Skyrim: 18 Most Helpful Glitches In The Game

Highlights

• Exploit bugs for easy leveling, infinite gold, and powerful abilities in Skyrim.
• Use scrolls and items to duplicate, level skills, and acquire free housing.
• Combine glitches to become both a werewolf and a vampire for added benefits in-game.

While Skyrim is one of the most highly regarded RPGs ever released, it is also infamous for the sheer number of bugs and glitches that remain, even over ten years after its release. Players can clip through the world, get stuck in level geometry, not be able to complete quests, or even have their horses fly through the air. While many of Skyrim‘sglitches and bugs can be frustrating for players to deal with, others can also be extremely useful.

Of course, using these bugs is not recommended for first-time players, as most of them do take away large portions of Skyrim‘s beginner experience. Instead, they are best reserved for players who either want to tackle the game on its highest difficulty or see just how far they can push its systems on subsequent playthroughs.

Updated April 20, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: Skyrim is a game that needs no introduction, with pretty much even remotely familiar with video games being aware of just how much impact this game had at launch. It set a new benchmark for open-world design and exploration, with many titles that followed taking a page out of Skyrim’s handbook to make the simple act of moving from point A to B as engaging as possible.

Skyrim was famous for many things, and the game was such a blast to play through that even the bugs became iconic in their own right. In fact, some of these glitches are pretty helpful if players know exactly how to exploit them.

1 Pickpocket Essential NPCs

Use A Mind Control Spider Scroll To Dupe The Game Into Thinking The Player Is Accessing A Follower’s Inventory

Pickpocketing isn’t as easy as most people would assume, with the consequences of getting caught in the act being extremely annoying. So, it’s easy to see why some players would prefer to figure out a way that lets them pickpocket valuable items from certain NPCs without the law breathing down their neck. Thankfully, there is a way to do this as long as players have access to a Mind Control Spider scroll.

This scroll is mainly used to turn enemies into allies for thirty seconds. However, if used on regular NPCs, there’s a split-second window where said NPC is treated as a follower the moment this scroll is used on them, allowing players to exchange equipment and gain access to powerful weapons and armor with no issues whatsoever. It takes a fair bit of timing to nail this glitch, so players shouldn’t shy away from save-scumming until they have this ability down pat.

2 Level Enchanting Indefinitely

Disenchant Items Regardless Of Whether The Enchantment Is Known Or Not

Most players ignore Enchanting, preferring to level up other aspects of the Dragonborn’s character instead. While this is an understandable course of action to take, players who do decide to give this stat a shot will love the control they have over their equipment, letting them employ the enchantments they want.

However, simply disenchanting weapons and armor to learn these enchantments isn’t the most optimal way to level up this skill. Instead, what players can do is select the equipment with an enchantment the Dragonborn doesn’t know yet and move up or down to an enchanted item the player already knows of while simultaneously trying to open the confirmation menu for disenchanting said item. If done correctly, then players can disenchant items they already know the enchantment for, giving them a few extra levels in a skill that is pretty useful if the Dragonborn decides to level it up to the max.

3 Reach 100 Speech In Half An Hour

Exploit A Dark Brotherhood Quest, “Recipe For Disaster”

Speech is one of the most important skills players can level up in Skyrim, especially if they want their version of the Dragonborn to convince everyone without any problems. Most people would want to level this skill up to 100 as soon as possible, which is why it’s important to figure out the best course of action that can be taken to facilitate the same. Thankfully, there’s an exploit that players can make the most of in one of the Dark Brotherhood quests to achieve this.

During the “Recipe for Disaster” quest, players must head to Markarth and question Anton Virane. There’s an option to intimidate him that nets some speech experience. After doing the same, just back out of the conversation and re-initiate it to intimidate him and gain some valuable experience in the process. It’s a simple way to slowly but surely level up Speech to 100 for players who want to get done with this task as soon as possible.

4 Quicksave Duplication

Pick Up Items And Quicksave At The Same Time To Duplicate Them

PC players will become quite accustomed to quicksaving in Skyrim, given how much fun it is to take risks in this game that can potentially lead to the Dragonborn’s doom. While quicksaving is considered downright necessary for players who don’t want to rely on the game’s autosaves, there’s a way this mechanic can be used to replicate a glitch.

If players pick up an item the moment they quicksave, then they can potentially duplicate said item in their inventory. Mashing the pickup item button during quicksaves can lead to more duplicates arising, and this effect can be multiplied even more if players stack items too. This is a great glitch to abuse if players want more copies of rare weapons or just want to duplicate something valuable that they can sell later on to earn a lot of gold.

5 Clipping

Phase Through Walls By Walking Into A Grabbed Object Pressed Against The Wall

Clipping is a term that many players are quite familiar with. It refers to the act of phasing through solid objects, walls, and the like that shouldn’t be possible in most instances. Given how unstable Skyrim‘s engine is, players shouldn’t be surprised that there’s a way to clip through walls in this game.

Players need to grab an object, place it flat against a wall, and continue to walk into it. With enough luck, players should be able to clip into areas where they have no business, letting them either access areas before it’s possible or gain access to hidden loot.

6 Unlimited Gold

Spawn Tons Of Gold In A Chest With A Neat Exploit

Given how important it is to have as much gold as possible in Skyrim, it’s easy to see why an unlimited gold glitch would be a huge help in the game. While going through the game legitimately is more than enough to amass a small fortune, some players still love the idea of having as much gold as possible without too much effort. This can be done by exploiting the game to restore a lot of gold that spawns in one of the chests in Dawnstar.

The process is fairly simple. For starters, players need to locate the merchant Ahkari and save the game right after. Following this, players should attack the merchant and then reload their save. Then, they should open her inventory and close it before heading to the mines next to the jarl’s house, where a chest spawns 500 gold every single time this process is repeated. As long as players aren’t using the Unofficial Skyrim Patch, they can farm this method for a long time to get as much gold as they want.

7 Horse Tilting

Using The Dragonborn’s Mount To Rocket Across The Map

Horse Tilting is one of the most popular glitches in the game that many players have exploited to great effect. Not only does it allow players to explore the map at blindingly fast speeds, but it also looks so stupid that people can’t help but laugh at just how absurd this entire situation is. As the name of this glitch suggests, players should try and find a cliff with a steep edge where the player’s horse can stand on a rather awkward angle.

After this first step is achieved, players should activate third-person mode if they haven’t already. Following this, the Dragonborn should dismount from a horse while the player opens and closes the menu over and over again until the Dragonborn is visibly offscreen. When this part is reached, players should just save and load to see their character be hurled across the map at record speeds, making for a rather memorable sight indeed.

8 Infinite Jumping

Jump On An Object To Move Vertically For An Indefinite Period

Given all the crazy glitches present in Skyrim, the idea of jumping infinitely may not sound like the most interesting idea of the lot. However, players who want to get past certain areas without worrying about walls or any other arbitrary boundaries can simply check out the Infinite Jumping glitch instead.

It’s a pretty basic glitch where players have to jump on a hollow object like a basket, jump on it, then grab it quickly and press the jump button over and over again to ascend without any limits. Of course, players should use this glitch wisely, since there’s nothing that stops them from dying if they end up ascending way too much for their good.

9 Armor Duplication

Manipulate A Mannequin To Duplicate Armor With Ease

The Unofficial Skyrim Patch is one of the most popular mods for Skyrim that fixes a bunch of issues in the game. However, it also fixes some exploits that players can use for their amusement, and players who opt out of this mod for some reason can try out the armor duplication glitch.

Players need to use a mannequin for this glitch and place armor on it. Then, without exiting the equip screen, players should take this armor back and leave the area. When players come back, the mannequin will have a duplicated piece of said armor. Do keep in mind that enchanted variants of a particular armor piece will have an unenchanted duplicate, although that won’t be a huge issue for fans.

10 Infinite Power Attack

Proper Timing Of Power Attacks To Converse Stamina Without Any Damage Penalty

Power attacks are one of the best ways to deal damage in this game. With great timing, players can use power attacks in this game without expending any stamina, which is bound to be useful for a whole host of reasons.

Players simply need to initiate a power attack the moment the animation starts for the same. Doing this leads to subsequent power attacks having no stamina usage whatsoever, which helps out a ton when it comes to defeating stronger enemies at lower levels. Watching the Dragonborn power through enemies with successive strong attacks is a blast to witness and hammers in the power fantasy that most players wish to enjoy in this game.

11 Selling Merchants Their Items

This glitch is easily one of the most amusing things players can pull off in Skyrim, allowing players to sell a merchant’s stock right back to them. This requires some clever usage of the menu, but the result is worth it just for the unintentional hilarity.

In the buy/sell menu, players should select the category of an item that can be sold off to a merchant from their inventory. Holding down the left mouse button, players should drag said item over the merchant’s category and press the action button while leaving the mouse button at the same time. This activates the glitch, and players can repeatedly press the action button to sell the merchant their items over and over again.

Some Quick Button Presses Make Scrolls More Useful Than Ever Before

Players who understand how to pull off the glitch listed above can use the same stems to enjoy unlimited use of scrolls as well. They need to place the scroll in a container before following the majority of the steps in the previous glitch.

However, instead of pressing the action button, players should press left click and right click to equip the scroll while placing it back in their inventory at the same time. Now, the scroll will have infinite usage, but only if players have only one copy of the scroll in question. Players can spam really powerful spells with this technique, trivializing most of Skyrim‘s challenging combat encounters.

13 Super Leveling In Helgen

Exploit The Starting Character To Level Skills Indefinitely

The opening of Skyrim has become iconic thanks to the game’s legacy and the subsequent memes that it created. It sees players facing execution just before the city of Helgen is burned to the ground by a dragon, which they just barely escape with the help of either an Imperial or Stormcloak soldier.

However, players have discovered that those soldiers can also help them level up their sneak and combat skills extremely quickly early in the game. Sneaking and either pickpocketing or attacking either character over and over rewards the player with experience quickly. It is so fast that some players have gotten to absurd levels before even leaving Skyrim‘s tutorial.

14 No Cooldown On Dragon Shouts

Combine The Amulet Of Talos With A Fortify Restoration Potion To Use Powerful Abilities Endlessly

One of the biggest additions that Skyrim made to The Elder Scrolls was the introduction of dragon shouts. By harnessing the power of the dragon language, the player can learn and perform several powerful shouts in Skyrim, with the only limit being a cooldown period.

However, after acquiring an Amulet of Talos and gear that gives a boost to the player’s alchemy, the player can create and drink a potion of fortify restoration before removing their Amulet of Talos and putting it back on. Each time the player does this, the shout cooldown reduction of the amulet will decrease, and it can be repeated until the player has no cooldown getting in the way whatsoever.

15 Stealing With A Basket

Blind People And Rob Them From Under Their Noses

Since players can make a variety of character builds in Skyrim, many builds are not very conducive to stealing items. This can make acquiring certain gear or completing the game’s Thieves Guild questline a bit difficult. To help those players get through those sections, there is a very handy trick that only requires a basket or bucket.

To do the trick, players simply have to place the basket over an NPC’s head, which causes a glitch that blocks the character from seeing anything that the player steals. It is much more effective than most would expect, and it is a bit strange that one of the best pieces of equipment for a thief in Skyrim is a simple woven basket.

16 Universal Free Housing

Purchase A House And Exit The Dialogue Option Before The Player’s Money Is Deducted

Homes can be a very useful thing for players to acquire, especially if playing in the new survival mode for Skyrim: Anniversary Edition, which requires players to sleep and disables fast travel. For players who do not want to wait to amass a small fortune to buy the many houses spread across the province, there is a very helpful glitch that expedites the process.

First, players have to get the amount of gold that they will need to buy a house to get the dialogue option to appear, even though they won’t use it. Then players have to talk to the town’s steward and choose to purchase the house before exiting the conversation just before selecting “I’ll take it.”

Players must then select the option, exit the conversation, use the Slow Time shout, deposit all of their money in a nearby container, and then resume the conversation. This will allow the player to purchase the house without allowing the steward to take the funds from the player.

17 Playing As Both A Werewolf And A Vampire

Become A Vampire Lord And Drink From The Fountain That Turns Players Into A Werewolf

Playing as a werewolf or vampire lord in Skyrim opens up a lot of possibilities and options for players. Both have their dedicated skill trees and abilities for players to use, and a glitch can even let players be both at once.

To do so, players have to already be a vampire lord and have Serena as a follower. The player then must go to become a werewolf through the Companions questline. The player then has to activate their transformation into a vampire lord and then immediately drink from the fountain to turn into a werewolf. Players will know if it worked when they awake as a werewolf and then turn into a vampire lord.

Then, players have to revert to their normal form before talking to Serena to turn them into a Vampire Lord. This way, they will get the benefits of both forms while also not having to feed as a vampire.

18 Item Duplication

Use Loading Screens And Followers To Duplicate Valuable Items

One particular way to ensure that a player’s character is extremely powerful in Skyrim, or to just take away some hassle on a repeat playthrough, is to duplicate items. Duplication can be extremely powerful when doing it on Skyrim‘s legendary items that players are only supposed to be able to get one of each playthrough, and it isn’t very hard to do.

To do the glitch, players first need the item they want to duplicate, as well as any follower. Players then have to go to any door where the game cuts to a loading screen when used. On one side of the door, players should drop every item they want to be duplicated and tell their followers to pick them up. The player then must quickly go through the door and then immediately back out, as it will only work if done fast enough. If the glitch is done correctly the items will be back where they were originally dropped, as well as in the inventory of the player’s follower.