Traits

Traits are special properties added to a crafted weapon, armor, or jewelry by the use of gemstones. You can learn the traits by researching it at the crafting tables of blacksmithing, clothing, woodworking and jewelry. It is the last tab after deconstruction. There are 8 separate traits and gemstones for weapons and armor and 9 traits and gemstones for jewelry, making 25 researchable traits in total. You can have a trait property and an enchantment effect on the same item. Traits are combined while crafting the item, while enchantments have to be applied to the finished product.

Researching[]

Researching a trait is done at the crafting tables of blacksmithing, clothing, and woodworking. The item that is being researched will be destroyed in the process. You can only research one trait at a time per table. Unless skill points are used to advance the passive ability in Blacksmith (Metallurgy), Clothing (Stitching), and Woodworking (Carpentry) to increase up to 3 items and decrease the time it takes to finish. The first item you research takes 6 hours. Each item after doubles the cooldown time.

First item = 6 hours
Second item = 12 hours
Third item = 1 day
And so on... (with ESO Plus reducing research times by 10%)

There are 2 traits that are not researchable: Ornate and Intricate. Ornate increases the gold value merchants will pay for an item and Intricate give you extra inspiration points when you deconstruct the item.

Gemstones[]

Gemstones are mainly found in Resource Nodes and also in containers such as barrels, crates, trunks, bookshelves, nightstands, and everything else that you can loot. You also have a chance to get a trait gemstone when you refine raw materials or by deconstructing an item with a trait applied. The gemstone you will receive will match the trait on an item you deconstructed.

Weapons[]

Traits	Properties	Gemstone
Charged	Increase your chance to apply status effects	Amethyst
Defending	Increases Physical and Spell Resistance	Turquoise
Infused	Increases weapon enchantment effect and reduces enchantment cooldown	Jade
Nirnhoned	Increase weapon damage	Potent Nirncrux
Powered	Increases healing done	Chysolite
Precise	Increase Weapon and Spell Critical values	Ruby
Sharpened	Increase Physical and Spell Penetration	Fire Opal
Training	Increase experience gained from kills	Carnelian
Decisive	When you gain Ultimate you have a chance to gain 1 additional Ultimate	Citrine

Properties by item quality:

Trait	Weapon type	Description	Normal	Fine	Superior	Epic	Legendary
Charged	One-Handed	Increases chance to apply status effects by __%	70%	80%	90%	100%	110%
Charged	Two Handed	Increases chance to apply status effects by __%	140%	160%	180%	200%	220%
Decisive	One-Handed	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Decisive	Two Handed	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Defending	One-Handed	Increases Physical and Spell Resistance by __	1200	1248	1296	1328	1376
Defending	Two Handed	Increases Physical and Spell Resistance by __	2400	2496	2592	2656	2752
Infused	One-Handed	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Infused	Two Handed	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Nirnhoned	All Weapons	Increases Damage by __%	11%	12%	13%	14%	15%
Powered	One-Handed	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Powered	Two Handed	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Precise	One-Handed	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Precise	Two Handed	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Sharpened	One-Handed	Increase Physical and Spell Penetration by __	1200	1248	1296	1328	1376
Sharpened	Two Handed	Increase Physical and Spell Penetration by __	2400	2496	2592	2656	2752
Training	One-Handed	Increase experience gained from kills by __%	2.5%	3%	3.5%	4%	4.5%
Training	Two Handed	Increase experience gained from kills by __%	5%	6%	7%	8%	9%

Armor[]

Traits	Properties	Gemstone
Divines	Increase Mundus Stone effects	Sapphire
Invigorating	Increase health, stamina, and magicka recovery	Garnet
Well-Fitted	Reduces the cost of sprinting and roll dodging	Almandine
Training	Increase experience gained from kills	Emerald
Impenetrable	Increase Critical resistance and enchanted item takes 50% less durability damage	Diamond
Infused	Increase this item's armor enchantment effect	Bloodstone
Reinforced	Increases this item's Armor value	Sardonyx
Sturdy	Reduces block cost	Quartz
Nirnhoned	Increase physical and spell resistance	Fortified Nirncrux

Properties by item quality:

Trait	Description	Normal	Fine	Superior	Epic	Legendary
Divines	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Impenetrable	Increase Critical resistance by __ and enchanted item takes 50% less durability damage	225	234	243	249	258
Infused	Increase this item's armor enchantment effect by __%	8%	11%	14%	17%	20%
Invigorating	Increase Health, Stamina, and Magicka recovery by __	3	5	7	9	11
Nirnhoned	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Reinforced	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Sturdy	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Training	Increase experience gained from kills by __%	7%	8%	9%	10%	11%
Well-Fitted	Reduces the cost of sprinting and roll dodging by __%	1%	2%	3%	4%	5%

Jewelry[]

Traits	Properties	Unrefined Gemstone	Gemstone
Arcane	Increases Magicka	Pulverized Cobalt	Cobalt
Healthy	Increases Health	Pulverized Antimony	Antimony
Robust	Increases Stamina	Pulverized Zinc	Zinc
Triune	Increases Health, Stamina, and Magicka	Pulverized Dawn-Prism	Dawn-Prism
Harmony	Increases the power of activated Synergy effects	Pulverized Dibellium	Dibellium
Swift	Increases your non-mounted movement speed	Pulverized Gilding Wax	Gilding Wax
Infused	Increases the power of the Enchantment on that piece of Jewelry	Pulverized Aurbic Amber	Aurbic Amber
Protective	Increases Physical and Spell Resistance	Pulverized Titanium	Titanium
Bloodthirsty	Increases the damage you deal to foes under x% health [?]	Pulverized Slaughterstone	Slaughterstone

Properties by item quality:

Trait	Description	Normal	Fine	Superior	Epic	Legendary
Arcane	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Bloodthirsty	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Harmony	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Healthy	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Infused	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Protective	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Robust	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Swift	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]
Triune	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]	[?]

Other[]

Nirnhoned equipment can be obtained by completing the questline in Upper Craglorn.^[1]
Invigorating trait replaced Prosperous, an armor trait that increased the amount of gold picked up from enemies, which was added as part of the The Elder Scrolls Online: Dark Brotherhood update. This trait has previously replaced Exploration and increased experience received from discovering locations.^[2]

Updates[]

Update 8: Fixed an issue which was preventing the Divines Armor Trait from applying properly to the Health Recovery bonus provided by The Steed.^[3]

Appearances[]

The Elder Scrolls Online

References[]

[1] Update 4 Patch Notes

[2] Update 10, Item Trait Improvements, Armor

[3] Update 8 Patch Notes

[1]