The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has become a legendary game in its own right, offering players a vast open-world adventure filled with dragons, dungeons, and diverse quests. One of the game’s key mechanics revolves around character progression through skills. Each skill corresponds to a particular combat style or playstyle, allowing players to customize their character’s abilities. However, players who reach the pinnacle of their skills face a challenge: what happens when a skill reaches its maximum level of 100? This is where the Legendary Skills system comes into play.
Introduced with Patch 1.9, the Legendary Skills mechanic in Skyrim allows players to “reset” skills at level 100, returning them to level 15, while converting the skill into a Legendary status. This process allows for endless leveling and deeper character customization. In this article, we will explore what Legendary Skills are, how they work, and the benefits of making your skills Legendary in Skyrim.
What Are Legendary Skills?
In Skyrim, skills are essential for building your character’s abilities. Whether you’re a stealthy assassin, a fierce warrior, or a powerful mage, you rely on your skills to define your combat tactics and gameplay style. Each skill, such as Archery, Two-Handed, Sneak, Smithing, or Alchemy, can be improved by performing related actions. For example, using bows will improve Archery, while creating potions will increase your Alchemy skill. Skills level up as you use them, and as they increase, so does your overall character level.
Skills normally max out at Level 100, which means that once a skill reaches this cap, you can no longer gain experience from using it. Prior to Patch 1.9, this would have limited the ability to continue leveling up, but the introduction of Legendary Skills removes this restriction.
A Legendary Skill allows you to reset a skill at Level 100, reverting it back to Level 15. When you do this, all associated perks (those points you’ve spent unlocking powerful abilities in that skill tree) are refunded, and you can spend those perk points elsewhere. This system enables players to effectively level up skills indefinitely, breaking the previous cap on character progression and allowing for an even greater level of customization and replayability.
How to Make a Skill Legendary
Turning a skill Legendary is a simple process, but it requires careful consideration, as resetting a skill comes with its own set of challenges. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make your Skyrim skills Legendary:
- Reach Level 100 in a Skill: Before you can make any skill Legendary, you must first max it out to Level 100. For example, if you’ve been improving your One-Handed combat skill by fighting enemies with swords and axes, you need to reach the maximum level before you can proceed.
- Open the Skills Menu: Once a skill is at Level 100, open the Skills menu (the constellation-like interface where all your skills are displayed).
- Select the Skill You Want to Reset: Highlight the skill that you want to make Legendary. You will see an option that reads “Make Legendary” once the skill has reached Level 100.
- Confirm the Reset: Once you confirm your choice, the skill will be reset to Level 15, and you will receive all the perk points that you previously spent on that skill.
- Re-level the Skill: After making a skill Legendary, you will need to re-level it from 15 back to 100 if you want to regain access to its most powerful perks and abilities.
The Benefits of Legendary Skills
While the idea of resetting a skill may seem counterproductive, making your skills Legendary comes with several advantages that help expand the gameplay and unlock your character’s true potential.
1. Infinite Leveling
One of the most significant benefits of making skills Legendary is the ability to continue leveling up your character. In Skyrim, your overall character level is tied to the progression of your skills. Each time you increase a skill, it contributes to your experience bar, eventually allowing you to level up. Without the Legendary Skills mechanic, you could hit a level cap once your skills reach their maximum, leaving you unable to improve further.
However, by resetting skills, you can effectively remove the level cap. Each time you make a skill Legendary, you can re-level it from 15 to 100, gaining additional experience points that contribute to leveling up your character even further. This allows you to continue earning perk points and increases your overall power.
2. Reallocating Perk Points
Another advantage of making a skill Legendary is that you receive all the perk points you originally spent on that skill back. This means you can redistribute those points into other skills. For example, if you initially invested heavily in Two-Handed combat but later decided to focus on Archery, resetting your Two-Handed skill and reclaiming those perk points would allow you to invest them in Archery instead.
This flexibility means you can experiment with different builds and playstyles without being locked into your early-game choices. Want to switch from a stealthy assassin to a magic-wielding battlemage? Resetting your combat-related skills and reallocating perk points into magic-based skills such as Destruction, Restoration, or Conjuration allows you to do so without starting a new character.
3. Increasing Challenge
Resetting a skill to Level 15 adds a new layer of challenge to the game, especially in combat scenarios. For example, if you’ve been relying on your maxed-out Archery skill to take down enemies from a distance, resetting that skill will make you less effective in combat until you level it back up. This forces you to adapt your tactics or rely on other skills in the meantime, adding complexity to your strategy.
The challenge of rebuilding a Legendary skill from scratch can breathe new life into the game, especially for players who have already completed most of Skyrim’s content. It makes the journey of leveling up more rewarding as you re-learn old skills and unlock powerful perks once again.
Which Skills Should You Make Legendary?
Not all skills are equally suited to being made Legendary, and the choice of which skills to reset will depend on your playstyle. However, here are a few general guidelines:
- Combat Skills: If your character relies on a particular combat skill (such as One-Handed, Archery, or Destruction) for survival, making it Legendary may make combat more difficult for a time. However, this also offers the greatest rewards, as combat skills tend to level up quickly and contribute more experience points.
- Crafting Skills: Skills like Smithing, Alchemy, and Enchanting are great candidates for becoming Legendary. Crafting skills tend to level up more slowly but offer massive benefits once maxed out. Resetting these skills allows you to re-earn perk points and continue crafting powerful gear.
- Stealth and Utility Skills: Skills like Sneak, Lockpicking, and Pickpocket can be safely reset with little impact on gameplay, especially if you don’t rely on them for survival. These skills are also relatively easy to level back up.
Conclusion
The Legendary Skills system in Skyrim adds a unique layer of depth and replayability to an already expansive game. By making skills Legendary, players can continue leveling up their characters indefinitely, reallocating perk points, experimenting with different builds, and enjoying new challenges. Whether you’re playing as a warrior, thief, or mage, mastering Legendary Skills can help you unlock the true potential of your character and extend your journey through the land of Skyrim.
As you continue to explore the many paths to power, the Legendary Skills system offers both veteran and new players the ability to experience the game in fresh and exciting ways. So go ahead—make those skills Legendary and push your Dragonborn to new heights of strength and mastery.
