Looking for bookshelves

Lotka

Where are places with a lot of book shelves? (I know mages guild in Vulkel Guard, Davons Watch, and Daggerfall) Where else? I go to some dungeons and they sometimes have them in them. Are they a specific type?

Thanks.

davey1107

I don’t think anyone understands entirely how this system works, but here’s the best I can describe how it seems to.

Certain shelves seem to be programmed with a hidden setting that lets them produce a skill book sometimes. There’s no list that tells you “go to the third shelf in blah blah...” There used to be lists...you would find a specific book in the Mage Guild in Daggerfall, etc, but at some point they changed the system and now they’re randomized.

Once a shelf procs a book for you, I don’t think it ever will again. Delves and mage guild halls are good locations. Ayleid style delves tend to have tons of shelves, and there always seems to be 1-2 skill books there.

Skill books are named items, so there is a limited number (80-90). If you complete the Mage Guild quest line, Shalador will give you “Eidetic Memory” This expands your Lore Library section of your menu so that you have a checklist of every book in the world, including skill books. You can only learn each book once, so there are a limited, defined number of points available. Once you learn the five Blacksmith book, that’s all the free smith points you can have.

As a general rule, hunting skill books isn’t that useful. The free points are nice, somgrab shelves when you see them. But once you’ve picked up a few dozen, it gets less helpful and makes more sense just to focus on the skills you need to level through xp.

Lotka

Just need to know where more bookcases/shelves are, honestly. Shelves are randomized. You can go back to the same shelves another week and read another book.

Apache_Kid

There's a delve in Shadowfen named Grandranen and it has a crazy amount of bookshelves. Can't imagine there's any place that has more

Taleof2Cities

Not sure how outdated the UESP is ... but here you go:

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Skill_Books

Vanya

As a new player giving advice to a new fellow adventurer , wise decision would be to search every house of the major city,town,settlement, most notably Capital cities.

Any Exterior place Keep an eye for the Bookshelf.

It wouldn't be a problem because I believe we are allowed to get almost anywhere within the Tamriel since very start.

Marabornwingrion

Apache_Kid wrote: »

There's a delve in Shadowfen named Grandranen and it has a crazy amount of bookshelves. Can't imagine there's any place that has more

Seeker's Archive in Craglorn.

Apache_Kid

Astrid_V wrote: »

Apache_Kid wrote: »

There's a delve in Shadowfen named Grandranen and it has a crazy amount of bookshelves. Can't imagine there's any place that has more

Seeker's Archive in Craglorn.

Another good call

Lotka

Thanks. UESP is outdated or incomplete. Books are randomized. Most of the books in there seem to be in Mournhold. You can find skill books anywhere there's a book case. I found a delve in Auridon named Ondil that has a bunch of bookshelves. Was hoping there'd be a list of places like this for people who go through looking for skill books. Guess I'll have to make one on one of my CP toons when I'm done with my Kyne toon.

Lotka

Crypt of Hearts has bookshelves

Nestor

Lotka wrote: »

Thanks. UESP is outdated or incomplete. Books are randomized. Most of the books in there seem to be in Mournhold. You can find skill books anywhere there's a book case. I found a delve in Auridon named Ondil that has a bunch of bookshelves. Was hoping there'd be a list of places like this for people who go through looking for skill books. Guess I'll have to make one on one of my CP toons when I'm done with my Kyne toon.

Wont really work. Here is why:

There are a certain number of skill books per zone, and once you read them all, you probably won't see any new ones until you get to the next zone and sample from that group. It is also totally down to RNG as to if your going to get a Skill book or a regular book. And, since you only get the point the first time you read it, you probably see those skill books over and over again in the zone.

So, some take a ways.

1. As for Delves, Ayelid Ruins almost always have lots of books shelves.
2. If you want to maximize skill books over time, hit either the Mages Guild or an Ayelid ruin or two in a zone, them move on to the next one. I get most of the skill books I am going to get from a zone from one or two visits to Mages Guild or Ayelid Ruins.
3. If you want to maximize the effect of the skills books, in the sense of helping you level a skill, just wait until you have leveled your character to L40 or better to read any books in the game. By that point, you will have most of your skills in the 40's where it takes longer to level.
4. Other than Destro Staff, there are only 5 skill books for each skill, destro has 10, restro has none. So, your not going to gain all that much from the skill books over all, 10% in fact.

I have leveled 11 Alts to Max Rank. I have read skill books early, I have read them late, I have skipped zones, pretty much every approach you can think of to do this. Really, you will spend more time "gaming" the skill books trying to maximize their effect than if you just play the game and let things level as they level.

Lotka

Nestor wrote: »

Lotka wrote: »

Thanks. UESP is outdated or incomplete. ...

Wont really work. Here is why:

...

As I said, trying to get skills for Kyne. So less leveling, more skills, at a low level. I was going to Ayelid Ruins but not all of them have books. Well, I think you needed to do a quest at the couple I went to and I can't get too much XP. I like your idea of 2 mages guilds in a zone though.

Nestor

Its not really two mages in a zone, its two visits to the main one. Just pop in and out of the Outlaw Refuge to reload the zone to reset the shelves.

Some Ayelid Ruins do not have all that many books, but most have some, and a few have tons. I wish I had noted the ones I have done recently to help you. There are some that have to have 100 or more bookshelves. The one the Mages send you to for their first quest have lots of books.

Lotka

Nestor wrote: »

Its not really two mages in a zone, its two visits to the main one. Just pop in and out of the Outlaw Refuge to reload the zone to reset the shelves.

Some Ayelid Ruins do not have all that many books, but most have some, and a few have tons. I wish I had noted the ones I have done recently to help you. There are some that have to have 100 or more bookshelves. The one the Mages send you to for their first quest have lots of books.

I'll have to start taking note of these things when I'm on my CP toons. >.>