The release of Skyrim Anniversary Edition has millions of Elder Scrolls fans returning to the now 10-year-old RPG to experience an expansion-sized amount of new content. Because Anniversary Edition contains everything in the Creation Club and dozens of completely new addons, lots of players are experiencing the game in completely new ways.
With more than 70 official Creations included, there's lots of room for developers to hide secrets in the dungeons, quests, and items included with the upgrade. Indeed, there are a lot of little details that many players have missed – some serve as callbacks to figures and events not mentioned in Skyrim, and others are hidden items and new mechanics that players can easily miss without realizing their importance.
Updated June 8, 2022 by Erik Petrovich: Skyrim is nearly 11 years old, and last year's Skyrim Anniversary Edition brought fans back one more time to the frozen northern province to explore heaps of new content. Lots of this new Skyrim content is not everything it appears to be on the surface. In fact, Skyrim Anniversary Edition secrets are almost as abundant as the Stones of Barenziah. Some of these new Skyrim secrets include musical references, which bring back songs and ambience from older Elder Scrolls games, while others are nods to things outside the game, like the price of the Horse Armor. Other Skyrim secrets are in the game itself, in the form of new weapons, locations, or features that the unobservant player may miss.
Oblivion Music in the Umbra Creation...
Umbra, the eponymous weapon of the Umbra Creation, is central to the plot of the Elder Scrolls novel Lord of Souls, and is tied to Oblivion through Clavicus Vile. At the end of the dungeon included in the Umbra Creation, players experience something literally foreign to Skyrim: the soundtrack to Oblivion.
In the final encounter of the Umbra creation, players can hear the song Daedra in Flight, a combat song from the fourth Elder Scrolls game. Only big fans of the series will recognize this song as it plays in combat - when there's plenty else to listen to - but it's a neat inclusion nonetheless.
...And Also In Saints and Seducers
Saints and Seducers is a wide-reaching Creation included in Anniversary Edition that calls back to Oblivion and its Shivering Isles DLC in a number of ways. In the Solitude Sewers at the end of Saints and Seducers, music from Oblivion's stoney dungeons and deep caverns plays in the background.
These musical secrets are the kind of thing that only long-time fans will recognize, but even new players can appreciate these classic songs in their own right. There's a reason Oblivion's OST contains some of the highest-viewed Elder Scrolls music on YouTube.
Jyggalag Is Finally Referenced In Skyrim
Jyggalag is the Daedric Prince of Order, created at the conclusion of the Shivering Isles DLC for Oblivion when Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness, frees himself from a curse placed on him. Before the Saints and Seducers creation was added to Skyrim, though, Jyggalag was the only major Daedric Prince not given their own unique Artifact (or even mentioned) in the game.
At the conclusion of Saints and Seducers, players figure out that a cultist was the one fronting money for each of the two groups of bandits. On his corpse at the end of the Solitude Sewers dungeon, players find the Sword of Jyggalag. It is as it appears in Oblivion, and although it's fittingly unenchanted, it finally gives Jyggalag something for the Dragonborn to remember him by.
Horse Armor Is A Nod To An Infamous DLC
One of the most infamous DLC packs to ever be released is surely the Horse Armor DLC for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The DLC was mocked on release for adding practically nothing to the game for a pretty exorbitant cost. Sure, the horse armor blocked incoming damage for your horse a bit, but was it worth $2.50?
Anniversary Edition also includes Horse Armor, though players new to the Elder Scrolls series might not be privy to the tongue-in-cheek joke going on here. The Horse Armor can be equipped at a stable for 500 Gold - the original DLC cost 500 Microsoft Points to purchase, the equivalent of $2.50.
Mannimarco's Staff of Worms
Mannimarco is one of the key antagonists of the Elder Scrolls series. A Necromancer who once belonged to the Psijic Order, Mannimarco is the primary villain in both The Elder Scrolls Online and Oblivion. He is one of Tamriel's first Liches, and his artifacts left behind in Gallows Hall are callbacks to his mastery of controlling the undead.
The Staff of Worms is a reference to Mannimarco's title as the King of Worms. This staff is wielded by Mannimarco throughout the series, and in Skyrim it gives the player the unparalleled ability to raise an Undead permanently. This raised follower will never die due to the passage of time, but it can still be killed by taking damage.
Empowering Keening and Sunder
The legendary Wraithguard was used by the Dwemer Tonal Architect Kagrenac to give him control over Keening and Sunder in his efforts to access the powers of the Heart of Lorkhan. While Keening was the only one of the three available in the vanilla game, Sunder and Wraithguard are now collectable with their eponymous Skyrim Anniversary Edition Creation.
Both Keening and Sunder have their own unique enchantments that enhance the player and also sap away their health and resources. Wearing Wraithguard alongside the two, though, removes these downsides and further enhances the Dagger and Hammer.
Fishing Improves In Rainy Weather
Fishing is one of the more than 20 completely new Creations included with Skyrim Anniversary Edition. It's a simple minigame on the surface – players need only find a pile of Fishing Supplies near a body of water, start the minigame, and reel in when there's a bite. However, there is one mechanic that greatly affects a player's Fishing skill: the weather.
Different fish appear in different parts of Skyrim, during different parts of the day, and of course in different weathers. In Rainy weather, for example, players have a higher chance to catch rare fish and treasures. There's even a ring that makes it Rainy in Sunny weather, guaranteeing this bonus chance at all times.
Mythic Dawn Robes And Gear In The Cause
The Mythic Dawn cult is, of course, central to the plot of Oblivion as the group responsible for the assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim VII and for starting the Oblivion Crisis. While there is a Mythic Dawn museum in Dawnstar that players are invited to at mid-high levels, Mythic Dawn armor and other gear isn't available in the vanilla game.
In The Cause, a completely new creation that continues the story of the Oblivion Crisis hundreds of years later, players can encounter a new sect of the iconic cult trying to get a new Oblivion Gate up and running. They are adorned in their classic crimson-red hooded robes, which players can collect and wear – just don't let Mehrunes Dagon tempt you with promises of power.
Followers Can Wear Backpacks
The Adventurer's Backpack addon introduces a variety of new Backpacks to Skyrim that increase a player's carrying capacity and, in certain varieties, increase primary Resources and stats like Lockpicking and Archery. These benefits aren't just for The Last Dragonborn, though, as their followers can also equip these new Backpacks.
For example, Lydia benefits from the Adventurer Backpack which increases Stamina, Teldryn benefits from the Mage Backpack which increases Magicka, and Aela benefits from the Hunter Backpack which improves damage with Bows.
Horse Names And Horse Armor...
The Horse-oriented addons included with Anniversary Edition introduce a lot more than just Wild Horses. There is also the Horse Armor Creation of course, but the Wild Horses Creation also gives players the ability to rename horses according to a randomized pre-build list.
Horse Armor is very affordable, and Horse Names are completely free to assign at a Stablemaster, although it may take several attempts to find a name you actually like. Players cannot name their horse directly, though the assortment of names gives plenty of options to "choose" from, even if it does take a little while to generate the right one.
...And The Tamable Unicorn
Included with the Wild Horses addon is one special horse only referenced here and there throughout Skyrim and the Elder Scrolls series. The Unicorn might seem a bit too fantastical for the world of Skyrim, but then again the province is also home to Spriggans, Wisps, and other creatures of fairytales.
The Unicorn can be found via the Creature of Legend quest, which begins in the College of Winterhold's Arcanaeum. It works just the same as any other horse in Skyrim, though when dismissed it will return to the College and not to the player's home.
A New Staff Enchanter
In Skyrim there is normally only one Staff Enchanter for players to find, being the one located in the House Telvanni outpost Tel Mithryn, located in southern Solstheim. The Myrwatch creation adds a player home that is perfectly suited for Sorcerer types, though, including Enchanting tables, Alchemy tables, a variety of Libraries, and its very own Staff Enchanter.
To access the Staff Enchanter at Tel Mithryn, players must complete a pre-requisite questline for the Telvanni wizard Neloth. By installing the Myrwatch creation, though, players need only complete a short quest to gain access to the home and one of the more interesting Crafting Tables in the game.
Skyrim Anniversary Edition is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S