5 Skyrim Quests Worth Playing

Skyrim diehards have probably exhausted every quest available in the latest The Elder Scrolls installment.

Perhaps you’ve defeated Alduin, suppressed the Stormcloak rebellion, restored the Thieves Guild to its former glory, and settled down in your beautiful Hearthfire expansion pack home. Indeed, perhaps you are the ultimate Dovahkiin. However, for those of us still warding off vampires hordes and helping Kharjo find his moon amulet, here are 5 Skyrim quests you should complete (assuming you haven’t already)! Take heed, those of you sensitive to spoilers, the rewards for these quests are discussed. Also, these quests have been picked by your humble correspondent and her delightful opinion, so feel free to share your thoughts on some beneficial Skyrim ventures!

To read more on Skyrim’s most recent DLC, Hearthfire, check out Gaming Illustrated’s Hearthfire review here!

Boethiah’s Calling

From what I remember (and have read), you’re going to need a level 30 status to activate this quest. This Daedric quest is going to take some time and will spill a lot of blood, but the reward makes it worth the play through. Your Dragonborn will need to find the Shrine/Sacellum of Boethiah, tolerate her sassy followers, sacrifice a friend, kill all of those sassy followers, run off to a cave and kill some more sassy followers, and then accept Boethiah’s offer to become her champion. Why should you do all of this for any reason other than for the sheer pleasure of killing everyone you meet? Boethiah will reward your Dragonborn with the Ebony Mail. This isn’t any old chunk of black heavy armor. This Ebony Mail excretes poison whenever enemies get too close (dealing 5 points poison damage per second), it assists in moving more quietly, and looks phenomenal when in sneak mode. When in sneak mode, the Mail shrouds you in absolute darkness and emits black mist. Does it look awesome? Uh, try Fus Ro Dawesome. The Ebony Mail is also a Daedric artifact so if you’re trying to get the Oblivion Walker achievement, you’ll need to complete this quest.

Forbidden Legend

With Forbidden Legend you’re going to be doing a lot of traveling, slaying, and collecting. Beyond the final reward, there is a ton of loot to be acquired in this quest, including some wicked weapons (staff, sword, bow!). Your main goal is the Gauldur Amulet which, when worn, grants +30 points to health, stamina, and magicka. The amulet itself isn’t very pretty and probably won’t compliment your Nightingale Armor, but at least it has sweet stats. But I digress – in order to begin this endeavor you’ll need to activate the Under Saarthal quest (accessible through the College of Winterhold). During your adventure to gather the fragments that form this enchanted amulet, you’ll discover new places, enemies, and have an opportunity to load up on a lot of money and other valuable goodies. Another great perk about this quest is that you don’t have a level restriction (meaning you can begin the quest whenever you please). This amulet would be a nice boost for lower level players or players who need that little extra “umph” to win tricky battles. Note: it is important to know that certain loot stats will be determined by character level.

Find Pantea’s Flute

Dovahkiin mages! Take off your hoods and perk up you ears – Pantea Ateia’s flute is worth finding. Note: this musical quest will only be available to you after you have become an official member of the Bards College in Solitude. Once you’ve been initiated into the College you’ll want to speak with the distressed Pantea Ateia. Pantea’s flute has been stolen and sold to a group of Necromancers. The flute has serious sentimental value to Pantea and she has a fabulous reward awaiting whoever returns it to her. Locate the Necromancers, kill them and loot their cave (there are Restoration and Enchanting skill books inside), acquire the flute, then sing and dance your way back to Solitude. Instead of monetary reimbursement, Pantea will teach you a “few” tricks she learned while visiting Winterhold: +1 point increase to each of the skills under The Mage class. That means you get a point in Alteration, Conjuration, Restoration, Destruction, Illusion, and Enchanting (6 skills!). For mages, any point that fortifies your flaming fists is a good point. This reward also means saving some training session turns! (There are 2 other quests for the College that offer similarly great rewards, but I’ll save those discussions for a later time).

A Return To Your Roots

This quest can only be activated once you’ve discovered Blackreach (either through the main questline or Discerning the Transmundane), the gigantic underground cavern that can be accessed through the Dwemer ruins of Alftand, Mzinchaleft, and Raldbthar. Blackreach could be described as a fluorescent forest teeming with neon, luminescent plant life and scenery. One of the unique plantae is the Crimson Nirnroot. Elder Scrolls veterans will be familiar with the chiming Nirnroot and remember the herb’s expert alchemist Sinderion. Here in Blackreach Dragonborns can discover Sinderion’s ancient field journal which describes the importance and unique properties of the Crimson Nirnroot. If you follow and complete the quest prompts, you’ll be rewarded The Nirnroot Missive and Sinderion’s Serendipity ability. Avid alchemists are sure to appreciate this nifty perk because it grants a 25% chance of creating a duplicate potion when working at your alchemy table. So that enchanting potion you’ve been clamoring to create? You just made yourself two of them. Perhaps the reward for A Return To Your Roots isn’t all that glorious, but Blackreach is a special and entertaining part of the game to experience.

Discerning the Transmundane

This quest offers a crucial reward for serious Skyrim players and requires a level status of 15. Unless you are working through the main questline, you’ll need to seek out Septimus Signus, a hermit living in the ice fields north of Winterhold. I don’t want to spoil this quest because it intertwines closely with the main Skyrim story, so let’s just say if you embark on this journey make sure to allot enough gaming time. This quest is large, especially when paired with the main quest, but the reward(s) is marvelous and powerful. The Oghma Infinium is the Daedric artifact awarded to any Dovahkiin who successfully pursues this quest. This book grants the reader +5 points to all of the skills (5 for each Path) under either the Path of Might, Path of Magic, or Path of Shadow. Although the grand capabilities of this book tend to seduce the player into using it immediately, gamers would be wise to WAIT on using the Oghma Infinium. If you’re a skill freak and love to perfect/max out your character’s skill sets, strategically use this book to best benefit from it. The book can only be read one time (unless you use a gaming exploit) and once it has been used it will disappear from the Dragonborn forever. Also, this book is bound and housed by the skin of every Elf race (shout out to Hermaeus Mora for being a badass Daedric Prince!).

Stay tuned to Gaming Illustrated for more great Skyrim suggestions and share your experiences and thoughts in the comment section below!