Skyrim:Dragonslayer

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Put an end to the World-Eater. Location(s): Hall of Valor, Sovngarde Prerequisite Quest: Sovngarde Next Quest: None Reward: Call of Valor ID: MQ305

Alduin calls a rain of fire

Quick Walkthrough

1. Meet with the heroes of Sovngarde.
2. Coordinate your shouts to clear Alduin's mist.
3. Defeat the World-Eater in combat.

Detailed Walkthrough

Heroes Unite

Leave the Hall of Valor and cross the Whalebone Bridge to the edge of the Shadowed Vale, where your Nord brethren are gathered. They are as eager to slay Alduin as you are. When the three heroes have assembled you will take your place by their sides. Once you have done so, one of them will suggest that you all use the Clear Skies Shout together to blow away the mist. Your companions will wait for you to Shout then use their Thu'um as well. You need to do this three times when requested, as Alduin recovers the field in mist the first two times you clear it away. After your third Shout, the mist dissipates, Alduin becomes enraged and flies towards you and the final battle is joined.

The World-Eater

The death of the World-Eater

This is when you begin your last fight with Alduin. Alduin launches a barrage of fire attacks at you, the Nords, and any lost souls that have been freed from their permanent fog. Alduin's rain of fire ability hits a large area of effect so have wards, healing spells and/or potions ready.

To defeat Alduin, you must once again strike him with Dragonrend to force him to land. Until you do, he is invincible and will take no damage. While on the ground, it is relatively easy to kill him due to the fact that the three Nord heroes will help in the battle. Alduin is basically the same as every other dragon the Dragonborn has thus far encountered: melee from the sides to avoid the potent tail attack, have a shield handy if you're planning to go head-to-head. For archers, Alduin is just as susceptible to potent poisons as other living creatures. Hit from a distance with high-damage lingering poisons and he will stay down fairly quickly. For magic users, the Marked for Death Shout is very useful as it increases his susceptibility to damage from spells. Don't stand in front of him, as his fire breath is deadly even to high level players. Resist Fire and Resist Magic may help against this.

After you strike the killing blow, Alduin writhes in agony and his soul begins to vanish. Alduin thrashes on the ground as his soul leaves his corporeal form. As his essence drains away, a black tar-like skeleton is revealed underneath. His form continues to corrode, fading into wisps and with a final, thunderous spasm, Alduin is torn apart; not even his skeleton remains in this afterlife.

Alduin's End

Dragon reception at the Throat of the World

As the mist of Alduin's soul snare dissipates and the sky clears, Tsun congratulates you on your mighty deed, as do your three helpers and all the characters lost in the mist, who will make their way to the bridge. Before leaving Sovngarde, Tsun teaches you the Call of Valor shout which allows you to summon a hero from Sovngarde to fight by your side. You will not be able to re-enter the Hall of Valor, so when you are ready to leave, talk to Tsun and he will Shout you back to Tamriel.

You will be returned to the Throat of the World. Several dragons are perched there, all acknowledging the Dovahkiin and the destruction of Alduin World-Eater, and one by one they depart. If you did not already kill Paarthurnax, he will have a final conversation with you, and expresses hope to convince other dragons to join the Way of the Voice. Afterwards, if you are still on the mountaintop, Odahviing will come to admit his allegiance to you so that you may freely use his Thu'um to call him, though he warns that not all dragons are willing to follow Paarthurnax's example.

Returning to High Hrothgar or Sky Haven Temple will yield further closing dialogue with Arngeir or Esbern respectively. This is easy to miss because the game relies on you to think of returning to the "wise old man".

Congratulations! You have completed Skyrim's Main Quest, and may now continue your adventures.

The Obituary

Upon returning to Tamriel, if Paarthurnax is still alive, you will be greeted by a large number of dragons who no longer follow Alduin. They recite a chant together regarding Alduin's death:

All: Alduin mahlaan.

Dragon: Sahrot thur qahnaraan.

All: Alduin mahlaan

Dragon: Dovahkiin los ok dovahkriid.

All: Alduin mahlaan

Dragon: Thu'umii los nahlot.

All: Alduin mahlaan

Dragon: Mu los vomir.

Achievements

One achievement is unlocked when you complete this quest and finish the questline:

• Dragonslayer (50 points/Gold)

Notes

• Unlike the Oblivion Gates in the previous installment, the dragons will continue to appear frequently in Skyrim after defeating Alduin. This enables you to obtain more Dragon Souls for any remaining Words of Power not yet unlocked, as well as obtain materials for creating dragon equipment.
• After leaving the Hall of Valor, you are unable to re-enter.
• It is impossible to loot Alduin, even though the option presents itself while his body dissipates.
• Alduin's soul is not absorbed. The player can later discuss the ramifications of this with Arngeir unless they have antagonized him by killing Paarthurnax.

Bugs

• Upon defeating Alduin and requesting to be transported back to Skyrim, one of Alduin's weather sound effects may remain playing no matter what action you take, and the only solution barring use of the imminent Creation Kit is to edit and silence the sound file. ^?
• When you return to the Throat of the World, if you use Dragonrend on Odahviing, he will become hostile but unkillable. ^?
• After you defeat Alduin, and are sent back to Skyrim, there may only be Odahviing and Paarthurnax waiting there. Paarthurnax has no new dialogue, and you cannot engage conversation with Odahviing. This is caused when Delphine, Esbern or Arngeir are unable to accept the scripted updates to their dialogue options for any reason. The epilogue scene runs under a separate ID, MQ306, and the first stage sets up everyone's dialogue. If any one or more of the characters are not able to accept the scripted updates for any reason, the script crashes and the scene defaults to a no-dialogue Odahviing and waiting Paarthurnax. ^?
• Sometimes it may occur that you cannot talk with Odahviing after the departure of other dragons, although their 'summit' was presented without bugs. ^?
• After you defeat Alduin, before you speak to Tsun, if you attack any of the heroes present, you can go into combat mode and be stuck in Sovngarde, since the heroes are immortal. ^?
  • A simple fix to this is to use the Unrelenting Force shout to knock any hostile NPCs off of the Whalebone Bridge.

Quest Stages

Dragonslayer (MQ305)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, Hakon One-Eye, and Felldir the Old have come to help me try to defeat Alduin. Together we may be strong enough to dispel the evil mist in which he hides. Once that is gone, he will have no choice but to face us in open battle. (Objective is assigned): Help the heroes of Sovngarde dispel Alduin's mist
100		(Objective is assigned): Defeat Alduin
120		Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, Hakon One-Eye, and Felldir the Old have come to help me try to defeat Alduin. Together, we used Clear Skies to dispel the evil mist in which Alduin was hiding. Now he has no choice but to face us in open battle.
200		Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, Hakon One-Eye, and Felldir the Old have come to help me try to defeat Alduin. Together, we used Clear Skies to dispel the evil mist in which Alduin was hiding. We fought and defeated him. Sovngarde and Skyrim are now free from the fear of his return. I have fulfilled my destiny as Dragonborn.

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 1, 5, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60, 80, 140, 190, 210, 220, 250, 260, 300

 

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage MQ305 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest MQ305.

Prev: Sovngarde

Up: Main Quest

Next: None