Dragon Research

Dragon Research
Esbern at Sky Haven Temple.
Quest Giver	Esbern
Location	Sky Haven Temple
Prerequisite	Alduin's Wall Rebuilding the Blades Dragon Hunting
Faction	Blades
Reward	Esbern's Potion
Quest ID	FreeformSkyHavenTempleD

"Have you ever heard of the expression, "the scale of the Argonian that bit you?" No, I guess not. Well, the principle applies here. It's a potion, made from those dragon parts. Give it a try."

―Esbern

Dragon Research is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in which the Dragonborn can receive a permanent ability to help them in their fight against the dragons after assisting Esbern by collecting the remains of deceased dragons.

Objectives

1. Bring one Dragon Scale and one Dragon Bone to Esbern

Walkthrough

After completing "Rebuilding the Blades," Delphine will tell the Dragonborn to talk to Esbern about "Dragon Hunting." Esbern has located a dragon lair, and will send the Dragonborn to defeat the dragon that resides there, accompanied by the new Blades recruits.

After defeating the target dragon, Esbern may be spoken to about his "dragon researches." Upon returning to Sky Haven Temple in possession of dragon scales and bones, Esbern will ask the Dragonborn to provide him with one dragon scale and one dragon bone for his research.

Afterward, Esbern will reward the Dragonborn with a unique potion named Esbern's Potion. Drinking it will grant a permanent ability, the Dragon Infusion, which gives a 25% resistance against dragon melee attacks.

Journal

Dragon Research – FreeformSkyHavenTempleD
ID	Journal Entry
10	Objective 10: Bring a Dragon Scale and a Dragon Bone to Esbern

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Dragon Research. 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.

•  PC   360   PS3   Before patch 1.9, Esbern's Potion did not add the intended effect.
  • PC users that have not updated can add the perk manually, using the console command player.addspell f5ffa.
•  PC   360   PS3   Before patch 1.9, "Bring a Dragon Scale and a Dragon Bone to Esbern" would not disappear from the Miscellaneous Quest list after being delivered.
•  PC   360   PS3   Esbern will occasionally direct the Dragonborn towards a dragon to kill, even if it was already killed before obtaining the quest.
•  PC   360   PS3   If the Dragonborn kills the dragon that Esbern asks to be slain, the quest will continue normally and the objective "Tell Esbern the Dragon at (location) is dead" will appear in the miscellaneous section of the Quest Journal. The quest will be unable to complete until the dragon respawns.
•  PC   360   PS3   Esbern's location marker may disappear after killing the dragon.