What Are Flawed Varla Stones in Skyrim?
Flawed Varla Stones are a kind of soul gem that can be found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Specifically, they show up in the Anniversary Edition. Something that interested individuals should keep in mind when seeking out Flawed Varla Stones.
Why Should You Care About Flawed Varla Stones?
As mentioned earlier, Flawed Varla Stones are soul gems, meaning that they are useful for enchanting things as well as recharging enchanted things. However, what makes them stand out is that they are reusable. Unfortunately, Flawed Varla Stones aren’t quite as good as either Azura’s Star or the Black Star. This is because they are limited to petty souls, lesser souls, and common souls. Still, this is enough to ensure that Flawed Varla Stones have a place.
How Can You Get Your Hands On Flawed Varla Stones?
There is more than one way for interested individuals to get their hands on Flawed Varla Stones. For starters, these things can show up as random loot in treasure chests. However, this isn’t the most reliable method for interested individuals to get their hands on Flawed Varla Stones. If they are lucky, they should be able to get one sooner rather than later; if they are unlucky, well, suffice to say that there are a lot of other possibilities for what can come out of those treasure chests. As such, if interested individuals want Flawed Varla Stones as soon as possible, they should seek out the Khajit traders that travel from hold to hold in Skyrim.
Fortunately, finding one of these characters should be very simple. First, Ri’saad travels between Whiterun and Markarth. Second, Ahkari travels between Riften and Dawnstar. Third, Ma’dran travels between Windhelm and Solitude. This means that interested individuals can find these Khajit traders on these routes. However, if they don’t want to head out into the wilderness, there is the option of just waiting at one of these stops until one of these Khajit traders shows up. Once that happens, it should be just a matter of buying the Flawed Varla Stones. Be warned that Flawed Varla Stones aren’t cheap. A single one of these soul gems costs 1,000 gold. Still, if interested individuals are going to be using enchanted things a lot, Flawed Varla Stones can be worthwhile until they manage to get their hands on either Azura’s Star or the Black Star.
How Can You Get Your Hands On the Alternatives to Flawed Varla Stones?
Interested individuals can expect to come upon a lot of soul gems over the course of the game. Still, that doesn’t mean that they are guaranteed to have soul gems on hand for whatever it is that they want to do when they want to do it. As a result, it is a good idea for interested individuals to know how they can get more soul gems so that they won’t be stuck if they run out at some point. First, there is the option of fighting mages as well as otherwise magical enemies.
This isn’t the most reliable method for getting more soul gems. However, since interested individuals can expect to spend a fair amount of time doing these things anyway, it won’t be surprising if a good chunk of their soul gems come from these sources. Of course, there are some places that are better for this than others. To name an example, most Dwarven automatons in Dwemer ruins contain either filled or unfilled soul gems, so make sure to check those out when the chance comes up.
Similarly, every single enemy in the Soul Cairn drops soul gems, which to be fair, makes sense considering the location. Second, there is the potential to loot soul gems from various locations. Some of these are guaranteed. Unfortunately, others are not. To name some examples, there are soul gems situated throughout the College of Winterhold. The issue is that interested individuals won’t be able to take them without stealing until they have become Arch-Mage. Even then, they won’t be able to take the soul gems that already belong to other characters without stealing.
To name some other examples, there are numerous filled and unfilled soul gems that can be found in the realm of Apocrypha. Simply put, Skyrim rewards interested individuals for putting more effort into exploration. Sometimes, those rewards come in the form of soul gems. Third, it is possible to buy both filled and unfilled soul gems from various merchants.
General good merchants can have these things in their inventories. Otherwise, interested individuals should focus on court magicians as well as certain characters in the College of Winterhold. Unsurprisingly, filled soul gems will be much more expensive than unfilled soul gems, so much so that they can hit three to four times the price of their unfilled counterparts. As a result, it might be better for interested individuals to avoid these unless they have either a lot of gold or a lot of need. Fourth, there is Blackrealm. Said location contains geode veins that can yield a number of high-value resources. Be warned that some of these geode veins will yield nothing but corundum ore while others will yield nothing but soul gems.
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the items are very reliant on the player’s level. It is possible for interested individuals to start getting black soul gems as soon as they hit Level 18. However, the chances of them doing so won’t be very good to say the least. Regardless, the geode veins in Blackrealm are a very good option for interested individuals who need more soul gems provided that they are willing to play through either “Discerning the Transmundane” or “Elder Knowledge.”
The former comes before the latter, though it is more common for people to come upon Blackrealm via the latter. Fifth, Azura’s Star and the Black Star can be earned by playing through “The Black Star.” Eventually, interested individuals will come upon the Broken Azura’s Star. When that happens, they will have the choice to fix it by going to either Aranea Ienith or Nelacar. The first option will give them Azura’s Star while the second option will give them the Black Star. There can be no doubt about the fact that the latter is the superior option when it comes to mechanics. However, Azura’s Star is still quite good if they don’t want to go with the second option because of roleplaying reasons.
