Dragons

Dragons

Dragons (drah-gkon and dov-rha to the ancient Nords, or dov in their native language) are large flying reptilian creatures that are encountered in Skyrim. They are immortal, highly intelligent, and have an affinity for magic, and were once even worshipped by the ancient Nordic people. Temples dedicated to dragon worship were built across the province of Skyrim, but now only a few artifacts relating to the Dragon Cult remain, such as dragon claws and Dragon Priest Masks.

Appearance and Types

Dragons have long, slender extremities covered in scales, and large, thin, leathery wings. Their feet are tipped with three sharp talons and one vestigial digit known as a dewclaw, a characteristic that can be seen in their written language. Dragons have horns and spiked ridges along their backs and are several times larger than any human or elf. They have two hind legs but no forearms, so they use their wings to crawl when they are forced to traverse along the ground.

With the exception of a few unique dragons, there are several varieties of dragons that can generally be distinguished by their color. The table below lists the dragon colors found in the game.

Dragon

Basic Dragons are considered to be the easiest dragon type to fight, although they can provide a challenge early in the game. They come in three different colors and can have either fire- or frost-based attacks. They will spawn at any level once the quest Dragon Rising has been completed



Blood Dragon

All Blood Dragons are entirely green in color, can breathe either fire or frost, and are slightly tougher than basic dragons. These dragons have sail-like fins on their backs and on either side of their tails, and a bony ridge along their foreheads. Blood Dragons begin to appear in leveled lists at level 18.



Skeleton Dragon

The Skeletal Dragon is a unique dragon found only in Labyrinthian that is made up entirely of bone, with no scales or flesh, and cannot fly. It breathes frost, but has no resistance to frost or weakness to fire; instead, it has weakness to magic (100 pts). The Skeletal Dragon has no soul to absorb and, unlike living dragons, drops only dragon bones when killed. The Skeletal Dragon's base damage is 50, and its bite attack multiplies this damage by 2 instead of 1.5.



Frost Dragon
Frost Dragons are colored white and grey and have very large, black spikes along their back. They have a frost-based breath attack. These dragons are a little tougher than Blood dragons and have significantly more health. Frost Dragons begin to appear in leveled lists at level 27



Elder Dragon
All Elder Dragons are bronze in color and are significantly tougher than the previous types, both in melee and breath attacks. Their wings have a unique two-tone pattern, with bronze at the top and a lighter green lower down. They can breathe either fire or frost, and begin appearing in leveled lists at level 36.



Aincient Dragon
Ancient Dragons are covered with coppery red-and-black scales, with almost no ridges or spikes on their backs, and are capable of breathing either fire or frost. The Ancient Dragon's "Dragon Bite" adds a massive 175 points of damage to their attacks, making them remarkably deadly both in the air and on the ground. Until Dawnguard was released, they were the strongest non-unique dragons encountered in the game. Ancient Dragons begin to appear in leveled lists at level 45



Serpentine Dragon
Serpentine Dragons are found only on Solstheim and can breathe frost or fire. Their appearance is unique compared to other dragons, most notably their blue hue, lack of scutes, and oversized bottom jaws which give them a distinctive underbite. They are formidable dragons to fight, possessing slightly greater strength than an Ancient Dragon. There is one named Serpentine Dragon, Sahrotaar, whom Miraak uses as his mount. Serpentine Dragons begin to appear in leveled lists at level 55.



Revered Dragon
Revered Dragons are orange-scaled dragons that have long, flat bodies and broad tails. In addition to their Fire Breath, they can use a dragon version of the Drain Vitality shout, which lets them rapidly drain a victim's health, magicka, and stamina. Revered Dragons begin to appear in leveled lists at level 59.



Legendary Dragon
Second only to Alduin in their sheer power, Legendary Dragons have striped black and purple scales, large curved horns, unusually long claws on their white-and-purple wings, and what appear to be compound eyes. Like the Revered Dragons, they can use Drain Vitality as well as the traditional Fire or Frost Breath. Legendary Dragons begin to appear in leveled lists at level 78.