For those who didn't cheat to lvl 80 but need to now...
For those of us who didn't cheat our way to level 80 but played a fair amount of the game, including the DLC's, are probably like me sitting somewhere between high 60's to low to mid 70's level.
Well there was a way to get to level 80 rather easy with the
Oghma Infinium glitch. Unfortunately that cheat is officially removed with the 1.9 Skyrim patch:
BeefJack | Skyrim patch 1.9 banishes Oghma Infinium glitch, infuriates players.
You could still get the book: "player.additem 0001A332 1" (minus the quotes, and notice the spaces), and it’ll work, but it’s one and done. And even if you save and exit the game, come back and command console the book again, it won’t work. I’ve now got 3 books trying this.
Anyway there is still a method to increase your level though it is a bit slow and cumbersome. Basically you can just level up through the command console... however this could cause perk problems.
BACKUP YOUR ENTIRE SAVE FOLDER BEFORE DOING THIS!!! - C:\Users\yourname\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Saves
OK so you basically just use "player.advskill (skill name) (amount)" without quotes or parenthesis. Example: player.advskill destruction 3750. This will basically advance your skill level in destruction 3 levels - from say 47 to 50. As your skills advance, so does your overall level so...
You can read
here and
here (scroll down to Skill Advance Commands). Or like I said, just use something like the example I've shown, meaning make sure to use at least 3750 but probably no more than say 6000, which is the max I used. And those numbers seems to depend on that skill level at the time so a bit of experimenting with the numbers may be in order.
I know this works with the latest patch (1.9) because I used it, which is why I'm posting it now. And when I started I was at 73 so depending on where you are it could take some time.
As for issues - I’ve found that if you level using this method, your perks may not take as you add them. Thus using the skill prior to adding a perk seems to fix this. In short, I’ve found using the skill before adding a perk insures the perk takes. I would also save before adding, just in case. You don’t want to expend a perk, not have it work, and not be able to get it back.
Now, when you do get to level 80, you will be approached by an
Ebony Warrior who will challenge you to a fight at a specified location. All I’m going to say is this is no easy fight so be prepared.
And yes... you have to be at level 80, and have the Dragonborn DLC to meet him.
Enjoy.