The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
From SDA Knowledge Base
Welcome to the Skyrim Speedrun Knowledge Base. This page contains useful information pertinent to speedrunning The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
- Leaderboard available here
- Any% Route (Out of Date at the moment) available here
- Community IRC: #Skyrim in irc.speedrunslive.com
Contents
Basic Rules
Timing
Timing begins when you gain FULL control of your character (camera and movement). Timing ends when you get the final hit on Alduin in Sovngarde (an explosion sound clip plays on the final hit). To get your final time add up the time spent in loading screens (ONLY time when the Level is displayed at the top right, the fade in and fade out are the same for all systems and are included in the time), and subtract it from your RTA time.
Mods/DLC
Mods are not allowed under any circumstances. This rule is to prevent someone from using a mod that might modify the game in a minor way that saves time or creates a glitch that otherwise wouldn't be there. DLC is allowed for any% as the DLC does not interfere with the main quest in any significant way.
Console Commands
While console commands are welcomed and very useful for testing glitches and practicing a section of the run, they are not allowed at all during an attempt. This is to prevent scripts from being run that could complete portions of the main quest or change movement speed or position on the map.
Categories
There are currently a few categories for speedrunning Skyrim:
- Any%(PC) - Defeat Alduin in Sovngarde
- Any%(Xbox 360) - Defeat Alduin in Sovngarde
- Companions - Defeat Kodlak's Wolf Spirit
- Mage's College - Defeat Ancano
- Thieve's Guild - Become Master of the Thieves Guild
- Dark Brotherhood - Finish "Hail Sithis!"
PC and Xbox 360 are separated because of the presence of Quick Save and Quick Load on the PC and the absence of these features on the consoles. PS3 is not a category at the moment, because no one is insane enough to run Skyrim on the PS3.
Character Races
At the moment Orc is considered the fastest race for any%
Each race starts with a passive and active trait, has a set height, and gets one or more bonuses including spells and damage increases. The height of the race is also the base speed.
Altmer (High Elves)
Racial Traits:
- Highborn: +50 Magicka, Constant
- Highborn: Greater Power - Base Magicka Regen +25 for 60 seconds.
Height: 1.08
Spells: Fury
+10 Illusion
+5 Alteration, Conjuration, Enchanting, Restoration
Argonian
Racial Traits:
- Resist Disease: 50% disease resistance, Constant
- Waterbreathing: Underwater breathing, Constant
- Histskin: Greater Power - Health Regen x10
Height: 1.01(M), 1.00(F)
Unarmed Damage +6
+10 Lockpicking
+5 Alteration, Light Armor, Pickpocket, Restoration, Sneak
Bosmer (Wood Elves)
Racial Traits:
- Resist Disease/Poison: 50% disease and poison resistance, Constant
- Command Animal: Greater Power - control and animal for 60 seconds, 99 pts, 75ft
Height: 0.98(M), 1.00(F)
+10 Archery
+5 Alchemy, Light Armor, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Sneak
Bretons
Racial Traits:
- Magic Resistance: 25% magic resistance, Constant
- Dragonskin: Greater Power - Absorb 50% magicka
Height: 1.00(M), 0.95(F)
Spells: Conjure Familiar
+10 Conjuration
+5 Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Restoration, Speech
Dunmer
Racial Traits:
- Resist Fire: 50% fire resistance, Constant
- Ancestor's Wrath: Greater Power - enemies close by take 8 fire damage per second
Height: 1.00
Spells: Sparks
+10 Destruction
+5 Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Light Armor, Sneak
Imperials
Racial Traits:
- Imperial Luck: 100% chance of 2-10 extra gold in all chests that normally contain gold, as well as to the corpses of various gold-dropping enemies, such as bandits, dragons, draugr, Falmer, Forsworn, giants, and rieklings, Constant
- Voice of the Emperor: Greater Power - Calms nearby people for 60 seconds, 99 pts, 75 ft
Height: 1.00
+10 Restoration
+5 Block, Destruction, Enchanting, Heavy Armor, One-handed
Khajiit
Racial Traits:
- Claws: 22 base unarmed damage
- Eye of the Night: Lesser Power - Night Vision for 60 seconds
Height: 1.00(M), 0.95(F)
+10 Sneak
+5 Alchemy, Archery, Lockpicking, One-handed, Pickpocket
Nords
Racial Traits:
- Resist Frost: 50% frost resistance, Constant
- Battle Cry: Greater Power - Targets flee for 30 seconds, 99 pts, 60 ft; Stagger: 0.05 pts, 40 ft
Height: 1.03
+10 Two-Handed
+5 Block, Light Armor, One-handed, Smithing, Speech
Orcs
Racial Traits:
- Berserker Rage: Greater Power - 100% increased melee damage, 50% decreased damage taken, 60 seconds (Multiplicative)
Height: 1.045
+10 Heavy Armor
+5 Block, Enchanting, One-handed, Smithing, Two-handed
Redguards
Racial Traits:
- Resist Poison: 50% poison resistance, Constant
- Adrenaline Rush: Greater Power - Stamina Regen x10, 60 seconds
Height: 1.005
+10 One-handed
+5 Alteration, Archery, Block, Destruction, Smithing
Techniques
Keybindings(PC)
It is possible to change the keybindings for various menu items to be more convenient. The recommended keybinding changes include:
- Item Menu
- Magic Menu
- Map
It is also recommended you add these lines to Skyrim.ini in C:\Users\<Your Username>\Documents\My Games\Skyrim
[Interface]
bShowTutorials=0
Jumping
Several tricks use different jumping techniques to handle different types of terrain
- Sjump (Standing Jump) - Jumping from a stationary position and moving in mid-air. Used to jump to and from small or thin objects and surfaces.
- Mjump (Moving Jump) - Jumping while moving constantly on the designated surface. Used to prevent falling while standing on steep slopes and small ledges (i.e. Mountain Climbing)
Mountain Climbing
Mountain climbing in Skyrim seems easy, but determining the perfect route is quite tricky. To jump higher while mountain climbing, the surface you are standing on cannot have a slope that exceeds a certain point (not known exactly), so being able to jump again while attempting to climb is easier if you move to flatter surfaces (tops of rocks, crevices). While climbing you abuse Mjumping because the slope of the mountain normally would slide you down.
Bumping (Dialog Skipping)
Managing Dialog is very important in a Skyrim speedrun. As a result, skipping as much scripted dialog as possible is key. There are several types of bumping and dialog skipping.
- Bumping - Sprinting into a character to stop dialog. Staggers the character and only works if the character is not staggered or sprinting
- Interact/Exit - Interacting with a character and exiting the dialog resets the character's stagger state making them bumpable again and occasionally skips dialog.
- QS/QL (PC Only) - Quicksaving and Quickloading skips any active dialog in the scene. Useful for unbumpable characters or uninteractable characters (i.e. the council, Paarthurnax, Alduin)
Object Clipping
Object Clipping is done by hold an object (Default hold E on PC, hold X on PS3, hold A on XB360) against a wall or in front of you facing a wall, and sprinting toward the object. The success rate of each individual attempt at clipping varies based on your angle facing the wall, the location of the object on the wall, and the speed at which you collide with the object. There are a large variety of objects that work for this glitch, typically curved objects, and a few particularly useful ones are:
- Wooden Bowls
- Wooden Plates
- Bowls
- Platters
- Plates
- Buckets
- Baskets
- Certain Shields
It is likely that there are more objects that can be used for this type of clipping but these are the most prevalent.
Infinite Sprint
Infinite sprinting is essential because of the longer movement-based portions of the run. There are two primary techniques used to infinite sprint
- Torch Glitch (Olympic Torch) - While a torch is equipped and your weapons are sheathed, tap sprint once while continuing to hold forward. You can then unequip the torch to prevent its duration from expiring. This works because the animations for sprinting to start and end are not linked properly in the game files while only a torch is equipped and as a result if you start the sprint and end it before the "start sprint" animation links to the "sprinting" animation, your animation gets stuck looping the "sprinting" animation, allowing you to ignore fatigue state and sprint indefinitely
- Horse Sprinting - While riding a horse, hold sprint and wait 1h, releasing sprint while the wait is occuring but continue to hold forward. This occurs for the same reason as the torch glitch where the animation gets stuck on sprinting.
Because this glitch is related to the animation of your character being stuck in a certain state, it will stop working should you change the animation in any way. This includes unsheathing your weapons, falling off a ledge, or swimming.
Horse Climbing
Horses are exceptional climbers in TESV:Skyrim. This is the result of a programming shortcut which estimates your position instead of being exact. Because the mountains in Skyrim have rocks layered on terrain layered on more terrain, the game has trouble determining which surface the horse is supposed to be running on and your Z-axis position is adjusted as a result of Z-axis correction which happens if you go out of the allowed Z-axis range and teleports you straight up. This is used to climb mountains very quickly.
Arngeir Glitch
It is possible for Arngeir to get stuck outside of High Hrothgar, preventing him from reentering and participating in the council. This glitch is done by using the elder scroll between 7-9am on Fredas the 22nd. The glitch happens because during Arngeir's patrol outside between the hours of 8 and 12 he can normally head down the mountain a short way, but the front doors to HH are locked and if there is combat nearby his AI is programmed to observe it. As a result, he patrols outside while you are inside the cutscene cell and when you exit and engage Alduin, he gets stuck and observes the combat and cannot reenter HH. This glitch was antiquated with the advent of Horse Sprinting and Horse Climbing
