Det finns tio olika raser i Skyrim som alla ger olika förmågor. De som utannonserats listas här under.

Ras: Förmågor
• Orc: Bärsärk
• Redguard: Adrenalin-rush
• Wood Elf: Stå emot gift och sjukdom, kontrollera djur
• Nord: Stridsrop
• Khajiit: Nattsyn, kloattack
• Imperial: Myndig stämma, hittar fler mynt
• High Elf: Återfår magi fortare
• Dark Elf: "Ancestor's Wrath", stå emot eld
• Breton: Drakskinn, stå emot elchocker
• Argonian: "Hitskin", stå emot sjukdom, andas under vattnet

Färdigheterna i spelet är baserade på en trädstruktur och att investera erfarenhetspoäng i en färdighet ger tillgång till nya fördelar. Här under följer en genomgång på engelska av de kända fördelarna i de olika färdigheterna.

Speech (tal)
   Buying and selling price 10% better (5 ranks)
   10% price buying from opposite sex
   Invest in shops and increase available gold permanently in invested stores
   Master Trader - every merchant in world gains 1000 gold for bartering
   Buy and sell from any merchant regardless of what they normally buy and sell
   Intimidation attempts twice as successful
   Persuasion attempts more likely successful

Alchemy (alkemi)
   Potions 20% stronger (5 ranks)
   Potions for restore health, Magicka or stamina are 25% more powerful (maybe ranked)
   Poisons 25% more effective (maybe ranked)
   Poisons last for twice as many hits
   Two ingredients are gathered from plants
   50% resistance to all poisons
   All negative effects removed from potions and all positive removed from poisons
   2 effects of an ingredient are revealed when testing it for the first time (instead of just one)

Illusion
   Dual casting overcharges effect for more powerful spell
   Cast Novice spells for 50% less Magicka
   Cast Apprentice spells for 50% less Magicka
   Cast Adept, Expert, Master etc spells for 50% less Magicka (more levels this time around)
   Spells work on higher level animals
   Spells work on higher level people
   All spellcasting (from ANY school) is done silently
   Spells work on undead, daedra and automatons

Conjuration
   Novice for 50% Magicka etc (up to Master)
   Dual casting overcharges --> greater spell effect
   Bound weapons do more damage
   Bound weapons cast Soul Trap on target
   Bound weapons banish certain creatures
   Reanimate undead with 100 more health
   Summon 2 Atronachs or reanimated zombies
   Summon Atronachs at twice the distance
   Summoned Atronachs twice as strong

Destruction (förstörelse)
   More damage for each school (fire, frost and shock)
   Novice for 50% Magicka etc.
   Shock damage chance to disintegrate targets if their health is under 10%
   Frost damage chance to paralyze targets if health low
   Fire damage chance to make low health enemies flee
   Place runes 5x farther away

Restoration (helning)
   Healing spells also restore stamina
   Novice for 50% less Magicka etc
   Healing spells do 50% more healing
   Something about recharging healing spells
   More is recharged with each hit with healing spells
   Spells more effective against undead
   Once a day chance to autocast 250HP restoration when health drops low
   Magicka regenerates 25% faster

Alteration (förändring)
   Novice for 50% less etc
   Alteration spells have greater duration
   Absorb 30% Magicka that hits you

Enchanting (förtrollning)
   Enchants are 20% stronger (ranked)
   Enchanted armor 25% stronger
   "Soul gems provide extra Magicka for recharging"
   Death blows to creatures but not people trap souls for weapon recharge
   Health, Magicka and stamina enchants stronger
   Extra effect on already-enchanted weapon can be applied
   Shock, Frost and Fire enchants 25% stronger (individual perks for each element)

Heavy Armor (tung rustning)
   Increase armor rating 20% (5 ranks)
   Unarmed attacks with heavy armor gauntlets - damage increased by gauntlets' armor rating
   Half fall damage if all in heavy armor
   Heavy armor weighs nothing and doesn't slow you at all
   Additional 25% armor if in matching set
   25% armor bonus if all in heavy armor (not necessarily matching)
   50% less stagger if all in heavy armor
   10% damage reflected back to enemy if all in heavy armor

2-handed weapons (tvåhandsvapen)
   2h weapons do 20% more damage (5 ranks)
   Attacks with warhammers ignore 25% armor (ranked)
   Attacks with battleaxes do extra bleeding damage (ranked)
   Attacks with greatswords do extra critical damage (ranked)
   Power attacks cost 25% less stamina
   Standing power attacks do 25% bonus damage, chance to decapitate
   Sprinting power attacks do double (critical) damage
   Sideways power attacks hit all targets
   Backwards power attacks have 25% chance of paralysis

Archery (bågskytte)
   Bows do 25% more damage
   Zoom in
   Zooming slows time
   10% crit chance
   Move faster with drawn bow
   Recover twice as many arrows from dead bodies
   50% chance of paralysing for few seconds
   Draw bow 30% faster

Sneak (smyga)
   20% harder to detect (ranked)
   Sneak attacks do 6x damage with 1h weapons
   Sneak attacks with bows do 3x damage
   Sneak attacks with daggers do 15x damage (end perk on skill tree)
   Noise from armor reduced 50%
   No longer activate pressure plates
   Sprinting while sneaking performs silent forward roll
   Running does not affect detection chance
   Crouching can make hostile enemies lose sight of you and search for a target

Källa: pc.ign.com...