I was talking to my friend today and he was complaining of not being able to find enough soul gems to perform the soul trap ability so he can charge up his weapons. He even said he is considering re-starting the game just so he can get Azura's Star and keep it (instead of giving it to Martin).

I told him (we're both PC players btw) that he should just do what I do (the intelligent thing) and just open up the construction set, place 500 Varla stones (weightless, naturally) and put them in his Anvil Home (or any other home he wants a safe storage space).

For some reason, he doesn't want to do this but at the same time, he is clearly jealous as I was showing him all my great mods, i.e. my endless supply of Varla stones, my health spells that give me 500+ health without using any magicka and my shield effects on my Hood of Invincibility which make me pretty much impossibe to beat in-game.

I'm sharing this wisdom btw as he (plus another friend of mine) just don't understand that you can make Oblivion work for you, not visa versa.

Spawning Varla stones is better than soul trap/collecting soul gems. Agreed?

no that is just cheap, and also soul trap is very useful if you have black soul gems

Never played on PC with mods, but that is what I do on the PS3 but a little different.
I use the duplication glitch to duplicate varla stones, and use them.
But I duplicate Grand soul Gems for enchanting uses.
I dont know whether you can use the dupe glitch on the pc though..\
But to answer your question yes. they are a lot better.

Spawning 500 Varla Stones>soul trap I explained why. You haven't.

In my opinion, no its not. Although your friend was kind of dumb to give up Azura's Star, I still think what you are doing fits my definition of cheating. But hey, its a single-player game, do what thou wilt. To me, you didn't earn those Varla Stones so you don't deserve them. But, like I said, it really doesn't affect me one way or the other.

Maybe the fact that some people actually enjoy playing the game without cheating?

Your cheating good job. Im not impressed. :hubbahubba:

Yeah you can mod your butt off and break the whole game. :shakehead: For those who actually play games for fun and entertainment, and are smart enough to use the things given to us, soul trap is far from useless.

I did earn them. I spent a while learning the construction set and improving my modding skills. Every single Varla Stone I earned and I don't have to use soul trap or worry about Azura's star. Geez, I'm trying to share my wisdom here, a little gratitude is in order no?

Where is he looking for soul gems? Go after necromancer and conjurer lairs, and any caves that have beasts/animals in them - those usually turn up plenty of soul gems and enchanted stuff. He can sell tons of stuff he finds and just pay one of the mage guilds to charge up a weapon. I never use Azura's Star much at all. I find soul gems when out looting, use the trap spell and charge weapons on the fly. Like any good adventuress.

Maybe he doesn't want to add in soul gems or varla stones because for him it's more fun to have a goal for dungeon diving and so on. I never cheat stuff like that in... I like collecting what I need.

Lol, Gumshoe i would suggest trying to not to brag about mods in here... people freak out.
I really could care less and I would do the same thing if i played on PC because ive already played through everything on the ps3.
But just saying. People freak out, as you can see.

I honestly do not think I could play Oblivion without Azura's Star.

He's too lazy to learn the construction set. All he needs are varla stones. Nothing else.

Just spawn 500 varla stones. Sheesh it's not rocket science.

LOL Leydenne is gonna keel you

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Azura%27s_Star

:facepalm:

Even better when you can summon a creature and trap it's soul in the thing. A nice way to keep your enchanted weapon powered when there is no creature souls to trap. One of the game's loading screens specifically points this fact out.

Ubooya, stop trolling my thread and add something worthwile please.

How many times do I have to say it: just spawn 500 Varla Stones. Job done

Sheesh I thought my friend was clueless please take my advice as it's helpful!

I just make a mod that sets all quests to complete so that way I don't have to bother playing the game at all. It is much easier.

You didnt earn anything by practicing modding. Thats like playing MW2 and shooting infinite toobs with one man army and saying "I learned the Perk system."

Your a cheater, your kind tick me off, and I dont think you will be here long. Your either trolling, a moron, a loser, or under 18.

Now that IS a waste of time. Please don't compare my gameplay advice to yours, it's not comparable. Mine is actually worthwhile and helpful.

Cheating? So when you enchant items, are you cheating too?

Spawning varla stones should be textbook practice really. It certainly puts an end to repetitive (and boring) soul trap.

Well, as was said, some people don't like to use mods/console commands for such things while others, like yourself, do. To each their own.

You could have also written a post saying how you could use console commands to update your journal completing every quest in the game while still in the tutorial and claim "questing is useless" Play how you like, if your friend or others don't want to follow your example, that's up to them.

Edit: mcc84 beat me to it, should have spawned some varla stones and I could have gotten in my post sooner. :wink_smile:

I play on 360, so I can't "spawn" anything, except maybe carpal tunnel syndrome from using my controller too much. And, even if I could "spawn" things I wouldn't. I play Oblivion from, apparently, an entirely different perspective than you do. What you describe yourself as doing wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable to me, as the way I play it. I want the game to be a challenge.

You're on xbox? Enough said. I can't take anyone seriously who doesn't play PC. Sorry, you're not a real fan of Oblivion if you won't get a PC.

Leydenne is gonna shut you down real soon son. Good luck growing up.