Elder Scrolls
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Elder Scrolls

Main article: Dragon Shouts
For other uses, see Unrelenting Force.

Unrelenting Force is a dragon shout in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It is the very first shout learned by the Dragonborn. Unless the Dragonborn abstains from progressing in the main quest enough to find the Word Walls needed to maximize another Shout, Unrelenting Force is the first of the game's shouts to be mastered.

Location[]

The shout is learned during the main quest. The first word is found on the Word Wall within Bleak Falls Barrow, and becomes usable near the end of the Dragon Rising quest. It is unique in the fact that only one Dragon Soul is required to get the full power of the Shout. The first word is automatically unlocked once the Dragonborn absorbs Mirmulnir's soul. The Greybeards will provide the Dragonborn with their knowledge of the next two words, removing the need to obtain additional dragon souls to unlock them.

Effect[]

"With all three words together, this Shout is much more powerful. Use it wisely."
Arngeir[src]

The first and second words of Unrelenting Force will stagger enemies caught in its wake for a short amount of time. When the third word is used, the target is thrown backward and temporarily ragdolled, inflicting additional environmental damage upon impact. If thrown over a cliff or other significant dropoff, the victim will also take falling damage, which can cause much more damage or instant death.

Large creatures, such as dragons and mammoths, will not be thrown but will be staggered. If a dragon is using a breath attack at the Dragonborn and this Shout is used, the attack will be interrupted and the dragon will become staggered. Ethereal creatures, children, and Dragon Priests are not affected at all by Unrelenting Force. It is also possible to stop Unrelenting Force with a ward; Necromancers and Conjurers often employ this tactic. Alduin does not stagger when hit with the shout but it does deal damage to him.

Usage[]

While the damage caused by this Shout is minimal in most cases, it is useful for creating openings to attack an enemy or thinning out a crowd. It can also give the user breathing room and allow them to run from high leveled enemies, such as giants. It can be used, when fully upgraded, to blast foes off the top of long drops and let gravity dispose of them. Sailors are an exception to this, being the only characters in Skyrim which can be killed with all three words by default.

As of The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire expansion, Unrelenting Force has a more pronounced effect on certain objects in the game: insects (such as torchbugs, moths, and dragonflies) can be "knocked down," and all varieties of fish (except Slaughterfish) can be killed when hit with the effect of this Shout, for example. Salmon killed in this manner yield both salmon meat and salmon roe, just as if they were killed by a bow.

However, with the Dragonborn Force effect in the Dragonborn DLC, the shout boasts extremely devastating consequences, instantly killing weaker enemies and dealing significant damage to others, maintaining usefulness even against boss level enemies (except for large creatures and dragon priests), especially when combined with the other Dragonborn shout, Dragon Aspect. This makes the shout much more versatile, and an overall more viable shout over the likes of fire or frost breath, especially in places with tight corners and draugr-infested dungeons. Dragonborn Force can also cause anyone killed by the shout to disintegrate into ash.

Word Wall[]

Thu'um Dragon Language
Transliteration Translation
Unrelenting Force
Locations: Bleak Falls Barrow
Fus Fus-WordWall-Unrelenting-Force
HET NOK FaaL VahLOK
DeiNMaaR DO DOVahGOLZ
ahRK aaN FUS DO UNSLaaD
RahGOL ahRK VULOM
Here lies the guardian
Keeper of dragonstone
And a force of unending
Rage and darkness

Trivia[]

  • The in-game male version of Unrelenting Force sounds different to the same Shout used in the Trailer.
  • Draugr Scourge Lords and Draugr Scourges are capable of using a one or two-word Unrelenting Force Shout. Draugr Death Overlords and Draugr Overlords are capable of using the full three-word Shout. Getting hit with it temporarily ragdolls the Dragonborn, in a similar fashion aesthetically to the event of death. This can be quite dangerous if there are multiple Draugr present, as they continue to attack when the Dragonborn is on the ground.
    • There seems to be a threshold for the Shouts, as not all of them will ragdoll the Dragonborn. Getting hit point-blank seems to have a 50–50 chance of a knockback while getting hit from about three to five meters away has a 70% chance of a knockback. When multiple Deathlords are present, they can combine their Shouts, which can ragdoll the Dragonborn in one hit and incapacitate them for a maximum of thirty seconds.
    • An example of the incapacitation effect is during the final segment of the "Forbidden Legend" quest, where the three brothers use the shout over and over to disorient the Dragonborn.
  • The shout can be augmented with Force Without Effort, increasing the stagger effect of an uncharged shout.
  • This shout can be used to detect "Draugr coffins": coffins that can burst open to release Draugr. One can tell if a coffin houses a Draugr or not by standing next to it and shout. The Draugr inside will be blasted out of the coffin and stunned. This does not work on standing coffins, however.
  • Alduin can be heard using this shout at the beginning of the game. He uses this shout when the Dragonborn is on the chopping block, about to be executed. If subtitles are on, Alduin can be seen speaking the last two words, "Ro...Dah."
  • It is possible to bypass the Word Wall for learning the first word of the shout if the Dragonborn has learned a rune. Using the rune against the coffin in the room with the Word Wall will result in the Draugr being released prematurely and allow the Dragonborn to avoid learning the first word, though upon killing the first Dragon at the Western Watchtower, they will automatically learn the first word and unlock the first level of the shout.
  •  PC   A standalone spell version of this shout is added into Dragonborn; it can only be equipped by typing player.equipspell 0301F994 right.
  • If the general subtitles are turned on, it can be seen that the text for the Draugr's Unrelenting Force is misspelled: "Fus Rah Do" instead of the proper "Fus Ro Dah."
  • When using the one- or two-word part of the shout, characters will stagger backwards, including when their back is turned towards the Dragonborn.

Bugs[]

This section contains bugs related to Unrelenting Force (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

  1. Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
  2. 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.
  3. 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   Sometimes the shout will increase the Werewolf perk tree progress.
  • Sometimes, when backing up in combat and using Unrelenting Force, the shout will be heard but nothing will happen. The player cannot cast spells or switch shouts after the shout is heard.
    •  360   XB1   This can be fixed by standing still and using the shout again
  •  PC   XB1   If an essential character's health is critically low, and the Dragonborn hits them with the shout, sometimes instead of the crouched animation that appears regularly, they will stand sword-drawn or be thrown back just laying on the ground.
  •  XB1   Being hit by Unrelenting Force may cause the Dragonborn to become stuck.

Appearances[]


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