Trainers, Skill Books, Leveling, Tips [ENG/RU]

Overview

And also: Statistic and skill bonuses of all races, Birthsigns Information and tips, Location of all Doomstones, Map with all locations and more!

Intro

[RU] Переключиться на русский (Switch to Russian).

In this guide you will find:

• Location of all trainers for all available skills
• Location of all skill books
• Effective and/or Easy Ways to Level Up Skills
• Attribute and skill bonuses of all races
• Birthsigns in-depth info
• Location of all Doomstones
• Map with all locations
• Useful video on how to play on maximum difficulty

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You can use GUIDE INDEX on the right for easy navigation.
All direct links to sources are listed at the end of each section.

Trainers (General)

Trainers increase certain skills in exchange for gold. Training can be used five times per level only. Training a skill in this way costs 10 x current skill level (e.g., raising a skill from 24 to 25 costs 240g). Note that current skill level for the purpose of the payment is calculated after modifiers, e.g. from enchanted armor. Therefore, it is cheaper if skill-boosting gear is unequipped before entering a training session.

Drain “Skill” also affects the amount of gold paid to a trainer. Through use of potions, poisons, spells or enchantments it is possible to reduce a skill temporarily to 0, or as low as your character can manage. Doing this will allow you to train one level for free (or a reduced cost). It is possible to train 5 times at no charge if one reapplies the Drain Skill between each free training session. So long as the player’s current skill level is 0 the game will not charge for training. If only one application of Drain Skill is done then the next level will then cost 10 and so on adding to a total of 100g for 5 levels in that skill if reduced completely to 0. When the Drain effect wears out your skill will return to its actual level plus however many you trained. This method can save quite a bit of gold, effectively reducing the cost of training a skill by up to 900 or more gold per level. Drain Skill effects from two separate sources are required to lower skill to zero when it is naturally 101–200.

• Note that no matter how much you drain any skill it cannot fall below 0.
• It is possible to raise a skill past 100 using this method, although doing so has little or no impact. This is because the game calculates skill trainers based on your current skill level, not your actual skill level. When the drain effect is removed the original skill level is added to the amount gained from the trainer making this possible.
• Not only does the game calculate the cost of training based on the current level, it also determines who can train you. For example, if your Blade skill is 70 and don’t want to spend time doing the Master Quest you can simply drain your blade skill to 10 and can train with an apprentice trainer.

It is very useful to increase the 100 first points of the major skill without leveling, and then train 5 points per level in that skill. In that way, full stats and very high level is possible.

• The first skill to max should have the governing attribute be Endurance in order to get max hp, since 10% of the Endurance becomes hp each time you level.

There is one master trainer for each skill and a number of either apprentice, journeyman, or expert trainers scattered throughout the country. In order to be trained by the master trainer a quest needs to be completed, a quest given by one of the expert trainers in the skill. The quest will involve finding the master trainer and then doing something for them. Only a journeyman/an expert level trainer can give you the requisite training quest, and will only do so once you have achieved level 70 in the appropriate skill.

Like merchants (including spell merchants), skill trainers are only “open for business” at certain times of the day. So, you may find yourself talking to one of these people without the training icon showing up. This will happen if they are busy as well; for example, some trainers may train from sunrise to sunset, but if they visit the chapels they will not train during prayer. In such cases you will have to wait it out and possibly follow them around. Masters, at least, appear to offer training at all times, and also stay in the same place. The only master that does not stay in the same place is Alawen, the Master marksman trainer. She will go a little NE of her camp and stand there till later on in the day and come back to her camp.

• For information on how to complete master trainer quests, see Master Trainer Quests under the tables.
• At the end of the section with trainers, I attached a map.

Trainers (Part 1)

• Master Trainer Quest: Ganredhel and Tsrava refer you to Aerin, who lives out in the woods. Fast travel to Azura’s Shrine and start walking east through the mountains. You’ll eventually come to Aerin’s camp, but only a man named Torbern is there. Talk to him about training and he’ll agree to help you out. His services are available during the daytime.

• Master Trainer Quest: The top two Alchemy trainers will send you towards Sinderion once they can’t help you any more. Sinderion can be found in the West Weald in in Skingrad, down in the basement. He requires two bottles of the best wine in all of Cyrodiil before he’ll help you. These are the Tamika and Surlie Brothers Vintage 399. If you’ve done the Thives Guild quests, you should remember that Castle Skingrad has quite the wine cellar. You can access it through the Dining Hall by going through the door leading to the side passages. Search the wine racks for each bottle from the year 399 and return them to Sinderion. He is so pickled he readily agrees to train you the rest of the way.

• Master Trainer Quest: When you reach level 70, you will be told to seek out Tooth-in-Sea. This Argonian sleeps at a camp by himself north of Bravil on the bay. Talk to him and he’ll tell you that in order to prove yourself, you’ll have to meet him out in the bay during the day. Go in the morning as he won’t let you begin the test after 1:00. Talk to Tooth-in-Sea in the morning and he tells you to follow him to his favorite spot in the bay. Wait for him to get to a stationary point and talk to him (sometimes he just wanders around and never gets there). He’ll ask you if you’re ready to begin the test. When you say yes, it starts. You need to stay underwater right next to the Argonian for 3 hours of game time. This evens out to about 15 minutes of real time, but it can still be difficult. That is, of course, unless you’re an Argonian or have found the Helmet of the Drowned. We had neither advantage and had to resort to a Water Breathing spell. Get a low level one that does not require much Magicka to cast. This will enable you to regenerate the Magicka before the spell wears off allowing you to constantly cast it until the test is over. Remember, you have to stay right next to the master trainer during the three hours. If he swims away from you and you don’t follow, you’ll fail the test and have to come back in 24 hours to try again.

• *You have to be a member of the Fighters Guild
• Master Trainer Quest: Gin-Wulm can be found wandering around the Imperial City Market District during the day. This guy wants to know what the name Hazadir means to you. He tells you to seek more information at the First Edition Book Store. Go there and purchase the Armorer’s Challenge book. Read it and you’ll gain one free level in Armorer. Return to Gin-Wulm with the book in your inventory and you’ll be able to answer his question. That’s all you need to get him as a trainer.

• *Only able to train from 2–5am in the Fo’c’s’le.
• Master Trainer Quest: At level 70, you’ll be directed towards Rusia Bradus. She lives in Silgor Bradus’s house in Anvil. If you’ve discovered at least 30 locations on your map, she’ll agree to train you. If not, go run around the world a bit to uncover some more and she’ll offer her help once you’ve met her requirement.

Trainers (Part 2)

• *Must be a member of the Fighters Guild to receive training.
• Master Trainer Quest: Alix Lencolia can be found at the the Faregyl Inn, which will be marked on your map when you receive this quest, south of the Imperial City. All you need is a fame or infamy rating of 20 to make yourself famous enough for him to offer his services to you. unless you haven’t been completing quests, you’ll almost assuredly have this by the time you require his services. If not, go finish some odd jobs to get his help.

• Master Trainer Quest: We found Andragil in her house around 4:00 PM. Before she’ll train you, she subjects you to a rather easy test. You must simply guard her attacks and survive for about a minute. As long as you’ve got a shield, this challenge should be no problem (especially since your Block skill is already at 70 or higher). About the only way you can fail this challenge is if you attack Andragil.

• Master Trainer Quest: Christophe and Azzan will direct you towards the master of Blunt, Irene Metrick. She hangs out in the Imperial City Market District at nights. For her to agree to train you, you’ll have to have killed at least 50 people. If you haven’t, run off and do some dirty deeds and return.

• Master Trainer Quest: Litte and Falvius will send you on to Olyn Seran, who hangs out at Molag Bal’s Daedric Shrine. To complete his requirement, you need to summon a Faded Wraith. You can purchase this spell from Athragar in the Chorrol Mages Guild, but you’ll have to at least be at level 75 to cast it. Sit there and summon some creatures repeatedly for a few minutes to raise your level before going back to the Daedric Shrine. Summon your Faded Wraith in front of Olyn and then speak with him to gain him as a trainer.

• Master Trainer Quest: Bralsa Andaren is the Destruction master trainer. She can be found out in the wilderness northwest of Skingrad, just northwest of the Shrine of Sanguine. Talk to her about training and she’ll tell you to return with 20 bear pelts. You can either hunt down the bears yourself or make a few stops around at general stores which usually have three or four for sale. Return with the bear pelts to get the training.

Trainers (Part 3)

• Master Trainer Quest: Helvius Cecia is the master trainer for the Hand to Hand skill. He can be found in his house in Bruma. All he wants you to do is punch him for a little while. Talk to him about training and then about the fight and he’ll start blocking. Once he does, just start wailing on him. Since your Hand to Hand skill is already at least at 70, you shouldn’t have any problem doing enough damage to him to earn his respect.

• Master Trainer Quest: The Heavy Armor Master trainer is named Pranal. He hangs out at the Roxey Inn, which is north of the Imperial City. In order to get him to help you, you’ll have to run a small errand for him. He wants 4 silver cups and a silver pitcher given to Malene, who is also at the Roxey Inn. He supplies you with 50 gold to help you buy them. We found these items at the Copius Coinpurse. Although you can only buy 3 silver cups there, if you wait a few days the supply will be restocked. Return to the Roxey Inn and talk to Pranal. He’ll tell you to anonymously give the gifts to Malene. Once you do, talk to Pranal again and he’ll be ready to train you.

• Master Trainer Quest: You’ll find Martina Floria behind the gates of the Arcane University. You’ll need access to the University, which requires you to have all of the Mages Guild recommendation letters. Talk to Martina and she’ll give you a simple task: locate ten Welkynd stones and bring ’em to her. You can find Welkynd stones in pretty much every Ayleid ruins, including the Vilverin ruin just northeast of Imperial City (it’s on an island in the water that surrounds the city).

• Master Trainer Quest: J’bari can be found inside of his house during the day in the southeast corner of Leyawiin. He requires you to bring him an Elven Cuirass. This item can’t be bought in any particular store, so you’ll have to find it off of an enemy’s dead body. We found bandits to be the best route. You can always find two at Fanacasecul, west of the Imperial City. One of them had the Elven Cuirass on our first trip. Return it to J’bari when you find it and you’ll have access to his masterful training skills.

• Master Trainer Quest: Alawen sits out in a the Troll Candle Camp, east of Anvil. When you find her, she’ll request that you bring her an Elven Bow. These are fairly difficult to find and you might not be able to purchase them anywhere. We found one by constantly fast traveling around to the different forts and battling the Bandits that appear at each one. Eventually, an enemy will drop an Elven Bow for you to return with. You don’t even have to give the bow to her, you just need it in your inventory.

Trainers (Part 4)

• Master Trainer Quest: Paloniyra is the final trainer for Mercantile. She heads up the Divine Elegance store in the Market District. If you talk to her with more than 10,000 gold in your pocket, she’ll agree to start training you. Looks like it takes money to make money.

• Master Trainer Quest: Ita and Boderi will refer you to the master trainer after you have reached level 70. Dagail can be found in the Leyawiin Mages Guild (she is the crazy old one you helped as part of the Mages Guild quests). She only requires that you have closed at least 3 Oblivion Gates. If you’ve done the main story, this won’t be a problem. If not, you may still have met the requirement in your travels. You can check how many gates you have closed in your journal, so you’ll know for sure how many you need to get to before talking to Dagail.

• *Marz dies in the “Nature’s Fury” quest if the Knights of the Nine official expansion is downloaded. She is replaced by Apprentice level trainer Beem-Kiurz, however he does not provide information that directs the player to Oleta.
• **Ohtesse dies in the The Sword of the Crusader if the Knights of the Nine official expansion is downloaded. She is replaced by Kinther, but like Beem-Kiurz, he does not direct the player to Oleta. Therefore, if Marz and Ohtesse dies, then all hopes of achieving Master Restoration training is lost if the player has not done so yet.
• Master Trainer Quest: The master trainer is Oleta of Kvatch. Just after clearing the first Oblivion gate, she can be found in the chapel of the city. However, you’ll need to clear the city of enemies before you can get training. When the city’s clear, Oleta will go down to the camp just south of Kvatch. Talk to her there and she’ll give you training.

Trainers (Part 5)

• Master Trainer Quest: This quest is as simple as they come. Once you have the topic, go look for J’baana walking around the courtyard of the Imperial Prison District. Talk to him through the bars if you don’t have access to this area yet. He’ll ask you to go to S’krivva in Bravil. Talk to her, obtain her note, and return it to J’baana to gain his services.

• Master Trainer Quest: Marana Rian is the master of all things sneaky. She can be found in the Temple District of the Imperial City. Her task is for you to steal her favorite coin out of her pocket. Since the conversation will end with her watching you, run around the block and sneak up on her from behind. Despite her ability to train you in Sneak, she probably won’t recognize that you’re stealing from her, even after she told you to do it. Bring the coin back to her and ask her about training to gain access to her talents.

• Master Trainer Quest: Go to the Temple District of the Imperial City to find Tandilwe. Speak with her and she’ll tell you that you need to speak with every beggar in all of Cyrodiil. There are five beggars to find in the Imperial City, and two beggars in each of the other towns (Anvil, Bravil, Bruma, Cheydinhal, Chorrol, Leyawiin, and Skingrad). That’s nineteen beggars in all. Since you’re already in the Imperial City, you might as well start here.
  Imperial City: Fralav the Fаker can be found in the Elven Gardens District. No Coins Draninus hangs out in the Talos Plaza District, Puny Ancus sleeps in the Waterfront District area (behind a house), Ragbag Buntara sleeps in the Temple District, and Simplicia the Slow can be found wandering the Market District.
  Now, the cities in alphabetical order:
  Anvil: Imus the Dull can be found on the Anvil waterfront, and Penniless Olvus is usually found near the main gate.
  Bravil: Cosmus the Cheat is usually near the city’s chapel, and Wretched Aia can be found near the Lonely Suitor Lodge (or sleeping in the southwest corner of the city).
  Bruma: Fetid Jofnhild is usually near the east gate of the city, and Jorck the Outcast is often nearby, in front of the city’s chapel.
  Cheydinhal: Bruccius the Orphan spends his days near the entrance to the chapel, and Luckless Lucina can be found south of the western entrance to the city.
  Chorrol: Lazy Kaslowyn can be found at the southwest end of town, and Nermus the Mooch is usually near the gates (we found him just west of the north gate).
  Leyawiin: Deeh the Scalawag can be found south of the west entrance, on the other side of some buildings, and Rancid Ra’dirsha is usually around the southwest end of town (though she moseys about).
  Skingrad: Foul Fagus sleeps behind the West Weald Inn, and Nigidius the Needy frequents the area near the eastern gate.
  After you’ve met with all of the beggars, return to Tandilwe for training. If you can’t find one of the beggars, it’s possible that they’ve died. This will not be held against you (unless you killed them during the quest). We recommend using a Detect Life spell when moving through the cities and looking for the beggars.

Source 1[elderscrolls.fandom.com]
Source 2

Trainers (Map)

Skill Books (General)

The first time you read a given Skill Book, your level in the associated Skill will be permanently increased by one point. If a major skill is increased, it will count towards leveling up; the skill increase will also contribute to the skill bonuses you receive next time you level up. Unlike Trainers, there is no limit to how many Skill Books you can read at one level (other than how many you are able to find).

You can open a Skill Book, read it, and acquire the skill bonus without it being considered theft. Theft occurs only if while reading it you choose to “Take” the book. If you just close the book (putting it back where you found it) no crime is committed.

If you find a second copy of a Skill Book that you have already read, you will not receive any skill bonus for reading the second copy.

When you have reached Mastery in a skill (100 points), reading an unread skill book will not produce any effect: it will not increase your skill above 100 points; it will not increase the Skill Books Read counter in your character statistics either, and you will not even be alerted of the skill book discovery. This also holds true if the skill in question is fortified past 100; you will not gain the relevant skill increase or be notified of the fact that you have found a skill book. Unlike with trainers, using a Drain Skill spell to decrease a skill level under 100 will not allow you to use the skill book to increase your skill level over 100. However, you can decrease your Master skill back down to Expert by serving jail time, allowing you to read the book and get the skill point as normal.

A potential way to maximize skill books bonuses is to delay reading books located

• in containers — since you can transfer them in your inventory without reading them
• outside containers, in a permanent, non-hostile, easily accessible location (such as a Mages Guild bookshelf or the Arcane University)
• until you have reached Expert status (75 to 99 points) in the relevant skill, since one extra skill point is much harder to gain when you’re an Expert than when you’re still a Novice. However, this advice does not work for skill books found outside containers during quests, as it is not possible to take them without opening, thus reading them first.

There are 109 skill books in total: 5 for most skills; 6 for Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism, and Heavy Armor; and 4 for Speechcraft. (The four “extra” Magic books are the four Mythic Dawn Commentaries the player is supposed to read as part of The Path of Dawn, leaving the standard 5-per-skill to be discovered outside of the quest).

Twenty of the skill books (one in each skill, except for Speechcraft) can be found in random loot. This means that there is a small chance that one of these twenty books will appear in boss-level chests in dungeons with certain types of enemies. There are also two quests from which you will receive a random skill book as your reward:

• Bear Season: one of six Combat skill books (all the Combat books found in normal random loot, except for Armorer).
• Two Sides of the Coin: one random Combat or Magic skill book, including those not normally found in random loot; plus one of the following 6 books: Purloined Shadows (Sneak), Mystery of Talara v1 (Acrobatics), Rislav The Righteous (Light Armor), The Black Arrow v2 (Marksman), A Dance in Fire v7 (Mercantile), or Surfeit of Thieves (Security).

Outside of Two Sides of the Coin, the remaining 89 books exist only in specific locations.

If you have Shivering Isles installed, there is an additional quest from which you will receive a random skill book as your reward:

• Everything In Its Place (after giving the notebook to Ranarr-Jo): any random skill book from the entire game.

If you are looking for specific loot (eg. a certain ring or that last skill book), find a small dungeon and save just outside the front door, since chests are filled when you enter their zone. Run straight to the boss chest – if you find what you want, save immediately and fight your way out, otherwise reload and keep trying. (The Skeleton Key can be very useful in this situation.)
The contents of most chests in dungeons will be refilled after three days (game time), so it is possible to re-visit a dungeon and collect more goodies. The chest contents will be regenerated if you do not enter that area for 73-74 hours.
You can find out the location of the boss chests on the video.

Skill Books (Part 1)

Thief (000243ca)
• Bravil – In S’krivva’s House – upstairs on a bookshelf.

A Dance in Fire, Book I (000243cb)
• Cheydinhal – In Ganredhel’s House in the dresser.

A Dance in Fire, Book IV (000243cc)
• Kvatch – In Castle Kvatch, Great Hall on the hall table.

The Black Arrow, Book I (000243cd)
• Brindle Home – In Torbal the Sufficient’s house, the chest at the foot of his bed.

Mystery of Talara, Book I (000243ce)
• Looted from boss-level bandits and vampires. You can also get it as a reward from the quest Two Sides of the Coin
• In the Shivering Isles, on top of an outdoor chest that is on the crest of a steep-sided ridge west and slightly north of Dire Warren.

Song of the Alchemists (000243d1)
• The Imperial City, Arcane University in the Lustratorium; bookshelf southwest corner, second shelf.

A Game at Dinner (000243cf)
• In the Chorrol Mages Guild in the small room next to Angalmo the alchemist.
• You can find this in the shelf inside the Wizard’s Tower in your living area.

Mannimarco, King of Worms (000243d0)
• Imperial City, Arcane University: Mystic Archives inside a display case

De Rerum Dirennis (000243d2)
• Skingrad: All Things Alchemical, 2nd floor shelf, northeast corner.

Calcinator Treatise (00073a5f)
• Possibility of being found during the Two Sides of the Coin quest.
• As random loot on monsters.

Daughter of the Niben (000243d4)
• Third floor of Skingrad Mages Guild on a bookshelf in the Room east of the door, smallest book on second shelf.

The Dragon Break (000243d5)
• Shelf in a table on second floor of Dovyn Aren’s house in Elven Gardens District. The table is on the wall opposite to the bed and to the right of the bed, below a tapestry. The book is on top of a copy of the Followers of the Gray Fox, which must be taken before interaction with the book is possible.

Reality & Other Falsehoods (00073a69)
• Shelf on second floor of Southern Books in Leyawiin. The shelf is in the section of the room to your right as you enter the second floor. It is the shelf to the left of the pillar. The book is on the top shelf, lying horizontally. It is likely you will have to jump to see/access it.

The Lunar Lorkhan (000243d8)
• Behind an overturned table in Henantier’s Dreamworld during the Through a Nightmare, Darkly quest
• Received as a reward in Two Sides of the Coin quest
• Found in boss-level Conjurer and Necromancer loot.

Sithis (000243d6)
• Desk in Leyawiin’s Great Chapel of Zenithar – downstairs in a small room south of the Chapel Hall.
• In the bookshelves in the study room of Deepscorn Bastion.

The Armorer’s Challenge (000243d9)
• Market District, First Edition – Sold by Phintias.
• Also in the Cheydinhal Fighters Guild, second floor lying flat on the top of a bookshelf near the stairs.

Last Scabbard of Akrash (000243da)
• Imperial City – At the A Fighting Chance in the Market District, in a shelf on the 2nd floor (beware of dog)

Light Armor Repair (00073a67)
• Bravil – Inside Castle Bravil, on a shelf at the barracks.

Cherim’s Heart of Anequina (000243dc)
• Imperial City – Market District in the First Edition bookstore, on a desk on the 2nd floor.

Heavy Armor Repair (00073a68)
• Looted randomly from Marauder chests and tombs.

The Ransom of Zarek (000243de)
• Imperial City Arena Bloodworks, inside a cupboard.

A Dance in Fire, Book III (000243df)
• Skingrad – Inside Uuras the Shepherd’s House, in a bookshelf on the top floor.

The Red Kitchen Reader (000243E0)
• Anvil in Anvil Castle, desk in Baeralorn’s bedroom in private quarters. When you enter the private quarters area, turn right and follow the hall, the locked door is the Baeralorn’s bedroom, the door does not tell you that.

Beggar (000243e1)
• Cloud Ruler Temple, Great Hall, on a shelf in the northeast corner of the room.

The Argonian Account, Book I (000243e2)
• Given as a random quest reward. One of the easiest ways to obtain this book then is to do a quest like Bear Season (which gives only combat skill books), save before getting the quest reward and reload until you are given this book.
• In Hrotanda Vale, inside an Ayleid coffer in a secret room with two wraiths (might be random loot).

Words and Philosophy (000243e3)
• Chorrol – Inside Modryn Oreyn’s House on a shelf.

2920, vol 01 – Morning Star (000243e4)
• In Castle Leyawiin in the Steward and Healer’s Private Quarters.
• In Battlehorn Castle’s bedroom area.

Song Of Hrormir (000243e6)
• In the Imperial City Arena – Branwen and Saliith’s Chest.
• In Castle Bravil, Private Quarters East Wing – first room on left, far left corner on shelf.
• In Arch-Mage Private Quarters in the Arcane University – on top of shelf left of entrance.

Fire and Darkness (000243e5)
• In a Ayleid Cask in the Hall of Epochs either during or after the quest The Ultimate Heist.
• Found as random loot

Battle of Sancre Tor (00073a61)
• Bravil, Castle Bravil – behind the throne in a locked display case (Very Hard lock).
• It is looted randomly from marauder chests and tombs.
• It is part of the reward from the quest Two Sides of the Coin.
• One of the possible rewards from the quest Bear Season.

The Warp in the West (000243ec)
• Cloud Ruler Temple, Great Hall, on a table.
• Given to you by one of the priests at Weynon Priory, after accepting the quest Find the Heir and asking the priest for support.
• Randomly looted.

Death Blow of Abernanit (000243e8)
• Anvil Fighters Guild, in a chest on top of a dresser in a locked second floor bedroom off the dining hall.

The Mirror (000243e9)
• Leyawiin – In the City Watch Barracks, in a shelf in the storage room on the ground floor.

A Dance in Fire, Book II (000243ea)
• Imperial City – At the Elven Gardens District in a guard house, on the northeast section on a table at the ground floor.

Warrior (000243eb)
• In Castle Leyawiin in the Lords’ Manor Private Quarters in the Countess’s bed chamber, the book case is up against the wall, to the north east.
• In Battlehorn Castle (requires purchase of the Fighter’s Stronghold plug-in) after you purchased the Battlehorn Bedroom upgrade from Nilphas Omellian.

Skill Books (Part 2)

Night Falls on Sentinel (000243ef)
• In Goblin Jim’s Cave, turn left at the entrance, go down the hallway turn right and go down the long hallway that leads to the dead end, its on the top shelf on one of the shelves (there are alchemy tools in the room).

Mace Etiquette (00073a66)
• A possible reward from the mission Bear Season.
• Random Loot.

The Legendary Sancre Tor (00073a62)
• Chorrol – On the third floor of Vilena Donton’s house, located on a shelf near the balcony door (must be stolen).

The Importance of Where (000243ee)
• Bravil – In Castle Bravil, on a table in the first room of the dungeon.

King (000243f0)
• Anvil – In Anvil Castle, on a shelf in the royal quarters.
• In Battlehorn Castle (requires purchase of the Fighter’s Stronghold plug-in) after you purchased the Battlehorn Bedroom upgrade from Nilphas Omellian.

Mythic Dawn Commentaries 1 (00022B04)
• Castle Bravil, in East Private Quarters, sitting on a small table against the southern-most wall.
• Ulen Athram’s House, in his study on the top floor. It can be found with Mythic Dawn Commentaries 2.
• It can be found in the underneath section of Jearl’s house in Bruma during the Main Quest.

The Doors of Oblivion (000243f2)
• Anvil Mages Guild library, on the shelf to the right of the fireplace in the second floor library.
• Table in the Great Hall of Cloud Ruler Temple.
• Tower above Fort Caractacus on north side of Lake Rumare.

Liminal Bridges (00073a60)
• Imperial City, Arcane University Mystic Archives upper Level in a display case on the west wall.

2920, vol 09 – Hearth Fire (000243f4)
• Bruma’s Great Chapel of Talos on a Shelf in the Chapel Hall near dining table.

2920, vol 10 – Frostfall (000243f5)
• Anvil’s Chapel of Dibella, in a room at the eastern side of Chapel Hall, lying on a desk.

The Warrior’s Charge (000243f6)
• Jorundr’s chest in Two Sides of the Coin quest; found in boss level Necromancer and conjurer loot.

The Horrors of Castle Xyr (000243f7)
• Third floor of Bravil Mages Guild on the bookshelf right in front of you when you enter the door, large dark red book, in the second shelf leaning to the right.

Response to Bero’s Speech (000243f8)
• The Imperial City’s Arcane University in the Mystic Archives; bookshelf on east wall, middle shelf, smallest on standing up on the right.

Mythic Dawn Commentaries 2 (00022B05)
• Third floor of West Weald Inn in Skingrad.
• On the bed in Ranaline’s House in Bravil.
• Basement of Eugal Belette’s House in Chorrol.
• Basement of Jearl’s House in Bruma.
• Third floor study of Ulen Athram’s House in the Elven Gardens District.

A Hypothetical Treachery (000243f9)
• Castle Skingrad, on bottom shelf in bedroom of Lord’s Manor laying alone in the far north west corner past the bed and the pillar.

The Art of War Magic (000243fa)
• Leafrot Cave on a shelf in a room just after entrance around the alchemy equipment.

Mystery of Talara, Book III (000243fb)
• Jorundr’s chest in Two Sides of the Coin quest.

Immortal Blood (000243fc)
• Commoner In the basement of Seridur’s House on a bookshelf.
• In a tent outside of Vilverin.
• In J’Ghasta’s House in Bruma – bookshelf on the south wall.

Master Zoaraym’s Tale (00024400)
• Jalbert’s Room in Vilverin (possibly as random loot).
• Chest in secret room of Hrotanda Vale (possibly as random loot).
• Chest in Fanacasecul (possibly as random loot).
• As a Quest Reward from Thorley Aethelred in Shardrock after completion of the Bear Season quest.

Ahzirr Traajijazeri (000243fe)
• Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary in Cheydinhal.
• In the Secret Training Room of J’Ghasta’s House in Bruma.

The Wolf Queen, v 2 (000243fd)
• Skingrad in Castle Skingrad, on a tall bookshelf in Hassildor’s room in the Lord’s Manor.

Way of the Exposed Palm (00073a6a)
• Fieldhouse Cave in the Black Balconies of Fieldhouse in the south-westernnmost little enclave under a huge Cairn Bolete mushroom. It is a small room with a lot of roots coming out from the ceiling.

Hallgerd’s Tale (00024401)
• Chorrol at the Fighters Guild, in a chest on the top level of the tower.

2920, Mid Year (v6) (00024402)
• Chorrol in Fire and Steel, on shelf, 2nd floor, second shelf, on top of a stack of two other books.

Chimarvamidium (00024403)
• Imperial City in the Imperial Legion Compound, inside a shelf at the barracks of the Imperial Legion Offices.

How Orsinium Passed to Orcs (00024404)
• Bruma at Castle Bruma, on a desk at the center of the Lord’s Manor.

History of the Fighters Guild (00024405)
• Fort Homestead, outside the Imperial City. Found inside a chest in the dungeon’s last room. (This appears to be a random skillbook; you may also find another title in this chest rather than the History of the Fighters Guild).
• In Battlehorn Castle (requires purchase of the Fighter’s Stronghold plug-in) after you purchased the Battlehorn Bedroom or Battlehorn Library Area upgrade from Nilphas Omellian.

Fighters Guild History, 1st Ed. (000a915c)
• Ground floor of the Mystic Archives in the Arcane University, in a display case.
• Ground floor of Chorrol Fighters Guild, in a display case.
• Anvil Fighters Guild Company Offices, in a display case.

Mythic Dawn Commentaries 3 (00022B06)
• Purchase in First Edition in Market District as part of the Main Quest. You can also get two copies of it in the Dagon Shrine which is also a part of the Main Quest.
• If you are too late to purchase the book, Gwinas may have already bought the book. You will have to persuade or steal from Gwinas to get the book back.
• There is a copy in the Mythic Dawn base in the sewers where you meet the Sponsor.

The Wolf Queen, v 3 (00024406)
• In the downstairs part of the Bruma Mages Guild. Note: Book may be unavailable after the guild is destroyed in the quest A Plot Revealed.

The Argonian Account, Book III (00024407)
• Mystic Archives of the Arcane University. Upper level, southwest wall, left side of the bookcase on the second shelf up from the bottom.

Incident in Necrom (00024408)
• Dresser on second floor of Willow Bank in Cheydinhal.
• Table in the bedroom of Pinemoon Cave.

Palla, Book I (00024409)
• On a table at the final level of Arkved’s Tower (south of Lake Poppad).

Mystery of Talara, Book IV (0002440a)
• Jorundr’s chest in the Two Sides of the Coin quest.
• Found in boss level Necromancer and conjurer loot.
• Under a table in tower above Fort Caractacus.

Skill Books (Part 3)

The Refugees (0002440e)
• Imperial City Market District First Edition bookstore – On a bookshelf to your left.

Lord Jornibret’s Last Dance (0002440d)
• In Bleak Flats Cave, on a wooden table in the southern area of the cave. (Near Erthor during the Skingrad Recommendation Mages Guild quest).
• On Erthor’s person after quest is finished (in the Mages Guild if he catches you trying to take it in his cave).

The Rear Guard (0002440b)
• Cheydinhal in Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, in chest in training room.

Ice and Chitin (0002440C)
• Leyawiin inside Ahdarji’s House, in a chest at the foot of the bed on the second floor of the west wing.

Rislav The Righteous (0002440f)
• Randomly looted from bandits and vampires.
• In Deepscorn Hollow’s Deepscorn Bastion on top of a bookshelf in the study area. (You may have to jump to find it) (requires The Vile Lair plugin).

A Dance in Fire, Book V (00024411)
• Regner’s House in Bruma – Sitting atop a small table in the downstairs bedroom area.

The Gold Ribbon of Merit (00024410)
• Cheydinhal in Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, in chest in training room.

Vernaccus and Bourlor (0002452f)
• Chorrol in Renoit’s Books, on bookshelf on ground floor.

Father of the Niben (00024530)
• Castle Bravil Lord’s Manor, North Wing. In the room at the end of the hall.

The Black Arrow, v 2 (00024531)
• Found in Teinaava’s chest inside the Dark Brotherhood living quarters.

A Dance in Fire, Book VI (00024535)
• Chorrol in Casta Scribonia’s House, on shelf on 2nd floor.

A Dance in Fire, Book VII (00024536)
• Looted from boss-level vampires and bandits.
• It is also a reward from the quest Two Sides of the Coin.

The Wolf Queen, v 4 (00024533)
• Imperial City Market District, in the Office of Imperial Commerce, on the counter.

The Buying Game (00024532)
• Elven Gardens District in Fathis Ules’ House, on shelf on 2nd floor.

2920, vol 07 – Sun’s Height (00024534)
• Found in the Black Horse Courier building, in the Market District, on top of a desk in the back corner.

Before the Ages of Man (00073a63)
• Imperial City Arcane University – Chironasium – sitting on an Altar of Enchanting, on the southwest wall.

The Black Arts On Trial (00024539)
• Imperial City, Market District – Sold at the Mystic Emporium is sitting on counter right in front of Calindil.

Mythic Dawn Commentaries 4 (00022b07)
• Picked up in the sewers after fighting Raven Camoran and his Mythic Dawn Guards.

The Firsthold Revolt (00024537)
• Cheydinhal Mages Guild – on a bookshelf in the cellar.

2920, vol 02 – Sun’s Dawn (00024538)
• Skingrad’s Great Chapel of Julianos – On a desk downstairs in Chapel Hall, in a small room to the north from where you just entered the area.

Souls, Black and White (00073a6b)
• Second level of Fort Cuptor.
• Echo Cave in a chest where you defeated Mannimarco in the Confront the King mage guild quest.
• Randomly found in loot.

Withershins (0002453c)
• Library in Leyawiin Mages Guild, Second Floor-East. Through the left entrance, south wall on the narrow high bookshelf, top shelf. The green book.

Notes on Racial Phylogeny (0002453d)
• A chest in the room to the right in the Chapel Hall of Chorrol’s Chapel of Stendarr.

The Exodus (0002453e)
• Second shelf in the chapel hall of Skingrad’s Great Chapel of Julianos. Through the door on the right, into the room that looks like a dining room.

2920, vol 04 – Rain’s Hand (0002453f)
• Bravil’s Great Chapel of Mara – On a shelf in the Chapel Hall in the northeast corner of the first chamber.

Mystery of Talara, Book II (00024540)
• Boss level Necromancer and conjurer loot.
• Reward from Two Sides of the Coin quest.

The Locked Room (00024541)
• Anvil in Smuggler’s Cave.

The Wolf Queen, v 1 (00024542)
• Bravil inside Dro’shanji’s House on a shelf.

Proper Lock Design (00073a64)
• Imperial City Waterfront in Dareloth’s house, on desk on 2nd floor (complete the Thieves Guild quest line for access).

Advances in Lockpicking (00073a65)
• Cheydinhalin Mach-Na’s Books.
• Fingerbowl Cave, at the top level on a slab of rock.
• By pickpocketing Mach-Na herself.

Surfeit of Thieves (00024545)
• Northwest of Leyawiin, Telepe.

Sacred Witness (00024548)
• Loot on the main questline quest Dagon Shrine, in the Lake Arrius Caverns, specifically in the Shrine Living Quarters.

The Wolf Queen, v 6 (00024546)
• Cheydinhal at the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, on a bookshelf in the large entrance lobby with a table and two chairs nearby.

2920, vol 08 – Last Seed (00024547)
• Bravil inside City Swimmer’s House, on a dresser.

Legend of Krately House (00024549)
• Cloud Ruler Temple.

Purloined Shadows (0002454a)
• Random Loot.

Biography of the Wolf Queen (0002454b)
• Reward from the quest Caught in the Hunt and in Imperial City Waterfront in Armand Christophe’s House, in chest.

The Wolf Queen, v 5 (0002454c)
• Hastrel Ottus’ House, on a table on the ground floor.

2920, vol 05 – Second Seed (0002454d)
• Imperial City Palace in Chancellor Ocato’s quarters, on a bookshelf.

The Wolf Queen, v 7 (0002454e)
• Cheydinhal in the Castle, on a bookshelf at the lord’s quarters.

Source 1[elderscrolls.fandom.com]
Source 2[en.uesp.net]

Skill Leveling Tips (General)

They will want to fortify the governing attribute of the skill they are training in, especially with magic skills. (e.g. To fortify Alchemy, Conjuration, and Mysticism, they will need to fortify Intelligence. This will increase the amount of Magicka the Hero has at their disposal). One way to help level-up in this area is to cast a Drain “skill” spell (such as Drain: Block), because armor exp is determined by how many times the armor/shield is hit, therefore lower level with stronger armor (Daedric is best) they get more experience, but costs loads of hammers to fix the armor. With Heavy/Light Armor/Block skills experience is determined on the amount of damage The Hero takes and endures, just make sure to have a decent heal spell that can be cast almost constantly. One option is to head into a goblin cave and find a pen of rats and let them attack you. If they are wearing half Heavy Armor and half Light Armor they will gain good experience from both. Also, if they can be hit by multiple enemies at the same time, more experience will be gained from each group of hits.

• This is best done with lower leveled animals and not human or goblin NPCs since the animals bite or claw, for instance, whereas human type NPCs use weapons, don’t attack as frequently, and their weapons will deteriorate and break.
• For best results with Drain Spells, be at least an Apprentice in the Mages Guild.

Alteration and Security are both also better if they use a Drain: Skill spell. For security it is better to get the Skeleton Key as it never breaks, drain Security to 0 and it will take many attempts to open the lock. They will raise experience quicker for illusion by finding a high leveled lock, (such as a very hard lock), use a Drain: Alteration spell then cast Open Very Easy Lock’ spell on it. The bigger the difference in the spell and lock, the more experience that will be received and the lock will never open. This process can be repeated constantly until level 100.

To quickly boost skills train with a trainer for 5 levels in a skill, (granted you have the money), sleep and repeat. After waking up, fortify the Attribute that governs the skill(s) that need to be boosted, and try leveling a few more times in another major skill with the tips below. When the Hero reaches the maximum amount that can be trained at the current level (e.g. Bosmer level 5), simply fall asleep and repeat. This can be easier when leveling with magic skills by without a trainer while having lots of Potions of Sorcery.

Skill Leveling Tips (Combat Arts 1)

• Repair as much equipment as possible with Repair Hammers. This may also include defeated enemies’ weapons and armor. Spells such as Disintegrate Weapon or Disintegrate Armor will increase the total damage done to their equipment.
• Creating a spell that Disintegrates Armor on self may quicken the rate at which the Hero’s armor is damaged when cast. Another way can be by equipping and re-equipping the Amulet of Disintegration from the quest “The Coming Storm.”
• The Ayleid Crown of Lindai cannot be repaired, but using a Repair Hammer on the item still raises the Armorer skill.
• Placing any or all of the Relics of the Crusader from the Knights of the Nine questline onto the armor stand in the Priory of the Nine returns the items back to full condition. At Expert level Armorer, continuously placing the armor pieces on the armor stand, retrieving them, then repairing them past 100% condition can raise the level of the Armorer skill.
• Use the Disintegrate Armor spell on a Daedric Cuirass until it is broken. Cast a Drain Armorer spell on self, then repair the cuirass with a Repair Hammer. With a low Armorer skill, it will take a large amount of tries to fully repair the cuirass.
• At Expert level Armorer, armor and weapons can be bought from merchants and repaired past 100%. With a high level Mercantile skill, gold spent will be made back.
• Go to any location inhabited by Bandits and allow them to hit the Hero until their weapon breaks and they drop it. Take the broken weapon and hide out of enemy sight. This can be done more easily with an Invisibility spell or Chameleon enchantment. Once completely hidden, the repairing action should be able to be activated as the Hero will be out of combat. Dropping these repaired items and initiating combat once again should prompt the bandits to pick them up, and this process can be repeated. This method can also be done with Skeleton Guardians summoned by the Hero with the Summon Skeleton Guardian spell, so long as it is done in the Hero’s own house otherwise dropped equipment will be considered stolen.

• If on PC, find a body of water with a suitable wall and use auto-run to keep swimming into the wall. Running into a corner may also work, though the skill will level slower. If on console, a rubber band or something of similar effect can be used to hold the controller’s left stick in place.
• Looking upwards and swimming in that direction can level the Athletics skill, even though the Hero is not moving.

• Complete “Origin of the Gray Prince” and then challenge the Gray Prince. During the battle, attack him until his health is low. Use a Heal Other spell and repeat. This can level up other melee skills as well as Restoration.
• Around the end of the Tutorial, instead of staying with the Emperor during the ambush, follow after Baurus and help him kill the Mythic Dawn Agents. More will arrive and can be used to level combat skills.
• The frozen worshipers at Peryite’s Shrine can be attacked. They will not fight back or die. They may slide or fall down so they may be needed to be pushed against a rock. The sheer number of unreported assaults may freeze or slow down the game. To fix this, commit a crime that will be sure to be seen and reported, then pay the fine; this will clear all unreported crimes.
• Use a Conjuration spell that will summon a skeleton. Cast, attack two or three times and then recast, dispelling the first skeleton. This will prevent them from fighting back. A similar method is to conjure a ghosts and hit it with a normal, low-level weapon. Since ghosts are not affected by unenchanted weapons, it may take up to twenty hits before the ghost is unsummoned.
• With the Vile Lair plug-in, the prisoner in Deepscorn Hollow can be continuously hit. He will not wake up and is essential.
• Another way to increase any skill that derives experience from attacking is to obtain 100% Chameleon and set the difficulty to the highest level. This way, enemies can be hit multiple times over. Since difficulty does not affect experience gain, skills can be easily leveled up.
• Wear the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal in a major city and then attack the guards. If the Hero is low on health, take the Cowl off and yield to them.
• Obtain a horse, set the difficulty to the highest difficulty, travel away from civilization and hit the horse with a dagger. When the health of the horse becomes low, wait one hour and repeat. The Armorer skill may also be leveled up by repairing the dagger.
• With the Fighter’s Stronghold plug-in, if the Battlehorn Training Room is purchased, there will be a trainer. Pickpocket the Sparring Dagger from him and initiate a sparring session. Equip the dagger and hit him with it. The dagger does no damage and he can be hit repeatedly.
• During the quest “Whom Gods Annoy”, the scamps can be attacked repeatedly.
• During the “Leyawiin Recommendation” quest, after recovering Manduin’s Amulet, hit Kalthar with a Destruction spell just before he tries to speak to the Hero. He will become stuck in his essential state and he will no longer try to speak or attack. He can be attacked using any skill.
• In the beginning, when The Emperor and his blades split off from you, attack The Emperor five times as he is about to go through the doorway and he will go though but come back without his blades and he will attack you. At first run away from him and collect all the weapons and equipment in the room, and then just stand there and let him hit you till his sword breaks, at which point he most often cowers in the corner, allowing you to attack him freely, greatly increasing your skill faster than normal, because your class is not assigned yet.
• If you have the Fighter’s Stronghold plug-in, pickpocket the sparring weapons from your partner. Then, find a weak enemy such as a rat or mud crab. The weapons cause no damage, so you can hack away at them indefinitely. In the process, you can level an armor skill as well! (Works for Blade, Blunt, Light Armor, and Heavy Armor.)
• Note: On the PS3 version, your skills revert back to 30 when you assign your class, so this is for Xbox 360 and PC only.
• Note: While leveling any of the offensive skills (Blade, Blunt, or Hand to Hand), you may not receive the skill increase message if you attack back-to-back very quickly until you stop attacking. This does not stop the skill from increasing, however.
• Note: In response to the note two floors above mine, on my PS3 version the skills do not revert to thirty, instead I gain more experience points than one normally would by training their skills after their classes have been assigned.

Skill Leveling Tips (Combat Arts 2)

• See Heavy Armor, below.
• Often use block whenever attacking.
• In the Fighter’s Stronghold expansion you can hire Shagrol gro-Uzug as a combat partner. Then when sparring with him, tell him to use a dagger as it is very light and can be used very quickly, simply hold block whilst he is attacking you. Shagrol’s weapons have no attack power, so evidently his attacks cannot damage you or kill you. If you have a Reflect Damage enchantment on one of your items or if you have a Reflect Damage spell on you, unequip the items with the enchantment and use Dispel to rid the Reflect Damage spell of you.
• Go in the sewers in the Imperial City, find a mud crab, put up your shield and let it attack. Every now and then do a Heal Minor Wounds spell between rat attacks. This improves Restoration skills as well.
• Go to Hackdirt Caverns, and turn the difficulty to the far left (easiest mode). Block as the four or more Hackdirt Brethren attack.
• Rosentia Gallenus’s House is located near the center of Leyawiin. Rosentia Gallenus starts the miscellaneous quest “Whom Gods Annoy.” The Everscamps are weak and easy to fend off if needed. Simply attack, then block and heal. If you kill them, they respawn. Do this before completing the quest. You can exploit this to level up many skills.
• Set difficulty to the lowest, and have a decent heal and shield spell. Unequip your shield and just use your fists to block, this way it will not trigger an opponent to stagger back for two seconds that often. Find a cave or area with multiple bandits or monsters that melee 100% of the time, and do not have magical weapons. Use shield spell and back yourself into corner and hold up your wrists to block. This will level both your block and whatever light or heavy armor you’re wearing.
• Simply arm yourself with a shield, the armor you with to train in, and a healing spell. Run around jumping, this raises Athletic and Acrobatics. Block and Restoration along with your armor can be trained by exploiting the fact that the attacks they do have little damage.

• See Blade.

• See Blade.
• Can also be trained 5 points by watching Sallith and Branwen behind the arena.

• The best way to level Heavy Armor is at the very start of the game, in the Imperial City sewers. If you collected all the Heavy armor possible in the very beginning of the game (Helm, Cuirass, and Greaves) there is a pen within the Goblin caves with three rats inside. Within the same cave, there are many Repair Hammers that you can use on your armor before and after. If you turn the difficulty slider all the way down and let them attack you (casting the healing spell every once in a while), you can get your skill to 40+ before your armor breaks. Then after you choose a class, you can get to Journeyman and almost halfway to Expert before you even exit the sewers. You can do the same with light armor at the same time, but it breaks down faster and you will not get as many skill points.
• One way to level Heavy Armor is to start the first Fighters Guild quest in Anvil. Do the rat quest up until the point where you have killed all 6 mountain lions and make sure all four rats in the basement survived. Then go to the Fighters Guild and sleep for an hour which makes the rats regenerate all hp they lost by the mountain lions. You can always sleep in the west wing of the Fighters Guild since you are a member there after starting the quest. Return to the basement and attack each rat once causing them to attack you. Four rats attacking you at the same time will make you level Heavy Armor really fast. When you get low on hp, just return to the Fighters Guild, sleep for an hour and repair your armor.
• Once you’ve gained some semi-decent armor, find a rat and let it hit you over and over again. Optionally level Restoration at the same time by using a tiny healing spell to counter the damage.
• After you’ve beaten the Arena and can fight the Minotaur Lords, turn the difficulty to very easy and just let them hit you until your skill raises as much as you’d like. You can also use restoration spells to increase restoration while doing this.
• Once you get the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, you can put it on and the guards will come after you. You can just let them hit you over and over, and improve your heavy armor. This also works well with light armor (although you take heavier damage). When you get low on health or want to repair your armor, just take off the mask and yield to them. Be careful if you have a reflect damage effect on, since the guards will get damage when hitting you, making them think it was an assault.
• Once you’ve achieved level 2 or higher, go to the Arena District and join as a combatant. When in fight, let your opponent attack you and your heavy armor skill will increase quite a bit.
• If you have the Staff of the Everscamp from the “Whom Gods Annoy” quest then take the Everscamps into a house or into the Arena Bloodworks and turn the difficulty slider to the right. Then hit all four scamps and turn the difficulty back to the left. Doing so will have all four Everscamps attack you all at once increasing your heavy armor skill really quick. And then when you need to rest/sleep/repair then just hit them and afterwards repeat.
• When you have any type of armor on, equip a sword and a shield of the opposite type (e.g. heavy armor, light armor shield). Let an opponent hit you repeatedly, but don’t use the shield to block.; You’ll level up both armor skills and the shield won’t receive any damage.
• In Cracked Wood Cave, there is a pen with five rats in it. Turn the difficulty slider to easiest and let the rats attack you repeatedly. Have a spell or potion to cure disease, though- if the rats give you a disease that lowers strength, you may get over-encumbered and stuck.
• Once you obtain the Gray Cowl, go to the Bruma Guard Barracks with full heavy armor on. Once there, turn the difficulty all the way down, and equip the gray Cowl. The guards will start attacking in numbers of nine or ten. If your health gets too low or your armor becomes broken, you can always unequip the Cowl to heal and repair. Once you’re ready, just re-equip the Cowl. This method could also be used for Light Armor or Block.
• Note: If your health gets too low, then you DO NOT have to sleep, you can just rest for 1 hour and your health will come back

Skill Leveling Tips (Magic Arts 1)

As experience is not based on the level or cost of the spell cast, one should cast the cheapest spell in the school possible as rapidly as possible if they want to level the skill as quickly as possible. Holding block increases casting speed considerably. Access to the Arcane University or having the spellmaking altar activated at the Wizard’s Tower will allow you to create the cheapest possible spells, reducing or eliminating your need to cease casting to regenerate magicka.

• Alchemy is easy to level up if you collect all the ingredients you see as you’re doing other things. Occasionally visit the nearest Mages Guild to “borrow” a Mortar and Pestle, and just start making potions. Since it’s only the number of potions that is important rather than their usefulness, buying food from tavern owners is also an option for getting ingredients.
• If you want quick, simple leveling, go outside Skingrad and gather grapes. Also gather all the vegetables from the multiple farms in Cyrodiil, such as Odiil Farm east of Weynon Priory and Gweden Farm east of Anvil, or even go through barrels and crates in any town. Then go crazy creating restore fatigue potions. Selling these potions is also a good source of earning money. (Note: This is a good way to get your Mercantile skill up but be sure to sell each potion alone, if you sell in a bunch your mercantile will only go up for each sale not each item sold.)
• Another way to level Alchemy is to go to the Market District and buy all the food at the Feed Bag and all of the cheap ‘Restore Fatigue’ foods in the other nearby shops. There is also lots of food in the barrels and sacks located in the middle of the shop area. If you have a Mortar and Pestle (Mages Guild has many) then make all the food into potions and sell it for profit. You can do this every time the store’s stock updates.
• Eat stuff. Ingredients are available for free almost everywhere outdoors, weigh very little, and eating alchemical ingredients (“wortcraft”) will increase your Alchemy skill. Getting into the habit of picking up ingredients as you go, and eating them every once in a while when you have a good-sized load, will steadily raise your Alchemy skill. The Shivering Isles are a particularly easy place to gather a lot of ingredients in a short time.
• Keep in mind that each ingredient eaten gives exactly one-fifth as much experience as making a single potion.
• To get more money for your potions you can go to Frostcrag Spire (if you have it) and use the Frostcrag Alchemy Lab to get + 15 [Alchemy] with Alchemical Brilliance. If you are at 85 and use this to get to 100 your skill in alchemy will not go up while making potions. But being at 100 with Alchemical Brilliance will give you the ability to make single-ingredient potions and poisons (very profitable).
• The all around best way is to use the arrow cloning glitch and clone two ingredients that makes a potion (like blood grass and watermelons).
• Use ingredients that weigh the least or you will have issues picking them all up.

• Cast the smallest Shield spell you have over and over again on yourself. Spell level does not affect gains, so cast as cheap a spell as possible. Even faster is casting Open Very Easy Lock on any lock of a harder grade (i.e. at least an Easy lock) – the lock won’t open, but the skill will increase quickly. This also works on some doors that don’t lock like the large ones in Imperial City. (You can do this to any lock with any “Open lock…” spell)
• The easiest way to build any magic skill up, is to gain access to the Arcane University and create your own spells (or just use Frostcrag Spire). You just have to make sure they are the minimum and are targeted at self. This works with all types of magic. You can just tape down the cast button on the controller or balance a roll of pennies on the C button on the keyboard and go get some food. For the 360 or PS3 you can switch your television set to regular TV and just keep hitting right bumper. Check on your skill advancement during commercials. (This works for the other non-Alchemy magic skills as well)
• A good way of leveling in Alteration is to find a container/door with a lock, and continually use the spell “open very easy lock” on it. This will not unlock the container so you can keep casting for as long as you want and it will barely deplete your magicka. It counts towards your Alteration even though the container is not being unlocked. (Try using willpower at the start of the game – it makes this a lot quicker)

• The fastest and most efficient way to level in Conjuration is to summon a Bound Dagger. If you have access to the Arcane University, you can create a spell for Bound Dagger that lasts for 1 second. The dagger will disappear so fast that you can simply hold down the cast button and not be interrupted.
• If you don’t have access to the Arcane University, a fast way to level Conjuration is to summon a skeleton and continuously cast a Turn Undead spell on him. With this method, it is a good idea to get your skeleton stuck somewhere or trap him, because he runs in fear after 3 successful casts.
• A quick way to increase your level (also good for overall level) is to find a really low Magicka summon and just run around aimlessly in capital cities casting it over and over again. When you run out of Magicka, you can use a Welkynd Stone or you can just simply “wait” for an hour and your Magicka will be filled.

Skill Leveling Tips (Magic Arts 2)

• After gaining access to the Arcane University, create a damage fatigue, 3-point for 1-second damage-on-self spell and cast it over and over again. An efficient way to do this automatically is to stack a bunch of coins onto the cast-button.
• Once you reach apprentice level, create a new spell of Weakness to Fire with the same parameters. This way you don’t have to worry about dying and you can go take a break.
• A simple way to raise this is with the Vile Lair prisoner. Simply cast Destruction spells on him, as he won’t wake up or die.
• Following The Purification you can use Shadowmere for target practice as it is an NPC that won’t die or attract the guards.
• Another way is to buy a bunch of repair hammers and cast a disintegrate armor 3 pts. for 1 second on self. This not only levels destruction, but you can level armorer rather quickly as well, which is a major help throughout the game.
• At Chestnut Handy Stables, have at least 50 paint brushes (using the scroll duplication glitch, or by merely finding them) and block up the gates of the stables completely (make sure the paint brushes are bunched up in a spot). Now, commit a crime of any kind (stealing, attacking someone, etc.) and have the Imperial Legion Guard that is posted at the gate the Talos Plaza District come chasing after you, so they are running against the paint brushes after you without moving. But before any of this, using Frostcrag Spire or the Arcane University Altar of Spellmaking to make a shock spell (must be shock) that does 3 damage in 100 feet for 1 second. The spell should be cast on the paintbrushes (the paintbrushes that are placed close together) then the shock spell will ricochet off all the paintbrushes and hit the guards. The shock spell sound should be doubled over or be multiplied over a lot. Then all these ricocheted shock spells will hit the guard(s) and rank you up very fast, especially if you use the block-casting method.
• During the “Whom Gods Annoy” quest, cast fire, frost or lightning spells on the ever respawning everscamps.
• Gaius Prentus can be used for target practice, as he never dies, can not arrest the player character, and it will not rack up a bounty.

• Cast a tiny Light spell over and over.
• After gaining access to the Arcane University, create a Charm spell with a magnitude of 3 which is active for 1 second, make it so it is activated by touching. Go to the nearest NPC and keep using the spell on the NPC. As the spell is not in any way harmful to the NPC, the person will not attack you. Also, as the spell is so weak, it barely uses any Magicka.
• For non-magical characters not intending to join the Mages Guild, the Novice-level spell Starlight (if Illusion is a main skill you will have this spell already) is an effective spell to cast, as at even apprentice level the spell only costs a meager 14 magicka to cast.

• Cast any Mysticism-class spell repeatedly. Obviously, the best spells for this are spells that have low Magicka costs (usually self-made).
• Be careful when using Mysticism spells on friendly/non-aggressive NPCs: Some (such as Soul Trap) may or may not cause the NPC to attack you. It should be recommended to use Life Detect (on Self or on Touch) as it does not cause any unwanted hostility.

• See Destruction or Heavy Armor, above.
• If you want to focus on Restoration alone, all you need to do is cast a Restoration spell repeatedly.
• The cheapest spell for Restoration is a restore fatigue spell found at most chapels.
• Make a spell that restores Restoration on touch. Create a spell with Dispel 3 pts for 1 sec, fortify Willpower whatever degree your skill is at, Fortify Magicka whatever degree your skill is at, Disintegrate Weapon or Armor (x) points, and Weakness to Magic. This combination of effects ensures that you always have magicka because it will never fall below the spell’s magicka cost. The key word is touch here because you can cast spells faster on touch than if you cast spells on your self. To increase your casting speed, hold down block while you cast this. Holding block and casting a touch Restoration spell (or other schools of magic spells) is three times faster than any self or target spell.
• Make a Fortify Magicka 3 Points for 1 Second on self spell. Since it only costs 1 Point to cast and you gain 3 points each cast you will not run out of magicka casting this spell continuously. Cast it until you reach your desired level.
• Find the cheapest Restore Health spell you can find; the Heal Minor Wounds spell that players receive at the start of the game will work fine, as well. Travel to a place with an open flame to stand over (Bruma’s Mage’s Guild after the “A Plot Revealed” quest has been completed, or any of the town’s fires located near the gates and around shops are good places to use), have your hero stand over the flame and continuously cast your restore health spell. When out of magic, move off the flame and wait an hour for it to return, or if you have a higher Willpower attribute: allow your hero to further burn, jump off the flame when low on health, and start casting again when magicka returns. This works best to level the skill as the skill gain is greater when the spell is actually useful (i.e. healing you when you’re injured or restoring fatigue when you’re jumping/fighting). This method also doesn’t require the player to be advanced in any of the storylines to level the skill.

Note: using multiple colleges in one spell will only level the dominant effect. E.g., if your spell has a Turn Undead icon, the school that will level up will be Conjuration.

Skill Leveling Tips (Stealth Arts 1)

• The two fastest ways to increase Acrobatics are to either spam-jump upward a slope (hill or stairway) or to fall from high enough to take damage. Cloud Ruler Temple stairway is the perfect place. You can spam-jump upward the temple’s stairway and downward jump between upper and lower parts of stairway is just enough to take fall damage. Make sure Hero doesn’t step on the steps when jumping down or they will not take fall damage.
• You can increase Acrobatics quickly by finding a ledge or something that is just slightly taller than your character, running underneath it, and jamming on the jump button. The goal is to find a spot where your jumps are as small as possible. Be sure to keep moving forward or use auto run as well, as that seems to be required for this rapid-improvement technique. The Fo’c’s’le is the best place for this method.
• Jump from high places that cause damage to yourself. You gain more experience from taking fall damage. Remember that you will receive the same amount of experience from taking 1 point of fall damage as from taking 100, so you don’t need to damage yourself very much. Just don’t kill yourself doing it; use restoration spells after each jump. Saving repeatedly is tedious, but also an option.
• Find a steep mountain or a little steep hill where it is possible to just walk up it. Jump up the mountain until you’re at the top, then jump off bit by bit, but enough to take damage each time (you can heal yourself while doing this). Repeat as needed.
• Simply jump everywhere you go. Slow method but adds up over time.
• An easy way to level Acrobatics is to go to Benirus Manor (Anvil) and there will be this box/crate on the right of the door. Jump on top of it, and keep pressing the jump button as fast as you can. You barely jump at all, but it still counts as Acrobatic exp. It is possible to get stuck on the crate but then just use fast travel to get free. This box is replaced by a bench after the curse is lifted.
• Also in Benirus Manor, in your bedroom you can jump on the headboard and keep pressing the jump button for raising Acrobatics.
• In the Master Security Trainer’s tent outside the Imperial Prison, jumping on top of the barrel and pressing the jump button repeatedly accomplishes the same thing.
• The Bruma’s Mage’s Guild is also an excellent place to train acrobatics. When you enter the guild, go through the large doorway to the left and go up the stairs. When you reach the top, and are looking into the head of the guild’s room, there should be a railing to your right. Run up to it and try to jump down to the floor below. The space between the top of the rail and the ceiling is too small, and you land immediately as you press the jump button. You can also train Sneak and any magic school skill by doing this. Go into Sneak mode and mash the jump and cast buttons.
• Using a Paint Brush, you can place it anywhere there is a flat ceiling and the corner of a room, and preferably near a bed, such as in a fighter’s guild, if you are using it to level. Using the paint brush can give you the smallest distance possible between the character’s head and the ceiling. Have something hold a movement button towards the corner and simply press the jump button. You will hit the ceiling and almost immediately land, allowing very quick leveling. Note: Paint brushes will not float in the Game of the Year edition on the PS3, rendering this trick unavailable.

• See Heavy Armor, above.
• Making sure you have at least 5 gold for stealing an item or 40 gold for attacking a guard or other NPC simply pick grab an item that isn’t yours while someone is watching you (the best place to do this is in a shop) put on whatever type of armor you wish to improve the skill of, and make sure you have nothing on that will reflect damage. Then wait for a guard to come along and when they do just simply resist arrest, or simply find a city guard and cast a very weak destruction spell, such as flare. Let them attack you until your skill is to the desired level; this is also a good way to improve your block, restoration, and armorer skills, as long as you can repair that type of armor (you must be at least journeyman to repair enchanted armor).
• If you haven’t finished the arena and you are still at a low level you can enter an arena match with the light raiment, but don’t attack the other combatant. If you have enough Magicka to cast multiple healing spells, you can get your light armor to 100 in a few matches (However, fighting after a long time on a single combatant will cause the opponent’s weapon will break and you will level up much slower.) Another benefit to this is gaining arrows that archers will launch at you.

• Get a weak bow and roughly twenty arrows. Then, buy a Summon Skeleton spell, cast it and fire away until it dies and repeat. To make the skeleton to last longer, do not charge any of the shots; simply tap the fire button. The reason the skeleton is the best for target practice is because arrows will always bounce off the bones and land nearby, allowing them to never run out. This can be useful for training Conjuration as well.
• Buy an Iron Bow and quite a few Iron Arrows. Go to the Weynon Priory and find any of the three sheep in the corral, preferably one of the female. Set the difficulty all the way up and make sure you have a decent restore health on touch/target set. Shoot as many arrows into one of the sheep as you like. They won’t fight back, and as long as you keep the gates closed, they can only run so far away unless you corner them. Heal as needed and you have free Restoration and Marksman training.
• Buy 200+ Iron Arrows and two or three Iron Bows. Find Umbra in Vindasel. Jump on top of the pillar in the middle of the room using the table. Make sure Umbra can’t hit you from your spot. If you can, make a higher step with a paint brush. Shoot Umbra as much as possible (having the difficulty slider all the way up helps). After she is dead, you can also get her sword, Umbra, and her full Umbra’s Ebony Armor set.
• Use an Iron Bow and as many Iron Arrows as you can carry. Find a troll, then climb up onto a steep cliff or rock, where it is unable to follow, and start shooting. The Painted Trolls seem to be especially tough, with plenty of rocks in the environment. Between the low damage of Iron Bows and Arrows and the trolls’ natural regeneration, the only limit is the number of arrows you can carry.
• Just keep killing the featured scamp in the Whom Gods Annoy quest. As a mage at the Mages Guild tells you, new ones will keep on appearing to replace the ones you kill, plus cheap arrows will do the trick with little chance of harm in return.
• Take your horse to the wilderness where no one is around and use a weak bow and arrow to shoot your horse. Your horse is very strong and can take a lot of hits (100+ arrows). When your horse is about to die use a Restore Health on Target to bring its health back to 100%. Your horse will not attack you, nor will he move or call for help. If you do not have a Restore Health spell, simply wait one hour.
• After becoming the Grand Champion of the Arena and reaching level 18, arrange a fight against Minotaur Lords. Sit in the tunnel area leading up to the Arena and shoot at them; they will, for the most part, be unable to enter. On occasion they will be able to squeeze in; when this happens, simply run for the opposite tunnel and repeat.
• If you have the Vile Lair plug-in, you can just keep shooting at your prisoner. He won’t wake up and because he won’t die you can shoot him as much you want.

Skill Leveling Tips (Stealth Arts 2)

• Find an item that both buys and sells for 1 gold (such as the Rusty Iron Dagger gained in the tutorial). Buy and sell said item over and over and over again. Barring that, sell all items one at a time, even arrows and other large stacks. Remember to move the haggle bar high enough to get your bargaining through the merchant.
• Sell items for the highest price possible. Increase the haggle percentile by 1 after you’ve sold three or four items. When the offer is refused go back by 2%.

• Note: The Skeleton Key is extremely helpful.
• Continuously fail to pick a lock (quick double clicks do it). This is expensive, however, as you keep breaking your lockpicks and need to purchase new ones. You can also use the skeleton key acquired from Nocturnal’s quest for this method.
• Find a lock and pick all of the tumblers except one, then stop picking the lock and start again. This allows you to train without losing lockpicks.
• First obtain the Skeleton Key. After obtaining the key, go to a very hard lock and continuously auto-pick the lock. The key will never break and it will level up your skill extremely fast. In addition, the Skeleton Key raises your Security Skill by 40 for just having it in your inventory.
• The Training chest in The Thieves Den plug-in also allows lockpicking practice. Especially if you have access to a few fences, one method is to buy as many lockpicks as you can ( from the two fences in The Thieves Den, and any others you have access to) and simply press X and break as many as you want. For reference, it takes about 1600 lockpicks to get from level 75 to level 100.
• In reference to the above method, If you have access to Frostcrag Spire or the Arcane University you can create a spell to reduce your Security skill for a few seconds, cast it before using the training chest and it will help you level up a little quicker as you can repeatedly auto attempt and your character will likely not succeed in picking the lock, therefore speeding up the process.
• If you have access to Frostcrag Spire you can do this method here. Otherwise, you could simply join The Mages Guild. Either way, you will need access to a Spell Making Alter. Go to Skingrad Mages Guild and talk to Sulinus Vassinus and acquire one of his spells; Drain Skill: Illusion or Drain Skill: Marksman. Now head to either the Spell Making Alter at Frostcraf Spire, or The Mages Guild in The Imperial City. Make a spell to cast upon yourself of Drain Skill: Security – Self – 100 Points – 2 Second Duration. This will require at least a Level 25 in Destruction and cost about 43 Magicka, assuming you are about Level 25 in Destruction. Now, fast travel over to Bruma with about 3,000 (Use Duplication Trick if needed) lockpicks and walk up to the display cases next to where Countess Narina Carvain sits. Make sure she is away (Asleep) when you try this. This way, she is not there to spot you, nor is her guard. The only one there is Tolgan, of whom walks around. Stand aside the left concrete alter with the fire on it. That is, when you enter the room from the main archway, it is to your left. If sitting in her chair, it is to your right. It is the one with the three Akaviri Katanas in it. Crouch into sneak-mode and cast the spell. Now before the spell wears off, attempt to pick it. This location is best because unlike doors to locked houses, you don’t have to run the fear of entering and being caught. Also, there is a lack of people of whom could accidentally find you. Thirdly, this has a Very Hard lock on it from Level 1, making it ideal when you lower your Security all the way down to zero, effectively giving you 0% chance to open it. Simply continue to open it and every ten levels or so, recast the spell so you don’t accidentally open it by some misguided chance. In the event you do open it on mistake, you have two more Display Cases; which reside behind her throne. It took me about 800 Lockpicks using the Auto-Attempt to reach from Security Level 23 to Security Level 51, to give you an idea of what you are looking at. Just keep using Auto-Attempt and you should be at Level 100 in no time.

• Before you do anything when you first start the game, jump up on your prison bed and crouch. Put a rubber band on your control stick to keep walking into the wall. The guards won’t come and this will go on for as long as you wish.
• Another great place to raise your sneak skill up, is at the very first of the game after character and name creation. Before heading over to the jail door, go over to the wall that opens later for the main quest and sneak into it. It will level quickly because of the dark elf across the cell from you.
• Crouch in a corner where you are near someone that doesn’t pay attention and sneak at the wall – the door guards at Imperial City, behind the fans in the Arena or in the shady corner.
• Buy or otherwise acquire a Horse and ride it to the outside of one of the city walls, preferably somewhere that is relatively safe from random enemies or “scripted” enemies. Position your horse so that it is facing against one part of the wall(away from you) and crouch and sneak against another part of the wall. Be careful in certain cities however as some enemies spawn really close, also be careful not to do so on any “trails” around the city walls.
• In Bravil, pickpocket the Skooma Den residents (apart from Roxanne Brigette). They will not report you for stealing and will not attack you even though their disposition is lowered down. Pickpocketing can be a faster method of raising Sneak skill compared to sneaking by people.
• Also, keep in mind that if you are leveling sneak in a corner behind a guard in the Imperial City; you can hold block and level up a magical skill at the same time. This gives you a two-for-one on your time.

• Keep playing the persuasion mini-game with the random townsfolk, including guards and beggars. After some Speechcraft level increases, you can play the game against the same people again (but usually only one or two rounds). In practice, use the small wedge for the hated reaction (it will rotate clockwise as you make choices) and one of the larger wedges for the best reaction.
• When you first talk to somebody, make sure that your weapon is sheathed (the x button toggles this on the 360). If you reach the character’s maximum disposition and you don’t want to find another person, let them see your drawn weapon (or raised fists). This will slightly reduce their disposition and let you play the minigame. Just lose a few times before restarting the technique above.
• A slightly less graceful way to level up is to continually spin the wedge around in a circle while repeatedly tapping the A button. Rounds will go by in seconds and you will level up very quickly. The NPC’s disposition will rise and fall, but the skill is increased by the number of times the Speechcraft mini-game is played, not successful increases of disposition.
• One thing of note: it appears that when you “randomize” what selections you pick instead of going clockwise or counter-clockwise, the game seems to give you more experience than otherwise.

Source 1[elderscrolls.fandom.com]

Attribute and Skill bonuses

Your choice of race determines your character’s initial Attribute values and also provides bonuses to various Skills, as detailed in the following table. All races and genders have 320 total base Attribute points. For example, Mer, or elves, excel at magic while Nords, Redguards, and Orsimer excel at combat-oriented abilities. Each race is better suited for a different class, although Oblivion allows for enough customization to make any race work with any class, depending on player preference. Baurus, in the Imperial City Sewers, offers his opinion of the player’s class depending on their race and the skills used during the tutorial.
*Each race’s movement speed is multiplied by its Height attribute (under Body Data in the CS). With the same Speed, Athletics, encumbrance, etc., an Altmer will move 10% faster than an Imperial because of the extra Height. Similarly, any race that is smaller than normal, such as a male Wood Elf or female Breton, will move slower than normal.

Different races also have different reactions towards each other. These affect the base disposition that members of different races have on each other.
The player’s race is on the left and the race they are interacting with is shown at the top.

Source[en.uesp.net]

Birthsigns Tips (General)

The birthsigns can be categorized into three general groups: those that give Attribute bonuses, those that affect your Magicka, and those that provide lesser and/or greater powers:

• Attribute bonuses: Lady, Steed, Thief, and Warrior.
• Magicka effects: Apprentice, Atronach, and Mage.
• Lesser/greater powers: Lord, Lover, Ritual, Serpent, Shadow, and Tower.

All attributes are capped at 100. The Warrior, Thief, Lady, and Steed birthsigns won’t allow you to go above this cap.

A character’s chosen birthsign cannot be changed in-game (without the use of the console), but Doomstones can provide additional powers – sometimes even permanent ones – that are similar to, and in some cases better than, those offered by the birthsigns. For example, the Shadow birthsign offers invisibility for 60 seconds, while the Jone Stone offers invisibility for 120 seconds.

Birthsigns Tips (Part 1)

The Apprentice is a birthsign which affects your Magicka, bestowing the Apprentice Birthsign ability, which has two permanent effects:

• Fortify Magicka 100 points on Self
• Weakness to Magic 100% on Self

In-Game Description: The Apprentice ability confers a 100-point bonus to your Magicka attribute, but gives you a 100% Weakness to Magic.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Apprentice have increased Magicka, but also have a weakness to it.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Apprentice shall serve you at the forge of destiny.”

Tips
• Conjuration is very valuable in providing cover, especially by taking blows from magic for you. An Apprentice caster is going to be fragile against all forms of magical attack, so learn to love your pets.
• Remember that an Altmer already has a weakness to fire, frost and shock magic. Altmer weaknesses + 100% Weakness to Magic = quick death against a spell caster. However, if you can find a way around these weaknesses, e.g. a resist magic or absorb magic spell, this can be a very good combination.
• A Breton’s natural resistance to magic can effectively halve the Apprentice’s disadvantage and add 100 Magicka to their already substantial Magicka reserves.
• One distinct advantage of this birthsign is that it gives you access to the Weakness to Magic effect for spell making and enchanting. Custom Weakness to Magic spells can be used to devastating effect, especially if you cast them one after the other. The only buyable Weakness to Magic spell in the game requires Journeyman level in Destruction, one of the most difficult magic skills to raise.
• There are a number of items with Resist Magic, Reflect Spell and Spell Absorption effects which you can find to help protect you. An Apprentice will find three of the Daedric artifacts particularly useful: the Ring of Namira; Saviour’s Hide; and Spell Breaker.
• When you get access to the Arcane University, customize all self-target spells with a marginal ailment (e.g., Drain Fatigue 1pt). This will render the spell “harmful”, thus causing it to be magnified 100% by your Weakness to Magic. This is a wonderful way to turn your glass cannon “weakness” into a unique and fun advantage, effectively doubling the power of healing, protection, and fortify spells on yourself.
• This exploit does not work if you have installed the version 1.1.511 patch.
• Any active Spell Absorption effects can ruin these custom spells.

The Atronach is a birthsign which affects your Magicka, bestowing the Atronach Birthsign ability, which has three permanent effects:

• Fortify Magicka 150 points on Self
• Spell Absorption 50% on Self
• Stunted Magicka on Self (prevents standard magicka regeneration)

In-Game Description: With the Atronach ability you don’t regain Magicka over time. Instead you have a 50% Spell Absorption to recharge your Magicka. Your base Magicka is also increased by 150 points.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Atronach cannot regenerate Magicka, but have a chance of absorbing any magic cast at them.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Atronach shall aid you with your appointed burden.”

Tips
• This birthsign is an important component for maximizing your Magicka.
• To overcome Stunted Magicka and effectively regenerate magicka, you will want to take full advantage of various techniques and tips. See:
• Restore Magicka potions, Welkynd Stones, Ayleid Wells, etc.
• Spell Absorption: Reach 100% Spell Absorption, thus allowing you to absorb all possible spells. This includes Telekinesis spells you cast yourself.
• Wayshrines and Altars of the Nine in chapels provide some of the largest magicka boosts when absorbed.
• The Lucky Old Lady statue can be activated an infinite amount of times, making it a reliable method to completely restore your magicka, with or without 100% Spell Absorption.
• Ayleid Wells can also be used to regenerate up to 400 points of Magicka and grants a Fortify Magicka 50 boost to your bar. These can be used daily and can be found all across Cyrodiil.
• Absorb Magicka: Enchant weapons or, at high Restoration levels, cast spells.
• Certain summoned creatures (like the Faded Wraith) have a larger reservoir of magicka than is required to both summon them and drain them completely of it using an Absorb Magicka spell. This can be used to completely restore magicka at any time, as long as you are not run completely dry, albeit at the cost of some time and repetition.
• Even if you never intend for your character to cast magic, you can still benefit from the Atronach’s Spell Absorption. As a warrior, for example, you would simply absorb half of the spells cast at you, making combat much easier against spellcasting opponents. If you can increase your Spell Absorption to 100%, you will have a character who is immune to most magic.
• It is a terrific choice for an Altmer, as the Magicka bonus allows for the highest base Magicka in the game while the Spell Absorption mitigates the Altmer’s weaknesses to elemental magic.
• Choosing the Atronach birthsign will make the Willpower attribute useless apart from increasing your fatigue, which many magic-oriented characters do not rely on.

The Lady is a birthsign which affects your Attributes, bestowing the Lady’s Blessing ability, which has two permanent effects:

• Fortify Willpower 10 points on Self
• Fortify Endurance 10 points on Self

In-Game Description: The Lady’s Blessing confers bonuses of 10 points to your Willpower and Endurance attributes.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Lady have increased Willpower and Endurance.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Lady shall fortify you in your quest for glory.”

Tips
• The total Health points you gain each level is determined by your Endurance at the time you level. Thus, increasing your Endurance as quickly as possible early in your character’s life will give you the highest potential Health later on. This early 10 point boost can be a big help.
• If you don’t want to use the Atronach birthsign but are still planning on playing as an Altmer (High Elf) spell caster, this is another good choice (along with The Mage Birthsign). It boosts your Willpower and Endurance to 50 each (if you are a male, but is still useful for the more frail female Altmer).
• This birthsign is also very useful to battlemages – the +10 Endurance bonus will help you survive longer in combat, and the +10 Willpower modifier can be helpful to boost your Magicka regeneration. If used in conjunction with a powerful Breton battlemage, you can also survive much longer against other spellcasters due to the health bonus and your latent resistance to magic.

Birthsigns Tips (Part 2)

The Lord is a birthsign which provides a lesser power, balanced by one permanent weakness:

• Blood of the North lesser power: Restore Health 6 points for 15 seconds (90 points total) on Self, multiple times per day at a cost of 50 Magicka
• Trollkin ability: Permanent Weakness to Fire 25% on Self

In-Game Description: Being born under the Lord gives you the Blood of the North lesser power to regenerate up to 90 points of Health. However, you also gain the Trollkin curse, a permanent 25% Weakness to Fire.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Lord can regenerate Health, but are vulnerable to fire.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Lord shall prove a faithful patron as you confront your fate.”

Tips
• Blood of the North allows the player to cast a Restore Health effect at magnitude 6 for 15 seconds (90 points of healing) for an incredibly low cost of 50 Magicka. This is by far the most efficient healing spell in the early and middle game, until you achieve a high Restoration skill. The next most efficient healing spell is the one that all characters get at the beginning of the game (Heal Minor Wounds) which is far less effective. A Lord gets a Journeyman-level, Magicka-light healing spell right from the start of the game.
• This sign is especially useful for combat based characters, as the spell may be cast multiple times to top up your health levels in the middle of a fight, and it would take a long time to gain a high enough Restoration skill to cast an equally effective healing spell.
• This healing ability is also a Lesser Power, so it is unaffected by any armor your character may be wearing.
• Conversely, this sign is not recommended for magic based characters, especially if Restoration is a major skill, because you do not gain experience by using Lesser Powers.
• The 25% weakness to fire can be countered by wearing a piece of armor with a Resist Fire enchantment. You could either custom-make this, find it in random loot, or use a Sigil Stone. Dunmer characters have a natural resistance to fire, so are particularly suited to this sign. Altmer characters on the other hand will probably want to avoid this sign, due to their innate weakness to fire.

The Lover is a birthsign which provides a greater power:

• Lover’s Kiss greater power: Paralyze 10 seconds on Touch and Damage Fatigue 120 points on Self, once per day

In-Game Description: Use the Lover’s Kiss power once a day to paralyze an opponent for 10 seconds at the cost of 120 points of Fatigue.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Lover can paralyze others with a kiss.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Lover shall sweeten your journey as you confront your fate.”

Tips
• The Serpent Birthsign Doomstone grants the Cobra’s Dance greater power, which provides Paralyze for 5 seconds, accompanied by Damage Health 4 points for 20 seconds on target (80 points total). There is no Fatigue penalty associated with Cobra’s Dance. Although shorter in duration, some players may prefer to use the Doomstone effect to obtain a paralysis greater power.
• The Lover’s Kiss power grants the Paralyze magical effect at spellmaking altars if you are having difficulty finding the spell.
• Your character might faint when this spell is cast if your fatigue is already low from jumping or swinging weapons, so you might still be on the floor when your angry victim gets back up and takes vengeance on you.
• Imperials can use their Star of the West greater power to absorb 100 points of Fatigue, mostly compensating for the damage caused by casting Lover’s Kiss.

The Mage is a birthsign which affects your Magicka, bestowing the Mage Birthsign ability, which has one permanent effect:

• Fortify Magicka 50 points on Self

In-Game Description: The Mage ability confers a permanent bonus of 50 points to your Magicka.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Mage have increased Magicka.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Mage shall light your way on the paths of glory.”

Tips
• This birthsign is well suited for mages who want a Magicka bonus without any side effects – the other birthsigns that provide Magicka bonuses (Apprentice and Atronach) both have negative side effects.

The Ritual is a birthsign which provides two powers:

• Blessed Word lesser power: Turn Undead up to level 25 (100 points) for 30 seconds on target, multiple times per day at a cost of 40 Magicka.
• Mara’s Gift greater power: Restore Health 200 points on Self, once per day.

In-Game Description: Those born under the Ritual use the Mara’s Gift power once a day as a powerful Restore Health spell. The Blessed Word can turn the undead.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Ritual can heal themselves and turn the undead.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Ritual shall speed you on your star-patterned path.”

Tips
• Blessed Word allows the player to craft additional Turn Undead spells at spell making altars without the need to have previously known another Turn Undead spell.
• The Restore Health for 200 points is an instant effect much like a strong potion of healing (better in fact). This is quite useful in a pinch especially at lower levels, where it completely heals most characters. While its effects are less pronounced at higher levels, it maintains its usefulness throughout the game.

Birthsigns Tips (Part 3)

The Serpent is a birthsign which provides one greater power, Serpent Spell, which can be cast once per day, simultaneously casting all four of the following effects:

• Damage Health 3 points for 20 seconds (60 points total) on Touch
• Cure Poison on Self
• Dispel 90 points on Self
• Damage Fatigue 100 points on Self

In-Game Description: Gain the Serpent spell to cause a slow but potent poison on touch, while simultaneously curing yourself and dispelling magic on yourself. Casting this spell costs 100 points of Fatigue.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Serpent can poison others at a loss of their own Fatigue.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Serpent shall sting the foes who seek your blood.”

Tips
• The Serpent Birthsign Doomstone gives the player the Cobra’s Dance greater power. This power provides a stronger poison spell than the Birthsign, for the same duration. It is accompanied by Paralyze for 5 sec on target, and there is no fatigue penalty when casting the Cobra’s Dance greater power.
• The Cure Poison on Self effect is very useful for non-Argonians.
• The Dispel 90 points on Self effect is most helpful.

The Shadow is a birthsign which provides one power:

• Moonshadow greater power: Invisibility 60 seconds on Self, once per day.
• As with all invisibility effects, the power is immediately dispelled if the player interacts with any item (doors, containers, etc.).

In-Game Description: Use the Moonshadow power once a day to become Invisible for 60 seconds.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Shadow can make themselves invisible.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Shadow shall hide you from destiny’s cunning hounds.”

Tips
• Once your combined Fame and Infamy is 10, you can visit the Jone Stone and acquire the ability to become invisible for 120 seconds, once per day. This is twice as long as the Moonshadow power granted by the Shadow, making this birthsign of limited value.
• Like other birthsigns with spell-like powers, this birthsign allows the caster to craft lower-leveled Invisibility spells at spell crafting altars.
• Very useful for thieves and assassins, although only being able to cast Moonshadow once per day can be a significant limitation.
• In the Black Marsh, Argonians born under the sign of the Shadow are called “Shadowscales;” they are given to the Dark Brotherhood at birth and are trained to be assassins. This is part of the back story behind The Renegade Shadowscale, but it does not otherwise affect game play. In particular, the player is not treated differently if the player chooses to play an Argonian with the Shadow birthsign.

The Steed is a birthsign which affects your Attributes, bestowing the Steed Birthsign ability, which has one permanent effect:

• Fortify Speed 20 points on Self

In-Game Description: The Steed ability grants a bonus of 20 to your Speed attribute.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Steed can move faster.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Steed shall speed your progress on the road to destiny.”

Tips
• While some would not consider this to be a good birthsign, the proof is in the numbers. A Bosmer (Wood Elf) with a class that has Speed as a focus (such as Thief or Rogue) would have a starting Speed level of 75 when taking this birthsign. Early in the game, the Speed attribute is very easily increased. By level 6, such a character has the potential of 100 Speed. This rivals the effects of using horses. Since Speed (along with Acrobatics) affects how high you can jump, this can give you access to places to snipe your enemy from safety.
• Fortifying Speed past 100 is even more beneficial for similar reasons. Races with low initial values for Speed – such as Orcs – may also find the 20 points boost to Speed useful in order to overcome the deficiency. Also if you hate the drag down of Heavy Armor, this could be a helpful birthsign for you as well.

The Thief is a birthsign which affects your Attributes, bestowing the Thief Birthsign ability, which has three permanent effects:

• Fortify Agility 10 points on Self
• Fortify Luck 10 points on Self
• Fortify Speed 10 points on Self

In-Game Description: The Thief ability grants a 10-point bonus to your Agility, Speed, and Luck attributes.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Thief have increased Agility, Speed, and Luck.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Thief shall guide your steps on the road to destiny.”

Tips
• Luck is the slowest of all the attributes to raise, since unlike the others, it is not associated with any skills. This 10-point boost means you could potentially have all your stats maximized 10 levels earlier than you otherwise could. And since Luck can only ever be increased by 1 point per level, this combined with a custom class that has Luck as a class attribute saves you 15 levels of luck boosts.
• Because Luck affects all skills, the 10 point boost in Luck is handy. It equates to a 4 point boost in all of your skills as far as effects (but not perks) are concerned. If you customize a class to have Luck as a class ability and combine that with this birthsign, you start the game with every skill having an effective boost of +6. See the Efficient Leveling +5/+5/+5 vs +5/+5/+1 information in the character building tips for more on this.
• The Thief birthsign gives a player the greatest possible total bonus in terms of attributes of any birthsign. It adds a total of 30 points to attributes, while other birthsigns which raise attributes add only 20 total points.

Birthsigns Tips (Part 4)

The Tower is a birthsign which provides two powers:

• Tower Key greater power: Open Average Lock (40 points) on Target, once per day
• Tower Warden greater power: Reflect Damage 5% for 120 seconds on Self, once per day

In-Game Description: With the Tower Key power, once a day open a door or container of Average lock level or less. The Tower Warden reflects five points of damage for 120 seconds once a day.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Tower can unlock doors magically, and the Tower Warden power reflects damage from attackers.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Tower shall prove a stout refuge in time of need.”

Tips
• The Tower Birthsign Doomstone grants the Warden Key greater power, which provides Open Hard Lock in 15 feet on Target, once per day, and therefore provides a more powerful open spell. The Tower Stone also provides The Master’s Hand greater power, with Fortify Armorer 20 points for 120 seconds on Self, once per day.
• This birthsign is the only (non-Shivering Isles) way for your character to access Reflect Damage at the Spellmaking Altar to make custom spells. However, you still cannot make custom enchantments with it.
• This is not a great sign for any thief-like character as any amount of skill in security coupled with a high agility will make easy work of any average lock. Also, any good thief will want practice in Security to help boost his agility modifiers.
• You can pick any lock in the game with a little patience as long as you have lockpicks on hand, rendering this ability of little use. It’s also possible to quest for an artifact called the Skeleton Key – an unbreakable lockpick – that will allow any character to open any lock with a little patience.

The Warrior is a birthsign which affects your Attributes, bestowing the Warrior Birthsign ability, which has two permanent effects:

• Fortify Endurance 10 points on Self
• Fortify Strength 10 points on Self

In-Game Description: The Warrior ability grants a bonus of 10 points to your Strength and Endurance attributes.
Load Screen Description: Those born under the sign of The Warrior have increased Strength and Endurance.
Emperor’s Commentary: “Today the Warrior shall prove a stalwart companion when fortune fades.”

Tips
• The total Health you gain each level is determined by your Endurance at the time you level. Thus, increasing your Endurance as quickly as possible early in your character’s life will give you the highest potential Health later on. This early 10 point boost can be a big help.

Source[en.uesp.net]

Doomstones

There are two different kinds of Doomstones; the Birthsign Stones, related to the constellations that mark the zodiac of Tamriel, and the Heaven Stones, related to other celestial bodies:

Birthsign Stones grant one of several Greater Powers specific to that stone. These powers can only be obtained one at a time. For example, if you acquire Arcane Well from the Atronach Stone and then use the Lady Stone, your Arcane Well power will be replaced by Lady’s Warding; you cannot have both. However, you may switch between Birthsign Stone powers as often as you wish, and using a Birthsign Stone will not replace the birthsign and birthsign power chosen at the beginning of the game (e.g., if you chose The Shadow at the start of the game and then use the Atronach Birthsign Stone, your character page will still list The Shadow and you will retain the Moonshadow birth power in addition to Arcane Well).

Heaven Stones, like their Birthsign counterparts, grant one Greater Power each. Unlike Birthsign Stones, the powers do not replace each other when a new stone is used; one may obtain and keep all seven Heaven Stone powers by visiting each of the seven stones.

Due to their greater power, Heaven Stones also have a Renown requirement, which differs by stone; the sum (not difference, as some sources state) of your Fame and Infamy must exceed the required number, or the Stone will, when used, display a message stating that “The Hero’s fate is known when the Hero’s fame has grown.” The renown requirement can be met by wearing the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal reward from the Thieves Guild, as it gives you 100 Infamy whenever worn.

Both types of Doomstone can only be used at night, between 6pm and 6am. Attempting to use them outside these hours will result in a message saying “No stars shine upon the doomstone.”

The powers acquired from Doom Stones also add the relevant spell effects to the list of effects your character knows, and therefore can be used when creating custom spells or custom enchanted items. In particular, Doom Stones provide one of the few ways to acquire the Fortify Skill and Resist Frost effects; they can also make Chameleon available to characters with low Illusion skill.

The map is attached below.

Source[en.uesp.net]

Map with all locations

Click on the links and use zoom for a more comfortable view:
Full-Size Cyrodiil Map
Full-Size Shivering Isles Map

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Source not available [Jonathan D. Wells]

How to play at Maximum Difficulty

An extremely helpful video on how to play at maximum difficulty.
I recommend it even to those who do not play hardcore – the author clearly and in a funny presentation told about the mechanics.
[link]
Author: Coldiep

Conclusion and Sources

Some sections of the guide are divided into several parts due to character limit.
I would be grateful if you ❤like this guide or/and ❁award it.

Links to sources:
• The Elder Scrolls Wiki – Trainers, Skill Book, Skill Leveling Tips[elderscrolls.fandom.com]
• IGN – Master Trainer Quest
• UESP – Skill Books, Birthsigns, Races, Doom Stones[en.uesp.net]
• Coldiep – author of
• https://www.youtube.com/c/PRCLive/ – author of
• ESO Danny – author of
• Jonathan D. Wells – author of maps with all locations (source not available)
• slwaq – published, editing and adapted for reading

Shoutout to Coldiep for contributing to translaton of this guide.