OK, so in light of all the heated discussions on “balance” and the part that Smithing plays in that equation, I decided to do an experiment to see for myself just how quickly you can get Smithing to 100.

Conclusion: It took me making 574 Iron Daggers for my Smithing skill to reach 100. This also means that it takes 574 Iron Ingots and Leather Strips as well.

Also, by the time I hit 100 I had leveled up to Level 17.

I did NOT have the Well Rested bonus for faster skill increase in effect. Also, I had the Lord Stone bonus. (I cheated and used the console to place one behind Breezehome in Whiterun.)

I started with a save I have at Level 1 in Whiterun and my Smithing skill was at 15. I used the console and gave myself 1000 Iron Ingots and 1000 Leather Strips. (Note I started the experiment out using Iron Ore and Wolf Pelts until I discovered that neither Tanning or Smelting increases your Smithing skill. I wanted to simulate someone who was using raw materials and turning them into craftable materials.) I only made Iron Daggers, and each time my Level increased, I stopped and wrote down how many Daggers it took to reach that level.

Here's the level breakdown. (Keep in mind that the early levels go up VERY quickly, and I used no other skills to level. Everything was 100% Smithing.)

Discuss!

For the number crunchers here's a chart to look at:

L=Player Level, SL=Skill Level, DM=Daggers Made (ie, L-2, SL-20, DM-12 means that when I hit Level 2 my Smithing skill was at 20 and I had made 12 Iron Daggers.)

L-2, SL-20, DM-12
L-3, SL-27, DM-30
L-4, SL-31, DM-43
L-5, SL-36, DM-58
L-6, SL-41, DM-78
L-7, SL-46, DM-99
L-8, SL-52, DM-129
L-9, SL-57, DM-158
L-10, SL-62, DM-189
L-11, SL-67, DM-225
L-12, SL-72, DM-264
L-13, SL-77, DM-308
L-14, SL-82, DM-357
L-15, SL-87, DM-410
L-16, SL-92, DM-469
L-17, SL-97, DM-532
L-17, SL-100, DM-574 (I stopped at 100, and hitting 100 did not put me over the hump to level 18.)

Doesn't upgrading the equipment upgrade your smithing more then just making it? Would that have any effect on how many daggers it would require to reach 100?

I'm not sure, but I'll go find out real quick!

OK, I just made 3 Daggers and went from 15 to 16. I improved those Daggers and stayed at 16, but each time I improved one the indicator did move a little. It looks like roughly 1/3 the amount of skill increase for improving a weapon, as it gives you to craft a weapon which makes perfect sense to me. It's definitely NOT 1 to 1.

Ninjd by AhabShazami

Updgrades raise your skill less than making new iron daggers.

Interesting. It usually takes me about 450 to do it.

very interesting data, thanks for the info and taking the time to do it, very useful as im saving smithing enchanting and alchemy for latter levels when i hit the low levelling curve around 40-50

only one thing: factor in the well rested bonus; i mean watch when it wears off and go sleep again to keep it up

Good information to know. I had started smithing on my 3rd character and noticed the huge jump by improving my armor but my skill is quite low so thats probably why it was more noticeable. Thanks

doesnt it raise your level quicker using the skyforge? or is that just my imagination?

Is that ONLY making Iron Daggers, or including improving stuff or making other armors and weapons?

I totally didn't think of that, but I just checked and I did NOT have the bonus effect while doing my test. Thank you for mentioning that very much!

I just want to get to a high enough smithing skill to get the Arcane Smithing perk. So...I think I'll pay close attention to this thread.

What stOne did u have? Having warrior would lower it 20%. Being well tested would lower it even more.

Very little improving. I start collecting every Ingot and making every strip I can gather until I have 450. I then set down and craft all of the daggers at once. That is starting with a 15 skill. I am probably at 18 when I do this. I have done that for 3 of the last 5 characters i have played. The 450 is a general number. I remember once having to get close to 475 or so. No time has it taken anywhere close to 500.

EDIT : Ah yes...you guys are right. I was rested with the Warrior Stone.

Me too! I've got 3 characters going right now, and in all of them Smithing slows to a crawl after 60, lol. I haven't hit 100 on any of them yet, and I've logged 300+ hours.

Very interesting data. How long did it take in real time to reach the maximum skill level?

I have the Lord Stone. (I cheated and used the console to place one in Whiterun behind Breezehome.

If you have everything in front of you. I promise you it closer to three minutes than it is five. That is going from 15 to 100.

Not counting the time I wasted making Ingots out of Ore before I realized that didn't increase your skill, probably 30 minutes or so maybe. But I took the time to level up each time and write my numbers down.

i have to check if Warrior stone improves smithing, if not, the Lover would be my choice when doing it, along with well rested

The thing I would really like some discussion about is whether this skill is truly as overpowered and game breaking as it's detractors claim it is. What the numbers show me is that the only conceivable way to make this claim is that they have power leveled. In other words set out to intentionally raise the skill as high as they can as fast as they can. As the levels progress, it takes more and more daggers to gain more points. Also, this completely ignores the fact that if they are actually playing the game they will level a minimum of 1 or 2 more skills at the same time they are increasing their Smithing. So if you add in only 1 more skill, I think it's reasonable to conclude that they would be well into the mid 20's before their Smithing hit's 100. I personally think that's perfectly fine. Thoughts?

I agree. I don't think it is broken, from my viewpoint, unless you increase the skill to 400. 100 base skill, + Perk, 4 enchanted items and a high end potion that is actually 120%.

EDIT : I see no gamebreaking advantage just raising the skill to 100 at any speed at any level.

Maybe I'm not readying this right, but if you're only using the smithing skill and leveling up, shouldn't you level up every 10 skill levels? E.g. you level up from L2-3 by increasing the smithing skill from 20-27. How many skill increases does it take to increase a level?

That quick? I thought it would take much longer than that. Then again finding the ingredients is probably the most time consuming part.
You don't get levels every 10 skills like in previous games. In Skyrim your highest skills contribute more to leveling than lower skills, so a character who has a lot of skills at high level, won't level up as fast as the character for whom the smithing is the highest skill...

well if you cheat, yes you break the game anyway. but if you use only what you normally find, its a normal flow of leveling. if you hoard your mats, by the time you will start doing it you will be strong enough to recuperate the difference in mob scaling caused by the few levels you gain. but if you do it to early on, mobs that scale with level will destroy you, no matter how well you have improved your gear; even so, you can still attack weaker opponents and bounce back from it.

That I do not know. All I did was start making daggers, and when it told me to level up I checked how many daggers I had made and what my skill was in the level up screen. maybe the math guru's know the formula but I don't have a clue what the number is.