News about The Elder Scrolls 6 has been scarce, with the only official material about it being released nearly six years ago. It’s understandable, as Bethesda put most of its focus on its new franchise title Starfield, which was released in September 2023. Now, it could be safe to assume that the developers are putting their resources into The Elder Scrolls 6. It’s exciting to speculate how the sequel can one-up the highly-acclaimed Skyrim. If there’s a feature that the devs can perfect for TES 6, it’s the perks.

The skill system in The Elder Scrolls franchise has seen significant improvements with every release, and Skyrim’s constellation system has over 18 skills that a player can level up by using actions related to them. Each skill has a corresponding set of perks that give players unique abilities. For example, the Sneak skill’s Deadly Aim perk gives Skyrim’s Stealth Archers a 3x sneak attack damage multiplier when using a bow. TES 5 has over 180 perks to choose from, which gives players free rein over their character’s specialization. It’s interesting to see how the designers can improve this system further in The Elder Scrolls 6.

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What The Elder Scrolls 6 Can Learn from Bethesda’s Perks Systems So Far

Bethesda’s franchises are known for their highly customizable perk systems, with one of the earliest examples being Fallout's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. The newest game, Starfield, has a set of perks that players can level up in a unique and fun way. These games give The Elder Scrolls 6 the blueprint to perfect its perks system, and there’s a lot it can learn from each title.

Fallout 4: Make Perks Straightforward

What makes Fallout 4’s perk system, S.P.E.C.I.A.L., great is its simplicity. It stands for the attributes Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Each one has corresponding perks, with an attribute rank requirement. Players get points every time they level up, which they can spend on ranking up either an attribute or perk. Some perks also have a character level requirement.

This is a no-nonsense system that’s easy for even novice RPG players to understand. If players want to create a viable unarmed combat build or just carry more items, they can invest in Strength and its corresponding perks. Those who want to get better at persuading people during encounters can improve their Charisma. The Elder Scrolls 6 can make its perks system more accessible by emulating S.P.E.C.I.A.L.’s straightforward perks.

Starfield: Make Perks Fun to Improve

Starfield has a simplified perks system similar to Fallout 4. Perks are also referred to as skills in this game. Each skill rank-up comes with a corresponding challenge. Here are some examples of Starfield's skill challenges:

• Stealth: This skill requires a player to do a specific number of sneak attacks to level it up.
• Energy Weapon Dissipation: Players have to tank increasing amounts of energy damage per rank-up.
• Weight Lifting: The player must sprint for a specified number of meters while at 75% or more of their maximum load to level up this skill.

This system gives players a bar to clear every time they want to improve a perk, which makes them feel like they’re truly leveling up. Plus, players don’t need to focus on completing each goal. They’ll naturally clear their challenge goals as they play according to the style they want.

The Elder Scrolls 6 could mix challenges into Skyrim’s constellation system. The skills in TES 6 can become mere categories, while the perks themselves could be upgraded using challenges. The game could even narrow down its perks, like Fallout’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. to make its skill tree simpler and easier to navigate. There’s also the option of doing away with past systems and creating a whole new skill and perks tree from scratch, which would be an impressive feat that will definitely make The Elder Scrolls 6 worth the wait.

The Elder Scrolls 6

Franchise

The Elder Scrolls

Platform(s)

PC , Xbox (Original)

Developer(s)

Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher(s)

Bethesda Softworks

Genre(s)

RPG