The 18 Skills of Skyrim

[natelovesyou]

Hello! I haven't seen any topic this specialized, so I felt the need to share what I have found, and have updated it ever since more information on perks has surfaced. Please keep in mind though, some of the perks aren't really "clear" yet since it's all I could find at the moment. I'll update it as soon as I find better info.

 

Sources: QuakeCon video, Skyrim Answers from Bethesda, Skyrim Abilities and Perks [alt]

 

MAGIC

 

Illusion

The School of Illusion involves manipulating the mind of the enemy. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Fear, Charm, and Invisibility.

• 
  Perks
  
• Hypnotic Gaze: Calm higher level people and creatures.
  
• Master of the Mind: Illusion spells work on the undead, daedra and machines/automatons.
  
• Silent Casting: All spells from all schools of magic are silent to others.
  
• Casting the same effect from both hands overcharges the effect to create a more powerful spell.
  
• Cast Novice/Apprentice/Adept/Expert/Master level Illusion spells with 50% less Magicka.
  
• Spells work on higher level animals.
  
• Spells work on higher level people.
  
• Fear spells work on higher level enemies.
  
  • 
    Known Illusion Spells
    
  • Clairvoyance: Show the way to your goal. (lvl: Novice; cost: 0 per sec.)
    
  • Frenzy: Moderately powerful creatures and people will attack anyone nearby for 60 seconds. (lvl: Adept; cost: 87)
    
  • Charm
    
  • Fear
    
  • Invisibility
    

Conjuration

The School of Conjuration governs raising the dead or summoning creations from Oblivion. This skill makes it easier to cast these spells as well as Soul Trap and bindings.

• 
  Perks
  
• Casting the same effect from both hands overcharges the effect to create a more powerful spell.
  
• Cast Novice/Apprentice/Adept/Expert/Master level Conjuration spells with 50% less Magicka.
  
• Bound weapons do more damage.
  
• Bound weapons cast Soul Trap on target.
  
• Bound weapons banish certain creatures.
  
• Reanimated undead allies will have an additional 100 health points.
  
• Summon two Atronachs or two reanimated zombies at once.
  
• Summon Atronachs at twice the distance.
  
• Summoned Atronachs are twice as strong.
  
  • 
    Known Conjuration Spells
    
  • Bound Battleaxe: Creates a magic battle axe for 300 seconds. Sheathe it to dispel. (lvl: Apprentice; cost: 53)
    
  • Bound Bow
    
  • Soul Trap
    

Destruction

The School of Destruction involves the harnessing of the energies of fire, frost and shock. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Fireball, Ice Spike, and Lightning Bolt.

• 
  Perks
  
• Cast Novice/Apprentice/Adept/Expert/Master level Destruction spells with 50% less Magicka.
  
• Fire Damage spells do more damage (ranked).
  
• Frost Damage spells do more damage (ranked).
  
• Shock Damage spells do more damage (ranked).
  
• Shock damage may disintegrate targets if their health is under 10%.
  
• Frost spells have a chance to paralyze targets if their health is low.
  
• Fire spells can cause wounded enemies to flee.
  
• Place runes five times as far away.
  
  • 
    Known Destruction Spells
    
  • Chain Lightning: A bolt of lightning that does 50 damage, and twice as much Magicka damage, then leaps to a new target. (lvl: Adept; cost: 45)
    
  • Fire Storm: A 75 point fiery explosion centered on the caster. Does more damage to closer targets. (lvl: Master, cost: 148)
    
  • Fireball: A fiery explosion for 75 points of damage in a 15 foot radius. Targets on fire take extra damage. (lvl: Adept; cost: 57)
    
  • Flames: A gout of fire that does 6 points per second. Targets on fire take extra damage. (lvl: Novice; cost: 5 per sec.)
    
  • Frost Rune
    
  • Frostbite
    
  • Ice Spike
    
  • Ice Storm
    
  • Lightning Bolt
    

Restoration

The School of Restoration involves control over life forces. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Healing, Turn Undead, and magical Wards.

• 
  Perks
  
• Cast Novice/Apprentice/Adept/Expert/Master level Restoration spells with 50% less Magicka.
  
• Healing spells do 50% more healing.
  
• Healing spells will also restore stamina.
  
• Recharging healing spells.
  
• Restoration spells are now more effective against the undead.
  
• Chance to auto-cast a healing spell that restores 250 health points when your health drops low, once a day.
  
• Magicka will regenerate 25% faster.
  
  • 
    Known Restoration Spells
    
  • Circle of Protection: Undead up to level 20 entering the circle will flee. (lvl: Expert; cost: 77)
    
  • Healing: Heals the caster 10 points per second. (lvl: Novice; cost: 11 per sec.)
    
  • Turn Undead
    

Alteration

The School of Alteration involves the manipulation of the physical world and its natural properties. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Waterbreathing, magical protection, and Paralysis.

• 
  Perks
  
• Cast Novice/Apprentice/Adept/Expert/Master level Alteration spells with 50% less Magicka.
  
• Alteration spells will last for a greater duration of time (ranked).
  
• Absorb 30% of the Magicka that hits you.
  
  • 
    Known Alteration Spells
    
  • Detect Life: Nearby living creatures, but not undead, machines or daedra, can be seen through walls. (lvl: Adept; cost: 30 per sec.)
    
  • Iron Flesh: Enhances the caster's armor.
    
  • Paralysis
    
  • Telekinesis
    
  • Water Breathing
    

Enchanting

The more powerful the enchanter, the stronger the magic he can bind to his weapons and armor.

• 
  Perks
  
• Enchantments are 20% stronger (ranked).
  
• Enchanted armor is 25% stronger.
  
• Soul gems provide extra Magicka when recharging enchanted equipment. – again, dodgy recording but that’s what the article said, even if it doesn’t make much sense (my take: soul gems recharge more but perhaps cost magicka to do so)
  
• Death blows to creatures (but not to people) trap souls for weapon recharge.
  
• Health, Magicka and stamina enchantments are stronger.
  
• An extra effect on already-enchanted weapons can be applied.
  
• Fire enchantments are 25% stronger (ranked).
  
• Frost enchantments are 25% stronger (ranked).
  
• Shock enchantments are 25% stronger (ranked).
  

 

COMBAT

 

Smithing

The art of creating weapons and armor from raw materials, or improving non-magical weapons and armor.

• 
  Perks
  
• Steel Smithing: Create Steel armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  
• Arcane Blacksmith: Improve magical weapons and armor.
  
• Dwarven Smithing: Create Dwarven armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  
• Elven Smithing: Create Elven armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  
• Orcish Smithing: Create Orcish armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  
• Advanced Armors: Create scaled and plate armor at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  
• Glass Smithing: Create glass armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  
• Daedric Smithing: Create Daedric armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  
• Ebony Smithing: Create Ebony armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  
• Dragon Smithing: Create Dragon armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double at Rank 2.
  

Heavy Armor

Those trained to use Heavy Armor make more effective use of Iron, Steel, Dwarven, Orcish, Ebony, and Daedric armors.

• 
  Perks
  
• Increase armor rating by 20% (5 ranks).
  
• Unarmed attacks with heavy armor gauntlets increases damage done. Damage increased by the gauntlets’ armor rating.
  
• Fall damage is halved when wearing a full set of heavy armor.
  
• Heavy armor weighs nothing and doesn’t slow you down.
  
• Additional 25% protection from your armor if in a matching set of armor.
  
• 25% armor bonus if you're in a full set of heavy armor (does not need to be a matching set).
  
• 50% less stagger when wearing a full set of heavy armor.
  
• 10% damage reflected back to enemy if you're wearing a full set of heavy armor.
  

Block

The art of blocking an enemy's blows with a shield or weapon. Blocking reduces the damage and staggering from physical attacks.

• 
  Perks
  
• Shield Wall (1 of 5): Blocking is 25% more effective. Requires: Block 20.
  
• Deadly Bash: Bashing does more damage. Requires: Block 20.
  
• Power Bash: Able to do a power bash. Requires: Block 30.
  
• Bash Disarm: Chance to disarm when power bashing with a shield. Requires: Block 50.
  
• Shield Charge: Able to move faster with a shield raised. Requires: Block 100.
  
• Quick Reflexes: Time slows down if you are blocking during a power attack. Requires: Block 30.
  
• Deflect Arrows
  
• Riposte
  
• Elemental Protection
  

Two-Handed

The art of combat using two-handed weapons, such as greatswords, battle axes, and warhammers. Those trained in this skill deliver deadlier blows.

• 
  Perks
  
• Two-Handed Prowess (0 of 5): Two-Handed weapons do 20% more damage. Requires: Two-handed 30.
  
• Deep Wounds (0 of 3): Attacks with greatswords have a 10% chance of doing critical damage. Requires: Two-handed 30.
  
• Skullcrusher (0 of 3): Attacks with warhammers ignore 25% of armor. Requires: Two-handed 30.
  
• Two-Handed Tactics
  
• Limbsplitter (3 ranks): Attacks with battleaxes do extra bleeding damage.
  
• Great Charge!: Can do a two-handed power attack while sprinting that does double critical damage. Requires: Two-handed 50.
  
• Devastating Blow: Standing power attacks do 25% bonus damage with a chance to decapitate your enemies. Requires: Two-handed 50.
  
• Power attacks cost 25% less stamina.
  
• Sideways power attacks hit all nearby targets.
  
• Backwards power attacks have 25% chance of causing paralysis.
  

One-Handed

The art of combat using one-handed weapons, such as daggers, swords, maces and war axes. Those trained in this skill deliver deadlier blows.

• 
  Perks
  
• One-Handed Prowess/Armsman (1 of 5): One-Handed weapons other than daggers do 40/20% more damage. Requires: One-handed 20.
  
• Hack and Slash (3 ranks): Attacks with war axes cause extra bleeding damage. Requires: One-handed 30.
  
• One-Handed Tactics
  
• Charge!: Can do one-handed power attack while sprinting that does double critical damage. Requires: One-handed 50.
  
• Bone Breaker (3 ranks): Attacks with maces ignore 25% of armor. Requires: One-handed 30.
  
• Stand and Deliver
  
• Savage Blows/Savage Blows: Standing power attacks do 25% bonus damage with a chance to decapitate your enemies. Requires: One-handed 50.
  
• Bladesman (3 ranks): Attacks with swords have a 10% chance of doing critical damage. Requires: One-handed 30.
  
• Dual Savagery: Dual wielding power attacks do 50% bonus damage. Requires: One-handed 70.
  
• Dual Flurry (2 ranks): Dual wielding attacks are 20% faster. Requires: One-handed 30.
  
• Fighting Stance: Power attacks with one-handed weapons cost 25% less stamina. Requires: One-handed 20.
  
• Paralyzing Strike: Backwards power attacks have a 25% chance to paralyze the target. Requires: One-handed 100.
  

Archery

An archer is skilled in the art of bows and arrows. The greater the skill, the more deadly the shot.

• 
  Perks
  
• Bullseye: 15% chance of paralyzing the target for a few seconds with an arrow (ranked).
  
• Focus: Able to zoom in on targets when bow is drawn. Requires: Archery 30.
  
• Critical Shot: 10% critical chance. Requires: Archery 30.
  
• Ranger: Move faster with a bow drawn.
  
• Steady Hand: Time is slowed while zooming in.
  
• Overdraw: Bows do 25% more damage.
  
• Eagle Eye
  
• 10% critical hit chance.
  
• Recover twice as many arrows from dead bodies.
  
• Draw your bow 30% faster.
  

 

STEALTH

 

Light Armor

Those trained to use Light Armor make more effective use of Hide, Leather, Elven, and Glass armors.

• 
  No perks found yet
  

Sneak

Sneaking is the art of moving unseen and unheard. Highly skilled sneaks can even hide in plain sight.

• 
  Perks
  
• Silent Roll: Sprinting while sneaking performs a noiseless forward-roll.
  
• Vanish: Entering sneak mode in combat forces your attacker to focus on another.
  
• Player is 20% harder to detect (ranked).
  
• Sneak attacks with one-handed weapons do 6x damage.
  
• Sneak attacks with bows do 3x damage.
  
• Sneak attacks with daggers do 15x damage (end perk on skill tree).
  
• Noise from armor is reduced by 50%.
  
• No longer activate pressure plates.
  
• Running does not affect detection chance.
  

Lockpicking

The art of Lockpicking is used to open locked doors and containers faster and with fewer broken lockpicks.

• 
  Lockpicking Perks
  
• Sleight of Hand: Picking locks is now undetectable to everyone standing around watching.
  
• Wax Key: Automatically gives you the key that fits the lock you just picked.
  

Pickpocket

The art of picking an unsuspecting target's pockets. A skilled pickpocket is less likely to be caught and is more likely to find valuables.

• 
  Pickpocket Perks:
  
• Light Fingers (0/5): Pickpocketing bonus of 20% – Item weight and value reduce pickpocketing odds.
  
• Night Thief: Pickpocketing sleeping people almost always works.
  
• Poisoned: Place poisons in other people’s pockets silently to harm or kill.
  
• Cutpurse: Pickpocketing gold is 50% easier.
  
• Extra Pockets: Carrying capacity is increased by 100.
  
• Keymaster: Pickpocketing keys always works.
  
• Misdirections: You can pickpocket equipped weapons, provided it isn't drawn.
  
• Perfect Touch: You can pickpocket even equipped items, including armor and weapons.
  

Speech

The art of persuasion can be used to get better prices from merchants, and persuade others to do as you ask.

• 
  Perks
  
• Bribe: Pay a guard to lose the bounty on your head without going to jail.
  
• Fence: Barter your stolen goods with any merchant you have invested in.
  
• Allure: Receive a 20% discount from vendors of the opposite sex.
  
• Master Trader: Every vendor has 10,000 gold to buy items with (could have been a typo in PC Gamer, 1000?).
  
• Buying and selling price 10% better (5 ranks).
  
• 10% off buying price from opposite sex (most likely a lower rank of Allure?).
  
• Invest in shops and increase available gold permanently in invested stores.
  
• Intimidation attempts are twice as successful.
  
• Persuasion attempts are more likely to succeed.
  
• Buy and sell from any merchant regardless of what they normally buy and sell.
  

Alchemy

An alchemist can create magical potions and deadly potions.

• 
  Perks
  
• Potions are 20% stronger (5 ranks).
  
• Potions for restore health, Magicka or stamina are 25% more powerful (possibly ranked).
  
• Poisons are 25% more effective (possibly ranked).
  
• Poisons last for twice as many hits.
  
• Two ingredients are gathered from plants.
  
• 50% resistance to all poisons.
  
• All negative effects are removed from potions and all positive effects are removed from poisons.
  
• Two effects of an ingredient are revealed when testing it for the first time (instead of just one).
  

 

SHOUTS

• 
  
  • 
    Known Shouts
    
  • Become Ethereal: Grant yourself temporary invulnerability at the cost of being unable to attack. (Words of Power: Fade, Spirit, Bind)
    
  • Elemental Fury: Air surrounds your weapon, allowing you to attack at a faster rate.
    
  • Fire Breath: A fiery blast that burns anything it touches. (Words of Power: Fire, Inferno, Sun; Recharge: 60, 90, 120 seconds)
    
  • Ice Form: Target is frozen in a block of ice and suffers frost damage. (Words of Power: Ice, Flesh, Statue; Recharge: 60, 90, 120 seconds)
    
  • Slow Time: Slows time, allowing you to move faster. (Words of Power: Time, Sand, Eternity; Recharge: 60, 120, 180 seconds)
    
  • Storm Call: Summons a storm that spawns deadly lightning bolts. (Words of Power: Storm, Lightning, Wrath; Recharge: 180, 240, 300 seconds)
    
  • Unrelenting Force: A blast that pushes away targets before you and staggers foes. (Words of Power: Force, Balance, Push)
    
  • Whirlwind Sprint: Dash forward a short distance at a great rate of speed.
    
  • Animal Companion (name unconfirmed): Calls beasts/animals to aid you in combat.
    
  • Dragon Call (name unknown): Summons your dragon ally to assist you in battle.
    
  • Teleport (name unknown): Teleports you behind an enemy.
    

 

 

----------------------------------

 

You can increase the growth rate of skills, as mentioned on Pete Hines' Twitter: "You get a rested bonus for sleeping in beds, and an extra one if it's a bed you own. Skills increase faster for a time."

 

Most of us know that the skill Mysticism is out; the spells have just been re-distributed, i.e. Soul Trap has been kept and moved to Conjuration.

 

Turn Undead has been moved from Conjuration to Restoration.

 

Mercantile is no longer a skill, and has now been absorbed into Speech...which completely makes sense. Kind of like trimming the attributes since they just trickled down 3 to basic stats anyway. I like depth but I also like appropriate simplification. I hope that if you sell multiple items at a time, then all items will give skill XP, unlike in Oblivion...where even a stack gave the experience of one item.

 

Lockpicking will be like Fallout 3's system; you can read a journalist's article detailing it some here, or read on: "One pick moves along the top of the lock and at any point in an arc I can stop it and test the bottom pick. If the bottom pick turns the lock turns 90 degrees, the door opens. If I repeatedly pick the wrong spot to test, the pick snaps"

 

I've yet to be sure on whether there be short bows and long bows (and maybe even crossbows). But, fiver1niner said: "I recently saw a short video in which Todd Howard explained that there will be two types of bows: ones that take longer to load but do more damage and ones that load faster but do less damage. I assume the first is long bows and second is short bows." Sweet.

 

 

Feel free to add what you have found, what you think and speculate on, and anything that I've missed. :dance:

 

And if you missed these: QuakeCon 2011: Skyrim hands-on previews

Edited November 2, 2011 by natelovesyou

[Alcrin]

Excellent work! Thank you so much for taking the time to do all of this. However, a correction on the Conjuration description:

 

The School of Conjuration governs raising the dead and summoning creations from Oblivion. This skill makes it easier to cast these spells as well as Soul Trap and bindings.

 

"Raising the Dead" huh? I wonder if you can actually salvage a quest by reviving an NPC in an escort mission that stupidly killed itself. Also, I wonder if it's significant that it said "creations from Oblivion" rather than just "daedra".

[micalov]

Thanks for the post, some good and interesting info.

[natelovesyou]

Excellent work! Thank you so much for taking the time to do all of this. However, a correction on the Conjuration description:

 

The School of Conjuration governs raising the dead and summoning creations from Oblivion. This skill makes it easier to cast these spells as well as Soul Trap and bindings.

 

"Raising the Dead" huh? I wonder if you can actually salvage a quest by reviving an NPC in an escort mission that stupidly killed itself. Also, I wonder if it's significant that it said "creations from Oblivion" rather than just "daedra".

Thanks for the Conjuration tip, I'll go with creations too. And raising the dead as opposed to reviving the dead. It's just so hard to tell! haha :pirate:

[chronosmagus]

Awesome work!

 

Good call that they combined the different weapon types into two-handed and one-handed. I never liked having to switch weapons all the time, to level both Blunt and Sword as a warrior-type. Combining Speech and Mercantile the same, it just makes sense.

[GotMeFaded]

Wow, thanks for doing this, and I think I can help with the parts that you were confused about, as I have the HD version of the video. I didn't check to see if they were all verbatim, but I noticed you were missing a lot for Sneak so here it is...

 

Sneak

Sneaking is the art of moving unseen and unheard. Highly skilled sneaks can even hide in plain sight.

[Alcrin]

Something I just realized: By "raising the dead" they probably just mean the zombie summoning spells. Derp.

[worm82075]

Something I just realized: By "raising the dead" they probably just mean the zombie summoning spells. Derp.

There are other kinds of summons to go on that branch such as ghosts, skeletons, zombies and liches. It's also possible there will be a Necromancy branch in the Conjuration tree that requires raw materials for the reanimation such as bones, mort flesh, etc. Necro minions could be the games permanent summons.

[ZombieFro420]

Thanks for the post, some good and interesting info.

You can summon a lot of stuff from oblivion already. I wonder what they mean by "creations from oblivion".[/color]

[natelovesyou]

Wow, thanks for doing this, and I think I can help with the parts that you were confused about, as I have the HD version of the video. I didn't check to see if they were all verbatim, but I noticed you were missing a lot for Sneak so here it is...

 

Sneak

Sneaking is the art of moving unseen and unheard. Highly skilled sneaks can even hide in plain sight.

Ahh! Thank you! If you look at the QuakeCon video I linked above, you can see what I had to work with haha. But where did you get an HD version, are you able to share it? And can you also share your findings on Conjuration? That's the only other skill besides Sneak that I had so much trouble with.