Skyrim talk:Making Money

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Archive 1: Dec 2011 - Mar 2012

Tweaks, Various Questions

1. There seems to be a lot of emphasis in this article. I removed some of it in my previous edit, but some of it is left. I am specifically looking at the Crafting Required section, where, in the numbered list, there are a number of emphasized words, along with the word "enchantment" on number six. Is there a reason for this? I don't see a need for it. Also, in the Alchemy Method, under "On Making Potions", there are some italicized words. I understand why they are, but I would also like to ask if it is necessary there as well.
2. Thieves Guild section. I hope nobody minds that I removed "fast travel" from the descriptions, considering that a number of players prefer not to fast travel, or prefer to travel via carriages. I must question the necessity of this note, under Pros: "One of each type of job is required to become Guild Master." Why is this a pro? It contributes nothing to making money, as far as I know.
3. Quest log mentions. Specifically, "Each completion is logged in your completed quest log, eventually cluttering it." (Thieves Guild) and "Increases entries in quest log." (Dark Brotherhood). Why are these cons? There are plenty of quests that players complete, and plenty of quests in the log at a time. Much of the game is based around doing quests.
4. Capitalization in the Dwemer section. I left actual item names capitalized (Dwarven Metal Ingot, for example), but uncapitalized each other instance of "metal" (Dwemer Metal scraps -> Dwemer metal scraps, for example). Capitalization on things like these confuses me, but the section seemed inconsistent due to having "Dwemer Metal" but "Dwarven armor".
5. Alchemy section, the Ragged Flagon is mentioned. Is it necessary? Is the mention of resetting a merchant's inventory ("Saving, forcing a merchant into combat, and loading the save will reset a merchant's inventory.") also necessary? There are multiple places that could be seen as convenient for this, and I'm wondering if we want to include tips that include saving/reloading--it's not a part of actual gameplay. Also, as per the removal of Dragonbone, etc. armor methods, should notes about high-level Alchemy making lots of money be removed? At that point, I think a person would have figured it out, or wouldn't be looking here to begin with.
6. Should we remove all mentions of making Iron Daggers to raise the Smithing skill? Patch 1.5 factors in item value to skill increases, I believe.

--Velyanthe 23:44, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

yeah - you did a lot of good work there I thought. I think each edit improved the article.

I'm not sure why a fully upgraded ragged Flaggon would be a more ideal place to do alchemy than any other - if there is a good reason, then I'm sure we'd all like to know and put it into the article.

Saving/Attacking/Reloading to reset the merchant's inventory might be seen as an exploit. I remember I once included a tip to invest in the Riverwood Trader, which I didn't think was a bug, and someone else thought it was a bug. So resetting the merchants inventory might definitely be considered an exploit.

I think in the conclusion, saying which method yields the most money is appropriate for a conclusion. Elsewhere in the article it doesn't need to be said probably.

re: iron daggers, I agree - any extra benefit to smithing skill should be noted to be minimal or just removed. Making daggers is still the best way to obtain quantities of weapons to enchant, but that's all.

--A Caveman^Talk 12:59, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Upgraded Ragged Flagon has 5 merchants with a massive amount of gold and no loading screens. Resetting a merchants gold is an exploit that I think might be unstoppable by patch whereas Riverside Trader is a bug (ie he's the only one it happens to). Iron daggers should be kept for unpatched versions. The Silencer has spoken 18:12, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I totally understand why people think Riverwood Trader is a bug. You said it best; because he's the only one it happens to. I just never assumed that the devs didn't decide that this one merchant is doing particularly well because of the war. Sounds silly I know. But the war was good for him financially, as both sides pass through on the way to/from Whiterun. There is a pass through the mountains that would take people from The Rift in the east past Riverwood on the way to/from Whiterun, and obviously people from the south-west, especially Falkreath, would go through Riverwood to/from Whiterun. So without acknowledgement from the devs that it is a bug, I always imagined that it could be part of the game. But I understand why others would see it as an anomaly and declare it a bug. --A Caveman^Talk

Hm... I think a good way to do the daggers would be to make it a note at the bottom, since most people should have patched versions, but if we look at the quest Diplomatic Immunity, it mentions the original location of the Stone of Barenziah that it had. The article already does not why the Flagon is a great place for the function, but I was wondering why it would be necessary, especially considering that no other sections mention an ideal place. --Velyanthe 20:46, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

(←) Also, there seems to be an error; unless it was patched recently, you do NOT need to do "one of each type of job" to become Guildmaster--I only did pickpocketing (fishing) and got it just fine. — Unsigned comment by 174.29.230.40 (talk) at 22:44 on 19 July 2012

I have removed that note. You can do only one type of job if you wish, as long as you do 5 in each city for the 4 cities and their cities special jobs. — Kimi the Elf ^{(talk | contribs)} 21:54, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

No Stone Unturned

I think we should point out in the Thieves Guild section that completing No Stone Unturned and getting Prowler's Profit should be done as soon as possible. Collecting all the pieces may take a while, but since I finished it, the value of the treasures I can gather has increased exponentially. I mean, you're guaranteed to find 1-4 high-value jewels in virtually every container you come across, be it urn, sack, corpse, etc. I've known about Prowler's Profit for a long time, but I had no idea just how lucrative it is. Once players get it, they'll never have to think about money again, so it seems worth mentioning it here. Minor Edits^{Threats•Evidence} 04:48, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

I both agree and disagree. My reason to agree is that as you said the money you can make is astronomical. My reason to disagree is that some of the Stones are in areas that take quite a while to reach (aka,the Thalmor Embassy.--Skyrimplayer 20:53, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

I absolutely agree. And it doesn't take a lot of time to find all stones. Repeatedly pressing the button while picking up the stones shortcuts the quest because you progress 2 stones for 1 meaning you only have to find 12. 9 are in the cities so you only have to find 3 others. — Unsigned comment by 193.159.58.241 (talk) at 01:17 on 2 January 2013

There's a question though about whether that bug is an exploit; if you consider it an exploit then it doesn't belong on the page which explicitly disallows exploits. --Morrolan (talk) 16:47, 10 January 2013 (GMT)

Removed note

• If you have a high Speech skill, you may need to visit a few different merchants to sell off all the loot from a given dragon.

I removed this note. As I said in the edit summary, a con is a drawback; this note is telling you that you could make SO MUCH money that you cant sell it all in one place. The drawback is that you make MORE money. Also this isn't mentioned anywhere else, like the enchanting section, which I think is more likely to need multiple vendors. And yes, I'm that guy that's afraid to make every change so I move everything to the talk page :)--Catmaniac66 (talk) 13:42, 2 December 2012 (GMT)

Leveling Speech methods?

Should we include them in this article? As it currently stands, the article is written with a short-term attitude: get as much money right now with the stats you have. Should there be some discussion of how to get your Speech as high as possible, which is sort of the long-term version of the same thing, because leveling your Speech means that everything you sell is going to be worth more, and you will unlock access to perks that help you get richer too. I know that myself personally I avoid using some of the tactics mentioned on the main page like using Fortify Barter and Fortify Speech effects, because they slow down Speech leveling (especially Fortify Speech). --Morrolan (talk) 19:42, 5 April 2013 (GMT)

Since it does affect your income from selling, it should be mentioned. However, since there is already a section in the Speech article detailing this, I think a link to it from this article would be better. --Xyzzy ^Talk 20:51, 5 April 2013 (GMT)

Maybe add a con to the fortify speech-barter methods, that they slow down speech leveling, perhaps? --Morrolan (talk) 00:56, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

I don't think that's really appropriate for this article. Almost everything has a downside, but listing the drawbacks of everything would really clutter up articles. Slowing down Speech leveling a little is a pretty minor drawback compared to the benefits of obtaining enough money to purchase the things you need to survive and level skills at low levels. --Xyzzy ^Talk 04:38, 8 April 2013 (GMT)

Sergius Method

Do the enchanting quest for him over and over to get money. Dragon Guard (talk) 15:26, 24 July 2013 (GMT)

Are you referring to Enchanting Pick-Up? Nothing in the quest article says that it is repeatable. Are you saying that it is? If so, it might be worth adding to the Misc Jobs section, rather than a new section. --Xyzzy ^Talk 22:01, 24 July 2013 (GMT)

It's completely repeatable, and boring as crap. He goes back and forth between demanding soul gems and doing the enchanting pick-up. You need to have a strong grinding habit to be willing to do it, also you need a large supply of soul gems to keep on feeding him. I suppose it wouldn't be too bad after discovering Blackreach, but by that time you usually have better sources of income. --Morrolan (talk) 03:01, 25 July 2013 (GMT)

That's true. You need access to the College for this, unlike the other misc job quests like chopping wood. Not worth noting in the article, IMO. --Xyzzy ^Talk 03:40, 25 July 2013 (GMT)

On the upside, I suppose, selling him soul gems gets you money without leveling your Enchanting or Speech skills, so if you're trying to stay low-level that's a plus I guess. It seems like a bit of a stretch to me though. --Morrolan (talk) 15:16, 25 July 2013 (GMT)

It is level-dependent as well. If you are at a high level, it is much more convenient because you will get more money. I takes around 5-8 minutes to do. If he gives you a soul gem task, refuse and keep asking him until you get the enchanting pick-up task. Easy as can be. Guard of Dragons^{Speak To Me} 20:10, 2 September 2013 (GMT)

(←) How much more money? High-level mage characters can make thousands in seconds from enchanting items with Fortify Sneak/Banish and selling them around the Mages Guild. --Morrolan (talk) 02:47, 6 September 2013 (GMT)

Errr, College of Winterhold rather. I've been playing Oblivion. :) --Morrolan (talk) 02:48, 6 September 2013 (GMT)

Stacking Fortify Barter Bonuses

I would note that I have never encountered the Frostbite Spider that is mentioned as guarding the Riften Shrine of Zenithar, it has always, for me, been a Cave Bear (sometimes with another coming up from just down the road, apparently drawn by the sound of battle). Caveat(s): I have never played without at least Dawnguard & the relevant Unofficial patches (on PC obviously), & I currently have all the expansions & their Unofficial patches installed, so I can't garauntee that the guard [b]isn't[/b] a spider an entirely baseline vanilla game. — Unsigned comment by 101.98.150.71 (talk) at 08:19 on 8 December 2013

There's a lot of creatures in those woods, so I just changed it to be non-specific. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 15:51, 8 December 2013 (GMT)

I think the second Bear is a random spawn, since I've seen him hunting deer, horses, & wolves too, but the first one does seem to spawn in the same place every time, & that's like 6' in front fo the shrine.

Maybe it's a levelled spawn? (My levelling strategies generally have me over 20 before I get to Riften). - — Unsigned comment by JAFANZ (talk • contribs) on 9 December 2013 (that was me initially as well)

Transmute Hints are Misleading

The transmute section states that crafting jewelry with gems garners a much higher value than the components. This is incorrect. For instance, crafting a silver garnet ring uses two ores, and one garnet gem. If these components are used to create a garnet ring the value is 160, if the ores are trasmuted into gold and gold rings are made the value is 150 for the rings + 100 for the garnet. For making money, tramsute is best used to craft gold rings since the gems and plain gold rings are worth 90 septim more than a single silver garnet ring. Plain gold rings and a garnet gem sold separately are worth 50% more than a crafted garnet ring.

Using transmute for crafting jewelry is a great option for leveling smithing without needing perks, but is of nominal value for making money. - MyBreton (talk) 15:32, 15 May 2014 (GMT)

You are comparing properly. The cost of a silver garnet ring is obviously not as high as the cost of upgrading the silver to gold, but using the gold with a gem that can be used will be better value. If you acquire silver ingots then they cannot be upgraded to gold, so the entire point is mute and you use them to make jewelry with gems, if you have silver ores then it is better to upgrade them. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 18:30, 15 May 2014 (GMT)

At best crafting a silver jeweled necklaces with a "found" silver ingot will increase the value of the components by 20 gold. Silver rings with gems get no value increase (or even lose value). But the "transmute" section infers using ores (not "found" ingots) to create jewelry. Additionally, only few gold items (with gems) are more valuable than two gold rings + the raw gems used to create the item. For instance Gold Diamond ring = 900 gold. Versus gold rings (150 total) + diamond (800) = 950. Someone would have to create a wiki entry for each item that actually increases in (nominal)value and then we'd be asking people refer to a VERY short list of items worth crating to make money. - MyBreton (talk) 03:17, 16 May 2014 (GMT)

Strongest possible potions/enchants by looping Seeker of Shadow/Sorcery from black book Sallow Regent combined with relics of Ahzidal and previous crafting loop. Also, Seeker of Might for tempering.

Hello. I was reading the section of this page regarding the Dragonborn dlc and using the relics of Ahzidal to further boost the alchemy/enchanting loop. These are not the highest values that can be obtained legit(no fortify restoration potions, no stacking headgear, no necromage vampire on older versions) with Legendary Edition and the latest offical patch only(ie only vanilla Skyrim and the 3 official major DLCs). This is my experience after a couple playthroughs of doing it. Of course once I get my crafting skills maxed and properly perked, I make a few increasingly powerful sets of alchemy gear(and enchanting potions on the way) until I reach a limit of 29% alchemy/smithing gear and +32 skill enchanting/ +130% smithing potions. However, if you start a new loop under the effects of Seeker of Shadow to make stronger enchanting potions(wearing your existing crafting gear) then switch to seeker of Sorcery for stronger enchants while wearing 4 relics of Ahzidal and switch back and forth you can reach enchantment strengths of 35%alchemy/smithing(also 35% with spell schools so you can cast 2 schools free on only 3 items as well as 35% better prices, 57% for the likes of fortify marksman/onehanded/sneak and +57 carry weight, 66% resist fire/frost/shock, 28%-35% magic resist with standard effect/shield of Solitude disenchant respectively) using +40 skill Enchanting potions and with +158 smithing potions(which can combine with Ancient Knowledge and Seeker of Might to first boost your base weapon damage, then further boost your damage output). I can get Daedric Swords with 810 Displayed Damage and a Dragonbone Bow with 1046 displayed damage, both with 99fire/99Shock Damage(using augments in Destruction and elemental perks in Enchanting, not sure if Aspect of Terror in Illusion contributes to the fire and hence shock damage or not). You can also get +88 health/stamina/magicka enchants and 88% faster magicka regen. Also +44% health/stamina regen. You can get additional potions of +158 carry weight, 158 seconds invisible, +158% illusion/marksman(works on swords and daggers too), +198% destruction, and probably some others enchants and potions I can't think of right now. Actually, now that I think about it, I have made an improved imperial bow(no perk to double improve) with 99frost/shock while under the guise of an imperial courier because I thought the visual effects of frost and shock on a target are less noticeable than those of fire and shock and I wanted better damage than the bow alone could provide should a dragon attack Morthal while I try to deliver false documents. Imperial soldier weapons aren't usually enchanted. I can double improve an imperial sword with steel smithing(and the steel daggers they carry, too) and while I normally have 3 arch/des items via circlet/ring/necklace plus arch bracers and only 3 1H via those bracers and seperate 1h/des ring/necklace, in disguise I put resist fire/1h on my boots, destruction/health regen on armor, and alternate 1h, arch, block, des, and frost resist on 2 sets of rings/necklaces. Oh, yeah. +57%block enchants. but 100 block skill, 1 rank of shield wall and +40% block on an elven shield will just slightly pass the block cap of 85%(not applicable to imperial couriers). In game you would need to switch out the different jewelry as needed but in real life you could easily wear multiple rings/necklaces at once. Also easy to switch crowns(cirlets). Been using double improved Saviors hide as my main armor most of the last couple playthroughs with the occasional switch to Guild Master Armor. Sorry if nearly the last half of that was off topic.

The first time I did this, I started with Enchanting thinking the results would be stronger than starting the loop with alchemy with the goal of using less of my expensive grand soul gems. The second time I started with alchemy(blue butterfly wings and snowberries are very cheap and easy to obtain) and was surprised to find I needed one less iteration of crafting gear to hit the caps. That is why I suggest starting this particular loop with alchemy first(using your existing crafting gear and Seeker of Shadow).

I thought I'd write on the discussion page since I would like someone with more experience wiki editing to take a look, verify and perhaps make an edit to the article to reflect the true caps.

Just thought of something else regarding this page, but in a different section(stacking fortify Barter enchants/effects). It mentions some headgear(thieve's guild hood/upgrade) with 10%-15% better prices. I assume this is because these are fairly easy to obtain. Of course the Guild Master's Hood(20%) is quite a bit more involved. There are a couple others like it(masque of Clavicus Vile, dragon priest mask Volsung), but they aren't that hard. Barbas can do most of the fighting During Daedra's Best Friend(maybe even all of it if you stick fairly close at all times, as well as most of The Black Star) and while the normal way to get to Volsung is to go through some bandits outside the ruin and 2 cells of draugr/frostbite spiders(skeevers, too?) before exiting up top, you can totally drop down from the road behind the ruin and just take on Volsung(granted he is a named dragon priest and not exactly a pushover, but even on very high/insane difficulty a very powerful build could still one shot him from sneak with a bow(may need a very strong custom made fortify marksman potion). Also, there was mention of Jester's clothes/Cicero's clothes. I believe they are a combo of fortify barter/onehanded(the only chest piece in the game for that) with I believe 12% on Jester's and 20% on Cicero's. Perfectly fine(nice and light to carry) for barter, perhaps not so great for combat due to the massive loss in armor rating. Finally, there is neck gear. There are at least a couple guaranteed Amulets of Zenithar(10%) in spots(one just north of the farthest northeast Riften guard tower up a bit of a hill, Shrine of Zenithar for stacking, too). Well, I'm thinking the fortify barter effects of these have a larger impact on prices than those obtained by Dibella(amulet/shrine). Then, there are stronger necklaces of haggling(minor at 12%, simply OF at 15%, major at 17%, eminent at 20%, extreme at 22% and peerless at 25%). In my personal experience, a custom 30% necklace(crafting loop and relics of Ahzidal) plus 20% headgear alone was not enough(with 100 speech and all related perks) to get both the best buying an selling prices from both men and women(if you want another blessing like Talos or Nocturnal active). It was very close. With Jester's clothes, it reached the trade cap for all merchants(except perhaps the Dremora merchant and Enthir, didn't check). With 100 Speech, all the right perks, a custom 35% barter necklace, and 20% headgear I can get the best prices from everyone( again, save Enthir and IDK about Dremora Merchant). I imagine if you either bought a necklace of peerless haggling(or found one), made your own by disenchanting a lesser necklace and using 100 enchanting with enchanter 5/5(no crafting loop), combine with jester's clothes/20% headgear and 100 speech with haggling 5/5 you should pretty much reach the trade cap with any vendor in the game(again perhaps save Enthir and the Dremora merchant). Haven't tested, but are Enthir's prices still worse than most other merchants even after you advance the TG questline far enough that he becomes an official fence? I suppose I could test that, but maybe someone with more experience could simply answer it. Jtenorj (talk) 20:12, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

Making money via Creation Club content

Hey y'all, I see a lack of making money via Creation Club content like Goldenhills Plantation. I found that we lack these methods. Cody9867 (talk) 16:36, 12 October 2022 (UTC)