Skyrim is a hostile place. Its citizens can barely go for a walk without being violently assaulted by draugr, wolves, vampires, giant spiders, and et cetera. Of course, these monsters are no match for the mighty Dragonborn… usually. Despite its excellent level scaling mechanics, Skyrim is still full of baddies that will absolutely destroy the player. There’s extra trouble for those who aren’t prepared for the difficulty scaling, or who build their characters in a suboptimal way.
And that’s a good thing. It reminds us of the game’s old-school roots. It can almost be surprising to run up against a legitimate challenge in Skyrim, a game that tends to be too easy. Here are some of the most memorable challenges in the game, why they work (and why some of them don’t work).
10 Giants
While Giants are far from the most powerful enemies in the game, they pose a major challenge for low-level characters especially. New players are often surprised by the sheer amount of damage they do. Their tendency to knock the Dragonborn hundreds of feet in the air sends a pretty clear message: don’t mess with us.
Giants are extremely tough foes for a first or even a tenth-level character. However, because they’re locked at level 32 with no level scaling, high-level characters can usually take them down without much trouble. Bring along plenty of healing, and make sure you can avoid their deadly attacks. Oh, and don’t forget to loot them, because giants usually carry some great stuff.
9 Magic Anomalies
The level of a magic anomaly will always be the player’s level multiplied by 1.75. They’re the only enemies in the game that level this way. Because of this, they can reach tremendous levels of health, and take a frustratingly long time to kill. It doesn’t help that the Dragonborn has to fight ten of them during the quest “Containment”.
Their attack pattern is frustrating too. They swoop around randomly, spray lightning everywhere, and then run off when their health is low. They have no inherent weaknesses. Overall, fighting them just isn’t fun. The fight is a slog, without much room for creative tactics.
8 Forsworn Briarhearts
Briarhearts are the most powerful variants of the Forsworn. They’re usually magic users, but sometimes dual-wield Forsworn swords. Whatever their weapon of choice, Briarhearts are liable to quickly wipe out the player with powerful perks and destruction spells. Their level matches the player’s, but they can feel especially deadly at low levels and have a tendency to take out unprepared heroes with just a few quick strikes.
Funnily enough, there is one way to easily deal with a Briarheart, but it’s unreliable. If the Dragonborn can sneak up on one, they can “pickpocket” their heart right out of their chest, killing them instantly. To counter this, Briarhearts have exceptional hearing and are great at detecting characters in stealth.
7 Nightmaster Vampires
The Nightmaster Vampire is the highest-level variant of the basic vampire enemy. They come in at level 65, which gives them staggeringly large pools of Health and Magicka. They’re also deadly spellcasters who can fire off Chain Lightning, Ice Storm, Revenant, and even Invisibility spells. Nightmasters are often surrounded by lower-level vampires, which they will happily reanimate.
If they don’t kill the player immediately, they like to use their invisibility to run off and lick their wounds. The key to fighting a Nightmaster Vampire is to kill it quickly before it can use its intimidating spells to prolong the fight. As with all vampires, they’re weak to fire, as well as Dawnguard rune weapons.
6 Alduin
Alduin is the final boss of Skyrim’s main quest and the first unique enemy on the list. He is extremely powerful but still pales in comparison to other bosses. Alduin’s level will scale with the player’s all the way up to level 100, and his health is rather high. Legendary Dragons technically have more health, but Alduin also gets damage resistances to all forms of damage.
Many Skyrim players cite the Alduin fight as underwhelming, and it is. Alduin’s minimum level is actually only ten. It’s feasible for the Dragonborn to go in and beat him at level one. Meanwhile, Miraak’s minimum level is 35. Furthermore, Alduin lacks interesting abilities. Fighting him is a straightforward slog, like fighting any other dragon.
5 Naaslaarum and Voslaarum
In the Dawnguard DLC, the Dragonborn will visit the Forgotten Vale, an isolated area with its own unique ecosystem. As they explore, they’ll come face to face with not one, but two legendary dragons. There’s no way to fight them one at a time, and they scale with the player up to level 62. The encounter is arguably much tougher than the Alduin fight simply because there are multiple combatants.
The best method we’ve found for this fight is to focus on just one dragon. The fight becomes much, much easier after the first one is down. Bringing along the Dragonsbane sword and the Dragonrend shout can be a huge help. Dragonrend is especially useful since the player can use it to hound a particular dragon, never letting them take flight for too long.
4 Dragon Priests
Dragon Priests are some of the most iconic bosses in Skyrim, as well as some of the hardest. That’s because most of them are locked at level fifty; like giants, their levels do not scale with the player at all. Most dragon priests have around 1500 health, and are more than happy to unleash waves of powerful destruction magic.
And while these generic dragon priests aren’t encountered until higher levels, there are plenty of unique dragon priests that can be encountered much earlier. Notable unique dragon priests are Krosis (who spawns alongside a leveled dragon), as well as the dragon priests of Solstheim (who are typically higher level and carry unique destruction spells).
3 Miraak
Miraak is the first Dragonborn, an ancient dragon priest, and the final boss of the Dragonborn DLC. He will always be a bit higher-level unless the player manages to surpass his impressive level cap of 150. His max health is around 1200, which is actually relatively low. However, one of his special abilities lets him completely replenish his health, so his actual effective health is much higher than this.
Miraak has an excellent unique sword, a staff that inflicts poison damage, some good spells, and a number of dragon shouts. However, rushing him and attacking with melee can be an effective counter. He’s far more dangerous at a range, and with a string of melee attacks, he should eventually go down.
2 The Ebony Warrior
The Ebony Warrior is strong mainly due to his perks and equipment. He has a grand total of 35 perks. Many of these buff his one-handed and heavy armor skills, meaning the warrior can dish out damage just as well as he can take it. He can reflect blows, resist fall damage, he has the Disarm and Unrelenting Force shouts, his enchanted armor resists all damage types, and he can inflict paralysis from a distance with his enchanted bow.
The Ebony Warrior is a completely optional boss fight. He doesn’t appear in the game until the player hits level 80. Because the fight can’t be taken on at all until this level, theoretically, it should be an even matchup. Even so, the fight is incredibly challenging.
1 Karstaag
Karstaag is the undisputed toughest enemy in all of Skyrim. This optional frost troll boss has his level locked at 90, with absolutely no scaling. His health is 4000, and his regeneration rate is better than that of a normal troll. He has a permanent frost cloak that inflicts ongoing damage, he summons ice wraiths, and his stomp attacks will send the Dragonborn flying.
On their own, each of these factors might not be so bad. Altogether, they make Karstaag much stronger than the likes of Miraak or Alduin. Preparation is key for taking him on. Enchanted fire weapons, fire spells, ash guardians, and the Marked for Death shout can all be very helpful in the fight.