Abilities (Skyrim)

Abilities in are defined by their passive nature. They are magical effects that increase various stats and values relative to the player.

They are determined by the player's race or obtained by completing quests and tasks throughout the game. Active abilities will appear in the Active Effects list, under Magic.

They are considered separate from Powers as they do not require activation and are not restricted to once a day use.

Armor abilities
The following are special abilities granted when wearing a full set of armor or a certain piece:

Blessings
Blessings are passive, temporary buffs that normally last for eight real-time hours of gameplay (as opposed to eight hours of in-game time). They can be obtained by praying at altars, typically located in temples. Only one blessing can be active at a time.

The Temple of the Divines located in Solitude has all the Nine Divines shrines available with the exception of the Shrine of Talos as his worship is currently banned in the Empire. If the Stormcloaks win the Civil War, a Shrine of Talos will be added.

The following is a list of the blessings and locations that can be obtained from altars and temples around Skyrim. Some blessings listed here can only be obtained with the inclusion of and  add-ons.

Meditations on the Words of Power
These are made available by talking to Paarthurnax. Only one can be active at a time.

Quest abilities
The following are permanent abilities granted at the conclusion of particular quests.

† While it is not listed in Active Effects, this is in fact active once obtained. ‡ These abilities are listed in the Skyrim Official Game Guide, however the Gift of the Gab and Archmage's Authority are not included in the game whatsoever.

Racial abilities
The following are abilities inherent to certain races of Skyrim. Not all races are mutually exclusive: i.e., the player can be a Vampire or a Werewolf in addition to whichever starting race was chosen. It is, however, impossible to be both a Vampire and a Werewolf simultaneously, unless you use the Vampire-Werewolf hybrid glitch provided by the Dawnguard DLC. † The effect magnitude is actually 12 points, despite the text saying 15 points ‡ This ability increases by 25% each day a Vampire goes without feeding, to a maximum of 100% after three full days.

Standing Stones abilities
Only one of the following passive abilities can be active at a time. They can be acquired by visiting the desired Standing Stone and activating it.

Temporary abilities
These are similar to blessings in that they are temporary in nature, but they can be active at the same time as any of the blessings.