What Is The Best Sword In Skyrim

For nigh all graphic symbol builds, knowing the best weapons in Skyrim for each blazon is going to exist worthwhile.

Some are bachelor early on, too, through side quests or otherwise, which tin be a massive help for playthroughs on harder difficulties, or for those with a burning desire to power through to Skyrim's late-game content.

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On this page:

Skyrim best weapons explained
The best Bows and Crossbows in Skyrim
The best Daggers in Skyrim
The all-time Swords in Skyrim
The best War Axes in Skyrim
The best Maces in Skyrim
The best Greatswords in Skyrim
The best Battleaxes in Skyrim
The best Warhammers in Skyrim

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Skyrim all-time weapons explained

Whether you're looking to tackle some of the more than baroque Daedric quests, or power-level your Smithing to craft Dragonbone and Daedric weapons, the weapon rankings beneath should be of some utilize to you, but before you dive in there are a couple of quick things to behave in mind well-nigh how we've structured it all:

If you lot're looking to craft or enchant your weapons, exist sure to check out our detailed guide to power-levelling Smithing and Enchanting skills to striking that level cap and craft the best weapons in the game as rapidly as possible.
An 'N/A' for Perk means you need to heave your Smithing past 100 with Alchemy to better information technology beyond Flawless - specifically, you need to max your Smithing level to 100 and then use potions of Fortify Smithing to boost it beyond that, at which point the weapons in question, which don't do good from any of the Smithing skill Perks, can then be improved across Flawless quality.
The weapon sections beneath, excluding the Bows and Crossbows, are in gild of lowest to highest impairment and weight - then daggers first, with their low damage and low weight, moving ending with the heaviest and highest-damage Warhammers.
For bows, higher weight means faster arrow travel speed, and unremarkably a slower nocking speed.
For i- and two-handed weapons, a higher weight ways a slower swing speed, then for the most damage-per-second you'll want a combination of high base damage and low weight.
If a weapon is listed as not enchantable, that will generally mean it'southward not disenchantable, either.
Nosotros'll give a lilliputian extra context for our rankings in each section, but bear in listen we're considered damage-per-second here, besides, and so in many cases weight is but as of import as raw harm!
Unique items are marked with an asterisk * and we've briefly explained how to become them in that section's notes. Standard items similar Daedric weapons, meanwhile, tin can ever be found through either random boodle or crafting.
Stalhrim weapons' Frost Harm bonus is actually more than powerful than it looks - the "Anarchy Harm" enchantment, which has a 50% hazard of dealing 25 fire, frost, and stupor damage simultaneously, is besides boosted, making it an extremely strong pick for skilled enchanters.

The all-time Bows and Crossbows in Skyrim

A couple quick things to notation nigh the bows and crossbows below:

The Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow is role of the Dawnguard questline, and can only be obtained if yous side with the Dawnguard over the Vampires. This specific type of crossbow is available to craft or buy after finding the schematic in one of the sis "Aboriginal Applied science" quests.
Crossbows, whilst more often than not more powerful than bows in terms of damage, take a off-white bit longer to fire each shot. They can also be equipped with exploding bolts of diverse harm types, also, which stack with any enchantments on the crossbow itself.
Zephyr is found in the Dwemer ruin Arkngthamz during the Dawnguard quest "Lost to the Ages".
The Nightingale Bow is found in the Inner Sanctum after you've defeated Arch-Curate Vythur in the Dawnguard quest "Touching the Sky".
Note that with bows, there is generally a tradeoff between charge per unit of fire and impairment, and the choice depends on your playstyle. For stealth characters, higher damage bows similar the Dragonbone, Daedric, and Nightingale bows are preferred, as they give you a greater chance of taking characters out in one hit from stealth and remaining undetected. For archers who expect to get in the mix a little more, assail speed is preferred, with bows similar Zephyr and Auriel's bow, to help you maximise the stagger issue of your Perks, and deal sustainied harm as quickly as possible in extended gainsay.
In the tabular array, 'DPS' refers to the impairment-per-second of the bow, taking into account both the bow's total speed to fully nock and fire and arrow, and it'south base damage.

Weapon	Damage	Weight	DPS	Upgrade with	Consequence	Enchantable
Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow	22	21	N/A	Dwarven Metal Ingot, Dwarven Smithing	Ignores fifty% of armor	Yes
Dragonbone Bow	twenty	20	fifteen	Dragon Bone, Dragon Armor	None	Yes
Auriel's Bow*	13	11	13	Refined Moonstone, Elven Smithing	20 Sun Harm, tripled if target is Undead. Tin can use Sunhallowed and Bloodcursed Arrows	No
Zephyr*	12	10	12	Dwarven Metal Ingot, Dwarven Smithing	Fires 30% faster than a standard bow	No
Daedric Bow	xix	xviii	ix.5	Ebony Ingot, Daedric Smithing	None	Yes
Nightingale Bow*	19	18	9.5	Ebony Ingot, N/A	xxx Frost Damage, fifteen Shock Damage	No

The best Daggers in Skyrim

Daggers have the highest attack speed and everyman base of operations damage of all weapons in Skyrim, but that doesn't mean they should be ignored. In fact, for all One-Handed skill users, they can be essential:

Dual-wielding ways that the swing-speed of the fastest weapon is applied to both. So, for duel-wielders, equipping i of the below daggers like Mehrune's Razor, which has a tiny weight of just 3, will apply that same weight to a massive Daedric Mace when put in the other hand.
Blade of Woe is acquired from either pickpocketing or killing Astrid of the Dark Brotherhood, or completeing the Night Brotherhood quest "With Friends like These". If you pickpocket it from her before completing that quest, you lot can in fact obtain ii copies of the weapon.
Mehrunes Razor is a advantage for completing the quest "Pieces of the Past", if you lot opt to kill Silus Vesuius.

Weapon	Damage	Weight	Upgrade with ingot, Perk	Event	Enchantable
Dragonbone Dagger	12	6.v	Dragon Bone, Dragon Armor	None	Yes
Blade of Woe*	12	7	Any, Steel Smithing	Absorb 10 health	No
Mehrune'due south Razor*	xi	three	Ebony Ingot, N/A	ane.98% chance to instantly impale, infinite charges	No
Daedric Dagger	eleven	6	Ebony Ingot, Daedric Smithing	None	Yes
Stalhrim Dagger	10	4.five	Stalhrim, Ebony Smithing	Frost Damage enchantments 25% stronger	Yeah

The all-time Swords in Skyrim

Swords are, as you'd look, the most popular weapons in Skyrim cheers to their versatility and balance of both speed and damage. They're the fastest non-dagger one-handed weapons, simply accept lower damage than their mace and war axe counterparts.

Windshear, firstly, benefits from appears to be a bug, whereby every attack with information technology will stagger your opponent - even dragons - rendering them completely unable to attack or reatreat as long every bit you continue to strike them with the correct timing. It is only possible to obtain during the Dark Brotherhood quest "Hail Sithis" on board The Katariah, where it'due south lodged, Excalibur-similar, right at the very pinnacle of the ship'due south prow.
Miraak's Sword is obtained by killing Miraak in the Dragonborn quest "At the Acme of Apocrypha".
Chillrend can be found during the quest "The Pursuit", inside the tunnels under Riftweald Manor in Riften, and tin can too be obtained by breaking into Riftwead Estate and accessing the tunnels from inside, after doing a spot of roof-hopping to get within. Chillrend is levelled, too, significant you get the stats we've detailed beneath at level 46 and over.
Nightingale Blade is acquired as a reward for completing the Thieves Order quest "Hard Answers", and is as well levelled, with the maximum stats we particular beneath gained if you're at level 46 or above.

Weapon	Damage	Weight	Upgrade with	Effect	Enchantable
Windshear*	11	10	Steel Ingot, Steel Smithing	Staggers opponent with every hit; 39% chance to paralyze opponent with block-bash	No
Miraak'southward Sword*	sixteen	3	Ebony Ingot, Daedra Middle, Dwarven Smithing	Absorb fifteen Stamina	No
Chillrend*	xv	xvi	Refined Malachite, Drinking glass Smithing	30 Frost Impairment, Risk to paralyze for 2 seconds	No
Dragonbone Sword	xv	19	Dragon Bone, Dragon Armor	None	Yep
Nightingale Blade*	xiv	xv	Ebony Ingot, N/A	Blot 25 Wellness and Stamina	No

The best State of war Axes in Skyrim

There aren't likewise many exciting options for those who prefer to comport a 1-handed axe in Skyrim, just there are still 1 or two things to note:

The Dawnguard Rune Axe is rated kickoff because the 110 damage to undead can in fact be locked in past tempering the axe at a grindstone. It can likewise be improved with only the Steel Smithing Perk unlocked, making it an infrequent early-game choice. In sure situations, information technology's ane of the all-time 1-handed weapons you can go your easily on.
The Rune Axe is acquired by completing the Dawnguard quest "Lost Relic".

Weapon	Damage	Weight	Upgrade with	Upshot	Enchantable
Dawnguard Rune Axe*	11	thirteen	Steel Ingot, Steel Smithing	10+n damage to undead, where due north = number of undead killed since sunrise	No
Dragonbone War Axe	sixteen	21	Dragon Os, Dragon Armor	None	Yes
Ebony State of war Axe	15	17	Ebony Ingot, Ebony Smithing	None	Yes
Daedric War Axe	xv	18	Ebony Ingot, Daedric Smithing	None	Yes
Stalhrim State of war Axe	fifteen	xvi	Stalhrim, Ebony Smithing	Frost Impairment enchantments 25% stronger	Yes

The all-time Maces in Skyrim

The Mace of Molag Bal is caused from the Daedric quest "The Firm of Horrors".
Molag Bal is only 1 damage lower than Dragonbone Mace but is much lighter, meaning a college overall DPS - but this tin be overcome with stiff enchantments to the Dragonbone Mace.
Aforementioned with Stalhrim, this time with the bonus enchantment damage making it a stronger pick overall.

Weapon	Damage	Weight	Upgrade with	Effect	Enchantable
Mace of Molag Bal*	16	18	Ebony Ingot, N/A	25 Magicka and Stamina harm, Soul Trap for 3 seconds	No
Stalhrim Mace	16	xviii	Stalhrim, Ebony Smithing	Frost Harm enchantments 25% stronger	Yep
Dragonbone Mace	17	24	Dragon Bone, Dragon Armor	None	Yes
Ebony Mace	xvi	nineteen	Ebony Ingot, Ebony Smithing	None	Aye
Daedric Mace	xvi	20	Ebony Ingot, Daedric Smithing	None	Yes

The best Greatswords in Skyrim

Greatswords operate as the fastest, just lowest base impairment weapons of the ii-handed class. There are few unique ones of annotation, although the Bloodskal Blade provides an intriguing pick.

The Bloodska Blade is located next to Gratian Caerellius' corpse in Bloodskal Barrow, during the Dragonborn quest "The Last Descent".

Weapon	Damage	Weight	Upgrade with	Effect	Enchantable
Stalhrim Greatsword	23	21	Stalhrim, Ebony Smithing	Frost Damage enchantments 25% stronger	Yep
Dragonbone Greatsword	25	27	Dragon Bone, Dragon Armor	None	Yes
Daedric Greatsword	24	23	Ebony Ingot, Ebony Smithing	None	Yes
Bloodskal Blade*	21	sixteen	Silver Ingot, N/A	Ranged nail of energy with ability attacks that deals xxx harm	No
Ebony Greatsword	22	22	Ebony Ingot, Ebony Smithing	None	Yes

The best Battleaxes in Skyrim

The middle tier of heavy weapons, the battleaxe class also plays home to one of the best weapons in the game, Wuuthrad.

Wuuthrad is obtained during the Companions mission "Celebrity of the Expressionless" - notation that y'all'll need to place it in the hands of a statue of Ysgramor during the quest, but can be immediately removed after doing so.
The HEadsman's Axe can be acquired from two people, Ahtar from Solitude, and the Imperial Headsman in the opening prisoner sequence. It tin only be obtained from Ahtar, by their gaining him as a follwer and taking information technology from him for free, pickpocketing it from him, or killing him and looting his corpse.

Weapon	Damage	Weight	Upgrade with	Effect	Enchantable
Wuuthrad*	25	25	N/A	i.2x Damage vs. Night Elves, Wood Elves, Loftier Elves, Falmer, and Orcs	Yes
Stalhrim Battleaxe	24	25	Stalhrim, Ebony Smithing	Frost Damage enchantments 25% stronger	Aye
Dragonbone Battleaxe	26	xxx	Dragon Bone, Dragon Armor	None	Yes
Daedric Battleaxe	25	27	Ebony Ingot, Daedric Smithing	None	Yes
Headsman's Axe*	17	eleven	Unupgradeable	None	Yes

Want more help with Skyrim? Find out how to join every society and faction, how to earn Gold fast, learning almost XP and levelling to 100, max Crafting skills, max Warrior skills, max Thief skills and max Mage skills, how to go married, where to buy a house, how to start Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn DLC expansions. If you lot're on PC, nosotros take a list of panel commands and cheats, and yous can acquire near the remastered version and how to install mods with our Skyrim guide. Finally, with Switch owners, we accept Skyrim amiibo support explained to help unlock special Zelda-themed items.

The all-time Warhammers in Skyrim

The heaviest of heavy weapons, warhammers are the slowest to swing merely bargain the greatest amount of damage per hit.

Volendrung is 1 of the Daedric artifacts, obtained for completing the Daedric quest "The Cursed Tribe".
The Longhammer is acquired from the cave Liar's Retreat, southwest of Solitude. Information technology's located side by side to the trunk of Rahd, it's former possessor.

Weapon	Damage	Weight	Upgrade with	Result	Enchantable
The Longhammer*	21	18	Orichalcum Ingot, Orcish Smithing	Swings xxx% faster than a regular warhammer	Yes
Volendrung*	25	26	Ebony Ingot, N/A	Absorb 50 Stamina	No
Stalhrim Warhammer	26	29	Stalhrim, Ebony Smithing	Frost Damage enchantments 25% stronger	Yes
Dragonbone Warhammer	28	33	Dragon Os, Dragon Smithing	None	Yeah
Daedric Warhammer	27	31	Ebony Ingot, Daedric Smithing	None	Aye