Dawnbreaker (Skyrim)

Dawnbreaker
Base Damage	12
Weight	10
Base Value	740
Additional Effects	Burns for 10-15 points, and if killing undead, a chance to cause a firey [sic] [Do not change this to fiery. This misspelled word is how it appears in-game.] explosion that turns or destroys nearby undead.
Class	One-Handed, Sword
Upgrade Material	Ebony Ingot
Perk	None
FormID	0004E4EE

For other uses, see Dawnbreaker.

"Mortals call it Dawnbreaker, for it was forged in a holy light that breaks upon my foes, burning away corruption and false life."

―Meridia

Dawnbreaker is a unique one-handed sword found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Acquisition

Dawnbreaker is a Daedric artifact given as a gift by the Daedric Prince Meridia upon completion of the quest "The Break of Dawn."

Enchantment

Dawnbreaker bears a unique enchantment called "Meridia's Retribution" that works similar to soul trap in that each hit infects the target for ten seconds. If the target is killed within that time, it may explode. Over the course of ten seconds, the chance to trigger an explosion is 1 - (.75 ^ x), where x is the number of strikes. In other words, the more times the target is hit, the more likely the explosion is to happen. Also, the explosion only happens if the target is undead. It is not actually necessary for the killing blow that triggers the explosion to be dealt with Dawnbreaker. A second enchantment deals ten to fifteen points of fire damage with each hit. The fire damage depends on the Augmented Flames perk, dealing 12 points of damage for the first rank and 15 points for the second.

This blast will damage any nearby undead (including turning undead followers such as Serana and dead thralls, depending on level) and can cause any survivors to flee for a short period of time. Undead killed in the blast will crumble into ash piles. The fiery explosion has the same visual effect and functions as the Bane of the Undead spell. If one is a vampire, and is quick enough when the blast goes into effect, they can see this unique version of Bane of the Undead, is in fact named "Meridia's light." Note that this can affect Serana as she is a Vampire Lord. If the player is a Vampire or Vampire Lord, the explosion will damage and can kill the player if one is on low health, the same way it affects other undead.

In addition, this weapon has a very high number of charges; much higher than most enchanted weapons. Since soul gems restore a fixed number of charges, this weapon will require more than a single grand soul to recharge it fully.

Smithing

The Dawnbreaker can be upgraded with an ebony ingot and the Arcane Blacksmith perk, however, it does not benefit from any Smithing perks. This means that the weapon cannot be improved past flawless quality without boosting the Smithing skill over 100. This can be achieved by using enchanted apparel or blacksmithing potions to fortify Smithing.

Usefulness

Despite other swords having higher damage, the special enchantment makes Dawnbreaker very useful for dealing with several draugr at once. High-level draugr, such as a Draugr Deathlords, almost always attack alongside several lower leveled ones that can be killed in a few hits. The resulting explosion instantly kills low level undead and causes the high-level draugr to flee.

It is also an effective weapon against vampires. In addition to being very vulnerable to fire, they are also undead, therefore they are affected by the fiery explosion. However, if the Dragonborn is a vampire, the resulting explosion will affect them as well. Members of the Dawnguard may want to obtain it, as it will be helpful while fighting vampires, and especially helpful during the siege of Castle Volkihar.

The blast will also trigger by, and affect, the ash spawns in the Dragonborn DLC location of Solstheim, making it useful against them as well. However, they will resist the fire enchantment, diminishing the weapon's damage potential to that of the actual physical damage it deals.

Duplication exploit

Two copies of Dawnbreaker can be obtained. This is achieved by casting a spell or using a shout with significant kinetic force (i.e., Fire Storm, Fireball, Fire Rune, etc.) beside the sword altar after defeating Malkoran and his shades. This will cause a copy of Dawnbreaker to fly across the room, while the original still stays where it is. Find and pick up the copy before obtaining the original from the altar, because doing so ends the quest and transports the Dragonborn outside the dungeon.

• Note: Prior to taking the 'original' sword in the stone per se, save game due to glitch that often occurs immediately after activating the sword.
• Possible solution (confirmed) is that if you have werewolf/vampire transformation available & muffle (possibly not required) equip both prior to activation of sword. Save game.
• Transform then immediately activate the Dawnbreaker sword in the stone.
• After the page transition to load immediately back away from the orb until it stops following you to ensure dialogue does not engage. You will see the transformation occur to werewolf/vampire.
• Wait a few hours (varys) until transformation ends. Save game yet again.
• Speak to orb, immediately after you will start falling, engage map to quick travel until option is available and a location can be chosen and successful; quick travel to Meridia's shrine.
• You will arrive at the shrine alive versus plummeting to hero's death due to glitch, you may or may not see cut seen of the orb floating onto pedestal; this does not affect completion of task/mission. Congratulations on getting through the glitch; additionally, Dawnbreaker can be cloned may times over (see YouTube for details); Dawnbreaker can be upgraded at whetstone to legendary (utilizing smithing potion increases it substantially regarding attack power - stay within non-negative values to avoid glitching while in gameplay); Dawnbreaker can be dual-wielding making it the most powerful single-hand dual wield in the game.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Dawnbreaker (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following: Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

Click to show Bugs

PS3   Occasionally Dawnbreaker will glow brightly, as if it is constantly being drawn.  PS3 (Fix)   Sheathing and redrawing will return the blade to normal.  PC   360   PS3   Dawnbreaker will sometimes glow very brightly when entering a new zone. This can be fixed by changing weapons.  PC   360   PS3   Dawnbreaker does not get recharged by the perk Soul Siphon.  PC   360   PS3   This weapon seems to be able to accidentally equip itself to the same hand as another weapon at the same time. This may be due to using the item duplication glitch above.  PC   360   PS3   If equipped with a weapon of a different kind in the left hand, Dawnbreaker may take the form of the weapon in the left. Confirmed with Daedric sword. To fix un-equip and then re-equip Dawnbreaker, the weapon should now be displayed properly.  PC   360   PS3   It is recommended to save before collecting the sword, after told to do so. This is because, when the Dragonborn is dropped back down to land by Meridia after being summoned, they may be killed upon landing.  PC   Entering the TCL console command can prevent this, but only if it is done beforehand.  PS3   It is possible to escape this glitch by running towards the water after the conversation with Meridia. Also try restarting the PS3 and attempting again, as it is a matter of loading out of falling before hitting the ground. If the load is too slow or the Dragonborn is positioned too far uphill, they hit the ground and die.  360   Use Kinect to Quicksave before collecting the sword. If the above bug should occur, use the Quickload command before hitting the ground.  360   It is possible that, if the Dragonborn stays completely still during the entire cutscene with Meridia, they may avoid this glitch completely.   PC   360   PS3   When summoned to the sky, a dragon may follow and attack during the dialog with Meridia, making returning to the ground impossible. Reloading and killing the dragon before placing the beacon will work, as will backing away from the conflict in the sky and waiting for several hours. The dragon will disappear and conversation with Meridia will resume.  PS3   Placing Dawnbreaker on a weapon rack can cause it to float to the ceiling directly above the rack it was placed on. Placing Dawnbreaker on a weapon rack may cause it to disappear.  360   If an enemy uses a shout of Disarm, Dawnbreaker may vanish.  360   PS3   There is a small chance that while fighting Malkoran and hitting Dawnbreaker with a frost shout before seeing it will cause it to have a frost enchantment instead of fire.  PC   360   If Dawnbreaker gets knocked off the pedestal during the fight, it can be picked up off the floor. Another one can then be received by activating the pedestal. It is recommended to get this one second, as the Dragongorn will be pulled into the sky at that point.  360   If the Dragonborn has Sunhallowed Elven Arrows in their inventory and views them, Dawnbreaker will glow brightly. This can be fixed by unequiping and re-equipping it.

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• The Elder Scrolls: Legends