Dragons (Skyrim)

"Most Nords of Skyrim believed Dragons were only a legend. Until now."

- -The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Dragons (Dovah, or Dov plural) are a reptilian race from Akavir that were once widespread throughout Tamriel. Although seeming rather beast-like, they are profoundly intelligent, capable of speech, written language, and comprehending other languages. Their spoken language can be used to cast powerful magic known as Thu'um or Dragon Shouts. They were virtually extinct until 4E 201, when they have resurfaced in Skyrim with the return of Alduin.

Common

 * Dragon: Brown-colored dragons; they are the first dragons encountered in Skyrim and are the weakest.
 * Blood Dragon: Green-colored dragons that have finned crowns and spade-like tails.
 * Frost Dragon: White and blue, ice-affiliated dragons with black-colored dorsal spines.
 * Elder Dragon: Bronze-scaled dragons with arrow-shaped tails; second to Ancient Dragons.
 * Ancient Dragon: Red, black and orange-colored dragons; The most powerful dragon in the base game.
 * Revered Dragon: Orange-colored dragons introduced in ; second most powerful variant.
 * Legendary Dragon: Black, purple-colored. Maximum level dragon introduced in Dawnguard; most powerful variant.

Unique

 * Black Dragon: See: Alduin.
 * Red Dragon : See: Nafaalilargus and Odahviing.
 * Undead Dragon: See Durnehviir.
 * Skeletal Dragon: Dragons who are literally living skeletons; they lack muscles, flesh and organs.

1 Dragons have a fixed level, depending on their kind, which unrelated to the player's own level.

2 New types of dragons can be encountered once the player reaches a certain level.

3 Dragons have unique shouts resembling Fireball and Ice Storm spells, although the damage values differ.

Named dragons
These are dragons encountered throughout Skyrim. Essentially identical to random nameless dragons in terms of gameplay, these Dragons are usually encountered during the main quest with individual names and dialogue:

Alduin
The first-born son of Akatosh. He resurrects the dragons throughout Skyrim so that he may feast on the souls of the dead and the living. One of the few black dragons. He is also called the "World Eater".

Durnehviir
An undead dragon who resides within the Soul Cairn in.

Krosulhah
A dragon found outside of Nchardak after completion of The Path of Knowledge in.

Kruziikrel
A a dragon encountered during the quest At the Summit of Apocrypha in.

Paarthurnax
Leader of the Greybeards and follower of The Way of The Voice, Paarthurnax was part of the cause for thousands of deaths but betrayed Alduin and helped in the original "defeat". He can help the Dragonborn meditate on certain words of power

Odahviing
Alduin's right hand Dragon, Odahviing, was captured by the Dragonborn and then was pledged allegiance to him in return for his freedom. He can be called to aid of the Dovahkiin by using the Call Dragon shout. One of the few red dragons.

Mirmulnir
The first Dragon encountered by the player (other than Alduin). He attacks the Western Tower of Whiterun.

Relonikiv
A dragon encountered during the quest At the Summit of Apocrypha in.

Sahloknir
An incredibly old Dragon with the ability to breathe both fire and ice, was resurrected by Alduin only to be killed shortly after by the Dovahkiin.

Sahrotaar
A Serpentine Dragon encountered during the quest At the Summit of Apocrypha in.

Viinturuth
A dragon that has been observed speaking in native tongue to other dragons. This dragon can be randomly encountered while wandering Skyrim. After completing The Throat of the World, the Dragonborn can witness Alduin resurrecting this dragon from his burial site west of Anga's Mill.

Nahagliiv
Encountered near his burial site just outside Rorikstead. At the start of Alduin's Wall, the Dragonborn can witness this dragon's resurrection at his burial mound.

Vuljotnaak
Encountered near his burial site north-west of Bloated Man's Grotto, south-west of Sleeping Tree Camp, and south of Broken Fang Cave. Was being resurrected by Alduin when encountered. Can be found after completing Diplomatic Immunity.

Vulthuryol
A dragon encountered underground in Blackreach, underneath Alftand. To trigger this dragon attack the player must use the Unrelenting Force shout on the massive orange globe hanging above Blackreach.

Locations
Dragons can attack anywhere outdoors in Skyrim. Random Encounters scripted to take place after a certain amount of in-game time has passed without a Dragon appearance. Thus, fast travelling to an outdoor location is a reliable way to trigger a random Dragon encounter.

There are, however, certain locations where Dragons are scripted to appear. These locations are called Dragon Lairs that can be found all over Skyrim. In these locations Dragons are typically perched atop word walls that they are guarding.

The following is a list of Dragon Lairs:
 * Ancient's Ascent
 * Autumnwatch Tower
 * Bonestrewn Crest
 * Dragontooth Crater
 * Eldersblood Peak
 * Lost Tongue Overlook
 * Mount Anthor
 * Northwind Summit
 * Shearpoint
 * Skyborn Altar

Dragon Riding
Dragon Riding is a feature added in that grants the ability to temporarily tame and ride Dragons. All three words of the Bend Will shout are required in order for it to work. When the shout is directed at a dragon, it will land and allow the Dragonborn to mount it. As soon as the dragon has been mounted, it will take to the skies.

Loot

 * Dragon Bone 1-3.
 * Dragon Scales 1-3.
 * Dragon Heartscales (Can be collected using Kavohzein's Fang).
 * Gold, the amount depending on the dragon's level.
 * Precious gemstones.
 * Weapons and armour, with a chance of being enchanted. (Revered and Legendary dragons have an increased chance of dropping Daedric weapons and Deadric armour).

Strategies
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Dragon Behavior

 * A Dragon not engaged in combat will emit a distinctive "air rushing" sound while in flight.
 * Dragons are Neutral enemies, meaning they are hostile towards all NPCs in the immediate area, and vice versa. However, sometimes dragons will not notice any enemies in the area at all and fly around nonchalantly. One may eventually become aware of nearby mobs and attack them, but if it doesn't encounter any enemies it eventually flies away.
 * Dragons have numerous combat patterns: When first encountered, they will usually take advantage of their speed while in flight to sweep enemies on the ground with Shout attacks. Occasionally, they may also stop to hover in place, or land on the roof of a building and proceed to use a Shout, then fly away for another attack. If the target is out of range for regular Shouts, it will use a longer ranged Fire or Frost "ball" Shout which explodes on impact with a surface. When grounded, they become susceptible to close-ranged attacks, and their attacks consist of swinging their tails, using Shouts, and attempting to bite at an enemy with their jaws. If dragons successfully do enough damage to a player, they will perform a finishing move by grabbing half player's body with their mouth, swinging them back and forth a couple of times, then launching them into the air.
 * After a Dragon has sustained enough damage, it may lose the ability to fly. If airborne when this happens it will crash land (in the nearest relatively open area), scarring the ground in the process.

Defense

 * A Dragon can often be heard before it is seen. They roar on a regular basis and they make a distinctive sound when flying. This can be used to avoid or track them.
 * If the player is a Vampire they are more resistant to ice, but vulnerable to fire, this might be good or bad depending of the dragons encountered, if the player is a Dunmer and a third level Vampire the Dragonborn will be very resistant to all elemental damage Dragons can produce.
 * It is possible to find gear in game that protects against a percentage of elemental damage. This percentage stacks, so if the player has the right gear equipped it's possible to nullify up to 85% of elemental damage. Unfortunately, 100% resistance to any elemental damage is impossible.
 * Spellbreaker can deflect the breath attack of any dragon up to ancient dragons without its ward breaking.
 * As always, the player must be careful about their surroundings. NPCs can accidentally wander in and get hit, turning them hostile.
 * Using Dragonrend right before a dragon shouts will make the dragons shout disappear and also cause them to land. (Not true when fighting an Ancient Fire Dragon)
 * Become Ethereal is helpful when the player has low health.
 * Mages can conjure an Atronach of the same type as the dragon (Flame for fire breathing dragons, and Frost for frost breathing dragons). This takes advantage of both the Atronach's total resistance to its element and the Atronach's tendency to make a huge target of itself.

Offense

 * With the correct perks and powerful weapons, Dragons can be instantly killed with sneak attacks from a melee weapon or bow.
 * When landed, a dragon will let out a long roar when an attack causes it to reach 50% health (the same point where it can no longer fly). While doing its roaring animation, the dragon is incapable of attacking. Using the Slow Time shout can give the player enough time to finish it off before it even stops roaring.
 * Shield bashing a dragon on the head will cause it to recoil its head and stop breathing fire or frost prematurely. Power attacks can give the same result, albeit less reliably.
 * Distracting dragons with Shadowmere can be useful. Shadowmere is the toughest horse and can withstand the attacks and give the player time to kill dragons.
 * Using the Marked for Death shout can make dragons a little less difficult to slay.
 * Using weapons with drain magicka will eventually stop a Dragon from shouting
 * Mages can force any dragon to recoil over and over by spamming an Apprentice-level dual wielded Destruction spell like Firebolt with the Impact perk. This makes them easier to kill so long as a large pool of Magicka has been obtained beforehand.
 * Using Fire Breath on Dragons is extremely useful, as it drains a lot of health and does additional fire damage, and Frost Dragons receive more damage.
 * Dragonrend, of course, does a lot of affects to Dragons. It slows the Dragon, and depending what type of dragon and words used, the Dragon gets weak, even slowing it's ability to Shout.
 * Dragonbane is very effective because of its dragon damage enchantment.
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Trivia

 * Dragons can only land on the ground if there is enough flat, open space. If a dragon refuses to land on the ground, consider moving somewhere more open. The dragon can also land on most buildings.
 * Dragons can appear inside a walled city, attack various NPC's. If a quest-giver is killed, their quest may become unavailable.
 * When a dragon is killed and NPC's are nearby, they will rush over to gawk at the corpse.
 * While a dragon corpse is burning, the effect can be seen from the world map.
 * When a dragon is low on health, they may come down crashing into the ground, leaving a large trench behind.
 * Dragons were said to have been ruled by the Tsaesci and flew west to Skyrim.
 * Dragons cannot be soul trapped for obvious reason.
 * As the Dragonborn continues with the main quest, dragon attacks tend to happen more often.

Appearances

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