There’s nothing more fun and rewarding than starting a new game blindly, just discovering the world on your own without any help. With big titles like Skyrim, learning the ropes on your own can be a bit of a challenge, but as you progress through your journey you quickly get the hang of things and realize what works best for your play style.
While there are a million ways to complete Skyrim, there are probably two million things that new players will have to get their head around first. here are ten things that beginners will quickly learn when playing the game for the first time. If you don’t, you’re going to find yourself in all sorts of trouble!
10 Talk To Everyone
There are hundreds of NPCs in Skyrim. Most of them might sound like they’re just repeating each other, but you’d be surprised by all the information, tips and tricks you can discover by sparing just a few moments to listen to their lines.
Sometimes, the right encounter at the right time and place might be the key to a brand new exciting quest, leading to a rare item or even membership to a super secretive faction in the city. Either way, never brush off the pesky NPCs. They have important things to say too.
9 Specialize Your Skills
It might be obvious for some players, but for those who are still confused by the Skyrim skill system: yes, you should specialize your skills. It might be fun to be talented in every possible category, but that just isn’t realistic.
It’s also highly unlikely for you to be a great sword-user while also be equally proficient with a bow and arrow. Skyrim is a game of choices: pick your build and stick with it. That way, you can truly become a powerful fighter in the long run, since your points aren’t spread out everywhere.
8 The Main Quest Is A Little Underwhelming
This might be controversial, but Skyrim’s main quest isn’t exactly the most amazing thing the game has to offer. In fact, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are many quest lines that are much shorter and truly engage you in the lives of NPCs and factions.
So, never focus entirely on completing the main quest. When there’s a Dark Brotherhood to join and a mage’s college to save from destruction, the dragons can easily wait for you.
7 Reading Is Good For You
In a game so focused on combat, adventuring and exploring, it probably doesn’t come to mind to stop and pick up a book. However, trust us: most of the tomes you find lying around reveal interesting lore about Tamriel and Skyrim, even offering tips and tricks about cities and characters.
Some books give you new quests and others level up specific skills. Next time you see a tome you haven’t spotted before lying around, pick it up just in case. You might be surprised by what you discover.
6 Don’t Pick Up Everything
There’s tons of clutter in Skyrim, which is why the game looks pretty good considering its age. At the beginning, you might feel like you need to grab everything, from silver cups to iron swords to ten different sets of fur boots, just to grind out some gold.
A much better idea, however, is to simply pick up light but valuable items like circlets and gems that will fetch a nice price at the marketplace. Leave those worthless armor pieces on the floor and you’ll be able to carry more small things that are worth twice the gold.
5 Don’t Hoard The Dragon Bones Or Scales
When you kill your first dragon, you’ll discover their corpses can be looted for some Dragon Bones and Dragon Scales. These items might seem really special and interesting at first, but they’re heavy and a pain to carry around.
If you really plan on making your own sweet dragon armor later on, just leave the loot be for now. The dragons won’t stop appearing in the game, ever, so you’ll pretty much have an infinite supply of them and nothing to worry about.
4 Alchemy Is Actually Amazing
Alchemy is a school that’s often forgotten in Skyrim, most likely because of how boring it might seem. If you’re looking to save a few gold coins, though, it’s worth investing in. By making your own health potions, you won’t need to rely on buying or finding health potions in the wild.
Not to mention, there’s nothing more entertaining than making powerful poisons and then sneaking behind an unsuspecting victim and placing it into their inventory. On a more serious note: potions are powerful and can turn the tide of a battle, so invest in alchemy!
3 Stealing Is Always A Bad Idea
The people of Skyrim don’t exactly appreciate thieves, and it becomes obvious as soon as you try to grab something off of them. Even pickpocketing animals can rouse the wrath of an entire village. It doesn’t matter how small the item is: if you steal that old woman’s cabbage, she might even send hired thugs to come after you.
So, in conclusion, don’t ever steal from anyone, unless you want to spend your time fighting guards and paying off your crimes in the different holds.
2 Don’t Ignore The Power Of Friendship
Too many players set out on their adventures on their own in Skyrim, and while this is a commendable thing to do with the challenge it poses, it’s kind of nice to have someone with you, for the company at the very least.
There are so many NPCs to choose from as well. If you’re still not sold on the idea, just think of them as an extra inventory that will follow you everywhere and cause a bit of extra damage to the monsters you’re fighting. What’s not to love about that?
1 Fast Travel Ruins The Game
Sometimes we just get too excited about a quest and want to finish it as fast as possible, which is why we fast travel or hire the horse carriage. However, patience is a virtue. If you choose to walk across the lands to get to your next location instead, you will be rewarded with more experience during your random encounters, a genuine feeling of adventure, possibly more loot and even discover areas that you would have otherwise never found before.
If you’re a slave to fast travel, next time you fire up Skyrim, just make yourself a rule not to use it and the game will feel brand new to you. Guaranteed!
NEXT: Skyrim: The 10 Craziest Unobtainable Items In The Game
