The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim maybe showing its age, but it's a fundamental part of the open RPG genre. One of Bethesda's masterpieces, it features an incredible hand-crafted world full of quests, secrets, dungeons and iconic NPCs. In many ways, Skyrim is more of a sandbox than a good RPG. There is a lot of freedom to explore and interact with some of the game's unexpected, quirky and whimsical features.
Skyrim: The 32 Best Two-Handed Weapons (And Where To Get Them)
The world of Skyrim is filled with two-handed weapons. Here's a look at some of the absolute best available and how to get them.
From fun, magical weapons to strange ways to level up, beyond the usual cycle of questing and leveling up, you've got plenty of weird stuff to do in Skyrim. Whether you're a veteran who has spent hundreds of hours in the game, thousands even, or a newcomer just discovering the game for the first time, exploring some of the wildest things you can do in this game is a rite of passage.
Advanced fishing tactics
Call your catch out of the water
Yes, yes, fishing is an in-game mechanic in 2026 Skyrimbut why settle for using a basic fishing rod when you can use your cool and unique Dragonborn abilities? The answer is obvious. Style over substance, always.
Just equip your standard Unrelenting Force shout, and you can not only kill but send the fish flying out of the water, making them easy for you to pick up and cook or sell in the Whiterun market for a coin or two. Perfect way to continue being a hero even when you're not looking for and fighting dragons.
Level up with the help of a horse
Taste your horse and develop skill
If you struggle to level quickly, especially on higher difficulties, there are some cool ways to do this. You can cast some mass recovery spells in tight spots in cities, but if you don't feel like leveling up recovery and want to strengthen your raw combat skills, be it archery, two-handed, or one-handed, just find yourself a horse.
Activate the Warrior Stone for an additional 20% XP boost, then go to town and start banging. Why does this work? Because the horses in Skyrim are built differently and can take a lot of beating compared to most creatures.
Become a werewolf
Surface to the moon in your beast form
Who wants to be in a smelly human form when you can be a massive, hairy beast of a creature? If you agree, you will want to join the Companions faction, located in Whiterun. It will take some hard work before you can complete the ritual and turn into a werewolf.
You can switch once a day, but be very careful and responsible with your newly acquired power, because turning on regular civilians or city guards will freak them out and get you a reward. If that's not your jam, you can always heal yourself at the end of the Companions questline as well.
Collect A Collection Of Cheese Wheels
We love cheese!
It wouldn't be a Bethesda game without some object physics stuff. Console commands let you play a whole stack of cheese wheels just for the heck of it, or if you're more of the diligent, collecting type, you can also just loot the world slowly and methodically while adventuring and storing your cheeses in your home.
Think how much food there is! And who doesn't love cheese? Your potential move-in spouse may be concerned about the mountain of cheese wheels, but as a Dragonborn, your will is the law of Skyrim, and if you choose cheese, it shall be cheese.
Kill your companion
The non-essential ones, at least
We have all experienced this at least once. We recruit a companion, go on some adventures, and suddenly become aware that they are gone. Then the search starts. You might find their bodies in the depths of a dungeon, when they tanked ten Falmers for you while you were busy beating a boss or looting a chest. Or you may never find them anywhere again.
Skyrim: Most Powerful Weapons, Ranked
Skyrim gives players many options when it comes to weapons, but which ones should they choose? Here's a look at the strongest picks.
That's because some companions are inconsequential, so when they die, they're gone for good. Thankfully, most of the really interesting ones are unstoppable and will only fall in a sticky situation.
Climbing A Mountain With A Horse
The horses are really made differently in Skyrim
So we've already established that horses are great training dummies for improving your fighting skills, but they're also the best vehicle in Skyrim when it comes to getting around, well, pretty much anywhere. Skyrim's horses are not limited by the laws of physics.
They can scale some pretty impossible cliff faces, including the huge mountain in the middle of the map, all the way to High Hrothgar. It may take some time and planning, but it's much more interesting than taking the usual route from Ivarstead. Plus, it's cooler.
Annoying Essential NPCs
Test the patience of these immortal characters
As mentioned with companions, some characters in Skyrim are marked as essential. This means that no matter how much you hit them with a sword, they will stay alive, so the game's most important quests don't break before you've actually completed them.
But what it also means is that you can endlessly annoy these NPCs and lure them into attacking you, leading them into epic fights against enemies far away from their usual location. Why not lure Ulfric into a dragon fight? Or Brynjolf to protect you from guards who are after your reward?
Being sent into the atmosphere by a giant
Sign up for the Skyrim Space Program
Giants are one of the most terrifying enemies in the game. They are large and provide unmatched power. A smack is pretty much and instakill from them, so it's best to take them out from afar if you're after their prey and the mammoths they herd.
That said, it's practically a rite of passage in this game to run into these guys once and get sent into the atmosphere during kill cam. Thanks Talos, for the kill cam, honestly, because it's made for some fun moments and screenshots over the years.
Use buckets for stealth
Now you see me, now you don't
Suffering from some monetary problems i Skyrim? Tired of running around doing quests and looting just to afford some potions or soul gems? I know you. Luckily, with just a bucket or basket as a tool, you can rob pretty much any vendor in the entire province.
Throw that thing on your head and go to town in their store. Soon enough, you won't have to worry about affording that nice house in Solitude and Markarth, with all the house upgrades you need. This trick really works for any stealth mission, so be sure to always have the game's most powerful stealth item in your inventory.
Hardcore Parkour
Markarth is your jumping ground
Skyrim has some verticality, yes, but nothing like that Cyberpunk 2077. Still, if you're a fan of parkour and want to test your skills, head over to Markarth and see how high you can climb without taking the regular route.
It's the best city for this, and you might discover places you never thought you could reach. Bonus points if you have Whirlwind Sprint equipped, which lets you move horizontally even further while blasting your way through the city's stone structure.
