Starting Out In - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skills & PerksSkills and builds are separated into 3 main groups; Warrior, Magic, Thief/Sneak
The first 3 skills you should familiarize yourself with is Alchemy, Enchanting and Smithing, all will prove most rewarding in the later stages of the game; levelling is slow so it is suggested that you pay a trainer every level. (Babette of the Dark Brotherhood is the Master Alchemy trainer).
With Fortify Enchanting potions, the Enchanting skill will prove to be most beneficial. As well as creating robes that Fortify potion creations.
The Smithing skills takes little to no effort at all, I went running around killing Deer, Elk and Sabre Cats gathering their hides and pelts to make leather. Whilst levelling each skill be sure to add in the perks to increase the effectiveness of each skill.

A few other skills and perks that become extremely helpful early and later in the game are:

The use of weapons with the right or left hand, as well as dual wielding. (Master Trainer: Chief Burguk in Dushnikh Yal).
The use of Great swords, War hammers and Battle-axes. Personally, levelling this skill doesn't benefit any of my builds; however for others it may still prove to be useful. I have not yet found a two-handed weapon that is stronger than any of my One-handed weapons.
Pretty self explanatory, but if you didn't know, the use of bows. (Master Trainer: Niruin of the Thieves Guild).

The art of silenced footsteps and less detection by enemies. (Master Trainer: Delvin Mallory of the Thieves Guild). Sneak attacks also multiply the damage on weapons by, at most 15x with the "Assassins Blade" perk.
In my opinion, useless. Probably more beneficial for Thieves or Mages however it has not done me any favours throughout playing.
The use and effectiveness of Heavy armor. Personally I think this is the best type of armor to go with, even if you are trying to go for a Battle-mage, Arch-mage, and Sneak-thief type build; with carefully placed perk points the Heavy Armor skill can easily benefit all types of builds.

FactionsThe most notable faction is the Companions in Whiterun, not a bad place to first join up with minor quests reward 300 gold per quest. Warrior builds can benefit most from this guild.
The Dark Brotherhood is the most rewarding as it goes for gold; 600 for the starting quests 1200 after the main quest-line is completed.

Common ItemsHeavy as they may be weighing you down, it's not a bad thing to sell them; you will encounter enough dragons to create the Dragon-plate and Dragon-scale armor(s)
Mainly found in dungeons and tombs, expensive and great for selling - also levels up the speech skill depending on the price.
Be warned, their weight may be 0.5, but it adds up and pretty fast if you're collecting every potion you find.

Tips and TricksThe Heavy Armor skill gains experience by the amount of damage you take, not by how many hits - Best training spot is near Giants and Mammoths, provided you can keep alive whilst being whacked by these creatures.
A pair of gloves found in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary have an added bonus where Backstab attacks do double damage, with the Sneak perk "Assassin's Blade" One-handed dagger attacks can multiply by 30.
The Speech skill increases depending on successful persuasions and bribes as well as buying as selling, more particularly when buying or selling higher value items.
Killing dragons is possible with melee attacks, it is not suggested by some however I have had no problem with these types of attacks.

Skaarj Legend