Every soul in Oblivion is one of six possible strengths: Petty, Lesser, Common, Greater, Grand, and Black. More powerful creatures have more powerful souls. Souls are trapped in soul gems by using a soul trap spell. Trapped souls are used to enchant and recharge items.
Souls AlphabeticallyEdit
This table provides soul strengths for most of the standard creatures in Oblivion. Unique creatures (like the lich Lorgren Benirus) generally have leveled souls that are not in this table. See individual creature pages for full details on their souls.
Souls with a superscript (e.g., L:-1) are leveled; see the later section for details. In a few cases (Ogres, Sanctified Spectre) there are several different versions of the creature sharing the same name but having different souls; see those creatures' pages for details.
| Creature | Soul Level |
|---|---|
| Ancient Ghost | Common |
| Black Bear | Common |
| Boar | Lesser |
| Brown Bear | Greater |
| Clannfear | Common |
| Clannfear Runt | Lesser |
| Daedroth | Greater |
| Deer | Petty |
| Dog | Petty |
| Dread Zombie | Greater |
| Dremora | Black |
| Faded Wraith | Common |
| Flame Atronach | Common |
| Frost Atronach | Greater |
| Ghost | Pty/LsrL:-1 |
| Gloom Wraith | Grand |
| Goblin | Petty |
| Goblin Berserker | Common |
| Goblin Shaman | leveledL:-5 |
| Goblin Skirmisher | Lesser |
| Goblin Warlord | leveledL:+0 |
| Headless Zombie | Common |
| Horse | Lesser |
| Imp | Pty/LsrL:-1 |
| Land Dreugh | Greater |
| Lich | Grand |
| Minotaur | Common |
| Minotaur Lord | Grand |
| Mountain Lion | Common |
| Mud Crab | Petty |
| Nether Lich | Gtr/GndL:-7 |
| Creature | Soul Level |
|---|---|
| NPC (any race) | Black |
| NPC (essential) | none |
| Ogre | Gtr/GndL:-3 |
| Rat | Petty |
| Sanctified Dead/Spectre | leveledL:-5* |
| Scamp | Lesser |
| Sheep | Petty |
| Skeleton | Petty |
| Skeleton Champion | Greater |
| Skeleton Guardian | Lesser |
| Skeleton Hero | Common |
| Slaughterfish | Petty |
| Spider Daedra | Greater |
| Spiderling | none |
| Spriggan | Common |
| Storm Atronach | Greater |
| Stunted Scamp | Petty |
| Timber Wolf | Lesser |
| Tribe Goblin Berserker | leveledL:+1 |
| Tribe Goblin Farmer | leveledL:-3 |
| Tribe Goblin Guard | leveledL:-1 |
| Tribe Goblin Shaman | leveledL:+0 |
| Tribe Goblin Skirmisher | leveledL:+0 |
| Tribe Goblin War Chief | leveledL:+2 |
| Troll | Lesser |
| Vampire | Black |
| Will-o-the-Wisp | Common |
| Wolf | Petty |
| Wraith | Greater |
| Xivilai | Grand |
| Zombie | Lesser |
| Creature | Soul Level |
|---|---|
| Dark Guardian | leveledL:+0 |
| Everscamp | Lesser |
| Minotaur of the Grove | leveledL:+0 |
| Ogre (Pale Pass, Redguard Val.) | Common |
| Troll (Azhklan,Kalperklan) | leveledL:+0 |
| Undead Akaviri Soldier | leveledL:-1 |
| Creature | Soul Level |
|---|---|
| AuroranKOTN | Lsr/CmnL:-2 |
| Benirus Manor Ghost | leveledL:-1 |
| Deranged Zombie | Lsr–GtrL:-1 |
| Painted Troll | leveledL:+0 |
| Savage Goblin | leveledL:+0 |
| Savage Minotaur | leveledL:+0 |
| Savage Ogre | leveledL:+1 |
| Savage Troll | leveledL:+0 |
| Swamp Troll | leveledL:+0 |
| Spectral Sailor | leveledL:+1 |
| Uderfrykte Matron | Grand |
| Unicorn | Greater |
Souls by StrengthEdit
These lists only include creatures with fixed soul strengths.
| Soul type | Value | Creatures |
|---|---|---|
| Petty | 150 | Deer, Dog, Goblin, Mudcrab, Rat, Sheep, Skeleton, Slaughterfish, Stunted Scamp, Wolf |
| Lesser | 300 | Boar, Clannfear Runt, Goblin Skirmisher, Horse, Scamp, Skeleton Guardian, Timber Wolf, Troll, Zombie |
| Common | 800 | Ancient Ghost, Black Bear, Clannfear, Faded Wraith, Flame Atronach, Goblin Berserker, Headless Zombie, Minotaur, Mountain Lion, Skeleton Hero, Spriggan, Will-o-the-Wisp |
| Greater | 1200 | Brown Bear, Daedroth, Dread Zombie, Frost Atronach, Land Dreugh, Skeleton Champion, Spider Daedra, Storm Atronach, Wraith |
| Grand | 1600 | Gloom Wraith, Lich, Minotaur Lord, Xivilai |
| Black | 1600 | Humanoids (the ten races of Tamriel), Vampires and Dremora are all considered NPCs. |
NPC souls, as listed above, can only be trapped in black soul gems. This practice is considered akin to necromancy in the Mages Guild questline, and can also be ethically questionable in the roleplaying sense.
Black-soul trapping, however, is one of the only ways to acquire Grand-soul values for enchanting before level 20.
Soul StrengthsEdit
There are six possible soul strengths:
| Soul Level | Soul Strength |
|---|---|
| Petty | 150 |
| Lesser | 300 |
| Common | 800 |
| Greater | 1200 |
| Grand | 1600 |
| Black | 1600 |
A creature's soul strength is determined in one of two ways.
- Most standard creatures have fixed souls. For example, every Flame Atronach will have a common soul, regardless of location or player character's level.
- Most unique creatures and some other creatures have a soul strength based upon the player character's level--either the PC's level or an offset of the PC's level.
Offsets as low as -10 and as high as +10 exist, but the table below illustrates some common offsets:
| Soul level | L:-3 | L:-2 | L:-1 | Baseline L:+0 |
L:+1 | L:+2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petty | 1-4 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 1 | ||
| Lesser | 5-9 | 4-8 | 3-7 | 2-6 | 1-5 | 1-4 |
| Common | 10-15 | 9-14 | 8-13 | 7-12 | 6-11 | 5-10 |
| Greater | 16-20 | 15-19 | 14-18 | 13-17 | 12-16 | 11-15 |
| Grand | 21+ | 20+ | 19+ | 18+ | 17+ | 16+ |
Examples:
- When the PC is level 4, a Bloody Hand Rat Farmer (offset L:-3) will have a petty soul and all other Bloody Hand goblins (offsets L:-1 to L:+2) will have lesser souls.
- When the PC is level 5, a Bloody Hand Goblin War Chief (offset L:+2) will have a common soul and all other Bloody Hand goblins (offsets L:-3 to L:+1) will have lesser souls.
An additional complication is that some creatures have a minimum or maximum level that also caps their soul.
For Instance:
- Ghosts have a maximum level of 4--their souls will be at most lesser strength. With an offset of L:-1, ghosts will have petty souls until PC level 3 and lesser souls at PC level 4 and above. This is summarized in the chart by "<=LesserL:-1".
- Ogres have a minimum level of 16--their souls will be at least greater strength. With an offset of L:-3, ogres will have a greater soul until PC level 21 when their souls will be grand. This is summarized in the chart by ">=GreaterL:-3"
Creatures with no maximum or minimum soul level (any soul strength is possible) are stated with "leveled" followed by a superscript providing the offset.