Every Elder Scrolls game has included Daedric quests, and Skyrim is no different, with a host of Daedric endeavors that offer rewards of varying degrees. Throughout the game, there are 15 quests for players to take, each relating to one of the Princes of Oblivion. Each quest gives the players new and interesting challenges associated with that particular Prince’s domain.
Only two of the Elder Scrolls Daedric Princes are missing Skyrim quests. Nocturnal, the Prince of night and darkness, has their presence in the game as part of the Thieves Guild questline. The last is the more obscure Jyggalag, Daedric Prince of Order, who has only appeared in The Elder Scrolls 4: Shivering Isles (and has a single item included as part of Skyrim's Creation Club).
Daedric artifacts are powerful items for players of any level, but their usefulness can really depend on the character build. Therefore ranking here will be based on the quest itself rather than just the reward. Taking into consideration creativity, complexity, and most importantly, enjoyment, here is every Daedric quest in Skyrim.
#15 - Malacath's Skyrim Daedric Quest, The Cursed Tribe
“The Cursed Tribe” is a needlessly long quest involving fetching ingredients for a ritual to speak to Malacath and then being strong-armed into fighting one of Skyrim’s favorite monsters: giants. After fighting through giants, Yamarz, the Orc Chief, will try to bribe the Dragonborn into getting the giant’s hammer for him. As with most Daedric quests, players are given a choice later in the quest; however, with “The Cursed Tribe,” that choice doesn’t matter.
The player can either agree and get the hammer which will cause Yamarz to attack them, so his tribe never finds out he didn’t do it himself. Or the player can refuse, and Yamarz will attack the giant himself and promptly get killed. Either way, the player must kill the giant’s leader and bring the hammer back to the Orc stronghold. After returning, Malacath transforms the hammer into Volendrung and the quest completes. Volendrung is a two-handed warhammer that, although excellent and lower levels, is outclassed quickly by other warhammers at higher levels. “The Cursed Tribe” is an easy-to-miss hidden Skyrim quest which is no great loss unless players are looking to complete the Oblivion Walker achievement.
#14 - Hermaemus Mora's Skyrim Daedric Quest Rewards The Oghma Infinium
As part of the main questline, players will meet Septimus Signus in his glacier hideout. He will help point the Dragonborn in the right direction for the Elder Scroll they need, and players have the option to take on an additional quest from him. After completing the quest to get the Elder Scroll, he will ask for the player’s help opening a Dwemer lockbox.
After gathering blood samples from the Mer (or Elf) races of Nirn, players can return and watch as he opens the lockbox. It’s a bit of an anti-climax for him because there is what looks like a normal Elder Scrolls lore book for Skyrim instead of the “heart of a god” as he expected. As he reaches for it, he disintegrates, and Hermaeus Mora will then speak to the player and declare them his Champion. Then regardless of what answer the player gives, the quest completes.
The book is The Oghma Infinium, which, when read, adds five skill levels to six distinct skills. The choice is divided into three options similar to the Guardian Stones the player encounters just after Helgen. Skill levels gained through The Oghma Infinium count towards level gains, meaning this is a great way to level up and makes this tedious fetch quest somewhat worth it.
#13 - Mephala's Whispering Door Daedric Quest In Skyrim Doesn't Quite Deliver
After completing the quest “Dragon Rising” and reaching level 20, players can speak to Hulda at Whiterun's Bannered Mare, one of Skyrim's best inns, and learn that something strange is happening with Jarl Balgruuf’s children. Eventually, players will find out about a locked door in the basement of Dragonsreach. At the door, players can speak with Mephala herself. She wants the Dragonborn to get the key to open the door as a piece of her power is locked behind it. There are a few ways to get a key depending on how sneaky or mean players want to be, but once the key is retrieved, the door can be unlocked to reveal the Ebony Blade. Players can take it, but Mephala explains that it has lost its power due to disuse and must be recharged.
The Ebony Blade is a two-handed sword that starts able to absorb health and gradually increases that ability as it is recharged. To do this, the Dragonborn must kill Skyrim NPCs who trust them with the weapon. “The Whispering Door” is a rather disappointing Daedric quest as although the Ebony Blade is a great weapon, the quest itself is rather dull and short.
#12 - Azura's Star Is A Great Skyrim Daedric Quest Reward
The Dragonborn can get the quest from Azura’s shrine and have to find and restore Azura’s Star, which necromancers have stolen. After finding Nelacar, an Altmer mage, who points players in the right direction, there is a typical dungeon crawl through a flooded ruin just west of Riverwood. After finding the Star, players have two options: give it to Nelacar or return to the shrine for it to be cleansed.
Players will receive a different reward for each choice: either Azura’s Star or the Black Star. The difference comes down to what type of souls a Skyrim player wants to trap and what kind of Dragonborn they are roleplaying. Ultimately the Black Star is more useful, as although Nelacar claims it can only hold black souls, it can actually hold souls of any type making it more useful than Azura’s Star. “The Black Star” is a run-of-the-mill fetch quest, albeit with a good reward.
#11 - Peryite's Skyrim Daedric Quest Is Mundane But Worth The Reward
After level 10, players will encounter the Afflicted, who will tell them about the Shrine to Peryite and, visiting the shrine after level 12, players can get a quest from Kesh the Clean. He will offer to help the Dragonborn commune with Peryite and wants a silver ingot, a deathbell flower, vampire dust, and a flawless ruby for the ritual. Players can bring them to Kesh and then talk to Peryite.
One of Skyrim’s underrated Daedric Princes, Peryite wants the player to go and kill the group’s former shepherd, Orchendor. From there, it is a straightforward dungeon crawl through a Dwemer ruin to kill him and get Spellbreaker. Spellbreaker is a shield that, while blocking, creates a ward that blocks spells. Spellbreaker is very useful against dragons as it blocks all breath weapons and against draugr shouts, making this fairly mundane questline worth the effort.
#10 - Meridia - The Break Of Dawn
“The Break of Dawn” is also a straightforward dungeon crawl quest. After level 12, players can find Meridia’s beacon randomly all over Skyrim, and she will loudly tell the player when her quest has begun. The quest is simple: bring the beacon back to her temple and clear out the undead within. It's a little more involved than some dungeons, with using the beacon in various spots to proceed until a tough boss fight at the end, but the best part of “The Break of Dawn” is the reward: Dawnbreaker, one of Skyrim's best sword weapons. This one-handed sword burns targets for 10 pints, and if they are undead, they might explode, which will turn or destroy other nearby undead. Dawnbreaker is excellent for fighting draugr and vampires, and the quest is a great way to get gold as the corpses in the tomb each have around 50 to 100 gold on them.
#9 - Boethiah’s Calling Is One Of Skyrim's Better Daedric Quests
Players can get this quest either through the book, Boethiah’s Proving or by going directly to the shrine after reaching level 30. The first part of this quest is deceptively simple, where the player must lead a follower to the shrine and kill them. After killing the follower, Boethiah will command the player to kill her current Champion, who she is now bored with. After killing the Champion and their bandit gang, the player can claim the Ebony Mail.
The Ebony Mail is a heavy armor chest piece with poison damage and muffle, making it great for stealthy sneak kills in Skyrim. This is a very useful armor as poison damage is considered an effect by the game rather than a poison, so enemies who are usually immune like automatons or draugr can be affected by it. “Boethiah’s Calling” is an excellent quest because of the moral choice players must make regarding their followers; unfortunately, it becomes a standard murder-mission after that.
#8 - Clavicus Vile's Dog Barbas Stars In One Of Skyrim's Most Memorable Quests
After level 10, when in Falkreath, a guard will ask the player if they have seen a dog on the road. After speaking to the blacksmith and going out to look for the dog, the player will be approached by Barbas. He wants the Dragonborn’s help getting back into the good books of his master and asks them to come with him to a shrine.
After fighting vampires, talking to Clavicus Vile, and a typical long Skyrim dungeon crawl to retrieve the Rueful Axe, players are offered a choice. They can either kill Barbas with the axe and keep it or spare Barbas and give it back. Each option grants a different reward: the Rueful Axe itself or The Masque of Clavicus Vile. Either way, the quest ends, although it’s worth mentioning that the Masque of Clavicus Vile does count towards the Oblivion Walker achievement, whereas the Rueful Axe does not. “A Daedra’s Best Friend” is straightforward enough and doesn’t take the player anywhere particularly exciting, but the dialogue of Barbas and Vile really makes it shine.
#7 - Molag Bal's House Of Horrors Is One Of Skyrim's Scarier Daedric Quests
When in the always-interesting Skyrim city of Markarth, players will be asked to help a Vigilant of Stendarr investigate a haunted house. Once inside and after some ghostly goings-on, Molag Bal will command the player to kill the Vigilant. Players don’t have a choice as he will turn on them, and after he is killed, players will be trapped in the basement by Molag Bal and told to find Logrolf the Willful, a priest of Boethiah. Logrolf has been desecrating the altar, and Molag Bal wants the player to bring him here to break him.
The rest of the quest is pretty straightforward. Grab Logrolf, bring him to the house, and then smack him with a mace until he dies. Once the unpleasantness has been dealt with, players will receive the Skyrim version of the Mace of Molag Bal, a one-handed mace that deals damage to Stamina and Magicka, along with soul trap. Although the quest doesn’t take the player anywhere new or interesting, the tone of the quest really sets it apart. Make no mistake, though, “The House of Horrors” is a pretty dark quest even by Daedric standards - at least for Skyrim.
#6 - Hircine's Daedric Quest Lets Skyrim's Dragonborn Moonlight As A Vampire
Talking to folks in Falkreath, the player can learn about a man called Sinding who savagely killed a little girl. If players choose to speak with him, he will give them the Cursed Ring of Hircine and tell them that the Dragonborn must kill a rare White Stag to appease Hircine. After that, he transforms into a werewolf and escapes jail.
The ring will auto-equip and causes the Dragonborn to randomly transform into a werewolf even if they do not currently have werewolf blood or Companion ties in Skyrim, so seeking out the White Stag quickly is a good idea. After killing it, Hircine will speak to the player, telling them to find and kill Sinding to gain their favor. Sinding has fled to Bloated Man’s Grotto and is being hunted by other followers of Hircine.
From there, players have a choice to either kill Sinding or aid him. Killing him will earn them the Savior’s Hide, a light armor chest piece that gives 15% magical and 50% poison resistance. Helping him by killing the hunters earns the player Hircine’s Ring, now uncursed, which grants unlimited werewolf transformations but only if they are already a werewolf making it a little useless for any players who don't want to become one of Skyrim's werewolves. Whichever path is chosen, Hircine is pleased with the player, and both rewards count towards Oblivion Walker achievement. “Ill Met By Moonlight” is an oddly touching quest as players can’t help feeling for Sinding’s plight, making the choice between him and Hircine feel natural and unforced.
