Enchanting swords

[Xerin]

Hi. I've decided to use my 60,000 winged twilight soul gem to make a NICE longsword. Any advice? I have yet to enchant so I don't know how it's done. I'm more interested in dealing damage than having protection spells. What's a good route to go and what would be a good base material for the sword. So far I've only found silver and imperial. I'm only level 5. Thanks.

P.S. In Seyda Neen, I found a dead mage experimenting with a teleportion spell. On him, he had a sword of sparks which did damaged on "strikes" and not "used". As far as I can tell, this has no effect on charges and does spark damage with each hit. If I were to have a sword that did extra damge "when used"... that seems complicated during combat. Feedback?

[Rimjaw]

I'm assuming you stole that gem from the Blamora Mage Guild. If that is the case then DON"T ask them to enchant and instead go to the enchanter guy at Moonmoth, or DIY.
Absorb Health is a good effect to choose, it drains the targets health and transfers it to you. My personal favourite.
Between imperial steel and silver I would go with silver. There is much better stuff later in the game of course.
Effects come in three variaties: Cast when used, cast on strike and conctant effect. 'Cast when used' requires you to cast the effect manually via the magic menu. 'Cast when strike' means that the effect is triggered when you hit a target. Both 'Strike' and 'used' will require charges. If you have a high enchantment skill then the item will use less charges. Max charges are dependant on the type of soul gem used. 'Constant Effect' means that theeffect is 'on' all the time. It is insanely powerful but it requires the souls of Golden Saints or Ascended Sleepers and it costs a bomb.