How to Level Up Fast in Skyrim

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: September 3, 2020 Approved

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a game that is all about skills. Every time you raise a skill level, you make progress toward reaching the next character level. This can take a while if you play by the rules, but there are several ways to get ahead of the game and max your skills out quickly.

Part 1

Part 1 of 8:

Leveling Up Illusion Magic Quickly

1
Purchase the Muffle spell to increase your Illusion skill. This spell can be used early and has a massive impact on your Illusion magic level. You can purchase the spell in several locations, the easiest being from Farengar at Dragonsreach in Whiterun.
2
Cast Muffle on yourself over and over. You don't have to wait for the effects to wear off to gain skill levels.

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3
Use the "Wait" function to wait for an hour when you run out of magicka. This will quickly recharge your magicka and allow you to start casting Muffle again.
4
Repeat until you've reached your desired Illusion level. This should only take a little while, as Muffle has a large boost on your Illusion skill level.

Part 2

Part 2 of 8:

Leveling Up Destruction Magic Quickly

1
Do the Dark Brotherhood quest line to raise your Destruction level. You'll need to complete the questline to unlock the ability to purchase the Torture Chamber, which you can use to quickly raise your Destruction level.
- Once you complete the "Hail, Sithis!" quest, you'll be able to start the "Where You Hang Your Enemy's Head" quest by speaking with Nazir. Purchase the Torture Chamber for 5,000 gold.
2
Attack the people bound in the torture room with Destruction spells, but don't kill them. Cast your Destruction spells so that you damage the people bound in the torture room. Make sure that you don't kill them, as they will not respawn.
- You can enchant your equipment with Destruction cost reduction enchantments, which will lower the Magicka required to cast the spells.
- Use healing magic to heal the hurt prisoners, which can help boost your Restoration level as well.
3
Continue attacking and restoring until your Destruction is maxed out. This will take an hour or so. You can wait an hour in-game to recharge your magicka when you run out.

Part 3

Part 3 of 8:

Leveling Up Alteration Skills Quickly

1
Obtain the Detect Life spell. This spell is one of the most effective ways to raise your Alteration level quickly. You can obtain this spell a few different ways:
- You may find it as random loot on enemies.
- You may be able to purchase it from Tolfdir in Winterhold, or Wylandriah in Mistveil Keep.
- You’ll get the spell as a reward for completing the Infiltration quest from Stalleo at Treva’s Watch.
2
Go to a highly-populated area. Detect Life gives large bonuses for detecting lots of people at once. Go to a large city like Whiterun, or a busy inn.
3
Cast Detect Life over and over. Cast Detect Life until you run out of Magicka. You can then rest for a couple hours until your Magicka refills, and start casting it again.
4
Obtain Telekinesis to raise Alteration through other means. Telekinesis is another effective spell for raising your Alteration level. You can obtain Telekinesis from several locations:
- You can purchase Telekinesis from Tolfdir and Wylandriah after you reach Alteration Level 40.
- You can find Telekinesis in a variety of chests around the world.
5
Use Telekinesis to carry objects around when you’re exploring. Carry barrels and other heavy items around after you’ve cleared a dungeon and you’ll see your Alteration level go up quickly.

Part 4

Part 4 of 8:

Leveling Restoration Magic Quickly

1
Equip a basic healing spell. You can raise your Restoration level fairly quickly and efficiently using the basic healing spell. You start the game with this skill,or you can use a more advanced one for quicker healing:
- Fast Healing can be obtained once you’ve attained Restoration Level 25. You can purchase it from Farengar in Dragonsreach, or Colette Marence in Winterhold.
2
Obtain the Equilibrium spell. This spell deals 25 damage to yourself, and restores 25 magicka. You’ll be using it to hurt yourself and then heal yourself. You can obtain this spell from the Labyrinthian Chasm.
3
Cast Equilibrium on yourself. This will cause 25 damage over 25 seconds. Be careful not to kill yourself!
4
Cast Fast Heal on yourself. Use Fast Heal to restore your health and raise your Restoration level.
5
Repeat until you’ve raised your Restoration level. You can repeat this process as long as you’d like, as long as you don’t accidentally kill yourself. If you run out of magicka, you can rest for a few hours and then continue.

Part 5

Part 5 of 8:

Leveling Up Conjuring Magic

1
Obtain the Soul Trap spell. You can purchase this spell from Farengar in Dragonsreach, or from Phinis Gestor in Winterhold.
2
Kill a wild animal. You don’t need to kill an enemy, just a deer or other wild animal.
3
Cast Soul Trap over and over on the corpse. Each time you cast the spell, you’ll raise your Conjuring level.^{[1]
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4
Rest for an hour if you run out of magicka. This will restore your magicka and allow you to continue casting Soul Trap.^{[2]
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Part 6

Part 6 of 8:

Leveling Up Combat Skills Quickly

1
Take damage to raise your Light and Heavy Armor skills. The quickest way to raise your armor levels is to simply equip one of these armor types and then take damage. The more damage the armor absorbs, the more your skill will raise.
- The safest way to do this is to let weak enemies like wolves attack you.
2
Use your shield to raise your Block level. The quickest way to level up your Block skill is to travel to a giant's camp and start blocking his attacks. Repeat this until your Block reaches 100 (takes only 30 mins or so). Make sure you have enough healing potions and spells. This also works well with Armor skills.
3
Raise your Archery skill by attacking your own horse. The best way to quickly raise your Archery skill is to complete the Dark Brotherhood questline so that you receive Shadowmere, a special horse with a lot of health that regenerates quickly. Attack this horse with your arrows and let its health refill, and you’ll quickly raise your Archery skill level.

Part 7

Part 7 of 8:

Leveling Up Thief Skills Quickly

1
Sneak in crowded areas. The quickest way to boost your Sneak skill is to sneak around lots of people. While some will notice you, everyone that you sneak by will help raise your skill. Crouch while moving around Whiterun or other populated towns.
- You can sneak behind someone stationary, such as a shopkeeper, then keep backing into the wall behind you indefinitely. This lets you boost the skill with little effort.
2
Level your pickpocket skill by stealing small items. There isn’t really a trick to raising your pickpocket skill, other than to just steal as much as possible. You’re less likely to get caught if you steal light items, such as money.

Part 8

Part 8 of 8:

Leveling Smithing Quickly

1
Activate the Warrior’s Stone and get a good night’s rest. These two things will give you a large experience bonus, up to 35%. You can find the Warrior’s Stone to the southwest of Riverwood.
2
Buy/collect iron ingots and leather strips. Craft iron daggers over and over as they require the least amount of material to make (1 Iron Ingot, 1 Leather Strip).
3
Mine ore while you’re out adventuring. You’ll be able to use this ore to craft jewelry and raise your level. Keep any jewels you find or receive as rewards.
4
Turn the mineral ore into gold and silver ore using Transmute Mineral Ore spell. This will give you lots of material to make jewelry with. You can find this spell at the Halted Stream Camp.
5
Sell your jewelry to pay for training. Crafting jewelry will raise your Smithing skill, and you can sell this jewelry to make money and purchase more Smithing training. The training is fairly inexpensive up to level 50, and should be easily purchasable with your jewelry profits.
6
Craft Dwarven Ingots. You can make these from scrap metals you find in Dwemer ruins. Using Dwarven ingots, create upgraded Dwarven Bows. These will raise your Smithing level significantly.
7
Upgrade armor at high levels. When you’ve reached high levels of Smithing, the best way to keep leveling is to purchase armor from blacksmiths and then upgrade it. You can use items like the Necklace of Haggling to sell the armor back and make a profit from the endeavor as well. Keep upgrading armor to reach Smithing level 100.^{[3]
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Community Q&A

Question

How do I level up the fastest?

Community Answer

I've found sneaking behind the greybeards and hitting them with an iron dagger is very effective. Then use restoration spells to heal them. Once you hit 100 sneak, make it legendary. Then start all over.
Question

How do I do an alchemy loop?

Community Answer

The alchemy loop is when you make a potion that fortifies your enchanting skill, then you enchant a piece of armor that fortifies alchemy, and repeat.
Question

How do I level up my speech skill?

Community Answer

You need to sell things to merchants, or persuade people. The best selling place is Riften -- it's like a general goods place in the center.