There are 21 skills in Oblivion, each of which determines how well various tasks can be performed. As skills are used, they increase in level, which increases the character's overall level. Each skill is governed by an attribute, and each attribute governs three skills (except Luck). Skills are also dependent on both race and class, as they each confer certain bonuses to certain skills. Skills can also be increased by reading skill books, learning from trainers, or as a reward for completing certain quests. When you reach over level 70 in a particular skill, NPCs will begin to comment on that particular skill.
Each skill also belongs to one of three specializations: combat, stealth, or magic. For more specific information on the relationship between governing attributes and skills, see this page.
In the table below, specializations are represented by color: red for combat, yellow for stealth, and blue for magic.
Attribute Skills
Strength Blade Blade Blunt Blunt Hand to Hand Hand to Hand
Endurance Armorer Armorer Block Block Heavy Armor Heavy Armor
Speed Athletics Athletics Acrobatics Acrobatics Light Armor Light Armor
Agility Security Security Sneak Sneak Marksman Marksman
Personality Mercantile Mercantile Speechcraft Speechcraft Illusion Illusion
Intelligence Alchemy Alchemy Conjuration Conjuration Mysticism Mysticism
Willpower Alteration Alteration Destruction Destruction Restoration Restoration
Luck Affects all skills (except Acrobatics and Athletics) a little bit
Major and Minor Skills
The initial level of each skill is primarily determined by your character's class, in particular whether the skill is one of the seven major skills that determine when you level up, and whether the skill is in your class' specialization. In addition, each race provides several skill bonuses. For example, an Imperial has added bonuses towards Blade, Blunt, Hand to Hand, Heavy Armor, Mercantile and Speechcraft. If that Imperial is also under the Warrior class, four out of the six already boosted skills gain a further bonus.
Skill Advancement
Ascending to Expert level in the Alchemy skill
All of the 21 skills take different means to increase. For example, hitting an NPC with a sword will increase your Blade skill. Likewise, using a sword to attack an NPC while sneaking undetected will increase both your Sneak and Blade skills. The page on increasing skills provides general information on how to practice skills in order to improve them, as well as a table that lists the exact number of actions required to increase each skill. Also, each skill page discusses specific strategies for how to practice that skill.
After improving any combination of major skills by a total of 10 points, your character will now qualify for a level advancement. Note that how many minor skills you have increased during this time does not influence when you level. In order to increase your skills, there are many trainers that can help level up a skill for a maximum of five times per character level. Unused training sessions do not carry over to the next level. There are also several skill books in-game that increase your skills. For information on how to gain free skill boosts, see this page.
Skill Mastery
Skill Points Mastery Levels
0 - 24 Novice level
25 - 49 Apprentice level
50 - 74 Journeyman level
75 - 99 Expert level
100 Master level
Each of the 21 skills have five different mastery levels. Reaching each of these skill levels provides skill perks, which are detailed on their respective pages. These perks generally make the skill substantially more useful. For example, with the Armorer skill at an apprentice level, repair hammers last twice as long compared to that of a novice, however you are still unable to repair magic items. At journeyman though, you now are able to repair magic items. As your overall skill mastery increases, so do the skill perks associated with that skill.
Some magical effects can increase your skill above 100, but in general increases above 100 have no real effect. The only exceptions are Acrobatics and Athletics, which will continue to increase your character's jump height and run speed respectively, up to a maximum value of 255.
Magical Effects on Skills
