Skills are a core part of improving your character in Skyrim. Unlike most RPGs, upgrading a certain skill is as easy as using it. The higher level a skill is, the longer it takes to level it up.

Related: The Strongest Weapons In Skyrim And Where To Find Them

Reaching rank 100 with a skill allows you to obtain some absurdly strong perks. Smithing is useful for improving the quality of your weapons and armor while also allowing you to craft the game's rarest gear. Those wanting to wear a full set of Daedric or Dragonbone gear will want to use Smithing to its fullest potential. Here is a complete guide to the Smithing skill in Skyrim.

Updated on April 17, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: It's been about two years since the last time we updated this guide, and while Skyrim itself hasn't changed - at least, not without mods it hasn't! - we've been made aware of a handful of even faster ways to level Smithing. Here's our report!

Why Level Smithing?

Smithing is one of the three main crafting professions in Skyrim that allows the creation and tempering of weapons and armor. Unlike most games, Skyrim's best items are locked behind crafting professions. The best armor sets in the game such as Daedric and Dragonbone gear are so rare that players are better off crafting the gear themselves.

Besides the creation of weapons and armor, Smithing is also used to improve the quality of gear through the use of a Grindstone or Workbench. Gear can be upgraded to Legendary quality, drastically increasing the item's damage or armor rating. When paired with Enchanting and Alchemy, you can create items that far surpass Daedric Artifacts and world loot.

Smithing Overview

Leveling Smithing is as easy as using one of the four following methods:

1. Creating an item
2. Tempering/improving an item
3. Reading a book that increasing your Smithing skill
4. Purchasing levels from a Smithing trainer

Creating and upgrading gear are the best means of leveling Smithing. The resource investment needed to level Smithing to 100 is quite intensive, requiring just shy of 300 crafted items to level fully.

Smithing And Tempering

Smithing is the only crafting profession in Skyrim that has multiple crafting stations—excluding staff enchanters for Enchanting. Each station has a different purpose:

• Forge/Anvil: Creates weapons, armor, ammo, and jewelry.
• Workbench: Tempers armor, increasing its armor rating.
• Grindstone: Tempers weapons, increasing their damage.

There are also two stations dedicated to resource creation:

• Smelter: Smelt ores and certain Dwemer items into ingots.
• Tanning Rack: Convert animal hide into leather.

Most of your Smithing will occur at a forge or anvil. Each item you create or temper will cost a certain amount of resources, most of which can be found throughout the world. If you lack the resources needed to make an item, you can convert certain items at smelters or tanning racks into ingots or leather straps—core crafting components that virtually every recipe calls for.

As you increase your Smithing skill and unlock perks, you'll be able to create more powerful pieces of gear and temper them more effectively.

Related: Skyrim: How To Easily Power-Level Every Skill

Smithing Skill Tree And Perks

The Smithing tree features ten perks for you to unlock, nine of which unlock new crafting recipes at forges and anvils. Here's what each perk does:

How To Level Smithing

As with most of Skyrim's crafting professions, Smithing takes quite a long time to level. You'll need to create hundreds of items in order to reach a skill level of 100 with Smithing, meaning you're going to need quite a few materials. Fortunately, there are a few measures you can take that will speed up this process and reduce the resource investment dramatically.

Increasing XP Gains

Speeding up the leveling process is as easy as sleeping in an owned bed. Sleeping in a bed you own grants a 10 percent experience bonus for eight hours. If you are married and your spouse lives in the same house as you, this bonus is increased to 15 percent.

Additionally, the Smithing skill counts under the cluster of Warrior skills in your skill tree menu, meaning that the Warrior Guardian Stone grants a 20 percent experience boost to Smithing.

Should you complete the 'Lost to the Ages' quest, you can craft the Aetherial Crown to align with two Standing Stones at once. Aligning with both The Lover and The Warrior Standing Stones will grant a 35 percent increased experience boost. Combine this with sleeping to significantly speed up the leveling grind.

The Fastest Way To Level Smithing

Before you begin to level your Smithing skill, make sure that your character has as many experience bonuses on them as possible. Additionally, stock up on as many Iron Ingots, Leather Straps, and Dwarven Metal Ingots as possible. These are the materials you'll need to level up the skill quickly.

The goal is to create as many Iron Daggers as possible until you unlock the Dwarven Smithing perk at Smithing level 30. Once obtained, switch to crafting Dwarven Bows until you reach Smithing level 100. It's as easy as it sounds, although the resource requirement for this is rather intense.

Leveling Smithing should look something like this:

1. Obtain the Warrior Standing Stone and sleep to earn 30 percent increased experience.
2. If you have the Aetherial Crown, align with the Lover Stone as well for 45 percent increased XP gains.
3. Craft Iron Daggers at any forge until you reach Smithing level 30.
4. Obtain the Dwarven Smithing perk.
5. Craft Dwarven Bows until you reach Smithing level 100.

At this point, you should keep the items you just crafted until you have enough soul gems to enchant each of them.

Enchanting every item you just made should be enough to also increase your Enchanting skill to 100. For more details on leveling Enchanting, consult our Enchanting skill guide.

Related: Skyrim: Every Black Book And Where To Find Them

All Smithing Books

Six books can be used to increase your Smithing skill. Five of them increase the skill by one while the sixth book increases it by five points. Keep an eye out for the following:

All Smithing Trainers

There are four Smithing trainers that you can stumble across in Skyrim. All four of these trainers have prerequisites before you can begin training with them.

Ways To Maximize Smithing

Perks, potions, and enchantments are the three methods of improving your Smithing skill. Perks will allow you to temper items twice as well while both potions and enchantments further enhance the bonus your items receive when upgraded.

Chest armor, gloves, rings, and amulets can all utilize the Fortify Smithing enchantment which grants larger benefits for upgrading an item at a Grindstone or Workbench. Fortify Smithing potions can also be crafted and consumed to provide a similar effect. To create such potions, you will need at least two of the following ingredients:

• Blisterwort
• Glowing Mushroom
• Sabre Cat Tooth
• Spriggan Sap

Wear an amulet, ring, armor piece, and set of gauntlets all with the Fortify Smithing enchantment. From there, consume a Fortify Smithing potion to further enhance the strength of gear when you improve it, allowing you to make a Wooden Sword deal over 100 damage if your enchantments are good enough.

To make the potion stronger, craft it while wearing gear that fortifies your Alchemy skill.

Next: Skyrim: Powerful Builds Everyone Should Try