Skyrim has retained an incredible degree of popularity since its initial release in 2011. Part of why it has remained so popular is the sheer variety of playstyles offered by the 18 different skills that can be learned. Once Legendary Skills were added to the game, any skill that reached 100 could be reset to 15 while you keep all the levels and perk points that had been collected.
This effectively removes the level cap of 81 that Skyrim had at launch and allows you to learn every ability in the game. That being said, levels do get much harder to get later on, but the benefits don't go away. Therefore, whether you're a new player or a returning veteran, here are the best ways to make leveling in Skyrim a piece of sweet roll.
Updated on March 5, by Branden Lizardi: One of the biggest beauties of Skyrim is the vast selection of ways to spend your time. This also means a vast selection of ways to level up. Whether you want to reach that level cap for each skill, or are trying to raise your overall player level, we keep finding new and better ways to do it. We've revisited this list and updated it to ensure you have all of the best options available when you're wondering how to level up fast in Skyrim.
20 Summoning
Summoning creatures is a great way to stay alive in Skyrim - especially early in the game when characters can be killed by a couple of hangry bears. Even if the summoned creature can't defeat the enemy on its own, it can at least cause enough distraction for you to get in a few free attacks... or run away like Brave Sir Robin.
Like using any skill, summoning creatures to assist in battle gains experience for the character. This makes summoning a safe and effective way to quickly gain levels. There's also no rule against summoning creatures outside of combat to gain levels even faster.
19 Attack Hadvar
This trick for gaining levels at the very start of the game was discovered early and is still one of the fastest ways to level up before being set free into the harsh realm of Skyrim. After the opening cutscene and escape from the rampaging dragon, you will eventually find yourself alone with a man named Hadvar.
You are limited in the skills they can use at this point, but you will have a sword. Use this sword to attack Hadvar. He won't retaliate, and his health regenerates. By doing this, you can get some free levels and a head-start on the One-Handed skill.
18 Track Down All The Skill Books
There are skill books scattered across the game world for you to find. There are five books for each skill, totaling 90 skill books hidden around Skyrim. Each book raises the associated skill by one point, two if you have the Scholar's Insight ability.
Free skill levels equate to free experience for the character. Those playing Skyrim for the first time might want to experience the game without looking at guides or wikis. For those replaying Skyrim, don't forget to check out guides with the location of all 90 skill books.
17 Healing And Armor Skills
Once you have healing spells and armor, you can begin using this trick to level up quickly. The armor skill gets better as you take damage. The more damage you take, the faster the Light or Heavy Armor skill increases.
You can quickly raise your armor skill(s) by constantly healing while absorbing enemy attacks. Healing spells that are not constant work better with this exploit since they allow your mana to recharge. To maximize this effect, you might want every piece of armor on your character to be either light or heavy. Mixing armor types reduces how fast their associated skill will increase.
16 Transmutation
Transmutation is one of the more niche spells out there, but incredibly useful for the experience. This spell can be found only in a few select places: the Halted Stream Camp or Ansilvund Burial Chambers. Essentially, it allows you to turn iron into silver and silver into gold.
The best way to use this spell is to turn iron ore into gold, then turn those into ingots, and finally turn them into gold rings. The rings can also be enchanted for extra experience and sold off for a nice price. It's a fantastic way to make a profit while also leveling up.
15 Use The Harmony Spell
The Harmony spell is a much more difficult spell to acquire and cast, as it requires you to power level with the Muffle spell first. However, if you're already a Master level mage, all they need is to get this spell from the College of Winterhold.
Go to a crowded area like the Whiterun marketplace and begin casting Harmony. To replenish Magicka, simply wait until the meter has returned to normal. Since Harmony has a high cost, using potions to reduce the spell cost and having Magicka-boosting gear is a must.
14 Sneak Attack Essentials
Many characters are marked as essentials within the game, meaning they're unkillable. This makes them great targets for power-leveling combat abilities and stealth.
One of the best places to do this is High Hrothgar. Find a lone Greybeard that's in the process of meditating and sneak behind them. Make sure to quick save in case something goes wrong. Then, start whacking them as much as possible, and watch the levels climb.
13 Whack A Horse
If attacking essentials sounds like too much of a risk or insanely tedious, there's another way to do pretty much the same thing. It'll still be tedious, but you won't risk the hostility of random NPCs while doing it.
Get a horse. Any will do, but Shadowmere is the best option. He's given by Astrid during the Dark Brotherhood quest line. Turn up the difficulty to Legendary and then start whacking away at your horse. Spells can also be used on it to level up quickly. Just make sure not to kill the horse by accident!
12 Get The Amulet Of Articulation
Speech is one of the best skills for leveling up quickly, but it can be annoying if it isn't always successful. Luckily, upon completing the Thieves Guild quest line, you will be gifted the Amulet of Articulation.
This amulet is one of the best speech-boosting items in the game, as it essentially allows almost any speech check to pass automatically. Equip it, and any speech check should grant you hefty experience points.
11 Use The Guardian Stones
The Guardian Stones are found immediately after you escape Helgen and begin your adventure. Once leaving the cave, follow the path down the hill to come across three ornate stones. Each represents a different subset of skills: Mage, Thief, and Warrior. Each grant gives a 20 percent boost to how fast those skills can be increased. The Lover's Stone east of Markarth also grants a 15 percent boost for all skills if you'd prefer that.
Pick the one that aligns most with how you want to play; you will naturally gain levels faster while playing the game. There is always the option to switch to another subset later on.
10 Make The Aetherial Crown As Soon As Possible
The Guardian Stones are an excellent way to gain levels faster in Skyrim. What if you could have two Guardian Stones activated at once? With the Aetherial Crown, such a thing is possible. This crown will store the bonus of the previous Guardian Stone if you activate another.
Getting this crown is no easy feat, though. You will need two dwarven ingots, two gold ingots, two flawless sapphires, and the Aetherium Crest. The Crest is found at the end of the "Lost to the Ages" quest. This quest can be activated by reading the book "The Aetherium Wars" or by exploring the dwarven ruins of Arkngthamz, located in the Falkreath Hold region to the south.
9 Resting
Do not neglect your beauty sleep while running around Skyrim because resting up provides an experience bonus. A 5 percent bonus is given for sleeping in someone else's bed, 10 percent for sleeping in the protagonist's own bed, and 15 percent for sleeping with an in-game husband or wife. This bonus lasts for eight in-game hours.
It helps that most caves and dungeons will have some kind of bed in them. All that needs to be done is to nicely ask the previous occupants to leave, with your weapon of choice, that is.
8 Use Muffle & Sneak Everywhere
Muffle is an Illusion spell that can be obtained early on in Skyrim. It can be used outside of combat as often as the character's Magicka will allow, and it's an easy and effective way to level the Illusion skill quickly. The Illusion spell also makes movement silent, so using it to sneak past enemies will improve both skills at once.
It's a great way to passively improve some skills and gain levels while exploring the world. Plus, it'll lead to damage bonuses in combat that will help throughout the campaign.
7 Pick A Fight With Giants
Once you're strong enough that giants can't hit you into next week with a club as tall as a house, you'll have a relatively powerful enemy to boost your combat skills. Giants can be used to boost any fighting skill, whether archery, destruction, or one-handed or two-handed.
Since Giants are hard hitters, you can always stock up on potions and let them wail on you to improve your armor and block skills; just bring a shield and make sure to be dressed in more than simply underwear. Instead of potions, those who are magically inclined can also take this opportunity to boost their Restoration skill.
6 Less Iron Daggers, More Gold Jewelry
When smithing, that is. While iron daggers may be the easiest and most popular choice for leveling up your smithing skill, there's a much more effective and lucrative option: Jewelry. When crafting a new item at a forge, the experience gained is directly correlated to the gold value of that item. So a gold ring with garnet will result in more experience than just a gold ring.
While gold ore can be expensive to purchase (but it can be profitable with the right speech stats), the minimal need for materials makes this tremendously effective. If you're willing to go through and manually mine at the various gold and silver mines throughout Skyrim, or even the iron mines with the Transmute spell, this is possibly the fastest way to level up in Skyrim.
5 Diversify Your Skills
Every improved skill contributes to the playable character's overall level. Consequently, a good way to maximize levels is to improve as many skills as possible, especially early on. Alternatively, once at a high level, look over the skills that still need to be improved and focus on them for a bit.
For those focusing on one-handed all game, switch to a two-handed weapon or a bow. Low-level combat skills will increase quickly on tough enemies, which is a great way to level up late in the game.
4 Steal Some Souls
For this method, you'll want to pick up every soul gem possible and a weapon with the Soul Trap effect. The Mace of Molag Bal, which is obtained in Markarth after doing "The House of Horrors" Daedric Quest, is a good choice.
With these weapons, anyone killed will have their soul stolen and put into an empty soul gem. These gems can be used to restore the mace's enchantment, which improves your enchanting skill. This allows the characters to level up quickly.
3 Steal Some More Souls, But Not Really
This method can be done once the spell tome is acquired for the Soul Trap spell. All that needs to be done is to find a dead body in a safe place and continually cast Soul Trap on it. This allows your Conjuration skill to be increased accordingly.
Once out of Magicka, wait for an hour instead of waiting to let it refill. To make it go faster, don't forget to take advantage of the Mage Guardian stone, and feel free to use mage robes to increase how many times you can cast it before waiting.
2 Detect Life
Once you come across the Detect Life spell, you can easily improve the Alteration skill. It's a spell that, as the name implies, detects life. The amount of experience gained is linked to the actual number of people detected by the spell. Therefore, head to a populous city like Riften, Whiterun, or Solitude and start casting away.
While Detect Life can be cast in dungeons and caves, it'll be much more effective near a large gathering of non-hostile NPCs. This is one of the most effective ways to power-level.
1 Buy Them
Last but not least, wealthy adventurers who can't be bothered to level up the old-fashioned way can just throw money at their problems. A variety of NPCs can train you in a skill in exchange for a little of the gold 'found' on those dead bodies scattered across Skyrim.
Each can train up to a certain level; common-level trainers up to 50, expert-level to 75, and master-level to 90. It's a great way to get those last few levels.