Where to find special weapons in skyrim

There's just something so familiar about this axe. You know, the long handle, the lethal, purposefully crafted blade. No question it's a beautiful piece, but where have we seen it before? Ah, that's right. It almost took our heads in Helgen.

Of course, that makes it a picture perfect keepsake for the Dragonborn. But the only way to grab it is from the executioner, Ahtar, in Solitude. You can either do him a favor and win him over as a follower, take a shot at stealing it, or pry it from his cold, gone hands. Yeah, yeah, we know. Maybe that grinds your gears a little bit. While it's easy to point out that the bow looks absolutely ridiculous, it packs a punch and can inflict a variety of afflictions on your target.

These include but aren't limited to frost damage, paralysis, and frenzy. This spooky, scary, spectral blade is incredibly lightweight, and carries a limitless enchantment that does armor-ignoring damage, making it a wonderful addition to the armory.

Devotees of the Blades will, at the very least, want this one on their mantle, if not in their hands. It's also highly recommended to go scoop this one up before beginning the quest "Ill Met By Moonlight," just to avoid any potential complication. Just look for the hidden shrine to Talos once you're there, and you shouldn't have too difficult of a time locating it. This wicked looking little dagger is every bit as deadly as it looks, and is entirely worth the pains taken to get your hands on it.

For more information, see the Horksbane article. It shares its appearance with the player version, although it lacks its enchantment and is worth less gold. Curiously, this version of the weapon does more damage, weighs less, and is faster than the highest leveled version of the player's bow. The characters who have a copy of this weapon will never drop it, and it does not show up when pickpocketing them, meaning it cannot be obtained during normal gameplay. For more information, see the Karliah's Bow article.

The Master Sword is a legendary sword obtained using amiibo or in a chest upon the Throat of the World. For more information, see the Master Sword article. For non- Elder Scrolls information, see the Wikipedia article. Nettlebane is a unique, crudely-engraved ebony dagger , originally made by hagravens to sacrifice spriggans. Compared to the typical ebony dagger, Nettlebane compares unfavorably. It weighs twice what a normal ebony dagger would, does four points less damage, and is worth nowhere near as much gold.

Furthermore, it can't even be enchanted, making it fairly worthless outside of its related quest. The only way to improve upon this weapon is tempering it with an ebony ingot , although it does not benefit from the Ebony Smithing perk. For more information, see the Nettlebane article. The Notched Pickaxe is a special pickaxe found stuck into the peak of the Throat of the World. It has the unique enchantment Smithing Expertise , which boosts the Smithing skill while it is equipped, and does five points of shock damage when it is used as a weapon.

Tempering the Notched Pickaxe requires an iron ingot and the Arcane Blacksmith perk. For more information, see the Notched Pickaxe article. Okin can be found in the possession of its owner within his tomb, Volunruud. Tempering Okin requires a steel ingot and the Arcane Blacksmith perk, with the benefits of the improvements being doubled if the steel smithing perk is unlocked.

It has the unique enchantment Huntsman's Prowess , which does an additional three points of damage to animals. Tempering the Poacher's Axe requires a steel ingot.

While it has a unique enchantment and name, the Poacher's Axe can still be used to chop wood like a normal woodcutter's axe. For more information, see the Poacher's Axe article. Its enchantment does ten points of fire damage and turns undead that are at or lower than level thirteen for thirty seconds. If the Dwarven Smithing perk is also unlocked, the improvements to the weapon will be doubled.

Rundi's Dagger is the weapon found besides its late eponymous owner, Rundi , east-southeast of Winterhold. Its appearance and stats are identical to those of a steel dagger , only being notable besides due to its unique name and owner. As with all steel daggers, it requires one steel ingot to temper , with the benefits of the tempering being doubled with the Steel Smithing perk.

For more information, see the Rundi's Dagger article. A Shiv is an improvised dagger-like weapon, commonly made and used by the prisoners of Cidhna Mine. These sharpened utensils are the only handily available weapon in the prison, excluding fists and magic.

Due to its improvised nature, a shiv cannot be improved. For more information, see the Shiv article. Soulrender is a scimitar which is one of the twin swords of the legendary Nord pirate captain Haknir Death-Brand. The sword can be found on the corpse of Haknir's ghost in Gyldenhul Barrow , after defeating him. It can dispel armor spells , invisibility , wards , cloak spells and healing spells. Soulrender can be tempered with an ebony ingot , with the Daedric Smithing perk doubling its improvement.

For more information, see the Soulrender article. Its unique enchantment does ten points of fire damage over one second, and soul traps the target for five seconds. Tempering this weapon requires a steel ingot as well as the Arcane Blacksmith perk. Improvements to the weapon are doubled if the Steel Smithing perk is also unlocked. Like other weapons with fire enchantments, this battleaxe benefits from the Augmented Flames perk and will inflict 15 points of fire damage at the 2nd level.

For more information, see the Steel Battleaxe of Fiery Souls article. Stormfang is a steel greatsword wielded by a reaver lord found in Brodir Grove.

It is identical to a normal steel greatsword in all respects. Stormfang's enchantment deals thirty points of shock damage to the target. It can be tempered with a steel ingot , with the Steel Smithing perk doubling improvement. For more information, see the Stormfang article.

The arrows are visually similar to the elven arrows that are needed to create them, with a gray shaft instead of a golden one, and the fletchings alternating between gray and white. The quiver is similar, being a more pallid color compared to the strong golden one of normal arrows.

When fired at the sun during the day with Auriel's Bow , it will cause a sunburst , doing damage to any target caught in the blast, with undead taking triple damage.

It is the contemporary and counterpart of the Bloodcursed Elven Arrow. For more information, see the Sunhallowed Elven Arrow article. The Longhammer is a unique Orcish warhammer that belonged to the bandit Rahd before he was killed during a Falmer attack as part of the related quest.

It can be recovered from the Breton's dead grasp within Liar's Retreat. Compared to the standard Orcish warhammer, the Longhammer weighs eight units less, while also having half the base value of the normal version.

The true value of the weapon is its speed, as it has the same swinging speed as a mace. While it lacks an enchantment, one can be added after acquiring it to further improve its worth. Tempering this weapon requires an orichalcum ingot , with any improvements made being doubled if the Orcish Smithing perk is also unlocked. For more information, see The Longhammer article. The Woodsman's Friend is a unique iron battleaxe found alongside a dead wood cutter.

With no enchantment and no way to improve the weapon through blacksmithing, the only advantage this weapon has over the generic version of this weapon is the single extra point of default damage it can do.

They can further upgrade the weapon via a grindstone with double the improvement if they have the Dragon Smithing Perk. The Dragonbone Dagger is tied with the Blade of Woe in terms of damage output. However, the Dragonbone Dagger bests the Blade of Woe in terms of speed. Players who want a lighter Daedric artifact might appreciate Mehrunes' Razor. Interestingly, the weapon only boasts 11 Damage, weaker in comparison to the Blade of Woe and Dragonbone Dagger. However, Mehrunes' Razor does come with a unique effect — it has a 1.

Unlike other daggers, Mehrunes' Razor only comes with 3 Weight, making it much lighter than other powerhouse daggers. Using this weapon with the Dual Flurry Perk can make for some incredibly fast stabbing. Fans of the Dark Brotherhood will be intimately acquainted with the Blade of Woe. Interestingly, pickpocketing Astrid prior to completing the aforementioned quest can give players access to two Blades.

The Blade boasts 12 Damage, 7 Weight, and can absorb 10 Health upon hit. While second to the Dragonbone Dagger in terms of weight, it's considerably more accessible since the Dragonbone material is harder to access.

Having the Dual Flurry Perk One-Handed can give a vast speed boost — even with just a dagger in one hand, and any other 1H-weapon in another. This blade represents the Nightingales, a secret sect within the Thieves Guild tasked to protect shrines dedicated to Nocturnal, the Daedric Prince of Luck and Darkness. The Nightingale Blade itself served as the primary weapon of Gallus Desidenius, the former master of the Thieves Guild and a former Nightingale.

Players obtain the blade after completing the "Hard Answers" quest for the Thieves Guild. At first glance, this sword merely boasts 14 Damage and 15 Weight. However, its strength lies in its enchantment, wherein its hits also absorb 25 Health and Stamina. The Nightingale Blade is a leveled item, so it's worth noting that its stats can scale up to level Warriors serving eldritch entities fit perfectly with Miraak's Sword.

When obtained, the sword has 16 Damage and 3 Weight. It can also absorb 15 Stamina when hitting opponents. Players will love Miraak's Sword for its aesthetic, as the sword appears to be composed of a long tentacle writhing around itself.

When attacking, the weapon "extends" its tentacles for cosmetic effect. If you are playing the Anniversary Edition, we have explainers on features such as fishing. Whether you're looking to tackle some of the more bizarre Daedric quests, or power-level your Smithing to craft Dragonbone and Daedric weapons, the weapon rankings below should be of some use to you, but before you dive in there are a couple of quick things to bear in mind about how we've structured it all:.

Daggers have the highest attack speed and lowest base damage of all weapons in Skyrim, but that doesn't mean they should be ignored. In fact, for all One-Handed skill users, they can be essential:. Swords are, as you'd expect, the most popular weapons in Skyrim thanks to their versatility and balance of both speed and damage. They're the fastest non-dagger one-handed weapons, but have lower damage than their mace and war axe counterparts.

There aren't too many exciting options for those who prefer to bear a one-handed axe in Skyrim, but there are still one or two things to note:. Greatswords operate as the fastest, but lowest base damage weapons of the two-handed class. There are few unique ones of note, although the Bloodskal Blade provides an intriguing option. The middle tier of heavy weapons, the battleaxe class also plays home to one of the best weapons in the game, Wuuthrad.

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