How to power level Sneak in Skyrim

There are many tedious skills in Skyrim, but few beat the grind of the Sneak skill. Needless to say, following people around all day is an activity you'd rather not be undertaking when you could be out in the wild, slaying dragons and plundering dungeons.

A very easy way to power level sneak, as well as gain valuable xp in Restoration and the One Handed skills is to utilize the game's sneak damage mechanics with the nature of the Greybeards. You meet the Greybeards at High Hrothgar early into the main quest, after you kill your first dragon. After learning the Unrelenting Force and Whirlwind Sprint shouts from them, you are then able to freely roam High Hrothgar, and attacking the Greybeards will not cause them to become aggressive to you, therefore meaning you can sneak behind them and farm valuable Sneak xp extremely quickly.

To use this power levelling method, you need to follow these steps:

• Meet the Greybeards in the main questline
• Join the College of Winterhold, acquire the Novice Hood (given almost immediately)
• Purchase the Healing Hands Restoration spell from Collette at the College of Winterhold for 250 gold
• Start the Dark Brotherhood quest line through the Innocence Lost quest acquired in Windhelm
• Acquire the Shrouded Armour from the quest line (early unlock)
• Encounter Cultists in any major city, loot their body armour
• Find a dagger, Steel or above will be just fine
• Head to High Hrothgar, west of Riften
• Equip the Shrouded Boots and Gloves, Novice Hood, and Cultist Body Armour
• Sneak behind a Greybeard inside High Hrothgar, spam sneak attacks for massive XP
• When the Greybeard is low health, dual-wield the Healing Hands spell and heal him up
• Rinse and repeat

A tutorial showing the method in practice and the speed of levelling can be seen below

Sneak is an invaluable skill in the world of Skyrim, and can undoubtedly help you with the myriad of quests within the game. Using this method will give players yet another way to approach situations within the game, and avoid the hours of tedious grinding.