Calling all adventurers and archaeologists who can’t sit still, the Aldmeri Dominion has just put a bounty on the dragon masks of Skyrim. This list won’t cover the five priests of Solstheim for reasons that will be revealed later. In order to help you adventuring types the Thalmor have commissioned Einfo Travel (with threats of branding us Talos worshippers) to locate and compile this dragon priest location guide to where the dragon priests are and what they’re masks do.
We did ask the Thalmor why they want these masks but they won’t talk because there the Thalmor. For those interested we’ve also found the translations for each of the masks (thanks to the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Page). A lot of good and the occasional bad men and women were lost finding these dragon priest locations but that’s no-ones concern so lets get started.
The Wooden Mask
Hang on a second before you actually start hunting down those dragon priests I highly suggest that you head to the Labyrinthian and pick up the Wooden Mask. The Labyrinthian is located practically in the centre of Skyrim with the closest city being Morthal.
Now while the Wooden Mask itself isn’t exactly useful since it has the lowest armour rating of all the masks, you’ll need it when you gather all eight of Skyrim’s other masks. Because we’ve been contracted by the Thalmor lets start off by listing the masks best suited to mages in Skyrim.
Dragon priest 1: Morokei
Staying in the Labyrinthian we have the dragon priest Morokei. In order to fight Morokei you’ll need to gain access to ruins themselves which is only possible through the College of Winterhold questline.
While yes this is part of the College of Winterhold quest I’d suggest bring another form of attack besides magic since his wielding the Staff of Magnus which you may remember from the top 10 weapons list from 2 weeks ago (sponsored by us of course). Quick reminder about the staff, it drains your mana but wait he also summons a Storm Atronach and uses a lightning clock so expect a long fight if your a mage.
Your reward is Morokei dragon mask and as you might expect from a mask found in the College of Winterhold questline it doubles your magicka regeneration. The mask itself is made of moonstone and like every other dragon mask your going to need the Arcane Blacksmith along with daedric smithing to make the most out of the smithing. On a side note this is the second weakest mask in terms of defence and Morokei vainly translates to ‘Glorious’.
Dragon priest 2: Vokun
Finally leaving the Labyrinthian (for now) the next mask on the list will bring you to the Nordic Ruins of High Gate which is to the west of Dawnstar. We’ve got word that a Nord inside by the name of Anska is looking for help to defeat Vokun and is offering the rare Conjure Flaming Familiar spell tome. Along with this High Gate Ruins also contains the word wall for the Storm Call shout.
Out of all the dragon priests Vokun is probably the easiest to kill since unless Anska dies on the way, Anska at the very least makes a good distraction. The Steel Vokun dragon mask enchantment gives you a 20% magicka reduction for all you Alteration, Illusion and Conjuration spells and his name translates to ‘Shadow’ which suddenly explains the enchantments.
Dragon priest 3: Nahkriin
Out of all the dragon priest masks Nahkriin’s is the one that will probably take the longest to obtain and guess what, there’s a chance you can miss it too. To get Nahkriin’s mask you will need to fight your way through the main questline as Nahkriin is in the third last quest ‘The World-Eater’s Eyrie’. The reason I say this mask is miss-able is because if you forget to pick it up, there’s no chance you’ll get it back.
Nahkriin’s mask is arguably one of the most useful masks for mages since it’s enchanted with +50 to your Magicka as well as 20% less magicka used in Destruction and Restoration spells. These two spell groups are practically a requirement for most mage runs making this a really useful mask. In order to upgrade the mask your going to need ebony as well as the daedric perk on top of the Enchanted Smithing perk.
By the way Nahkriin translation is ‘Vengeance’ and considering the fact that that this will probably be the last mask you get so that name might end up making sense in your playthrough at least.
Dragon priest 4: Krosis
Moving away from dungeon crawling for a second as well as from mage exclusive (for the most part) masks we have the mask of Krosis and boy can this guy be annoying at lower levels, more so than most.
The thing about Krosis is that his located at the dragon’s lair of Shearpoint, near Whiterun and since his at a dragon’s lair his not alone. Fighting Krosis while having to put up with a dragon breathing down your neck literally can be a real pain so I suggest taking out Krosis before going to the Jarl of Whiterun. What a coincidence that the dragon priest hanging out with the dragons name is translated to ‘Sorrow’.
Anyway Krosis’s mask can be improved with iron and it’s enchantment improves your alchemy, archery and lockpicking skills by 20%. It is probably one of the best masks to get your hands on at the start since its near where most players will go at the start but with a little enchantment training you’ll outgrow these enchantments quickly.
Dragon priest 5: Otar the mad
Just think about his name for a second, his a dragon priest called ‘the mad’. What by the eight divine does a dragon priest have to do to get the name ‘the mad’? Did he teabag a dragon while it slept by any chance? Anyway Otar is located in the Nordic Ruins of Ragnvald located north of Markarth. What makes Otar a little different besides his name is that in order to fight him you need to first kills his two guardians, Saerek and Torsten as well as take their keys and use them to open the gate blocking him.
As for his name Otar doesn’t have a translation because he was a nordic warlord before he became a dragon priest and kept his own name. Being a dragons priest is sort of like being in a marriage like that. Otar’s mask is made from Refined Malachite and is easily one of the most useful masks since it gives a 30% resistances to all three forms of magic. This also happens to be the only item you can find that has this amount of resistances so that’s unique.
Dragon priest 6: Hevnoraak
Moving from one of the better masks to one of the more useless we have Hevnoraak’s iron mask. Hevnoraak is hiding out in the Nordic Ruins of Valthume, located to the south-east of Markarth. The thing is this isn’t exactly the usual raid and grab because to get to Hevnoraak you’ll need the help of Valdar, an ancient nord whose making sure Hevnoraak stays in his tomb till you arrive anyway.
If nothing else Hevnoraak name proves that not all these translations are related to the priest themselves since Hevnoraak actually means ‘Brutal’ unlike say ‘crazed’ or ‘everlasting’ which might have suited him a little better. Hevnoraak’s Iron mask is one of the worse one because its enchantments give you a 100% resistance to both diseases and poisons. For most part unless your going into the Dragonborn DLC poison isn’t exactly something you run into in Skyrim unless your a Falmer hunter and getting a 100% resistance to diseases isn’t that hard either. On the plus side you can get a Word Aura Whisper here as well.
Dragon priest 7: Rahgot
For those of you fed up of collecting these for the Thalmor we’d don’t recommend that you head to the ruins of Forelhost to the south-east of Riften. We’ve been hearing rumours that a high ranking officer from both sides is looking for someone to enter these ruins and collect the staff of the dragon priest Rahgot. If these rumours do turn out to be true than relax, we’re sure only one of them will be around to meet you.
Before we continue we legally have to point out that these ruins were the local of a mass suicide by the local dragon cult a few hundred years back and lets just say their spirits haven’t left yet but on the plus side the Word Wall for Storm Call is here for those of you with a more destructive deposition. Anyway Rahgot doesn’t have a translation but the name is eerily similar to the Rahgol which means ‘Rage’, just saying.
Rahgot’s orichalcum mask is one of the better masks out there for warriors as it gives its user 70 bonus points of Stamina which isn’t exactly a small number.
Dragon priest 8: Volsung
Finally we have the last of the 8 dragon priest masks, the corundum utility mask of Volsung located on the top of the Nordic Ruins of Volskygge just west of Solitude.
The ruins of Volskygge themselves aren’t that unique but oddly enough by climbing the side of the mountain you can skip straight to the top, to Volsung himself and the Word Wall his guarding for the very useful shout Whirlwind Sprint.
Volsung’s name is actually unique in the case that it’s two words in one. His name fully means ‘Horrific Air’ for some reason. Anyway the reason I said that Volsung’s mask is a utility mask is because its enchantments let you breath underwater, carry 20 pounds of extra weight and give you 20% extra prices. How a mask of a undead priest grants you better prices is beyond me but I suggest that you place the mask on your quick select for when you need it.
So congratulations you’ve done exactly what the Thalmor want and its time to collect your bounty but aren’t you at least curious about what that Wooden Mask does. Well return to where you found it with the other masks because its time of your reward.
Dragon Mask 9: Konahrik
Putting the Wooden Mask back on where you found it will bring you to Bromjunaar Sanctuary. Placing all eight masks on the statue in the room will grant you the solid gold mask of the ‘Warlord’ Konahrik and boy is it an odd one.
You see Konahrik’s Mask ability means that when your low on health it may activate a range of effects ranging from Flame Cloaks, large health refills or very rarely it will summon a spectral dragon priest to rain hell on whatever tries to kill you, finally getting a dragon priest on your side.
So that ends this guide to the dragon priest masks, good luck getting them and may Arkay leave you alone.
