Power Leveling Guide - 09/23/2012 by ElministerX Introduction ------------ Welcome, this guide walks through different methods of quickly maxing the different skill levels to 100 and making infinite value items. The main method, Alchemy Power Leveling, maxes out Smithing, Alchemy, Speech, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Block, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, and Restoration skills, and makes $20,000,000 value items in under an hour with the right ingredients. Included is a new game walkthrough to find the items necessary to do this method in under 3 hours. There are also sections on maxing out the other skill levels, quick money making quests, and info on the different always active bonuses and powers. Version Note ------------ The following methods have been checked for Skyrim versions: Ps3 before update 1.6 Ps3 after update 1.6 As far as I know all these methods should work on all systems. Please let me know if anything in this guide didn't work on your particular system. =============================================================================== - TABLE OF CONTENTS - =============================================================================== Section 1 - General Quick Tips - - - search .sec1gqt. Section 2 - Alchemy Power Leveling - - - search .sec2apl. Section 3 - Pickpocket Power Leveling - - - search .sec3ppl. Section 4 - Level 1 to 40 in under 3 hours - - search .sec4l14. Section 5 - Always active Bonuses and Powers - - search .sec5aap. Section 6 - Quick money - - - search .sec6qmo. Section 7 - Max leveling with the Oghma Infinium - search .sec7max. Section 8 - Closing remarks and thanks - - search .sec8clo. =============================================================================== =============================================================================== Section 1 - General Quick Tips .sec1gqt. =============================================================================== Torch Marathon Running Trick ---------------------------- You can continually run, even without stamina, when holding a torch. Get a torch and equip it. Unready your other hand. Hold forward and tap the run button. You will keep running without needing to hold the run button, even after you run out of Stamina. To stop just tap run again. Wait healing trick ------------------ If your health, stamina, or magic are low, find a place to use the wait command. All 3 bars will fill completely. If enemies are nearby, run away while continually hitting the wait button when you're at the right distance the dialogue will pop up. Quickly travel Skyrim --------------------- Hire a carriage from any of the Stables near the big holds to take you to all of the other holds ofSkyrim. After the initial trip you can fast travel there for free in the future. Make your own powerful weapons and armor with resources you find lying around ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's free to use blacksmith forges and workbenches to make and improve weapons and armor. All you need are ore and ingots that you can mine from ore veins inside mines, and leather andleather strips from animal hides. All of which you can also buy from blacksmiths. Save Perk points - you only get 80 ---------------------------------- There are 251 total perk options available, so read what they do in the Skills menu and plan out which ones you want to get. Early Whirlwind Sprint ---------------------- The word wall at the end of Volskygge (far W of Solitude) can be reached without goingthrough the dungeon. Simply climb the mountain to it's peak and head to the wall. Take thenearby treasure and fight the Dragon Priest for it's mask if you like. Get a companion --------------- Companions watch your back and can carry your extra items. They will equip weapons andarmor that you give them and can help provide distractions and entertainment. A easy to getcompanion is your assigned housecarl after completing the early main quest 'Dragon Rising' Get married ----------- Getting married earns you $100 / day, get's you a new house, and sleeping together boosts skilllearning by 15%. To get married, see Maramal in Riften at either the Bee and Barb or theTemple of Mara and buy an amulet for $200. Wear it and talk to any available wife/husband (there are many). Agree to marry and travel to the Riften temple for the wedding. =============================================================================== Section 2 - Alchemy Power Leveling .sec2apl. =============================================================================== This method will quickly and easily level Smithing, Alchemy, Speech, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, and Block to 100, and give you $20,000,000 value items and very powerful equipment. You can also use it to help level Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, and Restoration to 100. To use this method we need to make enchanted equipment that boosts potion creation abilities. We also need ingredients for other potions, some initial levels in Enchanting and Alchemy, and some perks. Basic Method Explanation ------------------------ Our goal is to make super-powerful Smithing and Enchantment enhancing potions. To do this we need to boost our Alchemy levels by enchanting equipment with the Fortify Alchemy bonus, as well as investing a few perk points in Alchemy. There are various combinations of equipment, perks, and initial Enchanting/Alchemy levels that make this method work. Some different combinations are listed in the following table. Any extra levels/perks on top of these reduce time and ingredients needed. Alchemy Enchanting Alchemy Alchemist Benefactor Enchanter Insightful Potions Equip | Level | Level | Perk | Perk | Perk | Perk |to make Bonus | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 100% | 100 | 30 | 0 | No | 3 | Yes | 38 64% | 50 | 20 | 2 | No | 3 | Yes | 23 56% | 50 | 31 | 2 | Yes | 2 | Yes | 13 42% | 40 | 32 | 2 | Yes | 2 | No | 20 32% | 20 | 40 | 3 | Yes | 0 | No | 19 51% | 40 | 40 | 3 | No | 3 | No | 15 25% | 20 | 51 | 3 | Yes | 0 | No | 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items and levels necessary for method ------------------------------------_ o Fortify Alchemy enchantment o Fortify Health enchantment o Ingredients for 30 Fortify Restoration potions (recipe below) o Ingredients for 5 Fortify Smithing potions (recipe below) o Ingredients for 3 Fortify Enchanting potions (recipe below) o Any unenchanted helmet - or - a Penitus Oculatus Helmet and any unenchanted circlet o Any unenchanted ring o Any unenchanted necklace o Any unenchanted braces/gauntlets o Any two weapons/armor and the necessary materials to upgrade them o An additional unenchanted shield, amulet, or ring o 4 filled soul gems (5 if you have Penitus Oculatus helmet and circlet), more powerful the better o Any additional soul gem with any soul in it o Level up Enchanting to level 30+ o Level up Alchemy to level 30+ o Have unused perk points (for Enchanter/Alchemist lvl 1,2,3, Insightful Enchanter, Benfactor) Where to find these items ------------------------- o Fortify Alchemy enchantment The Ring of Pure Mixtures has the fortifying alchemy enchantment. This ring can be recovered by finishing the miscellaneous quest Recover Ring of Pure Mixtures" that is given by Frida who works in the alchemy shop The Mortar and Pestle in Dawnstar. The quest marker will lead you to the ring, which is found at the end of Forsaken Cave. Note that you have to return the ring to her, and then steal it back from her afterward in order to be able to disenchant it. o Fortify Health enchantment The item Enchanted Ring can be found during the second mage's college quest "Under Saarthal". You get this quest after joining the college in Winterhold and going through the introductory quest "First Lessons. Three Enchanted rings can be found on the ground when you get the objective "Search for magical artifacts". o Fortify Restoration potion: Abecean Longfin, Cyrodilic Spadetail, Salt Pile You can buy these ingredients from alchemists, but the best way to find the two fish ingredients is by going fishing. Head to Riften and start by stealing everything from the fish barrels on the boats and docks to the west of the hold. Now jump in the water and look in the lake. Usually the fish are in groups of three under bridges or in shallow waters (ignore the salmon). Also often there will be dragonflies above any fish. Once you've searched the lake, continue looking in the rivers while traveling westward towards Ivarstead. Also be on the lookout for any deer with small antlers along the river banks. In one trip I typically find 40+ fish. o Fortify Smithing potion: Blisterwort, Glowing Mushroom, Sabre Cat Tooth, Spriggan Sap These can be found or bought from most alchemists. Glowing Mushrooms are found on many cave walls, try Shimmermist Cave (NE of Whiterun) or Lost Echo Cave (far W of Solitude). o Fortify Enchanting potion: Blue Butterfly Wing, Hagraven Claw, Snowberries, Spriggan Sap These can be found or bought from most alchemists in the different holds. Snowberries are very common in snowy areas in and around holds. Many are in the courtyard of the College of Winterhold. o Any two weapons/armor and the necessary materials to upgrade them o Unenchanted helmet, ring, necklace, braces/gauntlets, shield/amulet/ring Any blacksmith or trading post sells these. You can also make them cheaply without any Smithing perks at a blacksmith forge using leather and silver/gold. o The Penitus Oculatus Helmet The soldier inside the Penitus Oculatus Outpost in Dragon Bridge (SW of Solitude) wears one. o Any unenchanted circlet These can be found randomly in chests throughout Skyrim. Jewelers such as Madesi and Fralia Gray-Mane might sell these. o 4 filled soul gems (5 if you have Penitus Oculatus helmet and circlet), the more powerful the better o Any additional soul gem with any soul in it (Lesser or Petty is fine) The mages at the College of Winterhold sell these. Four grand soul gems (grand) will run you $5500. o Level up Enchanting to level 30+ Do the Pickpocket Power Leveling method (Section 3) on the enchanter Sergius Turrianus, who can be found on the second floor of the Hall of Countenance at the College of Winterhold most nights ~3 a.m. Also mass producing enchanted items works, but takes much longer. Level up Alchemy to level 30+ Do the Pickpocket Power Leveling method (Section 3) on the alchemist Arcadia in the alchemy shop Arcadia's cauldron, which is in Whiterun heading East from the entrance. Also making many potions will also work, but takes much longer. o Have unused perk points (for the perks Enchanter/Alchemist lvl 1,2,3, Insightful, Benfactor) What perks you already have and which you need to take will determine how many of these you need. The Method ---------- 0. Save your game before starting. 1. Go to an Arcane Enchanter, learn the Fortify Alchemy enchantment by disenchanting whatever item you have with that enchantment. Enchant the four (or 5 w. Penitus) equipment with 'Fortify Alchemy'. 2. Leave the enchanter and equip the new armor. Drop all other armor and all potions. 3. Make one Fortify Restoration potion and one Fortify Enchantment potion at the Alchemy Lab. 4. Leave alchemy station and drop the Fortify Enchantment potion. 5. Drink the Fortify Restoration potion and then immediately unequip and then reequip all the enchanted armor pieces. (You need to reequip to reset %) 6. Repeat steps 3-5. The Fortify Alchemy bonuses on the armor should be higher each time. The change is small first, but will grow exponentially with each repetition. 6.1 Every so often after step 3 clear the ingredients selected and then pick any 2 ingredients for a Fortify Enchantment potion to check how powerful it would be if made. Along the way I made a few +100% and a few +1500% Fortify Enchantment potions to create powerful equipment later on. How powerful you want your Enchantment potions is up to you. 7. After 10-20 repetitions your Fortify Restoration potions will be +12,536,382% and will be worth 10,000,000 gold. Your Alchemy skill will go to 100. Make one more Fortify Restoration potion, three Fortify Smithing potions, and one Fortify Enchantment potion. Now's a great time to make a new save. 8. Go back to the Arcane Enchanter, drink the super Fortify Enchantment potion, and enchant the shield/amulet/ring with Fortify Health. It should give you over 3000 health when worn. 9. Go to any blacksmith (at the entrance to Whiterun, for example). Turn two leather into leather strips. Make two leather bracers at the blacksmith forge. Go to the workbench, drink a +12,536,382% Fortify Smithing potion, then quickly upgrade the two leather bracers. They will have a huge defense, be worth millions, and your Smithing skill level will rise to 100. 10. Go to any shop, buy all the things you want from them, then sell one of the bracers. This will boost your Speech skill level to 100. 10.1. Get various pieces of Heavy and Light Armor and a shield. Wear the item with the absurd Fortify Health Bonus. You're now invincible. Go to any Giant camp like the one W of Whiterun, and put on all light armor. Get the attention of any nearby Mammoths and Giants, and let them continually attack you. Your life won't go down, but your Light Armor skill will level up. Leave the game running and in 30 minutes your skill should be at 100. Now do the same while wearing heavy armor. 10.2. Now equip a shield. Find a way to hold down the block button. I used a rubber band wrapped around the L2 button and the left joystick on my Ps3 controller. Your character will now continually block the giant attacks. Again your health won't decrease, but your Block skill will level up. Leave the game running and return in 30 minutes for your skill to reach 100 11. You can also use the powerful Fortify Enchanting potions to make ultra powerful enchanted equipment with the different enchantments that you find in the world - Carrying capac of 10,000, weapons with 250 Fire Damage, etc. 11.1. You can use these potions to reduce spell costs to zero which helps raise the various magic skill levels to 100. You'll need a new unenchanted Helm/Armor/Amulet/Ring, a super Fortify Enchanting potion for each school you want to level, and the Fortify Alt/De/Co/Il/Re enchantment. Armor with these enchantment can be bought from the appropriate mage in the College of Winterhold. Make a super Fortify Enchanting potion equal to the number of schools you want to master. Go to an Arcane Enchanter, learn the enchantment through disenchanting, use a Fortify Enchanting potion, and then quickly enchant any equipment with the new enchantment. If you're quick you can make 3 different magic armor pieces per potion. This item will reduce the cost of any spell in that school to zero. 11.2 Now that your spells are free, here are spells and methods to quickly level magic schools: Alteration: Continually cast Detect Life while nearby a large group of people Conjuration: Cast Soul Trap repeatedly on any enemy, the higher level of enemy the better Destruction: Cast high damaging spells repeatedly on any essential NPC (cannot be killed). Illusion: Cast Courage repeatedly on any horse or NPC that doesn't move very much Restoration: Continually cast any healing spell while receiving damage: the wind barrier at High Hrothgar, rotating blade traps, fire traps, while casting equilibrium, etc.. Tips for doing the trick more quickly Practice the timing and navigating the menus through a few trial runs. Drop any gear, potions, and ingredients you won't be using in this method beforehand. =============================================================================== Section 3 - Pickpocket power leveling method .sec3ppl. =============================================================================== Using this method you can level up any skill from 15 to 50 in 20 minutes. To keep it going you need to be leveling up at least once every 5 times you train, so this method works best on newer characters. This method also works with mid level characters for higher leveled skills, and always works for at least 5 skill levels. 1. Get the Light Fingers lvl 1 Perk for low leveled skills, lvl 2/3 for higher ones. You also need $600. 2. Find an Expert or Master level trainer for a skill you want to level. Here are some easy to find trainers. Note: You must join College of Winterhold for magic trainers. Alteration: Tolfdir, Hall of Attainment at College of Winterhold. Conjuration: Falion, a mage found in his house or around Morthal. Destruction: Faralda in Hall of Countenance at College of Winterhold. Illusion: Drevis in Hall of Countenance at College of Winterhold. Restoration: Colette in Hall of Countenance at College of Winterhold. Enchanting: Sergius in Hall of Countenance at College of Winterhold. Archery: Aela, in/around Jorrvaskr in Whiterun. Must complete "Glory of the Dead" first. Block: Njada Stonearm, in/around Jorrvaskr. Must complete "Glory of the Dead" first. Heavy Armor: Farkas, Jorrvaskr in Whiterun. Must complete "Proving Honor". One-handed: Athis, in/around Jorrvaskr in Whiterun. Must complete "Glory of the Dead" first. Two-Handed: Torbjorn Shatter-Shield, a warrior Windhelm, generally found near blacksmith. Smithing: Balimund, the blacksmith in Riften. Alchemy: Arcadia, at Arcadia's Cauldron in Whiterun. Light Armor: Grelka, the marketplace in Riften. Lockpicking: Vex, Ragged Flagon in Riften. Must be a member of the Thieves Guild. Pickpocket: Silda the Unseen, beggar outside of Candlehearth Hall in Windhelm. Sneak: Garvey, found at the entrance to The Warrens, a series of tunnels underneath Markarth. Speech: Giraud Gemane, a bard at The Bards College in Solitude. 3. Talk and train with the person once 4. Save. Steal your money from the trainer, preferably when they are asleep and/or you're hidden. 5. If unsuccessful, reload. If theft is successful, repeat steps 3 and 4. 6. You can train up to 5 times per level. This resets each time you level up, so try to time when you level up. Ideally you want to level up just before you pass the experience required for the next level. If you're having trouble stealing and reloading often, get additional perks from the Pickpocket tree. I typically use Light Fingers lvl 2 to level a skill up to level 50, and I get the perks Night Thief and Cutpurse and steal while the person is asleep. You can use this method to level any skill up to level 90 by using a Master level trainer. If you ever max out on training and haven't reached the next level, try stealing from people around you to level up pickpocketing and get exp. to level up. =============================================================================== Section 4 - Level 1 to 40 in under 2.5 hours .sec4l14. =============================================================================== Follow Hadvar through Helgen so that in Riverwood you get better stuff from Alvor later. After exiting the cave, head NW to the Guardian Stones and select the Thief stone. Now head E towards Embershard Mine. While you're in the cave grab all the torches and ignore or kill the bandits and take their items. When you run out of room, a good rule of thumb is to always drop anything generic that's not worth 10 times it's weight. Head to Riverwood, and talk to Alvor/Gerdur . Take all of their stuff that doesn't show up as stealing, and then take the valuables from their home (near Blacksmith/SE part of town). Sell off your extra stuff at the Riverwood trader, but keep any torches, equipped weapons/armor, any ingredients you have, lockpicks, a bow/arrows, and the novice hood and robes for now. Head north to Whiterun Stables. Hire the carriage to take you to Dawnstar. Go the Mortar and Pestle alchemy shop to the NE and get the miscellaneous quest "Recover Ring of Pure Mixtures" from Frida. Buy any of the following from her: Abecean Longfin, Blisterwort, Blue Butterfly Wings, Butterfly Wing, Cyrodilic Spadetail,Dragon's Tongue, Glowing Mushrooms, Hagraven Claws, Saber Cat Teeth, Salt Pile, Small Antlers, Small Pearls, Spriggan Sap, Tundra Cotton. Fast travel back to the Stables and then take a carriage to Winterhold. Save. Head to the nearby College. Talk to Faralda about entering the college. She'll ask you to cast a random spell that she'll sell for 30 gold if you don't have it. If it's one you can't cast try wearing the Novice Hood, otherwise reload and try again. Once past head up to the college and finish the quest "First Lessons". After you're given the second college quest "Under Saarthal", grab all the snowberries growing in the courtyard outside and head to the nearby Hall of Countenance. Find the enchanter Sergius Turrianus, who sleeps in his room on the second floor most nights ~3 a.m. Do the pickpocket power leveling method (Section 3) to level your Enchanting to level 51. Try to end up with a perk level up saved for later. Do the 'quest' Valehk Sain's locker (Section 6). After getting the treasure head south and talk to Tolfdir outside Saarthal. Do the quest "Under Saarthal" until you get the objective 'search for magical artifacts'. Find any of the nearby Enchanted Rings on the ground while avoiding the Saarthal Amulet inset in one of the walls. Leave. Head S to the Forsaken Cave. Run through the cave, taking treasure as you go. Follow the quest marker to the Forsaken Crypt, and from there run through to the end. Take the treasure from the marked chest, then take the back exit to the side of the chest which leads back out to the cave. Head out to Skyrim. Return the ring to Frida in Dawnstar and buy any new ingredients she has from the above list. Save. Wait inside the Mortar and Pestle until 3 a.m. Head upstairs and steal the Ring of Pure Mixtures from Frida while she sleeps. Time to go fishing. We are looking for 20 total of Abecean Longfin and/or Cyrodilic Spadetail, and 20 Salt Piles. Hire a carriage to Riften. Start by stealing from the fish barrels on the boats and docks to the west of Riften. I found 7 fish and 20+ Salt Piles. Now jump in the water and look for those two fish in the lake. Usually they are in groups of 3 under bridges or in shallow waters, and often there will be dragonflies flitting about above the fish. Once you've searched the lake, seek more in the rivers while heading westward towards Ivarstead. It's easiest to find fish by looking in the distance while underwater, so search for any deep water pockets. You can also look straight down into the water to see them if they are near. Also be on the lookout for any deer with small antlers, an ingredient that can be substituted for fish in our potions. In one trip I found 46 Fish!. Save. Fast travel to Riften Stables, then head NNW to Shor's Stone. Talk to Filnjar about the mine to get the Miscellaneous Quest "Clear Redbelly Mine of Spiders". Enter the nearby mine, kill all the spiders. Mine the 3 ebony ore veins. Return to Filnjar for your reward of $1000. If you have an unenchanted Circlet, fast travel to Solitude. Head WSW along the road towards the small town of Dragon's Bridge. Enter the Penitus Oculatus Outpost and attack the soldier inside to get his Penitus Oculatus Helmet. Fast travel to Riften Stables. Run NE for about 30 seconds. Look for a ruined tower halfway up the north side of the hill there. Within lies the Shrine of Zenithar and probably a family of bears or spiders. Get the blessing from the shrine and wear the amulet found right next to it, leave the bears. :) Now head to Whiterun and go to the alchemy shop Arcadia's cauldron, which is straight East from the entrance. Save. Pickpocket power level your alchemy with Arcadia to at least level 30. Save. If you have the ingredients, make a few Fortify Barter potions. Buy a potion of Haggling/Barter (should be %10 better prices). We now need powerful filled Soul Gems which will cost around $4500. So use any barter potions you made to sell off anything extra at the various nearby stores and traders. Keep: o Potion of Haggling/Barter from Arcadia o Ring of Pure mixtures o One Enchanted Ring (from Saarthal) o Any ingredients from the ingredient list a few pages back o Four Leather for two leather bracers, or any two weapons/armor and the materials to upgrade them o The Penitus Oculatus Helmet and any unenchanted Circlet, or any unenchanted helmet o An unenchanted: Ring, Necklace, Braces/Gauntlets o Any one addition unenchanted Shield, Amulet, Ring or Armor o Any soul gem with any soul in it (Lesser or Petty is fine) If you don't have these items, make some with leather/silver at the nearby blacksmith or buy them. Now fast travel to the college of Winterhold. Talk to the different mages around the college and use the Haggling Potion to buy 4 Grand Soul Gems (with Grand soul). Also if you have the Circlet/Penitus buy as high a filled fifth gem as you can. Head to the 2nd level of the Hall of Countenance. Do the Alchemy Power Leveling method (Section 2). =============================================================================== Section 5 - Always active Bonuses and Powers .sec5aap. =============================================================================== Standing Stones --------------- You can only have the powers of one stone at a time. I personally just use Mage/Thief/Warrior through most of the game, as you're always leveling some skill or another. Once you're done leveling, feel free to try out the bonuses of the other stones. The Mage/Thief/Warrior - Just NW of the game's starting location Learn all Mage/Thief/Warrior skills 20% faster. The Apprentice - NW of Morthal You recover magic faster, but are more susceptible to magic damage. The Atronach - far S of Windhelm You absorb spell damage and have more magic, but recover more slowly. The Lady - North of Falkreath Regenerate Health and Stamina more quickly. The Lord - S of Dawnstar You are more resistant to both magic and physical damage. The Lover - NE of Markarth Learn all skills 15% faster. The Ritual - E of Whiterun Once a day you can reanimate nearby corpses to fight for you. The Serpent - far E of Winterhold Once a day you can use a ranged paralyzing poison on opponents. The Shadow - S of Riften Once a day you can become invisible for an extended period. The Steed - N of Dragon Bridge You can carry more and do not suffer the armor movement penalty. The Tower - W of Winterhold Once a day you can open any lock. Shrine Powers ------------- Shrines give small bonuses which last for 7 in-game hours, which is about 25 minutes real time. o Shrine of Akatosh: Magicka regenerates 10% faster for 7 hours. o Shrine of Arkay: Increases your health by 25 points for 7 hours. o Shrine of Dibella: +10 Speechcraft for 7 hours. o Shrine of Julianos: Increases your Magicka by 25 points for 7 hours. o Shrine of Kynareth: Increases your Stamina by 25 points for 7 hours. o Shrine of Mara: Healing spells restore 10% more for 7 hours. o Shrine of Stendarr: Block 10% more damage with your shield for 7 hours. o Shrine of Talos: Time between shouts is reduced 10% for 7 hours. o Shrine of Zenithar: Prices are 10% better for 7 hours. Powers earned from quests ------------------------- Agent of Mara Bonus: +15% resistance to magic Time/Difficulty: Early game - Easy How to get: complete "The Book of Love" - Temple of Mara in Riften Sailor's Repose: Bonus: Healing spells cure 10% more Time/Difficulty: Early Game - Easy How to get: find Habd's remains at the end of the dungeon under Frostflow Lighthouse, then place the remains in the flaming brazier on top of the Lighthouse Agent of Dibella Bonus: +Damage to opposite sex Time/Difficulty: Early game - Medium How to get: complete "The Heart of Dibella" - Temple of Dibella in Markarth Force Without Effort: Bonus: You stagger 25% less and foes stagger 25% more. Time/Difficulty: Mid game - Easy How to get: choose FUS after "The Throat of the World" - Hrothgar Eternal Spirit: Bonus: You gain a 25% bonus health regeneration rate after using Ethereal shout Time/Difficulty: Midgame - Easy How to get: choose FEIM after "The Throat of the World" - Hrothgar The Fire Within: Bonus: Fire Breath shout deals 25% more damage Time/Difficulty: Midgame - Easy How to get: choose YOL after "The Throat of the World" - Hrothgar Ancient Knowledge Bonus: +25% armor bonus with Dwarven armor, Blacksmithing increases 25% faster. Time/Difficulty: Mid game - Medium How to get: complete "Unfathomable Depths" - quest given by From-Deepest-Fathoms in Riften Fishery area outside of Riften with level above 13. Sinderion's Serendipity Bonus: 25% chance of creating a duplicate potion in alchemy Time/Difficulty: Mid game - Hard How to get: complete "A Return to your Roots" - Blackreach Prowler's Profit: Bonus: Find more gems in chests Time/Difficulty: Late game - Extreme How to get: complete "No Stone Unturned" - bring 24! unusual gems to Vex =============================================================================== Section 6 - Quick money .sec6qmo. =============================================================================== Stendarr Shrine and Amulet -------------------------- For a 20% decrease in prices, fast travel to Riften Stables. Run NE for about 30 seconds. Look for a ruined tower halfway up the north side of the hill there. Within lies the Shrine of Zenithar and probably a family of bears or spiders. Grab the amulet, put it on, and get the blessing from the shrine. Clear Red-Belly Mine of Spiders - $500-1200 (based on level) Go to Shor's Stone (NNW of Riften), talk to Filnjar the blacksmith, offer to clear the mine out of 6 spiders. A bow helps a lot here. While you're at the bottom, pick up a pickaxe and mine some ebony ore (each vein makes $25x3). Return to Filnjar for the reward. Valehk Sain's locker - $1500 ---------------------------- Head to the College of Winterhold and get admitted as a new mage (requirements are 30 gold and ability to cast novice spell, may need novice hood). Once you finish the tour and 'First Lessons' by Tolfdir, head down into The Midden (entrance is in the NW corner of the courtyard, or on the first floor of the Hall of Countenance). Once inside head towards the first open area, drop down, turn right, go through the archway, drop down again, turn right, and go through the door to find the entrance to The Midden Dark. Head down, turn left, jump down to the chest to the left of the bridge, then jump on the chest, on to the wall ledge, and back up. Now go straight up the tunnel, then take the stairs to the right. Read the Alchemy book at the bottom, turn right. Kill the skeletons and open the door to an underground circular room with a black claw in the middle. There will be a journal and a key on a nearby table. Take the key and backtrack upstairs. Once outside go to the Arcanaeum (upstairs from the Hall of Elements). Save. Sneak to the chest on the left side of the room open the chest with your key while hidden. Take the rings and head back down to the black claw in the Midden Dark. Keep trying different rings on each finger until you have the right combination. A dremora will appear. Agree to release Valehk Sain. He will give you a treasure map. Head out through the exit in front of you. The treasure is located on a brain-shaped island with a statue of Talos, straight west of the college and north of Saarthal. The treasure is at the south-western base of the island and appears when you have the map in your inventory. Transmute iron into Gold - $7 into $25 -------------------------------------- The alteration spell "Transmute" can be found at Halted Stream Camp mine (N of Whiterun). Be sure to bring a pickaxe to mine all of the iron ore veins while you're there. The tome is on a table by the leaders bed in the back. Now move in front the nearby bed. Cast transmute, then click on the bed and sleep for 1 hour to recharge your magic. Repeat to quickly change all your iron ore. Head on over to Whiterun, and go to the smelter that's on your right as you enter. Turn the gold ore into gold ingots. Amble over to the forge and make some gold rings. These sell for $25 each. Most blacksmiths and general stores will have some iron ore for sale. You can loop through all the towns buying iron ore and continually transmute and then forge. Also iron mines are everywhere. =============================================================================== Section 7 - Max leveling with the Oghma Infinium .sec7max. =============================================================================== The best time to do this quest is alongside the main quest "Elder Knowledge". The Oghma Infinium is the reward you receive after completing the quest "Discerning the Transmundane". To get this quest talk to Septimus in Signus's Outpost, a cave on an island N of the College of Winterhold. Once you acquire the Oghma Infinium, do not read it! If given a choice, choose Do Not Read. Leave the cave and head to any home you own with a book shelf that gives you the option to store books on it. Breezehome in Whiterun is one such house. If you don't have it already, buy the alchemy station upgrade from Proventus Avenicci in Dragon's Reach. 1. Head to your home and save 2. Click on the book shelf 3. Go to the book section of your inventory 4. Read Oghma Infinium 5. Choose a path 6. Store it in your book shelf 7. Close your inventory 8. Go to the book on the shelf and read it - Don't choose a path, just press do not read 9. Then take the book Repeat steps 2-9 Each time you do step 5 you will level up each skill levels for the Warrior, Mage, or Thief five times. =============================================================================== Section 8 - Closing Remarks and Thanks .sec8clo. =============================================================================== I hope you found this guide helps you power up your character without spending 300+ hours like I did. I definitely enjoyed working on it! Since I put so many hours into it, please don't use any portion of this document elsewhere on the interwebs without first getting my permission. Please feel free to send any questions, ideas, or updates you'd like to see. Thanks for reading! I used the following guides and websites for item locations, shrine powers, etc. Thanks to you for all your hard work! http://elderscrolls.wikia.com Skyrim Alchemy Exploit FAQ created by Jeremy Lusk (aka thesabrestorm) Skyrim Alchemy Guide FAQ created by Dustin Wood (aka Ahlyis) Character Build Guide FAQ created by zeusodinra Enchanting Guide FAQ created by SantaPaws