Although The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been out for almost a decade now, it’s still one of the most wildly popular RPGs going into 2020. Whether that’s due to it’s overwhelming mod support, endless replayability or just because the memes are just too juicy is hard to say – but it’s safe to say the game will be alive until IV comes around.
Funny how Bethesda was on top of the world around Skyrim and now they’ve become indistinguishable from gaming companies like EA and Activision. But let’s not sour things too much and relive the glory days with some tips that will let you get the most out of your next playthrough, especially playing Legendary.
10 Loot Everything
This goes without saying for any Bethesda game, or really any role-playing game as you can never go wrong with looting everything – especially early on. If you find that in a game like Skyrim or Witcher 3 you’re having a hard time getting your feet off the ground it’s probably because you’re playing it like Call of Duty. These games were made for you to pace yourself through them, explore every nook and cranny of the vast world the developers have created for you and in doing so score some sweet loot. Plus you’ll probably run into some neat off-the-beaten-path quests and activities too.
9 Explore! Explore! Explore!
That leads us to the most underrated part of the game – the exploration. The best part of modern Elder Scroll and Fallout games is Bethesda usually just drops you into the world and now you’re free to do whatever you want.
That moment when you open the Vault 101 door or escape the dragon in the introducing parts of Skyrim directly usher you into the world that’s ripe with detail. Exploring may not be your thing and you instead might be one of those players that just guns for the main quests so you can get everything over with. Well, that’s fine and dandy, but you’ll miss a lot.
8 But Stick To The Paths For The Most Part
Let’s contradict ourselves for a little bit because there’s definitely beauty in going off-the-beaten-path, but there’s also some merit to sticking on the main paths and roadways. By the time Skyrim released, Bethesda had mastered creating in-game cinematic moments for gamers to experience.
Problem is that most of these sequences occur on the central pathways – bummer. Although you probably won’t run into a Giant camp on the structured paths where they’ll most likely pummel you out of the atmosphere. So try to strike a fine balance between exploring and sticking to main roadways as there’s a little something to be gained from both.
7 Don’t Forget To Shout
Shouting is one of those elements that is introduced earlyish, but is soon to be forgotten as you progress further into the game. The reason for that is that you’ll probably be strong enough to handle most of the enemies with enough mashing of the triggers on your controller or clicks of your mouse.
Shouting will be a thing of the past – but don’t let that happen. For starters there are some wild shouts that become available in the game (especially by the time you hit the DLC). Call Dragon/Summon Durnehviir allows you to summon a dragon, Bend Will allows you to ride a dragon and there’s even one that enables you to slow time.
6 Guardian Stones!
Yeah we’re going back to basics with this one, but Guardian Stones are another aspect of the game that many players either miss in the beginning of the game or completely lose interest in by the end. In all honesty the stones are one of the most valuable resources in the game and certain abilities can greatly affect your experience during the game.
For instance, the Steed Stone (located North-West of Solitude) allows you to carry 100 extra pounds of weight as well as removing all moving reductions caused by heavier armor. The Lover Stone (East of Markarth) is generally looked at as one of the best and increases exp rates of ALL skills by 15 percent.
5 Always Have A Follower With You
In any other Bethesda game the “follower” would be recognized as a “companion,” but seeing as there’s entire faction called The Companions, we’ll stick to the former term to address them. Unless you’re actively trying to make the game harder, you should always have a follower with you, and luckily there’s plenty to choose from.
You might not have known though that every follower in the game has different stats than the other and there are clear bests. The Housecarls such as Lydia Jordis the Sword-Maiden are exceptionally strong boasting high heavy armor and one-handed skills. But J’Zargo from the College of Winterhold is the overall best of the followers.
4 Pick A Route You Want To Level Up, And Stick To It
Leveling up in Skyrim is quite strange compared to other games as cheesing the game is so easy you might even do it unintentionally. Skills in the game such as one-handed and restoration increase based on how much you use them; from there you can individually level them up. The more you use the skill/ability, the more you’ll be able to level it up.
Cheesing aside, use the skills that you want to upgrade the most. So, if you want to be an ax swinging blacksmith than upgrade smithing and the two-handed skill. Oh, and if you want a good guide for leveling up in the easiest way possible, here ya go.
3 You Want To Level Up Smithing
So we mentioned smithing at the end there, well, it might be one of, if not the best skill in the game no matter how you play. See if you level up the smithing skill, you gain access to higher quality resources and with better resources you’ll be able to make better armor – the best armor actually. That could be the badass Daedric armor seen above, the sleek Elvish armor or even Dragon plated armor. Funny part is you can do all of this really early into the game too. As soon as you hit Whiterun start upgrading the smithing ability, you won’t regret it.
2 Don’t Do The Civil War Questline Until The End
Bethesda is infamous for doing some goofy things in their games. Whether it be giving you the option to send a radiation immune companion in to save the day in Fallout 3. Or inserting a game altering quest in the middle of Skyrim when it clearly shouldn’t be available until the end.
The Civil War quest is undoubtedly one of the game’s most fun as you gain the option to pick a side between Skyrim’s two feuding factions and fight for them to win the throne. Your decision affects a lot and there really isn’t any right choice, just the one you believe in, but the fact that it’s available early is truly bizarre.
1 Sometimes Cheesing The Game Is Worth It
We touched on Skyrim’s cheese early in this list, but it truly deserves an entry of it’s own – because that image above – it is Skyrim. The game kept Bethesda’s track record going of making buggy masterpieces that are filled to the brim with so many ways to exploit the game.
Whether that be increasing your magic abilities while restoring them for hours on end. Or getting an enemy to chase you out before it resets and turns around for you to bury it with arrows. Or our, and the internet’s personal favorite of scaling mountains by spamming the space bar, Y or triangle as hard as you can. Skyrim is broken, have fun with it.
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