Skyrim gives you an enormous amount of freedom, but that freedom also makes it very easy to make mistakes that can quietly ruin your early game.
Some of these mistakes make combat harder than it needs to be, some waste valuable perk points and some may even get useful NPCs killed and lock you out of certain quests forever.
So if you’re starting Skyrim for the first time, or returning after years away, here are 15 common beginner mistakes you should avoid.
1. Falling into the Level Scaling Trap
Skyrim uses a level scaling system, meaning that most enemies level up alongside you. Now, while this can keep things challenging it can also become a major trap due to the way in which experience is gained in Skyrim – through leveling up your skills. The most important detail being that experience gained is the same for both combat and non-combat skills.
So let’s say you spend hours grinding non-combat skills such as Lockpicking, Enchanting and Speech before heading out on your adventures. Seems like a sensible approach… but it’s really not. You will then leave town only to realise that due to the levels you’ve gained via non-combat skills your enemies are now borderline invincible.
To avoid this, take a more balanced approach and level at least one combat skill alongside your crafting so you can actually handle scaled enemies.
2. Building a Jack of All Trades Too Early
This leads neatly into the next mistake: trying to do everything at once. Skyrim lets you use any skill at any time, which is great – but spreading yourself too thin early on will leave you with a weak, unfocused build. New players often throw perks everywhere: a bit of One-handed, some Destruction, a touch of Illusion, a point in smithing… and suddenly you’ve got a bunch of low-level skills and nothing that actually does any real damage.
In reality, despite the freedom offered, the game is balanced around having at least some level of specialisation – especially outside the lowest difficulties. If you try to master everything too early, you miss the power spikes that come from focusing on one skill, making combat feel sluggish and unrewarding.
Instead, pick a primary combat style (or two) and invest your early perks there. Once those core skills are strong, then start branching out for there.
3. Wasting Your Perk Points
The previous tip is doubly important when you consider that while skills level quickly early on, they slow down a lot later. That means perk points, which you gain at a rate of one per level, become harder and harder to come by. Early game, they feel abundant—but that doesn’t last, so wasting them can really hurt your build.
Resetting perks isn’t easy either. You can either Legendary a skill by maxing it out and resetting it – which takes a long time – or use the Dragonborn DLC system, which requires finishing the DLC and spending a dragon soul to refund the perks in a particular tree. Neither option is quick or convenient.
Because of that, it’s worth having at least a rough plan. Focus your early perks on your main combat skills instead of spreading them everywhere, otherwise progression becomes slow and unrewarding. I you don’t then you’ll delay unlocking the most impactful perks and miss out on the power spikes, and the satisfaction, that come with them.
4. Neglecting a Ranged Option
Regardless of your build, you should always have some form of ranged option available. Skyrim will regularly push you into ranged combat, especially with dragons, but also with enemies positioned on walls or out of reach. You can close the gap or wait for dragons to land, but that’s not always reliable. In towns, for example, dragons sometimes stay on rooftops, and while guards will eventually kill them, it can take a while—and important NPCs can die in the process (potentially locking you out of quests).
To avoid this, carry a ranged weapon or learn basic destruction spells like Firebolt or Ice Spike early on, and actually use them so they’re effective when needed. If you have the Dawnguard DLC, crossbows are a great option as they’re available early and deal strong damage without perk investment. Shouts are another overlooked tool too; Dragonrend forces dragons to land, while Unrelenting Force can stagger enemies or knock them off ledges, which is incredibly useful in a pinch.
5. Forgetting to Use Shouts and Racial Powers
A lot of new players completely forget to use shouts, despite them being a core part of the Dragonborn’s toolkit. It’s understandable and I did the same on my first playthrough. Skyrim throws a lot at you, and it’s easy to fall back on weapons or spells while ignoring the shouts you’ve unlocked. It’s true that some are underwhelming, but others are incredibly strong and even game-changing when used properly. Elemental Fury, for example, massively boosts your attack speed and can turn you into an absolute monster with melee weapons.
The same goes for racial powers. Some are forgettable, but others are extremely powerful. For example, an Orc’s Berserker Rage doubles your damage while also halving incoming damage, which can easily swing a boss fight, while a Breton’s Dragonskin absorbs magicka and can save you from being overwhelmed by spells. They can only be used once per in-game day, so save them for the right moment, but do actually use them. They can make a huge difference, especially on higher difficulties.
6. Hoarding Consumables Forever
Many RPG players fall into the habit of hoarding potions and never using them. I do it myself – saving everything for the “perfect” moment that never comes, only to finish the game with dozens of unused potions sitting in my inventory.
In Skyrim, consumables are everywhere, and you can craft your own through Alchemy, so there’s no reason to hold back unless something is genuinely rare. Potions can easily turn a tough fight in your favour, whether it’s using fire resistance against mages or a fortify damage potion to push through a dungeon that’s slightly above your level.
7. Messing with Giants
However, no amount of potions will save you from one particular early-game mistake: picking a fight with giants. You’ll run into them wandering the plains, herding mammoths, and it’s easy to assume they’re just another enemy, but they’re really, really not. Giants have a static level of around 32, which makes them incredibly hard to tackle as a low level character.
If you try to fight them, you’ll quickly get what one of my YouTube commenters called an introduction to the “Skyrim space program” – a hilarious bug where you’re launched into the sky. Honestly, while you should avoid them in general until you get to a higher level, you should absolutely save your game and try it at least once. It’s basically a rite of passage.
8. Forgetting to Save (Often!)
Speaking of which, nothing is more frustrating than clearing a dungeon, dying to a boss or trap, and realising your last save was an hour ago. New players often rely too much on autosaves, but those mainly trigger when entering new areas. If you’re out exploring, you can go a long time without one—and lose all that progress in seconds.
Get into the habit of saving manually. On PC, quicksave is F5, and you should be using it often, especially before tough fights. Regular saves will save you a lot of frustration. Beyond that, how much you want to “save scum” is up to you – but constantly reloading every failed pickpocket is where I’d personally draw the line.
9. Rushing Straight Through the Main Quest
Mistake number nine is rushing straight into the main quest. There’s nothing wrong with that if it’s what you want, but as a new player you might not realise how many other options you have. The game pushes you toward the main story early on, especially around Helgen, but Skyrim really shines when you slow down and explore. If you follow the main quest blindly, you’ll miss out on side quests, guild storylines, and hidden adventures that bring the world to life.
There are also downsides to progressing too quickly. After killing your first dragon during “Dragon Rising,” random dragon attacks start happening across Skyrim. Towns can be attacked, NPCs can die, and travel becomes more dangerous. On higher difficulties, it’s also worth building your character up before tackling tougher encounters like dragons or the infamous troll on the way to High Hrothgar. The trade-off is that without unlocking dragons, you won’t gain access to shouts, so it’s a choice you’ll need to make for yourself.
10. Over-Encumbering Yourself With Low-Value Items
No matter what you do, you’re going to find a lot of loot, due to the fact that Skyrim lets you pick up almost everything. The problem is that new players often grab anything that isn’t nailed down: weapons, tankards, pelt – until suddenly you’re over-encumbered and moving at a crawl. At that point, you can’t run or fast travel, turning a quick exit into a slow, frustrating walk.
To avoid this, be selective. Focus on items with a strong weight-to-value ratio like potions, gems, jewellery, and lighter gear. It also helps to recruit a follower early so they can carry extra items, and get a house to store anything you want to keep but aren’t using yet. Otherwise, you’ll end up dumping useful gear in some random dungeon just to be able to get back out before you die of old age.
11. Stealing Without a Fence to Sell To
Another common mistake is going all-in on stealing as soon as you realise how easy it is (basically breaking into shops and houses at night and grabbing everything in sight). The problem is, until you unlock a fence by joining the Thieves Guild, you’ve got no way to actually sell stolen goods. That means they just sit in your inventory, weighing you down. Worse still, if you get caught committing any crime, guards will confiscate EVERY stolen item you’re carrying, potentially wiping out thousands of gold.
The best fix is simple – join the Thieves Guild and use a fence. There is a workaround for some items tough, as if you use stolen materials to craft something like a weapon or potion, the final item isn’t flagged as stolen. Therefore, you can effectively launder goods through smithing, alchemy, enchanting, or cooking. So if you do go on a crime spree early, target the crafting material and turn your stolen items into something you can actually sell.
12. Accidentally Killing Your Followers
Skyrim doesn’t have to be a solo adventure. You can recruit followers like Lydia or Faendal early on, and they’re incredibly useful for both combat and carrying your gear. Just be aware that you can accidentally murder them.
It happens all the time. You’re in a chaotic fight, throwing out spells or swinging wildly, and suddenly your follower is caught in the crossfire. The problem is many followers aren’t essential NPCs, so once they’re dead, they’re gone. It’s even worse if they were carrying valuable loot, as you’ve now got to haul it back to town (see my early weight:value tip!).
You can of course avoid this by being more careful in combat, watching your swings and avoiding area damage, but that can make things feel restrictive. A better option is to recruit an essential follower like the vampire Serana, who can’t die no matter how messy the fight gets.
13. Accidentally Becoming a Vampire
On that topic, don’t accidentally become a vampire yourself, as this is entirely possible in Skyrim. You fight a few vampires in a dungeon, think nothing of it, and then suddenly sunlight burns, NPCs avoid you, and garlic becomes an utterly terrifying prospect (I made that last one up).
What’s happened is you’ve become infected with Sanguinare Vampiris, a disease that turns you into a vampire over three in-game days. It’s subtle, so it’s easy to ignore until it’s too late. If you do miss that early window, curing it becomes much more involved. Of course, being a vampire has its upsides (some strong abilities) but also major downsides like weakness to sunlight and fire, and NPCs refusing to interact with you.
To avoid it, cure the disease early with a potion, shrine, or hawk feathers. If you miss the window, you can still cure full vampirism later through a quest in Morthal, but it’s a lot more effort.
14. Being Too Proud to Adjust the Difficulty
This one isn’t really about mechanics – it’s more of a mindset. A lot of new players stick to Adept difficulty out of pride, even when they’re struggling, or bump it higher thinking it’ll offer a better experience. In reality, higher difficulty in Skyrim mostly just makes enemies tankier and you more fragile, rather than adding meaningful challenge.
Skyrim is meant to be enjoyable, not a grind. If you’re dying repeatedly or an encounter feels frustrating, lower the difficulty (even temporarily). Likewise, if things feel too easy, turn it back up. The scaling isn’t perfect, so adjusting difficulty when you hit an awkward spike just makes sense. Treat it as a tool and focus on having fun.
15. Don’t HARM THE CHICKENS!
Finally, we arrive the single biggest mistake you can make: attacking a chicken. It sounds ridiculous, but this is the fastest way to turn a peaceful village scene into a angry mob baying for your blood.
New players often assume chickens are just another harmless source of food, so they take a swing—and immediately regret it. Touch a single feather on it’s precious little head and the whole town will come after you like you’ve committed a war crime. Forget dragons, you’ll instantly become the most hated thing in Skyrim. If you don’t believe me, try it in Riverwood. Just don’t expect it to end well.
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