It doesn’t matter if your a collector, a hoarder or just looking for an upgrade we all love weapons and if they happen to be one-of-a-kind, all the better right. Artifacts are those one of a kind weapons hidden across Tamerial that whenever an Elder Scrolls game gets announced just makes gamers minds run wild with expectations. So with Elder Scrolls Online finally getting a release date lets celebrate by listing the Top 10 artifact weapons hidden across Skyrim.
For the purpose of this list I’m including artifacts from the Dragonborn and Dawnguard DLC as well. Also for it to be considered a artifact it must only appear once in the game and have a unique look to it. Oh and no Daedric artifacts either, that’s next week but enough about that lets get started.
10. Wuuthrad
Barely landing on this list we have the battleaxe Wuuthrad, the symbol of the companions and bane of elves. If you don’t believe me on that point look at the screaming face on the axe. To get your hands on Wuuthrad play through the Companion quest line and after you use the axe as a sort
Being the battleaxe of elf hating Ysgramor it comes with a 1.2 damage multiplier against all elves as long as their not vampires anyway and I do like the look of it. You can also enchant it although you won’t be able to see the effect or how much charge is left but I have to ask why can’t you improve it at a grindstone. That’s a big let down as it means it’ll soon have no other real purpose besides being a decoration in your house, a sharp decoration that will make any elves regret trying to steal from you but a decoration non the less. of key to open Ysgramor’s tomb you can just take it back because for some reason the Companion’s don’t want there symbol back.
9. Aetherials Staff
So you’ve just spent a good few hours charging round Skyrim, you’ve just finished raiding the abandoned Dwarven and finally after finding the four shards of Aetherium and making friends with a ghost either that or you’ve just gone crazy, and finally your allowed to choose you reward. Like most people you probably chose the Crown on your first try since it allows you to keep two standing stone abilities but what about giving the staff a try.
The Aetherials Staff is a unique staff which allows you to summon either Dwemer spiders or a Dwemer Sphere for 60 seconds. Yeah maybe after going through the trouble of raiding those ruins you might want to avoid seeing any more Dwemer but hey this time this time they work for you.
The staff itself resembles the Spiders Control Rod which is used during a Thieves Guild quest line but the orb on top is blue instead of red. While it definitely makes a nice change to have them fight for you, the staff does sometimes summon a spider which are quiet weak which can be annoying.
The only real reason the Aetherials Staff is this high is because when you can get it there’s also the more popular choice the crown as well as the shield which is pretty situational.
8. Harkon’s Sword
Sorry vampires but at number 8 we have the head of the Volkihar vampires Harkon’s Sword. When it comes to getting your hands on this blade you could just wait till the end of the Dawnguard/ Volkihar quest line and pick the sword off his corpse or if you can’t wait, are a member of the Volkihar clan and don’t mind stealing you can just steal it from him as he never has it equipped.
The blade itself looks like one of the Blades katana but with a darker handle so it fits as a blade for vampires at least right? Like the vampires themselves Harkon’s Sword drains all three of your enemies attributes dry till it needs a recharge as long as your a vampire yourself of course.
This means if you get the blade as a member of the Dawnguard the blade is pretty much useless. I get that the blade was made for a vampire but at least let me disenchant the bloody thing if I have no interest in becoming a vampire lord.
7. Miraak’s Sword
Staying with swords we have Miraak’s Sword and boy does this sword definitely suits it’s previous owners. Along with looking like it belongs in Apocrypha Miraak’s Sword also shoots out a tentacle when swung in combat which sadly doesn’t effect the blades range despite the fact that it looks like it should.
Going back to something already mentioned Miraak’s Sword genuinely looks like and feels like it’s come from Apocrypha with that tentacle that has wrapped itself around the blade and therefore gives it a look that helps it stand out.
Unfortunately for Miraak’s Sword looks aren’t everything otherwise The Rueful Axe would be on this list so lets look at the swords combat use. Miraak’s Sword is enchanted with the useful absorb stamina ability making the sword potently very useful for warriors skilled in one handed weapons It can be improved but sadly this requires the use of an ebony ingot as well as a daedra heart which as your average Skyrim player can agree with can be a pain to find at times.
6. Dwarven Black Bow of Fate
Nothing can ever be easy when it comes to the Dwarves can it? So you arrive on Soltheim and natural you run off to explore and along the way you find Kagrumez, yet another Dwarven ruin with another puzzle. This time you need to find five, okay technically four and survive the trials to earn your reward, the Dwarven Black Bow of Fate.
Usually I’d talk about the general design of the artifact in question because that’s what makes them stand out but in the case of the Dwarven Black Bow that’s all there is to its design.
The Dwarven Black Bow of Fate enchantments is what really makes it stand out as it has a 50% chance to absorb each of the three attributes. While yes there is obviously a chance that you won’t absorb anything you should also take into account that you may get all three and that just adds to the fun of using the Black Bow hence here it is at number 6.
5. Dragonbane
It’s not very often you run into a weapon in the Elder Scrolls series whose name alone serves as an explanation for what its best used for but than again there’s Dragonbane. With a name like Dragonbane it should come as no surprise that you find it along with a full suit of Blade Armour at Sky Haven Temple.
As the name gives away Dragonbane has a unique enchantment that causes it to do bonus damage against dragons and it’s not completely useless against regular enemies either as it also does 10 points of shock damage. It’s due to its versatility that puts Dragonbane this high as its an extremely easy blade to find. Unfortunately its shock damage just lacks the power to push it any high.
In a completely unrelated topic you have downloaded the Dragonborn and Dawnguard DLC right?
4. Auriel’s Bow
Out of all the weapons on this list the Auriel’s Bow was the hardest to place but in the end it reached number 4 be for the sake of this list I’m not including the arrows exclusive to the weapon itself as this list about the weapon itself and what you can do with just it.
Time for a little Elder Scrolls history. Auriel’s Bow is named after and was apparently used by the elven god Auri-El whose basically the elven equivalent of Atakosh and apparently he hates Orcs. Enough with the history as its time to talk about the bow itself. You can get the bow in the Dawnguard DLC main quest line in the ‘Touching the Sky’ mission.
While most players use the bow along with its arrows to shoot the sun, the bow also comes with its own sun damage enchantment. This enchantment is exclusive to Dawnguard and with
Auriel’s Bow you do 20 points of Sun damage. Better yet when used on the undead you do triple damage.
This makes the bow almost essential to bow users looking to raid the crypts and ruins across Skyrim and there is no way for enemies to lessen sun damage which is always a plus but there’s one better weapon that does sun damage and considering that this is supposed to be a weapon of a god I’m not sure if I should be impressed of disappointed.
3. Dawnguard Rune Axe
So your a vampire hunter on the hunt for those Volkihar vampires, they have the ability to turn into vampire lords as well as now having Death Hounds but don’t fret because all you need is one artifact to tip the balance, the Dawnguard Rune Axe.
The Dawnguard Rune Axe can only be obtained from the ‘Lost Relic’ questline along with the Dawnguard Rune Hammer and Shield. Now don’t get me wrong the Hammer is a fun weapon to use especially with the right perks but the axe doesn’t need any (though it does help).
What makes the axe really stand out is that for every undead you kill your axe doesn’t more sun damage. Sure the damage is capped at ten kills and yes it resets every sunrise but the sun damage as an area of effect as well.
Add all this on top of the fact that you don’t have to recharge the enchantment and you have one hell of a potent axe in the right hands.
2. Bloodskal Blade
Well this was an unexpected surprise. The Bloodskal Blade is pretty rugged looking greatsword that you can get your hands on inside Raven Rock Mine on the body of Gratian Caerellius.
What makes the Bloodskal Blade stand out isn’t so much the blades design as much as the fact that when you do a power attack it shoots out an arc of energy called the ‘Red Glow’ according to the description that does 30 points of damage.
What makes the Bloodskal Blade so special as this gives you a ranged option with a melee weapon that still raises your Two-handed skill which is a bonus. On top of that the Bloodskal Blades energy arc can still damage enemies despite you being in the Ethereal state.
Its the versatility of the Bloodskal Blade that lands it here at number 2 but like I brought up with the Auriel’s Bow I’m only taking the weapon into account, not how you can combine it with other items. This along with the fact that the Bloodskal Blade can fall behind in latter levels barely stops it from reaching number 1.
1. Staff of Magnus
Finally here we are at number 1 with the Staff of Magnus and let me put it this way, if the Auriel’s Bows and Dawnguard Rune Axe are essential for warriors/rangers exploring crypts than the Staff of Magnus is pretty much essential for any mage. Or at least in my opinion anyway.
The Staff of Magnus can only be obtained by completing the College of Winterhold questline and on top of get your hands on some snazzy new robes and stop a power crazed Thalmor idiot who almost destroyed all of Skyrim you get to keep the staff for yourself, well you did kill its former owner.
The staff’s unique ability is that it can drain 20 points of magicka from your enemies and once its finished with that it drains away their health instead. It combined with the staff’s surprisingly high charge and range and you have most mages dream weapon.
So there you have it the top 10 artifact weapons hidden across Skyrim but these are just my opinions so comment your own. But enough about artifacts because next week I’m looking at Daedric artifacts so see you then.
