The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Available on: Xbox 360, PC, PS3

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim beginner's guide

Need help building your Dragonborn? We got you covered

Words: Daniel_Acaba on November 10, 2011

It is time to once again delve into the land of Tamriel - Skyrim has arrived! It’s taken awhile but the fifth entry in The Elder Scrolls series is finally here in all its glory. Much has changed in the land of Tamriel which means there is a lot to learn even for long time veterans of the series. Almost everything from the ground up has been tweaked or redesigned to create a more action-packed sword and sorcery experience. With blade in one hand and sword in the other it’s time to take on the hordes that stand between your hero and his destiny...

Above: And also, lots of dragons

There is a lot of ground to cover here so let’s get right into it. As usual, this guide is put together for newbies of the game, and is meant to help them out with many of the various intricate systems in this title. While veterans of the older games might find some information to aid with the transition to the new mechanics of this title, newer players will gain the most out of this. With that said, if you have any suggestions or tips you would like to share with the GamesRadar community, please use the comment section below to enlighten your fellows.

To battle!

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Platforms:

Xbox 360, PC, PS3

Topics:

beginner's guide, guide, PC, PS3, The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, walkthrough, Xbox 360

52 comments

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Bansheebot - November 10, 2011 6:28 p.m.

World of "CYRODIIL"!!!!!1111?!~!!???!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE -IT'S TAMRIEL YOU IGN'RNT BAG OF FLESH.
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jax1293 - November 10, 2011 6:32 p.m.

hes right though its tamriel cyrodill was where the imperials live in oblivion
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theycallmegep - November 10, 2011 6:43 p.m.

Just to let you know... "As is par for the course, the player gets to pick from a wide variety of races. However, this is more important than ever before as there are no classes, birth signs or even stats. You’re going to want to pick your class very carefully. " "...there are no classes..." "...pick your class very carefully." Just pointing it out, otherwise good stuff...I love all the skyrim content you guys have posted!
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codzprc - November 10, 2011 6:52 p.m.

Daniel was obviously rushed on this article. The Cyrodill thing is still funny, though. Decent read.
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D0CCON - November 10, 2011 7:04 p.m.

I always make two characters in Elder Scrolls games, a sword and/or magic character and a stealthy character. In Oblivion, the sword/magic character was a High Elf and the stealthy character was a dark elf, so I think I'll go for a Breton battlemage and a Khajiit stealth character this time (especially since he'll be able to wear armor now!)
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theycallmegep - November 10, 2011 7:16 p.m.

wait i lied...there are tons of typos...oh well
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D0CCON - November 10, 2011 7:29 p.m.

Actually, I'm not sure if I want Khajiit or Wood Elf (I was actually a wood elf, not a dark elf in Oblivion). I'd like to try something new, but Wood Elf did work pretty darn good.
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Ultimadrago - November 10, 2011 8:21 p.m.

Thanks a TON Daniel! This is a good guide. I should help others a ton. I'm reading through it all myself despite Oblivion experience to get a heads-up on the improved systems and perks!
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Kyo - November 10, 2011 8:30 p.m.

Nice guide, though I find it hard to decide who I should believe in the end.. IGN's guide had this "Tough and hardy, they make great heavy warriors. Their famed battlecry makes them the toughest races" for Nords... You have them as one of the weakest and a light armor class.. what the hell? lol This ruined my entire plan O_O
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ninjaemperor - November 10, 2011 8:51 p.m.

Damn, this is insane!
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OD-Apache - November 10, 2011 10:09 p.m.

I missed out on the series as a whole (spare me), so from an absolutely fresh perspective, how much will I miss out on backstory and history if I picked this up? I made the mistakes of playing Dragon Age 2 and Witcher 2 before their earlier installments, and the thing hardest for me was to grasp the world(s) as a whole. I would constantly ask, "Who the hell are you?" every time I met a seemingly important NPC, or worse yet I wouldn't even have a clue where I was, what country I was in and boundaries the world had. I love back story and history in anything with fantasy, so it's a must. I can only afford a single game until Mass Effect 3, so if I can just jump in on this I'll do it, but if I miss out on so many things that I wouldn't understand half of what I was seeing, I'll get Oblivion. Thoughts?
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RamenChimera - November 10, 2011 10:39 p.m.

I don't have Skyrim yet, but no Elder Scrolls game has required much backstory. You'll learn the lore in game and all that for what you need to know. The stories of the games connect, but only loosely.. Characters don't carry over or anything. Different countries, different people, different times even. So I don't think it would be a big problem. And come on, it's Skyrim... I'd get it if I were you.
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misfit119 - November 11, 2011 1:17 a.m.

Argh! Dammit all! Proofreading you fail me again. out back to commit seppuku.
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misfit119 - November 11, 2011 1:19 a.m.

If we're being really picky it should be Nirn since Cyrodil is just a continent, not the world. But who nitpicks?
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misfit119 - November 11, 2011 1:21 a.m.

Here's the thing, IGN's guide is using the old stats to describe some of the races. This is no longer a factor. Nords are no longer raging beasts full of HP due to having high Stamina. In this they're almost designed to be like Viking Berserker types, wearing light armor so they move quickly with a pair of axes and chop fools to pieces. My Nord is hell on wheels wielding two enchanted Orcish war axes and wearing a set of Scaled Light armor. Battlecry is overrated - all of the abilities are actually. The Shouts are infinitely stronger.
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misfit119 - November 11, 2011 1:23 a.m.

The Wood Elves make FANTASTIC stealth characters. I'm playing one to do the guides since their bow skill makes dragon hunting much, much easier. The Khajiit are pretty awesome in this one but I think the Wood Elf is by and far the best for combat stealth.
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misfit119 - November 11, 2011 1:24 a.m.

This takes place two hundred years after the last games, no prior knowledge is necessary. Plus the game explains all of the relevant stuff like the Emperors, dragons and basically everything else. If something confuses you there's probably an in game book that explains everything.
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Person5 - November 11, 2011 2:49 a.m.

Well Cyrodil is a country or region, Tamriel is the continent, I'm just glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that
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deedob - November 11, 2011 4:34 a.m.

Yeah, as those comments say, Cyrodil is not the "world". Cyrodil is the name of the imperial province. Morrowind is the name of the province ruled by the dark elves. Skyrim is the name of the province ruled by the nords, which is located just north of Cyrodil and west of Morrowind. "Tamriel" is the name of the continent where the provinces are located, one for each race (Skyrim - nord, Summerset Isle - high elves, Morrowind - dark elves, Cyrodil - imperials, Black Marsh - argonian, Elsweyr - Kahjit, and the Breton and orc province whose name i forgot and where Daggerfall is.) To the best of my knowledge, the name of the "world" itself has never been mentionned in any of the Elder Scrolls game (though i have not played Redguard, BattleSpire and the mobile version of Oblivion). But the continent is Tamriel.
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