Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 4/10
- Offline: 75/75 (1550)
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1550: 40-50 Hours (100+ Hours See Note)
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 playthrough
- Number of missable achievements: 1 achievement (Oblivion Walker)
- Do cheat codes disable achievements?: No Cheats
- Does difficulty affect achievements?: No.
- Glitchy achievements: None (See Note)
- Unobtainable achievements: None
- Extra equipment needed?: No.


Introduction:
Welcome to the world of Skyrim! We say world because of the sheer amount of detail that Bethesda has so beautifully crafted. Being one of the best RPGs the Xbox 360 has to offer, there is much, much to do in Skyrim. The achievement list is straight-forward and there isn't a single glitch that effects achievements. There have also been 3 DLCs added which adds even more to the game!

Playthrough:
Seeing as the game's difficulty doesn't effect achievements, you can set it to whatever you prefer. None of the story-based achievements are missable, so feel free to play them at your pace. Complete all story missions and you'll end up with 8 achievements. Along the way, you may find some side quests or miscellaneous quests. Complete these and you'll end up with Sideways and Hero of the People. You'll most likely end up with Delver while playing.

Faction Side Quests:
When you finish your playthrough, you can continue on with whatever you feel like doing. There are a few factions in the game that each have there own quest line. Complete the Companions quest line for Take Up Arms and Glory of the Dead. The College of Winterhold also has a few quests. Completing Gatekeeper, Blood Oath, Revealing the Unseen and Eye of Magnus completes the College's quest line. The Thieves Guild can be found in Riften, and completing all quests unlocks Taking Care of Business and One With Shadows. And lastly, (the fan favorite) Dark Brotherhood. With (probably) the best quest line in the game, you'll earn With Friends Like These..., Bound Until Death and Hail Sithis! upon completion. You may also notice two guard factions while in Skyrim. They are the Stormcloaks and the Imperial Army. Pick a side and you'll earn Taking Sides. There are two more achievements related to each faction (depending on which you chose). War Hero and Hero of Skyrim are these achievements.

Miscellaneous:
If you've completed all quests up to this point, nicely done. But there is still more to do! Many things are miscellaneous, and may come with naturally playing the game. If not, they aren't hard, and can be completed at any time. Standing Stones are stone that effect your stats when found. There are 13 of them, and two achievements tied to finding them all. Going to jail, escaping from jail, buying a house, getting married are all things with achievements tied to them, so don't forget to do them! You'll need to have 100,000 gold at one time to unlock Golden Touch. Master Criminal requires you to have 1,000 bounty in all nine holds. Keep an eye on a certain skill while playing. Have it reach 100 and you'll unlock Skill Master. While exploring the world of Skyrim, you'll discover locations. Finding 100 won't be hard, and you'll earn Explorer in the process. You will also come across dragons while exploring. Upon killing a dragon, you'll be granted a Dragon soul which connects to Shouts. By absorbing 20 dragon souls, you'll earn Dragon Hunter. Use these souls to buy shouts. Unlock all three words of a shout to earn Words of Power. Words are found usually at the end of dungeons or quests. Finding twenty of them will reward you with Thu'um Master.

Note:

There are Daedric artifacts scattered throughout Skyrim. In fact, there are 15 to find. Each artifact has a quest that deals with it, and you are rewarded the artifact at the end. There are also two achievements that deal with these; Daedric Influence and Oblivion Walker. Most of the quests are straight-forward and can be completed easily. HOWEVER, some of these artifacts can be LOST if you happen to kill the quest-giver, reward-giver. Keep an eye out. I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out two artifacts;

  • Ring of Hirscine- Allows the wearer to become a werewolf at any point the wearer desires. This ring helps incredibly in the DLC; Dawnguard. Pick this ring at the end of the quest!
  • Oghma Infinium- Allows the reader to select three skills to be upgraded by 5 points each. Surrounding this item is a glitch in the game that allows you to constant use. You have the ability to use it repeatedly at a bookshelf within your home. This GREATLY decreases the time it takes to unlock Apprentice, Adept, Expert and Master and reach level 80, which is required in the DLC; Dawnguard.


DawnGuard:
This DLC can be started by entering any major city. Vampires will attack and a dawnguard will ask you to meet with their leader at Dawnguard Tower. Hardest part about this DLC is actually locating the tower. Within this DLC, you are introduced to two new factions, The Dawnguard and the Vampires. You can join with either faction, you'll still earn Awakening, Beyond Death, and Kindred Judgement. There is only one side quest which is tied to an achievement, Lost to the Ages. This quest isn't faction based, so head to the start and get ready for a journey. During a quest, you'll meet Durvenhiir, a dragon. He'll teach you a shout that allows him to appear in Skyrim. Summoning him three times will earn you three words to the shout, Soul Tear. Upon learning the 3rd word, you'll unlock the Soul Tear achievement. There is a unique weapon in Dawnguard called; Auriel's Bow. You'll receive it at the end of the "Touching the Sky" quest. Shoot a Sunhallowed arrow at the sky and you'll block it out. This unlocks the Auriel's Bow achievement. If you choose the Vampire questline, you'll be made a vampire. You'll be granted the ability to become a Vampire Lord. There are 11 perks to unlock by leveling up when a vampire. Unlock them all for Vampire Mastered. Werewolf Mastered is the same process. If you held onto the Ring of Hirscine, you'll be able to change into a werewolf whenever you choose. If not, head back to the Companions to have Aela the Huntress help you. Legend requires you to be at LEAST level 70. You'll need to find a legendary dragon, but they randomly appear for players level 70+. Use the Oghma Infinium for fast-leveling. Head to the Ragged Flagon to change your face for the easiest achievement in the DLC. It will require 2,000 gold.

Hearthfire:
This DLC adds nothing more than the ability to build your own custom houses, as well as the ability to adopt children. Before the DLC starts, be sure you have plenty of money so that all supplies and plots can be bought without a second thought. You can earn Land Owner and Land Owner by buying all three plots of land. Each one costs 5,000 gold. There is one in Dawnstar, one in Falkreath and one in Morthal. You'll need to be in good sitting with the Jarl of each city. A fully built house has 3 wings, so fully building one will unlock Architect. Build out all three of your houses to unlock Master Architect. To adopt a child, you'll need a Child's room in your house. When you have one, head to Riften to adopt your child and unlock Proud Parent.

Dragonborn:
This DLC can be started by heading to the docks of Winterhold. Talk to the ship captain there, and he'll talk with you. After talking, he'll reluctantly take you to Solstheim. After reaching Raven Rock, you'll unlock Outlander. There are 3 achievements in this DLC that are all story related. They are The Temple of Miraak, The Path of Knowledge, and At the Summit of Apocrypha. During your journey, you'll learn the shout; Bend Will. At full power, you have the ability to ride dragons. You'll be able to do this in the Summit of Apocrypha quest. Do this for 5 total dragons and you'll unlock Dragonrider. You will also find black books while playing through the story. Finding 5 more will unlock the Hidden Knowledge achievement. To unlock Raven Rock Owner, you'll need to complete a few quests in Raven Rock. The first one being "March of the Dead." Your reward for completing this series of quests is a property in Raven Rock. Along with Bend Will, another shout has been added; Dragon Aspect. This shout encases the user in glowing dragon armor. Find all three for the achievement. There are a total of 58 locations in Solstheim. You will undoubtedly find 30 in your journey, so unlocking Solstheim Explorer isn't something you shouldn't be too worried about. The last thing you'll need to worry about is Stalhrim Crafter. Stalhrim is a new smithing material that you can craft things out of. It has a shiny blue color to it, and you'll find it a few times in Solstheim. To mine it, you'll need an Ancient Nordic Pickaxe. Ask Glover Mallory in Raven Rock for one. To craft something, you will need to have your Smithing skill at at least level 80. This is the same level as Ebony.

Conclusion:
Skyrim is a fantastic addition to the Elder Scrolls universe. And a fantastic addition to any gamer's collection. When looking at Skyrim, you will undoubtedly see a large game. The game is massive, and its truly hard where to start. This is also one of the best things about the game.


[x360a would like to thank to thank Yunder for this road map]

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Achievement Guide

Printable Guide
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There are 75 achievements with a total of 1550 points

  • Complete "Unbound"

    Complete the following main story quests to unlock this quest and then complete it to unlock the achievement:

    • Unbound
  • Complete "Bleak Falls Barrow"

    Complete the following main story quests to unlock this quest and then complete it to unlock the achievement:

    • Before the Storm
    • Bleak Falls Barrow
  • Complete "The Way of the Voice"

    Complete the following main story quests to unlock this quest and then complete it to unlock the achievement:

    • Dragon Rising
    • The Way of the Voice
  • Complete "Diplomatic Immunity"

    Complete the following main story quests to unlock this quest and then complete it to unlock the achievement:

    • A Blade in the Dark
    • The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller
    • Diplomatic Immunity
  • Complete "Alduin's Wall"

    Complete the following main story quests to unlock this quest and then complete it to unlock the achievement:

    • A Cornered Rat
    • Alduin’s Wall
  • Complete "Elder Knowledge"

    Complete the following main story quests to unlock this quest and then complete it to unlock the achievement:

    • The Throat of the World
    • Elder Knowledge
  • Complete "The Fallen"

    Complete the following main story quests to unlock this quest and then complete it to unlock the achievement:

    • Alduin’s Bane
    • Season Unending
    • The Fallen
  • Complete "Dragonslayer"

    Complete the following main story quests to unlock this quest and then complete it to unlock the achievement:

    • The World-Eater’s Eyrie
    • Sovngarde
    • Dragonslayer
  • Join the Companions

    The building up on the hill in the city of Whiterun is called Jorrvaskr. You can find it to the east of the steps up to Dragonsreach. Head in and head down to Kodlak who is downstairs in the basement, in the far room at the far end of the long corridor. Speak to him, begin your training, complete a number of mundane fetch and deliver tasks to finish the “Take Up Arms” quest and join The Companions.

  • Become a member of the Circle

    There are multiple tasks to do before you can become a member of the Circle, some mundane (and not counting as guild quests, but necessary to progress the questline) and others substantial and making up part of the questline. They are as follows:

    • Hired Muscle – Intimidation is the name of the game here. Short and easy quest.
    • Proving Honour – You’ll be asked to retrieve part of a blade here.
    • Rescue Mission – The game gives you a choice of three missions to pick from, from the people wandering around Jorrvaskr: Aela the Huntress, Skjor & Vilkas (we chose Vilkas, whose job was to save a kidnapped citizen in “Rescue Mission.”) Whether that changes, who knows.

    And finally…

    • The Silver Hand – After returning to Whiterun and to the Jorrvaskr, having completed the mission, you’ll have to meet Skjor at night round the back of the building, before the initiation begins. Note: you don’t have to complete this mission to get the achievement, you get it after the ritual… plus, you need to be quite powerful as the end boss-like person in this quest is a little powerful (talking from the perspective of a level 20), but to get the final Companions achievement, you have to soldier on, complete this and do a number of other missions.
  • Complete "Glory of the Dead"

    To finish off the warrior’s guild questline, you simply have to wrap up the following quests from people within the Companions:

    • Retrieval – Head to Broken Helm Hollow and retrieve an artefact
    • Stealing Plans – Steal something from Fort Fellhammer
    • Blood’s Honour – Head to a coven and grab something for the guild
    • Purity of Revenge – Head to a stronghold and retrieve another artefact
    • Glory of the Dead – Complete this to finish the faction
  • Join the College of Winterhold

    To simply kick off the mage’s guild storyline, head to the College of Winterhold and speak with the grand teacher, Tolfdir. After completing the “First Lessons” quest, you’ll have joined the College of Winterhold.

  • Complete "Revealing the Unseen"

    There’s a couple of quests here you’ll have to do before you net this achievement:

    • Under Saarthal – which has you visiting a dig site and then facing some evil beings
    • Hitting the Books – speaking to Urag gro-Shub and accepting the mission has you heading off to Fellglow Keep to grab some stolen books
    • Good Intentions – you’ll be sent deep below the College to speak to a wise being
    • Revealing the Unseen – one hell of a long quest that sees you head to the dwarven structure, Mzulft
  • Complete "The Eye of Magnus"

    For completing the 9th Mage’s Guild mission, AKA the College of Winterhold Quests, you’ll successfully have completed the Mage’s Guild questline and you’ll net the final achievement. The quests you’ll have to complete to finish off the questline are as follows:

    • Containment – Report to Mirabelle Ervine and complete her task
    • The Staff of Magnus – Head to Labyrinthian and grab the staff
    • The Eye of Magnus – Complete the last quest
  • Join the Thieves Guild

    In order to kick off the Thieves Guild questline, you’ll have to do a small quest for Brynjolf in Riften, on the square. He’ll be there at his stall between 8am and 8pm. Once you’ve done that he’ll want to meet you at the Ragged Flagon under Riften in the Ratway, which is the start of the Taking Care of Business quest, which is your way into the Thieves Guild.

  • Complete "Darkness Returns"

    For the second Thieves Guild achievement, you’ll have to partake in a few thieves guild jobs first. The following are missions required for this achievement:

    • Loud and Clear – A nice little heist job of sorts
    • Dampened Spirits – Someone wants you to do some of their dirty work
    • Speaking With Silence – Head into the dark depths of the Snow Veil Sanctum
    • Hard Answers – Head to Winterhold and beyond
    • Darkness Returns – The less said, the better, just complete this quest
    • The Pursuit – Head back to the thieves guild and begin this new quest
    • Trinity Restored – Take a trip to get something of great power
    • Blindsighted – Travel somewhere and get something important
    • Darkness Returns – Finish it, once and for all
  • Returned the Thieves Guild to its former glory

    In order to get this achievement you have to do enough side missions (and then a main mission for each of the 4 major cities) for the Thieves Guild, namely Delvin and Vex, so you can restore the Thieves Guild to its former glory. It’s basically a matter of doing a set of mundane jobs throughout the cities of Skyrim until the guild catches someone’s eye there, then doing the main mission in that city. There’s a lot of tooing and froing to be done here, so don’t say you haven’t been warned – remember as well, pick two missions up at a time (one from each Delvin and Vex) and then drop them off two at a time.

    By my reckoning, you have to do around 40 smaller quests overall (well, that’s how many I did), as well as 4 bigger quests in the 4 major cities (not Riften) – these 4 missions will be given to you while you do the smaller quests at various intervals. It’s 350 gold a mission to start with, 400 later on and they are quick and relatively easy (except the Bedlam stuff), but yes, it’s boring as sin!

    The types of mission are:

    Delvin:

    • The Numbers Job – forge a specific ledger
    • The Fishing Job – pickpocket a specific item
    • The Bedlam Job – steal 500 gold of goods from one city

    Vex:

    • The Burglary Job – steal a specific something from someone’s house
    • The Shill Job – plant a specific stolen object in someone’s house
    • The Sweep Job – steal a series of specific valuable items from someone’s house
    • The Heist Job – steal from a shop

    Then you’ll have to do the following quests in each city:

    • Imitation Amnesty – Whiterun
    • Silver Lining - Markarth
    • Windhelm – Summerset Shadows
    • The Dainty Sload – Solitude

    Then finally:

    • Under New Management – Speak to Brynjolf to start this bad boy when you have done the other 4 main quests

    Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass in truth and super boring – talk about cheaply artificially extending the length of the guild – but it has to be done… it helps towards the 100,000 gold achievement anyway, plus a few of the other more sinister achievements.

  • Join the Dark Brotherhood

    Finding the Dark Brotherhood is as tricky as it sounds, but not anymore. We’re not entirely sure how we got this into our miscellaneous objectives, but we did and if I recall correctly, it was from asking bar tenders rumours about the region. When you find the right barman, although you could probably go right to the house, you’ll have to find a boy called Aventus Aretino who can be found in the Arentino Residence in Windhelm. Speak to the boy, complete the “Innocence Lost” quest and then sometime shortly after a courier will give you a note saying “We Know.” Then just sleep, you know the score with the Dark Brotherhood if you played Oblivion.

  • Complete "Bound Until Death"

    Ahhh, the Dark Brotherhood, the best of the questlines once again. You’ll have to embark on a number of rather evil quests here once you’ve enlisted and visited the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary by Falkreath. These are:

    • Contract: Kill Narfi
    • Contract: Kill Ennodius Papius
    • Contract: Kill Beitild
    • Mourning Never Comes – To Markarth it is!
    • Whispers in the Dark – Do a favour for Astrid
    • Contract: Kill Lurbuk
    • Contract: Kill Hern
    • The Silence Has Been Broken – Head to Volunruud on a quest
    • Bound Until Death – Big job calls for the Dark Brotherhood’s finest
  • Complete "Hail Sithis!"

    And with all good things, they must come to an end! To finish off the Dark Brotherhood you’ll need to do these quests:

    • Breaching Security – Gabriella needs you to do a job
    • The Cure for Madness – Astrid needs your assistance
    • Recipe for Disaster – The penultimate quest sees you head to Markarth and beyond
    • To Kill an Empire - The big, big finale here you’ve been working towards for the DB and it needs the deft touch of a Dark Brotherhood assassin
    • Death Incarnate – Things aren’t over just yet
    • Hail Sithis – And finally…
  • Join the Stormcloaks or the Imperial Army

    There are two ways to play this: you either go and do a quest for Legate Rikke who can be found in Castle Dour at Solitude; or you go and do a quest for Galmar Stone-Fist who’s in the Palace of Kings at Windhelm. Your choice, but for the purposes of the next three achievements, we’re going to talk as if you go down the path of the Imperial Army – because that’s what I did! Regardless of which way you go though, the achievement will pop after you’ve proved yourself to whichever side you choose.

  • Capture Fort Sungard or Fort Greenwall

    You’ll have to do a handful of quests here to initiate the fort capture, but they’re essentially of similar ilk, but from different sides, we assume. These quests are (and these are the Imperial names of them):

    • The Jagged Crown – Takes you to Korvanjund
    • Message to Whiterun – Deliver a message and more
    • Battle for Whiterun – Take sides
    • Reunification of Skyrim – Ongoing
    • Compelling Tribute – Gain valuables for the war effort
    • The Battle for Fort Greenwall – As it sounds
  • Capture Solitude or Windhelm

    It’s final push time in the civil war questline. These quests are needed to round it off, of course, from the perspective of the Imperial Army again (NOTE: Reunification of Skyrim is still on going here too):

    • Rescue From Fort Kastav – Rescue fellow soldiers
    • The Battle for Fort Sungard – Same as before
    • The Battle for Fort Amol – And again
    • Battle for Windhelm – It’s all been building up to this. Finish it and the questline is complete
  • Complete 10 side quests

    What is a side-quest? Well, that’s a trickier question that it sounds… a side quest in Skyrim is a quest that is big enough that it’s not classed as a “Miscellaneous Objective,” a quest that isn’t a questline quest (i.e. main quest, guild quest and the civil war quests) or one of the many Daedric quests. It’s tougher than it sounds in all honesty and tricky to work out. Out of 86 quests (at last check), only 12 of those were side missions. As long as it doesn’t fall under the three points above though and is fairly substantial (they’re not short missions!), then it should register as a side-mission.

    Things like the quest for the trader in Riverwood that sends you to Bleak Falls Barrow to retrieve the golden claw are side missions, visiting somewhere because someone told you to are not.

  • Complete 50 Misc Objectives

    A “Miscellaneous Objective” is a small quest that isn’t quite big enough to be a quest and so is classed as an MO. These can involve visiting a museum in Dawnstar (which triggers a mission), visiting someone, following up on a lead, seeking out a source of power, clearing out a bandit camp and so on.

    To see what you have activated in the MO menu and what you can do (you can even tag them on the map as well), then hit the start menu and on the quest tab, scroll down to the bottom of the incomplete quests section and then move right and see what you’ve got to do.

    If you want to add stuff onto here then try talking to barmen about rumours and generally speak to people galore, probing for tidbits of information and so on. You’ll find all the courier "quests" and barmen bandit clear outs fall under this heading, so if you’re wanting to do some, you know where to head first.

  • Chop wood, mine ore, and cook food

    Might sound easy enough, but it’s all about getting the right stuff and being in the right place. I’ll break down all three, and some are obviously easier than others:

    - Chop wood – Simple, go to Riverwood and on the left, by the river will be a wood cutting machine. Click the prompt on the wood stacked by the machine to load it in, and then go over the other side of the log and pull the lever. Simple. If that fails, which it has for some people, try using a chopping block and an axe - again found in Riverwood and all over Skyrim.

    - Mine ore – For this one, for starters, you need a pick-axe, so whenever you see one lying around, pick it up… or buy one. Then you need to find something to ore and actually finding somewhere is easier said than done. I’ve compiled a few locations for you to get you started (this isn’t all of them, just a selection that I encountered in my travels):

    • Movarth’s Lair – northeast of Morthal (have to go here for ‘Laid to Rest’ quest)
    • Shor’s Stone, inside Redbelly Mine – Some great ebony ore here to mine. Shor’s Stone (a small mining village) is in the non snowy mountain range in between Windhelm and Riften, on the right hand side
    • Darkwater Crossing, inside Goldenrock Mine – at the south of Wildhelm in the far south of the swampland, where the river ends on the far left, you’ll find this small fishing village

    Note: icons with two crossed pick-axes on the map signifies the location of a mine that will have materials to mine and even might house a pick-axe.

    - Cook – You just need any cooking pot, a recipe (which are in the game in the “cook” menu when you click on the pot) and a load of ingredients. Ingredients can be found all over and for the pot, we used the Breezehome pot (the house that you can buy in Whiterun after you become Thane) with the following recipes being the easiest because the ingredients can be found in most barrels and in a lot of shops:

    • Apple Cabbage Stew – requires cabbage, red apple and salt pie
    • Cabbage Potato Soup – requires cabbage, leak, salt pie and potato
    • Salmon Steak – requires salmon meat and salt pie
    • Vegetable Soup – requires tomato, leek, potato, cabbage
    • Venison Chop – requires 1 venison and 1 salt pie
    • Venison Stew – requires leek, potato, 2 salt pies and venison
  • Thief

     

    30

    Pick 50 locks and 50 pockets

    Like most of the collective achievements in Skyrim, there’s no real shortcut to this achievement, you have to put the time in and pick locks and pick pockets. Simple as. In truth, most of these will just come with playing the game (especially the pick 50 locks) and the pick 50 pockets can be sped up when doing the Thieves Guild. A few tips though:

    • Always open jail cells and chests you find around Skyrim, even if you don’t necessarily want anything from in there
    • Always carry enough lock-picks. Buy whenever possible. Even breaking them earns you experience for that skill, thus making it easier to lock pick
    • Doing the Thieves Guild’s final mission, “Darkness Returns,” you’ll be able to get a special ability that will help you remain incognito. No spoilers!
    • Use the standing stone, the Shadow Stone and once a day players can become invisible for an extended period. That helps with pickpocketing. You’ll find it south of Riften, in the small mountain in the middle before the big mountain range to the south
    • You have to be crouched to pickpocket, and do so from the shadows and only grab when the reticule’s eye is closed (i.e. a thin horizontal line)
    • Remember, it’s free to look, but grab something and get caught and they’ll turn on you and you’ll get a bounty. Always note the percentage… 90% ones are fairly risk free
  • Successfully persuade, bribe, and intimidate

    Throughout the world and during conversations you’ll be given the chance to choose how you respond, whether that’s persuade someone, bribe someone or intimidate someone. Just do one of these successfully for your achievement. There’s a good chance that intimidate (and maybe even persuade) won’t work early on, and that’ll be because your speech level won’t be high enough, so sell loads of items, buy loads too, and even your unsuccessful persuades/intimidation dialogue responses will result in speech skill points, helping you raise your speech level. There are plenty of options around, just make sure you do loads of side missions and such to get more opportunities.

  • Select a Standing Stone blessing

    See “Standing Stones” for how to net this achievement.

  • Find 13 Standing Stones

    There are 13 "standing stones" in all, which allows your character to carry one blessing with them until they overwrite it at another stone. Simply walk up to them, activate them and they the effects of it will work for you.

    Before I delve into the locations, it's worth noting that I hadn't visited all 13 when I got the achievement, so I assume it counted every time I revisted them. Regardless, the locations of the 13 are as follows:

    - The Thief Stone – Stealth skills learnt 20% faster
    - The Mage Stone – Magic skills learnt 20% faster
    - The Warrior Stone – Combat skills learnt 20% faster
    Southwest of Riverwood, below a place called Anise's Cabin. Shouldn't miss them as you leave Helgen.

    - The Ritual Stone – Once a day can reanimate nearby corpses to fight for them.
    East of Whiterun slightly south of the river, between Whiterun and Valtheim Towers.

    - The Atronach Stone – Larger pool of Magika and absorb spell damage, but recover it more slowly.
    The best way to describe this is between Riften and Windhelm, in the marshland. It's closer to Windhelm than Riften and just the otherside of the mountain range in between the two. It's near the Eldergleam Sanctuary and the Darkwater Crossing (by the river) to the east of the two.

    - The Shadow Stone – Once a day players can become invisible for an extended period.
    South of Riften, in the small mountain in the middle before the big mountain range to the south.

    - The Steed Stone – Can carry more and don't suffer a movement penalty from armour.
    On the tip of the highest mountain to the mountain, northwest of Solitude.

    - The Lady Stone – Regenerate health and stamina more quickly.
    In the lake to the west of Riverwood is a small island where you'll find this stone.

    - The Apprentice Stone – recover magicka more quickly, but are more susceptible to magika damage.
    Just south of Solitude, on an island in the small water marshland, you'll find this stone.

    - The Tower Stone – Automatically open Expert or lower locks.
    Smack bang in the middle of Winterhold and Dawnstar, up on a mountain.

    - The Lover Stone – All skills improve faster.
    Directly east of Markarth, about one fifth of the way to Solitude.

    - The Lord Stone – More resistant to magika and physical damage.
    Southwest of Dawnstar in the mountain range, on the northern peak.

    - The Serpent Stone - Use a ranged paralyzing poison on an opponent once a day.
    Directly east of Winterhold and north of Windhelm. In the sea on a floating iceberg of sorts.

  • Buy a house

    After you defeat your first dragon in the main mission, “Dragon Rising,” you’ll be able to head back to Proventus Avenicc, the Jarl’s steward, who’s in Dragonsreach in Whiterun and buy a house for 5,000 gold. All you need to do is buy the house. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn’t have to be this house though, in fact, there should be one in each major city, but this is the easiest and I’m guessing, the cheapest. Of course, decorating it after with the same chap nets you some cool bonuses, but has nothing to do with the achievement. Decorate that son of a bitch though, yo!

  • Wanted

     

    10

    Escape from jail

    I simply went to Solitude, pickpocketed someone, got caught and submitted, saying take me to jail. When in jail, in the back corner of the room you can activate some loose rubble and it’ll create a hole that’ll allow you to escape ridiculously easily. Probably the easiest 10Gs in the game!

  • Get married

    Well, despite only being worth 10G, it’s a bit of a rigmarole to get this achievement. Firstly, you have to head to Riften and speak to Maramal, who’ll be found inside the Temple of Mara, by the Thieves Guild’s back door. Ask him about the Temple (“I would like to know more about the temple”) then question marriage in Skyrim (“I could have a wedding at the temple?”) to which you follow up with “No, Not really.” Eventually he’ll offer to sell you the Amulet of Mara which you buy, equip and then get pulling.

    You basically have to find someone who’s “interested” and then head to the temple to initiate the wedding. It’s easier than it sounds. This isn’t everyone either, so here’s a list (non-exhaustive) of people you can marry… if you can marry them, they’ll notice the amulet and say “Interested in me, are you?”:

    • Ysolda, Whiterun
    • Camilus Valerius, Riverwood
    • Muiri, Markarth
    • Shahvee, outside Windhelm
    • Derkeethus, Darkwater Pass
    • Wilhelm, Ivarstead.
  • Make a smithed item, an enchanted item, and a potion

    As the achievement states, you need to do three things to unlock it, which are as follows:

    - Make a smithed item – It’s important to note that the achievement actually requires that you make an item and not improve it – that means you’ll want the hot pit and the anvil, and not the grindstone.

    Head to Whiterun and as soon as you enter the main town there’s a place to forge weapons on the right, by the first building. We’ll be using this area because it has a smelter too (more on that later). If you speak to Adrianne Avenicci who should be outside the Warmaiden shop by the smithing area (or inside maybe) and offer to help, you’ll get the ingredients to make a simple item. We’re going to ignore that though and break it down further in case you choose to do this elsewhere, but if possible, just use that. Here’s a good little lesson as well to create your own really cool and powerful stuff…

    Okay then, so let’s say we want to make an Iron Helmet (the cool as heck one that you’ve seen in all the promo materials); you’re going to need 3 iron ingot and 2 leather strips. If you’ve got them, great, click on the item and select create. If you haven’t, then you need to find them, either by looting, purchasing them from a shop or using your own initiative.

    The using your own initiative part comes in two parts:

    Firstly, getting iron ingots. You can easily lay your hands on some iron ingots around Skyrim in shops and by looting, but if you can’t, you’re going to have to mine some iron ore from various spots around Skyrim (see the Hard Worker achievement for details and locations on how and where to mine) and turn it into an ingot yourself. Once you have some ore (let’s use iron as an example), head across to the ‘smelter’ which is right by the area in Whiterun we’re using. Like iron ingots, iron ore is widely available, so in order to turn your iron ore into an ingot, head to the smelter, see how much ore you need (in this case, 1 iron ore makes one iron ingot) and then click create on it. That’s part one.

    Part two revolves around creating the leather strips, which can be broken down further into two parts: hunting and tanning. Hunting is straightforward: go out into the wild, kill animals and loot them for their pelt/hide/etc. From there you head to one of the many ‘Tanning Racks” – there’s one right by the grindstone/smelter/anvil that we’ve been at for the whole walkthrough. Once there, click on “Misc,” select leather and turn that pelt/hide/etc. into leather… in this example we can use the Bear Pelt or the Deer Hide we have to make leather. Once you’ve turned it into leather, you then use that leather and turn it into leather strips… basically, just click ‘create’ over leather strips. Now you have the necessary ingredients to make that iron helmet you’ve always wanted, so head back to the anvil, find the iron helmet and click create! If you want to improve it (this is not optional and not part of the achievement, but always handy to know) head to the grindstone (for weapons) or the workbench (for armour) and apply more ingots to it. Everything you ever need for smithing can be found at the following places (all big early cities/villages that you can access from the off:

    • Workbench, grindstone, anvil & tanning rack in Riverwood
    • Grindstone, tanning rack & anvil in Orotheim
    • Anvil, smelter, grindstone, tanning rack & workbench in Whiterun

    - Make an enchanted item – In order to enchant an item you need three things:

    • An item
    • An enchantment
    • And a soul gem

    Once you have all three, head to an Arcane Enchanting bench and combine the three together… I find the best and easiest bench to get to is at Orphan’s Rock, but you need to beat some high level witches to get in there first. Any will do and there are dozens all over Skyrim.

    I found the easiest way to get an enchantment though was to breakdown a magical item (disenchant it); for all intents and purposes, for this example we used a Necromancer’s Robes. By disenchanting it we learnt the ‘Fortify Magika’ enchantment from destroying it and now we can apply it to another item of our choosing. The next step is choosing what item you want to apply it to and then we need a soul gem (the bigger, the better and the better the soul inside, the more powerful). We used our Dwarven Gauntlets, Fortify Magika and a “Lesser Soul Gem (Lesser),”but a Petty Soul Gem or a Lesser Soul Gem (or any, in fact) will do. It’s worth noting that you can’t apply every enchantment to everything, so select the enchantment first, then see what’s in white, bold text in the item list (if it’s greyed out, you can’t apply that enchantment to it). Once you’ve selected all three, click create and then BAM! You have an enchanted item. You can even rename the item if you’re feeling creative!

    Arkane enchanting benches can be found at the following places:

    • Dustman’s Cairn – but only after you accept the ‘Proving Honor’ quest from The Companions
    • Orphan Rock – slightly northeast of Helgen and slightly south east of Riverwood. Must beat some high level witches first though to get to it.

    - A Potion – It’s always worth making something you can actually use, so I tried to find a recipe that would serve a purpose as I went on. After trying a few times in Arcadia’s Cauldron in Whiterun I found the recipe for a restore health potion which I then needed to get the ingredients for. For one ‘restore health’ potion you need:

    • One blue mountain flower, which can usually be found wandering about the snowy areas… it’s quite common
    • A Sabre Cat eyeball, which can be picked up off the carcass of a dead Sabre Cat (think sabre tooth tigers). These can be found around Honeystrand Cave (along with a load of bears!) which is south of Ivarstead. Don’t go in with a low level character as they can be quite fierce and take a lot of health off you. If you do, take lots of health potions!?

    When you have those two ingredients, visit a Alchemy Table (there’s one you can use in Arcadia’s Cauldron in Whiterun. Go there with the ingredients, select both and WHAM! Potion made! If you want to make other stuff without recipes, try eating a load of stuff in your inventory to see what properties they carry then go experimenting.

    Alchemy labs can be found at the following places (amongst others):

    • Arcadia’s in Whiterun
    • Rannveig’s Fast’s dungeon (inside)
    • Dustman’s Cairn
  • Bounty of 1000 gold in all nine holds

    There are nine holds in Skyrim, of which there is either a major city or a major town, these are:

    • Falkreath (Falkreath)
    • Whiterun (Whiterun)
    • Morthal (Hjaalmarch)
    • Dawnstar (The Pale)
    • Winterhold (Winterhold)
    • Solitude (Haafinger)
    • Riften (The Rift)
    • Markarth (The Reach)
    • Windhelm (Eastmarch)

    Basically, just head into each of those towns and cities and cause as much mayhem as possible… You’re best creating a save (once you’ve been to all 9 cities so you can fast travel) and heading to each town and killing as many people and guards as possible – 1 guard should do it, but if for some chance they don’t react when you hit/shoot them, then attack a civilian first.

    When it’s at 1,000, run to somewhere you can fast travel and then nip to the next city. Pack plenty of stamina potions/and or get a horse and when escaping, head for the water (unless you’re on a horse) – the guards seem to be scared of it! Rinse and repeat till all nine are done. Fun achievement this one.

  • Have 100,000 gold

    First things first, the achievement requires you have 100,000 gold on you at any one time

    Anyway, some tips:

    Killing dragons and selling their scales and bones is a good way to earn some quick bucks.

    Doing missions for the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood will net you plenty of coin.

    In the last Dark Brotherhood main mission, “Hail Sithis!,”you’ll get given 20,000 gold, which you have to invest in another mission. Simply put, don’t start that mission until you have this achievement and this will give you a 20,000 shortcut.

    Pick up what you can, when you can and then when you get back into the city, sell everything you don’t want and net the cash. Don’t waste your time with stupid stuff like bread, plates, wooden dishes, etc. Save it for the high money to weigh ratio.

    Remember, shops don’t have unlimited gold, so try to get rid of stuff as and when you have it. However, if like me you don’t, then you generally find that waiting 48 hours (in the store, using the wait button) they will have their allotted amount of money back, so if you’re desperate, do that. You can always buy back what you sell at a later time, obviously for a much more bigger cost. NOTE: If you do it this way it can be stupidly boring!

    Also, the higher your speech skill, the more you get per item (although it’s not really that noticeable). You can use the merchants in every town, but the best place to do this is in the Thieves Guild, with Tonilia… when I went to see her she had 4,000 gold every 48 hours, so it’s much quicker this way (this was after I had finished the Thieves Guild's questline though, so she may have less before then).

    Hitting the guide button just after you start to wait for 24 hours actually makes the timer click down quicker... so do that!

  • Delver

     

    40

    Clear 50 dungeons

    What is a dungeon? That’s the first question. A dungeon might not necessarily be a dungeon in the classical sense, for instance, a clearing in the woods that is overrun by beasties and evil spirits might be classed as a dungeon. So whether you’re talking about a cottage full of evil spirits, a clearing, a fort, a proper dungeon and so on, as long as it’s its own separate icon on the map, with a few exceptions of course (monuments, major cities (and places within the cities), etc.) you should be able to “clear” it.

    But wait, how do you clear it? Well, you basically go in and kill everything in there and grab every unique weapon/item/armour piece that’s found in there. In fact, we think killing stuff is enough actually. It’s that easy. The best thing is, if you bring up the menu, go to map, you’ll be able to see areas you’ve cleared with a “cleared” tag next to it. You’ll get this one as you work through the rest of the achievements, guaranteed. If you want to check your progress, there's a stat in the stats area too.

  • Get a skill to 100

    And how do you get a skill up to level 100? Simple… over bloody usage! If you’re an archer, use your bow all the time, buy perks that improve and make you stronger in that discipline and just go crazy with it.

    There are three ways though to improve a skill which you can take advantage of:

    • Use the skill repeatedly. The lower the skill is, the faster it levels up.
    • Train with another character – this is going to cost you gold though and the higher the level, the more it’ll cost you. NOTE: You can train 5 times per character level (across every discipline), so use them wisely.
    • Finally, find a skill book. Chances are though this will be down to chance, so concentrate on the other two and then take this as an added bonus along the way.

    Here are some amazing tactics to raise skill levels (and thus, your character level) quickly:

     

    • Make use of the standing stones (see the "Standing Stones" achievement for locations. There are plenty that can speed the skill levelling so work out which ones you want to work on and make good use of them.
    • A good tip is making obscene amounts of gold and then getting training from people all round Skyrim. You’ll generally find deceptive tactic trainers in the Thieves Guild, merchantable trainers in the towns and cities, magic trainers in the Winterhold college, combat trainers in the Companions’ chamber in Whiterun and so on. Remember though, you can only train 5 times per character level (across all disciplines) so try picking the one with the highest level in your list, paying more gold and getting more of a boost.
    • A personal favourite of mine: if you do the quest "Discerning the Transmundane" (see the "Oblivion Walker" achievement for details on how and where you have to go) you'll get an artefact that significantly raises a selection of skills and attributes. Do this and heed the warning... use it when you have a lot of high levels to rise for added effect.
    • Smithing is an easy skill to raise and thanks to Vile Denial, there is a sound tactic already. He says: "If you want to reach level 100 in a skill easily (and get a few levels while doing so), I'd recommend smithing. Simply find/buy (I'd recommend buying) all the iron ingots/ore you can, along with leather and leather strips. Warmaiden's is a good place, since the wife outside and husband inside both sell these. Then simply make iron daggers. Once you run out of iron, switch over to leather bracers. Then sell all the items you've made (can even level up speechcraft here during selling). Simply wait until the shops reset (24 hours?), and repeat. You'll get to 100 in no time."
    • Another great tip from Vile Denial here, this time in regards to skill improvement books, which you can buy. He says, "Also, a small note for the skill books achievement. All skills books will have a value above 50 gold (although not all books with a value above 50 will be skill books - I believe there's one worth 200 which doesn't raise a skill)."
    • The Illusion spell "muffle," you can cast this anywhere and everywhere, I just put it on my left hand [weapon on right] and as i explored everywhere i kept pressing LT. You can buy the muffle spell from Drevis Neloren inside the Hall of Countenance at the College of Winterhold.
    • If you're close enough to an enemy and he can't see you, you can sneak constantly into the wall/corner... I just rubberbanded the analog stick and left it while I watched TV.
    • The heavy armour, light armour and block skills can all be levelled by finding an enemy that's not gonna kill you and just standing there. It does take a while though and if I can add, if you equip a healing spell when they're attacking you, you can build your restoration as well.
    • In regards to alchemy, all ingredients have 4 [perks or w/e] you can either experiment to find out or buy the recipes [from alchemy stores]. Turns out the the top left of EVERYTHING is found out by eating it. If you've got loads of cash, just head to all the alchemy shops, buy all the ingredients you can and just sit and make potions, then sell them all again afterwards and start again.

     

  • Discover 100 Locations

    In order to discover a location all you have to do is walk up to it so it flashes up with “Location discovered: blah blah” on the screen… there are 300+ locations in all, so 100 is absolutely nothing. If the worst comes to the worst, pick a place on the map and walk to it, stopping at every location along the way. The more locations you discover, the less travelling and more fast-travelling you’ll be able to do in the future. Think of it that way.

  • Reader

     

    20

    Read 50 Skill Books

    There’s no out and out shortcut with this one, you basically have to just keep reading as many books as you possibly can, hoping that they give you a skill point. That means reading books on desks and in book cases for the most part. Remember, you can read a book without stealing it and getting done for stealing, so go into people’s houses and read as much as you can without actually putting the book in your inventory.

    It’s probably worth nothing though that the Hitting The Books mission from the Urag gro-Shub sends you to get books from Fellglow Keep and upon returning them Urag will give you a handful of skill books in return for successfully completing it (provided you’ve not read them elsewhere). There’s also a library in The Arcanaeum inside the College of Winterhold as well, where you’ll find skill books.

  • Acquire a Daedric Artifact

    See "Oblivion Walker."

  • Collect 15 Daedric Artifacts

    Daedra within the Elder Scrolls series basically means divine and powerful beings. For the most part these beings and their actions are evil, so in getting 15 Daedric artefacts, the chances are you’re going to have to destroy plenty of evil spirits along the way. Some of the Daedric artefacts come from shrine missions, where you must interact with the spirit of the shrine and perform some crazy ol’ quest for them and others you’ll come across in Skyrim. In return, you get a Daedric artefact.

    The truth is, these shrine missions and Daedric quests in general are some of the best missions in the game, so this won’t seem like that much of a chore and they take you to some interesting and wonderful places. Enjoy these! Well, most of them:

    Mace of Molag Bal – "House of Horrors" quest in Markarth – As you walk past the abandoned house when you’re in the city – not the first time – someone will ask you to accompany them inside. Finish the quest (including finding the priest of Boethiah) and follow it through to the end to grab a Daedric artefact.

    Dawnbreaker - "The Break of Dawn quest," received at Statue to Merida – west of Solitude. It’s basically a fetch, return and dungeon crawl mission. Complete it for the Daedric artefact.

    Spellbreaker - "The Only Cure" quest, received at the Shrine to Peryite, which can be found on the top of the mountain in between Markarth and Solitude. It’s worth activating early so you can keep an eye open for the goods on the shopping list. The actual quest itself is long and tough, so don’t tackle below a level 20, at least.

    Sanguine’s Rose – In the Vilemyr Inn in Ivarstead you’ll meet a chap called Sam Guevenne who will challenge you to a drinking competition which will initiate the “Night to Remember” quest. Challenge him and then embark on one of the most amusing quests of Skyrim. Your reward is the Sanguine’s Rose staff. Note: Sam could actually turn up in any one of a number of inns in Skyrim, not just the one in Ivarstead (he's been seen in Riften, plus many other places), so just keep an eye out as you explore and work through everything else.

    The Black Star (or Azura's Star) – If you head to Azura’s Shrine on the top of the big mountain, just south of Winterhold you can start “The Black Star” quest and eventually get The Black Star artefact (or Azura's Star, depending on your choice at the end).

    Wabbajack – Wandering the streets of Solitude is a chap called Derevin who wants you to get a message to his master. This will trigger “The Mind of Madness” quest where you’ll have to go to the Pegasus Wing in the Blue Palace and search for him. Complete the quest and get the artefact. Stuck? Need assistance in this quest? Quick note: you might find the waking up Pelagius sequence rather tricky, so basically the solution is this: shoot Pelgius with Wabbajack, shoot wolf, shoot goat, shoot bandit, shoot Pelagius, shoot Hagraven, shoot Pelagius, shoot Flame Atronach, shoot dragon priest, done. The paranoia sequence, shoot the king. And finally, the mind sequence, grow Pelagius twice and then grow anger once (with the Wabbajack).

    Missable!! Mehrunes’ Razor – Sometime in the game you’ll get a message from a courier to visit the museum in Dawnstar – visit it. Visit it even if you don’t and start the “Pieces of the Past” quest to get your hands on Mehrunes’ Razor, which will send you to three places in Skyrim to get the three pieces of the sword. I get the feeling that you have to kill Silus at the end to forge the dagger and get the artefact, so do that, just in case.

    Savior’s Hide (or the Ring of Hirscine) – In Falkreath at the Falkreath Barracks (east of town), downstairs in the Falkreath jail you’ll find a chap called Sinding who will give you his cursed ring and thus starts the quest, “Ill Met by Moonlight.” Whatever happens in the quest depends on which Daedric artefact you get.

    Again, like the rest, you must choose to kill or risk not getting the reward. Note: yippy smalz offered this handy tip: "...it's possible to get both Daedric artifacts in the quest "Ill met by moonlight." You agree to help kill the hunters and then afterwards talk to Sigmund then kill him and skin him and you get the hide. Leave the cave and you get the ring."

    Missable!! Masque of Clavicus Vile – The first time you enter Falkreath (after you become a level 10) through the front gate the guard will mention something about the blacksmith’s dog going missing. Speak to him and then go after the dog. When you meet the dog you’ll initiate the “A Daedra’s Best Friend” quest and head off to Haemar’s Shame at the south of the large mountain with High Hrothgar on it – east of Helgen – note: you have to follow the dog but he has terrible path finding, so you could just meet him there. You’ll then set off to retrieve The Rueful Axe from Rimrock Burrow and return it. NOTE: Do NOT kill Barbas with the axe when you return, give it back to Clavicus and get the Daedric masque.

    Oghma Infinium – During the main quest you’ll meet Septimus Sigmus who will send you off to get an Elder Scrolls. During this quest he will start another quest called “Discearning the Transmundane” where you’ll have to take an imprint of the Elder Scroll on his Lexicon. Giving that to Septimus then opens up the next stage: harvesting blood of an Orc, Dark Elf, Wood Elf, High Elf and Falmer – honestly, do this quest as early as possible so you can grab the blood as you go along. Every time you can harvest some blood it will give you an option when you interact with their corpse (harvest blood or search body). Get all 5 and head back to Septimus’ outpost, north of Winterhold. If you’re curious where to find the Orc and Elf blood, loot bandit camps as they often roam around with them, for the Falmer, try Mzulft (southeast of Windhelm) on the first level, right near the door down to the Boilery – there is one lowly Falmer here.

    NOTE: The Oghma Infinium is bloody ace and raises a lot of your certain skills (depending on what path you choose), use it late on for added effect! We even went one step further and broke it down for you...

    Each path improves the levels listed next to them below by 5 levels. Depending on which you have higher ratings for depends on the best route to take:

    Choosing the path of might increases: smithing, heavy armour, blocking, two-handed, one-handed, archery.

    Choosing the path of shadows increases: light armour, sneaking, lock-picking, pick-pocketing, speech and alchemy.

    Choosing the path of magic increases: illusion, destruction, conjuration, restoration, alteration and enchanting.

    Ebony Mail – East of Windhelm you’ll find the Sacellum of Boethiah where you’ll find a cult and be able to initiate the quest, “Boethiah’s Calling.” You must be at least a level 30 for the cult to appear.

    You’ll have to lead someone there and sacrifice them. All I did was head to Riften, went to the The Bee and Barb and enlisted the help of the mercenary (Marcurio) who sits downstairs, for 500 gold. Don’t just kill them though, instruct them to touch the beacon (“I need you to do something,” then click on the ‘pillar of sacrifice’) and then when they are trapped, then slay them. After that, complete the quest and retrieve the artefact. Simples.

    Missable!! Skull of Corruption – If you head to the Windpeak Inn in Dawnstar you’ll see a bit of a situation arise with locals speaking to Erandur regarding some night terrors they’ve been having. Speak to Erandur and start the “Waking Nightmare” quest.

    It’s a simple follow him, go here, go there achievement (note: the Dreamstride book is on the balcony area in the far corner) but at the end when you get the chance to kill Erandur whilst he’s performing the ritual, kill him and you’ll get the Skull of Corruption. If you don’t, he destroys it.

    Missable!! Ring of Namira – In Markarth, in the Understone Keep you’ll find a priest called Verulus who wants you to head into the Hall of the Dead to investigate what’s going on. The quest starts off as a miscellaneous objective and will soon turn into the quest, “The Taste of Death” once you’ve spoken to and agreed to help Eola in clearing Reachcliff Cave. There is a potential that you could say no to helping Eola… don’t!

     

    Volendrug – (apparently have to be at least a level 9 to start this quest) West of Riften (slightly south too) you’ll find an Orc camp called Largashblur. The camp itself will be being attacked by a giant, once it’s dead speak to Atub in the robes who will start the quest, "The Cursed Tribe." Be careful not to hit the Orcs and anger them. You’ll have to go and fetch troll fat (there’s trolls nearby) and a Daedra heart (which could be tricky… you get it from a Daedra, not necessarily a prince, but a spirit; there are some Daedra inside the Shrine of Mehrunes’ Dagon if you’ve not already been in there). If not, you’ll have to buy one – we found one inside the Hall of Counternance/Attainment at the College of Winterhold. Enthir was selling them. Get the ingredients, head back, complete the short quest and kabblamo, Volendrug is yours. Yamarz will take you to Followstone Cave if you’re interested and want to meet him there (it’s northeast of Riften). No messing this one up. Yes, you’ll be fighting a giant or two too! Once you put the weapon on the shrine at the end, don’t forget to pick it up off the top of where the skull once was!

    Ebony Blade – In order to start this quest you need to be a level 20 and have completed the main “Dragon Rising” quest. Also, if you choose the Stormcloaks in the civil war storyline, it doesn’t matter, you just have to help the new Jarl. To start this one, ask the bartender in the Bannered Mare in Whiterum about rumours, then go see the Jarl and activate “The Whispering Door” quest. You’ll need the key to open the whispering door to get the Ebony Blade; the best way: pickpocket it from the Yarl or Forengar (you can kill him and get the key but you can’t buy spells off him then.

     

    NOTE: THE SKELETON KEY FOR THE THIEVES GUILD DOES NOT COUNT - CONFIRMED.

  • Absorb a dragon soul

    See “Dragon Hunter” for details on how to net this achievement.

  • Absorb 20 dragon souls

    According to Bethesda (pre-release), the location and spawns of dragons is entirely random and unscripted, but there are obviously some that aren’t – their lairs are indicated by a small dragon head on the mini-map and the radar. However, that said, I’ve jotted down a list of ALL the places I encountered dragons and their possible spawns, but before that… tactics!

    Firstly, to get this achievement you need to kill the dragon and stand near its deathly remains to absorb its soul – it’s automatic, so just stand close. Secondly, how you take down a dragon is entirely down to how you shape your, but their behaviour is largely the same.

    They essentially circle, hover, spit down whatever magicka they have (which is their “shout”), rinse and repeat, with the odd time them landing, spewing more magic your way and if you get behind them, slamming you with their tales. Some of the stronger dragons later on in the game actually eat you as well (mostly Elder Dragons), so be mindful of getting too close.

    Being a specialist mage and archer, I’m a distance fighter, which has allowed me to adopt a near flawless strategy. It basically boils down to hiding behind cover and then popping out at the right time to do your damage – the cover protects you from the spell and allows you to pop out at the right time.

    Depending on what the dragon spews out will depend on what spells you use – he uses fire, use ice, etc. This isn’t just a mutually exclusive strategy for archers/mages, because warriors, etc. have the ability to use Dragon Shouts too – the Frost Breath and Fire Ball are good examples, but then again, using the slow down time Shout warriors can get close and deal some massive amounts of damage.

    A great little strategy is to let them fight whoever else is around as well – they don’t focus all their aggression on you; the same with other creatures and beasts that are in the vicinity – and then step in after one of them is dead to a.) either nab the soul and kill the the creature; or b.) loot the other creature and then finish off the dragon. On so many occasions with creatures that range from skeletons and Draugr Overlords to Wispmothers and mammoths, they’ve distracted the dragon long enough for me to deal some risk free damage.

    It’s essentially finding a strategy that you’re comfortable with though, and those are just a few tips that I’ve been able to hone in my 100 hours with the game.

    The truth is though, that there are more than enough dragons to net this achievement just in general gameplay and through questing, but you’ll need a lot more if you want to get dragon shouts galore, so use this handy guide.

    Dragon Encounters & Possible Spawns:

    Outside Whiterun – main story quest.

    Kynesgrove - Found during the main quest, “A Blade in the Dark,” at the burial ground in the hills.

    Narzulbur – Directly east of Kynesgrove is the Orc camp. There was a dragon flying up and around the corner of the mountains where the Orc camp is.

    Rannveig’s Fast (south of Morthal) – outside the entrance, protecting a Dragon Shout.

    Southwest of Helgen (near Bonechill Passage) – Twice I’ve had one spawn here: one an ice dragon and one a fire dragon. Tricky terrain here to fight them, so save when you reach the decimated fort area to make sure you don’t meet your maker and lose all your progress.

    Ancient’s Ascent – guarding a Dragon Shout, after going through Bonechill Passage.

    Lost Tongue Overlook – Get bounty mission from Wilhelm in Ivarstead’s Inn or just head south of Riften.

    South Skybound Watch – smack bang in the middle of Helgen and Riverwood in the mountainous bit. Powerful Wispmothers may be here, so if you can, let them fight and mop up the afters, otherwise you could get pounded by both!

    Autumnwatch Tower – South of Ivarstad (and further south more of the Rift Imperial Camp) you’ll find a couple of towers in the mountain. It’s dragon fighting time! Ice dragons too. Plenty of cover for ranged attacks and for mages.

    Arcwind Point – Directly west of the Autumnwatch Tower. There’s also a Draugr Overlord here too. Let the two fight while you whittle down the dragon while he’s occupied. Careful, up the stairs from where the Draugr Overlord is though is a Draugr Death Overlord who is tough as hell (speaking from the perspective of a level 14, which is the level I was when I reached him first).

    Brownstrewn Crest – Directly south of Windhelm in the middle of the swampland up on the top of a big large hill. Guarding a dragon shout.

    Shor’s Stone – A small mining village is in the non snowy mountain range in between Windhelm and Riften, on the right hand side.

    Northwind Summit – After receiving a letter from a “friend” regarding a source of power in the mountains between Windhelm and Riften, round the corner from Shor’s Stone, you’ll fight a dragon.

    Wreck of the Winter War – Northeast of Windhelm is a wreckage, and to the west of the wreck on the shore, a dragon has been known to turn up. Watch out for the bears as well!

    Mount Anthor – The middle mountain in the range to the northwest of Windhelm is home to a big scary dragon.

    Darkwater Crossing has been known to spawn its fair share of dragons too. Specifically blood dragons. Happened about 40 hours into the game.

    Dragontooth Crater, which is in between Solitude and Markarth in the northwest of Skyrim. The large mountain range there.

    Shearpoint – Directly west of Windhelm is a dragon hangout on the top of the big mountain nearest it. The second peak, furthest away, that is.

    Eldersblood Peak – At the top of the mountain, south of Morthal, you’ll find Eldersblood Peak where a dragon and a drgaon shout is.

    Twilight Sepulcher – West of Falreath, in the mountains sits a small cove. Dragon may not land so lure him out into the open.

    Karthspire – When I headed here on a main story mission called Alduin’s Wall, there was a dragon there waiting. East of Markarth and halfway between a little village called Rorikstead (not on the map, need to discover).

    There are more of course and in fact, they pop up all over the place and very often, but there are enough here to grab the achievement.

  • Learn all three words of a shout

    See “Thu’um Master” for details and locations on the game’s dragon shouts.

  • Learn 20 shouts

    Because our main character is “Dragonborn,” he can learn the language of the dragons to perform mighty “shouts” – which are spells, if we’re being perfectly honest. It doesn’t require magicka to use and it’s not specifically for mages, so even warriors can have fun with magic!

    Anyway, I digress, throughout Skyrim are ancient inscriptions that the Dragonborn can absorb to use as their own – AKA dragon shouts. Each shout has three words and the more words you have, the more powerful a shout can be, so for the “Words of Power” achievement, you need all three of one specific shout. By standing near one of these ancient inscriptions, you’ll learn a shout. For this achievement, you need to learn 20 separate shouts (not 20 words, 20 shouts).

    For the most part, dragons generally guard dragon shouts as well, if not, it’s some Daedric being, so be careful and be prepared. Sometimes though, they’re just well hidden. I’ve tried to describe them as easily as possible using the 9 major cities in Skyrim as landmarks, so use those as your guide. When you’re close enough the locations should appear on the maps anyway, and you’ll generally find that dragon icons means there’s a dragon and a shout there. Without further ado, here’s a list of as many dragon shouts I’ve found and while it’s not ALL of them, it is enough for you to get the achievement – and then some.

    The dragon shouts and their locations are as follows:

    Unrelenting Force #1 (Force) - "Bleak Falls Barrow" – West of Riverwood in the mountains – get sent there on the first real main story mission from Whiterun (north of Riverdale) or for “The Golden Claw” mission from Lucan in Riverwood.

    Unrelenting Force #2 (Balance) – Given to you by Arngeir in the main quest “The Way of the Voice” when you get to High Hrothgar.

    Unrelenting Force #3 (Down) – Given to you by Arngeir after you take back the horn to him in the main quest, “Horn of Jurgen Windcaller.”

    Whirlwind Sprint #1 (Whirlwind) – Given to you by Borri in the quest “The Way of the Voice” when you get to High Hrothgar, after you get Unrelenting Force #2.

    Whirlwind Sprint #2 (Fury) – Volskygge – High in the mountains in the corner of the map of Skyrim, west of Solitude, sits an ancient temple with a dragon shout being guarded by a powerful demon. It’s not actually at where “Volskygge” is on the map, but northwest, up the closest mountain.

    Become Etheral #1 (Fade) – After “The Way of the Voice” quest, Arngeir will send you to Ustengrav Depths to retrieve the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. When you reach the main cavern room, instead of heading onto the objective, head down the outside and to the bottom. Where the waterfall is with the green trees you’ll see the plinth with the word of power on it.

    Become Etheral #2 (Spirit) – In between Markarth and Falkreath is a huge settlement with waterfalls and large stone structures. Get to the top, fight the Hagravens and in their little den, at the end of the Bard’s Leap Summit point (where you’re stood over the waterfall), you’ll find this dragon shout.

    Ice Form #1 (Ice) – This shout can be found in Mount Anthor, the middle mountain in the range to the northwest of Windhelm, which is home to a big scary dragon. You can get this location from Arngeir at High Hrothgar when talking about dragon shout locations.

    Ice Form #2 (Flesh) - Found in the mission “Under Saarthal” for the Circle of Mages, at the end after you’ve discovered the artefact in the Saarthal dungeon, on your way out. It’s southwest of Winterhold.

    Kyne’s Peace #1 (Kyne)– Letter delivered to you after fighting your first dragon and reporting back to the Yarl. Location: “Rannveig’s Fast” – Dragon (ice) protecting the entrance with ghost adventurers and ice skeletons around. Use any fire spell when on the ground. Defeated it at a level 7, but it’s a slow fight to the finish. Then head in after for the Shout.

    Kyne’s Peace #2 (Peace) – Shroud Hearth Barrow (depths). Located in Ivarstead will be a quest from the inn keeper, Wilheim. After heading into the Barrow to take care of a troublesome spirit, players will get a Sapphire Dragon Claw from Wilheim as a reward and they can now gain access to the previously locked door inside the Barrow. Head inside and follow the path through to the end where you’ll find your second Kyne’s Peace word.

    Kyne’s Peace #3 (Trust) - Ragnavald Temple – North of Markarth im the mountains is a ruins called Ragnavald with a temple inside. When inside, don’t be fooled by how close the objective is, you need to head left and right into the canal and the crypts to get the keys to access the dragon shout area. Oh, and defeat the Daedric, Otar the Mod.

    Aura Whisper #1 (Life) - Northwind Summit – After receiving a letter from a “friend” regarding a source of power in the mountains between Windhelm and Riften, round the corner from Shor’s Stone, you’ll fight a dragon.

    Animal Allegiance #1 (Animal) - First, head to Helgen, go south-west, through Bonechill Passage and then the Dragon Shout is the other end, protected by a dragon. Watch out for the Snowy Saber Cat inside Bonchill, he’s fast, aggressive and strong as hell.

    Fire Breath #1 (Fire) – Dustman’s Cairn mission, but only after you’ve done/doing the Proving Honor quest from The Companions as it opens up a new area of this dungeon.

    Fire Breath #2 (Inferno) (and Sun?) – Learnt during the main mission, “Throat of the World.”

    Marked for Death #1 (Kill) – Autumnwatch Tower - South of Ivarstad (and further south more of the Rift Imperial Camp) you’ll find a couple of towers in the mountains. There’s also a dragon here, but it’s at the top of the farthest tower to the south.

    Marked for Death #2 (Leech) – Inside the “Forsaken Cave,” which is slightly southwest of Wintehold, at the base and south side of the mountains that surround it. North of that small lake on the map. Curamil, a tough-ass-bastard Draugr guards it.

    Marked for Death #3 (Suffer) - Inside the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary – See the “With Friends Like These…” achievement for info on how to get access.

    Frost Breath #1 (Frost) - Brownstrewn Crest – Directly south of Windhelm in the middle of the swampland up on the top of a big large hill. Guarded by a dragon.

    Frost Breath #2 - Can be found at the Skyborn Altar, guarded by a dragon. It's at the south-western end of the large mountain due east of Morthal. The one with Dagon's shrine on it. It's on a line due south-east of Dawnstar.

    Frost Breath #3 (Freeze) - Folgunthur – Deep in the depths of this dungeon is a powerful Draugr and a dragon shout. It can be found southeast of Solitude. Not too far away, on the way to Morthal.

    Dismay #1 (Fear) – Can be found at Lost Tongue Overlook after killing the dragon you get from a bounty letter from Wilhelm in Ivarstead’s Inn.

    Dismay #2 (Run) - At the top of Dead Crone Rock (west of Markarth) is a dragon shout. Right at the top... through all the keeps that surround it - you have to go here on the mission "Mehrunes Dagon."

    Elemental Fury #1 (Air) - Can be found at Dragontooth Crater, which is in between Solitude and Markarth in the northwest of Skyrim. The large mountain range there.

    Throw Voice #1, #2 & #3 (Voice, Fool, Far) - Directly west of Windhelm is a dragon hangout on the top of the big mountain nearest it. The second peak, furthest away, that is. The dragon shout is there… I got all three here, not sure whether that was a glitch. It was guarded by a powerful Daedra though called Krosis. Struggled at level 24.

    Disarm #1 (Weapon) – At the top of the mountain, south of Morthal, you’ll find Eldersblood Peak where a dragon and a drgaon shout is.

    Disarm #2 (Hand) – When doing the thieves guild mission, “Speaking With Silence,” you’ll head to Snow Veil Sanctum. In the second area Mercer will mention something about being a perfect ambush area. It’s in that room.

    Slow Time #1 (Time) – Found during the Mage’s Guild mission, “The Staff of Magnus,” after you fight the Draugr Deathlord by his throne in the final level of the Labyrinthian. As far as I’m aware, you can gain access to this place without doing this mission as you get an artefact to open the door.

    Slow Time #2 (Sand) – Northeast of Whiterun, just into the snowy area on the map, you’ll find Korvanjund. In the crypt you’ll find the shout in the area at the bottom. Will come here on the second Imperial/Stormcloak mission.

    Clear Skies #1, #2 & #3 (Sky, Spring, Summer) – In the mission, “Throat of the World,” Arngeir will give you all three words for this shout when you get to High Hrothgar.

    Dragonrend #1 (Mortal), #2 (Infinite) & #3 (Temporary) – Learnt during the main quest, “Alduin’s Bane.”

    Storm Call #1 (Storm) – High Gate Ruins – East of Solitude is a huge structure and set of ruins. Head inside and down to the last chamber (Vokun’s Throne Room). After defeating Volkun, the word of power is in the room behind the one you’re in.

    Storm Call #2 (Wrath) - Found in the main quest, “The World-Eater’s Eyrie,” at the Skuldafn Temple level.

    Call Dragon #1 (Snow), #2 (Hunter), #3 Wing – Received in the quest, “The Fallen.”

    Call of Valor #1 (Hero), #2 (Champion) & #3 (Legend) – Received for completing the main quest, “Dragonslayer.”

    There are more of course, but there are enough here to grab the achievement.

  • Reach Level 5

    See “Master” for more details on how to get this achievement.

  • Adept

     

    10

    Reach Level 10

    See “Master” for more details on how to get this achievement.

  • Expert

     

    25

    Reach Level 25

    See “Master” for more details on how to get this achievement.

  • Master

     

    50

    Reach Level 50

    How you level up in Skyrim is simple, yet complicated. Unlike most RPGs you don’t get experience for quests or kills, so levelling up the conventional way is out of the question, in fact, it’s all about levelling up sub-skills, which in turn levels up your character level. Every time you level up you get chance to whack 10 points on magika, stamina or health, as well as applying a perk.

    There are 18 skills in the game which range from combat orientated skills like archery, one-handed weapons and blocking; and magic use like restoration, destruction and conjuration; all the way through to more deceptive tasks like sneaking, pickpocketing and lock-picking; and your general working jobs, like smithing, alchemy and enchanting.

    In order to hit 50 you’ll have to do a wide range of tasks and level them up as far as possible. The truth is that you’ll never be able to stick with one discipline if you want to get to level 50 – I reached level 100 on my archery skill by about level 35. That means you’ll have to mix things up… use magic, use archery, use one-handed weapons, use two-handed weapons, smith weapons, enchant weapons, pick-pocket people, pick locks… the more you do, the quicker you’ll level up – so when you reach that level 100 on a skill, it’s time to move onto something else. It is worth nothing that a level 10 in a skill isn’t going to raise you character level as much as a level 90 would.

    There are 3 ways though to level up skills and for tips on how to raise the individual skill levels, see the “Skill Master” achievement description where there are tons of tips that will help raise skill subsets across the board, getting you closer to that level 50 achievement quicker than usual.

DLC: Dawnguard

There are 10 achievements with a total of 250 points

  • Complete "Awakening"

    This is the quest given to you by Isran when you go to meet him for the first time at Dawnguard fort. Complete the quest and the achievement is yours.

    When you are at the waypoint in the crypt and have some podiums surrounding you; you need to move the podiums until they light on fire. Do this for each one and then press the button on the podium in the middle. A monolith will rise up and some one will comeout.

    Quest objectives:

    • Find out what the vampires are seeking
    • Speak to the Mysterious Woman
  • Complete "Beyond Death"

    This quest leads off from the quest Chasing Echoes. In order to enter the Soul Cairn you must gather Purified Void Salts and Ground Bone meal. Both of which lie in the lab.

    The ground bone meal should be downstairs on a table across the balcony on which the vessel stands. Sits on the left hand side of the table.

    The purified void salts are on the far bookcase on the right hand side upstairs while facing the rest of the room.

    Objectives:

    • Locate Valerica
    • Speak to Valerica
    • Kill the boneyard Keepers
    • Speak to Valerica
    • Follow Valerica
    • Slay Durnehviir
    • Speak to Valerica
    • Follow Valerica
    • Retrieve Elder Scroll
    • Speak to Valerica
    • Return to Tamriel

    On your way out Durnehviir should stop you and wish to talk. Oblige and he will give you a shout to summon him to Tamriel which you will need later to earn the Soul Tear Achievement. Just make sure you have his summoning shout before you leave the Soul Cairn.

  • Complete "Kindred Judgment"

    This leads off of the quest touching the sky. This is also the last quest in the main story for the Dawnguard DLC.

    Objectives:

    • Speak to Serana
    • Confront Harkon with Auriel's bow
    • Slay Harkon
  • Complete "Lost to the Ages"

    This is a sidequest from the DLC. There are 2 ways to trigger it. You can find a book called The Aetherium Wars or you can go to Arkngthamz and you can meet up with Katria's ghost to activate the quest. This is a somewhat lengthy quest and you will need a good amount of lockpicks and a decent lockpicking skill (I was around 60) Also Bring a crossbow/bow and a good chunk of Arrows/bolts. Projectile style Destruction magic also works for the tonal locks.

    The book ''The Aetherium Wars'' can be found:

    • Dawnguard fort
    • Castle Volkihar Undercroft
    • Bard's College
    • Hall of the Vigilant
    • Ruunvald Temple

    Objectives:

    • Reach the summit of Arkngthamz
    • Solve the Tonal lock
    • Claim the treasure of Arkngthamz
    • Speak with Katria
    • Search for Aetherium Shards
    • Locate the Aetheium Forge
    • Retrieve Aetherium Crest
    • Stand Clear
    • Find Aetherium Forge
    • Shut off the steam
    • Defeat the guardians of the forge
    • Speak with Katria
    • Use the Aetherium forge

    The tonal lock requires a a crossbow to complete. You must shoot each of the 5 parts in a certain order in order to unlock the door. Start bottom left to bottom right to top left to top right to middle.

    You also have the option of getting more materials to use at the forge which if you just want the achievement just skip this extra part of the quest and use the forge to make 1 of the 3 items and then the achievement pops when you finish on the forge.

  • Learn all three words of Soul Tear

    You remember Durnehviir the dragon from the beyond death quest? In your conversation with him on your way to leave the Soul Cairn he gives you a shout to be able to summon him in Tamriel. Buy all three words of the shout.

    Now each time you summon him in Tamriel he will teach you a word for a shout called soul tear. Summon him 3 times and the achievements yours. The shout must be aimed at the ground while charging the shout otherwise it will not summon him.

    The main issue unlocking this achievement is finding a spot to summon him in. Since he needs to be able to fit uninterrupted. The windmills by whiterun worked for me and others aswell the area across the water from Harkon's castle. Also make sure to charge up the shout otherwise it won't summon him.

  • Use the special power of Auriel's Bow

    The earliest this is available is after you finish the quest touching the sky. You can do this on the balcony in which you claim the bow. Since the the bow comes with 12 sunhallowed just shoot 1 sunhallowed arrow directly into the sun. You can also do this with the blood tainted arrows you can get from Serana after the story is over.

  • Acquire 11 werewolf perks

    To become a werewolf you need to playthrough the companions guild from the main game for a little way. If you are already a werewolf when the DLC is installed then you can grind out this achievement before starting either questline if you wish.

    If you lose lycanthropsy by becoming a vampire lord you can go back to Aela the Huntress once to get it back. If you lose it again you will need to revert back to a save in which you are a werewolf.

    When picking you perks for the werewolf tree do the right branch first as it has has Savage feeding which feed off more then dead humans. Allows for feeding off dead animals like bears, horses and wolfs. This decreases the amount of time between feeding and gives you more things to gain experience off of.

    The Ring of Hircine (a daedric artifact) also gives you an extra Werewolf transformation which comes in handy when grinding this achievement as you have less hassle with waiting so you can re-transform.

  • Acquire 11 vampire perks

    First chance you get to become a Vampire lord is after the quest Awakening. When you take Serana to her father Harkon. Harkon will offer you the gift of becoming a Vampire lord. If you take the Dawnguard route instead Serana has the ability to make you a vampire lord instead. She can change you infinitely.

    The only perk I can recommend getting as soon as possible is unearthly will as it will increase the amount of times you can you the area drain attack before having to recharge. Do not have an ally with you while you do this as you need to be the killer, also save the perk night cloak for last as the bats will steal kills.

  • Change your face

    Go to the ragged flagon in Riften and talk to Galathil and pay her 1,000 gold. You don't even have to actually to change anything as it pops right away.

  • Legend

     

    40

    Defeat a Legendary Dragon

    It is currently speculated that some where around level 70 is the absolute minimum that a legendary dragon will show up although the higher the level you are the more likely you are to run into one. I had to be 81 in order for it to show up for me. Although nothing is 100% confirmed what the level requirement is.

DLC: Hearthfire

There are 5 achievements with a total of 50 points

  • Adopt a child

    Upon downloading the DLC, a courier will arrive while you are inside a city and deliver you two letters: one advertising the Honorhall Orphanage in Riften and the other informing you that you can now build a children's bedroom to accommodate the child.

    Before even bothering to head to Riften, make sure you own a home and have built the children's bedroom. If you're adding it to an existing home (pre-DLC) it will replace your alchemical lab and cost 250 Gold (except in Windhelm and Solitude, which will not overwrite the lab but costs 3000 Gold). Otherwise, you'll need to manually put in a child's bed and child's chest at any of the DLC homes.

    Now that you have your house and children's room, visit the orphanage and tell Constance Michel that you'd like to adopt. She'll ask you to pick a home (probably only one choice unless you build multiple children's rooms in multiple homes) as well as a child, so talk to one you like afterward and the achievement will unlock when you accept them.

    A full list of adoptable children can be found here. Note that you do not have to have your wife at the home or even be married to do this!

  • Buy a plot of land

    See "Land Baron" for more info.

  • Build three wings on a house

    See "Master Architect" for more info.

  • Buy three plots of land

    There are three new plots available in this DLC at Dawnstar, Falkreath and Morthal. To puchase the lots, you need to be in good standing with the Jarl of each city (which may require completing quests) and pay 5000 Gold.

    The plot of land in Farkreath seems to have the most issues that may arise and prevent the ability to buy the plot. The most common fix is to complete the pending quests listed here to receive the radiant quests that will then put you in good standing with the Jarl. Further troubleshooting can be found here if this does not work for you.

  • Build three houses

    To satisfy this and Architect, you will need to fully build on all three available plots of land (so get "Land Baron" unlocked first). This will include the three available wing additions to the houses. To most quickly do this, make sure you have a steward at the house (list) and a sizable bank account to purchase materials. You'll want to buy out blacksmiths of their Iron and Corundum ingots, and then order plenty of stone and wood from your steward. Use the anvil to create a large supply of locks, nails, hinges and iron fittings as well.

    Once you've got a large supply of materials, use the drafting table near your home to setup the outline. Then step over to the carpenter's workbench to begin building up the structure. Once you have the house built, you can add the main hall in the same fashion and convert the small house into an entryway. Then you'll choose one wing at a time from each section (north, west and east) and build them up in the same fashion as well. Once all three homes have been built up completely with three wings the achievement will unlock.

    If at any time you run out of materials, simply order more from your steward or fast travel to a town for more ingots and create the needed materials from the anvil again.

DLC: Dragonborn

There are 10 achievements with a total of 250 points

  • Arrive on Solstheim

    Story related, cannot be missed.

    This achievement is obtained after you first arrive in the new island of Solstheim, during the very first quest to start the DLC. To start the DLC, you must be inside one of the major cities, where you will be attacked by cultists. You will recognize them as they will be wearing robes which are only just introduced in this DLC. After dispatching your attackers, search both of their bodies to find a note and read it. This will then activate a quest for you to go and speak with a ships captain, who can be found on his ship just outside Windhelm. After a small conversation, he will eventually, albeit, reluctantly agree to take you to Solstheim, thus starting the DLC.

    Also, it seems you have to have completed the mission, 'The Way of the Voice' in the main Skyrim game and received the quest 'The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller' for the attack to trigger.

  • Complete "The Temple of Miraak"

    Story related, cannot be missed.

    This achievement is obtained at the end of the mission 'The Temple of Miraak' upon first encountering the stories main antagonist, Miraak in his newly excavated temple.

  • Complete "The Path of Knowledge"

    Story related, cannot be missed.

    This achievement is obtained at the end of the mission 'The Path of Knowledge' upon retrieving a black book from a dwemer ruin filled with puzzles.

  • Complete "At the Summit of Apocrypha"

    Story related, cannot be missed.

    This is the final story related achievement and is obtained after defeating Miraak at the end of the mission 'At the Summit of Apocrypha'.

  • Learn all 3 words of Dragon Aspect

    Dragon Aspect is a new shout introduced in Dragonborn and acts as a power rather than a shout. When this shout is activated, you become enveloped in a glowing dragon skin armor. The shout also gives you massive damage boosts to your weapons and other shouts.

    As with all other shouts, there are 3 words of power located on walls in 3 different dungeons.

    The first word is found in The Temple of Miraak during the corresponding quest that takes you there. After following Frea into the Temple, you will come to and descend a large set of stairs and eventually into the Temple sanctum. Continuing through the linear dungeon, you will see the dragon wall on your left in a small room, that you exit through a wall mounted sarcophagus.

    The second word is found in Raven Rock Mine during the quest 'The Final Descent'. During this quest you will find a unique greatsword called 'Bloodskal Blade'. You will need this to open the strange looking door in front of where you found the sword. To open the door, you must power attack the glowing red lines in the same direction as the line. After passing the door you will come to a dragon priest who you must kill. The second word is on the wall behind him.

    The third word is found in Apocrypha, during the final main story mission. After reading the Black Book 'Waking Dreams' you will enter another realm where you will be tasked with finding 4 books throughout the realm. After finding all 4 books and placing them in their correct position in a central chamber, you can enter the next area of this realm and will appear next to the final dragon wall.

    Here is a video guide for this achievement, credit to PureEscalationGuides once again for this video;

  • Learn the secrets of 5 Black Books

    There are a total of 7 Black books to be found throughout Solstheim. 2 of these are found during the main storyline and are therefor unmissable. The first of these is found in the Temple of Miraak during the mission 'The Temple of Miraak'. The second one is found during the mission 'The Path of Knowledge', at the end of the dwemer ruin Nchardak.

    There then exists 5 more throughout Solstheim, but you will only need 3 more for the achievement. 3 of the 5 remaining Black Books aren't tied to any quests and are therefor the easier of the 5 remaining ones as you can explore these dungeons at your own leisure.

    The location for these 5 remaining Black Books are as follows,

    • Filament and Filigree - Kolbjorn Barrow (end of Unearthed sidequest)
    • The Hidden Twilight - Tel Mithryn (After finishing several sidequests for Neloth, he'll give you a key to the room containing the book.)
    • The Sallow Regent - White Ridge Barrow
    • The Winds of Change - Raven Rock Mine (You'll pick this one up since it's in the same area as one of the words for the Dragon Aspect shout and achievement.)
    • Untold Legends - Benkongerike

    Credit to alanp9 for compiling the information.

    Here is video guide for this achievement, credit to PureEscalationGuides for the video;

     

  • Craft an item out of Stalhrim

    Stalhrim is a new material introduced in Dragonborn. To craft weapons and armor with this material you must first be able to mine it, then be able to craft it.

    To mine Stalhrim, you will need an ancient nordic pickaxe, that you can acquire from the Raven Rock blacksmith, Glover Mallory. It was stolen from him and he asks you to retrieve it from Crescius Caerellius. This is a simple and short task and upon returning to Glover Mallory, he will allow you to keep it.

    To be able to craft Stalhrim weapons and armor you will need to be taught how to do it by the Skaal village blacksmith named, Baldor Iron-Shaper.

    Before you go looking for him, you must first finish a quest in Skaal village from the town leader, Fanari Strong-Voice, who will task you with taking out a bandit leader. After you have completed this, ask around town until someone tells you about the blacksmith who has gone missing. This will then activate a mission for you to go and rescue him from his kidnappers who are trying to get his secrets to crafting with Stalhrim.

    When you have rescued him, he will ask you to go and retrieve a map from a newly arrived Thalmor leader, which shows Stalhrim locations on Solstheim. After you retrieve this map and take it back to Baldor Iron-Shaper, he will finally share his secrets to crafting Stalhrim, allowing you to create Stalhrim weapons and armor.

    As soon as you create your first item the achievement will unlock.

    *Note. You will need to have at least a level 80 in Blacksmithing and the perk to be able to craft Ebony to be able to craft with Stalhrim.

  • Tame and ride 5 dragons


    During the story of this DLC, you will learn a new shout called 'Bend will'. You must then use this shout at its full power(holding down ) on any dragon that you may encounter. The dragon will then land allowing you to mount it by walking up to it and activating it with . When you have mounted the dragon, it will proceed to take off and fly in its own fashion, as you cannot control its flight path. To dismount the dragon, press at any time and the dragon will find a suitable place to land for you to dismount. Repeat this 4 more times and the achievement is yours.

    You first get the oppurtunity to do this in the final story mission 'At the Summit of Apocrypha' and the dragon you use does count towards the achievement. A good way to do this is to fast travel to any dragon shrine locations you may have discovered and use your 'Bend Will' shout on any dragon that may be present.

    This can also be obtained whilst in the original Skyrim world, as well as in Solstheim.

  • Own a house in Raven Rock

    You can get a free house after completing a series of side quests. The first of these is called 'March of the Dead' and is acquired from the town Guards captain, Captain Veleth, just outside and south of Raven Rock at a location called 'Old Attius Farm' when you save him from being killed.

    The second required quest is called 'The Final Descent' and is acquired from Crescius Caerellius who can be found just inside the entrance of Raven Rock Mine. The mission takes you through the mine, so you can start it immediately upon acquiring it.

    The third and final required mission is called 'Served Cold' and can only be activated once 'The Final Descent' has been completed. This too is acquired from Captain Veleth, who then sends you to one of the towns councilors to start the mission.

    the reward for this final mission is a property in Raven Rock and upon receiving this reward, the achievement will unlock.

  • Discover 30 locations on the island of Solstheim

    For this achievement you need to have discovered 30 seperate locations on your Solstheim map. An undiscovered location on your HUD radar will be a black image with a white outline. To discover it you need to walk up to it until you get an onscreen message saying for example, 'Brodir Grove Discovered', in large white writing. When a location is discovered, the image on your HUD radar will turn into a white image with a black outline.

    You will travel to a minimum of 10 locations just doing the main quest, but travelling to your quest destinations will undoubtedly allow you to discover more locations.

    You only need 30 locations and there are a total of 58 in Solstheim, so there are more than enough to obtain the achievement without much effort.

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