Most of the weapons you’ll come across while adventuring throughSkyrimare either underwhelming or straight-up terrible. The game also offers a selection of unique and powerful weapons worthy of a Dragonborn, however, these are much more difficult to find. Don’t worry, though, because we already took the liberty of carefully hand-picking the absolute best weapons in Skyrim for your convenience.
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All you have to do is pick your favorites from the list down below. To keep things interesting, this list will only include weapons with unique models and/or enchantments. Weapons you can create yourself using smithing and enchanting are off the table and weapons from mods won’t be included either.
10Sanguine Rose
The Sanguine Rose is a Daedric Artifact thatsummons a Dremora for 60 seconds. The Dremora is level-dependent and can be either a powerful ally in battle or a target dummy you’re able to practice your skills on. This staff is pretty useless to playersskilled in Conjurationbut invaluable to everyone else. At max level, the Dremora can one-shot a lot of enemies and can withstand a large amount of punishment.
The Sanguine Rose is awarded for completing the questA Night to Remember. Appropriately enough, this isone of the most memorable quests in Skyrim. To trigger the quest, you need to be at least level 14 and participate in the drinking content with Sam Guevenne. The NPC can spawn in any tavern in the game so just do a little pub crawl, and you will run into him eventually. Upon waking up in the temple of Dibella the next morning, you will be prompted to clean up the mess you made during the previous night. From there, simply follow the questline, and it will ultimately lead you to the Sanguine Rose.
9Bloodscythe And Soulrender
Bloodscythe and Soulrender are two scimitars that have very little value when wielded individually. Use them together, though, and they become a very powerful pair of weapons. Bloodscytheabsorbs 15 points of health and has a chance to lower the target’s armorwhile Soulrenderabsorbs 15 points of magicka and has a chance to lower the target’s magical defenses. The weapons are particularly powerful when used in conjunction with the Deathbrand armor set.
Both Bloodscythe and Soulrender can be found inGyldenhul Barrowat the end of the quest Deathbrand. The quest is triggered at level 36 after reading a copy of the book Deathbrand in Tel Mithryn or Raven Rock Temple in Solstheim. The quest will lead you to find the pieces of the aforementioned set of armor before pointing you to the barrow. You’ll need to fight the spirit of Haknir Death-Brand for Bloodscythe while Soulrender can be found next to his skeletal remains.
8Chillrend
Chillrend is one of thebest one-handed weapons in Skyrimin terms of raw damage output and its enchantments aren’t too shabby either. The icy bladedeals 30 points of frost damagewith every hit andhas a chance to paralyze targets for two seconds. The first enchantment is a bit hit or miss since a lot of enemies in Skyrim are resistant or immune to frost damage, but paralyzing strikes work against almost any foe.
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Chillrend can be found during the Thieves’ Guild questThe Pursuit, which has the player infiltrate Riftweald Manor in Riften. The quest isn’t level dependent but requires the Dragonborn to complete a series of other Thieves’ Guild quests before it can be unlocked. That said, the weapon can technically be acquired at any time by players who can find an alternative way of getting inside Riftweald Manor. If you’re looking to get your hands on the weapon asap, make your way to the roof of the Temple of Mara and use Whirlwind Sprint to reach the manor’s balcony. You can get inside from there.
7Mace of Molag Bal
The Mace of Molag Bal is an iconic weapon that has appeared inevery Elder Scrolls game released so far. The mace has two enchantments, the first of whichdeals 25 points of damage to both stamina and magicka. Meanwhile,the second enchantment acts as a Soul Trapand allows the Dragonborn to fill a gem with the souls of enemies that die within three seconds of being hit by the weapon.
You can get your hands on this Daedric Artifact by completing the questThe House of Horrors. You can start the quest by simply entering the Abandoned House found in Markath. There, you’ll have your first interaction with Molag Bal who tasks you with killing a Vigilant of Stendarr before sending you to find Logrolf the Willful. Return to the house with the NPC and finish the quest to gain Molag Bal’s favor, and his valuable mace.
6Ebony Blade
The Ebony Blade is a pretty strange weapon. In spite of its low base damage, this two-handed sword can become one of the best weapons in Skyrim. However, to get the dai katana to reach its full potential, you’ll have to use it to slay friendly NPCs in cold blood. By default, the blade’s enchantment allows its wielder toabsorb 10 points of healthwith every hit, but you can graduallybump that number up to 30by repeatedly killing friendly characters. You’ll need to kill at least 10 of them to max out the enchantment.
The Ebony Blade is a Daedric artifact of Mephala and can be obtained by completing theWhispering Doorquest in Whiterun. The quest becomes available as soon as the Dragonborn reaches level 20 and can be started by speaking with Hulda, the barkeeper at The Bannered Mare. Keep in mind that the quest can only become active if Hulda is still alive by that point. If Hulda dies, Ysolda replaces her as barkeep, but she will not give you the quest.
5Dwarven Black Bow of Fate
The Dwarven Black Bow of Fate is easily one ofthe best bows in Skyrim. While slower than a lot of other ranged weapons, it more than makes up for it with its powerful enchantment. The bow has a50% chance to absorb 25 points of health, stamina, or magicka. The proc chance applies to each attribute individually, meaning it can absorb two or even all three of them at the same time. Albeit this tends to happen very rarely.
The Dwarven Black Bow of Fate is located in theDwemer Ruin of Kagrumezon Solstheim. The ruins can be accessed fairly early on after traveling to the island, but you’ll first need to find all the Kagrumez Resonance Gems if you want to unlock the gate that leads to the bow. There are five of these gems scattered throughout Solstheim, two of which can be found inside Kagrumez itself. Two others can be found in Fahlbtharz and Nchardak, respectively. Finally, the last one is sold by Revus Sarvani.
4Champion’s Cudgel
The Champion’s Cudgel is a deceptively simple-looking warhammer that packs an unexpectedly big punch. The weapon has a whopping base damage of 24 and an enchantment that gives it a50% chance to deal an extra 25 points of fire, frost, or shock damagewith every swing. The three types of damage can occur either independently or simultaneously. In essence, the enchantment is nearly identical to that of the Dwarven Black Bow of Fate, but here the damage is inflicted rather than absorbed.
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The Champion’s Cudgel is a reward given to the Dragonborn for completing the side questMarch of the Dead. To start the quest you’ll need to head south of the Bulwark in Solstheim where you’ll come across Captain Veleth of the Redoran guard. The captain will task you with investigating the recent ash spawn attacks on Raven Rock. Your investigation will eventually lead you to Fort Frostmoth where you’ll find General Falx Carius who happens to be wielding the Champion’s Cudgel. Kill him and the warhammer is yours.
3Staff of Magnus
There are only a handful of good weapons for mages in Skyrim, with the Staff of Magnus being arguably the best of the (admittedly small) bunch. The staff’s enchantment allows it toabsorb 20 points of magicka per secondfrom any enemy it’s pointed at. Once the target has no more magicka, it willabsorb 20 points of healthinstead. A very powerful enchantment indeed considering some ofthe toughest enemies in Skyrimare magic-users.
The Staff of Magnus can be obtained by simply following the College of Winterhold questline. Towards the end of the questline, you’ll be sent to Labyrinthian to recover the Staff of Magnus and return it to the college. Once you retrieve it, use the staff to help defeat Ancano and the weapon will be yours to keep, along with the title of Arch-Mage should you choose to accept it.
2Dawnbreaker
Dawnbreaker is not just one of the best weapons in Skyrim but also one of the coolest-looking ones. This powerful weapon comes with an enchantment that deals10 points of fire damagewith every swing and has anunusually high number of charges. Unlike most other enchanted weapons, you’ll very rarely need to recharge Dawnbreaker. The weapon has an additional effect thatgives it a chance to cause an explosion whenever it hits an undead enemy, which damages and turns other nearby undead. Be careful with this one because the explosion will also hurt you if you’re a vampire. Same goes for your companions.
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Dawnbreaker is a Daedric artifact of Meridia and can be acquired by completing her quest,The Break of Dawn. The quest can be triggered by finding the radiant item Meridia’s Beacon after reaching level 12 or by simply interacting with the Daedric prince’s statue on Mount Kilkreath near Solitude. The quest is pretty simple and involves entering Meridia’s temple and cleansing it of undead and necromancers. Upon completing the task, Miridia will give you Dawnbreaker as a reward.
1Auriel’s Bow
It’s no secret that bows are the best weapons in Skyrim and Auriel’s Bow happens to be the most powerful weapon in its class. Auriel’s Bowdeals 20 points of sun damagewith each shot and is faster than most of its siblings. Sun damage is an interesting enchantment as it’s three times more powerful against undead but only half as powerful against other targets. Shots with this bow alsocause small explosions that hit everything in a 15-foot radiusin addition to the primary target.
Auriel’s Bow was introduced in the Dawnguard DLC and can be obtained bysimply following the expansion’s main questline. The bow can be acquired towards the end of the storyline when the Dragonborn travels to the Forgotten Vale in search of the fabled artifact. The quest is quite lengthy but definitely worth your time considering the reward. Once you’ll get your hands on this bow you’ll never feel the need to switch to another weapon ever again.
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