Many of the best Skyrim quests can be missed or lack signposts, leaving you to (hopefully) chance on them as you explore its open world. You're often subtly funneled towards things but you can easily miss some really interesting things. What's here is generally found by wandering about and talking to people, but there's an even harder to find level of Skyrim hidden quest locations where there are some great things to do in totally out of the way locations.
Here you'll find some of the best stories and things you can do, which are often off the beaten track. There are entire quest lines and factions you might never see if you don't look in the right direction or pay attention to the right clues, and obviously no one wants to do that.
If you don't want to spend hours walking back and forwards across the map talking to everyone to get a lead I've highlighted and outlined some of more missable Skyrim quests below. I'll break down where to go and what to do to unlock them (some have level requirements, or other prerequisites). There's genuinely a few things here where you can't really say you've played Skyrim, until you seen them.
Skyrim A Night to Remember quest
How to get it: Reach level 14, then search the inns for Sam Guevenne
It's the classic get drunk and pass out mission! That’s really all you need to know. Once you reach level 14 you'll need to keep an eye out for a character called Sam in various inns around Skyrim. He'll be hellbent on getting into a drinking competition with you. Indulge him and, once you’ve tried to beat him, you’ll wake up in the temple of Dibella facing accusations about what you got up to while you were blackout drunk. Just follow the trail of clues to find out what you did and experience one of Skyrim’s funniest quests!
How to start the Dark Brotherhood quest
How to get it: Speak to Aventus Aretino in Windhelm to start the mission Innocence Lost.
The Dark Brotherhood quest is dedicated to assassination and sees you ultimately murder your way up the ranks of the guild. However, triggering this mission hangs on learning about a child called Aventus Aretino in Windhelm who is trying to perform the Black Sacrament to summon the Brotherhood.
There's a range of ways to achieve this. Asking any inn keep about gossip has a chance of them mentioning Aventus. But if you want to speed things up head to Riften. Here you can either speak to a character called Maul who's usually near the entrance about him. Or you can also head to the Honorhall Orphanage and speak to the children there. If you get the right info you should end up with a miscellaneous objective to "Talk to Aventus Aretino". You can also just go straight to the. Aretino home in Windhelm, break in and find him directly.
Complete his quest and you'll be contacted by the Brotherhood. If you attack and kill the first member you speak to you'll get a mission to destroy the assassin's guild. However it's far more fun to join up, as you'll unlock a series of deviously intriguing scenarios and murders, and get tangled in both national politics and the delicate hierarchy of the Brotherhood. It’s got a depth to it that’s largely absent from the rest of the game, and you’ll come to genuinely care for the killers you associate with. With a conclusion to make you experience some extreme emotions - no spoilers here - it’s not one you’re going to forget in a hurry. Hail Sithis!
Skyrim Blood on the Ice quest
How to get it: Travel to Windhelm and explore the graveyard between 7pm and 6am. You’ll find a group crowded around a corpse you can talk to
This is just a great big detective mission quest. Blood on the Ice is a proper whodunnit murder mystery, with you as the detective. You'll be hunting down leads and finding evidence using sneaking, charisma, and a bit of good old-fashioned deduction. It's a quest that uses a wide variety of in-game skills and real life ones to solve the crime.
Skyrim The Mind of Madness quest
How to get it: Go to the Winking Skeever in Solitude and listen to the rumour about a man wandering Solitude’s streets
Once you triger this mission you'll be off to speak to a rather confused man wandering the streets. It'll lead to an an almost combat-free quest that shows how creative Skyrim can be when it really goes for it - you’ll have to experiment with some new rules and challenge your problem-solving abilities. It'll take you places you have never visited before and give you a chance to meet an honest to literal god Daedric Prince.
Skyrim Frostflow Abyss quest
How to get it: Travel to the Frostflow Lighthouse, on the coast east of Dawnstar
Like Blood on the Ice, this quest is a bit of a mystery built around a shocking scene in the lighthouse and journals with increasingly chilling entrie. Entering the lighthouse for the first time is a disturbing experience, and it doesn’t let up even when you’ve got some answers. Beware, though: if you’re low-level you might want to wait before trying this, as the enemies in question don’t hold back. You’ll be delving deep into the earth too, so stock up on potions before entering Frostflow Lighthouse or you might end up regretting it.
Skyrim Laid to Rest quest
How to get it: Travel to Morthal and speak to the innkeep about the house that burned down recently
I’m not exaggerating when I say Laid to Rest is the saddest quest in Skyrim, involving a burned-down house, a dead child, and enough chills to last you a lifetime. Talking to the townspeople about the shock they got from the house burning down is just the start, and you’ll get the usual small-town gossip that’s often prevalent in real life too. But that’s where the similarities end, as the intrigue, horror, and devastation that come from the quest’s revelations are the stuff of nightmares.
Skyrim Forgetting about Fjola quest
How to get it: Go to Mistwatch Fort, found between Eastmarch and the Rift, and enter the North tower, where you’ll run into Christer
Forgetting about Fjola starts as the usual quest to clear a fort of bandits but quickly turns into a search and rescue mission that I guarantee you won’t be able to predict. Look at Forgetting about Fjola through a certain lens and it’s a tale of empowerment, but however you think of it there’s the opportunity to fill bandits with a ton of arrows and dabble in a couple’s relationship.
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