Skyrim:Standing Stone

The three Guardian Stones

The Standing Stones are magical stones found in the wilderness which can give your character special abilities and powers. There are thirteen Standing Stones in total, each associated with one of Tamriel's thirteen constellations. Usually, only one stone's effects can be active at a time, although you can change which stone is active at any time by activating a different Standing Stone. However, by wearing the Aetherial Crown^DG, you may be affected by two Standing Stones concurrently.

The first three stones most players will encounter are the three Guardian Stones: the Mage Stone, the Thief Stone, and the Warrior Stone. These three stones are found together in a circle along the road to Riverwood near Lake Ilinalta. Selecting one of these stones allows you to effectively specialize in one group of skills. All of the other stones are located on their own.

Icon	Stone Name (IDs)	Description and Effects	Location
	The Apprentice Stone Ability ID: 000e5f4e Weakness ID: 0010e439	Those under the sign of The Apprentice recover Magicka faster, but are more susceptible to Magicka damage: Regenerate Magicka, 100% faster Weakness to Magic, 100%	On an island in the Hjaalmarch marsh, just north of Fort Snowhawk, west-northwest of Morthal Compass Marker visible from the East Empire Company Warehouse. (map).
	The Atronach Stone Ability ID: 000e5f51	Those under the sign of The Atronach absorb a portion of incoming spell damage and have a larger pool of Magicka, but recover it more slowly: Spell Absorption, 50% Damage Magicka Regen, 50% Fortify Magicka, 50 pts	In the southernmost part of the hot springs of Eastmarch, northwest of Mistwatch and east-northeast of Darkwater Crossing (map).
	The Lady Stone Ability ID: 000e5f54	Those under the sign of The Lady regenerate Health and Stamina more quickly: Regenerate Health, 25% faster Regenerate Stamina, 25% faster	On an island in Lake Ilinalta, directly north of Falkreath (map).
	The Lord Stone Ability ID: 000e5f58	Those under the sign of The Lord are more resistant to both Magicka and physical damage: Armor, 50 pts Resist Magic, 25%	East of Morthal, northeast of the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon, about one and a half times as far as Stonehills, up on the mountain. Follow the path starting north of the Hall of the Vigilant to the Shrine and the Stone (map).
	The Lover Stone Ability ID: 000e5f5a Perk ID: 000e5f57	Those under the sign of The Lover always feel a Lover's Comfort (All skills improve faster): All skills improve 15% faster	Northeast of Markarth (Follow road North), just north of Kolskeggr Mine (map).
	The Mage Stone Ability ID: 000e5f47 Perk ID: 000e5f49	Those under the sign of the Mage will learn all magic skills 20% faster: All magic skills improve 20% faster	Southwest of Riverwood, by the roadside, one of the Guardian Stones (map).
	The Ritual Stone Ability ID: 000e7329	Once a day, those under the sign of The Ritual can reanimate nearby corpses to fight for them: Dead Thrall, 75 pts for 200 secs in 75 ft	East of Whiterun, by the roadside, above the entrance to Graywinter Watch (map)
	The Serpent Stone Ability ID: 000e5f61	Once a day, those under the sign of The Serpent can use a ranged paralyzing poison on opponents: Paralyze, for 5 secs Damage Health, 5 pts for 5 secs	Directly east of the College of Winterhold and northeast of the Wreck of The Pride of Tel Vos, on an icy island in the Sea of Ghosts (map).
	The Shadow Stone Ability ID: 000e732a	Once a day, those under the sign of The Shadow can become invisible for an extended period: Invisibility, for 60 secs	South of Riften, near Nightingale Hall (map).
	The Steed Stone Ability ID: 000e5f5e Perk ID: 0001bac9	Those under the sign of The Steed can carry more and do not suffer a movement penalty from armor: Worn armor of all types is weightless and carries no speed penalty Fortify Carry Weight, 100 pts (only adds 50 points extra carry weight in survival mode)	Northwest of Solitude, near Ironback Hideout (map).
	The Thief Stone Ability ID: 000e5f45 Perk ID: 000e5f46	Those under the sign of the Thief will learn all stealth skills 20% faster: All stealth skills (including Archery) improve 20% faster	Southwest of Riverwood, by the roadside, one of the Guardian Stones (map).
	The Tower Stone Ability ID: 000e7328 Perk ID: 000e7326	Once a day, those under the sign of The Tower have the option to automatically open an Expert or lower lock: Unlock any lock, up to Expert in difficulty	About halfway between Dawnstar and Winterhold, on a high snow-covered cliff (map).
	The Warrior Stone Ability ID: 000e5f4c Perk ID: 000e5f4a	Those under the sign of the Warrior will learn all combat skills 20% faster: All combat skills (excluding Archery) improve 20% faster	Southwest of Riverwood, by the roadside, one of the Guardian Stones (map).

Achievements

Achievements related to the Standing Stones are:

• Blessed (10 points/Bronze) — Select a Standing Stone blessing
  • You must discover one standing stone, then activate its blessing. This is most easily accomplished using one of the three Guardian Stones.
• Standing Stones (30 points/Silver) — Find 13 Standing Stones
  • You must discover all thirteen of the standing stones (see bugs).

Notes

• The Standing Stones are comparable to the Birthsign Stones from Oblivion.
• If you are at or near one of the Standing Stones, and bring up the local map, the map title may refer to it as a "Doomstone". Nothing else in the game seems to use this term for these objects, though.
• Reading An Explorer's Guide to Skyrim will mark the locations of the following Stones on your map: the Guardian Stones, the Ritual Stone, the Shadow Stone, and the Lover Stone.

Bugs

• The Atronach Stone has a 50% chance of causing all Summoning spells and powers to fail. See Spell Absorption for details.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.0, fixes this bug.
• Archery is assigned to the Thief Stone, instead of the Warrior Stone.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2, fixes this bug.
• Reading An Explorer's Guide to Skyrim after the Guardian, Ritual, Lover, and Shadow Stones are marked on the map will cause a "Map updated." message to appear on the top left of the screen again, though no new Stones will be marked. ^?
• It is possible to receive the "Standing Stones" achievement by visiting any of the standing stones a total of 13 times rather than finding all 13 (or visiting the Guardian Stones 5 times). This may result in being stated to have visited more than 13 stones, as repeat visits are not taken into account. You must wait for the location to respawn for repeat visits to increment the counter.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2.7, fixes this bug.