The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Cheats, Tricks, Glitches, and Exploits

If you're enjoying The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as much as we are, you'd probably like to know the game has a few tricks up its sleeve that'll take your experience further. Granted, many of these glitches were unplanned, but the outcome can be interesting. In addition, the cheat / trick list below should help you out.

Glitches / Exploits:

Note that not all of these glitches will always work - there's a good chance Bethesda might eventually patch them out of the game. Also note that this section is for beneficial glitches, not bugs that cause frustration for the player. 

An Enchanting Weapon: You'll need 100 in enchanting for this one to work. Go to an enchanting table and select a soul gem. Next, choose a weapon enchantment. Select the fortify enchantment, then de-select and select it again. Your weapon should now fortify your enchant skill. 

Arrows Everywhere: Notice how you're constantly seeing guards standing in place, shooting at targets with their bows? Pickpocket one of them and take all their arrows. Replace those arrows with an arrow that you want more of. Next, stand by the target and grab the arrows they've fired. 

Backwards Up The Mountain: Having trouble getting up a mountain? Face back and start jumping. Sometimes you can also get up by facing the obstacle at a forty five degree angle. 

Becoming A Better Healer: Skyrim could use more healers, you know. Go to High Hrothgar, then go towards the path leading up to Parthurnax. Move forward just enough to start taking damage from the blizzard that blocks the way, then start healing yourself. Keep doing this as much as you desire. 

Buckethead Thievery: Take one bucket. Lift it up and place it over the head of a shopkeeper. Make sure there's no one else in the shop. Since they can't see you, you can now steal to your heart's content. 

Combat For Dummies: After Helgen's attacked by a dragon, you can choose to enter the keep with either Ralof or Hadvar. It doesn't matter which you choose- they're both invincible. See where I'm going with this? Attack them to your heart's content. They will neither die nor turn hostile, and you'll still gain experience by striking them. 

Duplicate Books: NOTE: With the recent patch, this glitch is no longer functional. Attempting to do it will simply lock up your bookshelf, preventing you from accessing it. [You'll need a house with bookshelves for this one to work. Activate your bookshelf, and put the book you want to duplicate on it. Leave the menu, then immediately activate the bookshelf again. Loot the book; then exit the menu. The book should then appear on the bookshelf. Rinse and repeat.]

Easy Pickpocketing: Go to the jail in Riften, and find Maven Black-Briar's son. Pickpocket all of his stuff off of him. Then replace it. Repeat as many times as necessary. 

Free House: In Whiterun, go to the Thane's assistant at night (when he's in his room) and ask to buy a house. Once you agree to pay, quickly exit the conversation and throw all your gold into his nightstand. He should give you the key without taking the gold. 

Horses Hate Physics: Buy a horse. They can climb mountains. Seriously. 

Infinite Oghma Infinium: This glitch requires you to have completed the quest “Discerning the Transmundane” from Septimus Signus, and it's actually rather difficult to do - particularly since Bethesda is attempting to fix it with the latest patch. Once you've completed the Signus's quest, Hermaeus Mora will give you his artifact, the Oghma Infinium. Do not read it. Instead, save your game, then find a container and open it. While the container is open, read the book, then quickly store it after you've selected a path. If you've done this correctly, you should be able to pick up and read the book again. 

Mannequin Duplication: Place any apparel onto a mannequin in a house you've purchased. Exit your inventory, then activate the mannequin and take the item back. Leave the house, and return. Voila! The item should be on the mannequin right where you left it.  Note that this doesn't always work- you may need to try a few times to get it right. 

More Doors To Oblivion: Southwest from Winterhold, you'll find a location known as “Sightless Pit.” Nearby, there should be an altar with a skeleton on it. Beside the skeleton is a book titled The Doors Of Oblivion. Take it; then kill the skeleton. Loot it again, and you'll notice it'll still have a copy of the book. It's only worth 50 gold apiece, so you might be better off attempting some of the other duplication glitches. 

Simple Speech: In Riften, speak to the Dunmer Ungrien. Ask him about Maven Black-Briar, then select the “persuade” option. The persuade option will not disappear as it normally should. Guess what that means? You can select it as many times as you want, upping speech as much as you desire. 

Sneak Your Way To Success: When you encounter the bear in Helgen's keep, sneak behind it, and sneak into the wall close to the bear. You should be able to simply move in place without the bear detecting you.  

Restocking Merchants Through Violence: Buy or sell something from a merchant. Save your game, and kill them. Then load the game, and the merchant's stock and gold should both be renewed. Alternatively, you could just wait a few days…

Quick Conjuration: Get a horse, and repeatedly use Soul Trap on it. It won't harm the horse, but it will up your conjuration.

Who Needs Lockpicks?: Want that shiny new sword, but don't have the skill to unlock its display case? In lieu of using the developer console, you can still acquire it. Walk up to the case, and look directly at the item through the glass. Activate the display case to enter the lockpicking minigame, then back out of it and immediately activate it again. If you've done this correctly, you should be able to nab the item without having to unlock the case. 

Easter Eggs:

No known easter eggs for this game yet. If you know any, let us know!

Tips / Tricks:

NOTE: Skyrim's a huge game, so expect this section to be updated with more stuff. 

Avoiding Death By Gravity: Quickly toggle sneak on and off while sliding down the side of a mountain. If done right, you should be able to hit the ground without dying. Unfortunately, there's no saving you if you simply jump off. 

Dragon Claw Solutions: Not sure how to open that dragon claw door? Go to the claw in your inventory, then rotate it so you're looking at the bottom. The solution for the puzzle can be found there. 

Easy Gold In Riverwood: Chop wood for Hod. There's no limit to how much you can chop, or how much he'll pay you for. 

Fast Travel While Over-Encumbered: If you want to fast travel, but you've got too much stuff on you to do so, simply get on your horse. You did buy a horse, right? 

Filthy Pickpocket: Find a trainer. Pay them for training. Then pickpocket them and take your gold back.

Save Skill Books For Later: If you want to take a skill book but don't really want to read it quite yet; simply have your follower pick it up.