Most citizens of Tamriel follow the Nine Divines: a set of heavenly figures who guide and help them, both benevolent and unseen. However, there are others who doubt that the Nine Divines even exist. After all, there aren’t many ways for the Divines toconcretely helpthe mighty Dragonborn. TheDaedric Princes, on the other hand, are more than happy to make their presences known.
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But which Daedric Princes are worth seeking out? Well, that depends entirely on what sort ofartifactthe player seeks. The Daedra offer some of the coolest, most powerful and unique weapons and items in the game. But foreknowledge is helpful, as most artifacts are only useful for certain types of characters. We’ve compiled this list of favorites, along with what they do and how to obtain them.
There will be some minor spoilers ahead!
10Ebony Blade
The Ebony Blade is an excellent two-handed katana. It starts off relatively weak but gains power as the Dragonborn uses it to kill people who trust them. It has an incredibly fast swing speed along with a solid drain health enchantment. At max power, it’s nothing to sneeze at. However, it is outclassed by some other two-handed weapons. It’s further held back by its lack of upgradability.
To gain the Ebony Blade, the Dragonborn must complete the quest “The Whispering Door,” which is gained after the Dragonborn overhears a rumor at the Bannered Mare. To get this, the Dragonborn must be at least level 20, and they need to have completed the “Dragon Rising” quest.
9Masque Of Clavicus Vile
A guard will approach the Dragonborn as they enter the dreary town ofFalkreath, asking them if they’ve seen a dog on the road. The dog is Barbas; Clavicus Vile’s canine companion. At the end of the ensuing quest, “A Daedra’s Best Friend,” the Dragonborn is offered the opportunity to kill Barbas and take Vile’s axe. If they pass this up, choosing to return the axe, they will instead be rewarded with the Masque of Clavicus Vile.
The Masque improves the Speech skill, along with barter prices and magicka regeneration. If the Dragonborn pops it on before selling loot, they can get rich quicker. While it’s not mind-blowing, it’s far preferable to Vile’s alternative reward, which is the slowest weapon in the game.
8Mehrunes' Razor
Mehrunes' Razor is a dagger with a small chance toinstantly killmost opponents. It’s associated with one of the main antagonists ofTES IV: Oblivion— Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction. Pretty apt considering its ability to destroy powerful dragons and giants with a single lucky strike.
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Despite its amazing ability, the razor suffers from mediocre base damage. It can feel a bit gimmicky, and it offers no help against some of the strongest enemies in the game (Miraak and Karstaag, specifically).
7Dawnbreaker
Dawnbreaker is a one-handed sword and is well known to mostSkyrimplayers. It’s rewarded to the player at the conclusion of the quest “The Break of Dawn,” which starts when the player grabs Meridia’s Beacon from one of many, many chests throughout Skyrim. There’s no real way for the Dragonborn to find the quest;it finds them.
Despite its relatively low base damage, Dawnbreaker has an outstanding enchantment. It shines against draugr and skeletons, occasionally exploding with power and casting turn undead on surrounding enemies. It also does some fire damage, which is a nice bonus. And, because of its high charge level, it can be used for a long time before needing to be fed with soul gems.
6Ring Of Namira
Skyrim has plenty of food items, all of which are essentially worthless. However, the Ring of Namira lets the Dragonborn chow down on a particularly potent food item:human flesh. After eating a corpse with the ring equipped, the Dragonborn gains a meaty health boost, and their health regeneration is increased by 50% for five minutes. That’s an excellent bonus, one well worth delving into cannibalism for.
Even without the corpse-chowing bonus, the Ring of Namira grants an unmatched 50-point stamina bonus. To obtain it, the Dragonborn must complete “The Taste of Death,” a quest that starts with talking to Eola in theHall of the Dead in Markarth.
5Ebony Mail
This is a unique chest piece with muffle and poison enchantments, along with a unique effect which helps hide the player. It’s one of the few pieces of heavy armor in the game that can actually be significantly useful forstealth.
Once the Dragonborn hits level 30, they’ll need to find the bookBoethiah’s Provingto begin the related quest “Boethiah’s Calling.” During the quest, they can loot the armor from the Champion of Boethiath. Its unique enshadow effect acts as a sort of alarm, since it goes off whenever an enemy is nearby. It makes sneaking up on enemies a breeze, and the armor’s solid defense rating is helpful for when the Dragonborn does get spotted. All in all, it’s a wonderful artifact for heavily armed assassin characters.
4Mace Of Molag Bal
The Mace of Molag Bal is a huge, brutal instrument of torture. Funnily enough, one of the biggest downsides to the mace is its size — it takes up well over a third of the screen when equipped. Despite that, it has decent (though non-scaling) damage. It also has a phenomenal enchantment. The mace drains both stamina and magicka, and it casts soul trap for three seconds.
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Combined with a lot of soul gems (or one Azura’s Star), the Mace’s enchantment can refill itself indefinitely. It’s a great choice for enchanters — or mage characters in general. Also, its stamina drain effect enables more power attacks, which can stagger and brutally beat down opponents.
3Spellbreaker
Spellbreaker is a beautiful shield associated with the Daedric Prince of Disease, Peryite. Out of all Daedric Artifacts, Spellbreaker is the only shield. And, out of all shields in Skyrim, it has the highest armor rating. It also comes with a ward enchantment (which cannot be removed).
As the name implies, Spellbreaker’s ward makes it useful against magic. It can block 50 points of magic damage,including shouts, making it invaluable against dragons and draugr lords. The ward only lasts a few seconds, but blocking causes it to refresh. The ward can be refreshed indefinitely and without costing any charge. Shield-wielding characters will be remiss not to seek out this amazing shield. It’s gained as a reward after the quest “The Only Cure,” which begins at theShrine to Peryite in the Reach.
2Volendrung
Volendrung is arguably the best unique two-handed weapon in Skyrim. It offers excellent base damage, as well as a stamina drain enchantment. Stamina replenishment is vital for warhammer users, allowing them to unleashdevastating power attacksover and over. It also looks awesome, as expected for an artifact of Malacath, the Daedric Prince of vengeance and patron god of orcs.
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The main downside to using Volendrung is its level of charge, which is quite low compared to some weapons. However, this is a small price to pay considering the overall power of the hammer. To obtain it, the player must complete “The Cursed Tribe,” a quest that begins at the Orcish stronghold ofLargashbur in The Rift.
1Azura’s Star
Finally, we have Azura’s Star, an incredibly useful artifact. Also known as the Black Star, it acts as an unbreakable soul gem. Unlike normal soul gems, it can befilled and reused indefinitely. This alone should speak to its usefulness. No matter what character build the player is using, no matter what their skills are or what weapons they use, they will find a use for this odd little stone.
In particular, Azura’s Star goes well with weapons that have a soul trap effect, allowing them to refill themselves indefinitely. To obtain this artifact, the Dragonborn must side with Aranea during the quest “The Black Star.” This quest starts atAzura’s Shrine, which is visible fromWinterhold,atop a mountain to the south.
