Skyrim Races Compared: All 10 Bonuses and Powers
Short answer: Skyrim has 10 playable races, and every one gets the same shape of skill bonus: +10 to one skill and +5 to five others. UESP calls race the only character-creation choice that affects your skills and abilities. What actually separates the races is the passive ability, the once-a-day power, and which skills start ahead. You can change race later with a PC console command (see "Changing race afterwards" below), but most players keep what they pick.
On sources. Numbers and effects follow UESP's "Skyrim:Races" page (revision of 22 October 2026), checked on 27 October 2026. Bethesda's notice lists the update of 20 August 2026 and an additional hotfix on 27 August. The Steam announcement title still reads "1.7.99", but we confirmed the executable as 1.7.104 on 10 September 2026. We did not test all 10 races in game. Everything below is as UESP records it.
All 10 races: abilities, powers and skill bonuses
| Race | Passive abilities | Once-a-day power | +10 | +5 (five skills) | Extra starting bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argonian | 50% disease resistance, waterbreathing, higher unarmed damage | Histskin: much faster health regeneration for 60 seconds | Lockpicking | Alteration, Light Armor, Pickpocket, Restoration, Sneak | — |
| Breton | 25% magic resistance | Dragonskin: absorb 50% of the magicka from hostile magic spells for 60 seconds | Conjuration | Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Restoration, Speech | Spell: Conjure Familiar |
| Dark Elf | 50% fire resistance | Ancestor's Wrath: nearby enemies take 8 fire damage per second for 60 seconds | Destruction | Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Light Armor, Sneak | Spell: Sparks |
| High Elf | +50 Magicka | Highborn: much faster magicka regeneration for 60 seconds | Illusion | Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Enchanting, Restoration | Spell: Fury |
| Imperial | Imperial Luck (find more gold) | Voice of the Emperor: calms nearby people for 60 seconds | Restoration | Block, Destruction, Enchanting, Heavy Armor, One-handed | — |
| Khajiit | Claws (12 damage) | Night Eye: night vision for 60 seconds, usable any number of times a day | Sneak | Alchemy, Archery, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, One-handed | — |
| Nord | 50% frost resistance | Battle Cry: targets flee for 30 seconds | Two-handed | Block, Light Armor, One-handed, Smithing, Speech | — |
| Orc | None | Berserker Rage: take half damage and deal double damage for 60 seconds | Heavy Armor | Block, Enchanting, One-handed, Smithing, Two-handed | Status: Blood-Kin |
| Redguard | 50% poison resistance | Adrenaline Rush: much faster stamina regeneration for 60 seconds | One-handed | Alteration, Archery, Block, Destruction, Smithing | — |
| Wood Elf | 50% poison resistance, 50% disease resistance | Command Animal: make one animal an ally for 60 seconds | Archery | Alchemy, Light Armor, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Sneak | — |
The "Extra starting bonus" column holds the starting magic spells and status that UESP lists under initial bonuses (separate from the passive abilities). Each once-a-day power can be used once per in-game day (Khajiit's Night Eye is the exception and can be used repeatedly). The +10 and +5 figures are the skill bonuses a race grants (as UESP describes them). They are separate from abilities and gear, and we do not rank the races by strength here.
Looking it up by skill: which races get +10 or +5
This is the table above turned around, for choosing a race by the skill you want to play. Several skills have no +10 race at all (Speech, Alchemy, Pickpocket, Smithing, Enchanting, Light Armor, Alteration and others only get +5).
| Skill | +10 races | +5 races |
|---|---|---|
| Alteration | — | Argonian, Breton, Dark Elf, High Elf, Redguard |
| Light Armor | — | Argonian, Dark Elf, Nord, Wood Elf |
| Pickpocket | — | Argonian, Khajiit, Wood Elf |
| Restoration | Imperial | Argonian, Breton, High Elf |
| Sneak | Khajiit | Argonian, Dark Elf, Wood Elf |
| Lockpicking | Argonian | Khajiit, Wood Elf |
| Conjuration | Breton | High Elf |
| Alchemy | — | Breton, Dark Elf, Khajiit, Wood Elf |
| Illusion | High Elf | Breton, Dark Elf |
| Speech | — | Breton, Nord |
| Destruction | Dark Elf | High Elf, Imperial, Redguard |
| Enchanting | — | High Elf, Imperial, Orc |
| Block | — | Imperial, Nord, Orc, Redguard |
| Heavy Armor | Orc | Imperial |
| One-handed | Redguard | Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, Orc |
| Two-handed | Nord | Orc |
| Archery | Wood Elf | Khajiit, Redguard |
| Smithing | — | Nord, Orc, Redguard |
Choosing by playstyle (our reading of the data)
This table is our own rearrangement of UESP's numbers. It is not a power ranking and not the result of in-game testing.
| You want to | Candidates | Why, and the catch |
|---|---|---|
| Fight with a bow | Wood Elf / Khajiit / Redguard | Wood Elf gets Archery +10; Khajiit and Redguard get +5. Wood Elf also has 50% poison and 50% disease resistance |
| Sneak | Khajiit / Wood Elf / Argonian / Dark Elf | Khajiit gets Sneak +10; the other three get +5. Argonian, Khajiit and Wood Elf also carry Lockpicking and Pickpocket bonuses |
| Sword and shield | Redguard / Imperial / Nord / Orc | Redguard has One-handed +10 and Block +5; Nord, Orc and Imperial have +5 in both |
| Two-handed weapons | Nord / Orc | Nord has Two-handed +10, Orc +5. The choice is 50% frost resistance (Nord) or Berserker Rage once a day (Orc) |
| Heavy armor | Orc / Imperial | Orc has Heavy Armor +10, Imperial +5. Orc also has +5 in Smithing and Enchanting |
| Destruction magic | Dark Elf / High Elf / Imperial / Redguard | Dark Elf has Destruction +10 and 50% fire resistance. High Elf has +50 Magicka (Destruction +5) |
| Conjuration, Restoration or Illusion | Breton / High Elf / Imperial | Breton has Conjuration +10, High Elf Illusion +10, Imperial Restoration +10. Breton and High Elf also get Restoration +5 |
| Crafting (Alchemy, Smithing, Enchanting) | Orc / Nord / Breton / Dark Elf / Khajiit / Wood Elf / Redguard / High Elf / Imperial | None gets +10; all of these are +5. Orc is the only race with +5 in both Smithing and Enchanting |
Every figure here is read off the table above. "Fits" only means the bonuses overlap. No playstyle is locked to a race.
Where the numbers can mislead (UESP's footnotes)
- "10x" and "25x" are not literal: UESP's notes put Argonian Histskin at about 15.3x health regeneration, High Elf Highborn at about 9.3x magicka regeneration, and Redguard Adrenaline Rush at 11x stamina regeneration. The in-game text says 10x, 25x and 10x.
- Imperial Luck is not Imperial-only: UESP says a bug gives every race this ability after you leave the cave under Helgen Keep. Imperials are simply the only ones who see it listed among active effects.
- Khajiit claws: the in-game text says 15 damage; the actual effect is 12, according to UESP.
- Height and speed: movement speed follows race height. High Elves (1.08, both sexes) are tallest; male Wood Elves (0.98) are on the short side. UESP calls the rumor that height changes melee damage false.
- Only two places where your race changes NPC reactions in a way that matters: UESP names Blood-Kin status (Orc strongholds) and the quest "Diplomatic Immunity." There are many smaller dialogue differences besides.
Blood-Kin: the one thing only Orcs get
According to UESP, only Orc characters are welcomed into the Orc strongholds from the start. Any other race can walk in, but residents keep telling you that you are not welcome, and the merchants, trainers and potential followers there will not deal with you. Finishing one of several quests for the Orcs makes you Blood-Kin and fixes that. Choosing Orc means skipping that step.
Survival Mode extras (Creation Club)
If you use Survival Mode, UESP's table lists extra racial effects. We have not confirmed these in game either.
- Argonian: 25% weakness to cold. Can eat raw meat without food poisoning.
- Khajiit: +15 warmth. Can eat raw meat without food poisoning.
- Nord: +25 warmth.
- Orc: 15% resistance to fatigue and hunger, +10 warmth.
- Dark Elf, High Elf, Wood Elf: 25% fatigue resistance.
Changing race afterwards
UESP says the PC console can change race with showracemenu, setrace and setplayerrace, and notes that only player.setrace leaves your skills intact. Our own caution, not UESP's: console use can disable achievements, so keep a separate save first.
Discrepancies and what we could not confirm
- In-game testing: we did not verify the figures for all 10 races in game; they are UESP's.
- Imperial Luck: UESP gives no number for how much extra gold you find.
- Diplomatic Immunity: UESP says race matters in that quest. We did not check how.
- Mod and patch effects: mods and unofficial patches can change racial values. This article assumes an unmodded game.
UESP: Skyrim:Races / Skyrim:Orc Strongholds
