The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011): Complete Guide

A guide to the original 2011 release of Skyrim (Steam's "Legendary Edition" era): character builds, skills and perks, leveling and crafting, the main quest and faction order, missable choices, and how to keep the 32-bit original stable with mods — plus when you should just play Special Edition instead.

Researched September 2026 — covers the original game's final patch, 1.9.32.0.8 (March 2013), and the September 2024 launcher update (1.3.23.0). Special Edition and Anniversary Edition are separate products; check the linked sources if something differs.

Original vs. Special Edition vs. Anniversary Edition

Version | Released | Key facts

Skyrim (original, "Oldrim") | November 2011 | 32-bit. Final patch 1.9.32.0.8. Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn sold as DLC (together as Legendary Edition)

Special Edition | October 2016 | 64-bit remaster with all three DLCs. Far more stable, better visuals, and the main target for modern mods

Anniversary Edition | November 2021 | Special Edition plus a large set of Creation Club content

Which should you play? For a modern, stable, modded playthrough, Special Edition is the better choice. The free upgrade offer for owners of Skyrim plus all DLC ended in 2016, so it's a separate purchase now. The original is still fine for vanilla play, for classic mods that never got ported, or if you already own it.

Everything below about gameplay applies to both versions.

Quick Start

• Follow the main quest to Whiterun, then do what you want. After "Dragon Rising" the world is open. You don't need to rush the main quest.
• You level by using skills. Swing swords to improve One-Handed, cast spells to improve magic schools. Your character level rises as skills rise.
• Pick a Standing Stone early. The Warrior, Mage, and Thief stones near Riverwood speed up skill growth for their skill groups.
• Get a follower. Lydia (your housecarl after "Dragon Rising") is the first easy option.
• Fast travel is fine. Use it once you've discovered places. Carriages outside cities take you to other major cities.
• Don't overload yourself. Weight slows you. Sell heavy junk and keep valuables.
• Level Smithing, Enchanting, and Alchemy. Crafting makes you stronger than any loot.
• Save often, in multiple slots. Bethesda games have bugs. Keep several saves.
• Learn Shouts. Unrelenting Force and Whirlwind Sprint are useful all game.
• Buy a house. Breezehome in Whiterun costs 5,000 gold and gives you storage.

Core Systems

Skills

There are 18 skills in three groups:

Warrior | Thief | Mage

One-Handed | Light Armor | Illusion

Two-Handed | Sneak | Conjuration

Archery | Lockpicking | Destruction

Block | Pickpocket | Restoration

Heavy Armor | Speech | Alteration

Smithing | Alchemy | Enchanting

Each character level gives:

• +10 to Health, Magicka, or Stamina (your choice)
• One perk point to spend in any skill tree

Leveling and Legendary skills

Before patch 1.9 the practical level cap was 81. Patch 1.9 added Legendary skills: at 100 you can make a skill Legendary, resetting it to 15 and refunding its perk points so it can level again. This removes the level cap. Patch 1.9 also added Legendary difficulty.

Difficulty

Novice, Apprentice, Adept (default), Expert, Master, Legendary. Higher difficulties mostly change damage dealt and taken.

Standing Stones

Stone | Effect

Warrior, Mage, Thief (Guardian Stones) | Faster skill growth for that group

Lady | Faster health and stamina regeneration

Lord | Damage and magic resistance

Lover | Faster growth for all skills

Atronach | More Magicka, spell absorption, slower Magicka regeneration

Apprentice | Faster Magicka regeneration, weakness to magic

Ritual | Raise dead once a day

Serpent | Paralyze once a day

Shadow | Invisibility once a day

Steed | More carry weight, no armor movement penalty

Tower | Unlock an Expert-level lock once a day

Dragons and Shouts

• Killing dragons gives Dragon Souls.
• Find Word Walls to learn Shout words.
• Spend Dragon Souls to unlock words.
• Useful Shouts: Unrelenting Force, Whirlwind Sprint, Become Ethereal, Fire Breath, Slow Time, Marked for Death, Dragonrend (story).

Builds

Stealth Archer

The classic.

• Skills: Archery, Sneak, Light Armor, Alchemy, Smithing, Enchanting.
• Stone: Thief early, then Lord or Steed.
• Gear: a good bow (e.g. the Nightingale Bow from the Thieves Guild, or Dragonbone and Daedric bows crafted with Smithing), light armor.
• Play: crouch, shoot sneak-attack arrows for bonus damage, move before enemies find you.

Two-Handed Warrior

• Skills: Two-Handed, Heavy Armor, Smithing, Block (optional), Restoration or Alchemy.
• Stone: Warrior, then Lord.
• Gear: Heavy armor like Daedric, Dragonplate, or Ebony, plus a two-handed weapon.
• Play: tank hits, use power attacks, Unrelenting Force to stagger.

Pure Mage

• Skills: Destruction, Conjuration, Restoration, Alteration, Enchanting, Alchemy.
• Stone: Mage, then Atronach.
• Gear: robes and jewelry enchanted to reduce spell costs.
• Play: summon Atronachs and dual-cast Destruction spells. Enchanted cost reduction lets you cast endlessly.

Spellsword

• Skills: One-Handed, Destruction, Restoration, Light or Heavy Armor, Smithing.
• Play: a sword in one hand, a spell in the other.

Paladin

• Skills: One-Handed, Block, Heavy Armor, Restoration, Smithing.
• Artifacts: Dawnbreaker (Meridia's quest "The Break of Dawn") is ideal.

Crafting

Smithing

• Craft iron daggers (iron ingots and leather strips) for cheap early Smithing XP.
• Improve weapons and armor at grindstones and workbenches.
• Perks unlock better materials: Steel, Elven, Advanced, Glass, Dwarven, Orcish, Ebony, Daedric, and Dragon Armor.

Enchanting

• Disenchant items to learn enchantments (this destroys the item).
• Enchant gear with filled soul gems.
• Use Soul Trap on enemies before killing them to fill gems.

Alchemy

• Combine ingredients to make potions and poisons. Eating ingredients reveals their first effect.
• Fortify Smithing and Fortify Enchanting potions boost crafting.
• Sell potions for money.

The crafting loop

Smithing, Enchanting, and Alchemy boost each other. Fortify Enchanting potions make stronger enchantments on gear that boosts Smithing and Alchemy, which then make better potions and gear. This is why crafting builds become so strong. (A well-known "Fortify Restoration" loop exploit takes this to extremes. Avoid it if you want a balanced game.)

Main Quest and Factions

Main quest outline

Quest | Notes

Unbound | Escape Helgen

Before the Storm | Warn Whiterun

Bleak Falls Barrow | Retrieve the Dragonstone

Dragon Rising | First dragon fight, first Dragon Soul

The Way of the Voice | Climb to High Hrothgar

The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller | Ustengrav

A Blade in the Dark | Meet Delphine, fight a dragon

Diplomatic Immunity | Thalmor Embassy infiltration

A Cornered Rat | Find Esbern in the Riften Ratway

Alduin's Wall | Sky Haven Temple

The Throat of the World | Meet Paarthurnax

Elder Knowledge | Find an Elder Scroll

Alduin's Bane | Learn Dragonrend

Season Unending | Peace talks at High Hrothgar (only if the Civil War isn't finished)

The Fallen | Trap a dragon in Dragonsreach

Paarthurnax | Optional Blades request (see Missables)

The World-Eater's Eyrie | Travel to Sovngarde

Sovngarde / Dragonslayer | Finale

Factions

Faction | Where | Notes

Companions | Whiterun, Jorrvaskr | Warrior guild, werewolf storyline

College of Winterhold | Winterhold | Mage guild, great early spells

Thieves Guild | Riften, the Ratway | Stealth, Nightingale armor and bow

Dark Brotherhood | Start with the "Innocence Lost" quest (Aventus Aretino in Windhelm) | Assassins

Imperial Legion or Stormcloaks | Solitude / Windhelm | Civil War, pick one

Dawnguard or Vampires | Dawnguard DLC | Pick one

Dragonborn (Solstheim) | Dragonborn DLC | Miraak's story

Missables and Choices

• Civil War: joining one side locks out the other. Cities change hands as you progress.
• Paarthurnax: the Blades ask you to kill him. Sparing him means the Blades won't work with you.
• Dark Brotherhood: you can destroy them instead of joining. Destroying them removes their questline.
• Dawnguard DLC: siding with Dawnguard or the Vampires locks out the other side's rewards.
• The Forsworn Conspiracy (Markarth): your choice decides some rewards.
• Daedric quests: some ask you to kill NPCs or choose between artifacts. Read the quest first.

Followers, Houses, and Marriage

• Followers: Lydia (Whiterun housecarl), Serana (Dawnguard, excellent), Mjoll (Riften), Aela and Farkas (Companions).
• Houses: Breezehome (Whiterun), Honeyside (Riften), Proudspire Manor (Solitude), Vlindrel Hall (Markarth), Hjerim (Windhelm). Hearthfire adds buildable homes like Lakeview Manor.
• Marriage: buy the Amulet of Mara from Maramal in Riften and wear it to see who's interested.

Running the Original on Modern PCs

• Unofficial patch: the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch (USLEEP) fixes thousands of bugs for the original with all DLC.
• Script extender: SKSE for the original (SE uses SKSE64). Many classic mods need it.
• Memory limits: the original is 32-bit. Heavy mod lists crash more often. Community memory and stability fixes help, but keep your load order lean.
• Frame rate: Skyrim's physics can break above 60 FPS. Cap at 60.
• Mod managers: Mod Organizer 2 and Vortex support the original.
• Check mod versions. Many popular mods now exist mainly for SE. Download the "LE" version when available.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Leveling non-combat skills without combat skills. Enemies scale with your level. A level 30 character with no combat skill struggles.
• Hoarding weight. Sell junk.
• Ignoring Smithing and Enchanting. They're the biggest power boosts.
• Only one save slot. Bugs happen.
• Killing quest NPCs by accident. Some essential characters are protected, but many aren't.
• Rushing the main quest. Explore and level first.

Advanced Tips

• Sneak attacks with daggers do huge damage with the right perks.
• Enchant with Fortify skills to boost your main skills.
• Use Serana as a follower. She's strong and doesn't die.
• Conjuration is one of the strongest schools for mages.
• Dual-cast Destruction spells with the right perks to stagger enemies.
• Legendary skills let you keep leveling forever.

FAQ

Should I play original Skyrim or Special Edition? Special Edition for stability and modern mods. The original is fine for vanilla or LE-only mods.

Is the free Special Edition upgrade still available? No. It was only for people who owned Skyrim and all DLC (or Legendary Edition) by October 28, 2016.

What's the level cap? Legendary skills (patch 1.9) remove it.

What's the best build for beginners? Stealth Archer. It's strong and forgiving.

How do I get Serana? Start the Dawnguard DLC questline.

What's the latest patch? 1.9.32.0.8 (March 2013). The Steam launcher was updated to 1.3.23.0 in September 2024.

Sources

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Steam
• Skyrim Steam news — launcher update (September 2024), Special Edition announcements (2016)
• UESP: Skyrim Patch