Smithing (Skyrim)

For other uses, see Smithing.

"People say I'm making gold off of other people's misery, but what else would I do? Smithing is all I know. Next time one of my shields deflects a killing blow, they'll change their tune."

―Balimund

Smithing is a skill in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. One of six skills falling under the The Warrior play-style, Smithing is referred to as the art of refining raw materials and combining them to create or improve pieces of armor or weapons. It is one of the three crafting skills in Skyrim, falling under the Warrior, with parallels to alchemy for thieves and enchanting for mages.

Mechanics

Smithing is a multistage process with the number of stages depending on what items are being crafted and how raw the materials are. The process can be started at any intermediate stage if the right items are obtained, but every stage requires input materials, knowledge of the build, and its own tool. Input materials can be found in the world or purchased from vendors. Knowledge of new recipes can be acquired only through perks but some are available automatically. The tools listed below roughly outlines the end-to-end process.

Smithing stations

Balimund using a Tanning Rack.

These stations, required for various stages in the smithing process, can be found in any main city and most villages. They are also frequently found in forts and dungeons or outside mines. See the individual station pages for more specific locations.

• Smelter – Used to craft ores or Dwemer scrap metal into ingots.
• Tanning Rack – Used to create leather from animal hides and leather strips from leather.
• Forge and anvil – Used to craft armor, weapons and jewelry from ingots and other materials.
• Workbench – Used to improve armor and shields with ingots or leather.
• Grindstone – Used to improve weapons with ingots or leather strips.

Racial bonuses

Nord, Redguard, and Orc characters gain an initial five point boost to Smithing.

Leveling

The following actions raise the Smithing skill:

• Crafting an item at a forge. Skill gain is dependent on the value of the item being crafted.
• Improving a weapon at a grindstone. The skill gain is based on the strength of the improvement made.
• Improving an armor or shield at a workbench. The skill gain is based on the strength of the improvement made.

Books

A Smithing Skill Book.

For the locations of these books, see Skill Book (Skyrim).

The following is a list of books that raise the Smithing skill, locations can be found on the relevant book's page:

• Cherim's Heart of Anequina
• Heavy Armor Forging
• Light Armor Forging
• The Armorer's Challenge
• Last Scabbard of Akrash
• Oghma Infinium – choosing the Path of Might increases all Warrior skills, including Smithing, by five.

Quests

The following quests increase or help to increase the Smithing skill:

• Retrieve Rjorn's Drum for Giraud Gemane at the Bards College in Solitude.
• Retrieve Queen Freydis's Sword for Oengul War-Anvil in Windhelm
• Retrieve Night Falls on Sentinel for Rustleif in Dawnstar
• Retrieve The Last Scabbard of Akrash for Ghorza gra-Bagol in Markarth
• "Unfathomable Depths" grants the Ancient Knowledge Active Effect, which increases the rate of skill gain for Smithing by 15%.

Trainers

Main article: Trainer (Skyrim)

Level	Trainer	Location	Prerequisites
Common	Ghorza gra-Bagol	Markarth	Give her The Last Scabbard of Akrash
Expert	Balimund	Riften	Collect 10 Fire Salts for him
Master	Eorlund Gray-Mane	The Skyforge in Whiterun	Must be a member of The Companions
Master	Gunmar	Fort Dawnguard after completing "A New Order"	Only available with Dawnguard

Growth curve

The Smithing skill levels according to an exponential curve. This means each level costs proportionately more than the previous one.

Beneficial equipment

There are multiple objects and potions within Skyrim. First are potions, which temporarily increases the smithing ability. There is also armor Enchanting which, depending on one's enchanting ability, can grant a much higher smithing ability as long as the user is wearing it.

Perks

The following chart lists the perks that become available to the Dragonborn as the skill is leveled up. In spite of the shape of the perk constellation implying otherwise, perks explicitly list their prerequisites (Daedric Smithing requires Ebony Smithing be taken first, and so forth).

Perk (Ranks)	Requirements	Description
Steel Smithing**	No requirement	Can create steel armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much.
Arcane Blacksmith	Smithing 60, Steel Smithing	Magical weapons and armor can now be improved.
Elven Smithing**	Smithing 30, Steel Smithing	Can create Elven armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much.
Advanced Armors**	Smithing 50, Elven Smithing	Can create scaled and steel plate armor at forges, and improve them twice as much.
Glass Smithing	Smithing 70, Advanced Armors	Can create glass armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much.
Dwarven Smithing	Smithing 30, Steel Smithing	Can create Dwarven armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much.
Orcish Smithing	Smithing 50, Dwarven Smithing	Can create Orcish armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much.
Ebony Smithing**	Smithing 80, Orcish Smithing	Can create ebony armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much.
Daedric Smithing	Smithing 90, Ebony Smithing	Can create daedric armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much.
Dragon Armor	Smithing 100, Glass or Daedric Smithing	Can create dragon armor and weapons* at forges, and improve them twice as much.

Smithing perks tree

* Dragonbone weapons can only be created if The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard is installed.
** Bonemold armor can be created with Steel Smithing, Chitin armor can be created with Elven Smithing, Nordic armor and weapons can be created with Advanced Armors, and Stalhrim armor and weapons can be created with Ebony Smithing if The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn is installed.

Improvement

The table shows what quality improvement an item will achieve based on Smithing level and if the Smithing perk for the item is taken or not.

Items can still be improved once they reach Legendary, but the description will not change.

Quality	Skill Required		Effect
	Without Perk	With Perk	Armor	Weapon
Fine	14	14	+2	+1
Superior	31	22	+6	+3
Exquisite	65	40	+10	+5
Flawless	100	57	+13	+7
Epic	134	74	+17	+8
Legendary	168	91	+20	+10

Each additional quality level beyond Legendary improves Armor by 3.6 and other items (weapons, helms, boots, etc.) by 1.8. The skill related to the item will also effect how much it does. So the bonus is significantly larger on the armor on someone with the corresponding skill.

Alchemy and Enchanting can improve results significantly via the Fortify Smithing effect allowing for greater improvements at a given level than the table shows. Combining both alchemy and enchanting to improve one another and then combining both to improve Smithing as much as possible can be very powerful.

The improvement of armor and weapons requires one smithing material per item improved. These items can be obtained by tanning, smelting, or other means of obtaining items.

Smithing Category	Crafting Material
Hunting Bow	Leather Strips
Leather	Leather
Hide
Forsworn
Iron	Iron Ingot
Studded
Steel	Steel Ingot
Imperial
Nord Hero
Ancient Nord
Red Eagle
Valdr's Lucky Dagger
Vokun
Ghost	Ectoplasm
Scaled	Corundum Ingot
Banded Iron
Steel Plate
Dwarven	Dwarven Metal Ingot
Elven	Refined Moonstone
Morokei
Orcish	Orichalcum Ingot
Ebony	Ebony Ingot
Daedric
Glass	Refined Malachite
Dragonplate	Dragon Bone
Dragonscale	Dragon Scales
Falmer	Chaurus Chitin
Nightingale	Void Salts
Jewelry	*

* The only known piece of jewelry that can be improved is the Aetherial Crown, with a Dwarven Metal Ingot. However, since it has no armor rating, only its value will be increased.

Achievements

	Artificer Make a smithed item, an enchanted item, and a potion
Points	10
Trophy

Strategies

Click to show a list of Smithing strategies.

Crafting iron daggers is a good start, as the materials are common and cheap. Crafting jewelry levels up the skill faster (the more valuable the items, the faster it does). The Dwarven Smithing perk not only allows the Dragonborn to create and improve their own set of Dwarven armor and weapons early in the game, but also to make these items, especially Dwarven Bows to sell. The gold spent making them can be earned back by trading with 20% better prices, which can be achieved by getting Haggling perk in the Speech skill tree, or enchanting any wearable items with Fortify Barter. Crafting Elven Swords at Smithing level 60 or 70 can be more efficient than Dwarven, although it is more expensive. If the Hearthfire DLC is installed, making construction materials helps to level up fast, making nails levels up Smithing the fastest compared to making other construction materials. As to show the impact of the value of the item for rising the skill, it takes to raise Smithing from 15–100 crafting of: 245 Gold Diamond Necklaces needing 245 Gold Ingots and 245 Diamonds 1550 Gold rings needing 775 Gold Ingots 2348 Silver rings needing 1174 Silver Ingots Completing The Companions questline allows use of the Skyforge to produce "Nord Hero" armor and weapons. The Skyforge is the only location for crafting these items. To maximize skill gain, complete the quest "Unfathomable Depths" to obtain the Ancient Knowledge ability, activate the Warrior Stone, and sleep in a bed to obtain the Rested Effect or Lover's Comfort effect. If the Dawnguard add-on is installed, obtain and equip the Aetherial Crown. The Lover Stone can be used as an alternative to the sleeping effects, if, for instance, the Dragonborn is a lycanthrope. The Transmute Mineral Ore can be used to convert Iron Ore to Silver Ore, then Gold Ore. Despite time and Magicka costs, it significantly improves yields while simultaneously raising the Alteration skill and Smithing skills. Smithing two gold rings from one gold ingot, enchanting them, and then selling them for profit will increase the Smithing and Enchanting skills simultaneously, as well as leveling the Speech skill and making a profit for the Dragonborn. This can be repeated infinite times. When improving an item at a grindstone or workbench, the Fortify Smithing yields additional experience as well as improve the sale value of the item being improved. Blacksmiths and general goods merchants sell iron ore inexpensively in small amounts. All mines and Dwemer ruins provide raw materials for Smithing, such as Dwemer artifacts and scrap metal; making Dwarven armor and weapons from this scrap is one way of quickly leveling Smithing, although this tactic is only effective with the Dwarven Smithing perk. The ingot yield to weight ratio, from least to most weight, is: Piece Ingot yield Large Dwemer Plate Metal 2 3 Bent Dwemer Scrap Metal 2 3 Solid Dwemer Metal 25 5 Large Decorative Dwemer Strut 15 2 Large Dwemer Strut 20 2 Obtaining the Prowler's Profit active effect allows for a steady supply of precious gems, which can be used to forge valuable jewelry. If Dawnguard is installed, smithing arrows also raises Smithing. One very efficient way of increasing Smithing is to smith Dwarven bolts (Dwarven Metal Ingot + Firewood=10 bolts). This can only be done after the Dwarven Crossbow is unlocked in the quest line offered by Sorine Jurard. Nchuand-Zel is an excellent source of Dwarven Metal, as it has much of it (300+ per run), and is fairly close to a smelter. (This has the added bonus of providing huge amounts of crossbow ammo, which may be sold for pure profit or kept and used with any crossbow.) A fast way to buy supplies in order to make items on the forge is to make sure to go to both forges in Whiterun, Warmaiden's, and the Skyforge. Remember to not only buy from Adrianne, who is outside of Warmaiden's on the forge for most of the day, but to also go inside the shop and buy from her husband Ulfberth War-Bear. Making Dwarven Bows is a fast method to level up the Smithing skill. Making multiple gold jewelry will level Smithing up quickly. Note: The fastest possible way to increase Smithing is to clear Mzulft and collect all of the Dwemer items. Every piece respawns in a day, allowing for continuous free Dwarven Ingots. To get Iron Ingots, one can clear Halted Stream Camp and mine all of the veins. There should be roughly forty-eight ore. The veins regenerate after thirty in-game days. Craft Iron Helmets until Smithing ranks up to 30, then spend a perk point on Dwarven Smithing. Afterwords, smith Dwarven bows. After the Smithing levels up past level 60, one can quickly gain profit and experience by improving the bow at a grindstone.

Trivia

• As a Combat skill, Smithing is affected by the Warrior Stone and, as all skills, by the Lover Stone.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Smithing (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following: Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

•  PC   360   After improving a weapon at a grindstone, the red and green totals, that indicate the damage increase or decrease, may only register the weapon's base value prior to being improved.
  • Solution: To resolve this, either equip another weapon, or un-equip the current weapon.
•  PC   360   PS3   Minor cosmetic glitches may occur during the armor selection window when a Smithing station is activated.
•  PC   360   PS3   Smithing stations fail to activate. The view switches to third person and stops, but after a second or two, movement restores and the crafting menus do not appear.
  • Solution: Reload previous save.
  •  PC (Fix)   Use the console command player.tai.

See also

• Skills
• Ore
• Ingot
• Crafting

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• The Elder Scrolls Online