Are there any blacksmiths or enchanters for hire?

My current character in Skyrim has got essentially zero Smithing and Enchanting skill. It would still be great to be able to upgrade or enchant items, or even create some items, like dragon armour. In particular, I would really like to upgrade some magical daggers I use but I can't because I don't have the right perk. Non-enchanted daggers I can at least upgrade a little bit.

I haven't found anyone who can smith or enchant on demand, but are there any such characters in Skyrim anywhere? It's a big world and I could have missed them. I wouldn't mind paying handsomely for such items (e.g. it would make sense that I wouldn't be able to sell it for more than I paid for it).

If the answer is negative (boo) then are there any mods that provide this mechanic?

Note that I'm not sure if mods go against the 'no game recommendations' rule. If so, I (or you!) can edit my question to remove this.

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3 Answers

No, there are no items or characters that allow you to smith gear you do not have perks for. If you wish, you can add the relevant perks free of charge by looking up the perk code and adding it with the console like this:

help "daedric smithing" 4

This will output a list of all things in the game that have "daedric smithing" in the name, look for the 8-number ID (In this case, the ID is 000CB413), then

player.addperk <ID>

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Actually there is something very similar to this in the form of certain followers. Some followers can TRAIN you in said skills, and then you can open their inventory (since they are your follower) and take you money back. Rinse, and repeat. I'm on my lunchbreak at this moment, and havent the time to look them up but I will include them in my answer as soon as I get off work.

You can find the followers yourself at the Wiki.

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While it's true you can't hire an npc to create an item for you(smithing) or improve an item for you(smithing or enchanting), there are merchant trainers. In vanilla Skyrim, there are several smiths you can pay for training and then sell them stuff to get your gold back. These include Gorza in Markarth(common trainer up to level 50), Balimund in Riften(expert up to level 75) and Eorlund in Whiterun(master up to level 90). The Dawnguard adds Galmar(master at Fort Dawnguard) and incidentally Sorine is a master archery trainer and merchant(same location). That isn't so relevant but it adds to getting free training with Faendal at the start of the game and with members of the circle once you are harbinger. If you have high alchemy skill and perks, it helps to sell potions and poisons to merchant trainers to get your money back.

For Enchanting, only Sergius Turrianus of the College(expert) and Hamal in the Markarth Temple of Dibella(master) are enchanting trainers in vanilla Skyrim, but neither one is a merchant(and Hamal requires a potentially dangerous quest be completed before becoming available). If you have the Dragonborn DLC, Neloth at Tel Mithryn on Solstheim is a master enchanting trainer and a merchant. On a side note, his apprentice Talvas is a master conjuration trainer and merchant who can also be your follower as well.

With patch 1.9, you can make any level 100 skill legendary, resetting the skill to 15 and refunding the perk points you spent in it. You can level the skill again for more xp to raise your character level, get more perks and more attribute increases. A skill can be made legendary as much as you want, removing the previous level cap of 81 and allowing you to get all perks in every tree if you want to. The easiest without exploits are either Alteration(telekinesis fast travel between Riften and Markarth) or Illusion(cast Harmony in a crowded place like the Riften market during the day. May help to be thane wherever you try this so guards don't get on your case). Both methods benefit from having a set of gear making spells free to cast(totally doable with 100 enchanting, relevant perks and grand soul gems). You can even freely cast 2 spell schools with one set of gear with the level 100 enchanting perk Extra Effect. Hope this helps.