The 20 HARDEST Skyrim Bosses
The Strongest Troll
Long gone are the days of troll-face memes and rage comics, but at the time of the release of Skyrim, it was stronger than ever. And if theres one troll to rule them all, itd be this guy on our journey to High Hrothgar. Now obviously its just a regular Frost Troll, but these creatures can be a total pain to deal with. Its one of the rage-quitting hotspots for most players, and its because we encounter it so early. You likely wont be properly equipped for the encounter, and in this case, thats a little more deadly than usual. This ones for you, Frost Troll!
Malkoran
This line alone jumpscares many Skyrim players. [A new hand touches the beacon] If you dont know, this is the line spoken when you pick up Meridias Beacon which allows you to start the quest The Break of Dawn. If you do this quest early, or even upwards of level 30, youre sure to get your butt kicked by Malkoran! This guy outright one-shots you on even lower difficulties, and he genuinely deals so much more damage than any other creature at the same level. In fact, hes one of the most powerful wizard enemies in the entire game! If youre hit by his Ice Storm, its pretty much a sure one hit knockout.
General Falx Carius
If youve played The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, chances are youve met with Captain Falx Carius, the imperial commander stationed at Fort Frostmoth. In fact, as the rumor goes, it was Falx Carius who founded Raven Rock. Unfortunately, we find him at the very same fort in Skyrims Dragonborn DLC, this time as an undead general. As it is sometimes with these tragic recurring characters, hell find peace at the hands of the Dragonborn. Its a pretty challenging fight, and Carius wont go down without you taking a few swings from the weapon he wields, The Champions Cudgel. If you do defeat him, you of course get this sweet hammer. Shame we couldnt be friends!
The Caller
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in the third quest within the College of Winterhold questline, youll be sent to retrieve three books from the Fellglow keep. As it turns out, another student of the college, Orthorn, has stolen them, but has himself been kidnapped and now held prisoner in the fort by the Caller. Shes an Altmer mage who usually dual wields two Sparks spells, and shell often summon all three types of Atronachs. Not only that, but shes capable of summoning multiple of them at the same time, and she can even teleport! Luckily, you can actually avoid this boss fight if you succeed in a persuasion check against her. Alternatively, you can be evil and let her have Orthorn, in turn giving you the stolen books. Shes a maniac!
Vulthuryol
Good ole Blackreach. Some hate it, some love it, but weve all been there in our quest to stop Alduin. But have you noticed the giant glowing orb in the middle of the dungeon? Well, as some of you have discovered, you can actually shout at it and summon a secret dragon for a bossfight against it. If thats not one of the coolest secrets in the game, then we dont know! This is Vulthuryol, and its a bit of a special dragon. While its technically an Ancient Dragon, he boasts slightly lower damage output than one, BUT while you can use the Bend Will shout on normal dragons, this wont work on Vulthuryol. While it might seem obvious, at lower levels this dragon is devastating! So come prepared, or perhaps save the fight for a later time.
Ralis Sedarys
In Dragonborn DLC, youve likely met the Dunmer treasure hunter Ralis Sedarys. Hes outside Kolbjorn Barrow searching for the relics of an old dragon priest. Its probably safe to say that most people ended up sparing Ralis, but it turns out this guy is actually a total powerhouse if you do fight him. It makes sense though, given the awesome weapon we can loot from him. While he may be one of the strongest followers, this is reflected if you choose to fight him yourself as well. Being immensely tanky and highly damaging, this otherwise unassuming boss earns this spot.
Hamelyn
And speaking of unassuming, lets talk a bit about the Honningbrew Meadery outside Whiterun. Its one of those locations you dont think much of, and it just seems like not much goes on there. Of course, you cant actually even access it without a key. But if you do the Thieves Guild questline, youre sure to end up here, and if you find yourself in the basement, youll quickly find yourself up against this Breton mage named Hamelyn who seems to have gone insane. Apparently he was once an apprentice alchemist in the College of Winterhold, but now hes some sort of Gollum down here below the meadery. Hes got a pretty damn potent selection of spells, of all elements, so if you dont bring a warding spell or freeze him in place he can chunk your health pretty fast!
Sigdis Gauldurson
If you play on the default difficulty, its likely that you wont find most draugrs difficult, except for the stronger versions of them like the Deathlords. And yet, some of the strongest enemies found in Skyrim are unique named variants. If youve done the quest Forbidden Legend, youve faced Sigdis Gauldurson before. And this beast of a draugr wields the Gauldur Blackbow, a magicka absorbing bow, while spamming you with Unrelenting force and Disarm. Even worse, hell teleport occasionally and even make clones of himself. This guy is absolutely no joke! Its one of the hardest, most tedious boss fights in the entire game.
Paarthurnax
Alright, its time for one thats a little bit different. If youve finished Skyrim and its main quest, or rather if youve finished the Blades questline, youll have one last task to do for them, which is to slay Paarthurnax. Of course, you can opt to simply never finish that quest, but this is a quest that no player wants to do. Hes helped us on our journey to stop Alduin, and hes barely even fighting back as well. Its such a gut-wrenching fight to take on, to a point where 90% of the playerbase chose to just ignore it. You can justify doing it, but its still one of the most unpleasant and difficult boss fights in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim!
Orchendor
The Daedric princes are often the subject of the most interesting and fun quests in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and The Only Cure is no exception. In our quest to gain the favor of Peryite, well end up pitted against Orchendor, an incredibly powerful Bosmer mage. While most mage boss fights that teleport seem to have some sort of more specific trigger for their teleporting, Orchendor is different and will continuously do it after taking a few hits. This guy has a whopping one-hundred percent magic resistance, and is immune to almost every shout in the game. His offense is nothing out of the ordinary, but him being so difficult to kill scales up the difficulty of the fight by a ton. If youre up against Orchendor, cross your fingers!
Gauldur Brothers
Technically, these count as three bosses, but being troublesome really brings them together. You encounter these soulless siblings during the "Forbidden Legend" quest, while searching for the mystical Gauldur Amulet. These draugr lord brothers, Mikrul, Jyrik, and Sigdis; each have a fragment of their fathers amulet, which they murdered him for. Individually, they might seem quite conventional but battling these brothers one after the other will wear you out. Mikrul tries to gang up on you with his undead allies; Jyrik gets a healthy dose of temporary elemental invulnerability; and Sigdis will summon a seemingly endless supply of clones of himself. Just when you think youre out, they pull you back in for a rematch, but this time as ghosts.
Krosis
Every Skyrim player knows that when a dragon priest busts out of their tomb, things are going to get heated, sometimes literally. Krosis boasts a level of 50, he uses frost magic but strangely also uses a Staff of Fireballs as well. If that doesnt sound tough enough, hes also best buds with a dragon. Unlike most other dragon priest tombs, Krosis was buried on a mountain. This means that when his staff or his dragons mouth is pointed at you, there are no pillars or walls to hide behind; so shield yourself or skedaddle. We suggest bringing a follower with you, for support and totally not as bait
Alduin
The World Eater really shakes the sweetrolls out of your pocket when you first bump into him, all the way back in Helgen. When you finally fight him in Sovngarde, you are not the same powerless and perplexed Dragonborn from the start of the game. However, no amount of experience makes being on the business end of Alduins fury any easier; but, having some deceased Nord heroes by your side does help. Alduins appetite for destruction is on full display when he showers you with meteorites, blasts you with armor-shattering shouts, and incapacitates you by regularly chomping at you. Even after using the powerful Dragonrend shout, Alduin still poses a huge threat to the players health bar if theyre not careful.
Miraak
Interacting with Miraak is kinda like fighting a toxic player whos been playing since early access; except this time, theyre actually better than you. He is the first-ever Dragonborn and has a bunch of Dragonborn powers that youve never seen before. Miraak can shout some armor into existence, steal your dragon souls, and even ride dragons. This masked menace can also use his shouts way more often than you, to the dismay of your ears. When you finally get the better of him, he resorts to taking big swigs of dragon souls to replenish his health. Eventually, youll beat him but get ready for one of those empty your inventory sorts of battles.
Naaslaarum and Voslaarum
Sure, the Dragonborn wouldve fought plenty of dragons by the time they face this destructive duo, but fighting these legendary dragons at once is something else entirely. Naaslaarum and Voslaarum will burst forth from the ice and sap the life out of you in game and in the real world. They will spam the Drain Vitality dragon shout, which will slowly reduce your health, stamina, and magicka over time, and also causes you to get a bit dizzy. Then, theyll follow that up by trying to cook you to perfection while you struggle to stand up. Their bloodthirsty teamwork might be too much for some players so bring a buddy to even the odds!
The Forgemaster
If a larger and more lethal Dwarven Centurion was also somehow a Fire-type Pokémon, youd have the Forgemaster. Dwarven Centurions are tough as nails, but this thing will really grind your gears. This mechanical monstrosity arises from literal lava, and makes you wish you never stepped foot in a Dwemer Ruin. It is immune to fire, which is a given, but it also spits it out like its going out of fashion. It also hits like a truck. One way to not get barbecued is to exploit its only major weakness - it does not do well against frost damage.
Harkon
Lord Harkon isnt like the regular bloodsuckers you come across in Skyrim. This pure-blooded vampire clan leader is a pure pain in the butt to deal with. If you choose to oppose him, youre in for a tough time. When he reveals his true vampiric form, he moves faster, he spams spells, and summons gargoyles and skeletons to pummel you. He is resistant and sometimes straight-up immune to different types of attacks, but he is a vampire so use lots of fire and sunlight-based attacks against him. The real danger is trying to survive because Harkon hovers over a blood altar which helps him regenerate his health, so if youre not stocked up for this fight, he might bleed you dry.
The Ebony Warrior
Once you reach level 80, youd think you could handle anything Skyrim throws at you, right? Enter the Ebony Warrior. Its not about revenge or justice with him, he challenges you to a duel so he can finally rest in peace in Sovngarde. But just because hes ready to die, doesnt mean that hell make it easy for you. The Ebony Warrior also has a 50% resistance to most elemental damage and poison damage, along with a ton of perks. If you somehow manage to whittle his health down, hell use spells to reduce the damage he takes and if given the chance, he can restore his health completely. What adds to the mystery of this perplexing powerhouse, is that he can use the most iconic dragon shout in the game. You know the one.
Karstaag
Remember how afraid you were of giants at the beginning of the game? Well, how would you like to relive that fear pretty late in the game? Thats where Karstaag steps in. This level 90 behemoth will make you feel like a noob again every time he flings you around, chills your bones, or tanks massive damage. He is immune to frost, poison, and paralysis, but he is only slightly weak to fire attacks. Karstaag also regenerates health super fast, can summon ice wraiths, and has a 75% resistance to shock damage. Once you beat him, you can summon him three times before he gives you the cold shoulder forever.
Ahzidal
Among the deadly dragon priests, Ahzidal stands above the rest, or rather, hovers. Just like his dragon priest bros, he likes to be surrounded by draugr minions and has the annoying habit of resurrecting them. With a zero-second casting time for his spells, youll have to get used to being on fire a lot. Each fireball does a massive amount of damage and continues to burn you for a while. While the other dragon priests tend to dress for comfort, Ahzidal is the only one who wears armor and has attained a respectable level of 60. Stealth archers can use pillars for cover and poke at him until he dies, while the rest can bring lots of fire-resistance potions and maybe some ointment too.
Did we skip over your favorite foe? Give them a Dragon Shout-out in the comments!
