Over the course of several rereleases since its debut in 2011, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has given players the freedom to explore, fight, and quest however they want. The game redefined the idea of "open-world" games upon its release. Although there is a myriad of guided quest lines that players can take on as the Dragonborn, there are very few explicitly written rules on how to behave as the savior of Tamriel.
While playing Skyrim, it becomes immediately apparent that while the world is full of possibilities, quite a few unwritten rules act as a common thread between first-time and seasoned Elder Scrolls players. From climbing over large mountain ranges on horseback to stealing from the rich, players have shared their favorite unwritten rules and found that the community has adopted them during their playthrough without knowing the similarities.
Collect Every Septim In Skyrim
While exploring the world of Skyrim, the Dragonborn will inevitably come across quite a few magnificent homes belonging to the upper class and nobility. This is particularly true in the city of Solitude, the capital of Skyrim. Some players believe that if the Dragonborn happens to do a quest for the wealthy, they are then entitled to steal from their homes. Noble houses in Skyrim contain valuable items that sell for more than the average Draugur axes or ancient arrow. Most of the time, the Dragonborn can openly steal, and no one will notice.
Skyrim players favor stealing using the pickpocket skill and typically try to earn as much gold as possible. Whether it's one gold piece in a ritual urn or selling plates back to their owners, nothing is off limits when it comes to making money. Given the vast number of lootable objects in the game world, most of the work goes into finding the stuff that is worth the most money. Remarkably, in-game days of collecting gold pieces while questing can add up, as high-level players tend to have more gold around than they can spend.
The Path To Skyrim Crafting Mastery Is Found In Iron Daggers
One of the unique aspects of Skyrim is the ability to craft a wide variety of equipment using many materials found across the region. The crafting system is complex, requiring players to mine ore, hunt for furs, and smelt ore into ingots while tanning the animal hide. The Dragonborn has to level up these initial skills in the crafting tree before they can start to make more advanced equipment. Once players get up to speed with crafting and find a taste for making their equipment, they can eventually prepare S-tier dragon weapon and armor sets.
While the crafting system is an incredible tool that provides another level of immersion and gameplay, it can sometimes become complicated and tedious. At the beginning of the game, a large amount of grinding is required to level up crafting-related skills. Some players have an unwritten rule that crafting iron daggers is the key to success when it comes to working the blacksmith. Iron daggers are reasonably easy to forge in mass, allowing players to level up their skills with less grinding. Dragonborn can even enchant the iron daggers they mine, allowing them to raise their Skyrim smithing and enchanting skills at once.
Every Skyrim Horse Is Secretly A Mountain Goat
Skyrim's incredible open-world environment has been updated with next-gen graphics by the developer team and the mod community. While most players find galloping across fields and through mountain ranges to be one of the most memorable aspects of the game, it can quickly become monotonous. This is especially true in areas like The Reach, The Vale, and Winterhold, with mountains in every direction. While the game might expect players to try and find main roads and paths towards their destinations, it can be frustrating to head towards a point on the in-game compass just to come face-to-face with a massive mountain range.
Some players have yet to let mountains and tall hills stop them from getting where they need to go. While climbing large mountain ranges can be near-impossible while running around as one of the last Dragonborn, horses are a completely different element. Not only can horses travel faster across the region, but they also have the uncanny ability to climb any terrain. With this incredible skill, players can use their horses to gallop up incredibly steep mountains, cutting travel time in half. At the beginning of the game, players don't have to worry either - the Dragonborn can traverse most terrain by jumping up it.
Followers Are The Best Storage Containers While Exploring Skyrim
When Skyrim was released over ten years ago, it created a new standard for role-playing games. This was partly due to the new level of immersion that players could have through their interactions with NPCs. Skyrim has an unbelievable number of characters to interact with, and some are lucky enough to travel with the Dragonborn as a follower. While some of the most accessible followers found in the game are Faendal and Sven, there are followers-for-hire in most taverns, and others can be unlocked through quest lines.
While some followers are worth their salt when fighting the never-ending slew of enemies across the world, other Skyrim followers are notoriously poor at their jobs. Unfortunately, this leaves the Dragonborn to protect themselves and their follower when the going gets rough. While followers can be seen as a liability, all of them can "trade items" with the Dragonborn, allowing them to carry heavy items that would typically be left behind. This is an often-used solution while adventuring, especially while playing a character build without max carrying capacity.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.