Smithing is one of those skills that can seriously drag some ass in Skyrim, yet many character types benefit greatly from its effects and it can be a necessity on higher game difficulties.
Smithing isn't just for the average two handed oaf; it can be daunting when joining factions like the Dark Brotherhood or Thieves Guild only to learn that the great looking armor set that you just picked up can't be tempered without the Arcane Blacksmith perk, level 60 can seem a very long way away...
Perhaps you're the kind of player that enjoys playing in some of the weaker armor sets or using a weapon that doesn't benefit from any of the smithing perks like Dawnbreaker?
It's certainly late in the day for Skyrim, but I'd like to talk you through a very profitable and dare I say even enjoyable smithing run that I've been using on some of my most recent characters.
Alftand Ruined Tower
I've mentioned this location countless times. Alftand Ruined Tower is one of the best destinations in Skyrim for increasing the smithing skill for a number of reasons...
- It's very compact, we aren't talking about a sprawling ruin filled with danger, the tower is small and very poorly guarded.
- The materials gathered here will perfectly fill your own inventory and your companions. There's little point in choosing a huge ruin to salvage when you can't even carry all the materials home.
- It re-spawns after just 10 days.
- There are 2 Silver ingots and 1 Gold Ingot for every run which opens up some bonus jewelry making to boost smithing further and some additional profit. It even has several Iron Ingots so you can begin crafting as soon as you return to a town.
- Three chests! One apprentice, one adept and one expert every time you visit, holding bonus materials and magic items to set your character up.
For this run you're obviously going to need the Dwarven Smithing perk so that you're ready to make some dwarven bows with your haul.
During the early levels Alftand Ruined Tower is home to just four Dwarven Spiders. Two Spiders will hop out of the pipes close to the entrance so make sure your character is capable of handling these pests. The other two Spiders spawn at the lower exit long after you've picked up all the loot that the tower has to offer.........we're going to ignore these two spiders completely as killing them will result in the area being 'cleared' which we want to avoid at all costs.
A cleared area will take a massive 30 days to respawn, an uncleared area will take just 10. Given that we want to be able to promptly return to this location for more loot it's best to simply clear the room just after the flamethrowers and then run back to the upper entrance and exit the same way you came in.
WARNING: At around level 15-16 a Dwarven Sphere will begin patrolling the mid levels of the tower to slow down your run a little. Not the most powerful foe but certainly one to be ready for.
The Profit
After using a smelter to break down all the dwarven junk, Alftand provides around 80 dwarven ingots for each run which translates to 40 Dwarven Bows worth around 100 gold each. A cool 4000 gold profit as well as a very healthy boost to Smithing. If you're carrying spare gems in your inventory you should obviously use up the silver and gold ingots to make the most expensive rings and necklaces you can manage.
Any magical items can also be sold, disenchanted or kept if you need them.
The total profit is likely to be in the region of 5000 Gold for every 15 minutes you spend doing this run. That includes waiting for 10 days (takes 2 minutes on Xbox - remember to switch to the dashboard to speed up the waiting process)
A good destination for trading is obviously Riften due to the large number of merchants. Riften is home to the smith Balimund who will soak up all the dwarven bows you make in return for even more smithing training, he's an expert trainer in the skill. Thieves or Assassins may prefer to offload on to Grelka instead to train the Light Armor skill for some much needed defense.
Additional Notes
I was doing this run with my dark brotherhood assassin and found that taking the dwarven smithing perk didn't feel entirely comfortable with my character type. But you can sometimes 'justify' taking the dwarven smithing perk by including certain items in your build if you're the kind of person who selects perks for optimum RP.
For a Dark Brotherhood assassin, the Dwarven Black Bow of Fate is definitely one such item. It looks amazing with Dark Brotherhood armor with its sinister glowing runes and it's obviously....black.
Another very underused item is actually the Gauldur Blackbow. From level 19 the Gauldur Blackbow shifts into the rare 'Supple' nord bow damage range, it is in fact the only Supple Ancient Nord Bow in the game that can tempered and it uses the dwarven smithing perk. A surprisingly strong choice.
Smithing is one of those skills that can seriously drag some ass in Skyrim, yet many character types benefit greatly from its effects and it can be a necessity on higher game difficulties.
Smithing isn't just for the average two handed oaf; it can be daunting when joining factions like the Dark Brotherhood or Thieves Guild only to learn that the great looking armor set that you just picked up can't be tempered without the Arcane Blacksmith perk, level 60 can seem a very long way away...
Perhaps you're the kind of player that enjoys playing in some of the weaker armor sets or using a weapon that doesn't benefit from any of the smithing perks like Dawnbreaker?
It's certainly late in the day for Skyrim, but I'd like to talk you through a very profitable and dare I say even enjoyable smithing run that I've been using on some of my most recent characters.
Alftand Ruined Tower
I've mentioned this location countless times. Alftand Ruined Tower is one of the best destinations in Skyrim for increasing the smithing skill for a number of reasons...
- It's very compact, we aren't talking about a sprawling ruin filled with danger, the tower is small and very poorly guarded.
- The materials gathered here will perfectly fill your own inventory and your companions. There's little point in choosing a huge ruin to salvage when you can't even carry all the materials home.
- It re-spawns after just 10 days.
- There are 2 Silver ingots and 1 Gold Ingot for every run which opens up some bonus jewelry making to boost smithing further and some additional profit. It even has several Iron Ingots so you can begin crafting as soon as you return to a town.
- Three chests! One apprentice, one adept and one expert every time you visit, holding bonus materials and magic items to set your character up.
For this run you're obviously going to need the Dwarven Smithing perk so that you're ready to make some dwarven bows with your haul.
During the early levels Alftand Ruined Tower is home to just four Dwarven Spiders. Two Spiders will hop out of the pipes close to the entrance so make sure your character is capable of handling these pests. The other two Spiders spawn at the lower exit long after you've picked up all the loot that the tower has to offer.........we're going to ignore these two spiders completely as killing them will result in the area being 'cleared' which we want to avoid at all costs.
A cleared area will take a massive 30 days to respawn, an uncleared area will take just 10. Given that we want to be able to promptly return to this location for more loot it's best to simply clear the room just after the flamethrowers and then run back to the upper entrance and exit the same way you came in.
WARNING: At around level 15-16 a Dwarven Sphere will begin patrolling the mid levels of the tower to slow down your run a little. Not the most powerful foe but certainly one to be ready for.
The Profit
After using a smelter to break down all the dwarven junk, Alftand provides around 80 dwarven ingots for each run which translates to 40 Dwarven Bows worth around 100 gold each. A cool 4000 gold profit as well as a very healthy boost to Smithing. If you're carrying spare gems in your inventory you should obviously use up the silver and gold ingots to make the most expensive rings and necklaces you can manage.
Any magical items can also be sold, disenchanted or kept if you need them.
The total profit is likely to be in the region of 5000 Gold for every 15 minutes you spend doing this run. That includes waiting for 10 days (takes 2 minutes on Xbox - remember to switch to the dashboard to speed up the waiting process)
A good destination for trading is obviously Riften due to the large number of merchants. Riften is home to the smith Balimund who will soak up all the dwarven bows you make in return for even more smithing training, he's an expert trainer in the skill. Thieves or Assassins may prefer to offload on to Grelka instead to train the Light Armor skill for some much needed defense.
Additional Notes
I was doing this run with my dark brotherhood assassin and found that taking the dwarven smithing perk didn't feel entirely comfortable with my character type. But you can sometimes 'justify' taking the dwarven smithing perk by including certain items in your build if you're the kind of person who selects perks for optimum RP.
For a Dark Brotherhood assassin, the Dwarven Black Bow of Fate is definitely one such item. It looks amazing with Dark Brotherhood armor with its sinister glowing runes and it's obviously....black.
Another very underused item is actually the Gauldur Blackbow. From level 19 the Gauldur Blackbow shifts into the rare 'Supple' nord bow damage range, it is in fact the only Supple Ancient Nord Bow in the game that can tempered and it uses the dwarven smithing perk. A surprisingly strong choice.
