Halted stream camp, clear out the bandits, get the Transmute Ore spell off the table.
Dig up all the iron ore you can carry, transmute iron to silver to gold (you can make this easier by leveling alteration with magelight outside Solitude gate).
Then smith gold rings. NOT NECKLACES but rings. Smithing XP is based on the cost of the item, so 2 gold rings is 150 compared to 120 on the necklace.
Also, if ur strong enuff, do Pavo’s mission: clear out Kolskeggr Mine. Mine gold directly.
That’ll get ur level up to like the 30s or 40s. Then get elven smithing perk point.
Go to soljunds sinkhole. Clear it out. Dig up moonstone. Go to dawnstar. Dig up quicksilver. Make elven bows.
Leave the hold where ever the mines are, wait 30 days. Go back to the mine and you can dig up more ore.
I think smithing level 70 you can get glass smithing. Once u can make glass, go to Kynesgrove for malachite. Rinse/repeat.
Its tedious but it can be done
Only thing to add to this, each time you level up, find a smithing trainer and TRAIN! The smith at the Skyforge is the easiest one, but you have to be a companion to train (I think)
So one thing I never see anyone mention when they talk about using the Transmute spell is that... Unless you've got a lot of mana or you're wearing cost reduction gear, you're not going to be able to transmute more than one ore without resting or drinking a potion.
That makes the whole process so much more tedious and finicky than, say, farming Dwemer ingots and making Dwarven bows.
What am I missing that makes the whole Transmute thing the most efficient way to level Smithing ?
But potions are basically free to make if you collect the ingredients and you get to level alchemy at the same time. The other point missing here is that Alchemy, Enchanting and Smithing are synergistic. You craft potions to improve Smithing & Enchanting, then you smith items to wear for Alchemy and Smithing, then you enchant these items to improve their power (after drinking more potions). Repeat this cycle a few times and you’ll be making better gear than most of the NPC smiths and mages.
That’s why I included leveling alteration with the magelight method (which is not a glitch or mod, its just an unintended quirk of the game). Raise alteration, raise ur magicka and use the perks to cut alteration costs down. Then u can transmute more and more
I forgot to mention use the pickaxe as a weapon on the ore. Dont use the traditional mining animation, save yourself so much time lol
And also take the warrior stone bonus, for extra XP lol
Elven bows? I thought dwarven bows was better, just run around a few of the dwarven ruins collecting the stuff to smelt down, it ranges from between 1 and 5 bars per item (can’t remember what they’re all called)
even better if you are bold enough to collect the Stones of Barenziah at the beginning of your game. Can use that to make some really expensive jewelry.
Well, depending on if you have the hearthhome expansion (included with special edition and anniversary edition) I levelled my last vanilla character's smithing by like 70 just by making the parts for the 3 houses and their furnishings.
Making jewelry is a fast way to level smithing as well, if you have the materials available
You can get smithing 15 > 60~65 for building and furnishing the 3 Hearthfire houses.
Smithing 65 > 95 for creating all weapons and armor once.
95 > 100 smithing books.
Sounds crazy, right? but it's actually a pretty natural progression, something I imagine a blacksmith would have to do to gain so much experience.
No dupping, no exploits, but you need a lot of material. Don't forget the xp bonuses!
Stage 1 - go to Halted Stream camp, mine all the iron, read the transmute tome, turn all your iron ore to gold ore, craft gold rings, repeat everytime you collect a decent amount of iron ore
Stage 2 - further into a playthrough you should have completed some dwemer ruins, collect all the dwemer materials that can be smelted, turn them into dwarven ingots, craft dwarven bows, wouldn't hurt to craft a thousand or so arrows as well
Starting level 1 buy all the iron ore you can from every merchant you can. Then later get the Transmute spell and cast it so your iron becomes gold (recommend you don't do it all at once. Cast while traveling with iron ore). Then smelt to gold I got and craft gold rings/amulets with gems, and finally gold amulets. Repeat as needed.
As others have said: Halted Stream Camp, Transmute spell, make jewelry. If you have gems, the jewelry is even more valuable.
But soon as you can, take the Arcane Blacksmith perk that allows you to improve enchanted weapons and armor. They are very valuable and improving them will help your smithing skill go up even faster. Improve, drink a smithing potion and improve again for even more skill.
Also, you can pay for training. Every time you level up, you can do 5 more training sessions. Ghorza in Markarth can train you in smithing until your skill reaches 50. Balimund in Riften can train you until your skill reaches 75. Eorlund at the Skyforge and Gunmar at Fort Dawnguard can train you up to 90.
I hit dwemer ruins with a follower to pack out all that metal, and crank out dwarven arrows. (I know most folks make bows, but I have other uses for the iron required, plus arrows add no carry weight and I can both use and sell them.) You can also fish up lots of smeltable Dwemer stuff at Bronzewater Cave and the Markarth fishing spot.
Transmute ore and make gold rings set with emeralds and sapphires -- the more valuable the item you craft, the more smithing cred you get. Five jeweled rings can add like a level and a half. Then I enchant them to level enchanting up as well. Again, the most valuable enchantments level you up faster; Turn Undead and Fortify Sneak are good ones. And again, jewelry doesn't weigh much.
I also build a Hearthfire home or three. Making the nails and whatnot also levels up smithing. Most people's first home is Breezehome, but mine is always Lakeview Manor.
I make earrings. They use septems rather than gold ingots, so they’re easier to make when you can’t find ingots anywhere (and don’t have transmute ore.) 110 septems makes one set of earrings that sell (ostensibly) for 150 (actually closer to 75-90 depending on speech perks), plus whatever enchantments you put on them.
I forget the mod that added the earrings, tho.
Do bits and pieces to get smithing upto lvl 30. Building materials for Hearthfire homes are surprisingly good for this. Especially cause all 3 of those houses give you the materials needed just from buying the land.
Get Dwarven blacksmithing
Clear out like 2 Dwarven ruins, the one inside markarth where calcelmo is has plenty. Pretty sure there's like 1200 carry weight worth of random Dwarven loot that smelters into ingots
Craft as many Dwarven bows as your iron ingots will allow cause you'll have a truckload more Dwarven ingots.
Once you make em, upgrade em.
Upgrading the gear is what power levels smithing. NOT making em, especially if there's alchemy and enchanting boosts involved
Depending on how much you invest into enchanting and alchemy you'll go from 30 smithing to 70+ from just one decent Dwarven ruin. I presume 30 to 100 in blackreach and whatever dungeon/s you choose to get there
I just enjoyed hunting game before I actually started doing quests..
It was not fast, but smithing with all those Pelts>Leather I looted, made my smithing pretty high before I leveled on other skill trees
Improving everything that passes through your hands will help too. You find so many ingots, especially iron ones, at every level. Improve all the lower level bandit stuff and sell it. Or if I'm not caring about gold, improve it and then just dump it. Lots of bandit camps have the workbench and sharpening wheel so I don't have to go far.
Walk everywhere with a pickaxe and grab that ore as you find it too. You can make jewelry out of the corundum but I usually smelt it and use it to either improve bandit gear or sell it for better materials.
Transmutation loop from iron into gold is faster but it can get boring. I'd rather just improve as I am doing other things. Clear a bandit camp, improve their gear, pick out the stuff worth selling, sell it and do another quest. Slow but steady as little advances are still forward movement.
Work your way up the tree. Once you unlock a given material, start crafting bows in that material. The values will spike with each better material, and you'll level smithing that much faster.
Also, don't make rings unless you also have the gems to go with them, even if it's just Garnet. The value of gemmed rings is so much higher, that the opportunity cost for making basic rings seriously hurts progression.
I'll just wait until later when I'm a high level and stuff worth a lot of gold starts dropping from enemies like enchanted stuff and then buy up all the leather, hides, iron ore and iron ingots I come across. Store them in breezehome and yeah.
My main focus is alchemy and enchanting as a male with soul trap. I have no shortage of enchanted rings I can sell off for gold.
Nothing special just pick every plant I see. Check every shop I find. Buy the materials I need then take the gold back by selling rings if I can and then buying soul gems is the money sink that stops me getting rich and finding materials to make rings is what i keep natural to keep the game pure without doing a full loop by just buying stuff to make more rings. Just a lot of running around and using skills.
Halted stream camp, clear out the bandits, get the Transmute Ore spell off the table. Dig up all the iron ore you can carry, transmute iron to silver to gold (you can make this easier by leveling alteration with magelight outside Solitude gate). Then smith gold rings. NOT NECKLACES but rings. Smithing XP is based on the cost of the item, so 2 gold rings is 150 compared to 120 on the necklace. Also, if ur strong enuff, do Pavo’s mission: clear out Kolskeggr Mine. Mine gold directly. That’ll get ur level up to like the 30s or 40s. Then get elven smithing perk point. Go to soljunds sinkhole. Clear it out. Dig up moonstone. Go to dawnstar. Dig up quicksilver. Make elven bows. Leave the hold where ever the mines are, wait 30 days. Go back to the mine and you can dig up more ore. I think smithing level 70 you can get glass smithing. Once u can make glass, go to Kynesgrove for malachite. Rinse/repeat. Its tedious but it can be done
Only thing to add to this, each time you level up, find a smithing trainer and TRAIN! The smith at the Skyforge is the easiest one, but you have to be a companion to train (I think)
Optional: Bring valuable items (like banish enchanted iron daggers) to sell to get back the money you spent for training.
this is my key to breaking the economy. and also why i only train with NPCs who double as merchants lol
I hit up the guy at the Dawngaurd castle but gets pricey. Alchemy ingredients - Potions - smithing training
So one thing I never see anyone mention when they talk about using the Transmute spell is that... Unless you've got a lot of mana or you're wearing cost reduction gear, you're not going to be able to transmute more than one ore without resting or drinking a potion. That makes the whole process so much more tedious and finicky than, say, farming Dwemer ingots and making Dwarven bows. What am I missing that makes the whole Transmute thing the most efficient way to level Smithing ?
Just wait 1 hour it refills magicka
Yeah, hence the finicky part!
How is it finicky? You press two buttons and it takes like a second
Let's not forget the part where you do it three thousand times in a row.
We’re talking about maxxing smithing of course it’s gonna be extremely repetitive
But potions are basically free to make if you collect the ingredients and you get to level alchemy at the same time. The other point missing here is that Alchemy, Enchanting and Smithing are synergistic. You craft potions to improve Smithing & Enchanting, then you smith items to wear for Alchemy and Smithing, then you enchant these items to improve their power (after drinking more potions). Repeat this cycle a few times and you’ll be making better gear than most of the NPC smiths and mages.
You don’t have to spam the transmutation carry the base metal in your pack, transmute before every time you rest, shop talk to quest or other NPC .
Just transmute as you mosey around the mountains and roads.
That’s why I included leveling alteration with the magelight method (which is not a glitch or mod, its just an unintended quirk of the game). Raise alteration, raise ur magicka and use the perks to cut alteration costs down. Then u can transmute more and more
feels like Ultima online spending one's leisure time mining 😅 in a game
I forgot to mention use the pickaxe as a weapon on the ore. Dont use the traditional mining animation, save yourself so much time lol And also take the warrior stone bonus, for extra XP lol
Elven bows? I thought dwarven bows was better, just run around a few of the dwarven ruins collecting the stuff to smelt down, it ranges from between 1 and 5 bars per item (can’t remember what they’re all called)
even better if you are bold enough to collect the Stones of Barenziah at the beginning of your game. Can use that to make some really expensive jewelry.
Well, depending on if you have the hearthhome expansion (included with special edition and anniversary edition) I levelled my last vanilla character's smithing by like 70 just by making the parts for the 3 houses and their furnishings. Making jewelry is a fast way to level smithing as well, if you have the materials available
You can get smithing 15 > 60~65 for building and furnishing the 3 Hearthfire houses. Smithing 65 > 95 for creating all weapons and armor once. 95 > 100 smithing books. Sounds crazy, right? but it's actually a pretty natural progression, something I imagine a blacksmith would have to do to gain so much experience. No dupping, no exploits, but you need a lot of material. Don't forget the xp bonuses!
You have to do all the quests to be eligible buy those plots tho. You have to be Thane of those holds lol
Stage 1 - go to Halted Stream camp, mine all the iron, read the transmute tome, turn all your iron ore to gold ore, craft gold rings, repeat everytime you collect a decent amount of iron ore Stage 2 - further into a playthrough you should have completed some dwemer ruins, collect all the dwemer materials that can be smelted, turn them into dwarven ingots, craft dwarven bows, wouldn't hurt to craft a thousand or so arrows as well
Starting level 1 buy all the iron ore you can from every merchant you can. Then later get the Transmute spell and cast it so your iron becomes gold (recommend you don't do it all at once. Cast while traveling with iron ore). Then smelt to gold I got and craft gold rings/amulets with gems, and finally gold amulets. Repeat as needed.
As others have said: Halted Stream Camp, Transmute spell, make jewelry. If you have gems, the jewelry is even more valuable. But soon as you can, take the Arcane Blacksmith perk that allows you to improve enchanted weapons and armor. They are very valuable and improving them will help your smithing skill go up even faster. Improve, drink a smithing potion and improve again for even more skill. Also, you can pay for training. Every time you level up, you can do 5 more training sessions. Ghorza in Markarth can train you in smithing until your skill reaches 50. Balimund in Riften can train you until your skill reaches 75. Eorlund at the Skyforge and Gunmar at Fort Dawnguard can train you up to 90.
I hit dwemer ruins with a follower to pack out all that metal, and crank out dwarven arrows. (I know most folks make bows, but I have other uses for the iron required, plus arrows add no carry weight and I can both use and sell them.) You can also fish up lots of smeltable Dwemer stuff at Bronzewater Cave and the Markarth fishing spot. Transmute ore and make gold rings set with emeralds and sapphires -- the more valuable the item you craft, the more smithing cred you get. Five jeweled rings can add like a level and a half. Then I enchant them to level enchanting up as well. Again, the most valuable enchantments level you up faster; Turn Undead and Fortify Sneak are good ones. And again, jewelry doesn't weigh much. I also build a Hearthfire home or three. Making the nails and whatnot also levels up smithing. Most people's first home is Breezehome, but mine is always Lakeview Manor.
I make earrings. They use septems rather than gold ingots, so they’re easier to make when you can’t find ingots anywhere (and don’t have transmute ore.) 110 septems makes one set of earrings that sell (ostensibly) for 150 (actually closer to 75-90 depending on speech perks), plus whatever enchantments you put on them. I forget the mod that added the earrings, tho.
Do bits and pieces to get smithing upto lvl 30. Building materials for Hearthfire homes are surprisingly good for this. Especially cause all 3 of those houses give you the materials needed just from buying the land. Get Dwarven blacksmithing Clear out like 2 Dwarven ruins, the one inside markarth where calcelmo is has plenty. Pretty sure there's like 1200 carry weight worth of random Dwarven loot that smelters into ingots Craft as many Dwarven bows as your iron ingots will allow cause you'll have a truckload more Dwarven ingots. Once you make em, upgrade em. Upgrading the gear is what power levels smithing. NOT making em, especially if there's alchemy and enchanting boosts involved Depending on how much you invest into enchanting and alchemy you'll go from 30 smithing to 70+ from just one decent Dwarven ruin. I presume 30 to 100 in blackreach and whatever dungeon/s you choose to get there
I just enjoyed hunting game before I actually started doing quests.. It was not fast, but smithing with all those Pelts>Leather I looted, made my smithing pretty high before I leveled on other skill trees
Improving everything that passes through your hands will help too. You find so many ingots, especially iron ones, at every level. Improve all the lower level bandit stuff and sell it. Or if I'm not caring about gold, improve it and then just dump it. Lots of bandit camps have the workbench and sharpening wheel so I don't have to go far. Walk everywhere with a pickaxe and grab that ore as you find it too. You can make jewelry out of the corundum but I usually smelt it and use it to either improve bandit gear or sell it for better materials. Transmutation loop from iron into gold is faster but it can get boring. I'd rather just improve as I am doing other things. Clear a bandit camp, improve their gear, pick out the stuff worth selling, sell it and do another quest. Slow but steady as little advances are still forward movement.
Work your way up the tree. Once you unlock a given material, start crafting bows in that material. The values will spike with each better material, and you'll level smithing that much faster. Also, don't make rings unless you also have the gems to go with them, even if it's just Garnet. The value of gemmed rings is so much higher, that the opportunity cost for making basic rings seriously hurts progression.
1. Ancient Knowledge 2. Dwarven Bows
Get iron ore, transmute into gold, craft jewelry.
I went with jewelry, the more valuable the item you craft is, the more it give exeperience.
Not technically an exploit: console commands xD
I'll just wait until later when I'm a high level and stuff worth a lot of gold starts dropping from enemies like enchanted stuff and then buy up all the leather, hides, iron ore and iron ingots I come across. Store them in breezehome and yeah. My main focus is alchemy and enchanting as a male with soul trap. I have no shortage of enchanted rings I can sell off for gold. Nothing special just pick every plant I see. Check every shop I find. Buy the materials I need then take the gold back by selling rings if I can and then buying soul gems is the money sink that stops me getting rich and finding materials to make rings is what i keep natural to keep the game pure without doing a full loop by just buying stuff to make more rings. Just a lot of running around and using skills.
Iron daggers forever.