Summary
The land of the Nords is home to some truly terrifying monsters and deadly combatants, which is why any adventurer who seeks fortune and longevity betweenSkyrim’s frost-tipped mountains should equip themselves with the best means of self-defense. Thankfully, there is no shortage ofpowerful weapons inSkyrimjust waiting for a worthy wielder.
However, those players who have done and seen it all may begin looking for ways to up the challenge in their next playthrough. Just as there are blades and bows in Tamriel’s northernmost province touched by the gods, there are also cursed items and shabby arms that can help to balance the odds (in favor of low-level bandits and rats) in a fight.
5Froki’s Bow
A Regular Bow That Drains A Tiny Amount Of Stamina
Froki’s Bow isn’t much to look at, and besides its enchantment, it is, for all practical purposes, a regular longbow. Perhaps because he realized how useless it really is, Froki Whetted-Blade decides to just give awaythis sub-par item as a rewardfor completing “Kyne’s Sacred Trails” quest. It can be found halfway through the quest beside an archery skill book and a dead bandit (who presumably died attempting to defend himself with it) in Graywinter Watch, just east of Whiterun. Froki’s best idea for an enchanted weapon is one that stings an enemy for 10 points of extra stamina damage.
This isn’t much when considering how fast stamina regenerates and how long it takes to draw and fire an arrow, assuming it hits its target anyway. With only three charges ready for use before it needs to be charged up with a soul gem, players won’t be seeing much use out of the enchantment. Froki’s Bow can be upgraded, but the Last Dragonborn will need a certain level of mastery (60 points) in Smithing and the “Arcane Blacksmith” perk to up its efficiency, making it worse than any old moldy bow looted off the back of an early-game bandit.
4The Poacher’s Axe
Worse Than The Most Basic Iron Axe With A Broken Enchantment To Boot
Carrying around a woodcutter’s axe as well as regular weaponry might sound inefficient, given that the purpose of both tools is to cut things in half. Sadly, woodcutter’s axes just aren’t that good in combat inSkyrim, and although they can be enchanted, they cannot be improved on a grindstone. The Poacher’s Axe, found on the body of a bandit in Halted Stream Camp, directly north of Whiterun, comes with a rare enchantment, “Huntsman’s Prowess,” which deals three additional damage to animals. This puts it on par with the most basic iron axe, so long as the Last Dragonborn is fighting a creature from Skyrim’s wilds.
Although its enchantment sounds handy for dispatching predators out to make a quick meal of a hapless woodcutter,one ofSkyrim’s unfortunate bugsmakes it so that its default maximum charge is 0, which means that animals take no extra damage whatsoever. The one upside to the Poacher’s Axe is that, while other woodcutter’s axes cannot be tempered on a grindstone for improved damage, the Poacher’s Axe can. The Last Dragonborn can upgrade it at a grindstone if they happen to have a steel ingot in their inventory and access to the Arcane Blacksmith perk from the Smithing perk tree. Otherwise, this thing is better off as firewood.
3The Shiv
A Desperate, Improved Weapon
The usefulness of a weapon depends on the circumstances of its use. For example, in a prison, where anything sharp trumps a bare-handed attack, a shiv can be highly valuable. This isn’t the case inSkyrim, at least for the Last Dragonborn, who, when thrown in jail as part of aForsworn conspiracy in Markarth, can (even if they haven’t chosen a spellcasting playstyle) still use conjure flames to burn their foes. Not taking into account magic users seems like a bit of an oversight on the warden’s part.
Regardless, the inmates of Cidhna Mine have found a way to produce an improvised one-handed weapon that does one point of damage more than a regular iron dagger. Unlike iron daggers, the shiv cannot be improved on a grindstone. As it does count as a dagger, backstabbing rogue types can take advantage of the One-Handed Assassin’s Blade perk to get 15 times the amount of damage out of the shiv if they can plant it in the back of an unsuspecting enemy.
2The Wooden Sword
A Literal Children’s Toy For Children
As much as they are romanticized, swords are not that effective in warfare, especially against armored foes or dragons with scales as strong as stone, iron, or ebony. That goes doubly for the Wooden Sword, a useable weapon inSkyrimthat is primarily intended as a children’s toy and can be given asa gift for adopted orphans. It is the second-lowest damage-dealing item in the game, but it can be upgraded with firewood and enchanted.
The only advantage to using a wooden sword is the bragging opportunity of potentially knocking down a pile of bad guys with a kid’s plaything. However, that would actually require the player’s character to be a master swordsman, and even the premieropen-world, power-fantasy RPG,Skyrim, isn’t that lenient. Players will still be required to level up plenty before they can stand a chance to play out the “confident weapons master” archetype.
1The Knife & Fork
The Lowest Damage-Rated Weapons In Skyrim
The knife is like a regular dagger weapon, but one that wasn’t designed for combat and one that doesn’t do a particularly good job of cutting anything, although it would probably be great at spreading butter over warm bread. Although it has the same damage rating as an iron dagger, it cannot be upgraded and does not activate the Assassin’s Blade perk. It would, however, make an excellent dual-wield companion for the fork for those players looking to roleplay as an enthusiastic cannibal.
Unfortunately, the fork also has a low damage rating, the lowest in the game, at one damage per hit. Like the knife, the fork cannot be upgraded. Both “weapons” are rare finds. The most reliable locations to find a knife and fork are inside the halls of High Hrothgar atop the Throat of the World, next to the forge in Redwater Den, and on the balcony of Honeyside,a purchasable player homein Riften.
