In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, leveling One-Handed can be slow and tedious. Luckily I have some tips to help you level One-Handed faster than you would be able to normally.
Level One-Handed on NPC’s That Won’t Die
There are several opportunities in the game to continually hit NPC’s that can’t die.
At the very beginning of the game, choose to follow Hadvar out of Helgen. When you first start following him in the keep, you can beat on him as much as you’d like to train One-Handed and he’ll never die.
Remember Hadvar? He lives in Riverwood in Alvor & Sigrid’s house, and he’s willing to take more abuse. Go to their house after 8am, Alvor should be out of the house. Sigrid should stay downstairs, so go upstairs and wait for Hadvar go to upstairs as well. Sneak behind him and do a sneak attack , which should take him to the ground, but he still can’t die. When he gets back up, he’ll have no memory of you hitting him, so rinse and repeat as much as you’d like.
Level One-Handed With Conjuration
A decent way to level One-Handed without searching out caves and dungeons to fight in is by conjuring a servant to beat up on. Turn the difficulty up to the highest setting, conjure the cheapest servant you can, equip the weakest One-Handed weapon you can find, then beat on them until they die. It’s best to take off any items that increase One-Handed damage, since you don’t skill up based on damage done. Don’t forget to turn the difficulty back down, or you may be surprised by the next real enemies you fight.
Level One-Handed With Pickpocketing
If you’re ok using a rather “cheap” method to level One-Handed extremely fast at lower levels, simply find a One-Handed skill trainer, buy a skill point, then pickpocket the money back. Amren in Whiterun is a One-Handed trainer, as well as Athis in the Companions camp in Whiterun.
This trick is only effective up to 51 skill points unless you have a pickpocketing skill of 100, since after 51 skill points the cost is increased by 1000 gold, making pickpocketing much more difficult.
