The province of Skyrim is a cold and harsh place where only the strong and hardy usually thrive, and yet it does give the players many opportunities to prosper — beyond the obvious and unscrupulous methods involving popping open the console, of course.
Of course, not all professional opportunities in Skyrim are equally profitable. Some are better than others at making some serious gold. Sadly, being a Jarl’s personal fixer isn’t one of these. The Dragonborn will have to be more creative and resourceful than that. Allow this list to point you in the general direction of the septims you’ll need to finally purchase that expensive house in Solitude that you’ve always wanted. Here are the best “legitimate” vocations to pursue in Skyrim if you’re looking to line your pockets.
10 PROFESSIONAL SPOUSE
It might strike someone as a particularly odd take, but this is a legitimate way of earning money in Skyrim. A romantic partner is obliged to provide their share of gold to the relationship regardless of their gender.
Whether it’s Lydia or J’Zargo, all one needs to do is pay a visit to a Temple of Mara and give them an Amulet of Mara. The next day will find you with 100 more gold in your pocket, courtesy of your spouse. Rinse and repeat, or skip time every day for an easy 100 gold daily.
9 DRUNKEN BRAWLER
For those who prefer to add blood to their sweat and tears while toiling in Skyrim, look no further than the taverns and inns. These places usually contain a few drunk people in them. All players have to do is walk up to them and these drunk folks will start betting that they can take you on for 100 gold.
These brawls usually only last several seconds or less than a minute — so it’s certainly faster than clearing out bandit hideouts. They can also be done again and again by skipping time or sleeping. This is the perfect opportunity for Khajiit Dragonborns to exercise those paws, given their natural affinity for unarmed combat. It’s even better if players have gloves that give a bonus to unarmed damage.
8 TREASURE HUNTER
This is by far the most fun way to make some regular gold in Skyrim. Explore a bit outside the cities and head into the wilderness, find some dungeons and caves, then enter them. Obvious? Perhaps. But it can’t be argued that it’s immensely profitable since they usually contain precious items that are of use to the players, or upgrades so that obsolete items can be sold.
Moreover, picking up everything and then selling the valuables to merchants is always a reliable way to make gold. Rings and necklaces with no enchantments on them can be sold for a fine price, but if the player happens to be skilled with enchanting…
7 ENCHANTER
Enchanting is by far one of the most lucrative businesses one can undertake in Skyrim. If they’re focusing on their Enchanting skill, then learning valuable enchantments like Banish, Paralyze, Absorb Health, and Turn Undead then applying them to unenchanted items makes good money.
Players can even purchase unenchanted items from merchants all over Skyrim and then ply their trade to sell the items back to the merchants. This sort of buying low and selling high practice is lucrative, low-risk, and practically perfect.
6 BLACKSMITH
Apart from standing in as a blacksmith in a smithing business, players can make gold faster by determining which weapons or armor have the best price-to-effort-ratio. The community has determined that Dragonbone Daggers make ideal merchandise to craft for this purpose.
Each Dragonbone Dagger costs 600 gold to sell and the materials are readily available since Skyrim is littered with dragon corpses. Players can even take advantage of Fortify Smithing potions and item enchantments in order to boost the quality of the daggers so they can sell higher.
5 JEWELER
This job can be a great side gig if your character is already an ore miner or a blacksmith. Any ore miner with a high enough Alteration skill can easily turn their common and abundant iron ore into gold (using the Transmute spell), and then smelt the ore into ingots. These gold ingots can then be easily turned into gold jewelry at a smithing station.
As expected, the jewelry can sell high. Players don’t even have to go through the trouble of mining cheap ore as merchants sell it in bulk. If players are also good at Enchanting, they can then further increase the price of these rings by adding enchantments to them.
4 POTION ALCHEMIST
Being a potion seller or maker is also another option for Dragonborn artisans out there. Much like jewelry, potions sell high. Players need only forage the ingredients from the countryside (or buy them from merchants or alchemists) and then craft the potions at an Alchemy Table.
Afterward, they can sell those potions back to the very merchants or alchemists they bought the ingredients from since those people now have a decent pool of money from you buying their stock. Rinse and repeat for all merchants and alchemists in Skyrim.
3 THIEF
You can’t get rich fast without getting your hands dirty in Skyrim. Head on over to Riften, (being careful not to get swindled by the guards) and look for a man named Brynjolf near the market. He’ll hook you up with some “people” who know how to grab the right stuff from the right people.
Once players have advanced enough in the Thieves’ Guild, they’ve not only pocketed a nice and tidy profit from doing the work, but they’ll probably have good Pickpocketing, Lockpicking, and Sneaking skills built up. By then, it’s a breeze to steal from wealthy citizens or plunder their homes then fence the items to the right person in the Thieves’ Guild hideout.
2 DARK BROTHERHOOD ASSASSIN
It’s even dirtier than thievery, but the players are likely used to cold-blooded murder if they play Skyrim anyway. So, why not make a bit more money off of it? Dark Brotherhood quests and standard assassinations reward hundreds of gold, and they tend to be quick jobs. It’s perfect for those who felt restrained by the Thieves’ Guild’s aversion to violence and want to put the Nightingale Armor to better use.
1 DRAGON SLAYER
That one job that the Dragonborn has and can’t escape. Inevitably, they’ll need to slay some dragons. Thankfully, that’s quite a profitable vocation in itself. Their corpses tend to be heavy with gold, valuable crafting materials, and other lucrative bits of loot.
It’s the most dangerous job here, but there are ways of making it a breeze when necessary. Ensuring your followers are armed to the teeth, luring the dragons into combat against guards or other creatures (giants tend to make a wonderful distraction), and even lowering the difficulty are viable strategies here.
NEXT: Skyrim: 10 Unanswered Questions We Still Have About Trolls
