Winterhold is the most barren hold in Skyrim since it is constantly in a blizzard, and the city of Winterhold itself is a ruin of what it used to be. However, there are still a lot of interesting things that players may have missed during their extensive playthroughs of Skyrim since there are a bunch of hidden things that are kept within the town.
The history of Winterhold is more extensive than most of the other holds in Skyrim, and as such, there is more to learn about it and its current citizens because of the town’s backstory. Players should learn all they can about Winterhold since it is where the College of Winterhold questline takes place.
10 The Staff Of Arcane Authority
Malur Seloth will instruct the player to steal the Staff of Arcane Authority during a miscellaneous quest that the player is optionally allowed to partake in. If the player succeeds, then they will gain an increase to their Speech skill.
It’s easy to miss this miscellaneous quest since its started by a character that is generally unknown and not relevant to most of the other quests in Winterhold.
9 Winterhold Guards Don’t Use Shields
Most of the guards that are found throughout the land of Skyrim generally use shields during combat and will carry shields on their person.
However, the guards of Winterhold seem to be an exception and do not carry any shield to speak of, which is uncommon in Skyrim. The reason that this likely happens is because Winterhold doesn’t have nearly as many resources as the other holds, and as such, they can’t create weaponry such as swords and shields on a regular basis.
8 Winterhold City Was Partially Destroyed During The Great Collapse
The Great Collapse was an event that decimated Winterhold and left the once-strong city in ruins. A lot of players don’t know the history of this event, and as such, they aren’t completely sure why there is so much destruction in the city of Winterhold.
Unfortunately, only a few houses are still remaining in Winterhold, and most of the inhabitants have left and moved on to the other holds of Skyrim. This is not surprising considering the terrible state that Winterhold is in during the return of the Dragons.
7 Unlike Every Other Major City, Winterhold Doesn’t Have A Blacksmith
Winterhold does not have a blacksmith, and it is the only city in the entire game to not have this important merchant. Without a blacksmith, Winterhold doesn’t have nearly as many weapons and pieces of armor to use in case of an invasion, and it is likely that an attack could happen at any time since the city is so defenseless.
Luckily, the College of Winterhold can use magic to defeat invaders; however, if the College should fall, then Winterhold will have no protections without a blacksmith. It is easy to miss the fact that Winterhold doesn’t have a blacksmith since it isn’t something that a player would logically notice.
6 The Master Spells
The Master Spells are one of the most important things that a player can gain from the College of Winterhold, and a lot of players easily missed them since they either didn’t level up their magic skills to 100 or they didn’t know that these powerful spells even existed.
The Master Spells can be obtained by leveling one of the schools of magic to 100 and then talking to the master Mage that specializes in that specific skill. They will then send the player on a quest that will eventually result in the player being allowed to learn these special spells.
5 Ranmir
Ranmir is a regular customer at the Frozen Hearth, and he is usually there drinking his days away after losing his lover when she adventured out into the cold and never came back.
Ranmir is an interesting character because he has some unique dialogue that a lot of Players missed during their first playthrough. The player can actually find Ranmir’s beloved in a cave, which makes the situation even sadder since it is clear that she didn’t survive her expedition.
4 The Citizens Of Winterhold Resent The College
Although this fact is known by some players, it was glossed over by other adventures since it is only mentioned a few times within Winterhold.
The citizens that reside in Winterhold are generally not very accepting of the mages in the College of Winterhold. The reason for this is because they believe that the mages often cause trouble for the town and because it gives them a negative reputation when events such as these occur.
3 Jarl Korir And The Helm Of Winterhold
Jarl Korir is able to give a quest of the player where they will have to track down the Helm of Winterhold from a few different potential dungeons. This is another one of the small quests that is easily missed in Winterhold since this town is not usually thoroughly explored by players.
Jarl Korir would like to have this Helm so much that he is willing to grant the Dragonborn Thane status if they complete this task and a few others for the other citizens of Winterhold.
2 Winterhold Is The Only Hold That Doesn’t Have Property To Purchase
Similar to how Winterhold doesn’t have a blacksmith, Winterhold also doesn’t have any property or houses for the player to purchase within it. Since the Hearthfire DLC was introduced, every other hold in the game has some piece of land that the player is able to purchase and make their home.
Realistically, it makes sense that Winterhold wouldn’t have any property to purchase since the houses that are in the city are rundown and the rest of the hold is a wasteland.
1 The Chill
The Chill is the prison in Winterhold, and it is easier to miss than the other jails in Skyrim since it isn’t directly inside of the city, and most players don’t commit crimes when they are visiting in Winterhold to complete a quest.
The Chill is on the outskirts of Winterhold, and is guarded by Frost Atronachs instead of guards, which is a nice change of pace from the rest of the game. The Chill is much more unique than any of the other prisons in Skyrim, and it is a shame that so many players missed out on discovering this interesting location.
NEXT: Skyrim: 10 Followers That You Didn’t Know Exist
