The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Beginner Guide - Tips and Tricks for New Players

This route covers the original Skyrim base game on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 with the official 1.9 rules. No DLC, Creation content, or mods are needed. Use the separate edition guides below for Survival Mode and other added features.

Content warning: Skyrim contains blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, and alcohol use. This guide stays non-graphic and only discusses early quest spoilers.

Quick answer: Follow the road from Helgen toward Riverwood, activate a Guardian Stone, and focus your early perks on skills you use. Keep manual saves and avoid filling your inventory with heavy, cheap loot. For shouts, learn words at word walls, then unlock them through the Magic menu with dragon souls; you do not spend souls at the wall.

A Useful Opening Route

Helgen to Riverwood

Escape Helgen with either Hadvar or Ralof. If you want a straightforward introduction to the area, follow your companion toward Riverwood instead of immediately striking into the wilderness.

The road passes the Guardian Stones. Choose the Warrior, Mage, or Thief blessing for the skills you intend to use. You can change your active stone later, so this is not a permanent class selection.

In Riverwood, your companion directs you to Alvor or Gerdur. Speak to that person about what happened at Helgen and take the supplies they offer. The next main-quest destination is Jarl Balgruuf in Whiterun.

Whiterun and Bleak Falls Barrow

At Dragonsreach, speak with Balgruuf and then Farengar, who wants the Dragonstone from Bleak Falls Barrow. The Golden Claw quest from Riverwood overlaps with this dungeon, so you can make progress on both in one visit.

Two puzzles commonly stop a first run:

• Rotating pillars: Use Snake, Snake, Whale from left to right before pulling the lever.
• Claw door: Inspect and rotate the Golden Claw in your inventory to see its symbols. Set the door’s rings to Bear, Moth, Owl from top to bottom.

Near the end, approach the word wall to learn a word of Unrelenting Force. Defeat the draugr that emerges, collect the Dragonstone from it, and return to Farengar. Remember the quest item, not just the treasure chest.

The Western Watchtower

The next main quest, Dragon Rising, sends you with Irileth to the Western Watchtower. Follow that objective before trying to make a full shout build.

Absorbing Mirmulnir’s soul automatically unlocks the first word of Unrelenting Force learned in Bleak Falls Barrow. This is a scripted exception to the usual process. Later words generally need you to spend a soul yourself.

Return to Balgruuf after the fight. Lydia becomes available as your housecarl and can accompany you as a follower.

Skills, Perks, and Stones

Skyrim levels your character through skill increases, not a separate pool of kill experience. Using skills, training with an NPC, and reading skill books can improve them. Each character level gives an attribute increase and a perk point.

For an opening build, choose a main way to deal damage and an armor type. That is a recommendation for keeping your decisions manageable, not a restriction on what your character may learn.

Decision	Beginner approach
Health, Magicka, or Stamina	Pick the resource your actual playstyle needs
Perk points	Save points until you meet a useful perk’s requirements
Warrior Stone	Faster growth for its combat skill group
Mage Stone	Faster growth for magic skills, including Enchanting
Thief Stone	Faster growth for its stealth skill group, including Alchemy

The Guardian Stones improve their associated skills 20% faster. Only one ordinary Standing Stone blessing is active at a time; activating another replaces it.

You do not have to spend a perk immediately. Waiting is useful while you decide whether you prefer a bow, melee weapon, or magic. Under the official 1.9 rules, a skill at 100 can be made Legendary, returning it to 15 and refunding its perks. That also removes the strength of the developed skill, so do not treat it as a free upgrade during a difficult dungeon.

Avoid grinding crafting skills simply to inflate your character level while neglecting the combat skills you rely on. A higher level is not a substitute for a coherent set of equipment and perks.

Combat and Dragon Shouts

Power attacks use Stamina. Keep enough available for the actions you need instead of holding the attack button through every encounter. If using a bow, sheathing cancels a drawn shot without firing the arrow.

Mages should plan for an empty Magicka bar. A backup weapon gives you another option, and the Favorites menu makes switching between frequently used equipment and spells easier.

How to Unlock a Learned Word

1. Learn a word at a word wall.
2. Open Magic, then Shouts.
3. Select the learned word and use the displayed unlock command to spend an available dragon soul.
4. Equip the shout before using the shout/power control.

Learning a word and unlocking it are different steps. A visible but locked word does not mean the wall failed.

Shouts use a cooldown rather than Magicka. After you unlock more words of a shout, holding the control can produce its stronger form; a tap uses the shortest form. Watch the cooldown before counting on a second shout in the same fight.

Loot, Storage, and Crime

Compare an item’s value with its weight before taking it. Carrying heavy, low-value weapons can fill your inventory before you find something you actually want. Overencumbrance prevents normal running and on-foot fast travel.

Merchants have limited gold. Check the trading screen rather than assuming they can pay for every item you offer. For a long dungeon trip, sell unwanted equipment first.

Use storage in a home you own for items you intend to keep. Random containers may reset, so an abandoned barrel is not a dependable permanent stash.

Watch for ownership labels. Taking owned items is theft, and ordinary merchants generally will not buy stolen goods. Thieves Guild fences provide a way to sell them. Bounties are tracked separately by hold, so trouble in one hold is not a universal clearance or universal bounty across Skyrim.

Crafting Without Wasting Gear

You do not need to master all three crafting skills immediately. Start with the one that helps your current equipment.

• Smithing: Use a grindstone for weapons and a workbench for armor. Improving enchanted gear requires Arcane Blacksmith.
• Enchanting: Disenchanting teaches an effect but destroys the item. Check whether you still use that equipment before confirming.
• Alchemy: Experiment at an alchemy lab with ingredients that share effects. Crafting potions raises the skill; the Thief Stone helps its growth.

For Alchemy, skill books and trainers offer alternatives to gathering large quantities of ingredients. Arcadia in Whiterun is an Alchemy trainer and ingredient merchant. Try a few useful recipes before spending your whole travel fund on supplies.

When Progress Stalls

Keep several manual saves, including one before a dungeon or major decision. Death normally reloads your most recent save; an older manual save gives you another option if that position is poor.

You can change difficulty during a playthrough. Lowering it while you learn combat is a reasonable choice. Also check that your perks, equipment, and resource use match what you are trying to do.

If you are lost, select the quest you actually want in the journal. Too many active objectives can make the compass harder to follow. Return to the early route above when you want to resume the main story.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Spending every perk immediately - Save points until a useful choice is clear.
2. Waiting at a word wall to spend souls - Unlock learned words in the Shouts menu.
3. Leaving the Dragonstone behind - Loot the dungeon’s final draugr.
4. Storing valuables in random containers - Use a home you own.
5. Disenchanting current equipment - The process destroys the item.
6. Using one save slot for everything - Keep older manual saves.

Summary

Goal	Next action
Start the main route	Riverwood, Whiterun, then Bleak Falls Barrow
Grow your build	Use relevant skills and choose matching perks
Use shouts	Learn a word, unlock it, and equip it
Manage loot	Compare value and weight; use dependable storage
Recover from a hard fight	Review your resources, difficulty, and saves