Players aren’t likely to run out of things to do in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for a very long time. Not only do the numerous factions of the game offer a bunch of quests to go through, but the game also has a fairly long main quest line that often gets overlooked due to its inconsistent writing and pacing. Moreover, there’s a whole range of intriguing Daedric quests as well for players wanting to collect each Daedric artifact.
However, between the two, it seems like the dungeon quests simply don’t get enough of the spotlight. These quests are often unique to a specific dungeon or area they’re located in, and while some of them can be activated by entering their respective dungeons, others require the Dragonborn to speak to an NPC first. Eager to head into a dangerous Nordic ruin? Here are the best quests revolving around Skyrim’s creepy dungeons.
10 A Love Beyond Death
Located nearly directly north of Riften is the tomb of Ansilvund, leaning against the eastern mountains of Skyrim’s province. Entering this excavation site will reveal that Lu’ah Al-Skaven and some of her necromancers have set up camp inside the tomb in hopes of raising an undead army, as well as bringing Lu’ah’s dead husband back to life.
The quest begins when the Dragonborn wanders deeper into the excavation site and disturbs the work of the mages. There are quite a few traps around, so tread carefully. Moreover, Lu’ah will summon two special draugr to fight for her just as the final confrontation starts. In the end, the reward is a very cool and unique weapon known as Ghostblade. The sword does 8 base damage, as well as an additional 3 damage that will ignore armor.
9 Hunter And Hunted
It’s not necessarily in a dungeon, but it’s still an immensely interesting quest of the same variety. Head over to Moss Mother Cavern, far to the south of Rorikstead. The cave entrance will be easy to find as a wounded man called Valdr will be found outside the location itself, pleading for help.
Valdr’s friends are inside this gorgeous natural cavern but have already been slain by the local spriggans, which are the main enemies in the area. Once the task is completed, Valdr will offer his Lucky Dagger as a reward, and it’s a pretty nice weapon given how short the quest is. It has 25% chance for critical hits, making a great addition to any assassin or thief’s arsenal.
8 Ashore In A Sea Of Ghosts
On the riverbank opposite of Windhelm, follow the water east and slightly north until an ancient Nordic ruin comes into sight. Yngol Barrow, upon entered, will automatically give the player the task of exploring the ruins. However, they’ll soon realize a Dragon Claw is needed to proceed. It can be received from Birna in Winterhold.
Proceeding onward, a powerful draugr named Yngol’s Shade will eventually make an appearance. The Helm of Yngol, the main reward for the quest, can be looted from his corpse. This helmet is a heavy steel armor piece that has a nice base armor rating of 21 and gives an additional 30% frost resistance to the wearer.
7 Silenced Tongues
This quest has become infamous for having one of the toughest and most unique draugr bosses. Head north from Whiterun and into the mountains. Eventually, the Nordic tomb Volunruud should appear. Entering the tomb and finding Heddic’s Notes should be enough to activate this quest, which entails delving further into the dungeon and eventually defeating its boss.
Kvenel the Tongue is the final opponent of the dungeon, a spectral draugr who is dual-wielding two unique weapons and has the ability to summon creatures to his aid. Since his level scales up to 30, he’s quite a kick fairly early on in the game. Once defeated, he’ll drop his two weapons, Eduj and Okin. Eduj is a sword with 11 base damage that deals 10 frost damage to health and stamina, while Okin is a war axe with 12 base damage and the same enchantment as the former.
6 The Pale Lady
Not afraid of the Wispmother? In that case, this quest is a must. Head southwest of Dawnstar, journeying into the snowy mountains until you reach Frostmere Crypt. When the Dragonborn walks in, they’ll witness a scene wherein a group bandits accuse one of their own of stealing a sword.
The quest can be gained from the betrayed bandit Elsa Blackthorn, or if she dies, the quest will simply pop up automatically. The sword will be found eventually, along with a very angry Wispmother. She must either be defeated or given the sword. If the sword is kept, the Dragonborn will receive the Pale Blade. It does 11 damage and an additional 25 frost damage. It will also cause enemies up to level 16 to flee for 30 seconds.
5 The Legend Of The Red Eagle
Reading a book titled The Legend of Red Eagle will start this quest. The task at hand will be locating the Red Eagle’s sword in Red Eagle Redoubt and unraveling the secrets of the tomb itself.
Red Eagle Redoubt is located in the Reach, near a massive Forsworn encampment called Karthspire. The actual tomb itself is in Rebel’s Cairn, further northeast from the location of the sword. After defeating the sword’s owner the blade itself will have transformed, with 11 base damage and the ability to deal fire damage and force undead enemies up to level 13 to flee from battle.
4 A Scroll For Anska
In High Gate Ruins (located between Dawnstar and Solitude) the Dragonborn will encounter a lone Nord named Anska. She’ll ask for their help in finding the local Dragon Priest Vokun, as well as a scroll.
After getting through the ruins and killing Vokun, make sure to loot the Dragon Priest mask off him. Vokun’s mask is a powerful piece of kit for mages especially since it makes Conjuration, Illusion, and Alteration spells 20% cheaper to cast. It also has a decent armor rating of 23.
3 Evil In Waiting
Deep into the mountains southeast of Markarth is the tomb of Valthume, a place where one of the many evil Dragon Priests of Skyrim were laid to rest. Entering the ruins will begin a quest where the Dragonborn must help Valdar in keeping the slowly awakening Hevnoraak in his place.
Hevnoraak’s mask is one of the most useful Dragon Priest masks in the entire game because its effects allow it to be used by just about any type of character. The mask allows the Dragonborn to become immune to diseases and poison, which removes the annoyance of negative buffs from illnesses. Otherwise, it’s a must-have to finish the mask collection at the Labyrinthian.
2 Siege On The Dragon Cult
This is another Dragon Priest related quest, this time involving the priest Rahgot. In order to begin it, head on over to Forelhost, a Nordic ruin southeast of Riften. Before entering, they’ll be greeted by Captain Valmir, who will ask them to fetch Rahgot’s mask from the tomb.
Rahgot’s mask is particularly useful for players who have a heavy armor and two-handed build that requires a lot of stamina to execute properly. The mask increases the wearer’s stamina points by 70, which is a nice, solid boost. After the mask is retrieved, a pretty funny scene with Valmir will ensue where his true nature is revealed.
1 Lost To The Ages
Available to Dawnguard DLC owners only, the quest starts either by reading The Aetherium Wars or by stepping into Arkngthamz, a Dwemer ruin located in the mountains south of the orc stronghold Dushnik Yal, near Markarth.
The reward is the ability to create the three Aetherial items: the shield, which turns enemies into ethereal beings unable to attack or to be attacked, the crown, which allows an additional Standing Stone effect of choice, and the staff, which can be used to summon a Dwarven Sphere and Spider for 60 seconds. The crown in particular makes this quest very much worthwhile, despite how long it is.
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