Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Guide Training Training Part 1: Character Creation
Skills Overview
Skills Overview
Skill Effects
There are 18 skills in Skyrim, divided into three major sets: Combat, Magic, and Stealth. As each skill increases, its primary effect improves; you also gain access to perks in that skill that can grant you powerful new abilities or bonuses. What does each skill do? Their primary effects are listed below:
Combat Skills: The Path of Might
| Skill Name | Primary Effect(s) |
|---|---|
| Smithing | Improves the value and properties of items you improve. |
| Heavy Armor | Reduces the damage you take while wearing heavy armor. |
| Block | Reduces the damage you take and the amount you stagger when blocking attacks. |
| Two-Handed | Increases the damage you inflict with two-handed weapons. |
| One-Handed | Increases the damage you inflict with one-handed weapons. |
| Archery | Increases the damage you inflict with bows. |
Combat Skills: The Path of Shadow
| Skill Name | Primary Effect(s) |
|---|---|
| Light Armor | Reduces the damage you take while wearing light armor. |
| Sneak | Improves your ability to avoid detection while sneaking. |
| Lockpicking | Increases your ability to pick a lock successfully. Specifically, this skill increases the arc at which the pick succeeds and reduces the chance that a pick will break. |
| Pickpocket | Increases the chance that you can successfully pickpocket an item. |
| Speech | Improves the prices you receive when buying or selling items, and improves your success at (Persuade), (Bribe), and (Intimidate) dialogue challenges. |
| Alchemy | Improves the potency of potions and poisons that you craft. |
Combat Skills: The Path of Sorcery
| Skill Name | Primary Effect(s) |
|---|---|
| Illusion | Reduces the cost of Illusion spells. |
| Conjuration | Reduces the cost of Conjuration spells. |
| Destruction | Reduces the cost of Destruction spells. |
| Restoration | Reduces the cost of Restoration spells. |
| Alteration | Reduces the cost of Alteration spells. |
| Enchanting | Improves the potency of items you enchant. |
Improving Skills: Skill Use
In the Elder Scrolls, you are what you play. In Skyrim, your skill growth and level progression are determined by Skill Uses, a system that tracks the actions you perform and increases your skills accordingly. You don’t have to understand how this works—just play the way you want to play, and you’ll get better at it. But if you’re the kind of adventurer who wants to know everything you can to maximize your potential, read on.
What Are Skill Uses?
Each of the 18 skills is “watching” for particular events to occur in the game. When one of those events occurs, the skill gains points based on the event’s magnitude. What magnitude actually means varies by event and is explained in more detail below.
When the number of points in a skill passes a threshold, the skill increases. These thresholds are ever-increasing, so raising a skill from 40 to 41 takes more uses and/or higher-magnitude uses than raising that same skill from 20 to 21.
Each time a skill increases, it also contributes points toward your character’s next level. The number of points depends on the level of the skill that increased, so raising a skill from 40 to 41 will take you further toward your next level than raising a skill from 20 to 21. It’s important to remember two key rules:
1. Your skills improve only if you use them effectively. For example:
- Just swinging your sword around doesn’t improve your One-Handed skill. However, hitting someone with it does.
- Just summoning an Atronach over and over again doesn’t improve your Conjuration skill. But using the Atronach in combat does.
- Just talking to everyone you meet doesn’t improve your Speech skill. You have to actually buy and sell items and pass dialogue challenges.
2. Your skills generally improve faster if you use them in more challenging situations. For example:
- Your Archery skill improves faster if you use more powerful bows that do more damage.
- Your Illusion skill improves faster if you cast more difficult spells.
- Your Lockpicking skill improves faster if you unlock harder chests.
Improving Skills: Training
During your journey, you will occasionally meet someone who has dedicated their lives to mastering a particular skill. These are extremely talented individuals; speak to them to request training from them in their specialty skill. Most will be happy to oblige...for a price. Each Trainer has a degree of competence—Journeyman, Expert, or Master:
- Journeyman Trainers can improve your skill to a maximum of 50.
- Expert Trainers can improve your skill to a maximum of 75.
- Master Trainers can improve your skill to a maximum of 90.
Even the most proficient Trainers in Skyrim cannot train you past 90. You’ll have to earn your way to 100!
The cost to train in a skill is based on your current skill level—the Trainer’s skill has no effect. However, the Expert and Master Trainers are often members of a faction and will train you only if you’re a member in good standing. Joining a faction is usually easy, so if you want access to a particular Trainer (or set of Trainers), it’s worth doing early even if you don’t plan to pursue that faction’s quests right away.
When working with a Trainer, you will receive one skill increase each time you train. You can repeat this up to five times with any combination of Trainers before you must level up. You can then return to any Trainer and pay for up to five more skill points. If you gain a level while training, go level up, then speak to the Trainer again if you want to train more.
An Example: Maximizing Your Training
You wish to improve your Conjuration skill (which is 20), so you visit Runil—the Journeyman Trainer—at the graveyard in Falkreath. He offers to train you for 250 gold. Train with him, and you exchange the gold for one skill point. You can train with him four more times this level, at a slightly higher cost each time. When you’re done, your skill is now 25 and you’ve spent a total of 1,350 gold. You must now level up before you can pay to train again. You could have received the same training from Phinis Gestor (College of Winterhold) or Falion (in Morthal) or any combination of these three, but you could never have trained your skill above 25.
If you’re focused on increasing your favorite skills, be sure to visit their Trainers often, ideally just after you level up. For best results, train and then use the skill to help increase it as quickly as possible. Remember that you can visit a variety of Trainers to increase multiple skills!
Some Trainers can also be Followers, and a few of them are even candidates for marriage!