Skyrim Level Calculator
Enter your race and current skill levels to work out your character level, total experience and perk points, or see which skills to raise to reach a target level.
Race
Your skill levels
Warrior (Combat)
Mage (Magic)
Thief (Stealth)
Reaching level
| Raise only this skill | From | To |
|---|
Character XP from each skill
How character level is calculated
Skyrim has no quest experience. Your character level comes entirely from your skills: every time a skill goes up by one, you earn character experience equal to the skill's new level. Raising Archery from 49 to 50 gives 50 XP, and raising it from 99 to 100 gives 100 XP.
Going from level N to level N + 1 needs (N + 3) × 25 experience. Added up from level 1, the total experience for level N is:
Total XP for level N = 12.5 × N² + 62.5 × N − 75
The calculator adds up the experience from every skill increase above your race's starting levels, then finds the highest level that total pays for.
How to use the level calculator
- Pick your race. Each race starts one skill at 25, five skills at 20 and the rest at 15, and those starting points give no experience.
- Type in your current skill levels from the in-game skills menu. Fields you have raised are outlined.
- Read your level, total experience and progress to the next level. Your perk points are always your level minus one.
- Optionally enter a target level to see how far you would have to raise any single skill to get there.
Experience needed for common levels
| Level | XP for this level-up | Total XP | Perk points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 100 | 100 | 1 |
| 5 | 175 | 550 | 4 |
| 10 | 300 | 1,800 | 9 |
| 20 | 550 | 6,175 | 19 |
| 30 | 800 | 13,050 | 29 |
| 40 | 1,050 | 22,425 | 39 |
| 50 | 1,300 | 34,300 | 49 |
| 60 | 1,550 | 48,675 | 59 |
| 70 | 1,800 | 65,550 | 69 |
| 81 | 2,075 | 87,000 | 80 |
Why the cap is level 81
With all 18 skills at 100, a character has earned around 88,000 experience, depending on race. Level 81 needs exactly 87,000, while level 82 needs 89,100, so maxing every skill leaves you at level 81 with 80 perk points.
The way past this is the Legendary option. Once a skill reaches 100, you can make it Legendary in the skills menu. It drops back to 15 and refunds its perk points, and leveling it again keeps earning character experience. With Legendary skills there is no level cap at all.
Worked example
A Nord starts with Two-handed at 25. Raising it to 50 gives 26 + 27 + … + 50 = 950 XP. Add Heavy Armor from 15 to 40 (700 XP) and Smithing from 20 to 60 (1,620 XP) and the total is 3,270 XP. Level 14 needs 3,250 in total and level 15 needs 3,675, so this character is level 14, 405 XP short of level 15.
Tips
- High skills level you fastest. Because XP equals the new skill level, pushing one skill from 90 to 100 is worth 955 XP, while 15 to 25 is worth only 205.
- Crafting can over-level you. Smithing, Enchanting and Alchemy raise your level quickly without making you better in a fight unless you use what you make. Enemies scale with your level, so keep your combat skills close behind.
- Plan your perks. Once you know your level, see how to spend your perk points in the build planner, and how much XP each skill needs with the skill XP calculator.