The Elder scrolls V Skyrim skill leveling guide

The first thing that you will need to know about is the "rested bonus" and its better varients.
  1. Rested bonus: sleeping in a bed that you dont own. 5% Exp gain and lasts for one in game hour
  2. Well rested bonus: sleeping in a bed you own or bought at an inn. 10% Exp gain and lasts for one in game hour
  3. Lover's comfort: (must have a house) when you have a spouse and sleep in a bed in your house. 15% Exp gain and lasts for one in game hour
  4. Lover stone: You can find the Lover stone north west of Markarth Permenent. 15% Exp gain, until you choose another standing stone (can't combine with other rested bonuses unless you put the lover stone on the atherial crown)
picture refrence for the lover stone which is north west of markarth

found on google

The Lover stone

Skill backdrops

The first thing that you'll need know about the skills is that they are color-coded. For instance all of the warrior skills like one-handed and heavy armor have the red back drop, all of the sneak skills have the green backdrop, and all of the mage skills have the blue backdrop.

The guardian stones

When you escape "Helgen Keep" with either Hadvar or Ralof you will find the Guardian stones (they are called the warrior, theif, and mage stones). They all give a 20% Exp bonus in which ever set of skills they apply to.

Magic skills (active the mage stone)

Alteration

The first (and easiest) of the magic skills to level is Alteration, which is altering the world in which ever way you please (kind of). If you play Skyrim on a PC you can use the telekinesis spell (which you can find in the labryinthian by progressing through the "Collage of Winterhold's" story line) to drop an item that you don't really need on the ground and pick it up (using telekinesis) and then fast travel somehwhere random while still holding the item. Sadly that doesn't work on PS3.

Conjuration

The Conjuration skill tree revolves around summoning things as much as raising/reanimating dead bodies. The quickest way to level up Conjuration is by saving the game then clensing the magic pools in winterhold then reloading the save and doing that again and again until you get + 100 magicka on the "active affects" screen (that will instantly refill your magicka when you finish casting a spell). Then find a dead body and cast soul trap on it until you get Conjuration 100.

Illusion

Doing the same thing you can do with Conjuration and the magic pools in wnterhold then just casting Muffle until you get level 100.

Restoration

The quickest way that you can level your restoration is by using your healing spells after, cleasning the pools.

Destruction

The quickest way that Most people find leveling their Destruction skill is by finding a strong boss in a room that you can cheese so said boss can't damage you, then putting your difficulty on legendary, and casting a bunch of Destruction spells on the boss.

Enchanting

The quickest way to level up Enchanting is by getting a bunch of iron daggers and enchant them with banish until you reach level 100 Echanting

Sneak (Activate the theif stone)

Speech

If you play on PC you can browse a merchant's wares and go to your inventory (while browsing the merchant's wares) then hover over the merchant's name and then press "E" on your keyboard which will then duplicate their items in your inventory as long as your still browsing the merchant's wares. Then by selling the most expensive item there even when they have no more money you will eventually get to speech level 100.

Sneak

The ways that most people use to level up their sneak is normally at the begining of the game, while your in Helgan keep with either Hadvar or Ralof. Once you get to the bear you can crouch and walk into a wall until you get to level 100. or if your already past helgen keep you can crouch behind one of the greybreads while they are worshiping talos (and abuse those crusty and dusty backs of solid metal) and continue to stab them repeatedly until you get to level 100 Sneak.

Pickpoketing

Some people go to windhelm and find "Silda the unseen" then buy one Pickpocket level. Then they pickpocket silda for their money back and rinse and repeat.

lockpicking

The lockpicking skill tree is very tedious to level. A lot of people go to the understone keep and unlock everything there after you have acess to the Dewmer museum. Then joining the theives guild and picking what ever lock they can.

Archery

What some people do is find a really strong boss in a room that you can cheese. Which is basicaly the same process as Destruction but you shoot your enemies instead of lighting them on fire and what ever else.

Alchemy

The quickest way to level up Alchemy is by getting nordic barnacals, garlic, and salmon roe to make water breathing potions.

Warrior (activate the Warrior stone)

The quickest way to level up your heavy armor is to preferably get Daedric armor (if not get Ebony), then find a giant or a mammoth, turn your difficultly to novice and let them hit you until you reach Heavy armor 100.

Light armor
Do the same thing that you did for Heavy armor except get Dragon plate or glass armor on.
Block

Do the same thing that you did for Light and Heavy armor but get a Daedric or Ebony sheild and Block whist they hit you.

One-Handed

The fastest method for levelling One Handed is to attack a target which can take damage, but can't be killed, such as Shadowmere or at the beginning of the game hit Ralof or Hadvar before leaving Helgen keep. The experience depends specifically on the base damage of the weapon you use to deal the damage, and not the damage received by the thing you're attacking.

Two-Handed

Do the same thing that you did for One-Handed but get a Two-Handed weapon instead.

Smithing

The best way to level up your smithing is by making a bunch of dwarven bows by steeling from the dwemer muesum in markarth. You can also get there by getting iron and silver ore, then going to the "Halted Stream Camp" by Whiterun and getting the Transmute book to convert iron ore into silver and silver into gold. Then get gold ore go to Whiterun and smelt the gold then make gold rings (you can also enchant those instead of the iron daggers to have maximum efficiency).

That is the Skyrim skill leveling guide, I hope this helps you experience what Todd Howard had in mind.

Image of Todd Howard

found on google