Do you change your guardian stone according to what you're doing in the game (i.e. mage stone for casting, thief stone for alchemy, serpent stone for paralysis, etc) or use the "all-in-one" lover stone? Right now I'm using the lover stone since I usually forget to travel to the other stones to change them.

I don't even pick a stone.

I changed to the Shadow Stone after joining the Thieves Guild. It was useful for sneaking through Calcemo's Laboratory. Early in the game, I used the Atronach Stone because I'm not a magic user, so the - 50% magicka regen didn't hurt me, and I was needing help against magic damage.

I'm currently using the Lover Stone.

i always pick the lord stone, 50 armor protection plus 25% magic resistance...the lover stone, thief, mage and warrior stones aren't really necessary, they only help you level your skills faster and leveling fast isn't necessary for me so i don't even waste my time with those ones.once i get to whiterun stables, i take a carriage to dawnstar and make my way to the lord stone...its way up on a mountain, but not too difficult to get to early in the game...so thats what i do. having 50 more armor right off the bat and more magic resitance at the beginning is a pretty good bonus for a mage character...there's some other good stones but the lord stone is the one i use...ladystone i wouldn't waste my time on...all the regeneration type buffs aren't really worth it...especially magic regeneration.

Getting the "Lover's Comfort" buff from your spouse and switching to the relevant Standing Stone makes a huge difference if you're setting out to power level something.

But for general gameplay, it's tough to beat the Steed Stone (for Heavy Armor wearers) and the Lord Stone (for everyone else). The Atronach Stone can be a good choice for those who can mod out the magic Absorption bugs on PC, too.

I invariably pick a stone based on functionality not xp gains. Lord is most practical all round. Atronach is useful too if you don't plan on using summons or shadow warrior most the ones that have powers attached I forget to use xD

What's the bug? I never noticed anything.

Steed Stone is amazingly good for a non magic / non stealth character, assuming you want heavy armor. And with it not slowing you down any, why wouldn't you?

i definitely do sometimes its for whats best for the skill set im working on other times its just RP purposes but with each individual character i do keep there guardian stone the same

Magic Absorption has a chance to "absorb" your own spells and effects, thereby causing them to fail. Conjuration spells, and the effects from Shadow Warrior and Quick Reflexes are all affected by this. Thus, if you don't rely on any of those things, Magic Absorption is pretty safe; but it's not very reliable as a primary defense against magic.

I do sometimes. I'll also add another vote for the Lord Stone and Steed Stones.

Nope, I always try to get The Steed Stone ASAP unless I'm roleplaying.

I started with the Warrior stone got up those skills a fair bit, then went for the thieves stone mainly to upgrade my Light Armor, now I'm using the Lord Stone which reduces damage by 50% and magic resistance by 25%

I usually start with a char specific stone until I hit level 20 or so, then I go get the steed stone and leave it. I can carry jewelry that does what each stone does, and a lot more, with the Steed stone activated. Being able to carry 400 myself, and another 150 on my follower is a boon for those dungeon dives at mid level when you need cash for houses and everything else at the same time.

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't notice the issue because I must not have used conjuration during that time! Do you know if it also has a chance to absorb self-buffs, like Stoneflesh?

It doesn't seem to affect Alteration spells.

Early life, Lord or Steed stones unless I specificly want to level something up.

Later in life, Antroch Stone.

I don't, but it's not a bad idea.

I picked the Steed, 'cause I like lots of loot and I usually roll solo.

I don't use them. The last thing I want is for my skills to increase faster.

i use the warrior stone at first and then switch to the lovers stone. all skills go up 15% faster.

hard to beat if you concentrate on developing most skills the way i do.

Lord Stone for most builds, Steed stone for one. Also, Ritual stone is a fun way to kill a few hours.

I have taken a liking to Atronach stone for any Breton character. You always have an average 62% magic resistance/absorption plus when fighting a mage his attacks will keep your magicka filled. In addition, once a day you can be immune to magic for 60sec.

I changed them couple of times on my main character. He is 54 now and using the Steed stone, cause I don't want any more buffs on leveling or bonuses on my resists. Now I need only more space in my backpack.

I always use the Steed Stone, because I'm a pack rat, and if it's worth some money, can be used in crafting somehow, or would look good in one of my houses, I'll pick it up. It doesn't hurt that it makes armor not slow you down, since I tend towards heavy armor. Otherwise, I'll use a Stone that ups the speed at which I level up skills.