Locke reveals a few tips to make your Skyrim journey more enjoyable!

As mentioned in my review, Skyrim is made for people to get lost in, to wander around and explore. However, the giant open world can be a bit intimidating, especially for those unfamiliar with the Elder Scrolls games and controls. Thankfully, you've all got me to lend a helping hand with some of the wisdom I've picked up after 50+ hours of gameplay! The following are some of the tips I've found most important for new players in making the game curve a little less difficult.

These three Guardian Stones will increase the learning speed of a set of skills by 20%

1. There are three alignments: Which do you favor?

Skyrim has 18 skills with over 200 perks between all of them, but in an average run-through, you'll only get 50-70 of them. How do you want to play? I find that the game rewards specialization over hybridization. If you have basic healing potions (alchemy; thief), decent heavy armor (heavy armor; warrior), and apprentice destruction spells (destruction; mage), you're going to run out of magicka and potions and be slaughtered. Compare that to the “thief” who levels Smithing (warrior) to 70+. Now this thief gets access to some fantastic armor and weapons (glass), but also specializes in Sneak, with perks that give a damage modifier. Suddenly, backstabbing with a dagger does 15x damage, or with a bow does 6x. Enemies can be one-shotted or, if they get to you, you're still well-equipped to finish them off. Another important factor is in learning skills; between Riverwood and Whiterun there is an area with three "Guardian Stones," one of which can be active at any time. Each one will increase the learning rate of its alignment's skills by 20%; it's recommended that before leveling a certain skill, you visit these stones!

2. Do NOT pick up everything.

There is no broom dungeon, for the love of Akatosh, don't pick up everything you see! A basic character has 300 lbs. of weight to hold; after that point, they move super slowly (note: every time you increase stamina, you get +5 to this limit). Find the most lucrative items and leave the rest. Anything enchanted is a good call: if you don't want to sell it, you can disenchant it for its magical properties to be put on another item. Anything super common and generic, like lanterns, pots and iron items, just leave them. Also, good tip: you can pick up items but not put them in your inventory with E button on PC (or A on Xbox 360). If you find a “container” like a skeleton bone, you can place items inside it and carry it back to the entrance or a dungeon to avoid the over-encumbered penalty.

Shouts are worth it for their value, but also for the hilarity of throwing NPCs across the screen

3. FOS RO DAH!

While the main story isn't mandatory (at least immediately), I highly recommend doing it up through the Greybeards' quest because it explains and unlocks some of the unique “Shout” mechanics in the game. Say you play a primarily melee character (like mine). Magic? Bah, who has time for that? But Shouts give you an additional tool outside of melee attacks and potions when it comes to attacking and crowd control. There are a lot of Shouts in the game, but the main storyline gives about half of them; the first one you'll fully unlock is FOS RO DAH, which throws enemies onto their backs, giving you several free hits. Or leads to hours of hilarity, as shown in this video.

4. Enemy levels and Power leveling.

Bethesda has released an official proclamation that enemies will level as you do. BUT (and this is a major BUT), it is nowhere near as extreme as in Oblivion. First of all, some enemies will naturally be stronger than others; generally speaking, at higher altitudes (ie, on mountain-tops) enemies will be much stronger than those at lower altitudes. And when you enter a cave/fort/crypt, the enemy level is set compared to your current level; so the boss will be a few levels above you and the enemies around where you are. Knowing this, you can manipulate the system; travel far and wide while at a low level, and the when you revisit an area, the enemies will be a lower level than when you entered. But this also deters you from power leveling... unless you want to. Crafting skills especially can be power leveled...

Smithing and enchanting can both be powerleveled, and are useful for all builds

A. Smithing: In Whiterun, there are three vendors who sell ore and leather. They reset within 48 hours (on PC, put “T” and then choose 24 hours twice). Using these vendors, buy the ingots, ore, leather, and leather straps and make Iron Daggers and Hide Helmets to boost Smithing. Hold on to these items for the next part...
B. Enchanting: In Whiterun Hold, the keep of Whiterun, there is an Arcane Enchanter. Assuming you have a weapon that can be disenchanted, do so, and enchant all the items from smithing. Use soul gems to create enchanted items, and sell them; if an iron dagger sells for about 20 gold, an enchanted one sells for about 100. As long as you have soul gems (an easy requirement from the wizard vendor right near the arcane enchanting area), you can level smithing and enchanting congruently.
C. Alchemy: Alchemy is much slower but can be manipulated. Every 48 hours, the shop's stock will reset, allowing a player to purchase more ingredients for a potion. One of the earliest potions learned is Blisterwort and Wheat, creating a healing potion; players can use this for a useful potion or experiment to find better potions. Recipes are also available sporadically from the trainer.

More Tips on Page 2.