Skyrim Easy Ways to Level Up

This should be pretty similar to my hub on oblivion. I realized how useful people found it and decided to make one for Skyrim to save everyone some time. Enjoy!

NOTE: Before you start using any of these tips, be sure to find the stone that corresponds to the skill you want to improve.

• Character XP levels up your character's overall level.
• Character XP gained = Skill level acquired (40 Character XP for reaching level 40 archery)
• XP required to level up your character = (current level + 3) * 25
• To reach level fifty from forty nine, you must gain (49 + 3) * 25 = 1300 XP

• 1 XP per each point of Magicka used.

Alteration is leveled up in conjunction with Restoration. Equilibrium is an Alteration spell that takes half of your health and turns it into Magicka. Doing this will give you more Magicka to use to heal yourself, so alternating the two spells will give you an endless amount of Health and Magicka to continually level up both skills. Pay close attention to your health while you do this. This is not a skill that I would advise you to force your brother to do for you while you go grab lunch. You'll probably come back to find your character dead and your brother gone.

• 1 XP per each point of Magicka used.
• 1 XP per each point damage dealt by conjured stuff.

There are two ways to quickly level up your conjuration skill.

1. You can cast soul trap repeatedly on any dead body. This will take more time, and you must be at least level 25 to cast soul trap.
2. This method is faster than casting soul trap on dead bodies. Once you have the Conjure Sword spell, stand on the edge of a body of water and make sure that a slaughterfish can see you. As it swims towards you, it will be unable to reach you but the game will be under the impression that you are "in combat." Now, you can repeatedly cast the Conjure Sword spell. Each time you cast it, do it only with one hand. Sheath the sword to deactivate the spell and repeat.

• 1 XP per each point damage dealt.

In Riverwood, there is a house that belongs to Alvor and Sigrid. Check to make sure you and Hadvar are the only to in the house. That is the only way this bug will work. Once you are sure, you can attack him all you want with destruction spells and he'll just stand there ignoring you. If this doesn't work (placement in the game's story line has an effect on this) you can set your difficulty on high and use destruction spells on your own conjured people who will not attack you. Use potions and armor that increase your Magicka regeneration before you get started on this.

• 1 XP per each point of Magicka used.

The most boring of all skills, yet one of the most simple to level up. Calm, courage, and muffle can all be used to reach level 100 relatively fast. For calm and courage, simply find a person who is sitting in a throne or is in a small room so they don't move too much, and cast the spell on them repeatedly. They take no damage so they won't do anything. When your Magicka gets low, sleep for an hour and continue. Muffle can be used at any time. Just cast it while you're running around and it bothers nobody.

• 1 XP per each health point restored through healing spells.
• 1 XP per each point of Magicka used on non-healing Restoration spells.

Use this in conjunction with the Alteration skill. Alternate Equilibrium and Healing spells to continuously level up both skills. See Alteration at the top for more detail.

• 1 XP per each item enchanted.
• 1 extra XP per every 400 gold value of items enchanted (ex. Create an item worth 800 gold for 3 XP)

Disenchanting, enchanting, and recharging your weapons all increase your enchanting skill. This skill is usually improved in conjunction with smithing. The cheap, easiest way to do it is to enchant a lot of cheap items with petty soul gems. Most people use iron daggers that they make in Whiterun to improve their smithing skill. Another method is to find the Black Star, found during the quest of the same name. Don't go any further into the quest after you get it or it will stop working. Before the quest is completed, the Black Star basically acts as a Grand Soul Gem that is not lost when you use it to enchant or charge an item. Each time you use it, you can recharge it again.

• 1 XP per each point damage dealt.

There are a few NPC's in Skyrim who take no damage and ignore you when you hit them. The easiest one to find is Hadvar in Riverwood. You'll find him in Alvor and Sigrid's house. Just make sure you hit him until you knock him down. He'll forget you ever hit him.

• 1 XP per each point damage dealt.

Archery is the skill that most people would say is actually fun to level up without taking shortcuts. Generally, there are ways you can play the game that give you more experience with Archery than others. Sneaking and hitting an enemy with an arrow while he doesn't know you're there will give you three XP per damage point rather than just one. Shooting an arrow at a wall will briefly cause an enemy that doesn't know you're there to look at it. Putting that arrow somewhere where the enemy will have his back to you helped a lot with both my Sneak and Archery skills. If you really MUST take a shortcut on this, and I can't guarantee it's any faster, there is a woman named Angi whose house is just south of Falkreath. Inside, she'll let you shoot at targets endlessly for XP.

• 1 XP per each point damage blocked.
• 5 XP per each shield bash.

Try to find a wolf on its own. They attack quickly and frequently, so standing there with your shield up will give you quick experience as long as the wolf is alone and the others aren't biting you in the ass while you're at it. It is best to find a corner to back up into so the wolf doesn't try to circle around you. After level thirty, the wolf will stop doing any damage to you at all, depending on the shield you are using.

• 25 + (3 * Item value^(.65)) XP per item created. Creating an item of 50 gold value will give you about 63.14 XP.
• 25 + (8 * Item value^(.6)) XP per item upgraded. Upgrading an item of 50 gold value will give you about 108.65 XP.

This took me about an hour and a half to reach level 100. Go to the blacksmith in Whiterun and buy all her leather and iron ingots. Go over to the forge and make as many iron daggers as you can. When you're done, sell her what you made (one at a time to help upgrade your speech skill, although it is slightly more time consuming this way) and sleep for twenty-four hours. When you wake up the next day, she should be restocked with iron ingots and leather. I found it slightly faster to purchase what I needed a few days in a row so I could make hundreds of iron daggers at once. This way you don't have to run back and fourth between the blacksmith and the forge too many times.

• 1 XP per each point damage received.

Rats. Find rats in a dungeon and wear armor that quickly regenerates your health. Make the rats aware of your presence and then simply let them attack you. You'll gain quite a bit of experience this way by doing absolutely nothing. Go grab a snack if you feel comfortable with it.

• 1 XP per each point damage received.

Do this the same way you would do Heavy Armor, only pay closer attention to your health, as you obviously will not be as well protected. Stand there, taking damage, and make sure you have potions ready and a healing spell equipped. The more enchanted armor you have, the better off you will be. You'll want either quick recharging Magicka or a high skill in Restoration. Or both.

• 1 XP per gold value stolen. 10 gold = 10 XP.

Find a prisoner who is behind bars and close enough for you to pickpocket. Make sure you start off with a small amount of money if you are a low level. If you put too much money in his pockets, you may have a difficult time stealing it back without getting caught. Start off with fifty and go from there. This is probably the fastest skill to master.

• .25 XP for each broken pick.
• 2, 3, 5, 8, or 13 XP for picking a lock, depending on the difficulty of the lock itself.

While doing a quest for the Thieve's Guild, you will acquire the Skeleton Lockpick. Do not complete the quest, as you will lose this unbreakable lockpick at the end. Instead, find a lock and go to a position that is clearly incorrect (one that would normally break the pick immediately) and turn the lock. This will continuously give you lockpicking experience as you hold it there.

• 2.5 XP for becoming hidden within 45 feet.
• .625 XP per second of being hidden within 45 feet.
• 30 XP for melee attack while sneaking.
• 2.5 XP for ranged attack while sneaking.

Sneak up on the Greybeards. They are pretty much always praying and won't notice you, attack you, or die. You'll hit 100 pretty fast doing this. You can also get a lot of XP simply sneaking without being seen. As long as you're within 45 feet of someone who can't see you, you can pretty much sit there and do nothing and still gain XP.

• 1 XP per gold value created. 10 gold value = 10 XP

Boring and useless... But if you must upgrade this skill, it goes like this. Identify as many ingredients as you wish to use. Making health potions that contain a Giant's Toe usually raises the value of the potion tremendously, causing the XP gained from the potion to be greater. Two simple recipes for Health Potions are:

• Hanging Moss/Bear Claws/Giant's Toe
• Blue Butterfly Wing/Blue Mountain Flower/Giant's Toe

All of these ingredients can be found in the valley that surrounds Whiterun. If this were a more entertaining and useful skill, I probably would have put more work into breaking it down. I think my character is at level 2 in Alchemy. Oh well...

• 1 XP per gold traded (buying or selling).
• 75 * Current speech level XP for speaking successfully. (A speech success at level 50 will award you 3,750 XP.

Buying and selling items is definitely the fastest way to earn Speech XP. However, buying or selling multiple of one item at a time will cause you to only get XP equivalent to one of the items' values. Instead, get your hands on a bunch of iron daggers... (kill two birds with one stone here... make them yourself) and sell them one at a time to the blacksmith in Whiterun. When you buy the iron ingots and leather, buy them one at a time.