As your character explores the territories of Skyrim, there are plants and materials that can be collected and used to make potions. This is the Alchemy skill. Your character can eventually buy property, build a house and attach a Greenhouse to that house where ingredients for potions can be grown. One of the first potions needed by your character would be the fortify health potion. This potion can be made from wheat and blue mountain flowers.The fortify health potion is invaluable during battles.

The next most important skill is Smithing which is used to make and enhance armor and weapons. Although armmor and weapons can be bought, it is much better for your character to make their own. The simplest armor is made from leather. The next step up is using iron ore to make iron ignots at a smelter and then using those iron ignots with leather and leather straps to make armor and weapons such as the iron dagger.

Iron ore can mined or bought from a smith or merchant. After obtaining iron ignots and leather strips, your character uses a forge to craft items such as an iron dagger.

One way to enhance armor and weapons is to use an enchanting station to place an enchantment such as fire damage on a weapon.

Your character can gain experience points during battle or by using the alchemy or enchanting station or by forging weapons and armor. As you create new items, your experience in each skill goes up and when that skill reaches a new level, your character's level points increase. When the character's level points fill up the current level, the character can level up.

As your character levels up, they can choose to add Health, Magic, or Stamina.

Now, you can scroll through the skills to see which skill has enough points to enable adding a perk.

Each perk requires a certain number of skill points before it can be enabled. These perks add to your character's abilities.