Dragons

"A dragon! How exciting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?"

- Farengar Secret-Fire



Dragons are a large and powerful race from Akavir that were once very widespread throughout Tamriel. Although seeming rather beast-like, they are very intelligent and capable of language. Their language can be used to cast powerful magic usable by a Dragonborn, but some dragons can speak other languages. Most dragons have been rendered almost extinct. However, dragons have recently resurfaced in Skyrim. There are six known races of dragon: Green Skinned, Black, Fire, Frost, Blood and Ancient Dragons. It has been said that later in the game you wil encounter and befriend a dragon.

Black Dragons
On Akavir, the Tsaesci attempted to "consume" the black dragons and drove the dragons to the Empire of Po Tun. This led to a war between the Ka'Po'Tuns and the Tsaesci. During that war the Tsaesci killed most of the dragons. These dragons seem to be the breed resurfacing in Skyrim for unknown reasons.

Fire Dragons
Fire dragons appear in Skyrim. Fire dragons mainly use fire based attacks. All the dragons have unscripted nature. Use ICE attacks to defeat



Frost Dragons
Frost dragons appear in Skyrim. Frost dragons are larger, have a more skeletal appearance, are stronger than fire dragons, and their powers are based on frost attacks. A Frost Dragon's frost attack slows its target's movement.

Green Skinned Dragons
Black with a green glow. Make other creatures attack and become hostile toward player. Uses a frost attack. More powerful than fire or frost dragons. You can tell a green skin by its green lines underside of its wings. You can also tell corrupted creatures by green marks on them.

Blood Dragons
Blood dragons appear in Skyrim.

These dragons are very hard to defeat, do not try to run because they will follow you where ever you are. They spit mostly fire, and appear around level 10 and above. They do a lot of damage, so make sure you keep your healing spells and potions at the ready. They can be recognized by their large tail and crowned head. When fighting on the ground, do not attack head on as they tend to kill you almost instantly by biting and throwing you, attack from the side.

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Ancient Dragons
Ancient dragons appear in Skyrim.

These dragons have a tremendous amount of health.

In Tamriel
Dragons play a large role in the legends and culture of Nirn beyond the continent of Akavir. For example, the symbol of the Septim Empire, as of the Third Era, is the Red Diamond, which is a red dragon shaped inside of a diamond. Additionally, the divine being Akatosh is associated with dragons and his avatar takes on the form of a dragon. The Daedric prince Peryite's known form also appears as a dragon, but this is probably to spite Akatosh. In Morrowind, the dragons were driven out by the cliff racers. Young dragons of an unknown type were known to come in conflict with the hero of Daggerfall around Iliac Bay. A type of creature called the Wamasus once inhabited Black Marsh. The north men considered these to be dragons with lightning for blood.

In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Dragons play a significant part in Skyrim. They randomly appear, but there is also the potential for the player to have the option of fighting multiple dragons at once. There is also a potentially infinite number of dragons that can be fought. Although dragons primarily speak the Dragon Language (in fact, they are speaking it when they breathe fire), it has been all-but-confirmed on multiple occasions that at least one dragon is capable of speaking the "Common Language." They are unscripted and will attack NPCs. In E3, Todd Howard was asked, "Are all dragons out to hunt you down?", Todd replied that, "most are but, there are a few that aren't." What he means by that is something we will not know until release, but it can be assumed that not every dragon will be hostile, and some will be able to communicate with the Player.

In a interview on GT.TV, Todd Howard confirmed that later in the game there will be a named dragon Odahviing which the player can befriend. . This dragon can be called to aid the player with a dragon shout and even be used against other dragons. The only limitations to this feature are that you cannot call it while inside and it cannot be used constantly.

How powerful a dragon is, is not measured by its element but its color. For example, a white and bronze dragon is notably more potent than a green and brown dragon.

It’s confirmed that dragons don’t start appearing until you launch into the main quest, and they gradually increase in frequency as you progress in the main story. Similar to portals in Oblivion.

Dragon souls
Dragon souls are items needed to utilize the words of power used in Dragon shouts. Dragon souls are only obtained by killing a dragon. Because there are 24 shouts with three words each, the player has to kill about 72 dragons in order to be able to perform every shout in their entirety. (Note: This number may not necessarily be correct. There are many shouts that are taught during quest lines and it is also possible that if multiple shouts use the same word, obtaining that word once will unlock it for all shouts that it applies to.)

Drops
Dragons tend to drop medium-high amounts of Gold, depending on the player level. At lower levels they can drop as much as up to 400-500 Gold.

All Dragons drop Dragon Bones and Dragon Scales, which can be used to craft Dragon Bone Armor and Dragon Scale Armor. They usually drop around 2-3 of each. Beware, as it has massive weight (Dragon Bones 15 à piece and Scales 10 à piece), and can encumber you if you choose to fight one with little room left. However, if you can drop something, do it, as they also have a very high value and usefulness.

Some Dragons may drop high-quality armor pieces and weapons, like Orcish types.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
 * An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire
 * The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
 * The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
 * The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Akatosh's Avatar, brief)
 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim