Skyrim - Smithing Perks

Smithing is the Combat crafting skill in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and its ten perks decide which materials a smith can forge and how far existing gear can be pushed. The skill itself only sets the ceiling. Without the matching perk, a material tempers at roughly half the rate, and several sets cannot be crafted at all.

Every perk in the tree traces back to Steel Smithing, the only one with no level requirement. From there the tree splits into two paths that both end at Dragon Armor. The light route runs through Elven Smithing, Advanced Armors and Glass Smithing and reaches the top one perk point sooner. The heavy route runs through Dwarven Smithing, Orcish Smithing, Ebony Smithing and Daedric Smithing, and ends with the stronger weapons.

Arcane Blacksmith sits apart from both. It unlocks no recipes and doubles nothing, but it is the only way to temper an enchanted item, which makes it close to mandatory for any character carrying quest rewards or their own enchanted gear.

Nord, Redguard and Orc characters begin with a five point head start in the skill, and the trainers worth knowing are Ghorza gra-Bagol in Markarth, Balimund in Riften and Eorlund Gray-Mane at the Skyforge in Whiterun.

What Each Perk Opens

Each material perk opens a set in the base game and often more in the add-ons. Steel Smithing covers Steel gear, and with the Dragonborn DLC it also covers Bonemold armor. Elven Smithing opens Elven gear and, on Solstheim, Chitin armor.

Advanced Armors opens Scaled armor and Steel Plate armor. With the Dragonborn DLC, it also opens Nordic Carved armor and the Nordic weapons. Glass Smithing opens Glass gear, and the Saints and Seducers Creation hangs its Amber gear on the same perk.

On the heavy side, Dwarven Smithing and Orcish Smithing open their own sets. Ebony Smithing opens Ebony gear, Stalhrim gear from the Dragonborn DLC and Madness gear from Saints and Seducers. Daedric Smithing opens Daedric gear and the Creation's Golden and Dark sets.

Dragon Armor sits at the top of both branches. It opens Dragonplate and Dragonscale armor, and with the Dawnguard DLC it opens Dragonbone weapons too. It can be reached through either Glass Smithing or Daedric Smithing.

Improving with Perks

A material perk does more than unlock recipes. It also makes every improvement on that material much stronger. A Glass weapon, for example, reaches Superior quality at 22 Smithing with Glass Smithing, but needs 31 without it.

That makes the perk worth taking even for gear that was found rather than forged. A found Ebony sword improves far better once Ebony Smithing is taken. The same rule covers armor at a Workbench.

On enchanted gear, the material perk still works alongside Arcane Blacksmith, so an enchanted Daedric weapon improves best with both perks. Fortify Smithing potions and Fortify Smithing apparel push the quality higher still.

Raising Smithing

Forging items at a Forge gives the largest skill gains. Improving gear at a Grindstone or Workbench also raises the skill, based on how much value the improvement adds.

Five skill books raise Smithing once each. They are The Armorer's Challenge, Cherim's Heart of Anequina, Heavy Armor Forging, Last Scabbard of Akrash and Light Armor Forging. With the Dawnguard DLC, Gunmar at Fort Dawnguard joins Eorlund Gray-Mane as a master trainer.

Several quests give a free point. Oengul War-Anvil in Windhelm rewards the return of Queen Freydis's Sword. Ghorza gra-Bagol in Markarth asks for the book Last Scabbard of Akrash. Rustleif in Dawnstar wants a copy of Night Falls on Sentinel. Finding Rjorn's Drum for the Bards College raises every combat skill, Smithing included.

Two lasting bonuses speed up training. The Warrior Stone makes combat skills, including Smithing, rise faster. The quest Unfathomable Depths grants Ancient Knowledge, which raises the rate of Smithing gain further.

All Smithing Perks