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Skills are the bread and butter ofSkyrim, the one thing that truly defines a character. The skills inSkyrimcan be roughly divided into three:Mage, Warrior, and Thief. While you’re able to make your own mix of whatever skills you’d best like to use during your adventures, specializing in a certain skill category is always more beneficial in the long run.
In order toprogress in your skills, you need to actually practice them. For players who want to train skills and level up faster, there are tons ofSkyrimtrainers in the mainland, Solstheim, and beyond, all willing to teach what they know in exchange for coin.
Updated Jul 11, 2025 by Erik Petrovich: In Skyrim, leveling skills with Trainers is one of the best ways to quickly get more skill points to use and boost your stats. But in between runs to all Trainers, Skyrim players should take some time to level up their focused skills more directly. For example, though you can level Speech at all Skyrim trainers who train Speech, you can also simply barter high-value items and convince others with persuasion, intimidation, or bribes in dialogue. This guide to all Skyrim trainer locations has been updated with a brief overview of methods to level every skill normally and information on how much XP you can expect to generate with various actions.
Training Skills In Skyrim
There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to using Trainers inSkyrim, especially if you plan to use them to max out a skill as fast as possible. There are restrictions when it comes to how many times you can Train every character level, increasing gold costs, and maximizing your Training.
Skills cost increasing amounts of gold to train as players level up, to the point that training one or two Skill Points can cost more than 10,000 gold at high levels.
You need more gold to purchase each level of skill Training the higher that your level in that skill is. The cost to go from 20 to 21 in any skill is nothing compared to the cost to train from 69 to 70. But, this is when leveling skills becomes much more tedious, so it can be much faster to just pay your way through.
If you want to save gold, try to avoidtraining your main skillsuntil at least after level 50. Instead, use Trainers to level the skills you won’t use often but can still come in handy, like Lockpicking, Speech, or Block. This way, you will still progress your overall character level, save gold, and gain passive buffs to these secondary skills.
InSkyrim, Trainers can only level up your skills a limited number of times at each character level. Players can only use the services of a Trainer five times every level, which carries over across NPCs and skills. This means you can’t get five skill-ups for every Skill at every level, you have to spread those five Training slots across several trainers.
But theseSkyrimTrainer slots do not carry across level-ups. Whenever you level up your character, your Training will reset as well. Because of this, it’s important to max out your Training each level (if possible) to help level up faster.
Indeed, just like leveling up skills via their normal methods, leveling up a skill with a Trainer still counts towards overall character level progression. Because of this, leveling up while training skills is a very common occurrence, essentially letting you improve a skill 10 times in a single session if you level up after training five times.
Must ownDragonbornDLC (orSpecial Edition)
Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary
Must be a member of Dark Brotherhood
Alchemy allows you to brew powerful poisons or useful cures and potions. A high Alchemy skill lets players brew better potions and poisons, brew greater numbers at once, use rarer materials for more exotic effects, and more.
To level Alchemy,Skyrimplayers must brew Potions using ingredients found throughout the world. The amount of Alchemy skill XP you get depends on the Gold value of the potion created.
College of Winterhold
Must be a member of the College of Winterhold
Alteration is theart of bending reality, through magical armor or candlelight spells. Players who use the Alteration school of magic are able to cast defensive and utility spells for themselves, alter the physical properties of enemies (to cause Paralysis, for example), and even transmute items.
To level Alteration,Skyrimplayers must cast Alteration spells. The amount of Alteration skill XP you get depends on the level of the spell being cast.
There are two trainers in Skyrim that can train you in this skill:
Must be a member of the Companions
Must be a member of the Thieves Guild
Fort Dawnguard
Must own theDawnguardDLC (orSpecial Edition)
Archery will serve any ranged fighters well, as it’s the primary skill that Bows and other ranged weapons rely on. A high Archery skill unlocks the ability to zoom and slow time, deal extra damage with different types of shots, and grant a higher chance to recover ammo.
To level Archery,Skyrimplayers must land hits with arrows on enemies. Firing arrows into the air does not level this skill, your arrows must hit a target to generate XP.
Four trainerscan be found in Skyrim, not counting Angi at Angi’s Camp who gives a special quest related to Archery:
Mor Khagur
Must prove trustworthiness to Orcs
Block is the art of using your shieldto defend against attacks. It’s a simple skill, with upgrades that improve players' ability to mitigate damage and unlock Shield-related special abilities.
To level Block,Skyrimplayers must simply block attacks with an equipped shield. Blocking damage with a magical shield, avoiding damage, or mitigating damage in other ways does not generate Block skill experience. The amount of Block skill XP you get depends purely on the strength of hits that you raise your shield to block.
There are only two Block trainers in all of Skyrim, but they’re easy to find:
Tel Mithryn
Must own theDragonbornDLC (orSpecial Edition)
If you’d like apparitions from other planes to assist you in battle, Conjuration is for you. This school lets players summon a Daedric companion, usually tied to an element, which can be extremely powerful for combat. But it’s also a good school for those looking to improve their defenses as it lets a mage summon Bound Weapons and Bound Armor, temporarily.
To level Conjuration,Skyrimplayers must cast Conjuration spells. Your summons do not have to attack enemies to gain Conjuration XP – you can even cast Soul Trap on a dead corpse over and over again to slowly level Conjuration.
There are four trainers in Skyrim that can train you in this skill:
Destruction magic consists of devastating, elemental spells. Your typical fireballs, frostbolts, lightning bolts, and other spells that deal direct HP damage tend to fall under the Destruction school. It’s an important one for almost every mage to level up.
To level Destruction,Skyrimplayers must cast Destruction spells. The amount of Destruction skill XP you get depends on the level of the spell being cast, and spells must hit a target to generate XP.
There are three trainers in Skyrim that can train you in this skill:
Enchanting allows you to add powerful boosts to your weapons and gear. Improving Enchanting lets players put better Enchants on their gear, use different materials for Enchanting, and generally improve their proficiency with this profession.
To level Enchanting,Skyrimplayers must enchant and disenchant items at an Enchanting Table. The amount of Enchanting skill XP is the same no matter what you enchant, but disenchanting more powerful items will increase the amount of Enchanting XP you get. Using enchanted weapons also generates Enchanting XP.
Bujold’s Retreat
Heavy Armor is great for blocking tons ofdamage at close range. Improving the Heavy Armor skill improves one’s ability to maneuver while wearing a full set, improves defenses outright, and even reflect enemy’s melee attacks back against them.
To level Heavy Armor,Skyrimplayers must simply have Heavy Armor equipped and get hit by enemies. The amount of Heavy Armor skill XP you get when hit depends on the strength of that hit.
