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While leveling in Skyrim I put a perk in a tree, but now I feel like it is wasted, since I've found blowing things up with spells is much more fun than stabbing things with a giant sword.

Is there anyway for me to recover the wasted perk? I'm on the PC so I was guessing console commands could help.

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    Wouldn't that break smithing? Everyone would always reset their points once they made the best gear they could.
    – Amy B
    Commented Nov 16, 2011 at 19:43
  • I didn't think about it like that, but I assume it would. I am just curious if it is possible to do without rolling a new char.
    – Jim
    Commented Nov 16, 2011 at 19:49
  • Yeah, this is a dupe. I would suggest merging marks answer with the other question.
    – Wipqozn
    Commented Nov 16, 2011 at 20:25

7 Answers 7

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If you are on PC, you can use the console to add and remove perks.

Finding a perk id:
help [name of perk] 4
help Armsman 4

Removing a perk
player.removeperk [perk id]
player.removeperk 00079342

Adding a perk
player.addperk [perk id]
player.addperk 00079342

Notes:

  • You can use the PageUp/PageDown keys to scroll the console.
  • Use double quotes when searching for a perk with a space: "Steel Smithing" -yx
  • The UESP has the perk id for all the skills. -Mark Trapp
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    Does using remove/add perk modify the number of perk points you have, and is it possible to use player.addperk if you have zero perk points?
    – Wipqozn
    Commented Nov 14, 2011 at 16:07
  • @Wipqozn These console commands do not modify the number of perk points you have. It is possible to player.addperk if you have zero perk points.
    – Arkive
    Commented Nov 14, 2011 at 17:13
  • What about perks with names such as "Steel Smithing" since you can't have the space there, how to find those with the help-command?
    – user14310
    Commented Nov 14, 2011 at 18:06
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    You are able to put spaces in your perk names by surrounding them with double quotes: "steel smithing"
    – l I
    Commented Nov 14, 2011 at 18:09
  • Steel Smithing is the perk I regretted too. It was one of the first perks I got when I thought perks were plentiful and smithing was valuable, they aren't and it isn't.
    – Andrew
    Commented Mar 4, 2012 at 5:09
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You can remove perks you currently have by using:

player.removeperk perkid

To find out the id of the perk, type this in:

help "perk name here" 0

This will bring up a list of all items matching your query (hopefully it contains the perk in that list).

To add a perk:

player.addperk perkid

Note: for perks that have multiple levels, you will have to remove all the perks for those skills to clear it out. i.e. one handed has 5 levels, the way skyrim tracks that is to add a perk for each level, so there are 5 different perks for one handed.

To redistribute your stats, you can use:

player.setav stat value

However this will not persist across saves, to do that use:

player.modav stat amount_to_modify_by

That can be used to set all skills and stats.

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    When using the help command, use the PageUp and PageDown keys to scroll.
    – Arkive
    Commented Nov 14, 2011 at 18:37
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There is no way to reset your perks on the Xbox 360 without the Dragonborn DLC, and no way to do it on the PlayStation 3 until Bethesda releases Dragonborn for that console, but you can redo your perks in the PC version of the game by using the console commands:

player.removeperk <perk ID>
player.addperk <perk ID>

Where <perk ID> is replaced with the code for the perk you want to change. The UESP Wiki contains a list of these codes.

Careful with these: they have been reports that they will brand you a cheater and prevent you from gaining any achievements, but this is disputed.

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    Oddly enough, using the console does not disable Steam achievements. I can confirm this from personal testing.
    – Cypren
    Commented Nov 16, 2011 at 20:35
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    @Cypren Interesting. I've heard otherwise, but looking around online just now, there's a lot of corroboration for your experience. I guess it's a caveat emptor type thing for now.
    – user3389
    Commented Nov 16, 2011 at 20:38
  • @MarkTrapp Today, I learned a new latin phrase.
    – Arkive
    Commented Nov 16, 2011 at 21:06
  • Merging removed the checkmark from your answer. Please accept 10 reputation in compensation.
    – badp
    Commented Nov 17, 2011 at 3:36
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If you have the Dragonborn DLC, play through the main DLC questline. One of the rewards of completing the At the Summit of Apocrypha quest is:

A book that transports you to Hermaeus Mora's realm, and allows you to reset perks at the cost of one Dragon Soul per tree.

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  • Excellent. I got an unneeded sneak skill and wondered how to get rid of it
    – SK19
    Commented May 25, 2021 at 21:02
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You can get the skill up to 100, make it legendary to make the skill 15 again. The perks you dumped into it will be removed and you can reuse them

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Alternatively to cheating, there are other options:

  1. Get yourself killed, your perk won't be saved.

  2. Quit the game abruptly without saving, your perk won't be saved.

  3. Although not really fair, you could return to a previous save game.

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    Why do you consider 'quitting the game abruptly' more fair than 'return to a previous save game'? :)
    – Konerak
    Commented Nov 13, 2011 at 14:19
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    @Konerak: The first two presume you just did the change, in the third one the change could have happened some saves ago. It's like recovering your companion/horse after he died and you change zone... Commented Nov 13, 2011 at 14:34
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    Cheating? I prefer the term 'experimenting'.
    – Arkive
    Commented Nov 14, 2011 at 17:14
  • I like the answer (voted it up), but I wouldn't call restoring a saved game "unfair". After all, that's really why multiple saves are there...so you can go back as far as you like (or had foresight to save at, anyway).
    – Beska
    Commented Nov 23, 2011 at 22:06
  • @Beska: Yeah, it's just a personal opinion. I'd rather progress in the game and accept the fact that my horse died than magically get him back in the game and do a section again, I thus only care about the last save. I wouldn't only go for experimenting if this weren't my first play-through of the game... Commented Nov 23, 2011 at 22:09
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For PC.

An easy solution related to all perks, so you can basically recreate your char:

This mod will remove all perks and add the right ammount removed as perk points:
Ishs Respec Mod

If there remain any perks after the above mod being used, use the console to remove them (as explained by Arkive post, you can even create a bat file to make it easier later on) and use this mod:
Perk Point Potion
to get the right ammount of perk points back.

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