Skyrim: Some helpful things to find early on

[damon8r351]

I'm leaving this here for people to find, being that Skyrim is getting a PS4 release. It's some things I've found around Skyrim that can be obtained early on in the game through some uncomplicated quests that don't require you to do anything crazy like join a faction. Nothing like a free ebony greatsword though, these are some permanent passive abilities to help you get a leg up on the competition early on.

 

1. 7 Free Levels Of Archery Training. This is good for practically anyone who plans on using a bow as a backup weapon, but especially if you're using a character race that doesn't start out with a bonus to the Archery skill, like a Nord or an Orc. All this requires out of you is a bit of walking, some politeness, and the ability to follow directions. Leave Riverwood through the west gate and follow the road. The lake you're walking past is Lake Ilinalta, and far out in the middle on an island is the Lady Stone, which grants you a boost to your health and stamina recharge rates. A useful alternative to the three Guardian Stones if you'd rather certain skills didn't grow faster than others. Ignore that for now and continue west down the road, until you see a road branch off in a general southerly direction. Follow this new road until you reach the north gate of Helgen. Enter, take care of any bandits inside, then head west through the former town through an archway that leads you to a new road heading west toward the town of Falkreath. Head down the road for a bit, you'll know you're heading the right way when you pass a cabin named Pinewatch. You'll eventually see a wooden bridge over the road guarded by more bandits, take care of them and then look for a pile of stones just east of the bridge marking a dirt path that branches off to the south. Take this path as it crosses a stream and into a small bandit campsite, then continue along it as it winds back and forth up into the mountains in a general south and west direction. You'll eventually see a map marker for a cabin appear on your compass, head toward it. This is Angi's Camp, and is home to an archer who is wary of strangers. Be polite and listen to her story, tell her you don't know much about the bow, and she'll offer you some pointers. Pick up the bow and practice arrows you see near her door outside, then follow her to the range. Stand within the square on the ground, and follow her directions. Keep pestering her for training until she tells you that she can't teach you anything else. In the end, she'll give you 6 levels worth of Archery training absolutely free. Be sure to check inside her cabin for a skill book that you can read for one more level of Archery training.

 

2. Agent of Mara. This is a passive ability that is permanent, always active, and grants you +15% resistance to magic attacks. It stacks on top of any other boosts you gain through racial abilities, perks, equippable items, and shrine and standing stone blessings as well. The quest for this requires quite a bit of travelling, but not too much combat outside of what you might encounter out on the road. Head to the town of Riften via any chosen method (on foot, horseback, wagon out of Whiterun). Even the guards are crooked in Riften, so you might need to bribe or talk your way in. If your Speechcraft skill is about 20 or above, you'll probably be able to pass a persuasion check. Once inside, make a beeline for the Temple of Mara, which you'll find in the line of buildings to your left when you enter through the north gate of town (south gate is closed until you pass the bribery/persuasion check). Speak to Dinya Balu inside to receive your first objective: to travel to Ivarstead and resolve a marriage disagreement between a girl named Fastred and her parents. Ivarstead is to the west of Riften at the foot of the Throat of the World and fast travel is out of the question at this point unless you've been there before, so either walk or ride there. Follow your quest marker to find Fastred, who directs you to speak to her parents Boti and Jofthor. Speak to both of them by following your quest markers, then speak to Fastred's two suitors. To resolve the situation, tell Bassianus to elope, or tell Klimmek to be more bold, the choice is yours and there is no wrong choice. Watch the resolution to this, then return to Dinya Balu in Riften for your next objective: to travel to Markarth and help the Jarl's wizard Calcelmo win the heart of his love. Markarth is all the way on the other side of Skyrim, so you'll definitely want to take a wagon there from Riften. Once you arrive, follow your quest marker into the Understone Keep in the city. Speak to Calcelmo to learn that he is in love with Faleen, the Jarl's housecarl, but doesn't know what to say to her. He does know that she has a soft spot for poetry. Follow your quest marker to Yngvar the Singer, whom you may have passed earlier being grilled by a Vigilant of Stendarr near an abandoned house. Pay him 200 septims to get a poem from him, then take it directly to Faleen in the Keep, who can be found in the Jarl's throne room. She'll have you deliver a letter to Calcelmo, then follow him to watch the resolution to this. Return to Dinya Balu in Riften again to receive your next objective: to help two long dead lovers reunite. Travel to Gjukar's Monument out in the plains west of Whiterun after sundown to meet the ghost of Ruki, who is looking for her lover Fenrig. After you tell her that the battle she's referring to happened hundreds of years ago, she'll send you to look for him. Fenrig can be found via a quest marker to the east in the plains, just be careful not to get too close to any mammoths or giants. Speak to him, then return to Gjukar's Monument to witness the resolution to this. Return to Dinya Balu one last time to receive your reward. In addition, this quest is an easy way of getting an Amulet of Mara for free, which you'll need if you plan on letting your character get married.

 

3. Agent of Dibella. This is a passive ability that is permanent, always active, and grants you +10% extra combat damage to any humanoid enemy that is the opposite gender to your character's. It stacks on top of any other boosts you gain through racial abilities, perks, equippable items, and shrine and standing stone blessings as well. This requires travel to the Markarth area, some skill with Lockpicking, and a fair amount of combat. Travel to Markarth via any chosen method (foot, horseback, wagon). You should encounter a beggar named Degaine either in the market area near the gate, or inside the inn nearby. Give him a gold piece to make his mood a little less sour, then ask him about a possible money making opportunity. He sends you off to steal a statue from inside the Temple of Dibella. Follow your quest marker to the temple. You may want to wait to enter until about 6 to 7 pm for the crowd of possible witnesses to thin out. At this time of day, there should only be a single priestess named Senna inside. Head inside and into the back to find a locked door. Wait until the priestess's back is turned or her line of sight is blocked by a column (this is important, otherwise you risk receiving a bounty and her hostility), then begin picking the lock. It's an Expert-level lock, so bring a lot of spare picks and some patience. It is perfectly possible to pick this lock with a low Lockpicking skill, I did it with my skill at 18, it just takes a light touch and some patience. Once you get inside, head in and you'll be stopped by Mother Hamal. Let her know that all you wanted to do was see the inner sanctum, and she tell you that you'll need to serve penance by assisting them in finding their new Sybil. Your next objective leads you to the nearby village of Karthwasten, follow your marker to speak to a villager named Enmon to learn that the prospective Sybil candidate, his daughter Fjotra, has been kidnapped by the Forsworn and taken to Broken Tower Redoubt. Follow your marker there, and get ready for some combat, so you will want to take some healing potions and you may want to lower the game difficulty temporarily. The Forsworn at this early point in the game are suitably scaled to your level, but they still use magic spells, still know how to dual-wield, and are still laser accurate with a bow. Fight your way to the top of the tower, will you will meet a Forsworn Briarheart, which you will definitely want to temporarily lower the difficulty for at this early point in the game. Take a key off his body, and use it to open Fjotra's nearby cell. Escort her back to the Temple of Dibella in Markarth to complete the quest, then interact with the basin of water on the first floor to receive your reward.

 

4. Sailor's Repose. This is a passive ability that is permanent, always active, and grants you +10% additional effectiveness to your Restoration spells. In other words the Fast Healing spell, which heals 50 health, will now heal 55 health. It stacks on top of any other boosts you gain through racial abilities, perks, equippable items, and shrine and standing stone blessings as well. This quest features some tough combat (for a low level character) against Chaurus and Falmer, so bring plenty of healing potions. Head to the Honningbrew Meadery outside of Whiterun. At the crossroads there, head north past the Loreius Farm. Behind the farm high in the hills, you may find the Lord Stone, which grants you a boost in your defense to physical and magic attacks. Good to take note of that, and it may even be useful to you in this current quest. Continue heading north until you hit another crossroads. Take the road to your left and it will lead you in the general direction of the town of Dawnstar. You may want to have a horse here, since this area is infested with Frostbite Spiders and Ice Wraiths. You'll eventually come to a massive fort named Fort Dunstad straddling the road, you may want to skirt around this to avoid any unnecessary bandit fights. If you have the Dawnguard DLC installed and your character is still under level 10, you may want to look around to the west of the fort, where you'll find the still standing Skyrim headquarters for the Vigilant of Stendarr. Once the hold guards start namedropping the Dawnguard, this building will be abandoned and burned to the ground. Take advantage of whatever Restoration training you can afford from Keeper Carcette, then continue down the road. Keep an eye out to the side of the road to your right as you continue in the direction of Dawnstar, you're looking for a pedestal standing on top of a rock outcropping, that has a statue and shrine to Dibella on it. From this shrine, you'll want to head due east through a narrow valley until you see a symbol for a lighthouse on your compass. This is your destination, Frostflow Lighthouse. Inside, examine the dead bodies and various journals scattered around, then check the burial urn on the fireplace mantel to get a key to the basement. It's a good idea to save at this point. You'll definitely want to drop the difficulty as low as you can in here, and even then things might be a bit dicey because the recommended level for this area is about 15. The tunnels under the lighthouse are a Falmer hive, so expect to face Falmer and groups of Chaurus up to five at a time. Take advantage of the terrain as much as possible, look for spots in higher areas you can snipe enemies from a distance, use ranged attacks as much as possible, and try to take enemies on one at a time were possible. The final room here contains a Chauru Reaper, so you'll want to shave its health down from a distance as much as you can. Examine its body to gain a key and some human remains. You'll need the key to open the door to the upper reaches of the lighthouse, then place the remains in the brazier on top to get your reward.

 

5. Transmute Mineral Ore Spell. You can find the spellbook for this in the mine part of Halted Stream Camp, in the plains north of Whiterun. This spell will turn one piece of iron ore into silver ore, or one piece of silver ore into gold ore, if one of these things are in your inventory. It's an adept-level Alteration spell, so if your character is a warrior-type with only the starting amount of 100 magicka, it's going to drain a significant amount of your magicka for each casting. It prioritizes changing silver into gold first, so if you're trying to create 2 silver ore to create a silver ingot, you need to drop or store your first silver ore first. Why this spell is useful is that it turns cheap and plentiful iron ore into more expensive and rarer silver and gold ore, which can be used to create ingots and combined with the various gemstones you find to forge jewelry at a smithy. The Smithing skill grows faster if the item you're forging has a higher value, and jewelry is perfect for this. Jewelry can be sold at a profit, far better than just selling the raw gemstones, increasing your Speechcraft skill and improving your purchase prices at merchants. The jewelry can also be enchanted at an enchantment table, increasing that skill as well.

 

Finally, if you're still looking for your proverbial ebony greatsword for the early part of the game, head to Bloated Man's Grotto, preferably before you start the Ill Met By Moonlight daedric quest for Hircine out of Falkreath. You'll find this location west of Whiterun, in the mountains that separate Whiterun Hold from Falkreath Hold. You'll probably want to temporarily lower the difficulty, since there's vicious things like Spriggans and Cave Bears in here. Follow the path and you'll come to a shrine to Talos. Near it, you'll find a note and Bolar's Oathblade, a one-handed Akaviri katana with an enchantment that drains 25 points of stamina and causes enemies up to level 12 to flee for 30 seconds. The enchantment is built such that you can only use it 5 times before it requires a recharge, but the blade itself is stronger than any Iron, Steel, Orcish, or Dwarven one-handed sword you can find this early and this easily in the game. That is, until you advance far enough with The Companions faction to be able to buy Skyforge Steel swords, or start finding Elven Swords and higher. This sword disappears from this location however once you start the daedric quest for Hircine.

Edited September 21, 2016 by damon8r351

[MMDE]

Then there's leveling of magic through attacking horses over and over, and insane weapon modification with insane damage and extremely fast leveling through glitches.  Or speech skill glitches to max speech skill quickly.

Edited July 27, 2016 by MMDE

[damon8r351]

Exploiting glitches to power level takes the fun out of, you know, playing an actual game.

[-Dark Mark-]

I wonder if the invisible treasure chest in Dawnstar with respawning loot will be removed?

[damon8r351]

Transmute Mineral Ore spell, my go to method for making a quick septim. I added that.

[AbleArcher97]

I wonder if the invisible treasure chest in Dawnstar with respawning loot will be removed?

 

That's a merchant chest.  Merchant chests are what merchants draw the items they have for sale from.  Normally, they're supposed to be hidden underground or in some place where you can't access them.  Now, the chest in Dawnstar is just close enough to the surface that you can access it.  They won't be getting rid of it per se, but they might relocate it to somewhere where it can't be reached.