Frequently Asked Questions: Lighting in Tuxborn - Omni-guides/Tuxborn GitHub Wiki
"Tuxborn is too dark! How can I fix this?"
If you find that Tuxborn's overall lighting levels skew too dark for your tastes, you have a number of in-game options to deal with that. This page goes over them.
Base game methods
The following base game lighting methods still exist in our load order:
- Torches
- Candlelight spell
- Magelight spell
- Staff of Magelight
- Potion of Light
- Stendarr's Aura spell
- Night Eye (see below section on Night Eye for details on this)
Our load order does not include a method of crafting torches, so it is still advisable to nab any torch you see, if you want to build up a stock of them. Be aware that if you have Survival Mode activated, torches will have weight, so be careful about how many you're carrying at once. Situations to look for torches include:
- In inventories of slain guards, soldiers, or Vigilants of Stendarr
- In torch sconces in certain types of dungeons (bandit lairs such as Embershard Mine, but also the East Empire Company Warehouse)
The Candlelight and Magelight spells should both be easily bought from general good merchants, or from court wizards (such as Farengar in Whiterun). At minimum, it's a good idea to buy whichever one of these you find first.
Places you can find a Staff of Magelight are described on the UESP.
You can also create a Staff of Magelight at any staff enchanter, including the one in the Safehouse. But you will require two Heart Stones to make a Staff of Magelight, and you will likely not be able to acquire any of those until you visit Solstheim.
Certain Alchemy ingredients can be used to make a Potion of Light, as described on the Light page on the UESP.
Last but not least, Stendarr's Aura's primary use is as a cloak spell that does damage to the undead. However, it also happens to cast significant light in your immediate vicinity. So you can use it as a means of illumination as well.
Azurite Meditation
We run Azurite Weathers and Seasons in our load order, and this mod gives you a power in your powers list called Azurite Meditation.
Invoking this power will give you a UI where you can adjust lighting and color profiles in a number of situations. Experiment with this UI until you achieve settings you like.
Craftable lanterns
We are using Simple Wearable Lanterns - Legacy in our load order, which allows the player to make three types of wearable lanterns. These can all be crafted at any forge. And a big bonus of these lanterns is that since they're wearable, they keep both your hands free for weapons and/or spells.
Here's a summary of the lantern types and what materials you need to make them:
| Lantern type | Needed materials | Color of emitted light |
|---|---|---|
| Iron | 2 Iron Ingots, 1 Linen Wrap, 1 Fire Salts | Warm yellow |
| Magic | 2 Corundum Ingots, 1 filled Common Soul Gem, 1 Glow Dust | Cold blue |
| Alchemist | 2 Silver Ingots, 1 Taproot, 1 Hanging Moss | Soft green |
You may find that the different lantern types perform better in different types of dungeons. Experiment with them as you like.
Crafted lanterns can be disenchanted, since they emit their light by means of custom enchantments. If you're so inclined, you can disenchant one of these lanterns and use the enchantment on some other wearable item.
Jewelry with light enchantments
Our load order includes two jewelry types which might have Light enchantments on them, which basically function like a wearable and permanent version of the Candlelight spell. You may find either a Necklace of Light or a Circlet of Light as random loot, sold by general goods merchants, or sold at Radiant Raiment.
If you find one of these items for sale or as loot, it's a good idea to hang onto it until you find a light source you like better. Or, use them!
These jewelry items can also be disenchanted, so that you can learn the enchantment yourself and apply it to other items.
Legacy of the Dragonborn methods
LOTD has a setting in its main MCM which controls lighting levels in the museum and Safehouse. So if those locations in particular are too dark for you, even while wearing a lantern or using some other light source, try setting that setting up to Bright.
Sands' Torch is one of the Easter Egg items you can acquire by running Tools of the Trade, or by going straight to its location if you know where it is. This torch never goes out, which makes it an excellent light source to consider.
Night Eye power, potions, and spell
Technically, the Night Eye effect does not provide light, but it makes it easier for you to see in the dark, so we're counting it here anyway.
Base game means of acquiring the Night Eye effect are limited to the lesser power available to certain types of characters, and to the Night Eye potion you can make with certain ingredients provided by the AE. Details on this can be found on the Night Eye page on the UESP.
In addition to these base game methods, the Mysticism mod adds an Apprentice-level Illusion spell which will turn on this ability for 60 seconds.
Weapons with Sun Damage enchantments
You'd think that the primary function of the Sun Damage enchantment for weapons, from Thaumaturgy, is to do, well, Sun Damage. And you would be correct!
However, if you happen to have a weapon with this particular enchantment on it, it can serve as a light source as well. This includes Dawnbreaker, since that base game weapon has been tweaked to have the Sun Damage enchantment in our load order.