The Guardian Stones
Primary Location Guide
The Guardian Stones are a set of three different Standing Stones in Skyrim that each closely related to a particular set of skills and general class of character proficiency. The Mage, Thief and Warrior stone all grant a 20% bonus in skill advancement within the set of skills each stone covers.
For this reason, along with it’s close proximity to your initial starting location in the game, it is advisable and highly likely that this location is one of the first you discover outside of Helgen. Make sure to stop by here and pick one of the blessings to have active before advancing further into the game, as you will thank yourself later and to come back if you begin focusing on raising a new set of skills.
Nearby Ingredient Items:
- Thistle
- Mountain Flower
How to Find the Guardian Stones
The Guardian Stones primary location can be found upon escaping Helgen during the main storyline quest Unbound. Along the left side of the path towards Riften, you will find all three of the Standing Stones arranged around a stone platform in the ground, overgrown with tree roots. This location will be by the waters edge as the road turns north-east towards Riverwood. If you have uncovered the Embershard Mine location, head directly west just a short distance from the entrance into the mine itself.
The Warrior Stone
The Warrior Stone shows a human figure etched within its surface, holding a shield in one hand and an axe in the other, along with what appears to be a heavy suit of armor. This standing stone gives a 20% boost to the direct combat and physical damage absorption skills that define the warrior class of character.
Skills Governed By Blessing:
- Archery – Bow usage and ranged attacks with arrows.
- Block – Damage absorption skill for utilizing shields.
- Heavy Armor – The stronger yet more encumbering of the two armor types, best for melee focused characters and tanks.
- One-Handed – One handed melee weapons that can either be dual wielded or used in conjunction with a shield such as Swords, Maces and Daggers.
- Smithing – The crafting skill for the creation of all armor and weaponry. Also allows you to improve already crafted armor and weapons.
- Two-Handed – Used for weapons that take two hands to use, thus not permitting the ability to wield a shield at the same time such as Battle Axes, Greatswords and Warhammers.
The Mage Stone
The Mage Stone contains the etchings of a wizard with long flowing beard and robes, holding a staff in one hand and conjuring a spell in the other. This standing stone will grant a 20% boost in the rate at which you learn all skills relating to magic and the arcane arts.
Remember: All spells require Magika to cast, so if you focus on the Mage class of skills, you should put a decent amount of points into raising your Magika pool when you level up.
Skills Governed By Blessing:
- Alteration – Spells that focus on changing the physical properties of the world and its objects such as Telekinesis, Water Breathing, Stat Buffing Spells and negative effect spells like Paralysis.
- Conjuration – Dictates the effectiveness of spells that involve raising the undead, summoning temporary elemental companions, summoning magical weapons or Soul Traping.
- Destruction – Spells that use Frost, Shock or Fire to do direct damage to enemies while also causing secondary effects.
- Enchanting – Crafting skill that allows you to put magical enhancements on already unenchanted items through the use of trapped souls within soul gems.
- Illusion – Spells that manipulate minds and typically give utility purpose such as Fear, Invisibility and the most entertaining, Frenzy, which causes targets to attack other random targets.
(Protip: Cast that mess in a crowded town center for serious laughs, but save first) - Restoration – All spells governing the healing of yourself or other characters such as direct HP healing or disease and poison curing.
The Thief Stone
The Thief Stone has an etching of a hooded figure in a cape and mask, ducking and running, holding a dagger in one hand and a coin purse tucked to his/her chest in the other. This standing stone will grant a 20% boost to the rate at which all stealth and deception related skills, involving sneaking about and thieving from people. Typically these skills while non-combat oriented, grant the best increases to your abilities to accrue wealth, albeit often in underhanded methods.
Skills Governed By Blessing:
- Alchemy – The crafting and creation of various potions and poisons that can effect Health, Magika or Stamina, boost skills rating, grant resistances to elemental damage or be laced onto your weapons as poisons to do similar negative effects to enemies hit with your next attack. Most potions are temporary in effect.
- Light Armor – The weaker yet lighter of the two armor classes, best for granting better chances at remaining undetected while sneaking, giving you more room for loot and allowing you to run faster.
- Lock-picking – The art of breaking into locked chests and doors or disarming traps.
- Pickpocket – Stealing possessions from other characters that are on their person, and getting away with it. Note: You can never have more than a 90% chance to succeed at pickpocketing as this is the max. Keep this in mind when choosing perks. Also this skill raises very quickly and can be boosted efficiently by stealing high value items or significant sums of gold.
Protip: Save before pickpocketing something and if you fail you can reload and try again without the consequences. Also boost easily by stealing trinkets such as rings and amulets which are easy to get away with whilst particularly valuable. - Sneak – The higher your sneak skill, the harder it is for enemies to detect you while in Sneak (crouched) mode. Necessary for stealing lose items where you can’t efficiently block physical line of site between you and another NPC. Also good for high damage sneak attacks.
- Speech – Governs the price at which you buy and sell items while allowing you to make more money by giving shopkeeps more gold to barter with or selling them stolen items with the use of the skill tree’s perks. One of the hardest skills to raise without using specific boosting methods.
The Guardian Stones Video Guide
Last Updated on October 4, 2020 by Standard of Entertainment