This mod is an attempt to make it more difficult to learn smithing (also because it is a very powerful skill, actually) and to modify the Smithing perk tree in a way which i deem to be more plausible than the vanilla setup.

I think that Advanced Armor, as it is basically a human (Nord) crafting technique, should be directly linked to Steel Smithing and not be a prerequisite for Elven Smithing, which, as a more exotic and rather advanced technique, should be further afar from standard smithing capabilities (Elves have more time to learn, etc). So i linked Advanced Armor directly to Steel Smithing and made it a prerequisite for Elven Smithing.

An Arcane Blacksmith should certainly be a more sophisticated craftsman, perhaps experienced with rare or unusual material, so i made this perk accessible through Advanced Smithing and Dwarven Smithing (as shown in the attached pics).

It also seems very implausble to me that the production of jewelry doesn't require any higher qualification in terms of perks, since in reality this is a very difficult craft that requires a lot of skill and experience. Certainly more so than basic smithing. Not to mention that it is far too easy (in my opinion) to be able to produce jewelry right from the start.
Therefore i made the production of jewelry (goldsmithing) dependent on the Advanced Armor perk (which i renamed to "Advanced Smithing" to give it a more general meaning, since it includes goldsmithing in this mod).

Last but not least i changed the learning speed for smithing, because i think that vanilla is really too simple in that respect and it's a way for quick and cheesy leveling.

For this purpose i made THREE VERSIONS of the mod: "easy" = vanilla learning speed (for those who don't want this aspect of the mod), "normal" = 4 times vanilla learning duration and "hard" = 40 times vanilla learning duration ("hard" means you're going to get nowhere fast without teachers in that profession and lots of gold).

Summary in short:

- Advanced Armor perk is renamed to "Advanced Smithing" (requires skill 40)

- Position in perk tree exchanged with Elven Smithing

- Advanced Smithing enables goldsmithing, i. e. production of jewelry

- Advanced Smithing and Dwarven Smithing provide access to Arcane Blacksmith

- Reworks the perk tree for smithing and decreases learning speed (easy = vanilla, normal = 4 times slower, hard = 40 times slower).

This mod is compatible with any mod that doesn't alter the smithing perk tree. I recommend to combine it with "Complete Crafting Overhaul" and "Jaysus Swords" (and of course my other small mod: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=8648 ).

Comments, discussions, constructive criticism and praise (!) are welcome :]


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Update: Version 2
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- Made "Advanced Smithing" an actual perk (requires 30 skill) and the old "Advanced Armor" the second rank of the former (requires skill 50 now, like in vanilla)

- Weapon upgrade is now massively toned down: +4 to base weapon damage for legendary quality (vanilla is +10)

- Armor upgrade is now significantly toned down: +12 to base armor for legendary quality (vanilla is +20)

- Elven Smithing and Dwarven Smithing are now BOTH linked to Advanced Smithing (both require 40 skill and Advanced Smithing I)

- Arcane Blacksmith is now accessible ONLY through Advanced Smithing

- Learning duration for "hard" edition of this mod is now 20 times vanilla learning duration

Endorse me, if you like it, thx.

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Update
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The latest patch from Bethesda messed up my stuff, so i made a preliminary update that slows down the learning speed for smithing again. I might add a bigger update with more versions in the future.