We want you to have the freedom to pursue one or all of the crafting skills, but we still want you to have interesting character development choices. All of the crafting skills are part of the overall skill system, so you’ll need to consider your options carefully when you spend a skill point. Should you put one more point into blacksmithing, or do you really want to learn a new two-handed weapon ability? While there are tons of skill points to earn, you’ll still have important choices to make. Crafting is useful from your first steps in Tamriel on, so it’s worth spending some time and points to level at least one skill.

You’ll notice that no two crafters are quite the same, especially smiths. Because you choose how many points and how much time you want to invest in a crafting skill, your character’s level doesn’t necessarily determine how “good” you are at crafting a particular type of item. Take a smith’s item traits, for instance. To learn one, you need to deconstruct an item with a trait for research. When research is completed, you can make that particular item with that trait on it. This takes longer as you research more traits for that type of item, so you’ll need to find a smith with the trait for the item you want—and that may not always be the highest-level crafter! It would take an incredibly long time to learn every trait for every weapon and armor piece.

With crafted items, you’ll be more prepared for battle: you’ll have great food and drink buffs, potions to give you an edge, and improved armor and weapons with traits and enchantments that suit your build in exactly the style you want. There’s a lot more, so we’ll leave you with a list of facts you may not have known—you’ll have to discover the rest on your own!