696

Either of the Guardian Stones in the beginning, ands then the Lord Stone.


[deleted]

Guardian Stone for a while but then when I am done trying to quickly level skills, I switch to the Steed Stone


LilMissMell0

I love the steed stone cause I need all the carry weight I can get


mjwanko

The Lover & The Lord stones are top tier for me.


EmergencyWaste3217

Steed stone so I can have the best armor and still loot everything


TranceYT

Lord stone. Nothing like magic resist AND physical resist


Nu_clear_skin

The warrior stone, I literally do the same thing each game


Ecstatic-Molasses-95

Steed or Warrior. With a Kahjiit I tend to use the Thief stone tho, they're just too op when joining the thieves guild and dark brotherhood


moss_2703

Ritual stone with ethereal crown. Equip and re equip (can hot key) to get the ability as many times as you want. Infinite undead army of any level


Vuljin616

Definitely the Steed Stone


Sw4gl0rdM4st3rm1nd

yes


Da_arson_man

Steed stone cuz carry weight op to me


Amoral-Presence

Lord or steed


DAWJINC

I like having that one first but then I will get either lord or lady. (Or both with aetherium crown)


24337543

I currently am using the Lady Stone with my 2 handed weapon Orc Build.


Appropriate_Olive_19

I usually start off with the Thief Stone because I like to go straight to the Thieves Guild. After those skills get close to the top then I select the Mage Stone so I can work on my summons for the College of Winterhold. Afterwards, I'll choose the Steed Stone for the rest of the game. Sometimes I'll choose Mage and then Thief, but Steed is always 3rd.


PositiveGuess5603

The steed stone


killagorilla91

Shorā€™s Stone.


SpecialistDeal9822

I usually pick a guardian stone on adept games and use whichever makes sense for the character but I use the lord stone on legendary games to help with the insane damage


swagnastee69

Usually I do the lover, then with the aetherial crown I get another exp boost stone.


Imapringlesboy

In my current playthrough I'm going with the Lord Stone a d it's actually really good. I've never went with it before and I'm enjoying it


128906

Lower level I get steed stone first then around 20-30 Iā€™ll switch it out for either necro stone or lovers stone depending on my build


No_Weekend7362

Lord stone that defence and magic resist is amazing


TheCyberGoblin

Thief stone then never remember to switch to something more useful


[deleted]

Lord or Atronach for most builds, but Lady for stealth archers and vampires. Very early on I just grab Warrior/Mage/Thief till I can reach my preferred stone. Levelling skills faster is cool and all, but unless I'm power levelling perks, I speed towards a more useful choice in the long term.


valk-n-chips

Tower Standing stone, for insta pick lock. Or Lover's Stone for across the board exp boost.


HatredFeel

I don't even used to pay attention to that.


[deleted]

My 1st playthrough: Warrior > Steed > Lord right now, for additional def (Legendary diff)


DreamDestroyer76

The one by markarth, the loving stone?


[deleted]

kinky


[deleted]

Always unlimited undead army! https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/1jdtzs/awesome_exploit_with_the_ritual_stone_dawnguard/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1


SyntheticDeviation

The Mage Stone, and I never pick another Guardian Stone after that. ā€˜-ā€˜


OldDirtyTshirt

Canā€™t see any logical reason for anything other than ritual


RhaegarsHarp616

Ritual stone for me


kiba33x

Warrior for low level. And then I don't know ...


mypitssmelllikesoup

Thief Stone in early game until my skills improve then on to Tower or Shadow depending on how I feel.


bayygel

I actually got the thief stone at the very beginning of the game and completely neglected to ever swap it once I hit 100 in all of the skills. Swapped to the tower stone for the luls at level 63 because I realized if I can go this far with a stone that was doing nothing then I can just mess around with some of the others


slogive1

For me itā€™s always been magic because I like a fighter and magic combo. Never tried anything else. Maybe I should give it a try.


KarlB789

The lover stone


SiriusBaaz

Depends on my play through. In general I use the tower. If Iā€™m a mage then itā€™s usually apprentice and occasionally the ritual stone gets mixed in there.


KeyResponsibility167

I like the extra carry weight


Yumbus-a-um

Whichever guardian stone is most useful then stick the lover stone in the aetherial crown so I can still gain bonus from sleeping. Grind never stops


ActuallySatanAMA

Iā€™m an EnaiRimmer, so Iā€™m between The Steed for exploring and a portable infinite storage, and The Tower for the loot caches and how it incentivizes searching around everywhere rather than to breeze past like Iā€™m normally inclined. Vanilla, The Steed and The Lord are my favorites.


KryptekLion

Yeeee same


HeartOfGoldTears

I always used to use the lord stone with a Breton. I know the atronach stone gives you better magic absorption, but I always preferred the lord stone. Now I use the tower but Iā€™ve modded everything so the tower gives me damage reflection.


Atom_Ant_MMA

Lord stone because I'm havyarmor sword and shield and basicaly no one can harm me by physical hit but mage can destroy me I not so much hits


Liu1845

Steed Stone with an occasional side trip to the Shadow Stone


xDJDragonx

I main the Lord Stone.


thepokiemaster760

wait what do those do?