I would like to buy lots and lots of Soul Gems. Petties etc. It's to train Enchanting.
I can't find a reliable source that constantly has a good supply.
(Aside from Collette at the Mages College, and the Wizard in Dragons Reach, I can't find anyone else?)
I'm surprised nobody else has said it yet but, BLACKREACH!
The area of the dwarven ruins Alfrand with the crazy giant glowing mushrooms. The main quest line brings you here to get the elder scroll.
There are a million dwarven machines that drop them, the falmer carry them sometimes, and finally, and the best part, you can mine them. Bring your pickaxe. Look for "Geode Veins." I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else but a geode vein is where soul gems come from. You mine it like just like iron or ebony ore.
I suggest using a weapon enchanted with soul trap also because every falmer you kill will go right into filling an empty gem. When I got done I had about 60 or so filled soul gems and leveled from enchanting 50 to 100 with the one trip!
Do the quest to find 30 crimson ninroots while you're at it and you'll run into all the geode veins.
When I wanted gems for enchanting I just went back and forth between Calcelmo in Understone Keep(Markarth) and the Wizard in Dragonsreach.
It's a roundabout way to solve this:
Complete The Black Star quest for Azura. You can either get a reusable black soul gem or a reusable grand soul gem (which you can then fill with petty souls to your heart's content).
If you hop between Calcelmo in Understone Keep (Markarth) and Wylandriah in Mistveil Keep (Riften) they will always have restocked since round-trip is about 54 hours (42 to restock). Wyldanriah is also a short distance from entrance.
(I should mention Understone<->Mistveil is also very useful when seeking the Banish enchantment as the blacksmiths are near as well. Oh and remember if you're married these time elapses can be profitable.)
If you're fast on your feet (high stamina, no armor or penalty, Whirlwind Sprint) the jaunt from Mage to General Store in both towns may be worth it.
For my test character (starting stamina, no armor, no shouts) from conversation-tree to conversation-tree:
Mage->Mage, 1 minute
Mage->General Store, Riften, 30 seconds
Mage->General Store, Markarth, 45 seconds (for both running & fast travel to entrance)
I used
set timescale to 150000 for instant vendor re-stocks, and the mages do carry on average more empty Petty Soul Gems than the general store, just enough that I think my Level 1 is too slow for the complex routes.
Complete the black star quest (research it). Make sure you have no soul gems in your inventory. Learn soul trap enchant (buy a weapon from a merchant and disenchant it).
Enchant soul trap on your weapon, then kill something to refill the black star quest reward. Recharge your weapon, rinse and repeat. Using this method I reached 100 Enchanting in an hour.
I just figured this out and I wish I had sooner:
There are about 30 filled soul gems available for the taking in the College of Winterhold (check both the Arch-Mage's Quarters and all the dorm rooms). Once you take them all, simply wait two weeks (takes about ten minutes real time) and then all of the gems will have respawned. For me, this has been the easiest way to get soul gems yet.
Go to Dawnstar, wait until the khajiit caravan is in town, and then go to the chest take all the soul gems. Go back to the khakiit camp, talk to the trader, wait 49 hours while looking at the trader (They wont leave town if you're watching them). I find it helps a lot to wait the extra hour, then go back to the chest, take gems. Rinse, repeat, be happy.
The Riverwood Trader in Riverwood has a lot of soul gems for me usually. If not, I go to Calcelmo in Understone Keep.
I go to dragonreach buy all his gems. Savegame, kill wizard, reload. Buy more gems etc., rinse and repeat. Works with all NPCs as well and is way quicker than waiting 48 hours for them to replenish stock and gold
In the dawnguard dlc the soul Carn just about every skeleton has soul gems on them filled like black or grand such and such I got so many last time I went and it was so easy. So much better than wasting your money on buying them. And if you wanted to soul trap just for conjuration exp then just spam cast soul trap on a dead body. Goes by fast if you make 4 items with 25% less cost magica on each of them so your conj spells cost no magic and just span soul trap. It gets to 100 so fast
What I do is buy from the jarls wizard in Dragonreach then save the game, kill him, load save, buy more, save and kill him again, then load again and keep repeating the process. He restocks every time you reload. :)
Tolfodir sells them in the College of Winterhold. Wait 48 hours and he replenishes (requires 2 wait periods). But you can sit there in one place which is nice.
Just about to hit 100 enchanting and put double enchantments on all my gear :-)
Soul Cairn from the Dawnguard DLC is a great place to farm soul gems - every enemy will drop either an empty or filled soul gem of random size, including black soul gems. You will unlock this area as you play through the plot of the DLC.
This is kind of an exploit, but what I did to level up Enchanting fast was...
1) First make sure you have a decent amount of gold, 10,000g or more. A good way to make gold fast is to pickpocket rings and necklaces off various npcs and sell them. Just 7 points into pickpocket can net you tons of gold. You can easily level it by training pickpocketing from Silda in Windhelm, SAVE GAME then pickpocket until you get the gold back without getting caught. If your low level, this will level you fast, so be prepared for that. You can also use the rings and necklaces to enchant.
2) Go to Adrianne in Whiterun, buy all the Iron Ore and Ingots off her. SAVE GAME. Kill her. LOAD GAME. She should have restocked all her iron (and gold; this works with all merchants and is useful for selling that jewelry you stole, ;P). Repeat until you have lots of iron. Also buy some Leather and Leather Strips.
3) Smelt the ore you have. Turn all your leather unto strips. You should have an equal amount of Iron Ingots and Leather Strips. Use the materials to make Iron Daggers. This method will quickly level your Smithing and as well as your character, so be prepared for that. Also, each time you level, it will also be a good idea to pay a visit to a trainer with a skill you don't plan on using much (5 free skill ups with pickpocket).
4) Go to Dragonsreach Hold. Farengar occasionally sells Petty Soul Gems filled with souls already. Buy these, SAVE GAME, kill him, LOAD GAME, repeat. Repeat until you have a good amount of gems.
5) Head to the enchanting table near by. Make sure you have any kind of weapon enchant, if you do not, buy a weapon with an enchant from a vendor and disenchant it to learn it. Enchant all the Iron Daggers you crafted using the Petty Soul Gems. This will level Enchanting very fast.
6) Sell enchanted Iron Daggers to Adrianne, SAVE GAME, kill her, LOAD GAME, repeat until all daggers are sold. If you still need iron to level enchanting, buy some each time before selling. You will actually come out ahead, even more so with lucrative enchants (Banish). You will make more of a profit if you use rings and necklaces to enchant, but I find that crafting daggers is faster due to the ease of buying the mats.
