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The Smithing Formula
Transmute Mineral Ore
Trainers and Boosts
Crafting is a big part of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. The three skill groups each have their own crafting skill, and the one for combat is Smithing. Smithing allows players to build and improve weapons, armor, and jewelry, and the more points players have in this skill, the more stats players can add to these items.
Every player should spend some time Smithing, since the extra attack and armor can boost most Skyrim builds, and the extra gold made from selling items is good for every character. This guide will explain how to boost the Smithing skill as fast as the game allows.
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The Smithing Formula
The three tools that use and improve the Smithing skill are grindstones, workbenches, and forges. Anvils also count as forges. Players can gain Smithing experience by using the improvement tools, but the fastest way to improve the skill is by crafting new items in a forge.
Each item players create comes with a flat experience reward, along with a variable reward based on the finished item's value. The flat bonus means that players can get Smithing experience more efficiently by crafting a lot of cheap items instead of a few expensive items. This is especially true of items in the same material category: players get more experience from crafting five daggers or 50 nails with five iron ingots rather than using them to craft one iron armor.
Jewelry is another useful way to boost Smithing. Gold and silver apparel items are very valuable, and unlike most armor and weapon types players don't have to get any Smithing perks to make them. The only trouble is getting enough gold and silver ingots to make a lot of rings, but there's a surprisingly easy way to solve that problem.
Transmute Mineral Ore
Skyrim has a spell called Transmute Mineral Ore, also known as just "Transmute" in the spell list. Transmute is an Alteration spell that converts iron ore into silver ore and silver ore into gold ore. Note that this spell only works on ores and not on finished ingots. Players can then use a smelter to turn gold ores into ingots and turn those ingots into gold rings.
Blacksmiths sometimes sell iron ore, but ingots are more common. Instead, players should find one of the many iron mines in Skyrim and mine the ore themselves. In fact, there's one iron mine that includes a guaranteed copy of the Transmute spell tome.
Go straight north from Whiterun to find a bandit camp called Halted Stream Camp. Its location is right at the edge of the mountain range. The camp outside guards an iron mine the bandits use as their hideout, and it includes plenty of iron ore veins and a few pickaxes. The lower area of the mine has a raised area where the bandit leader sits, and the Transmute Mineral Ore spell tome is on the table in front of them. Transmute is an Adapt-level spell, and while it costs a lot of Magicka, players can learn and cast the spell immediately.
RELATED: Skyrim: Best Alteration Spells, Ranked
Trainers and Boosts
Skyrim has four Smithing trainers.
- Ghorza gra-Bagol, the Orc blacksmith of Markarth (up to 50).
- Balimund, the Nord blacksmith of Riften (up to 75).
- Eorlund Gray-Mane, the Nord blacksmith who tends the Skyforge of the Companions in Whiterun (up to 100).
- Gunmar, a Nord whom players can recruit into the Dawnguard with the right DLC or the newer editions (up to 100).
Players can start the game with +5 in Smithing if they choose a Nord, Orc, or Redguard character.
There are several ways to boost the experience gain for Smithing. As a combat skill, Smithing gets a 20 percent experience boost when the Warrior Stone buff is active, and players can get a 15 percent boost on top of that by sleeping for at least 8 hours in a bed in the same house as the Dragonborn's spouse. Without the spouse, a good bed provides 10 percent, and a sleeping roll provides 5 percent.
If players complete the quest "Unfathomable Depths" (find the Argonian From-Deepest-Fathoms on the Riften docks after level 14), they get a permanent 15 percent bonus to Smithing experience. However, this bonus is bugged, and players may need to get the unofficial Skyrim patch to fix this.
Smithing on its own can make players far more dangerous by giving them access to high-end armor and weapons at a fraction of the usual cost. It's also a great way to make money from relatively cheap items like ingots and leather. But be careful not to improve Smithing too quickly, because random encounters in Skyrim look at the player's overall level and not just their combat skills.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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