Skyrim Survival Mode Guide for Skyrim Anniversary Edition

Skyrim Anniversary Edition new players can use this Skyrim Survival Mode guide to conquer and survive the game.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s Anniversary Upgrade includes all previously published Creation Club features, including survival mode, in a new version of the game. Survival mode is particularly appealing to players who have invested hundreds or even thousands of hours in Skyrim throughout the game’s ten-year lifespan and are seeking a fresh challenge. It’s also suitable for fans of Conan Exiles, Rust, Don’t Starve, and other survival games.

Survival mode introduces several new mechanisms to Skyrim that players will need to keep an eye on. Not only that, but it also emphasizes the importance of prior game mechanics like cooking, potion-making, and selecting appropriate attire for the weather. Players are likely to visit inns more frequently than usual, and they may want to reconsider swimming in very cold water.

For some gamers, having a survival option in Skyrim is a welcome addition. Exploring all of Skyrim’s complexities has always been thrilling. Despite its intricacy, the game seldom gets genuinely tough. Problematic challenges make warfare even more difficult. Survival mode seeks to change that by making everything in Skyrim more difficult. Now, the entire planet is an adversary to be defeated. It’s also great that this is an optional choice, so individuals who aren’t interested in the survival aspects don’t have to turn it on.

Skyrim Survival Mode Guide: Carrying food

Skyrim Survival Mode Guide
Skyrim (Image credit: Skyrim on Steam)

In Survival Mode, it’s critical to have some food on you at all times, since it’s to your best advantage to avoid going hungry. If you do, your stamina and weapon abilities will suffer as a result. Because you don’t have much room to work with, it’s advisable to devote roughly 10% of your carry weight to food. 

Players’ stamina and ability to use most weapons are affected by hunger. Characters’ stamina bars shrink as they become more hungry, as shown by a black area on the stamina bar. This part is restored by consuming food, thus eating is more crucial than ever. Characters that eat sufficiently will be rewarded with a well-fed bonus. However, players should avoid eating raw meat because food sickness is a risk.

Survival Mode also has no health regeneration. Food, potions, and restoration spells are the only ways to heal, so if you want to learn some of the greatest healing spells, you’ll need to level up your restoration stat. It’s well worth the effort.

Skyrim Survival Mode Guide: Choosing Character Race

The first selection gamers must make is the race their character will be. All races have racial passives in vanilla Skyrim, which provide them a modest benefit. Things take an intriguing turn in Survival Mode. Not only do the races retain their passive abilities from the vanilla edition, but they also now have drawbacks. Argonians, for example, retain their Disease resistance and Waterbreathing passives, but they may now consume raw food without fear of food poisoning, and they cool down 25% faster than other races.

Because various races have varied benefits and disadvantages, the player must carefully choose the race they wish to be. This might make the travel either a bit easier or a little more difficult.

Skyrim Survival Mode Guide: Do not freeze to death

Skyrim Survival Mode Guide
Skyrim (Image credit: Skyrim on Steam)

Survival Mode recognizes that the province of Skyrim is notorious for being harsh and cruel to those who aren’t prepared. In the coldest places, it will be quite simple to freeze to death. Winterhold is essentially a death sentence for unprepared gamers. The keep is completely engulfed in snow, and the sunlight is scarce.

Players must keep their characters warm in order to allow them to move about more freely and avoid freezing to death. This is also determined by the character’s race. In the cold, Nords, Orcs, and Khajiits will fare significantly better than the other races. However, if the player picks a Dark Elf, Breton, or High Elf mage build, they can utilize Flame Cloak to remain warm. Using a torch is another technique to keep warm. It will offer some heat, but not a lot.

Get as close to a fire as you can if you find yourself getting dangerously cold while playing Survival Mode. You can warm up your character by simply taking out a torch. Warm yourself up by standing near a fire or eating a hot stew. Ancestor’s Wrath, a racial ability of the Dark Elf, helps keep you warm since it surrounds you with fire. You just have to get creative in Skyrim to deal with the cold – as you can see, you have plenty of choices.

Skyrim Survival Mode Guide: Keep enough Arrow with your Bow

Hunting game is the greatest method to gain meat in Survival Mode, so make sure you have a bow and plenty of arrows before you leave Helgen. It shouldn’t be too difficult because most adversaries carry arrows at first, and you’ll most likely have a bow by the time you face the bear as you flee Helgen.

In Survival Mode, you must learn to be self-sufficient, therefore acquiring your own meat is necessary. The ultimate aim is to have one of the greatest bows in the game, and you’ll get there in the end.

Healing is important

Skyrim special edition
Skyrim (Image credit: Skyrim on Steam)

In Survival Mode, health recovery has been severely hampered. If the player simply stands about after combat, their health will no longer regenerate. To acquire a burst heal, players will need to use restoration spells or potions. Eating meals or drinking a regeneration potion is suggested for long-term recovery.

Players may also enhance their armor to assist them in recovering their health. Learning the enchantment and leveling up the enchantment skill line might take some time.

Vegetable Soup is very helpful

Most prepared dishes require a lot of salt, as you’ll immediately realize. While buying as many salt heaps from merchants as possible is a good idea, another alternative is to forego salt entirely and consume just vegetable soup.

Sure, it’s hardly the healthiest diet, but in Survival Mode, veggie soup is all you need. It requires no salt, recovers 300 health, and provides five minutes of passive health regeneration. Its components can even be found early on since there are lots of leeks, potatoes, and cabbage in Riverwood and the surrounding fields.

Skyrim Survival Mode Guide: Armor

Skyrim special edition
Skyrim (Image credit: Skyrim on Steam)

Because of its small weight, light armor will be your greatest buddy in Survival Mode. You’ll be overburdened in no time if you wear heavy gear, thus you’ll virtually have no option but to wear light armor.

Make sure you work your way up to the Unhindered perk, which reduces the weight of light armor to zero. It’s one of the most useful advantages in the entire game of Survival Mode. You shouldn’t be concerned about your armor rating. Light armor is a good choice because you can quickly reach the 567 armor limit thanks to several smithing benefits.

Make sure to get some fur armor if you’re worried about staying warm in Skyrim’s chilly and windswept region. The armor can’t be made, but it’s worn by bandits and Hold Guards, so you’ll acquire all four pieces in no time. Fur armor is ideal for keeping warm in Skyrim’s colder regions like the Pale, Winterhold, and Eastmarch. Just keep in mind that, while fur armor may be enhanced, smithing bonuses do not affect it. This indicates that without raising the smithing skill over 100, it can’t be upgraded any further than perfect.

Stay safe from diseases

In Skyrim, it’s usually not a huge issue if you become sick. You may cure sickness by praying at a Talos shrine or with a potion to cure disease. That hasn’t altered in Survival Mode, although infections are far more incapacitating this time.

Diseases in Survival can become severe and even disabling if left untreated, amplifying their harmful consequences. It’s critical to monitor your active effects regularly to ensure you aren’t suffering from a sickness. Disease resistance is 50% for Argonians and Wood Elves, making them ideal for Survival Mode.

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Omer Khan
Omer Khan
Omer has a proven track record in the online media industry as a Content Writer. He holds a bachelor's degree in international journalism and mass communication and enjoys sports and video games.

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