Oblivion:Free Skill Boosts

At several points during the game you are given free bonuses in one or more skills, for example as a reward for completing a quest.  These skill bonuses come in two different types: some directly increase the value of the skill; others add an ability with a Fortify Skill effect.  Most of these are strictly one-time bonuses.

Skill Increases
The following rewards all directly increase the value of the skill(s), using a script with the   command.  The resulting skill increase is similar to those due to training: it counts towards attribute bonuses when you level up, and increases in major skills count towards leveling.  After the skill boost, the skill's progress bar will always be set to zero.  So, to get the maximum bonus from these boosts, you may want to increase the skill yourself to the next level, and then get the free skill boost (this is especially true if the skill is about to increase).

In several cases, the bonus is not available if your skill already exceeds 89.  Some scripts check your skill's base value (using  ), and therefore are not influenced by any active Fortify Skill or Drain Skill effects.  However, other scripts incorrectly check your skill's current value (using  ).  In those cases you can still receive the bonus "undeservedly" by temporarily draining your skill; or "deservedly" by removing the items that are boosting your skill over 89.

If the bonus is received when your skill is 100, the bonus will push your skill past 100.  If the skill is a major skill, this will allow you to increase your character's maximum level.  However, the only skills actually improved by values past 100 are Acrobatics and Athletics.

There was a bug in the original release of the game (fixed with the version 1.1.511 patch) where after receiving one of these bonuses, the affected skill would not continue to increase normally. See below for details.



Bugs
Improper Advancement
 

What happens is that your character needs to gain all the missing experience points before the skill continues to level.  For example, if your character had just reached skill level 45 in Hand to Hand, and Hand to Hand was a minor, non-specialized skill, it would normally take 695 punches (417 experience points) to get to level 50.  If you watch Branwen and Salith train, your skill level is increased to 50 and you get all the immediate benefits of the skill increase (more damage done with blow, access to the journeyman power attacks, strength attribute bonuses when you next level up, etc.)  The only thing that you're missing is those 417 experience points: you still need to go and punch some creatures 695 times to get the missing experience.  Until you do, the progress bar next to your Hand to Hand skill will be stuck at 0.  With punch number 696, the progress bar will start to inch upwards; after a total of 847 punches, you will finally get to level 51.  This is the exact same number of punches that you would have needed without getting the free skill boost.  The glitch doesn't make it take any longer to train the skill; the main problem is that there is no way to tell that you are actually accomplishing anything as long as your progress bar is stuck at zero.  The free skill boost becomes more like a temporary bonus than a permanent bonus.  

If you are in this predicament, you can continue to modify your skill in any of the usual ways:
Drain Skill and Fortify Skill will modify your skill value but will have no effect on how much time you need to spend using the skill to get the missing experience.
Skill Books and Trainers will increase your skill by one level, and will add one level's worth of experience.  You may end up having to spend a bit more time using the skill (training from 46 to 51 takes longer than training from 45 to 50), but no more than you would have had to if you had not received the free skill boost.

Missing Jail Bonuses
 

Abilities
The following rewards are implemented as abilities with a Fortify Skill effect.  If you look in the Active Effects section of your journal, you will see these abilities listed.  These rewards do not count towards leveling up, or towards attribute bonuses.  On the other hand, any one of these rewards will provide access to the Fortify Skill effect at the spellmaking or enchanting altars.

Because these Fortify Skill effects are implemented as abilities, they boost the base value of your skill (whereas as spells and enchantments only boost the current value of the skill, not the base value).  Implications include:
You receive any skill perks.  For example, if your skill level had been 45 (apprentice) and you gain a +5 ability boost, you will receive the journeyman-level skill perks (for a magic skill, you would be able to cast journeyman-level spells). Note that no message will be displayed to confirm your skill perk as there usually is.
Skill training will require more experience and therefore will be more difficult.  This is most noticeable with the Skeleton Key; tips for how to efficiently train are provided on the Skeleton Key page.
The associated skill will not show up in green in your journal listing of skills.
You can increase the skill past 100 if your skill is already near or at 100 when you acquire the bonus. However, there is no benefit, besides insurance against Drain Skill or Absorb Skill, to doing so for most skills.  The only two skills which continue to improve when boosted past 100 are Acrobatics and Athletics.

If you are trying to level efficiently, be careful about receiving these rewards.  These skill increases do not count towards the attribute bonuses for that level.  Also, the permanent rewards (''Gray Prince's Training, Night Mother's Blessing'') will prevent you from ever raising your "natural" skill levels to 100, so you may miss out permanently on some attribute increases and your character's maximum level will be reduced if the skills affected are Major Skills. 



See Also
Skills: General information on all skills.
Increasing Skills: General tips on increasing skills.
Skill Books: Books that provide skill bonuses when read.
Trainers: NPCs that can be paid for skill training.
Master Training: NPCs that can be paid for skill training once your skill exceeds 70, after completing a mini-quest.
Leveling''': Information about how skill increases contribute to leveling up.