The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Character Building Guide: Minor Skills – Mining

With so many customization option given by the game, creating your character is not going to be too hard. We have taken a good look at each of the races available and understood that each one of them comes with its own strengths and weaknesses: some are better suited at being warriors while others are better at magic or stealth.

In creating your character and getting him or her ready for battle and adventure you’ll probably need some good understanding on how skills work. Skills determine your proficiency at everything that can be done in the world of Skyrim. Unlike previous The Elder Scrolls game, skills aren’t determined by the character class: the specialization of skills comes with the Perks system.

All Skills improve depending on the action you do: improving some of them can be somewhat tedious. There are other ways to improve skills without having to repeat some actions over and over: you can improve them by getting your hand on a Skill Book or find some Trainers who will help you improve specific skills.

Trainers can only train you five times per level: to get them to train you again you will have to raise you level. This limit doesn’t apply to a single trainer but to all: if you have already trained three times with a single trainer, you can only train two more times with another trainer. To start training again you will have to level up.

Some followers will also be able to train you: this actually comes with an advantage since you can get your money back by going through their inventory.

There’s also another trick to earn some good XP if you have the horse Shadowmere: this horse cannot be damaged by magic, direct and ranged attacks. Keep attacking him to earn some easy XP.

Mining

Mining is used to acquire the raw material needed for creating armor, weapons and jewelry. The only thing you need for mining is having a Pickaxe in your inventory which can be found commonly near mining points. While there are no skills involved for mining, it’s essential to mine as much as you can to build up the Smithing skills, which will make creating equipment pieces easier then before.

Once you have mined an ore vein, you’ll be able to mine there again only after a full month has passed inside the game. Sometimes while mining you’ll also be able to get some gems if you’re lucky enough: this is totally random so there’s no way to boost this.

• Types Of Ores

Corundum
Dwemer
Ebony
Gold
Iron
Malichite
Moonstone
Orichalum
Quicksilver
Silver
Geode