Skyrim Legendary Difficulty Character Build & Strategy Guide

“A comprehensive guide to creating an exceptionally strong character and kicking ar*se on Legendary Difficulty.”

Introduction & Contents

As many have surely done, I recently decided to go back and play Skyrim again, with my last play-through being ~9 years ago on PC. This time, I was playing the Special Edition on the Nintendo Switch, of all things, which meant ‘basically’ a ‘Vanilla Skyrim+DLC’s’ experience. To challenge my ham-handed console skills, I wanted to play on Legendary Difficulty, but also plan out a well-oiled Character Build.

The following build is designed to excel on Legendary Difficulty. It plays mostly like a mage/archer, though throughout its life, it will use skills across the board.

I did a fair bit of research on UESP[en.uesp.net], mainly to research skill perks and determine which perks deserved priority, and also made use of information from Rabcor's Crafting Guide.

If this is your first time playing Skyrim, a warning that this build is a little tricky for beginners, as it makes use of several types of spells and items. Playing a varied build like this one is a great way to learn new things however, and learning is fun!

For those who’d rather skip the exposition and move straight onto the build, Build Schematics (Chapter 3) is where to start. Use the Guide Index to help (on the right).

For those who are after a TL;DR or summary checklist of the main points covered in the guide, head to the Guide Summary and Conclusion (Chapter 9).

For those interested in video: I've begun a 'Let's Play' series of the build with audio commentary (which means you get to hear my sweet, nasally voice, yay). This is my first attempt at a Let's Play with audio, so I can guarantee that it won't be the most amazing visual or audio spectacle (not to mention my PC is fairly ancient).

But! If it's educational, then it's served its' purpose, so with any luck it's educational. =)

Playlist of Videos (Parts 1-24):
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwL02R7TbehZbUCLGhgwVzl02t1wzVlPN

Part 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwArQBNJRos&list=PLwL02R7TbehZbUCLGhgwVzl02t1wzVlPN&index=1

For those interested in how I arrived at the ideas that I chose, feel free to read on!

The Real Introduction (for the people that like reading)

I quite like the concept of planning out a refined character build; it can often take a few goes to ‘get it right’, building upon the ideas of past experiments before arriving at a refined result. In the past here on Steam, I’ve written ‘Max Difficulty Character Build Guides’ for both Morrowind and Oblivion, both played via the Steam version on PC rather than on Console (not to mention that I technically own Skyrim Special Edition due to purchasing the base game + DLC’s years ago … hence why this is a Steam guide!). Given that it had been a while since I had played Skyrim, I figured that it was worth re-examining what I did in Morrowind and Oblivion, to inform me on how to approach building and playing on Legendary Difficulty in Skyrim.

Key Note: The aim with this guide is ‘not’ to cheese through the game, but instead to provide supporting information for a relatively normal, organic play through. I am well aware that there are countless ways to exploit Skyrim mechanics for benefit, and to get a stupendous amount of gold/items/skills at the start of the game. That is not the point of this guide; I would much rather people actually enjoy playing their character for a length of time, than spend the first few play hours rushing around to X locations getting Y items/skills/money, followed by getting bored and never playing the character again.

The closest that this guide comes to exploiting is probably the promotion of ‘Jedi Fast Travel’, ie using crafted Alteration reduction equipment and Fast Travelling with Telekinesis active, to power level Alteration skill quickly (the same thing can be done without Fast Travel if you just stand still and hold the button down for ~10 minutes). Just about all other mentions of exploits or cheese are given as optional, or parodied because of how silly they are (e.g looting shopkeeper chests through map borders, soul trapping corpses and waiting, the Fortify Restoration crafting loop, etc).

If YOU however wish to cheese your way to success, then I’m not stopping you! :)

Contents

Chapter 1: Max Difficulty Character Building in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim
1.1 Previous Builds and Guides: Morrowind and Oblivion
1.2 Comparisons to Skyrim

Chapter 2: Character Building Rundown for Legendary Difficulty

2.1 Game State: Early, Mid and Late Game
2.2 Race Rundown
2.3 Skills Overview
2.4 Top Tier Skills (Consistently Useful on Legendary):
2.5 Mid Tier Skills (Situationally Useful on Legendary)
2.6 Low Tier Skills (Not very useful on Legendary)

Chapter 3: Build Schematics
3.1 Race
3.2 Attribute Priority
3.3 Birthstone
3.4 Perks: Overview
3.5 Early Game Perks
3.6 Mid Game Perks
3.7 Late Game Perks

Chapter 4: Play Guide for Starting Out on Legendary Difficulty
4.1 The Beginning - Helgen
4.2 Riverwood

Chapter 5: Early Game Play Tips
5.1 Recommended Items, Shrines and Quests for Early Game
5.2 Why Walk when you can Ride?
5.3 Faendal: The Reluctant Meatshield
5.4 Raising the Dead (and occasionally punching them): Early Game Conjuration
5.5 Messing with the Mind: Early Game Illusion
5.6 Medic! : Early Game Restoration
5.7 Having a Dabble: Early Game Crafting
5.8 Putting Matters into your Own Hands: Early Game Damage Options

Chapter 6: Mid Game Part 1 - Play Tips
6.1 “A Challenger is Near!” : Mastering Conjuration
6.2 Slaying Dragons
6.3 Farewell Faendal; Welcome Lydia!
6.4 A Taste of your Voice: Introduction to Shouts
6.5 The Windhelm Business Certificate
6.6 The College of Magical Equipment

Chapter 7: Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter
7.1 Credit Where Credit Is Due
7.2 Sleeping Like a Monarch
7.3 Banishing Wealth Issues & The Travelling Salesman
7.4 Alchemy Tutoring & Unearthing Ancient Crafting Knowledge
7.5 Optional Crafting-Related Quests
7.6 Mastering Enchanting and ‘Generation 1’ Enchanted Equipment
7.7 Mastering Alchemy and ‘Top Tier’ Crafting Equipment
7.8 Mastering Smithing and becoming a Master Crafter

Chapter 8: Late Game Play Tips
8.1 Birthsigns, Perks and Equipment
8.2 Recommended Late Game Item Sets
8.3 Optional Late Game Item Sets

Chapter 9: Guide Summary and Conclusion
9.1 Executive Summary
9.2 Play Tips and Game Information Summary
9.3 Quests & Objectives Checklist, and Let’s Play Summary

Chapter 1 (1.1-1.3): Max Difficulty Character Building in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim

1.1 Previous Builds and Guides: Morrowind and Oblivion

Morrowind as a Max Difficulty game is not ‘that’ tricky. The Difficulty slider only modifies enemy weapon damage dealt to you; all other damage modifiers are untouched, meaning that player damage in all forms remains the same. Combine this with: ‘uncapped’ training services (i.e. you can train as much as you like if you have the coin, potentially 50+ times per level), god-tier items being available from level 1 (i.e. a lot of the most powerful in-game items are easily obtainable from the get go), customized spellcasting, and Cast When Used Enchanted Items… and it becomes ‘relatively’ easy for most character builds to get by on Max Difficulty if you know game basics such as Fatigue management. An ‘optimum character build’ then is not a necessary requirement for Max Difficulty Morrowind.

For my Morrowind build , I settled on a ‘hit-and-run’ style character, that could effectively operate with ‘0 lb encumbrance’ (Redas Robe is a wonderful thing), and thus make use of the excessive amount of maneuverability options available within the game (Jump, Levitate, Spear + Athletics, etc.). It’s a pity that Bethesda didn’t retain the ‘happy fun times jump mechanics’ in its’ later tites, though I guess Fast Travel was added in as compensation …



Whilst ‘Morrowind Max Difficulty’ is pretty easy-going for an experienced player, ‘Oblivion Max Difficulty’ is extremely unforgiving. For comparison: Legendary Skyrim difficulty has player damage set at 0.25x , and NPC damage to players at 3x. In Max Difficulty Oblivion, player damage is 0.16x, and NPC damage to players is 6x. Basically if you add Skyrim’s Master Difficulty, ON TOP OF Legendary Difficulty, then you have Oblivion Max Difficulty.

As well as the cruel damage modifiers, there’s also a harsh power creep that occurs in the teen levels, with typical enemy spawns such as Daedra often doubling in damage and HP over the course of just a few player levels. There is also a plethora of ‘scaling HP’ enemies (there are some in Skyrim, but there are a lot more in Oblivion), AND a relatively low max level cap (around the mid 50’s without resorting to exploits). Put all this together, and Oblivion essentially demands a specific and narrow type of character build and play style, to succeed at the highest level.

For my Oblivion build, I ended up creating a very optimized character, carefully considering race, skills, attributes, and leveling route. The character build that I settled on was ‘essentially’ a mage, but it made use of a variety of skills.

Max Difficulty head -on engagements in Oblivion are a complete slog (such that the Max-Difficulty-enhanced ‘Intro Tutorial Fight’ between yourself and two sewer rats is one of the most difficult fights in the game), and so indirect combat options are a lot more reliable. Summons, Illusion crowd-control effects, and the kinda-sorta broken multiplication-feedback loops via custom Destruction and Restoration spells (Weakness to Magic stacking, Fortification buffs, etc.) were my Oblivion build’s main tools. I also used Poisons, because Poison damage isn’t affected by the difficulty setting in Oblivion (and in Oblivion, Poisons can do upwards of 900 damage!).

1.2 Comparisons to Skyrim

Using this information, and the fact that I’d spent considerable effort on a Max Difficulty build in the ‘theoretically-much-harder’ Oblivion, it then seemed worth asking: What are the main character building differences between Oblivion and Special Edition Skyrim? Here is what I’d consider to be ‘the main differences’:

• The big one: THERE’S NO LEVEL CAP IN SKYRIM SPECIAL EDITION! Skills that reach 100 can be reset back down to 15, which means that characters have an effectively infinite level cap given enough time spent skill-grinding. As such, being ‘optimal’ at high levels is less important, as in-game difficulty can be overcome by grinding out more levels. This is analogous to ‘uncapped training services’ being available for purchase in Morrowind (in contrast to having ‘max 5 trained ranks per level’ in Oblivion and Skyrim); if the game is too difficult, one can fairly easily powerlevel a character to the point where things become easier.
  
  
  
• Major/Minor skills and Attributes are out, and Perks are in. Skill level-ups don’t have to be carefully managed to ensure that attributes receive +5 increases upon level up. You can level up any skill, whenever you want! However: at the same time, perk points are limited to “Player Level – 1”, and are primarily responsible for the power output of a particular skill. Perk allocation therefore is definitely a key issue early in the game, but less important at higher levels due to the potentially infinite level cap.
  
  
  
• Racial bonuses are generally less impactful in Skyrim, and Choice of Sex has no impact on stats. This means that you can now be Male or Female with no repercussions (yay!), and that quite a few different races are viable choices (RIP omni-resistant Bretons), as they all eventually arrive at a similar power level. This again is analogous to Morrowind, in that it is less imperative to make an ‘Optimal Build’ with a fixed race/sex choice when playing at the highest Difficulty.
  
  
• Whilst Oblivion has ‘Followers’, these mostly consist of NPC’s that temporarily accompany the player for particular quests. And unless these are unkillable essential NPC’s (e.g. Martin), they tend to run away or die a lot (e.g. the guards in Kvatch). Skyrim’s follower system is a lot more fleshed out, granting the player various gear-customisable, situationally invulnerable meatshields to hide behind. Which makes Skyrim’s selection of Permanent Followers, a perfect addition to a High Difficulty playthrough!
  
  
• Finally, Crafting Skills in Skyrim are WAY more impactful than they were in Oblivion. Alchemy at least had Poisons going for it in Oblivion (they ignore the difficulty slider and deal full damage, a feature that sadly didn’t carry over to Skyrim), but Smithing didn’t exist (instead there’s Armorer, which can only be used to repair and ‘slightly’ improve weapons temporarily), and Enchanting was pretty much obsolete, at least if you chose to save-scum for particular Sigil Stones (which I did: it was Max Difficulty and it felt justified). Skyrim’s crafting skills on the other hand, are capable of providing and enhancing the best equipment in the game in just about all item categories. As such, it seemed a no-brainer that a pre-planned Max Difficulty Skyrim character should aim to master the Crafting skills.

So, with all of this in mind, it was time to think up a build plan! Given the changes made to skills and races between Oblivion and Skyrim, these choices could be flexible. The main building aspects to consider were the Perks, and the order in which they were to be selected (which meant certain skills required ‘some’ focus in order to obtain certain perks). The build would most definitely use a Follower (free meatshield and portable backpack, so why not?), and at ‘some’ point, procure enough crafting skill perks to create top-tier items.

Chapter 2 (2.1-2.2): Character Building Rundown for Legendary Difficulty

2.1 Game State: Early, Mid and Late Game

Before jumping into Build Schematics, it’s worth looking at the big picture of ‘what to focus on during a character’s leveling arc’.

Where the character is up to in their skill and perk progression, is roughly what I used as a benchmark for ‘early/mid/late game’. Of course, it is easy enough in Skyrim to short-circuit these conventions by artificially power-levelling via ‘interesting’ game mechanics (pickpocketing and ‘shopkeeper chests’, anyone?). This guide however assumes that the character build will play and level in an organic manner, and follow a fairly predictable ‘game state’.

Here is how I roughly define game-state in Skyrim:



Early Game: From level 1, up to the point where a character procures BOTH the Expert Conjuration perk (see 3.5), and Conjure Dremora Lord spell (see 6.1). The transition from Early to Mid Game should occur around Level 15-25, depending on what the character has decided to focus on. IMO, Expert Conjuration + Conjure Dremora Lord serves as an important benchmark for Legendary characters. It marks the point where defeating Dragons becomes easier (which is why the Dragon Rising quest is held off until then), and also the point where it is safe enough to invest almost all future perk points into crafting skills (without sacrificing much combat power). A decent follower plus one (and eventually two) Dremora Lords are more than capable of carrying a fledgling crafter character into the higher levels, once other early skills and perks have been factored in.



Mid-Game: From Expert Conjuration + Conjure Dremora Lord, up until the point where a character has procured: the Twin Souls perk (and thus increased Conjuration to 100, see 6.1), various artifacts that maximise crafted item quality (see 7.4), and spending the ~21 perk points required to ‘master the Crafting skills’ (see 2.4). The transition from Mid to Late Game should occur around Level 40-80, depending on what the character has decided to focus on. Whilst leveling up for this milestone, perk points will be primarily saved and spent on crafting skills, which means that an adequate set of combat-oriented perks are required to carry the character through this period.



Late-Game: The point where all 3 crafting skills have been mastered, sufficient Alchemy/Enchanting ingredients/effects have been discovered/purchased/gathered, and all possible items that boost crafting skills have been created or found. Once a character has reached this point, they can craft themselves out of basically any problem that the game throws at them, branch out into any skill that they wish, and boost their character level until their heart’s content. Basically any playstyle and equipment combination become possible, and for those who are inclined, exploits can provide game-breaking equipment.

2.2 Race Rundown

Technically, any race is a viable choice for this build. There are, however, some races which are better than others in my opinion, mainly because they provide the character with additional defensive options in the early and mid game. Here are my recommendations for the powergamers out there.



Breton was my choice for the Max Difficulty Oblivion build, and is still a great choice of race for Legendary Difficulty in Skyrim. We’re at 25% magic resistance now instead of 50% (probably a good thing because 50% free magic resistance wasn’t exactly balanced, lol), the Magicka boost is gone, and Dragon Skin is a Spell Absorption power rather than a physical damage reduction power (again, probably for the best!). Bretons hold the distinction of being able to achieve 85% magic resistance, or the ‘Skyrim magic resistance cap’, without requiring any additional Enchanted items (via Alteration Perks + Book of Love Mara Quest + Lord Stone).



High Elf is also a decent choice for this build. It gets a little running speed boost (8%, which is still something), 50 bonus magicka (which effectively translates to ‘50 extra attribute points’ down the line), and a once/day ability to become a magic spam-cannon for 60 seconds. The Highborn Power comes in handy at early levels for difficult fights, and the 50 bonus Magicka allows for the build to pivot into taking Health sooner. This means that in comparison to other racial choices, High Elves will effectively have 50 more HP past level 11. Who said that High Elves couldn’t be tanky, eh?



Dunmer gets 50% fire resistance, which is handy for tanking dragon breath and Fire Spells, and/or if one plans to become a Vampire. This build can most certainly become a Vampire (Necromage is a nice perk), making this race a solid choice. The ‘Ancestor’ power is basically worthless on Legendary Difficulty however, as you would rather not be the focus of enemy fire if you can avoid it (and ‘cloak’ spells are terrific at grabbing enemy attention).



Nord gets 50% cold resistance, which is useful against mages that like to lob Ice spells around and cripple your movement speed, as well as Frost-breathing Dragons. The ‘Battle Cry’ power is a double-edged sword, as it affects followers as well as enemy NPC’s. It doesn’t affect Undead or Daedra however, so in the event that a follower is occupied 60ft away from you, you can safely use Battle Cry without affecting Summons and Thralls.



Orc is, funnily enough, a potential choice for a ‘mage/archer’ Legendary character, purely because of the ‘Berserker Rage’ power. Berserk halves enemy physical damage and doubles yours for 60 seconds, which means it can be used both in situations where the player is required to ‘emergency tank’ high physical damage attacks, as well as situations where the player might want to use a physical weapon (including Bows) to kill a tough enemy. Berserk has no effect on anything magic-related however, so a decent weapon (such as a Bound Bow) is required to make full use of this Power.

Chapter 2 (2.3-2.4): Character Building Rundown for Legendary Difficulty

2.3 Skills Overview

Moving from Oblivion to Skyrim, we’re down to 18 skills from 21. Key differences are:

• Athletics or Acrobatics skills have been removed (meaning that all characters ‘roughly’ move at the same speed save for a couple races with small speed boosts),
  
• Mysticism has been removed and has had its spell effects split up between other magic schools,
  
• Smithing has replaced Armourer.
  
• Speechcraft and Mercantile have been merged into Speech,
  
• Sneak has been split into Pickpocket and Sneak.

There are also no Major or Minor skills in Skyrim, just ‘Skills’. Here is how I’d rate the skills by tier for a character playing on Legendary Difficulty.

2.4 Top Tier Skills (Consistently Useful on Legendary)

Crafting Skills (Enchanting/Alchemy/Smithing): Undoubtedly the most powerful set of skills available in Skyrim. Enchanting is arguably the most powerful of the three, particularly once the Extra Effect perk allows for 2 permanent effects to be Enchanted onto each of the 6 available item slots (7 if using a shield). There is also ‘that Fortify Alchemy equipment + Fortify Restoration potion feedback loop’ that enables crafted items to reach numerical values that break the 32-bit limit (I.e. around 2 billion before moving into the negatives), for those who find enjoyment in breaking the game (see 8.3 for silly examples).

The caveat with Crafting Skills, however, is that without ‘breaking the game via feedback loops’, certain perks must be taken in order to craft the most effective items. For my definition of ‘most effective’, and excluding perks affecting Enchanted Weapons and Poisons (which IMO have limited use on Legendary Difficulty until maybe the 'very' Late Game): Enchanting requires 8 perks (Enchanter x5, Corpus Enchanter, Insightful Enchanter, Extra Effect), Alchemy requires 7 perks (Alchemist x5, Physician, Benefactor), and Smithing requires at minimum 6 perks (Dragon Armour via the Steel/Elven/Advanced/Glass Smithing branch + Arcane Blacksmith). This adds to a total requirement of 21 perks minimum to ‘max out’ crafting skills.

Thus, unless a Legendary Difficulty character plans on purely grinding crafting skills, and leveling up artificially until: all 3 skills are 100, the ~21 perks are taken, relevant ingredients have been gathered in large quantities, and all useful Enchanted item types have been disenchanted… crafted item quality and skill perks will not have a significant impact on the character's stats until the mid to late game. Which means that other skills will have to bridge the gap.



Conjuration: And here we have the first ‘bridging the gap’ skill! Much like Oblivion, Summon power level stays the same regardless of player and enemy level. Thus, if you level this skill early, your summons will sweep the competition for a decent length of time.

In addition, the Mystic Binding + Bound Bow combination is ‘streets’ ahead of any other comparable perk+weapon combination, prior to crafting skills coming online (excluding ‘maybe’ weapons with unique properties such as Windshear and Mehrunes’ Razor). Granting the opportunity to summon one, and eventually two, high-powered meatshields on command, while firing off Daedric Arrows from a Mystic Bound Bow, makes Conjuration an excellent ‘first main skill’ for Legendary characters.

Conjuration can be ‘efficiently practiced’ in two ways:
1. The ‘silly way’, i.e. finding a corpse and soul trap spamming it + ‘waiting for 1 hr’ over and over (yay exploits!), or,
2. The ‘slightly less silly way’, i.e.resurrecting any and all corpses in the middle of combat, punching raised zombies 4 times + summoning another creature in the event that combat isn’t available, and summoning Bound Swords in combat.

Both of these methods are somewhat contrived (one moreso than the other obviously), but both offer considerably more experience than simply ‘summoning creatures’ … that is, until one can summon a Dremora Lord (which is a summoning spell that ‘does’ grant decent experience). This guide assumes that the player will reach the ‘mid-game’ benchmark of Expert Conjuration + Summon Dremora Lord, without resorting to Soul-Trap shenanigans on corpses. Bound Sword and Resurrection shenanigans however are highly encouraged (alongside a Follower at least, more in Chapters 5.3 and 5.4), as these provide both experience and ‘entertainment value’.



Illusion: The removal of Custom Spellmaking as well as some of the more ‘unbalanced’ spell effects (RIP Chameleon) has knocked Illusion down a few pegs in Skyrim, but it is still a powerful skill nonetheless. In a nutshell, Illusion is basically ‘the crowd control school’, with some utility mixed in.

Between Muffle, Fury, Calm, Fear, Invisibility, and Dual Cast versions of spells, Illusion can provide a range of options for fairly low perk investment (Novice+Apprentice+Dual Cast, Invisibility can be cast on occasion without the Expert perk, see 6.1), as well as a collection of pretty hilarious area-of-effect spells (looking at you, Mayhem) once Illusion cost-reduction equipment becomes available. It’s also a fairly easy skill to powerlevel whilst out of combat using Muffle (though not as easy to power level as Alteration once Enchanting has been maxed, see Alteration below). Finally, Illusion has a strange relationship with Destruction, in that the Aspect of Terror perk has the ability to increase the damage of Fire spells, in combination with the 'Intense Flames' perk (see Destruction below).

All in all, Illusion is definitely a skill worth considering for Legendary characters.



Restoration: With no more ‘custom fortify-everything’ spells in Skyrim, Restoration is instead reserved for a small, but crucial, healing role. As with Illusion, Restoration spells provide decent utility with minimal perk investment (Apprentice Restoration + Fast Healing/Healing Hands are enough to get you through to the Late Game), as well as several perks that themselves provide utility, such as Respite, Necromage (for vampires), and Avoid Death. Restoration skill levels slowly, but consistently, and the ability to heal both yourself ‘and’ a Follower whilst in combat, makes it a valuable skill on Legendary Difficulty.



Sneak: Bethesda has never really managed to balance stealth properly in any of its’ games … and Skyrim is no exception! As well as enhancing the ability to break into places and steal things, Sneak skill in Skyrim comes with the option to select perks that boost Sneak Attack Damage, to arguably unbalanced levels. Notably, the possibility for 15x multipliers on Sneak Attacks with Dual Daggers, and of course …

Chapter 2 (2.4 cont): Character Building Rundown for Legendary Difficulty

Archery: Cue the ‘Stealth Archer’ memes. Combine the high damage of the Mystic Bound Bow with the possibility of firing repeatedly at far-away enemies whilst undetected and/or from behind a team of minions, and you have arguably the best weapon skill for a Legendary character (not to mention that you can disarm Soul Gem traps by shooting them!). Poisons can also be added to arrows, though these are nowhere near as potent as they were in Oblivion (pardon the pun), as they are now affected by difficulty settings.

IMO, Archery is worth investing perks into (extra damage/utility with 'the best weapon on Legendary' is nice) even if this delays obtaining the 'max crafting perks' by a few levels. I’ve labelled Archery perks as Optional however, for those who wish to forgo Archery for other methods of offense.


Alteration: Alteration is an interesting skill, in that a lot of its’ benefits don’t necessarily come ‘directly’ from its’ spells. The Alteration perk tree boasts some of the best permanent defensive perks in the game in Magic Resistance & Atronach, and the skill has the distinction of being ‘the easiest skill to powerlevel’ once Enchanting is maxed … using a procedure that I like to call ‘Jedi Fast Travel’.


The procedure for ‘Jedi Fast Travel’ is as follows: First, don alteration-cost-reducing pieces of enchanted equipment adding to 100% cost reduction (which is doable at 100 Enchanting and no Alchemy enhancement, with 4 items giving 25% Alteration reduction each). After equipping Alteration gear, pick up an item with Telekinesis (preferably one that you don’t care about, as it ends up being lost to the void), then open up the map menu, and Fast Travel to the other side of the map. Profit!

From a spell perspective, Alteration offers almost exclusively utility spells, many of which don’t necessarily require any Perk investment if cast infrequently. For e.g. Candlelight costs less than 20 Magicka even without the Novice Alteration perk, and Waterbreathing costs under 200 Magicka at 40 Alteration without the Adept perk. Transmute Ore (found at Halted Stream Camp, see 7.6) is a somewhat expensive spell to cast, and converts Iron Ore into Silver and Gold Ore to smelt into ingots (and make jewellery). However, this most likely will not be important until Enchanting has been maxed, in which case the Jedi Set reduces the cost of this spell to 0.

Regarding physical protection spells: These give decent XP in combat and ‘can’ be nice, but there are caveats. Because of the way that armour rating works in Skyrim, the protection offered increases exponentially as armour rating approaches 667 … and aside from Dragonhide (which is a Master level spell that only lasts 30 seconds and take 5 seconds to cast...), Alteration spells cannot get it that high, even with investment into Mage Armour perks. 300 armour rating, i.e. the highest possible armour rating from Ebonyflesh + 3 Mage Armour perks, only provides the player with 0.12 x 300 = 36% damage reduction. Which is definitely useful (36% reduces a 500 damage attack down to 320, which could save your life from a stray arrow in the Mid Game!), but still not very much compared to the protection provided by Crafted Armour.

In short: Besides the Novice/Apprentice/Magic Resistance (3) perks, and ‘maybe’ the Mage Armour (3) perks once Enchanting hits 100 (as one can switch to the 'Jedi' set to cast Ebonyflesh/Dragonhide at no cost), it is not worth investing perks into Alteration until all 3 crafting skills are maxed. Alteration is easy enough to practice at least: Just hang back mid-combat and cast Oakflesh/Stoneflesh, perhaps up to 40 Alteration so that Telekinesis can be purchased from Tolfdir. And then once you’ve hit max Enchanting and made the 'Jedi' set, you can temporarily bank Alteration perks & replenish them after you’ve conducted enough ‘Jedi Fast Travel’.


Destruction: This one is tricky. I originally placed this skill in Mid Tier, however after a lot of consideration, even with its’ limitations , I have decided to move it up to Top Tier. If I could be bothered to create another tier in between ‘Top’ and ‘Mid’, this is where Destruction would reside.

First off, the negatives. With Weakness to Magicka/Elemental Damage effects removed (RIP Magic-Weakness Compound-Stacking from Oblivion), the only way to amplify Destruction spell damage without using potions, is to use the Aspect of Terror (Illusion) + Augmented Flames + Intense Flames perks, which is 'kind of' an exploit but I guess in the same ballpark as using Necromage as a Vampire. Destruction also levels 'extremely' slowly compared to the other magic schools, even Restoration (which is already slow enough to level). The Frost slow effect is bugged, only effecting NPC's in the process of sheathing or drawing their weapon (because reasons?). And finally, by choosing to use Destruction spells over Bound Bow or crafted weapons, Magicka reserves will be reduced or unavailable to use for other spells in combat, such as additional summons, Illusion crowd control, and healing for yourself and your Follower.

Despite all of this, I feel that there are enough positives and consistent uses for Destruction, for me to place it in Top Tier. All Destruction spells in Skyrim are ranged, meaning that one can kite enemies and avoid taking melee damage, and detonate Elemental Rune Traps from a safe distance (cast Flames at them!). Flames/Frostbite/Sparks are the best possible DPS options at early levels (which is why the Novice Destruction perk is on the Recommended Early Game Perk list), and Dual-Cast Ignite + Aspect of Terror provides possibly the best DPS option in the game outside of crafted weapons+fortify weapon enchantments. Aspect raises Ignite from 4 DPS to 14 DPS, which increases to 21 DPS with the help of Augmented Flames (2). It also lasts for 15 seconds and stacks with itself, for a respectable 21x15 = 315 potential damage per Ignite Spell, or 315x2.2 = 693 potential damage if Dual Cast with additional Impact Stagger!

That said: After procuring the Bound Bow/Mystic Binding perk, damage from Novice Destruction spells is lower by comparison, not to mention that using a Bound Bow frees up Magicka reserves. And whilst the Dual Cast Ignite damage sounds great on paper, Ignite damage in practice takes a while to ramp up, requiring several seconds of chain hitting spells to compete with Bound Bow damage. And once crafted equipment/weapons enter the picture, all Destruction spells struggle to compete in terms of damage, and instead are best used as a hybrid damage/utility option (providing Impact stagger + 'the odd Slow').

Overall: unless one plans on using the Ignite/Aspect combination, it is probably best to hold off taking Destruction perks (beyond Novice Destruction) until Late Game. Once Crafting Skills have been maxed, Dual Cast + Impact spells offer means of pseudo-stun locking an opponent to assist summons and followers, and stay out of melee threat. Sadly, all Destruction spells will struggle to compete with crafted weapons+fortify weapon enchantments when it comes to raw damage.

Chapter 2 (2.5): Character Building Rundown for Legendary Difficulty

2.5 Mid Tier Skills (Situationally Useful on Legendary)

One Handed: Now you’re probably looking at this and wondering: How on Earth is this a mid-tier skill, given that Dual Wielded Dagger Sneak Attacks are capable of dealing the highest burst damage in the game? Well, for starters, a lot of the possible ‘melee damage multipliers’ in Skyrim don't come directly from the One Handed skill (Sneak perks, Dark Brotherhood Gloves, Smithing enhancements), and ‘decent’ One-Handed weapons are not really available prior to high-level Smithing. Which at least places One Handed below Archery, in my opinion.

One-Handed weapons offer the player a source of consistent damage and experience in the very early game (i.e. pre-level 6) , before typical enemies have levelled up to the point where they can kill you in a matter of seconds (not including ‘fixed level’ enemies such as Sabre Tigers, which can do this from level 1!). One Handed also allows for spells (e.g. Healing) to be cast in the other hand. At higher levels, i.e. once Smithing comes into play, Dual Wielding + One Handed essentially provides the highest possible DPS output in the game, especially if one makes use of Vegetable Soup and the Elemental Fury shout (more in 8.2).

Overall, One Handed can be a skill worth investing perks into as a Legendary character, but not until the late game.



Speech + Pickpocket: These two skills are lumped in together, as they are quite similar: They both offer a unique skill-specific perk that is quite useful, but beyond this perk, don’t offer much besides ‘the opportunity to make slightly more money’ (which you should not be short of come the late game). Speech has the Merchant perk (which is useful enough that I wrote a chapter on how to obtain it quickly; more in 6.5!), whilst Pickpocket has the Extra Pockets perk. Pickpocket also has the Poisoned perk, but as Poisons are affected by the Difficulty setting, this has limited use on Legendary Difficulty besides ‘maybe’ low-hp-civilian assassinations.


Light Armour: I was tempted to put both armour skills in ‘Low Tier’, however out of the two available in Skyrim, Light Armour is the more useful skill once Smithing has been maxed. Both Armour skills offer essentially the same thing for a character with high Smithing (i.e. they can both hit the Armour cap), however Light Armour weighs a lot less, making it the ‘more useful’ armour skill!

At maxed crafting skills and without the Necromage perk/Unofficial Patch, Crafted Elven Armour is capable of hitting the 667 armour rating cap, and having 80% physical damage reduction on Legendary Difficulty is a nice insurance policy against getting one-shot by Sabre Tigers and Draugr Deathlord archers. The low weight also allows for several Elven Armour suits with different Enchantments (such as different spell school cost reductions) to be carried around and switched out when required (see 8.2), and the Unhindered perk lowers carry weight even further.

Once crafting skills have been maxed, Light Armour is definitely worth making use of for protection and enchantments.


Block: Shields do not interrupt any ‘Stamina regeneration’ or ‘Matching Set’ capabilities, allowing characters to make use of unique Heavy Armour shields (e.g. Spellbreaker) for a bit of extra defense + crowd control via shield bashing and block running (see 8.3). The caveat is of course that, to make use of said defense/crowd control, one has to get into melee range of the enemy, which might not be a good idea! As with Light Armour, Block is a solid mid tier skill that could be worth investing some perks into once crafting has been maxed.

Chapter 2 (2.6): Character Building Rundown for Legendary Difficulty

2.6 Low Tier Skills (Not very useful on Legendary)

Heavy Armour: If the player character chooses to avoid using crafting skills entirely, Heavy Armour has an advantage over Light Armour in that it is possible to attain the armour rating cap of 667 with perks alone (unlike Light Armour, which only manages 589 with a full dragonscale set + shield). That said, if Crafting Skills are considered, then Heavy Armour offers very little in comparison to Light Armour on Legendary difficulty, whilst also being heavier and placing a larger burden on Stamina use.

Because of this, there is little reason to invest perks into Heavy Armour for a Legendary Difficulty character except for novelty reasons (see 8.3), and thus the skill resides in the Low Tier.


Two Handed: Aaaaah Two Handed, how you were shortchanged in Skyrim. Two Handed in theory is a great skill, if not for the fact that Dual Wielding One Handed weapons offers significantly more DPS, and crafting enhancements seem to scale linearly with weapon types regardless of a weapon’s attack speed, favouring quicker one handed weapons over larger two handed weapons. The ‘X Bash’ Block perks at least synergise well with Two Handed weapons, and the ‘Sweep’ perk can be fun… however it also hits summons and followers who happen to be standing in front of you.

Given all of these points, in my opinion, Two Handed is not worth the perk investment on Legendary Difficulty, except to add a bit of novelty to gameplay late-game once crafting skills have been maxed (see 8.3).


Lockpicking: Much like in Oblivion, if you are good enough at the lockpicking mini-game (which in Skyrim is even simpler, all you need is systematic trial & error and memory), then there is no reason to invest into this skill. The ‘Quick Hands’ perk is perhaps useful for those who ‘really’ want to take the Thief angle, but aside from perks that slightly increase the amount of money you get, the only other perk worth considering is Unbreakable (and it’s not like Lockpicks are hard to find, especially once you’ve joined the Thieves Guild!).

Perhaps an argument could be made that a stealth-focused character could make use of this skill tree. In the vast majority of cases however, you’d be better off saving perk points for other skills.

Chapter 3 (3.1-3.3): Build Schematics

3.1 Race

As mentioned in Chapter 2.2, any Racial choice for this build is viable, but some are more viable than others. Breton grants extra Magic Resistance + the once/day Dragonskin power, High Elf gets extra Magicka + once/day Highborn power, Dunmer gains Fire Resistance, Nord gains Cold Resistance, Orc gains the once/day Berserker Rage power.

3.2 Attribute Priority

This refers to Health/Magicka/Stamina. For this build, I would:

• Level Magicka up to 200 by level 11 (level 6 for High Elf then index into Health),
  
• Level Health up to 500 (550 for High Elf) by level 51,
  
• Level Stamina up to 200 by level 61,
  
• Level all remaining Attributes into Health beyond level 61 (no level cap in Skyrim).
  
• Final Attributes: 200 Magicka, 200 Stamina, 500 + 10 Health for every level past 61 (or 550 + 10 for High Elves). This equates to 600 Health at level 71 (650 for High Elf), 650 Health at level 76 (700 for High Elf), etc.

This attribute allocation grants the build a fairly well-rounded profile, and prioritises survivability (in the form of ‘more Health’) as levels increase into the late game. Magicka reserves are important in the early and mid stages of the game, even if ‘eventually’ one plans on wearing Enchanted equipment that reduces the Magicka cost of certain spells to zero. A moderate increase in Stamina is also nice to have for the occasional Sprint, Eagle-Eye zoom, or Power Attack, and is taken around about the time that crafting skills are expected to be maxed (and thus around the time that armour + physical weapon skills begin to play more of a role).

This is not to say that this is ‘the most optimal’ attribute allocation. The goal is to be ‘well rounded’ for a character playing the way that the guide suggests, and 'quality of life' is a not-explicitly mentioned objective of this guide (until now!). Putting absolutely everything into Health is arguably more ‘optimal’, and there are (effortful or cheesy) workarounds to having lower Magicka/Stamina.

3.3 Birthstone

No longer having a fixed Birthsign opens up the option to choose star-sign bonuses that suit particular stages of the game. Here’s what I would recommend:

• Early Game: Mage Stone (for faster leveling of magic skills, particularly Conjuration),
  
• Mid Game: Any of Warrior/Mage/Thief stone, for levelling particular crafting skills. If Enchanting has not yet reached 100, then Mage stone is preferred,
  
• Late Game: Lord Stone (Armour + Magic Resistance), Atronach Stone (Spell Absorption at the cost of Magicka Regen), Steed Stone (Armour is weightless + extra carrying capacity).

If one has access to the Aetherial Crown, then they can potentially select BOTH the Lover’s Stone, AND a Guardian Stone of choice, for maximal experience gain (which is very handy when levelling crafting skills!). More on the Aetherial Crown in Chapter 7.2.

Chapter 3 (3.4-3.5): Build Schematics

3.4 Perks: Overview

This is probably the most important aspect of the character build. Given the flexible nature of skill-levelling in Skyrim, I have structured Perks into groupings rather than ‘a strict order’ … aside from levels 2, 3 and 4. Novice Restoration and Novice Conjuration should be taken as the first two perks at level 2 and level 3 (unless playing a Breton, in which case take Novice Conjuration before Novice Restoration), and Novice Destruction should be taken at level 4.

Once again, perks have been split into Early/Mid/Late game priorities, and for more information on that, head to Chapter 2.1.

Prioritise the ‘Recommended perks’ first. This build could best be described as ‘Conjurer + X’, where X can be a variety and/or a combination of other skills. After prioritising Recommended perks (which mainly concern Conjuration + crafting skills), then ‘Optional Perks’ may be taken or not taken, depending on your choice of ‘secondary’ play style (Archer, Elemental Mage, Support Caster, Sneaky Bastard, etc.).

If you manage to procure all ‘Optional Early Game Perks’ prior to reaching Expert Conjuration, then it’s a good idea to start prioritising crafting skill perks, or working towards Twin Souls via the Atromancy branch (outlined in the ‘Recommended Mid Game’ section). Conversely, if you do not wish to take certain Optional Early Game Perks prior to obtaining Expert Conjuration, you can prioritise taking Recommended Mid Game perks instead (for e.g. Allure, Atromancy, Merchant).

3.5 Early Game Perks

Early Game Objectives: Get Conjuration to 75, obtain Expert Conjuration and the Conjure Dremora Lord spell. Resurrecting corpses in battle via Raise Zombie and Reanimate Corpse, plus summoning Bound Swords mid-combat, are both efficient ways to increase Conjuration quickly (not including the ‘spam Soul Trap on corpses’ exploit).

The perks here cover up to Level 25 (24 perks), with 16 perks labeled as ‘optional’. If one wishes, they can start taking the Recommended Mid Game perks, in the event that they do not want to select certain Optional Early Game perks.

Recommended Early Game Perks (8 total):

Novice Restoration (level 2, level 3 for Breton).
Novice Conjuration (level 3, level 2 for Breton).
Novice Destruction (level 4).
Apprentice Conjuration (as soon as possible, preferably level 5).
Apprentice Restoration (as soon as possible after Apprentice Conjuration).
Adept Conjuration (as soon as possible).
Expert Conjuration (as soon as possible).
Alchemist (1).

Optional Early Game Perks (16 total):

Overdraw (1-3) (Archery)
Eagle Eye (Archery)
Steady Hand (1) (Archery)
Mystic Binding (Conjuration, affects Archery via Bound Bow)
Novice Illusion
Apprentice Illusion
Dual Cast Illusion
Novice Alteration
Apprentice Alteration
Magic Resistance (1) (Alteration)
Stealth (1) (Sneak)
Backstab (Sneak)
Deadly Aim (Sneak)
Haggling (1) (Speech)

Chapter 3 (3.6-3.7): Build Schematics

3.6 Mid Game Perks

Mid Game Character Focus: Get Conjuration to 100 + the Twin Souls perk, get 100 in each of the 3 crafting skills + the 21 crafting perks + in-game artifacts associated with obtaining ‘the highest quality equipment’ (not including Enchanted Weapons and poisons). During this stage of the game, the character should be focusing their efforts towards quests, items and skill gains that benefit crafting in some way down the line. This is not to say that ‘all’ efforts should be directed toward crafting however, as adventuring and questing still brings in glory, money, experience, and items to disenchant.

To help obtain the perk points necessary for crafting skills, it may be worthwhile taking time to practice certain skills artificially, and even make use of the ‘Legendary reset’ feature. Illusion is relatively easy to increase via Muffle spam, making it a useful ‘practice skill’ during down time in cities. Once Enchanting reaches 100, it becomes possible to craft 4 x 25% = 100% Alteration cost-reduction equipment. Thereafter, Alteration then becomes the easiest skill to powerlevel by a considerable margin (see 2.4 for ‘Jedi Fast Travel’), and can be ‘Legendary-reset’ from 100 to 15 when desired.

The perks here cover up to Level 80 (24 Early Game + 55 Mid Game Perks), with 29 perks labeled as optional.

Recommended Mid Game Perks (26 total, not including the 8 Recommended Early Game perks):

Summoner (1) (Conjuration, as soon as possible).
Atromancy (Conjuration, as soon as possible).
Allure (Speech, requires Haggling (1) if not taken already, as soon as possible)
Merchant (Speech, as soon as possible, see 6.5)
Elemental Potency (Conjuration).
Twin Souls (Conjuration, as soon as possible).
Enchanter (5)
Insightful Enchanter
Corpus Enchanter
Extra Effect (Enchanting, as soon as possible)
Steel Smithing
Elven Smithing
Advanced Armors (Smithing)
Glass Smithing
Arcane Blacksmith
Dragon Armour (Smithing)
Alchemist (2-5)
Physician (Alchemy)
Benefactor (Alchemy)

Optional Mid Game Perks (29 total, not including the 16 Optional Early Game Perks):

Overdraw (4-5) (Archery)
Power Shot
Quick Shot
Critical Shot (1)
Hunter’s Discipline (Archery)
Ranger (Archery)
Respite (Restoration)
Adept Restoration
Adept Illusion
Expert Illusion
Hypnotic Gaze (Illusion)
Aspect of Terror (Illusion)
Apprentice Destruction
Destruction Dual Casting
Impact (Destruction)
Augmented Flames (2)
Intense Flames
Assassin’s Blade (Sneak)
Magic Resistance (2-3) (Alteration)
Mage Armour (3)
Light Fingers (1) (Pickpocket)
Night Thief (Pickpocket)
Extra Pockets (Pickpocket)
Dwarven Smithing (for potentially faster levelling of Smithing skill, see 7.8)

3.7 Late Game Perks

Late Game Character Focus: Have lots of fun with your new toys! Having max level crafted items at one’s disposal opens up the potential to make use of basically any skill in the game… though some will still be more useful than others.

Rather than offer ‘recommended’ or ‘optional’ perks for late game, I’ve written a list of ‘potentially useful’ skills and perks that a character may or may not choose to use. Some (but not all) of the high level perks on this list require prerequisites covered within the Early/Mid game perk sections.

To attain all the perks on this list requires the character to be upwards of level 100 ... which is certainly doable with enough ‘Jedi Fast Travel’!

Potentially Useful Late-Game Skills and Perks (not including any Recommended Perks from previous sections):

Alteration: Magic Resistance (3), Atronach (extra magical defense).
Conjuration: Master Level Conjuration (for Dead Thrall).
Destruction: Augmented Shock (2), Augmented Flames (2), Augmented Frost (2), Disintegrate (for Lightning bolts that execute under 15% health, and to get the most out of the Chaos enchantment).
Illusion: Master of the Mind (via the ‘Rage’ branch), Quiet Casting.
Restoration: Expert Restoration, Regeneration, Necromage (particularly if going Vampire), Avoid Death.
Enchanting: Fire Enchanter, Frost Enchanter, Storm Enchanter (to get the most out of the Chaos enchantment).
Archery: Quick Shot, Ranger, Bullseye.
Block: Disarming Bash, Block Runner, Shield Charge.
One Handed: Armsman (5), Dual Flurry (2), Dual Savagery.
Two Handed: Barbarian (5), Devastating Blow, Sweep, Warmaster.
Heavy Armour: Conditioning, Reflect Blows.
Light Armour: Unhindered.
Pickpocket: Extra Pockets, Poisoned, Perfect Touch.
Sneak: Assassin’s Blade, Shadow Warrior.
Speech: Investor, Fence.

Skills not included: Alchemy, Smithing, Lockpicking. Alchemy/Smithing should not require any further perks, Lockpicking should not require ‘any’ perks.

Chapter 4 (4.1): Play Guide for Starting Out on Legendary Difficulty

Given that Max Difficulty Skyrim is not as difficult as Max Difficulty Oblivion, and due to the more flexible nature of skill-leveling in Skyrim, there would be little point in writing this guide purely as a strict, rigid procedure. Instead, this guide contains primarily tips and strategies offering approaches to different scenarios, which should leave room for choice and exploration.

There are two exceptions where the guide provides explicit step-by-step instructions:

1. The very beginning of the game, where play is essentially linear (outlined below in Chapter 4).
2. During the mid game, where particular crafting sequences are required to attain the highest quality crafted items (outlined in Chapter 7).

This short chapter goes through how ‘I’ would play through the very early stages of the game, such that the character is set up to perform well on Legendary Difficulty. This is not to say it’s ‘the best way’, so feel free to do something different if you wish!

4.1 The Beginning - Helgen:

After creating your character and following Ralof or Hadvar into the Keep (I picked Ralof but either is fine), you’ll get your first taste of battle. For best results, use a One Handed weapon in your right hand (Iron War Axe or Iron Sword to start), and a spell in your left hand (Healing/Fury/Conjure Familiar are good choices). Hit enemies on the flank whilst your allies distract them.


Quickmenu all weapons/spells/abilities that would be useful in battle, and switch between them when necessary. This includes: A One Handed weapon, a Bow, Healing, Flames, Sparks, Conjure Familiar, Fury, Racial Powers. If you become the focus of enemy attention and attacks, run around your allies and/or away from combat until enemies focus on your allies again. Get used to this 'noble coward' combat approach now: Quickly fleeing from combat if you get focused (followed usually by casting summons/heals/Illusion spells at later levels), and only re-engaging a fight once all attention is on your allies, is a straight-forward and effective strategy for surviving on Legendary Difficulty!

Loot all the bodies that you encounter, and drop Clothes + Swords + Boots + Armour if you are over-encumbered. Equip the Novice Hood and Robes inside of the locked cage; you are striving to become a mage after all.


Whilst One Handed skill will increase quickly (which is the main reason why it is preferred over Destruction for Helgen: Early experience is nice!), you should not spend any perk points on One Handed. Your first perk at level 2 should go toward Novice Restoration (for more efficient emergency-combat healing), or Novice Conjuration if you are a Breton (for cheaper Familiar summons). You should quite easily hit level 2 before exiting the cave, and the two remaining ‘Novice Casting’ perks (Conjuration/Restoration, and then Destruction) should be taken once you have hit levels 3 and 4.


Once you have picked up a Bow, you may switch to this instead of using a One Handed weapon. You can even use Sneak Archery to pick off a couple of spiders and put a dent into the Bear, leveling both Archery and Sneak a little at the same time. After exiting the cave, follow Ralof/Hadvar to Riverwood, collecting Flowers/Butterflies for early Alchemy (see 5.7-Early Alchemy for more info), and touching the Mage Standing Stone along the way.

Chapter 4 (4.2): Play Guide for Starting Out on Legendary Difficulty

4.2 Riverwood

The first thing you should do in Riverwood before anything else, is find Faendal. He should be wandering around the Mill to the left of the Riverwood Entrance. Faendal will be your first Follower, and is superior to Sven in that: He scales to level 30 (rather than only level 20), he has better overall defensive stats (Light Armour and Block vs no defensive skills, HP increases slightly higher per level), and he can effectively train Archery up to 50 ‘for free’ (by simply collecting the training gold from his inventory), if one wishes to make use of this ‘feature’.


Grab Faendal’s ‘love letter’, give it to Camilla inside of the Riverwood Trader, and now you’ll now have a Follower waiting for you outside! Whilst inside of the Trader, talk to Lucan, accept his Claw quest, and sell him everything that you don’t wish to keep. I usually hold onto: Two decent One Handed weapons (one for you, one for Faendal), a suit of Light Armour (for Faendal), Novice Mage Robes + Hood (for yourself), and any alchemy ingredients + potions + miscellaneous items that could be useful down the track.


Head back outside, recruit Faendal, take all of his stuff including his Hunting Bow (he has another one hiding in his pocket for himself, don’t worry), and give him your spare One Handed weapon + set of Light Armour (in this case, I gave him Imperial Light Armour). Then, find Ralof/Hadvar, receive the quest from their ‘relatives’ to visit the Jarl of Whiterun, and take advantage of their hospitality by taking the stuff from their house and selling it to Lucan. In return, purchase and quickmenu the following spells (if you haven’t learnt them already): Fury, Oakflesh, Raise Zombie. These are all core early-game spells, either for leveling a particular skill (Oakflesh), helping out in combat (Fury), or both (Raise Zombie).

From this point forward, you should have: a little leftover gold, a decent set of starting equipment & spells, and a follower to fight for you + carry your heavy stuff. The world is your oyster, and from here on out, the guide becomes more open ended.

My only two remaining ‘rigid’ play recommendations are:


1. Get yourself the Apprentice Conjuration perk, and Conjure Flame Atronach + Bound Sword spells, ASAP & before heading deep into Bleak Falls Barrow. Conjuration XP increases quickly using Raise Zombie and Reanimate Corpse (though not as quickly for Revenant, for some reason), but only if the ‘zombie’ enters combat.

To ensure that this happens: Raise bodies in the middle of combat with at least 1 enemy around, or punch any solitary zombie until it turns hostile (followed by killing it, or summoning something else to effectively kill it). Bound Sword also grants decent experience (and is safer to use in combat), though not as much as Raise Zombie in the early game. Given this guide’s ‘recommended perks’ at levels 2-4 (i.e.. Novice Conjuration/Restoration/Destruction), the minimum level that the build should obtain the Apprentice Conjuration perk is Level 5.

The animal + bandit enemies on the way to Bleak Falls Barrow, the entrance chamber at Bleak Falls Barrow (I.e. the dead skeevers and bandits on the ground, prior to the first pair of bandit enemies sitting around a fireplace) and the bandit lair passed on the way from Helgen to Riverwood (Embershard Mine), are all decent locations to level Conjuration via Raising Corpses. It takes about 8 Raised Zombies in combat, to raise Conjuration from 15 to 25.


Once the character has Apprentice Conjuration: Walk to Whiterun via the road from Riverwood, then once inside the city, head left up the northern path to the Hall of the Dead (the building has 4 large braziers out the front and stairs heading down). Head right as you enter the Hall, and receive the Blessing from the Arkay Shrine (see 5.1; don’t waste money on Cure Disease potions!).

After that, head up to Dragonsreach, talk to the Jarl about Helgen to receive the Bleak Falls quest, and then find Farengar the Court Wizard. He will sell you Conjure Flame Atronach (buy this first!), Bound Sword (buy this second!), and several other useful spells that you can purchase once you have the coin, including: Candlelight, Calm, Fast Healing, Fear, Frostbite, Healing Hands, Muffle, Reanimate Corpse, and Soul Trap. Even though these are all Novice and Apprentice level spells, some remain useful right up to the Late Game (e.g. Candlelight for poorly lit areas).

If you need to sell anything in Whiterun to pay for spells, Belethor will buy everything, as he is a General Trader similar to Lucan.


2. Avoid attempting the ‘Dragon Rising’ quest (i.e. avoid the Western Watchtower) until the Conjure Dremora Lord spell and the Expert Conjuration perk have both been obtained. Dragons are amongst the toughest enemies in Skyrim, requiring many hits and spells (more specifically, summons) to take down. In addition, Dragons do not spawn around the Skyrim landscape until ‘after’ this quest has been completed. Whilst the first dragon fight is conducted alongside lots of guards, future dragons may decide to ambush you when you are alone and out in the open, meaning that you will have to rely on your Follower and summons for protection alone. By avoiding the Dragon Rising quest, you will avoid having to deal with annoying Dragon ambushes!

The downsides to avoiding the Dragon Rising quest are that: you will not be able to use Dragon Shouts until the quest is completed (as Dragons souls and thus ‘killing dragons’ are required to use them), nor will you be able to recruit Lydia (who is a stronger ‘Tank Follower’ than Faendal).

The rest of this guide assumes that these two steps are taken, i.e. Conjure Flame Atronach + Bound Sword are available as spells, and Dragon Rising isn’t attempted until obtaining the Summon Dremora Lord + Expert Conjuration perks.

Thats the linear introduction out of the way. Time for the more open-ended ‘tips’ sections!

Chapter 5 (5.1-5.2): Early Game Play Tips

As mentioned in 2.1 : the ‘Early Game’ concerns ‘Helgen’ up to obtaining ‘Expert Conjuration + Conjure Dremora Lord’. During this time, the player should avoid the Dragon Rising quest, but other than that, the rest of Skyrim is fair game.

5.1 Recommended Items, Shrines and Quests for Early Game

Equipment: You’re basically a mage (even if you’re an Orc, like Mr Gobarg here), so look the part! Pretty much until all 3 crafting skills are maxed, you should be aiming to use Magic attire as your standard items, which means: Mage Hood or Circlet, Mage Robes, and any sort of enchanted jewelry that increases Magicka. You will most likely be casting spells from multiple schools, which means that for Robe choice, you should opt for the highest Magicka Regeneration possible over cost reduction in a particular school. For e.g. ‘Necromancers Robes’ (75% regen) are preferable to say ‘Robes of Restoration’ (50% regen, 15% Restoration cost reduction). An argument could also be made for Conjuration Robes, as Conjuration will be the most Magicka-intensive spell school that the character will use.

You should keep a One Handed weapon handy for yourself until ‘at least’ obtaining the Novice Destruction perk (i.e. level 4), as well as a Bow. Your best Melee weapon + Bow should be given to Faendal (more in 5.3), and any ‘spare’ enchanted items that you find (besides potentially useful mage equipment) should be broken down at an Enchanting Altar (more in 5.7).

Shrines: Shrines to the Nine Divines are found dotted around Skyrim, and provide Blessings that last for 8 hours of real play time (not in-game play time), as well as curing any diseases that you have (making them a free alternative to Cure Disease potions). Only one shrine blessing may be active at any time. To make the best use of Shrine Blessings, they should be used as soon as you begin a play session, and then last for the duration of that play session (unless you're playing for more than 8 hours straight, in which case you'll obviously need to refresh it!).

Whilst bonuses from Blessings are small, they can make quite a difference early in the game. Here are two that are recommended for Legendary Characters:


1. Shrines to Arkay provide a 25 Health bonus, which can be life saving early on! An Arkay Shrine can be found within the Hall of the Dead in Whiterun, amongst other Halls of the Dead in major cities.
2. Shrines to Julianos provide a 25 Magicka bonus, though they are quite difficult to find. The 'easiest to access' location for a Julianos Shrine is probably Fort Amol, however it is littered with Mages, and so can be dangerous to visit (see 5.8 for more info).

Quests: There are of course a multitude of quests and questlines available beyond ‘Bleak Falls Barrow’, however there are in my opinion, two quests that are of particular use to an early-game Legendary character.


First off: The Book of Love quest. This quest starts with Dinya Balu in the Temple of Mara in Riften, who asks the player to visit various people around the land in need of ‘relationship counselling’. The reward for the player’s efforts is a permanent 15% Resistance to Magic. Not a bad reward for a bit of encouraging conversation!

More info on the Book of Love quest can be found here[en.uesp.net].


The second quest (which develops into a questline) of particular use, is the Under Sarthaal quest provided by the College of Winterhold. In addition to providing merchants that sell spells, Soul Gems and Enchanted items, a number of Magicka boosting items come as rewards for completing different stages of the College questline. +20 Health Enchanted Rings can be found within Saarthal, and a +30 Magicka amulet can be found on the final enemy.

More info on the College of Winterhold quests can be found here[en.uesp.net].

Both quests / questlines involve travelling to locations that are far, far away from Riverwood, which on the surface appear to be quite a challenge to reach.

HOWEVER...

5.2 Why Walk when you can Ride?

Like the famed Silt Strider services of pre-eruption Resdayn, Carriage Services at various city stables offer the opportunity to travel to any of the 9 major settlements in Skyrim for a small fee. Which can save you from walking a looooooong way!

The first Carriage you’ll encounter will most likely be at Whiterun Stables, and you should use this to your advantage. As well as easily uncovering far-away attractions such as the College of Winterhold, carriage services can be used to open up the possibility for fast-travelling between various merchants in major towns (see 7.3), which becomes important during the mid-game once crafting takes more of a focus.

On the flip side to this: I would not bother with a Horse whilst you have a Follower travelling with you. The main attraction of a horse in Skyrim is not so much that it can run quickly, but that it can climb steep slopes and mountains, and you will leave your helpless Follower miles behind if you choose to do this (and possibly unable to be found again). I have personally never bothered with a Horse on a Legendary character during early and mid game for this reason (insane, right?), but the choice is up to you. Horses are a great mountain-climbing option, and even with a Follower, it may be worth using a Horse periodically to navigate to tricky locations.

Chapter 5 (5.3-5.4): Early Game Play Tips

5.3 Faendal: The Reluctant Meatshield

Faendal is your best friend at early levels. Despite being an archer, he is arguably more useful to your fragile Legendary character when he’s on tank duty. In open areas, he will tend to avoid tank duty unless enemies are bearing down on him, so in the event that you are being focused, it is safer to instead summon an Atronach while running away to divert attention, or rely on Illusion magic (more in 5.5) to pacify enemies. Within closed spaces however, Faendal is more likely to play the tank.


Faendal will automatically equip ‘the best items’ that you happen to give to him, which often includes Two Handed weapons and Magic Staves. Followers using Magic Staves deal more damage than if the player uses them, and at early levels, Two Handed weapons deal significantly more DPS than One Handed weapons do. However, using a magic staff lowers its charges (which makes them less valuable to sell), and Two Handed weapons become less effective as Faendal levels (as his Archery and One Handed increase whilst his Two Handed doesn’t). If you don’t want Faendal to use Magic Staves or Two Handed weapons, simply don’t give them to him!

Remember too that giving Faendal Heavy Armour will hurt his sneaking ability, so if you plan on going stealthy with him alongside you, I’d stick with Light Armour. Most armour protection value in the early game comes from ‘equipping an item’ rather than ‘the item itself’ anyway, so you’re probably best to stick with giving him Light Armour to free up carry weight. If you find any decent Light Armour/Shields and/or One Handed weapons, give them to Faendal rather than using them yourself; he’ll get more mileage out of them.


This applies to all followers, but Faendal will most likely be your first: If you have Healing Hands, you can heal Faendal’s wounds in the middle of combat. This ‘can’ be risky, as it requires you to put yourself within melee range of enemies, so it is best to do this if you also have an Atronach summon hanging around. Make sure that you’re healing Followers and not enemies!

If you wish to find yourself a more sturdy follower ‘before’ completing the Dragon Rising quest, your best bet is to become Thane of another major town (which requires you to complete a series of quests for the Jarl there), as all Housecarls have identical stats and skills. For a full list of Follower stats and skills: check out this spreadsheet. I personally just stuck with Faendal until recruiting Lydia, but of course there’s no harm in choosing other Followers.


Finally: If you lose sight of Faendal (or any other follower) whilst out in the field, wait for an hour, and he should come back. If not, you might have to go back to an earlier save, or do some exploring to figure where he’s managed to get stuck. Bethesda and their pathfinder AI, right?

5.4 Raising the Dead (and occasionally punching them): Early Game Conjuration

As increasing Conjuration to Expert level is the main goal for the early game, it’s best to make use of any corpses that you find mid combat, and resurrect them to raise Conjuration skill. Alternatively, you can raise a corpse out of combat and then punch it 4 times (to artificially generate combat), and then summon a Flame Atronach to ‘kill’ the zombie. Of course, if you are so inclined, you can bypass corpse-raising as a training measure and simply use the ‘Soul Trap spam on a Corpse’ trick to power-level Conjuration from the get go, but this guide assumes that this isn’t necessary (not to mention that corpse-soul-trapping ruins the fun of early levels).


Generally speaking, Raising the Dead is most safely done when your Follower is drawing enemy fire, as enemies often shift their attention toward you in the event that a Summon/Zombie dies through the act of raising another corpse. For difficult battles, it is best to make use of Atronach summons over Raised corpses. Flame Atronachs are a little fragile but use ranged spells (Firebolt), whilst Frost Atronachs (Adept level Conjuration spell, available from Phinis Gestor at the College of Winterhold) are melee-only tanks with an area-of-effect stagger attack.


Both Flame Atronachs and Frost Atronachs come equipped with Elemental Cloak abilities that deal damage over time to nearby enemies. One of the best ways of using these summons is to wait for your Follower to draw enemy attention, and then summon an Atronach ‘in the middle’ of a pack of enemies. This guarantees that their cloak damage hits as many enemies as possible, and often also draws enemy aggro toward them in the process (giving you space to heal your follower).


Finally, summoning and sheathing Bound Swords in both hands repeatedly in combat, also offers significant Conjuration experience, and can be done from a safe distance. This method offers slightly less experience than using Raise Zombie in the early game, in addition to being a slightly more difficult Spell tome to obtain (Raise Zombie can be purchased from Riverwood, whereas you’ll have to find a Court Wizard to purchase Bound Sword). Summoning + sheathing Bound Swords however is arguably a more reliable method of gaining Conjuration experience in the long run than Raising Zombies… but where’s the fun in that? ;)

Chapter 5 (5.5-5.6): Early Game Play Tips

5.5 Messing with the Mind: Early Game Illusion

Against ‘living’ opponents that aren’t Dragons (i.e. people and animals), Illusion offers a selection of crowd control measures for relatively little perk investment. Dual cast Illusion spells benefit from an increase in both magnitude AND duration (and Illusion spells have fixed level magnitudes), making it one of the best schools in the game to make use of Dual Casting (which is often not worth it, given the 280% Magicka cost for a 220% effect).


Frenzy is a terrific spell-effect for Legendary difficulty, but it can often backfire on the player, redirecting enemy attention away from allies and toward yourself. Fury is the first Frenzy-effect spell available in Skyrim (works on opponents up to level 6, or level 14 if dual cast), and is a long-range straight-moving projectile. As such, the best way to use this spell is to target stationary enemies at a distance whilst stealthed (usually Bandits standing around), and allow frenzied enemies to initiate a fight before your party does. Trying to hit moving targets with Fury is trickier, and more inclined to reveal your position.


Calm and Fear (works on opponents up to level 9, or level 20 if Dual Cast) are useful for self-defense, by indirectly reducing the amount of damage your party will sustain in a fight. Muffle is also a valuable spell on Legendary, as not only does it make you harder to detect, it also levels Illusion quickly without needing to be in combat! All 3 spells can be purchased from Farengar the Whiterun court wizard (or other court wizards), regardless of skill level.

5.6 Medic! : Early Game Restoration

Restoration skill is a little tricky to increase on Legendary Difficulty, as it requires the player to take damage that can then be healed off. Intentionally tanking hits early on from low level enemies whilst casting Healing in both hands, is probably the most efficient way to level Restoration to start with. This is obviously risky, so make sure that Faendal is relatively close by while doing this (that way he can finish off your opponent in the event that you run out of Magicka).


The ‘safest’ ways to increase Restoration in the early game, are to either heal off fall damage from ‘calculated’ jumps (i.e. jumps that won’t kill you but still hurt a lot) , or to use Healing Hands on an injured follower. Obtaining the Apprentice Restoration perk makes leveling Restoration a lot easier (as Apprentice spells heal for larger magnitudes and generate more XP), and both Healing Hands and Fast Healing can be purchased from Farengar regardless of skill level.

Chapter 5 (5.7): Early Game Play Tips

5.7 Having a Dabble: Early Game Crafting

It is best to hold off taking any Crafting perks prior to obtaining Expert Conjuration, aside from the first Alchemist perk (more on Alchemy in ‘Early Alchemy’ below). Crafting skills offer little in the way of on-the-ground combat stats in the early stages of the game (besides Alchemy), which is why the ‘Early Game’ perk lists cover primarily combat skills). That said, there’s no harm in taking advantage of available materials to practice. More on mastering particular crafts is covered in Chapter 7.


Early Smithing: Alvor in Riverwood gives you a little tutorial on Smithing for free, and you can use this to practice making typical Smithing items. After purchasing the Early Game Spells (see 4.2), it may be best to hold off purchasing Smithing materials, and to save all your remaining gold for Expert Conjuration spells (see 6.1), or for Speech Training in Windhelm (see 6.5 if you wish to do this now!). Given that ‘you’ will be most likely using mage equipment and a Bound Bow for most of the Early & Mid game (see 5.8): you should only focus on Smithing skill early, if you wish to create Iron Daggers for Enchanting, or make Improved equipment for your Follower. Additionally, the most efficient method for levelling Smithing skill involves waiting until 'after' Enchanting & Alchemy have been maxed, and thereafter improving Dwarven Bows (see 7.1 and 7.8).


With this in mind! If you wish to begin levelling Smithing right away, purchase the following ingredients from local Smiths: Iron Ingots, Iron Ore, Leather, Leather Strips; materials used to make Iron Daggers and Leather Bracers. Excess crafting materials can be temporarily stored in barrels around Whiterun (or any of the other barrels around the city, as NPC's don't bother to check them).

HOWEVER: If a sector is not accessed for around ~10 in-game days, then items in barrels will disappear. Which is fine for the Early game, but not safe long-term (see 7.2 for 'Base of Operations').


.


If you wish to mass produce Daggers+Bracers early, here is the Smithing crafting order that I use after purchasing Iron Ore, Iron Ingots, Leather and Leather Strips:

1. First convert Pelts into Leather and Smelt Ore into Ingots,
2. Craft Iron Daggers,
3. Use up any remaining Strips to convert into Bracers,
4. Convert 1/3 of your remaining Leather into Leather Strips (e.g. if you only have 15 Leather and 1 Leather Strip left, then convert 5 Leather into 20 Strips, leaving you with 10 Leather and 21 Strips for 10 Leather Bracers with 1 Strip left over),
5. Convert remaining strips and Leather into Bracers.

If you choose to mass produce Daggers/Bracers, then it is best to sell all Bracers, and keep hold of at least ‘some’ Iron Daggers for Enchanting practice (more on that below).


Early Enchanting: Enchanting requires effects to be disenchanted and ‘learnt’ at an Enchanting Altar (such as in Dragonsreach near Farengar) , before they can be added to items. As such, it’s a good idea to get into the habit early on of saving any filled Soul Gems and Enchanted items from loot, and disenchanting items at Enchanting Altars once back in town. I would refrain from purchasing any enchanted items from merchants ‘just’ to disenchant them at this stage of the game, and wait until the mid-game when money is more plentiful.


If you wish to start 'making' Enchanted items, then your best bet is to enchant any spare weapons that you have (like, say, Iron Daggers!) with any Soul Gems that you find. Damage Stamina, Turn Undead & Absorb Health Enchantments offer the most gold value out of the available early game enchantments (if you’re lucky you can find 1 of these 3 effects before level 10!) and crucially, unlike Clothing items, their gold value does not heavily depend on Soul Quality or skill/perk level! (if anything, the value of Enchanted weapons appears to decrease as Enchanting skill is levelled). These 2 enchantments are only outclassed in value by Paralysis and Banish Daedra (both available only from level 22 onwards on Elven/Glass/Ebony/Daedric weaponry).



Empty and Filled Soul gems can be found scattered around various caves/ruins, within dwarven automatons (both filled and empty), and can be purchased from Court Wizards (e.g. Farengar) as well as College of Winterhold trainers. Enchanted Damage Stamina/Turn Undead Daggers sell for ~200gp at merchants, meaning that: purchasing Filled Lesser/Petty Soul Gems for Enchanting practice generates a profit. Buying Filled Common (and sometimes Greater) Soul Gems is only profitable with access to the Banish Daedra enchantment (see 7.3).


If you wish to start collecting Souls for yourself, you can purchase Soul Trap from Farengar, and use Draugr and low-level animals (e.g. Wolves, Mudcrabs) as early Soul Trap targets. Animals tend to congregate near the water’s edge, for e.g. the river to the east of Battle-Born Farm (east of Whiterun) is a great spot for Soul farming. Around a dozen animals (mostly Mudcrabs) hang around the river banks, between the base of the small waterfall to the east of the farm, and Valtheim Towers. Just don’t get too close to any animals outside of Soul Trapping them, and watch out for the Sabre Cat!

Chapter 5 (5.7-5.8): Early Game Play Tips

Early Alchemy: Public Alchemy tables are available in Whiterun, both in Arcadia’s store and Dragonsreach. Out of the 3 crafting skills, Alchemy has the most to offer the player in the early game, which is why the first Alchemist perk is included amongst the Recommended Early Game perks. Having homemade consumables available for emergency situations can save your life, so it is a good idea to spend a little time gathering useful ingredients from plants and the like as you run around watching your ‘friends’ pulverize things.

There are of course thousands of different potion combinations, and for those who are curious about various ingredients and effects, head on over to the UESP wiki[en.uesp.net], or check out Xex's Alchemy Guide here on Steam.

For now, here’s a short list of (what I think are) useful early game potions to make, using common ingredients found within alchemy stores or within/around major town centres and farms. Remember that only 2 ingredients are required per potion!


Restore Health: Blue Mountain Flower, Butterfly Wing, Blue Dartwing, Rock Warbler Egg, Wheat. Blue Mountain Flower + Wheat doubles as a Fortify Health potion (check the farms around Whiterun for Wheat!).
Restore Magicka: Creep Cluster, Elves Ear, Giant Lichen, Mora Tapinella, Red Mountain Flower, White Cap.
Restore Stamina: Bee, Histcarp, Honeycomb, Mudcrab Chitin, Orange Dartwing, Pine Thrush Egg, Purple Mountain Flower, Silverside Perch, Torchbug Thorax.
Resist Frost (for dragons/mages): Frost Mirriam, Purple Mountain Flower, Slaughterfish Scales, Snowberries, Thistle Branch.
Resist Fire (for dragons/mages): Bone Meal, Dragon’s Tongue, Elves’ Ear, Fly Amanita, Mudcrab Chitin, Snowberries.
Resist Shock (for mages): Blue Dartwing, Glowing Mushroom, Pine Thrush Egg, Snowberries, Swamp Fungal Pod.
Resist Magic (for dragons/mages): Bleeding Crown, Chicken Egg, Lavender, Tundra Cotton.
Invisibility (for sneakiness): Chaurus Eggs or Luna Moth Wing, + Ice Wraith Teeth/Vampire Dust/Nirnroot. Mixing Chaurus Eggs and Luna Moth Wing together is not advised, as this combination has a Damage Magicka side effect.
Paralysis Poison (for emergencies): Canis Root, Imp Stool, Swamp Fungal Pod.



Restore Potions are self-explanatory: if you need anything restored mid battle, just drink some potions! Resist Potions are primarily for fights with Dragons and Mages, who have the potential to kill you quickly from range (and also tend to focus on one type of elemental damage). Invisibility potions can be used offensively (e.g. for sneak attacking something) or defensively (running away!). And whilst poison damage isn’t ‘that’ impactful in Skyrim, having Paralysis poisons on hand to attach to arrows, can potentially save your life by disabling fast-running melee opponents (such as Sabre Tigers and Bears).

Additionally, you should keep an eye out for any equipment with the ‘Fortify Smithing’ or ‘Fortify Alchemy’ enchantments that can be broken down at an altar, be it in loot or from a merchant. You should also keep an eye out for 'Crafting Related Potion Ingredients', such as:

Fortify Restoration: Abecean Longfin, Cyrodilic Spadetail, Salt Pile, Small Antlers, Small Pearl.
Fortify Enchanting: Blue Butterfly Wing, Hagraven Claw, Snowberries, Spriggan Sap.
Fortify Smithing: Blisterwort, Glowing Mushroom, Sabre Cat Tooth.

These ingredients will help you create the best possible items at a given time, and are not overly useful in the Early Game, but are definitely useful once Alchemy has been maxed.


Finally, remember that whilst Resist ‘Element’ and Resist Magic effects stack, only 1 effect type can be active at a time from Potions (which means that, for e.g., multiple ‘Resist Frost’ potions don’t stack). As such, there is little point holding onto ‘weaker’ Resist X concoctions as you create or loot better potions of the same type. Sell early experiments to a merchant if you have more powerful versions available.

5.8 Putting Matters into your Own Hands: Early Game Damage Options

Only dealing ¼ damage to opponents as a Legendary Difficulty character makes it tricky to deal any meaningful damage personally, though it is not impossible. The trick is to do so without getting hit, which basically means ranged combat is the name of the game.


Casting Flames in both hands (or Frostbite/Sparks vs Dunmer and other Fire Resistant opponents) are your best sources of damage to start with, and can be cast while running forwards or backwards. This means that they can be used to kite enemies, particularly Frostbite, as it comes with an additional Slow effect (though only against NPC’s that are sheathing or unsheathing a weapon, because reasons?). These spells quickly drain Magicka however, which is why the Novice Destruction perk is on the Recommended Perk list.


Once you get yourself a Bound Bow (and the Mystic Binding perk with it), this should be used as your primary source of damage over Novice Destruction spells (aside from occasionally using them to defeat low-level enemies, or using Frostbite to slow enemies for allies to hit). The Bound Bow Spell Tome can be found at Fort Amol Prison, which is East-South-East of Whiterun (in a bucket, underneath a lantern, the sneaky bugger), or purchased from Phinis Gestor in the College of Winterhold once you’ve hit 40 Conjuration. Fort Amol also has a Shrine to Julianos in the Courtyard, which boosts your Magicka by 25 points for 8 real-life hours.

Be VERY careful if you decide to visit the Fort, as the packs of Mages there can kill you in seconds with little chance of escape ... particularly inside of the prison! Resist + Restore Potions, Paralysis Poisons, and clever use of cover/stealth/Illusion magic/summons/healing spells, are all highly recommended. Don’t be afraid to run outside of the fort if you’re taking too much damage.

Chapter 5 (5.8 cont): Early Game Play Tips

Bound Bow is particularly potent when used as a (meme incoming) Stealth Archer, which is why Deadly Aim is amongst the Optional Early Game Perk list. Building up sneak skill from archery alone however is slow going; dual-wield Dagger sneak attacks build this skill up much faster. As dangerous as it may seem, it may be worth attempting the odd dual-melee sneak attack on an enemy with their back turned (Sleeping Draugr and Bandits at crafting stations make good candidates), ‘just’ to level up sneak attack quickly. If you wish to do this: ask Faendal to ‘Wait Here’, sneak up and triple-hit your target with the help of Muffle, then run back to Faendal and kill the target together.

Alternatively, you could ‘practice sneak attacks’ on a Summon facing the other direction (Dremora Lords are great for this), or on one of those cool immortal NPC’s that you can potentially sneak attack forever. A little cheesy, but hey, cheese is the name of the game on Legendary difficulty I guess.

When using a Bound Bow: Be aware that sheathing a Bound Bow will make it disappear, meaning a little strategy is required for using a Bound Bow alongside other spells. If you choose to cast spells (eg Healing spells, summons) you will have to remove an equipped Bound Bow no matter what, and on the flip side whilst a Bound Bow ‘is’ equipped, you won’t be casting any spells (which gives Magicka a chance to regenerate). As such, you should aim to cast a sequence of spells, before casting Bound Bow, and then make use of ‘shooting time’ to regenerate your Magicka.

As an example of how to juggle Bound Bow usage with other spells:

Let’s say your level 14 self and Faendal encounter a Troll (with say, Adept Conjuration + Apprentice Restoration + Bound Bow available). Trolls are bulky enemies that self-regenerate, and can very easily beat your merry band to a pulp if you’re not careful. To get the most out of your Magicka resources, your approach to fighting said Troll should look something like this:

1. Summon an Atronach right on top of the Troll (to get some elemental cloak damage), then summon a Bound Bow and start shooting. The troll will most likely target Faendal, and probably hurt him at a rate faster than you’re able to hurt the troll. That said, at the same time, your Magicka will probably regenerate to full whilst you’re busy shooting at the Troll.
   
2. Watch Faendal’s health bar, and when his HP is low (by which time your Magicka should have regenerated), switch to Healing Hands to top him up (shouldn’t take more than 5ish seconds, as he has ~150 total HP at level 14 and Dual Healing Hands heals for 20HP/sec). Then, summon another Atronach, followed by another Bound Bow, and start plugging away again.
   
3. Repeat step 2 if necessary, depending on Faendal’s health bar and your Magicka bar. If necessary, drink some Magicka potions to help fund a spell sequence.

This approach makes efficient use of Magicka resources whilst dealing consistent damage, and shouldn’t need to be repeated more than 1-2 times to kill something like a Troll at level 14. It does, however, require that ‘you’ yourself are under no threat whilst shooting and casting multiple spells. As such, this tactic only really works best against strong, single opponents, which are more likely to stick to targeting Faendal.

Finally: even if the character is using a Bound Bow, they should hang onto any Ancient Nord Arrows and Iron Arrows that they find. Eventually, the build will switch to using a Crafted Bow, and having a stash of weightless, worthless ammunition ready to go will make this easier!


Between: Your Follower, Mage equipment, Illusion effects, Healing spells, Atronachs, Raised Zombies, Healing and Resistance Potions, Paralysis-Poisoned arrows, Flames/Frostbite/Sparks cast in both hands, and a Bound Bow … you should be set to explore the land, complete some quests (maybe even start working on the guild questlines), and grow in power and wealth. Once you’ve got yourself a pet Dremora Lord and the Expert Conjuration perk, then you should be ready to take on some dragons!

Chapter 6 (6.1): Mid Game Part 1 - Play Tips

6.1 “A Challenger is Near!” : Mastering Conjuration

There is a reason why ‘Conjure Dremora Lord’ is marked in this guide as ‘the mid game transition point’. In my opinion, Dremora Lords are the most practical summon in the game. They have ~350HP, Daedric Armour (providing 32% damage reduction), a Daedric Greatsword of the Inferno (dealing ~77 damage per hit of physical+fire damage according to the UESP wiki[en.uesp.net] )… and crucially, they don’t waste any time faffing about with spells. They simply sprint at your enemies head on, overly large swords raised, and hit them harder than any of the Atronachs are capable of (occasionally decapitating things for comedic effect, hehe). Dremora Lord Summons are to Skyrim what Clannfear Summons were to Oblivion; no nonsense melee summons that hunt things down and give you space.

In addition, the Conjure Dremora Lord spell yields decent experience (unlike EVERY OTHER SUMMONING SPELL IN THE GAME for some reason!), which means that once you can summon them, contrived Necromancy shenanigans are technically no longer required to get Conjuration to 100. All that’s required now is to summon lots of Dremoras and Bound Swords mid-combat instead ….


Another reason why Dremora Lords are recommended in this guide over something like ‘Master Level Dead Thralls’, is that you can summon Dremora Lords wherever, and whenever, you want. Follower and Summon AI in Skyrim is definitely better than Morrowind/Oblivion, but it’s still rather annoying at times, with a knack for getting stuck behind obstacles, falling into ditches, and noisily interrupting stealth attempts.

With Dremoras, you can simply wait 1 hour if you want to get rid of them (120 second summon time with Atromancy = ‘1 hour’ of game time). And if one happens to get stuck on terrain, or is needed on a different platform or ledge, then you can just summon another one. Can’t do that with a Dead Thrall!


The Conjure Dremora Lord Spell Tome can be purchased from Phinis Gestor at the College of Winterhold for about 2000 gp, once Conjuration hits 65. You can potentially summon a Dremora Lord without the Expert perk, however it will cost ~250 Magicka per cast if you choose to do this. This means that prior to obtaining the Expert Conjuration perk (which reduces the cost to a more respectable ~120 Magicka at 75 Conjuration), the character will need to have at least 50 bonus Magicka from equipment/blessings, to add to their 200 Base Magicka, in order to summon a Dremora Lord prior to Expert Conjuration (e.g Novice Hood + Julianos blessing from Fort Amol Shrine, or Novice Hood + Gauldur Amulet Fragment from the first College quest at Sarthaal).

Other useful Expert level spells obtained at ~65 skill and without their respective Expert perks, will similarly need a little extra Magicka from equipment/blessings to cast. For example Invisibility costs ~230 magicka at 65 Illusion and no Expert perk (hooray for Muffle spam), and even at this high Magicka cost, is a spell that be used creatively with adequate planning. The 'Mid Game Spell Combo', i.e. Twin Dremora Summons + Bound Bow, costs ~270 Magicka at 100 Conjuration + Expert Perk + Twin Souls + no Conjuration reduction equipment.

There are reasons why this build opts into taking 100 extra base Magicka instead of just pumping everything into Health, Mr 'Guy on r/skyrim' who thought this was a bad idea! =P


Once Conjure Dremora Lord is available, it is definitely worth securing both the Summoner (1) & Atromancy perks (double summon distance and duration) as soon as possible. You will want the Twin Souls perk (two summons instead of one) as soon as possible as well, though this will take a little while to reach (even with the extra experience from Dremora Lords + Bound Sword summoning). All of these perks effect Dremora Lord summons, even if the words ‘Dremora’ are not in any of the titles.

Atromancy helps to enable Pre-Fight Summoning: i.e summoning a Dremora 'before' a fight, waiting around 10 seconds for Magicka to regenerate, and ‘then’ engaging a fight with a near-full Magicka bar + a Dremora beside you for a decent length of time. Alternatively, if you’re just wandering around the countryside and have Atromancy, then you can Summon a ‘Dremora bodyguard’ every minute or so, ensuring that you have one to defend you (and a full Magicka bar) at a moment’s notice. For reference, 120 seconds is approximately the length of time of 2 ‘short’ fights, or 1 ‘medium-length’ fight (fights with Dragons and other very tanky enemies often exceeds 120 seconds, requiring multiple summon attempts).

Keep these tactics and timings in mind; running out of Magicka mid-fight just as your summon duration expires is not very fun!


Finally, as well as Conjure Dremora Lord, it is also worth picking up the Conjure Storm Atronach spell tome from Phinis, but ‘only’ once you have Expert Conjuration and the coin to do so. Storm Atronachs combine elements of Flame and Frost Atronachs, in that they have ranged spells (Chain Lightning), and an area-of-effect melee attack. They are not as proficient at melee combat as Dremora Lords however, so their main use is to fight strong enemies from range … such as Dragons!

Chapter 6 (6.2): Mid Game Part 1 - Play Tips

6.2 Slaying Dragons

Once you’ve completed the ‘Dragon Rising’ quest alongside the Whiterun guards at Western Watchtower, Dragons make an entrance into Skyrim. Generally speaking, Dragons on Legendary Difficulty are fat, flying damage sponges (typical opponents have HP in the hundreds, whereas Dragons have HP in the thousands), which can kill ‘you’ (but not necessarily followers or summons) near-instantly from short and medium ranges. Whilst the first dragon you encounter shouldn’t be too difficult given the amount of guards + terrain that you can hide behind, fighting a dragon with just your party alone is quite a different matter … especially if one surprises you in an open area.

Some Dragon Slaying tips for Legendary characters:


1. Don’t get close. You are a ranged, squishy character (Bound Bow offers the most DPS), and even if a dragon is on its last legs, it ‘still’ has the ability to turn on you and rip your head off in seconds.


2. Stay close to cover. This could be a tall pile of rocks, a large tree, a building, whatever. Cover is extremely handy when fighting a dragon, because you can use it to block their breath attacks. Be very careful if a dragon lands next to said cover however!


3. Potions are amazing. Use Resist Element/Magic potions if you think that you’re about to cop dragon breath to the face, and Restore Health potions ‘while’ copping dragon breath to the face. Dragons exclusively use a single elemental damage type (most likely fire, but sometimes frost), and the right type of elemental protection + rapid chugging of potions can mean the difference between dying and surviving on a sliver of health.


4. If a dragon is healthy and flying around: Summon a Flame Atronach (or Storm Atronach if you’ve purchased this spell), followed by a Bound Bow. Ranged Summons can deal a little bit of chip damage to a dragon whilst it is flying around. If you have Twin Souls, Chain Lightning spam from two Storm Atronachs can sufficiently damage the Magicka reserves of a Dragon to the point of interrupting Dragon Breath attacks and Shouts (which for some reason use Magicka!).


5. Whilst a dragon is flying around out of range: take the opportunity to heal your Follower if they’ve sustained heavy damage. You may well not get another chance to do this if a Dragon circles back around and attacks your injured follower again.


6. If a Dragon has crash-landed due to injury (dragons will automatically crash-land when on ~40% health): Summon a Dremora Lord + Bound Bow, and finish it off from a safe distance. At this stage, you simply want to mob the Dragon and kill it as quickly as possible, which is where Dremoras excel over Atronachs.

Chapter 6 (6.3-6.4): Mid Game Part 1 - Play Tips

6.3 Farewell Faendal; Welcome Lydia!

As faithful as Faendal has most likely been, he is sadly a poorer choice of follower than Lydia, aside from his Sneaking ability and ‘free Archery training’ (which is most likely obsolete by his stage as Bound Bow increases Archery skill rather quickly). Lydia is as competent an archer as Faendal, whilst having superior: Health, Stamina, One Handed, Block, Armour Rating (as she prefers Heavy over Light), and Level Cap (Faendal only goes to 30, whilst Lydia increases to 50). If you wish to rehire Faendal, you can always find him back at his old job, chopping wood at the Riverwood mill (say to, er, sacrifice him to Boethiah or something, idk *evil grin*).


Lydia is the archetype ‘braindead tank follower’, which makes her close to the perfect follower type in Skyrim (not much for the AI to mess up here!). She comes with a set of Steel Armour/Shield (minus the Helmet) and a Hunting Bow (similar to Faendal), meaning that she only needs a Heavy Helmet and a Decent One Handed Weapon for a complete Item set (which is basically all that she needs prior to maxing crafting skills, see 8.2 for 'Bodyguard' equipment). Her main downside is that she is about as stealthy as a Bagpipe player at a Military Tattoo, which means that aside from Stealth Archery, carrying out sneaky activities in close proximity to enemies requires a little finesse.


To do sneaky things: get Lydia to wait somewhere away from the action, do your stealthy thing, and lure any troublesome enemies in her direction in the event that things don’t work out. You can also suspend her services in the event that you wish to undertake, say, a series of Thieves Guild quests, and she should be available for re-hire in Dragonsreach or any house that you’ve purchased.

You can also marry her, if you like, which comes with its own set of little niceties. I’ve never bothered personally (this adventurer ain’t got time for relationships!), but the option is there.

6.4 A Taste of your Voice: Introduction to Shouts

After defeating your first Dragon, Shouts finally become available to use, provided that you have the Dragon Souls to use them. On Legendary Difficulty, the most useful Shouts are arguably those that offer defensive or utility capabilities (i.e. can potentially save your fragile ass).

Here is a list of, what I would consider, notably useful Shouts for a Legendary character during the Mid Game. This is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully covers the main ones!


Unrelenting Force: Sabre Tiger bearing down on you? Ragdoll them in style! This dependable shout can be used as an 'enemy disengage' tool, or to knock Butterflies out of the air (not joking!). It is learnt in full via the Greybeards; first by meeting them at High Hrothgar, and then by retrieving the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Try not to aim it at any of your summons/followers, and as tempting as it is, try not to send Lydia flying off a cliff…


Whirlwind Sprint: Scary Dragon decided to land right next to you? Instantly get yourself out of melee range! This Shout is best used as a ‘self-disengage’ tool, or to speed through trapped areas. Be wary that Whirlwind Sprint will launch you horizontally, meaning a nasty fall if used on the side of a slope. Whirlwind Sprint has two word wall locations: Dead Man’s Respite (southwest of Morthal) and Volskygge (west of Solitude). Another word can be learnt upon meeting the Greybeards.


Become Ethereal: Temporary invincibility! Become Ethereal is an excellent defensive Shout, and has several creative uses including, but not limited to:

• Jumping from a height without taking fall damage (though it can only be activated ‘before’ jumping),
  
• Dodging a Dragon Breath attack,
  
• Repositioning safely in the middle of a fight,
  
• Charging up a Master-level spell in safety,
  
• Running through a collection of traps without being hurt.

Become Ethereal words can be found in Ustengrav (i.e. Horn of Jurgen Windcaller quest location for the Greybeards, near Morthal), Lost Valley Redoubt (Northwest of Falkreath), and Ironbind Barrow (West-North-West of Windhelm).


Slow Time: Become Neo from The Matrix! (who on Earth remembers that movie, amirite?). Like Become Ethereal, Slow Time has several creative uses including: moving ‘relatively faster’ than everything else (which affects spellcasting and weapon usage), catching arrows mid-flight, and completing time-gated puzzles more easily (such as the Ahzidal artifact puzzle which requires tiles on the floor to be run over and held down, more in 7.5). Slow Time words can be found at Labyrinthian (during a College quest, more in 6.6), Hag’s End (entered via Deepwood Redoubt, West-South-West of Solitude), and Korvanjund (northeast of Whiterun, Jagged Crown location for the ‘Civil War’ questline).


Clear Skies: Not only will this Shout clear weather effects for a short time, it can also be used as a ‘pseudo-Unrelenting Force’: It acts as an ‘area of effect stagger attack’, except it ONLY targets enemies, and has a 5 second cooldown! (Caveat: It only works outdoors). Clear Skies is learnt as part of the Throat of the World main quest, after visiting Alduin’s Wall with Esbern.


Ice Form: This shout boasts the longest immobilising effect in the game, encasing an enemy in ice for up to 60 seconds!! However, the caveats are that it has a very long cooldown (120 seconds for the 3-word version), and if an enemy encased in ice is hit, then they will break free before the shout duration expires (though they will still take ~5 seconds to get back up). As such, this shout is best used as a self-disengage if you yourself have been cornered by a difficult enemy, and your allies are occupied elsewhere. Ice Form words can be found at Saarthal (during the first College Quest), Mount Anthor (dragon lair southwest of Winterhold and south of Saarthal), and Frostmere Crypt (nordic ruin southwest of Dawnstar and east of Morthal).

Chapter 6 (6.5-6.6): Mid Game Part 1 - Play Tips

6.5 The Windhelm Business Certificate

As soon a decent amount of coin starts coming in from selling loot + Enchanted weapons, it is a wise idea to invest this money into ‘The Windhelm Business Certificate’, i.e. ‘The Merchant Perk by way of Speech Training’. Revyn Sadri from Sadri’s Used Wares in the Grey Quarter in Windhelm, has the benefit of being both a Trainer and a Merchant himself, meaning that any money spent on training can be exchanged for sold goods (or alternatively, if one is so inclined, pickpocketed back a few hundred gold at a time). All that’s required is a favour for Redyn, and then he’ll offer training.


The ‘favour ’is fairly simple: Break into Viola Giordano's house (which has an Expert Lock on the front door), and place her stolen ring inside an in-house container (the drawers to the right of the front door for example). Sneaking is advised, as the odd member of the public (including Viola) will occasionally walk past the front door. If you are not confident opening an Expert lock, stock up on Lockpicks from merchants before attempting the quest. Lockpicks can be found at General Merchants, Smithing Merchants, and in abundance from merchants in Riften. Once the ring has been returned, speak to Redyn, and he’ll offer additional services in the form of Speech Training.


The ultimate goal of the training is to obtain the Merchant perk as soon as possible, which will allow the player to sell any type of item, to any type of merchant. This is extremely useful down the track, as it will allow you to sell any crafted product (Enchanted Daggers and Potions mainly) in exchange for crafting ingredients (which can get quite expensive!). For reference, using the training cost formula from UESP[en.uesp.net], it costs 11,850 gold to train Speech from 20 all the way up to 50. Plunder those dungeons, Enchant those Daggers, and pay for that sweet sweet Training after each level up!

6.6 The College of Magical Equipment

Even at 100 Conjuration, Magicka-boosting items are still required to have the capability to summon Two Dremoras + a Bound Bow at the start of a fight (which is basically 'The Mid-game Bread-and-Butter spell combo) … and the College questline provides numerous Magicka boosting items as rewards for quests. However: from the Augur of Dunlain quest onwards, all College quest reward items are levelled, meaning that it is best to complete these quests once you have reached Level 25.

Here is the full list of College Magicka-boosting quest rewards:

- Gauldur Amulet Fragment (found during the first College quest on the Draugr guarding the Eye of Magnus in Sarthaal, 30 Magicka at any level),
- Mage’s Circlet (reward for finding the Augur of Dunlain, grants up to 70 Magicka if obtained at level 25 or higher),
- Savos Aren’s Amulet (reward for fending off the 10 floating “damage-sponge anomalies” attacking Winterhold which require an eternity to remove on Legendary, grants up to 50 Magicka if obtained at level 25 or higher),
- Arch Mage Robes (reward for completing the whole questline, 15% spell reduction across all schools, 50 Magicka, 100% Magicka Regeneration).

In the unpatched version of Skyrim Special Edition, the Mage Circlet and Arch Mage Robes can be worn simultaneously, which allows for a boost of 170 Magicka from College quest items alone; almost doubling your character’s 200 Magicka!


As mentioned in 5.1, College trainer merchants (Tolfdir/Alteration, Colette/Restoration, Faralda/Destruction, Devas/Illusion, Phinus/Conjuration) also sell a variety of spells, and Soul Gems for Enchanting practice. All except Tolfdir (so 4 out of 5) can be found inside the Hall of Countenance during the night, whilst Tolfdir sleeps in the Hall of Attainment.

College merchants will trade with you 24/7, making ~1am the best time to visit everyone to purchase gems. Generally speaking, it is best to hold off using any Grand Soul Gems you have until all of your crafting skills have been maxed, whereby you will use them to create powerful item sets from scratch.

Speaking of Crafting...

Chapter 7 (7.1): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

7.1 Credit Where Credit Is Due

When I began writing this guide, I had developed a somewhat optimised method of gathering materials & training skills, that at least allowed for the crafting skills to be levelled to 100 in a straight-forward, albeit fairly time-consuming, manner.

Months after writing began (damn real life and time constraints!), I decided to have a look at what others had written on the subject of crafting in Skyrim, and it was then that I discovered: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=794662707
Turns out that there was an awful lot that I didn’t know!

The main things that I learnt from the guide were: The Dragonborn Expansion contained a number of Enchanting-boosting items and effects, Expert Alchemy training is purchasable from Arcadia (aren’t I a doofus), and Smithing skill is exceptionally easy to max out via Improving Dwarven Bows, once Enchanting and Alchemy are maxed (which is definitely faster than my initial method of ‘grinding a boatload of Iron Daggers and Leather Bracers’).

After reading up on this guide and conducting some in-game testing, I decided to combine elements of my ‘original’ crafting methods for the Legendary Build, with Rabcor’s tips for mastering the crafts and creating the highest quality items (as I figured ‘the knowledge was there, so why not use it’). The intended skill max order is: Enchanting, Alchemy, Smithing. Unfortunately, the ‘Dwarven Bows’ method of Smithing training required an extra perk beyond what I had initially selected: Dwarven Smithing.

As such, this guide will assume that either:


1. The player will Max Smithing via grinding Iron Daggers and Leather Bracers (grinding Iron Daggers will inevitably happen at some point if one plans on enchanting them for money), using materials solely purchased from Smithing merchants (see 5.7 for materials and 7.3 for merchant info), OR...


2. The player will spend an extra perk on Dwarven Smithing (found in the Optional Perk list) and mass produce+improve around 60-80 Dwarven Bows, with the help of several other items, once Enchanting and Alchemy have been maxed. A range of 60-80 is given here due to potential differences in initial Smithing skill, and whether or not the Unofficial Patch is installed, as the Patch effects the quality of Enchantments and potions. 80 bows will require a maximum of 240 Dwarven Ingots.

If the player chooses the ‘Dwarven Bows’ method (see 7.8 for more info), then it is highly advisable that they hoard a decent collection of Dwarven metal items to smelt into Dwarven Metal Ingots, which are easy to find within Dwarven ruins. The list of Dwarven items that can be smelted down includes:

• Bent Dwemer Scrap Metal,
  
• Large Dwemer Plate Metal,
  
• Small Dwemer Plate Metal,
  
• Solid Dwemer Metal,
  
• Large Dwemer Strut,
  
• Large Decorative Dwemer Strut,

And does NOT include: Dwemer Cog, Dwemer Gear, Dwemer Gyro or Dwemer Scrap Metal (for some weird reason!).



One ruin of note with plenty of metal is the Mzulft ruin, which is visited during the College questline. The ruin contains several hundreds ingots worth of Dwarven metal lying around on the floor, in form of Struts, blocks of Solid metal, etc. It takes a few trips to shuffle it all out of the ruin (you may have to amble down the mountain side carrying ~1000 lbs of crap after exiting the observatory) , but corpses can be used as storage containers, notably the dead Adventurer to the west of the outside entrance to Mzulft (see image above).

Metal and Struts can then be transported to Windhelm and smelted down into Ingots at the Smelter, and any excess loot/materials may be temporarily stored in one of the two barrels on the other side of the wall to the Forge. From this procedure, I was able to loot and smelt 362 Dwarven Ingots from Mzulft alone, which is more than enough to craft and improve the maximum of ~80 Dwarven bows needed to max Smithing.

The following chapter outlines a set of procedures, intended to help with maxing the crafting skills and obtaining the best quality crafted items possible for a Legendary Character (outside of using feedback loops to break the game). It is assumed that before attempting any of these procedures, the character has achieved the following (and if they haven’t, I’d strongly recommend doing these first):

• Increased Conjuration to 100 and obtained the Twin Souls Perk (see 6.1),
  
• Recruited a better Follower than Faendal (see 5.3 & 6.3),
  
• Obtained the Merchant perk (see 6.5),
  
• Become the Arch Mage of the College of Winterhold, and obtained all the nice Magicka boosting items that come along with it (see 6.6).

If you have already reached 100 Enchanting skill: I would skip straight to 7.6, and follow the instructions there before returning to the quests outlined from 7.2 to 7.5.

Chapter 7 (7.2): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

7.2 Sleeping Like a Monarch

To maximise crafting experience and thus reduce time spent manufacturing hundreds of different items, it is a good idea to complete the Lost to the Ages quest prior to seriously tackling the crafting skills, and to get yourself an Owned Bed. The quest comes with the Dawnguard add-on, and involves seeking out the Aetherium fragments and Forge, with the help of a Ghost adventurer. Owned Beds are temporarily available from sleeping in Inns, and Permanent Owned Beds are available from purchasing Houses.


Lost to the Ages begins in Arkngthamz, a ruin south-southeast of Markarth. If one reads the book ‘The Aetherium Wars’, then a map-marker will reveal this location for you. Otherwise, the Dwarven ruin can be found by taking the road east of Markarth, then taking the southern fork in the road towards the orc stronghold, and then walking around the perimeter of the Orc Stronghold (Dushnikh Yal), and heading south toward the Dwarven Ruin marker on the compass bar (feels like I’m giving Morrowind-level journal directions here!).


After finding Katria, opening the Tonal Lock, and retrieving the first piece of Aetherium: three more pieces of Aetherium must be found, followed by locating the Aetherium Forge. The pieces are obtainable using the in-game information alone (note: the rivers on Katria’s map in her journal are heavily shaded, and so can be used as landmarks), but for those who want to skip the puzzle solving and just find the items, a detailed walkthrough of the quest can be found here.[en.uesp.net] If one wishes to eventually max Smithing via the ‘Dwarven Bows’ method, then it would be a good idea to collect Dwarven metal and metal parts (and use Lydia as a pack mule) whilst searching for the Aetherium.


Once the Aetherium forge has been located, the Aetherium pieces can be used to craft one of three different Aetherium items: Crown, Shield or Staff. The Aetherial Crown grants the opportunity to use a second Standing Stone bonus, meaning that a Guardian Stone (20% xp bonus to mage/warrior/thief skills) and the Lover’s Stone (15% bonus to all skills) can be used simultaneously.

The Crown remembers the ‘2nd last Stone’ that was activated, meaning that to store the Lover’s Stone on it, you must don the Crown, activate the Lover’s Stone, and THEN activate a Guardian Stone. It might be worth activating two ‘non-useful’ Guardian stones with the Crown equipped first (e.g. Warrior+Thief stones if one wants Lover+Mage) to ‘refresh’ this sequence. Once the Lover’s Stone has been stored on the Crown, you can replace the Crown with other headgear, and it will permanently retain the Lover Stone bonus.


After obtaining the Crown with the Lover’s Comfort bonus attached, all that’s left is an Owned Bed. Take the Crown off, sleep in an Owned Bed, then put the Crown back on. The net result is 20% (Guardian Stone) + 15% (Crown/Lover’s Stone) + 10% (Well Rested from Owned Bed) = 45% bonus experience gain!

If you're happy to live out of Inns and public containers (such as the Barrels around Whiterun), you can get by using these in addition to public crafting stations. Remember however, that if you do not access public containers for around 10 days[en.uesp.net], then the stuff inside of them WILL be deleted.

So: If you'd rather not have to deal with the potential headache of stuff inside of public containers being permanently deleted, then acquiring some property and establishing a Base of Operations is a good idea.


Breezehome, any of the Hearthfire Mansions, and Severin Manor (see 7.5 for more details) make for decent crafting bases. Breezehome is the easiest to obtain (5,000 gold after defeating the first dragon), and is relatively close to Smithing (Warmaidens), Alchemy (Arcadia’s or perhaps even purchased), and Enchanting (Dragonsreach) stations. The Hearthfire Mansions can be constructed to include all of the stations, plus various other perks (e.g. the Falkreath mansion is close to the Guardian Stones, and the Morthal mansion is great for farming Salmon Roe), though these mansions take time and materials to build. Finally, Severin Manor is a ‘free’ house obtainable on Solstheim (provided the player has completed a few quests), which contains all 3 crafting stations.

Chapter 7 (7.3): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

7.3 Banishing Wealth Issues & The Travelling Salesman

Far and away, the most profitable crafted items in Skyrim that can be made without investing any crafting skill ranks or perks, are weapons with the Banish Daedra enchantment (there are definitely other types of crafted item that are more profitable , but only when perks and crafting skill buffs are taken into consideration). To purchase a Banish Daedra weapon randomly from a shop costs 5000-7000 gp, however it is worth the money if you can afford it: they sell for more than 3x the price of the next best enchanted weapons, regardless of Soul quality (~700-900 gp per Banish dagger vs 200-250gp for Paralysis/Absorb Health/Damage Stamina/Turn Undead daggers). Which means that you’ll make the money back from purchasing a Banish weapon in ~10 Banish Daggers!


Banish Daedra weapons are of Elven quality and above, meaning that they only begin appearing in loot and stores from level 22 onwards. Once you have disenchanted a Banish Daedra weapon (from a Smithing merchant or found randomly in loot) and obtained the Merchant perk (see Chapter 6.5 for more info), you will have essentially reached ‘Economic Self-Sufficiency’. In effect, you can now hypothetically fund all future in-game purchases simply by buying Iron Ingots + Leather Strips + Filled Common/Lesser/Petty Soul Gems, creating Banish Daedra Iron daggers, and selling these Daggers back to any and all merchants for profit.


From this point, it is worth considering efficient ways of hoarding crafting ingredients, which means that it is a good idea to become a Travelling Salesman. Shopkeepers in Skyrim reset their inventories every 2 in game days (i.e. 48 hours), but typically only remain open from 8am to 8pm (excluding some special cases), which can lead to some awkward timings between shop visits (as well as the occasional visit to a not-yet-stocked shop if you happen to be too quick). I personally like using ‘3-day salesman routes’ that allow ample time for shops to restock, and surprise dragon attacks to be dealt with.

Here are the two Travelling Salesman Routes that I like to use. Both routes include multiple major towns, and thus Carriage Services (see 5.2) are useful for discovering these locations if you haven’t already. These routes can be used to purchase any set of materials from the listed merchants, and were initially designed for: Grinding Iron Daggers + Leather Bracers for Smithing (which I ‘thought’ was the best way to max out Smithing…) , Grinding Enchanted Iron Daggers for Enchanting, and general purpose Ingredient hoarding for Alchemy.

Trade = purchase/sell items only. Trade+Craft = both purchase/sell items, and potentially craft items using stocks in personal inventory using Crown + optional Owned Bed. For Trade Enchanting: Trade Filled Lesser/Petty Soul Gems if player does not have access to Banish Daedra Enchantment, and Trade Filled Common/Lesser/Petty Soul Gems if player does have access to Banish Daedra Enchantment. If the player has Extra Effect, 'Banish + X' weapons are profitable even with Filled Greater Soul Gems (but not Grand).

Fast Travel to the first location along each route, and then wait until 8am before beginning the route, else the other timings won’t line up.


Route 1: All Supplies. Smithing/Enchanting Focused, includes some purchase of Alchemy ingredients for later. Fund purchases with Enchanted Banish weapons, and prioritise Smithing/Enchanting purchases over Alchemy purchases if you are low on funds.

1. Falkreath: 8am, Day 1 (of route). Trade Smithing from Lod.
   
2. Riverwood: ~ 1 pm, Day 1. Trade Smithing from Alvor.
   
3. Whiterun: ~ 4pm, Day 1. Trade Smithing from Elrindir (Drunken Huntsman), Trade+Craft Smithing from Adrianne + Ulfberth, Trade Alchemy from Arcadia. Optional (as it's a bit of a run): Trade Smithing from Eorland, Trade+Craft Enchanting from Farengar at Dragonsreach.
   
4. Riften: ~ 5 am, Day 2. Wait til ~8am, then Trade Alchemy from Elgrim and co., Trade Smithing (Balgrund), Trade+Craft Enchanting from Wylandriah at Mistveil Keep.
   
5. Windhelm: ~6 pm, Day 2. Trade+Craft Smithing from Oengul. Optional: Trade+Craft Enchanting from Wuunferth, up the left-hand stairs after entering the Palace of the Kings.
   
6. Winterhold: ~11pm, Day 2. Wait until after 12am, then Trade Enchanting from Tolfdir (Hall of Attainment), and then Trade Enchanting from Faralda + Phinus + Drevis and Collette (Hall of Countenance). Their shop inventories are accessible 24/7, even while asleep! Craft Banish Iron Daggers at the altar in the Hall of Countenance upstairs.
   
7. Dawnstar: ~7am , Day 3. Wait until 8am, then Trade Smithing from Rustleif, Trade Alchemy from Frida.
   
8. Solitude: ~2 pm, Day 3. Trade Alchemy from Arriand, Trade Smithing from Fihada (Fletcher), Trade+Craft Smithing from Beirand (excluding Iron Ore into Ingots as there is no Forge here).
   
9. Falkreath: wait until 8am, Day 4 (of route). Repeat!

Route 2: Alchemy only. Includes purchase of ingredients only (crafting can be done at any Alchemy station once ingredients are amassed in bulk), and is intended to be used after maxing Enchanting. Fund purchases by Enchanted Banish weapons, or Crafted potions if you have begun making potions to Master Alchemy (see 7.4, 7.7).

1. Dawnstar: 8am, Day 1 (of route). Trade Alchemy from Frida.
   
2. Morthal: ~1pm, Day 1. Trade Alchemy from Lami.
   
3. Solitude: ~5pm, Day 1. Trade Alchemy from Arriand.
   
4. Markarth: ~3am, Day 2. Wait until 8am, Trade Alchemy from Bothela.
   
5. Riften: ~10am, Day 3. Trade Alchemy from Elgrid and co.
   
6. Dawnstar: Wait til 8am, Day 4. Repeat!

Finally, if you plan on making any of the gear sets outlined in Chapter 8, it is a good idea to begin collecting materials from Smithing merchants. To craft and improve one of each equipment set listed in Chapter 8, the following materials are required:

10 Netch Leather (purchase from Glover and Fethis in Raven Rock, see 7.4)
42 Chitin Plate (purchase from Glover and Fethis in Raven Rock, see 7.4)
8 Corundum Ingots
13 Silver or Gold Ingots
24 Dragon Bones
10 Ebony Ingots
23 Leather
52 Leather Strips
23 Iron Ingots
77 Moonstone Ingots

In addition, in order to craft: First generation Crafting equipment, second/third generation crafting equipment, and one of each set listed in Chapter 8, you will require 63 Filled Grand or Black Soul Gems (56 if you don't count 'the meme set' at the end of 8.3). Trade these from Enchanters in exchange for Daggers, or Potions if Alchemy grinding has begun.

Chapter 7 (7.4): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

7.4 Alchemy Tutoring & Unearthing Ancient Crafting Knowledge

After travelling the land selling Banish Daggers to anyone with a shopfront, you will most likely have a nice fat pile of gold sitting around. Best to invest it back into mastering crafting!


First, there’s Arcadia’s Expert level Alchemy training services. Arcadia in Whiterun, much like Redyn Sadri in Windhelm, is both a trainer and a Merchant, meaning that ingredients/training can be traded for, you guessed it, Banish daggers (or alternatively, pickpocketed back a few hundred at a time).

Using the training formula from UESP[en.uesp.net], it costs 60,700 gp to train Alchemy from 15 to 75. It's a good idea to visit Arcadia in between level ups, once Speech has been trained to 50 via Redyn (see 6.5). Fortunately, creating Banish Daedra daggers for profit also doubles as Enchanting practice, and following 'Route 1' from 7.3 makes it easy to craft Banish Daggers and pay for training (not to mention that Arcadia's along the route!).


Next, there is the Unearthed Quest, which is found on Solstheim, the location for the Dragonborn expansion. Solstheim can be reached from the docks in Windhelm by talking to Gjalund Salt-Sage, either before or after being ambushed by Cultists (which appear after visiting the Greybeards for the first time), and paying a 250-500 gold fee (or ‘nothing’ if you Persuade him, which isn’t hard to do with 50 Speech!). After travelling once to Solstheim, it is possible to Fast Travel back and forth between Skyrim and Solstheim, via small arrows that appear in the corners of the Skyrim and Solstheim maps.


Southeast of Raven Rock is Kolbjorn Barrow; a Nordic ruin completely submerged in ash. Reaching the Barrow requires a walk south along the ashen shore line to get past the steep wall (encountering some Ash Spawn along the way, see 7.5), followed by a short walk northeast up a small hill. Digging up the ash-buried Barrow is Ralis Sedarys; a Dumner fellow keen on excavating the Barrow in search of treasure, but lacking the money and manpower to speed things along. Which is where you come in!

Chapter 7 (7.4 cont): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

By paying Ralis regular installments of money, and waiting a few days between each installment, he is able to gradually excavate the entire ruin, and in the process undercover the Artifacts of Azhidal (whilst losing swathes of workers and mercenaries in the process to Draugr...). In total, 11,000 gold is required to uncover the entire ruin in 4 stages (1000gp, 2000gp, 3000gp, 5000gp). After paying each installment, 3 days of in-game time must pass, and then a Courier will meet up with you to tell you that Ralis requires 'further assistance' (which is code for 'go make the Draugr dead again'). A good way to pass 3 days of in-game time is to Fast Travel back to Skyrim, follow a Travelling Salesman route buying and selling items (see 7.3), and then Fast Travel back to Solstheim once a Courier shows up.


There are 6 artifacts in total: Boots, Helmet, Armour, Gauntlets, and two Rings. Whilst the artifacts come with some unique properties (such as the Ignite spell from Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana, which can be significantly enhanced by taking the Aspect of Terror + Augmented Flames perks), the main reason for uncovering them is get access to Ahzidal’s Genius: a magical effect that increases Enchanting skill by 10 points (up to 110 if Enchanting has been maxed!). At least 4 Ahzidal items are required to net this effect (e.g. Helmet, Gauntlets, Boots, Arcana Ring), and all 4 levels of excavation are required to recover enough artifacts to net the effect, as the Armour and Helmet are only uncovered during the Final Stage (and you cannot wear two rings).

Be extremely careful of Draugr Deathlord Archers; one arrow to the knee is enough to end your adventuring career (see what I did there?). High level Archers in general are the bane of this character's existence in the Mid-Game, as it's relatively easy to increase protection against magical damage, but sadly not easy to increase protection against Physical damage without making use of short-duration Alteration spells and/or Mage Armour perks (not to mention that the bastards can often shoot you before you spot them). It is best to let Dremora + Lydia deal with Deathlords directly, and to stay close to cover in the event that one turns its' attention on you.

The final fight against Ahzidal is also nasty, as his Fire Stream spell hits like a truck. It may be a good idea to stick to the safety of the doorway, summoning several Dremora to deal with the hordes of Draugr (and also to replace any that Ahzidal incinerates), and using cover + Resist potions to reduce or block the damage from Ahzidal's spells. Once Ahzidal is dead (again), if you choose to spare Ralis, then he can be later found in Retching Netch in Raven Rock and recruited as a Follower (he has Dual Wielding Feats, the Extra Damage perk, and a level cap of 60, making him rather strong!).


At the conclusion of Unearthed, you will encounter Black Book: Filament and Filigree, which contains a miniature realm of Apocrypha: Hermaeus Mora’s plane of Oblivion. Using Twin Dremoras (Followers cannot enter Apocrypha) and the Candlelight spell within dark areas to avoid damage, fight your way to the other side of the realm (and avoid the tentacle traps!), where you can select one of three once/day Powers from the Black Book. Be very cautious around Lurkers, as they can stagger your Dremora and force them off of high platforms, kill you in one swipe, and have similar HP to Dragons (i.e. 1000+ HP). For a Legendary character, Secret of Protection (take half damage for 30 seconds) is probably the most useful, because hey, squishy ranged character and all that. Might save you from being bitten in half by a Dragon or one-shot by an Archer if you remember to use it!


Whilst waiting for Kolbjorn Barrow to be unearthed, there is also another Black Book worth seeking out. Black Book: The Sallow Regent is a book found within White Ridge Barrow, a Nordic ruin found by walking a decent distance uphill directly north of Kolbjorn Barrow, past the Abandoned Lodge. The ruin contains a mixture of Albino Spiders and Bandits, as well as an ‘Imbuing Chamber’ where unique ‘scrolls’ can be crafted.


At the bottom of the ruin lies a Dragon Priest and the Black Book, which contains another miniature realm of Apocrypha. Candlelight is extremely helpful in this realm, and Sneak Archery can be quite effective against the enemies here. After defeating the Lurkers, you will have the option of choosing one of three long lasting ‘Seeker’ abilities. These abilities boost the effectiveness of Combat, Magic or Stealth skills by 10% … which crucially includes Crafting Skills! If you wish to change a particular Seeker ability, you can simply read The Sallow Regent again, and be transported back to the end of the realm.

Chapter 7 (7.5): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

7.5 Optional Crafting-Related Quests

The previous Chapter (7.4) outlines methods to obtain Ahzidal’s artifacts and Black Book: The Sallow Regent, which both grant the potential to increase the quality of crafted items. There are also a number of quests that can effectively speed up the levelling process for crafting skills, however these do not impact the quality of crafted items. As such, they are effectively optional quests for the player to complete if they wish.


Served Cold: To begin this quest, the player must first complete March of the Dead (by encountering Captain Veleth and the Ash Spawn south of Raven Rock), and The Final Descent (by talking to Crescius Caerellius in the Raven Rock Mine). These quests can be completed in any order, but both are required to begin Served Cold. March of the Dead concerns removing an undead general from Fort Frostmoth, and The Final Descent concerns the uncovering of a tomb (and another Black Book!) underneath the Raven Rock mine. Both are fairly straightforward quests, besides ‘the puzzle door’ at the entrance to the tomb, which requires performing combinations of horizontal and vertical power attacks with the Bloodskal Blade.


After completing these quests, Captain Veleth with ask for your assistance once again, this time concerning a possible assassination attempt on Councillor Morvayn. The search for clues will lead you inevitably to Severin Manor, owned by the perpetrators of the assassination plot (didn’t Hlaalu go downhill after the events of Morrowind, eh?). After foiling the plot, Morvayn will grant you Severin Manor as a reward, including all of its contents and crafting stations!

One caveat however, is that unless you’ve completed the majority of the Dragonborn Main Questline, then sleeping inside the Manor will transport you to a random Stone. Beginning the Dragonborn Questline requires having first being attacked by Cultists on the mainland (which only appear after visiting the Greybeards for the Main Quest), then talking to the townsfolk of Raven Rock, and then visiting the Temple of Miraak.


Azura & Molag Bal’s Shrine Quests: These quests provide rewards that can speed up the process of increasing Enchanting skill. The Azura Shrine quest begins by visiting the Shrine of Azura (south of Winterhold, take the mountain path up the west side of the mountain from Sightless Pit), the reward for which potentially includes The Black Star, an indestructible Black Soul Gem. The Molag Bal Shrine quest begins by entering the Abandoned House in Markarth alongside Vigilant Tyranus (head directly west a short way from the front gate), the reward for which is The Mace of Molag Bal; a mace with a Soul Trap enchantment. By using the Mace to Soul Trap enemy NPC souls in the Black Star, and thereafter using the Black Star to recharge the Mace, one can increase Enchanting skill rather quickly!


The Dark Brotherhood & Babette: Not exactly a quest as such, but if you join the Dark Brotherhood via the Aretino Residence in Windhelm, you will gain access to Babette, a 300 year old child vampire. She also happens to be the Master Alchemy trainer in Skyrim, so if you ‘really’ would like to spend money on Alchemy training to increase Alchemy from 75 to 90 (which costs 62,250 gp just for 15 skill increases, by the way!), then joining the Dark Brotherhood will allow you to do this. If you’ve been following the Travelling Salesman Alchemy Route and hoarding ingredients, I personally think that this is completely unnecessary. But the option is there.


A Return to your Roots: This quest can only be undertaken during Elder Knowledge , the component of the Main Quest that requires visiting Blackreach. By collecting 30 samples of Crimson Nirnroot and returning them to Avrusa Sarethi (found on Sarethi Farm east of Ivarstead), the player is rewarded with the ability Sinderion’s Serendipity, which grants a 25% chance to craft two potions instead of one. Given that Alchemy skill increases based off of the value of the crafted product, this effectively translates to 25% bonus Alchemy experience increase for crafting potions.


Unfathomable Depths: This quest begins at Riften Fishery by talking to From-Deepest-Fathoms, an Argonian woman wearing a Hide Helmet. She asks you to return a Lexicon that she stole from the Dwarven ruins of Avanchnzel. After returning the Lexicon, the player is rewarded the ability Ancient Knowledge, which provides a 15% bonus to Smithing experience. If you plan on using the Dwarven Bows method to max out Smithing, and have not yet hoarded enough Dwarven metal to get this done, this is a very useful quest!

Chapter 7 (7.6): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

7.6 Mastering Enchanting and ‘Generation 1’ Enchanted Equipment

If you’ve been following the guide up until this point, mastering Enchanting should be simple: Loot/Purchase Filled Soul Gems, then enchant Daggers/other weapons for profit and experience (Banish being the most profitable enchantment, see 7.3), with the Mage Stone + Crown + optionally after resting in an Owned Bed (see 7.2). Alternatively, if you’ve taken to completing the Molag Bal and Azura Quests (see 7.5), then you can simply Soul Trap & kill human NPC’s with the Mace, then recharge the Mace with the Black Star. Either way, once Enchanting has reached 100, and Enchanter (5) + Insightful Enchanter + Extra Effect have been taken, it’s time to make our first sets of Enchanted equipment!


First off. It is a good idea to become acquainted with Endarie in the Radiant Raiment in Solitude, as she owns the most comprehensive clothing shop in Skyrim. She sells a number of items to disenchant (as do other merchants such as Smiths, so keep on the lookout for effects that have not yet been learnt!), as well as plain clothing in various styles. Additionally, to make jewellery easier to acquire, it is a good idea to visit Halted Stream Camp (north of Whiterun), and find the Transmute Ore spell tome. This spell can be used to convert Iron Ore purchased from Smiths (or mined from deposits, if you’re so inclined), into Silver and Gold Ore, which can then be smelted into Ingots and crafted into rings and necklaces.


The first set of Enchanted equipment you should make, only requires access to the Fortify Alteration enchantment: the ‘Jedi’ set. This consists of 4 pieces of equipment enchanted with Grand Soul Gems: Head, Neck, Chest and Ring. This set provides 4 x 25% Fortify Alteration = 100% cost reduction for Alteration spells, allowing for any object to be indefinitely suspended in the air via Telekinesis. Equip the Jedi set, suspend something useless in the air, Fast Travel a decent distance away, and powerlevel until your heart's content (resetting Alteration back to 15 when desired). If you wish to make further use of the Alteration school beyond ‘Jedi Fast Travel’ (e.g. Ebonyflesh + Mage Armour perks), high level Alteration spells may be purchased from Tolfdir in the College.

Your next set of equipment requires a little preparation. If you have not completed the quests outlined in 7.4: Be aware that the Ahzidal artifact set and Black Book: Sallow Regent are required to make the best quality equipment.

HOWEVER: If you would like some more immediate power now (and this might be a good idea if you've both maxed Enchanting AND not completed many quests from this Chapter yet), then you can make slightly less powerful versions of the 'Mid Game Items' (by less powerful I mean '40%' vs '52%', which not a very noticeable difference). These are intended to complement the Archmage Robes, Savos Aren’s Amulet, and Mage Circlet (see 6.6), and provide Fire/Frost Resistance, Conjuration reduction, extra Magicka, and 2x Fortify Archery (which increases Bound Bow damage by a decent amount!).

The less powerful versions of the ‘Mid Game’ items are:

Mid Game Gloves: Clothing Gloves (see Endarie for some), with Fortify Archery/Magicka enchantments (40% Bow Damage and 62 Magicka at 100 Enchanting + Grand Soul),
Mid Game Boots: Clothing Boots (see Endarie), Resist Fire/Frost enchantments (37% at 100 Enchanting + Grand Soul),
Mid Game Ring: Any unenchanted Ring, Fortify Conjuration/Archery enchantments (40% Bow Damage and 25% Conjuration reduction at 100 Enchanting + Grand Soul).

If you haven’t skipped 7.4, then ignore the above, and read on!

To Enchant items to the best of your current ability, you will need the following:

• Black Book: Sallow Regent, with Seeker of Sorcery active (will need to fast travel to Solstheim to read the book if you don’t have this effect already),
  
• Any 4 pieces of Azhidal’s artifacts equipped (which consist of: Boots, Gauntlets, Helmet, Armour, Rings),
  
• Enchanter’s Elixir (found at Treva’s Watch, amongst other locations),
  
• Unenchanted versions of: Gloves (clothing for non-craft set), Gauntlets or Gloves (can be armour or clothing, for craft set), Ring x2, Boots (clothing for non-craft set), Necklace (for craft set), Chest (armour or clothing, for craft set), Headgear (armour or clothing for craft set),
  
• 8 Filled Grand or Black Soul Gems,
  
• The following enchanting effects learned: Fortify Smithing, Fortify Alchemy, Fortify Conjuration, Fortify Archery, Fortify Magicka, Resist Fire, Resist Frost.

Your first objective will be to make a batch of equipment that includes: Fortify Smithing+Alchemy Gloves/Ring/Necklace, Fortify Smithing Chest, Fortify Alchemy Helmet (totalling 5 pieces of ‘crafting equipment’), a Ring with Fortify Conjuration + Archery, Gloves with Fortify Magicka + Archery, and Boots with Resist Fire and Frost. This is a total of 8 items to be made (most with 2 effects), and all to be done in within 60 seconds! In my case, this was done on a Switch console with no quick keys, which meant working up and down the menus in an efficient fashion.

EDIT: Slight snag, read the 'EDIT' section after this procedure!

Here is the procedure that I used on the Switch (should be significantly easier on PC lol). I renamed each item before crafting (which gave me time to pause and read the next line of the procedure), used the left stick to navigate menus (past all of those useless enchanting effects!), X to rename, Y to craft.


Before starting the procedure: Put ALL of your unnecessary unenchanted items into a container, so that they don’t clog up the equipment menu. Then: Equip 4 Ahzidal artifacts, stand in front of an Altar, save, drink the Elixir, and have a practice at the procedure below. If you don’t get all 8 items made in time, simply reload the save and try again. Took me a few goes!

1. Select Chest item, Fortify Smithing, Grand Soul, Rename (AA Craft 1), Craft.
   
2. Select Grand Soul, Fortify Smithing and Alchemy, Gauntlets (save the clothing gloves for later!), Rename (AA Craft 1), Craft .
   
3. Select Helmet, Fortify Alchemy, Grand Soul, Rename (AA Craft 1), Craft.
   
4. Select Grand Soul, Fortify Archery + Fortify Magicka, Gloves (clothing variety), Rename (Mid Game Gloves), Craft .
   
5. Select Necklace, Fortify Smithing + Alchemy, Grand Soul, Rename (AA Craft 1), Craft.
   
6. Select Grand Soul, Fortify Alchemy + Fortify Smithing, Ring, Rename (AA Craft 1), Craft.
   
7. Select Boots, Resist Fire + Resist Frost, Grand Soul, Rename (Mid Game Boots), Craft.
   
8. Select Grand Soul, Fortify Conjuration + Fortify Archery, Ring, Rename (Mid Game Ring), Craft.
   

Chapter 7 (7.6-7.7): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

If you cannot manage to make all 8 items in time after several attempts, at least ensure that the 5 Crafting items are made with the Elixir active (which are completed by step 6). If you've made slightly less powerful versions of the Mid Game items mentioned earlier, then you can skip making these again entirely, as they do not add much combat power.

EDIT: Doofus moment incoming ... it turns out that renaming items when Enchanting on PC, DOESN'T PAUSE THE GAME. Which makes it VERY difficult, if not impossible, to create 8 named items within a 60 second timeframe using the method in the previous Chapter. As such, I either:

- Not bothering naming any of the items created using the Enchanter's Elixir, or
- Only create some of the items listed in the procedure above. Technically, if one does not use Smithing until crafting is Maxed, then they can get away with only making the First Crafted set as 4 items that boost Alchemy skill (Head, Hands, Ring, Necklace).

But! If you are indeed playing on a Console, then with enough practice, you should end up with a set of items that looks something like this (Fortify Smithing/Alchemy items all have the same % stats):


The 5 ‘AA Craft 1’ Items will be located at the top of apparel (yay alphabetical order), and are your first set of ‘crafting items’ (you will make 2 more sets before you are finished). If you do not have the Unofficial Patch installed (like me), then this set will consist of 4 x 32% Smithing/Alchemy improved magnitude, for a total of 128%. If you do have the Unofficial Patch installed, then this will be slightly better, at 4 x 36% = 144% total. And as mentioned earlier, the ‘Mid Game’ Items are intended to complement your College Mage Items (Archmage Robes, Mage Circlet, Saros Aren’s Amulet) until all crafts have been maxed.

If you wish to use your set to improve the quality of Follower Equipment (in the event that you have levelled Smithing and taken perks in it), then you may use your crafted set to do this. Once all 3 crafting skills have been maxed, all of your personal gear (College + Mid Game items) will be retired in favour of new, shiny, overpowered Enchanted Elven Armour (plus some new jewellery, see 8.1).

With your first Crafting Set done, it’s time to start making some potions!

7.7 Mastering Alchemy and ‘Top Tier’ Crafting Equipment

Once again, if you’ve been following the guide up until this point, then you will most likely have received Alchemy training from Arcadia in Whiterun (perhaps even up to 75), and mass purchased a boatload of Alchemy ingredients from various merchants along the Travelling Salesman Routes (see 7.3). You will have also just crafted your first crafting set, containing 4 pieces of equipment that boost Alchemy (see 7.6). If you have advanced past a 20/40/60/80 alchemy threshold at any point, you should also have selected Alchemist/Physician/Benefactor perks to increase potion value.

If you have not done any of these things yet, then I would highly suggest doing so before attempting to mass-produce your way to 100 Alchemy. Alchemy skill increase is solely dependent on potion value, meaning that the more skill/perks/equipment you have to boost Alchemy, the easier it will be to level, and the less potions that you will have to make!

You should have the following before you begin making potions:

• The Thief Stone active (we're trying to gain Alchemy skill, remember?),
  
• Black Book: Sallow Regent, with Seeker of Shadows active (will need to fast travel to Solstheim to read the book),
  
• Your AA Craft 1 set equipped (see 7.6), and NOT the Aetherial Crown. This is because you actually generate more XP from your Alchemy boosting Hat than you do with the Crown!
  
• A decent mass of ingredients (for reference, I had ~350 lbs worth and had to amble around after picking it all up),
  
• Alchemy skill as high as possible, as many Alchemist perks as possible (so 4 perks at level 75), Physician perk, and Benefactor perk all obtained.

Next, rest in an owned bed to get the Well Rested bonus (if you rest on Solstheim you'll get the bonus, but be transported to a random stone if you haven't completed the Dragonborn quest!), then head to an Alchemy station to begin potion making. Now: BEFORE even considering which potions will net you the highest gold, I personally think it is a good idea to learn WHAT each ingredient does for future reference. And why not get experience for it at the same time, saving your better ingredients for later?

For the base game ingredients alone, it is possible to make one of each of 65 different potions with 193 ingredients, that will reveal ALL of the effects for these ingredients. The full list of potions for Identifying Effects for the Base Game can be found here[en.uesp.net]. I would aim to make as many of the potions on this list as possible first (only need 1 of each), depending on what ingredients you currently have (you probably don’t have Jarrin Root, for example, and if you don’t then skip potion 61). I was able to raise Alchemy from 75 to 87, simply by making 59 out of 65 of the potions on this list (didn’t have enough ingredients for the other 6).

Once you have made as many potions as you can on the ‘Identifying Effects’ list for the Base Game, then feel free to make as many high level potions as possible until Alchemy reaches 100. Rather than copy-pasting Rabcor’s list of top ingredients from the Alchemist’s Resource section of the Crafting Guide, I’ll simply post the link to Rabcor's Guide here. Credit where credit is due!

After hitting 100 Alchemy, you should 'definitely' never have any monetary issues ever again; the potions that you created 'just to get to 100 Alchemy', will likely be worth more than 100,000 gp combined!

Next, it’s time to create your final crafted set, as well as some top-tier crafting potions. To do this, you will need the following:

• 2 unenchanted sets of: Headgear, Gauntlets/Gloves, Ring, Necklace, and one Chest item.
  
• 9 Filled Grand or Black Soul Gems,
  
• Black Book: Sallow Regent, for both the Seeker of Shadows and Seeker of Sorcery buffs.
  
• Any 4 pieces of Azhidal’s artifacts (which consist of: Boots, Gauntlets, Helmet, Armour, 2 rings).
  
• Fortify Enchanting ingredients: Blue Butterfly Wing, Hagraven Claw, Snowberries, Spriggan Sap. From the Expansions: Chaurus Hunter Antennae, Spawn Ash.
  
• Fortify Smithing ingredients: Blisterwort, Glowing Mushroom, Sabre Cat Tooth.

You will need to craft 2 complete sets of Crafted Gear, while switching between Sallow Regent effects. If you have Severin Manor (see 7.5), this can be done within the Manor. Otherwise, within Raven Rock, there is a public Alchemy station outside of Ineth Farm near the Blacksmith, and a public Enchanter inside Morvayn Manor.

Chapter 7 (7.7-7.8): Mid Game Part 2 - Becoming a Master Crafter

The procedure for crafting your final crafting sets are as follows:

1. Don your best (current) Crafting Set, then enable the Seeker of Shadows effect from the Black Book: Sallow Regent (if it isn’t active already),
   
2. Go to an alchemy lab and create 2-3 Fortify Enchanting potions,
   
3. After making the potions, enable the Seeker of Sorcery effect from the Black Book,
   
4. Get to an Arcane Enchanter,
   
5. Put on Ahzidal's Set,
   
6. Save the game, drink a Potion, and make 4 Alchemy boosting items (Gauntlets, Ring, Necklace, Hat). Homemade Fortify Enchanting potions only last 30 seconds, so you will need to make 1-2 items, exit the Altar, drink another potion, and repeat for all other items.
   
7. Repeat Steps 1-6 for a Third and Final Crafting Set, which now includes a Fortify Smithing Chest item. The Final Crafting set includes: Fortify Smithing Chest, Fortify Smithing+Alchemy Gloves/Ring/Necklace, Fortify Alchemy Helmet. If you wish to do this in two potions, then I would craft: Chest, Ring, Helmet with the first potion, then Gloves/Necklace with the second potion.

IMPORTANT EDIT:

During my Let's Play, I discovered that renaming Enchanted items on PC is a slow process. For your final set of crafted gear, simply adding 'A ' (with a space) to the beginning of an item's normal name (e.g. "A Silver Ring, A Blacksmith Apron, etc), was enough to place it at the very top of the apparel list, and is IMO enough for the Final Crafted Set. This will enable you to get by using 1 Fortify Enchanting per 2 crafted items.

For more complex names however (such as the Late Game item sets), it is best to use 1 Fortify Enchanting per Enchanted item, which means that you will need a lot of Fortify Enchanting ingredients. For best results, 'Snowberries + X' Fortify Enchanting potions should make the best use of your ingredient store, as Snowberries are a lot more common than the other ingredients on the list. Don't forget to hold onto any Spawn Ash you pick up on Solstheim, and keep in mind that Snowberries + Spawn Ash will show up in your inventory as 'Resist Fire' potions! (which are best used for Fortify Enchanting, obviously).

(Edit over, back to your regular programming...)

Your Final Crafting Set should boost Smithing/Alchemy by 35% x4 = 140% boost, or 41% x 4 = 164% boost if you have the Unofficial Patch installed.


After crafting your final crafting set: Switch back to Seeker of Shadows, don your final Crafting Set, find an Alchemy table, and craft a huge batch of Fortify Enchanting and Fortify Smithing potions. These potions will cap at 40% Fortify Restoration and 158% Improved Smithing without the Unofficial Patch installed, or 44% Fortify Enchanting and 174% Improved Smithing with the Unofficial Patch installed.

7.8 Mastering Smithing and becoming a Master Crafter

With Enchanting and Alchemy at 100, and the best possible Enchanted Crafting set available, it’s time to finish off with Smithing!

By this stage, if Iron Daggers have been produced and enchanted for money, Smithing skill should be well over 30, which means the Dwarven Smithing perk should be available should you choose to take it (as it’s Optional). If Smithing skill is lower than 30, and you wish to use the 'Dwarven Bows' method of raising Smithing to 100, then I would following Travelling Salesman Route 1 (see 7.3), and purchase materials + craft Iron Daggers and Leather Bracers (see 5.7), until Smithing skill has reached 30.

As mentioned in 7.1, there are two methods that the character should choose to increase Smithing at this point:

The ‘Iron Daggers and Leather Bracers’ way: This method does not require ‘any’ perks, and simply involves combining methods already outlined above. Use the first Travelling Salesman Route (outlined in 7.3), to horde components and mass produce Iron Daggers and Leather Bracers (see 5.7 for this ‘crafting procedure’). This method is slow, but consistent and reliable, and will save you a perk point over the second method.

The ‘Dwarven Bows’ way: This method requires:

• At least 30 Smithing skill + the Dwarven Smithing perk (which will be a throwaway perk for this character, given that the ‘Light Armour’ route up the perk tree is more useful come Late Game),
  
• The best Fortify Smithing potions that you can craft (see the end of 7.7 for more info). I would aim for 2-4 potions,
  
• Enough Iron and Dwarven metal to craft and improve around 60-80 dwarven bows. The amount depends on Smithing Skill + whether you have the Unofficial Patch installed (80 bows requires 80 Iron and 240 Dwarven Ingots, so I would aim for this).

EDIT: Without any patches installed and starting at 31 Smithing, 70 Bows was enough to raise Smithing to 100. Doesn't hurt to overshoot the mark a bit though, as they can all be sold for profit!

The best way to obtain Dwarven Metal is to visit Dwarven ruins, loot all items with ‘metal’ or ‘strut’ in their name (except for ‘Dwemer Scrap Metal’, because reasons), and smelt them at a smelter (which might require a few trips to carry it all to a smelter as the stuff can be stupidly heavy!). Once you have materials for the Bows (i.e no more than 240 Dwarven Metal + 80 Iron Ingots if you've followed the guide so far), the method is as follows:

1. Use Sallow Regent to activate the Seeker of Might on Solsthiem,
   
2. Head back to Skyrim, take the Crown off (if it is on), and switch to the Warrior's Stone,
   
3. Don the Aetherial Crown + the other 4 items from your Final Crafting Set (which all boost Smithing), and rest in an Owned Bed close to Forge + Workbench (e.g. Bannered Mare in Whiterun),
   
4. Collect the necessary Dwarven Metal + Iron (which will most likely overencumber you!) and find a Forge,
   
5. Craft about 60-80 Dwarven Bows at the Forge (depending on starting skill + Unofficial Patch),
   
6. Head to a Grindstone, Save, and drink a Fortify Smithing potion,
   
7. Improve around 30 bows at the Workbench (button mashing order on a Switch is: A, Y, then AAY, AAY, AAY, etc.). ONLY improve Bows that have not yet been improved (not ones that are already Legendary!),
   
8. Repeat drinking a potion + improving more bows until Smithing hits 100.

If you have the perk points to take Dragon Armour straight away after hitting 100 Smithing, then you should now also craft yourself two Dragonbone Bows and a Dragonbone Sword, and use a Fortify Smithing potion to improve them. These weapons will be used for yourself and your Follower within various Late Game item sets (Bow for you, Bow + Sword for Follower)outlined below in Chapter 8.

Once all 3 crafts have been mastered, with the Ahzidal artifacts + Sallow Regent + Final Crafting Set + top level Fortify Enchanting/Smithing potions all in hand ... you will now be able to create the best items possible in the game (outside of exploits).

Congratulations! You have officially entered the Late Game! :)

Chapter 8 (8.1): Late Game Play Tips

8.1 Birthsigns, Perks and Equipment

From this point forward, basically any skill and playstyle can be viable to use, thanks to the magic of top-tier crafted items. Before getting into said crafted items, and reiterating from Chapters 2 and 3, here are some Perks and Birthsigns that can be potentially useful for Late Game.

Birthsigns:

• The Lord Stone provides 50 Armour and 25% Magic Resistance, which can boost the character’s Magic Resistance to 70% without any special equipment (85% if Breton), or to 85% with one Magic Resistance item (see 8.2). This stone is probably best used to complement gear sets that require spells to be cast using Magicka (i.e. do not have 100% cost reduction for all relevant schools), but also require a little extra magical defense,
  
• The Atronach Stone provides 50% Spell Resistance and 50 Magicka, but halves Magicka regen. Combined with the Atronach perk from the Alteration tree, it is possible to attain 80% Spell Absorption, and with Miraak’s equipment (from the Dragonborn questline), it is possible to reach 100% Spell Absorption. This stone is probably best used to complement ‘tank gear sets’ that encourage minimal spellcasting, or sets that provide 100% cost reduction in desired spellschools (as the reduced Magicka regen can be annoying to deal with!).
  
• The Steed Stone removes all weight and movement penalties from worn armour (including Heavy Armour), and adds 100 lbs of carrying capacity. This stone is probably best combined with a Heavy Armour set, or with a character who wishes to hoard/carry as much loot as possible.
  
• The Guardian Stones, much like in Early and Mid Game, are still useful stones to take if you wish to level a particular skill faster.

Perks:

• Alteration: Magic Resistance (3), Atronach. Permanent magical defense.
  
• Conjuration: Master Level Conjuration. In case you want something more powerful than Dremora, but don't have 100% Conjuration cost reduction (Dead Thrall costs ~300 Magicka with the Master perk and no spell cost reduction).
  
• Destruction: Impact, Augmented Shock (2), Intense Flames, Augmented Flames (2), Augmented Frost (2), Disintegrate. Augmented perks boost the Chaos Enchantment, Disintegrate executes enemies under 15% health, Intense Flames boosts Fire Damage in combination with Aspect of Terror (see Illusion), Impact can stun lock things.
  
• Illusion: Master of the Mind (via the ‘Rage’ branch to pick up Aspect of Terror), Quiet Casting. Frenzy all but the highest level enemies with Mayhem, in complete silence.
  
• Restoration: Expert Restoration, Regeneration, Necromage (particularly if going Vampire), Avoid Death. Healing Spells have lower cost, Necromage + Vampire = better Enchanted effects, and once/day you will heal a significant amount if taken close to 0 HP.
  
• Enchanting: Fire Enchanter, Frost Enchanter, Storm Enchanter. Further boosts to the Chaos enchantment.
  
• Archery: Quick Shot, Ranger, Bullseye. More damage, more movement, more crowd control with a Bow.
  
• Block: Disarming Bash, Block Runner, Shield Charge. Become Captain America!
  
• One Handed: Armsman (5), Dual Flurry (2), Dual Savagery. Deal the highest possible DPS in the game. Best combined with Vegetable Soup (see 8.2).
  
• Two Handed: Barbarian (5), Devastating Blow, Sweep, Warmaster. Potential Late Game novelty playstyle.
  
• Heavy Armour: Conditioning, Reflect Blows. Potential Late Game novelty playstyle.
  
• Light Armour: Unhindered. Armour weighs nothing when worn.
  
• Pickpocket: Extra Pockets, Poisoned, Perfect Touch. Carry 100 lbs more, slip poison into the pockets of your enemies, pickpocket equipped items and leave someone naked.
  
• Sneak: Assassin’s Blade, Shadow Warrior. 15x Sneak damage multiplier with Daggers, brief invisibility when activating Sneak mode.
  
• Speech: Investor, Fence. Make ‘all the money’.

Equipment:

It’s time to put some damn armour on. To craft the best Enchanted Armour requires switching between the Ahzidal and Crafting sets of equipment (for Enchanting and Smithing respectively), Enchanting Altars and Forges, and the Sallow Regent Seeker powers. This will all need to be done on Solstheim, either within Severin Manor, or between a public Forge+Workbench and Enchanting Altar (found in the main street of Raven Rock and Morvayn Manor respectively).

Given the right equipment, literally any type of playstyle becomes possible: Dual Wielding, Archery with Destruction Magic, Illusion pacifist, the list goes on. There are limitless combinations of Enchanting effects that can be added to the 4 armour items + 2 jewellery items (5 armour items if using a shield), and for the full list of Enchanting effects, check out the UESP.[en.uesp.net]

Rabcor’s Crafting Guide contains several Crafted Armour sets, (see ‘The Rewards’), and showcase what crafted equipment is capable of. Keep in mind, however, that these figures assume that the Unofficial Patch is installed. If it is not, then it will not be possible to attain 100% Destruction cost reduction with the Nocturnal set listed here, and all numbers in general will be lower (as they are with this guide, though for other reasons as well).

Rather than simply use Rabcor's sets, I have instead made my own! (some inspired by Rabcor's sets, some not). First, some general crafting procedure information.

For Smithing Crafts: Equip the AA Craft Final set, activate Seeker of Might, drink Fortify Smithing Potions before Improving items.

For Enchanting Crafts: Equip the Ahzidal set, activate Seeker of Sorcery, drink Fortify Enchanting potions before Enchanting items.

For Alchemy Crafts: Equip the AA Craft Final set, activate Seeker of Shadows.

With maxed out crafting skills and your sets of Crafting Items+potions, it is easy enough to reach the armour cap of 667 with Light Armour, which is why it is selected over Heavy Armour. The Light Armour set with the lowest weight is Elven Armour, and this will be your designated armour of choice for the Late Game. A full Elven set of Armour, Boots, Helmet and Gauntlets weighs only 7 lbs (or 'nothing' when worn with the Unhindered perk), meaning that it is feasible to carry around multiple sets of armour with you, for different playstyles and situations.


At a Light Armour skill of 15, and assuming the Crafted Set/Potions described in this guide (which means no Unofficial Patch/mods), an improved Elven Armour set provides 393 Armour Rating, 493 with hidden bonuses accounted for (so about ~59% damage reduction). This threshold crosses 667 Armour Rating (80% damage reduction, the maximum damage reduction from armour in Skyrim) at 30 Armour Rating, with 1 Agile Defender + Custom Fit perks (which are both required for Unhindered). As for training Light Armour skill (and Restoration skill indirectly), simply stand in front of a Giant trying to club you to death with the Helper set on (see 8.2), whilst spamming Close Wounds on yourself for no Magicka cost ...

For those who wish to use Heavy Armour (or make Heavy Armour for a Follower), Chitin Heavy Armour is the lowest weight armour that receives double improvement from Smithing perks … ironically from Elven Smithing! Dragonbone Weapons are the best quality weapons, and these should be easy enough to make if you’ve been hoarding Dragon Bones.

Chapter 8 (8.1-8.2): Late Game Play Tips

Reiterating from 7.4: To make one of each of the sets listed in 8.2 and 8.3, including both a Heavy and Light Armour set for different followers, requires the following list of materials. Base items consist of Elven Armour (Light sets), Chitin Heavy Armour (Heavy sets), and Dragonbone weapons:

10 Netch Leather (purchase from Glover and Fethis in Raven Rock)
42 Chitin Plate (purchase from Glover and Fethis in Raven Rock)
8 Corundum
13 Silver or Gold Ingots
21 Dragon Bones
9 Ebony Ingots
23 Leather
52 Leather Strips
23 Iron Ingots
1 Quicksilver Ingot
77 Moonstone Ingots
49 Filled Grand/Black Soul Gems

8.2 Recommended Late Game Item Sets

First up, here is what I would consider ‘core items’ for this particular character on Legendary difficulty: 3 personal item sets, and 1 Follower set. The 3 personal item sets share items, and are intended to be all carried at the same time (given the low carry weight of Elven Armour). Combined, the 3 sets contain: 2 Elven Armour, 3 Elven Helmets, 2 Elven Gauntlets, 2 Elven Boots, 2 Rings, and 3 Necklaces, totalling 8 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 0.5 + 1.5 = 17 lbs in weight (10 lbs with the Unhindered perk!). Weapons are a bit heavier (a small price to pay for the huge damage increase over the Bound Bow) and include a Dragonbone Bow, Dragonbone Mace, and two Dragonbone Daggers, totalling 22 + 13 + 20 = 55 lbs.

The following sets assume that the Unofficial Patch is not installed, and that the character has at least 45% innate Magic Resistance from Agent of Mara ability + 3 Magic Resistance perks. Screenshots used in 8.2 and 8.3 were taken at the following skill/perk thresholds:

Archery 100, with Overdraw 5 (i.e. maximum archery damage from perks),
One Handed 28, no perks,
Two Handed 21, no perks,
Heavy Armour 25, no perks,
Light Armour 15, no perks,
Destruction 21, no damage boosting perks,
Restoration 48, no Necromage perk (and not a Vampire).

It’s worth noting that the Enchanted damage numbers shown here, are ‘no where near’ the numbers shown for the items in Rabcor’s Guide. This is most likely because these screenshots were not taken with any of the following perks: Augmented Shock, Augmented Frost, Augmented Fire, Fire Enchanter, Frost Enchanter, Storm Enchanter. These perks all have a multiplying effect for Chaos Damage, which in turn fortifies the second effect added to the weapon (which, much like how Aspect of Terror increases the DPS of Fire spells, was probably not intended by the developers!). If you wish to obtain the incredible damage numbers for Enchanted weapons (which will still fall short if you do not have the Unofficial Patch installed), then you will need to obtain these perks, and most likely make new versions of these weapons.

Anyway: The types of Enchantments are the important part. You will very likely get better damage and armour figures in your playthrough!

(apologies if the screenshots are a bit scuffed, they were taken over different playthroughs and several edits)

1. Hellfire Set


Complementary Late-Game Perks: Impact, Augmented Shock, Disintegrate, Augmented Flames, Intense Flames, Aspect of Terror, Quick Shot, Ranger, Bullseye.

The Hellfire Set fits a playstyle closest to what has been advertised so far in this guide: Ranged Damage while hiding behind Twin Summons and a Follower. Fire, Frost and Magic resistance provide much needed protection from Dragons and Mages. Destruction sees its’ cost reduced to 100%, providing limitless charge on Enchanted weapons, as well as the possibility to stun lock opponents with Destruction spells, such as Impact Dual Cast Lightning Bolts, or Impact Dual Cast Ignite (which requires switching the Hellfire Ring for Ahzidal's RIng of Arcana, sacrificing a little Conjuration reduction and Magic Resistance). Conjuration and Restoration meanwhile see a 70% reduction, allowing for situational summons and heals (200 base Magicka, Close Wounds costs ~15 Magicka at 50 Restoration + Adept perk, Conjure Dremora Lord costs ~32 Magicka, and Dead Thrall costs ~180 Magicka, or ~90 Magicka with the Master Conjuration perk).

2. Helper Set


Complementary Late-Game Perks: Regeneration, Master of the Mind.

The Helper set uses the Boots, Gauntlets and Ring from the Hellfire Set, and replaces offense with crowd control and healing (via 100% cost reduction for Illusion and Restoration). This set is best used to complement Summons/Follower damage with Calm/Fear/Frenzy spells, to effortlessly heal yourself/followers without using Magicka, and/or to lay down the odd Mayhem when entering a cave (mehehehehehe). The Helper and Hellfire sets can be quickly switched between mid battle, to prioritise offense or utility/crowd control.

3. Hitman Set


Complementary Perks/Shouts/Items: Quick Shot, Ranger, Bullseye, Assassin’s Blade, Shadow Warrior, Dual Flurry, Elemental Fury Shout, Vegetable Soup.

This set uses the Armour from the Helper Set, and is the ultimate ‘glass cannon’ set (4x Fortify One Handed + Archery enchantments!). It is capable of dealing the highest physical damage possible with One Handed + Archery, at least outside of installing patches/mods, using potions to fortify damage, or using exploits. Magical defense is sacrificed for sheer physical damage (the Lord Stone can make up for this deficit somewhat), and extra sneaking ability allows for easier access to targets while stealthed, doubling as a pseudo ‘assassin’ set. 35% Illusion and Restoration reduction allow for the odd Muffle and heal spell to be cast as well (though it is best to switch 'completely' to the Helper set if Illusion/Restoration are a priority).

Melee weapons are intentionally left without an enchantment, to make use of the Elemental Fury[en.uesp.net] shout along with Vegetable Soup[en.uesp.net], for astonishingly stupid DPS while dual wielding! Mace RH + Dagger LH Power Attacks provides the highest DPS with Fury + Soup, whilst Dual Daggers provide that sweet triple 15x multiplier on Sneak attacks (even if Fortify One Handed effects don't effect Daggers in Vanilla Skyrim, RIP).

Finally, here is an item set for a Follower. Light Armour users should use Elven Armour as a base, Heavy Armour users should use Chitin Heavy Armour as a base. The images below show the Chitin Heavy Armour variant (as it was made for Lydia).

4. Bodyguard Set



This set is heavily inspired by (but not ‘completely’ a carbon copy of) Rabcor’s Follower set, with a little Health Regen substituted for extra Fortify Destruction (to ‘absolutely’ ensure that the Follower has unlimited charges on their Enchanted weapons). It focuses primarily on Carry Weight and Health Regen, enabling the Follower to carry a lot of stuff and hopefully not die. Sword+Shield is recommended for non-dual wielding followers (e.g. Lydia), Dual Swords and no shield is recommended for dual-wielding followers (e.g. Ralis).

Chapter 8 (8.3): Late Game Play Tips

8.3 Optional Late Game Item Sets

Here are 3 more Optional item sets, that fit particular niche playstyles (as opposed to the 'general' playstyles supported by the 'not-optional' Recommended Item sets). They are mostly standalone item sets, occasionally incorporating the odd item from the Recommended Sets.

5. Bulwark Set:


Complementary Perks/Items: Block Runner, Disarming Bash, Shield Charge, Vegetable Soup, Elemental Fury.

Want to be a true tank on Legendary Difficulty? This is your item set. The Bulwark set is a heavily defensive set, centred around using Block perks and the Spellbreaker shield, and borrowing the Hellfire Boots + Dragonbone Mace from the Recommended Sets. Combining Deadly Bash with Vegetable Soup allows for the Bulwark to stun-lock any single opponent into submission with Spellbreaker (which has the highest Base Armour Rating of any shield, and thus deals the most Shield Bash damage in the game), whilst resisting all magical damage types (or blocking them with your Ward!).

The main hand can be used for One-Handed melee attacks (use Mace + Elemental Fury for maximum damage), or alternatively, healing spells (e.g. Close Wounds, Grand Healing), given that the set grants 100% cost reduction for Restoration spells. The Atronach Stone and Alteration perk complement this set very well, given that it will most likely only cast Restoration spells at no cost. These provide a combined 80% Spell Absorption, in case the Spellbreaker ward and all the resistances aren’t enough!

For those after 100% Spell Absorption, Atronach Stone/Perk can be combined with Miraak's Robes+Gauntlets, sacrificing some Restoration cost reduction/Melee Damage/Carrying Capacity (on Bulwark Cuirass/Gauntlets) for complete Spell immunity. Armour Rating suffers significantly by equipping these items though, so this should 'only' be done against opponents that exclusively use magical attacks. The 'general' Bulwark set (with its 'mediocre' possible 80% Spell Absorption+multiple resistances) is a lot safer against mixed damage.

6. Infiltrator Set:


Complementary Perks/Items: Shadow Warrior, Extra Pockets, Poisoned, Perfect Touch.

Want to steal a Bandit’s equipped armour from under their nose and reverse pickpocket them a deadly poison in exchange? This is your item set. The Infiltrator set is designed mostly as a non-confrontational ‘Thief’ set (4x Fortify Sneak/Pickpocket enchantments, because why not), borrowing the Armour from the Helper set and Helmet from the Hitman set. The Hellfire Bow is for stealthy assassinations if they are required.

7. Deathknight Set


Complementary Perks/Items: Impact, Conditioning, Reflect Blows, Devastating Blow, Sweep, Warmaster, Deadly Bash, Disarming Bash, Vegetable Soup.

It’s the Late Game, so for the fun of it, here’s a Heavily Armoured Two Hander ‘Spellsword’ set (think Mordekaiser from League of Legends, or Deathknights from WoW). 100% Destruction cost reduction ensures that the Warhammer will be able to forever Absorb Health from its’ victims, and 70% cost reduction for Restoration doesn’t hurt either. The set allows for Impact stun-lock shenanigans as well, in the event that smacking things and power-bash stunlocking with a Dragonbone Warhammer is inadequate for a given situation.

And finally: What would an Elder Scrolls guide be without detailing how to make the best use of a ‘game mechanic’ for maximum cheese.

Fortify Restoration is a potion effect available from Abecean Longfin, Cyrodilic Spadetail, Salt Pile, Small Antlers and Small Pearl. This effect can be 'positive feedback looped', infinitely reinforcing itself, and the loop is simple: Equip Alchemy gear, create a fortify restoration potion, drink it, re-equip alchemy gear, repeat cycle. When done with enough cycles, make Fortify Enchanting potions of stupidly high strength (Fortify Smithing potions tend to bug the game out...).

These values are from using Fortify Restoration+Enchanting potions 4 cycles in:

8. Chim Set


Complementary Perks: Eagle Eye, Steady Hand. For dat kill cam.

Yes, the Bow’s damage has exceeded the 32-bit binary integer limit[en.wikipedia.org], and displays negative damage (in extremely pixelated form, thanks Nintendo Switch screenshot resolution!).

I can assure you that it still kills things.

Chapter 9 (9.1): Guide Summary and Conclusion

Welp, this guide took waaaaaay longer to write than I first anticipated (we’re at about 25,000 words and over 200 images by this point, wheeeee….), but if you are still reading, you have made it to the end!

Given the fact that there’s no level cap in Skyrim, there would be little point in writing out a ‘Final Build Statistics’ section similar to my Oblivion Guide, as this could potentially include every perk in the game (yay infinite level cap). Instead, given the length of this guide, I’ll do my best to provide a TL;DR.

9.1 Executive Summary

Chapters 1-3: Build Context and Statistics

These Chapters detail the context behind the type of build that I chose to make for a Legendary Difficulty playthrough (given experience making ‘Max Difficulty builds’ in Oblivion and Morrowind), as well as analysis of all 18 skills & their usefulness on Legendary, and finally the Build Schematics (Race, Attributes, Birthstone, Perks). I designate ‘Early Mid and Late Game’ based upon particular skill/perk/spell benchmarks within the character’s progression, that denote breakpoints in power and/or shifts in play style. The build initially focuses on Summons, Followers and Ranged Combat, though can pivot into potentially any play style once all crafting skills have been maxed (i.e. Late Game).

Chapters 4-5: Early Game

The Early Game Objectives are to get Expert Conjuration and the Conjure Dremora Lord spell. This allows for the character to designate the majority of future perk points into crafting (because Dremoras rock), as well as safely fight Dragons. As such, Conjuration practice is the main focus of the Early Game, and is done mainly through Raising Corpses and Summoning Bound Swords. Dragon Rising is also specifically avoided until Mid Game.

Faendal is the follower of choice during this period, as he can be recruited almost straight away, has respectable stats, and can train Archery 'for free' for those who are inclined (I didn't bother). Spells from all 5 schools see a use during this period, with tips detailed for spells within each school. A Bound Bow (alongside Summons) serves as the character’s main weapon until the Late Game. Useful quests during this period include The Book of Love (Mara Temple in Riften) and Under Sarthaal (College of Winterhold).

Chapters 6-7: Mid Game

The Mid Game objectives are to get Twin Souls (because two Dremoras/Storm Atronachs are better than one), as well as master all 3 crafting skills. After completing Dragon Rising, Faendal is retired in favour of Lydia, who is a more sturdy follower. There are a multitude of quests and items that can aid in boosting personal power 'before' maxing crafting skills, as well as increase the quality of crafted items 'after' maxing crafting skills. These include: The College of Winterhold questline (for personal items), Lost to the Ages, Unearthed, and Black Book: The Sallow Regent.

Perks are saved mostly for crafting skills, which should be maxed in order of Enchanting, Alchemy, and then Smithing. To pay for materials, it is best to Enchant Iron Daggers or other weapons (Damage Stamina/Turn Undead/Absorb Health first, Banish Daedra when available), which can be sold to merchants along ‘Travelling Salesman Routes’ in exchange for crafting materials. Training services are also recommended, first for Speech (to get the Merchant perk) and then for Alchemy.

Chapters 8: Late Game

Money is essentially limitless, crafting skills have been maxed, and potentially any play style becomes viable. This section outlines various crafted item sets, split into Recommended and Optional, that make use of the Late Game perks outlined in Chapter 3. Elven Armour is preferred as it is very lightweight, meaning that several armour sets can be carried around simultaneously, and swapped out when needed.

Recommended item sets include: Ranged Combat with Summons set (i.e. an upgrade on the Early/Mid Game playstyle), Crowd Control/Healing set, and high Physical Damage set.

Optional item sets include: Heavy Defense/Tank set, Heavy Thief-focus set, Two Handed+Heavy Armour set, and ‘honey I used exploits to break the game’ set.

Chapter 9 (9.2): Guide Summary and Conclusion

9.2: Play Tips and Game Information Summary

Next, here is an outline of the 'tips and game information' that is scattered throughout this guide. Think of it like an Index!

• Character buildling differences between Oblivion/Morrowind and Skyrim (1.2),
  
• Introduction to 'Game State': Early, Mid and Late Game (2.1),
  
• Overview of all 18 skills (lots of general tips contained here). Key Early/Mid Game Skills: Conjuration, Crafting Skills, Restoration. Auxiliary Early/Mid Game Skills: Alteration, Archery, Destruction, Illusion, One Handed, Sneak, Speech. (2.4),
  
• General Build Information: Race, Attributes (Health/Magicka/Stamina), Birthstone, Early/Mid/Late Game Perks (Chapter 3),
  
  
• The 'noble coward' combat approach, why One Handed is best for Helgen, early Archery, and what to do in Riverwood (4.1, 4.2),
  
• Buying Early Spells (4.2),
  
• Conjuration Practice: Raising Zombies + Bound Sword (4.2, 5.4),
  
• Early Items/Shrines/Quests (5.1),
  
• Carriages & Horses (5.2),
  
• Faendal and early Follower mechanics (5.3),
  
• Atronachs + Bound Bow, and best ways to use them (5.4, 5.8),
  
• Frenzy, Calm, & Fear mechanics, and practicing Illusion using Muffle (5.5),
  
• Restoration Practice: Tanking, Jumping & healing Followers (5.6),
  
• Early Crafting Skills: When/what to craft, public storage containers, best early enchantments (for profit), Soul Gem farming, beneficial+easy to access Early-Game potions & ingredients (5.7),
  
• Early DPS options: Novice Destruction spells, Bound Bow, efficient Spellcasting sequences (5.8),
  
• Sneak practice: Dual Dagger sneak attacks (5.8).
  
  
• Dremora Lords, how best to use Expert spells without the Expert perk, Pre-Fight Summoning/Bodyguard Summon tactics, Storm Atronachs (6.1),
  
• Tips for Dragon Slaying on Legendary Difficulty (6.2),
  
• Lydia, her item set, and how to work around her lack of Sneak (6.3),
  
• Beneficial+easy to access Shouts: Unrelenting Force, Whirlwind Sprint, Become Ethereal, Slow Time, Clear Skies, Ice Form (6.4),
  
• Best method for obtaining Merchant Perk (6.5),
  
• College of Winterhols Mage items (6.6).
  
  
• Obtaining Dwarven metal for optional 'Dwarven Bow' smithing training method (7.1),
  
• Aetherial Crown, 45% bonus experience & Base of Operations (7.2),
  
• Finding the Banish Daedra Enchantment, best trading routes for supplies/money (7.3),
  
• Materials for Late Game crafted sets (7.3),
  
• Alchemy training (7.4),
  
• Obtaining crafted-related artifacts: Ahzidal artifacts, Black Book Sallow Regent (7.4),
  
• Dealing with Archers: Your primary danger during Mid Game (2.4/Alteration, 7.4),
  
• 'Jedi Fast Travel': The fastest way to gain experience in the game (2.4, 7.6),
  
• Mid Game Items: Whether to make them early, stats that complement College gear (7.6),
  
• Procedures for making Crafted item sets (7.6, 7.7),
  
• Maxing Smithing: The 'old' way, or the 'Dwarven Bows' way (7.8),
  
  
• General Late Game crafting tips, Elven Armour + using multiple sets, and how to train Light Armour skill (8.1),
  
• Late game item sets & playstyles: Hellfire (Ranged Damage with Summons), Helper (Support & Crowd Control), Hitman (max Archery/One Handed damage), Bulwark (Tank with Spellbreaker shield), Infiltrator (Sneak/Pickpocket focus), Deathknight (Heavy Armour/Two Handed), Chim (lel Fortify Restoration loop).

Chapter 9 (9.3): Guide Summary and Conclusion

9.3 Quests & Objectives Checklist, and Let’s Play Summary

Finally: if I were to put all of the major quests/objectives listed throughout the guide into a checklist, it would look something like this. The quests/objectives don’t have to ‘strictly’ be completed in this order (or completed at all in some cases), though some quests are best delayed until certain events have happened (e.g. Dragon Rising shouldn't be attempted until Expert Conjuration/Dremora Lord, Good Intentions shouldn't be attempted until level 25, etc.). There's also nothing stopping players from completing other questlines not listed here (e.g. Thieves Guild, Companions, Dark Brotherhood, etc.).

Relevant chapters are included for each bullet point (e.g. 4.2 = the Riverwood Early Game Chapter):

• Get to Riverwood and recruit Faendal (4.2),
  
• Get Conjuration to 25 + Apprentice Conjuration perk (4.2),
  
• Head to Whiterun and purchase spells (Flame Atronach/Bound Sword first) from Farengar (4.2),
  
• Clear Bleak Falls Barrow but hold off attempting Dragon Rising (4.2),
  
• Steadily increase Enchanting via Iron Daggers (or other weapons) with Damage Stamina/Turn Undead enchantments, and disenchant all spare items to learn effects (5.7),
  
• Create homemade potions to help with Early Game at your discretion (5.7),
  
• Obtain Bound Bow spell tome (5.8),
  
• Join College and complete Under Saarthal (and other College Quests up to Good Intentions at your discretion) (5.1),
  
• Complete The Book of Love (5.1),
  
• Get Conjure Dremora Lord + Atromancy perk asap (level 65 Conjuration minimum to purchase from Phinis) (5.4, 6.1),
  
• Get Expert Conjuration + Summon Storm Atronach (6.1),
  
• Complete Dragon Rising (and the rest of the Main Quest at your discretion) (6.2),
  
• Recruit Lydia instead of Faendal (6.3),
  
• Head to Windhelm, sell loot/enchanted weapons to pay for Speech training from Redyn Sadri (6.5),
  
• Once at 50 Speech, obtain Merchant perk (6.5),
  
• Obtain Twin Souls perk asap (6.1),
  
• Once at level 25, complete Good Intentions and finish College Quest line (6.6),
  
• If one plans to max Smithing using Dwarven Bows, collect Dwarven metal from ruins (e.g Mzulft from College quest line, Lost to the Ages locations) to smelt into Ingots (6.6, 7.1, 7.2),
  
• Complete Lost to the Ages, craft the Aetherial Crown, and store the Lover's Comfort bonus on it (7.2),
  
• Find Banish Daedra Enchantment at Smithing merchants or in loot (7.3),
  
• Use carriages (or walk) to discover the 9 major settlements in Skyrim, which are all required for Travelling Salesman routes (7.3),
  
• Banish Enchantment + Merchant Perk + Salesman routes = ‘Economic Self Sufficiency’ (7.3),
  
• Begin purchasing ingredients for Enchant practice, Alchemy training, and Late Game crafted sets (7.3, 7.7),
  
• Receive Alchemy training from Arcadia (7.4),
  
• Complete Unearthed Quest on Solstheim and obtain Ahzidal items (7.4),
  
• Obtain Black Book: The Sallow Regent (7.4),
  
• Complete Optional crafting-quests at your disrection (7.5),
  
• Get Enchanting to 100/obtain Extra Effect perk (5.7, 7.5, 7.6),
  
• Craft 'Jedi' set for Alteration practice once at 100 Enchanting, and optionally a less powerful ‘Mid Game’ Item set as well (7.6),
  
• Use Sallow Regent & Ahzidal items to craft first set of crafting items + ‘Mid Game’ item set (7.6),
  
• Get Alchemy to 100 (5.7, 7.5, 7.7),
  
• Use potions, Sallow Regent & Ahzidal items to craft second and finally third set of crafting items (7.7),
  
• Get Smithing to 100, either by mass producing Daggers/Bracers, or using final crafting set + potions + Dwarven metal smelted from Dwemer Struts/Scrap/etc, to make/improve Dwarven Bows (5.7, 7.5, 7.8),
  
• Craft Late Game items and obtain Late Game perks, optionally levelling through Jedi Fast Travel (7.6, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3),
  
• Explore and conquer all the lands, Dragonborn!

And I guess now that I've done a 'Let's Play' series for this character: Here's a list for the people that would rather just watch me play and listen to my nasal Australian accent!

Part 1: Random Race Generator + Escaping to Riverwood
Part 2: Embershard Mine & Apprentice Conjuration
Part 3: Plundering Bleak Falls Barrow
Part 4: Heading East, Early-Game Tactics & the Bound Bow
Part 5: Saarthal & Expert Conjuration Spells
Part 6: Soul Trapping Crabs & Fellglow Keep
Part 7: Dragon Rising, Riften & Speech Training
Part 8: The 'Mid Game', Shouts & First 'Solo' Dragon Kills
Part 9: Barrels+Breezehome, Ustengrav & the Merchant Perk
Part 10: Liberating Mzulft of all its' Dwarven Scrap Metal

Part 11: Labyrinthian, Twin Souls & Becoming Arch-Mage
Part 12: Solstheim & The Traveling "Banish-Weapon" Salesman
Part 13: Kolbjorn Pt 1 & Powering to 100 Enchanting
Part 14: Kolbjorn Pt 2, Treva's Watch & 'Jedi Fast Travel'
Part 15: The ‘Mid Game’ Set & Black Book: The Sallow Regent
Part 16: First 'Crafting Set' & Powering Alchemy to 100
Part 17: Final Crafting Set & Lost to the Ages 'Speedrun'
Part 18: Blitzing Smithing & Materials for Late Game sets
Part 19: The Recommended Late Game Item Sets
Part 20: The Final Descent & Merchant Simulator (again)

Part 21: New Fortify Enchanting Ingredients & Served Cold
Part 22: Optional Late Game Item Sets & “Farewell Lydia”
Part 23: Testing Optional Sets & Retrieving Spellbreaker
Part 24: Guide Recap, ‘Chim’ Items & Conclusion





Aaaaaand that’s it! A big thanks to the folks at UESP for compiling such a rich collection of information on the Elder Scrolls games, and a big thanks to Rabcor for their extremely informative crafting guide. I wouldn’t have been able to write this without either of these resources.

If anyone has any questions, I’ll happily answer them to the best of my ability. And if anyone have helpful suggestions, I’ll be happy to shoehorn them in somewhere as well (provided that they’re reasonable and don’t involve exploits and/or ‘going to X location to get crazy item’ at level 1).

Enjoy! =D

[Spiguel]

According to https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Followers#Enchanted_Follower_Equipment , Followers wont benefit from fortify destruction, thus, they will use charges.

[gobarg]

How did you came up with this name "Gobarg"

[MysticDancing]

homie wrote a novel

[The Danger]

awesome!

[[6-4] Kek~]

Poggers

[The Flying Rodent]

Another update!

The Let’s Play series is now officially done. It was a fun little experiment, and should hopefully compliment this guide well. Certainly don’t plan on starting a YouTube career though lol (for reason explained in the description of the final video!).

If you choose to watch it, then I hope you learn something new. Enjoy!

[[6-4] Kek~]

Ohh I will check that out right now :D

[The Flying Rodent]

Update!

I started a Let's Play video series of the build, which I'll hopefully have the time to chip away at. So far I've managed 4 videos, we'll see how many we can do (time is quite constrained at the moment with work/life/etc.).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwArQBNJRos

More for educational reasons that anything, I certainly don't aspire to become a Youtuber or streamer lol.

Enjoy!

[[6-4] Kek~]

I do happen to have that perk :D
Zephyr is also the highest DPS bow in the game, if you have the arrows for its 30% faster fire rate.

[The Flying Rodent]

Zephyr would probably be the best 'Poison Delivery' bow there is (yay 30% faster fire rate), particularly if you've got the perk that grants you two uses out of the same poison. Sounds fun!