This year marks the tenth anniversary of the original release of Skyrim. Few single-player games have maintained such attention over such a long period of time, and Skyrim is still held up as a benchmark whenever a similar RPG is released. In it, players take on the role of the Dragonborn, a hero born to save the world from the returning of the dragons. But just how many dragons need to die to complete the game?
As players would expect in a sprawling RPG like Skyrim, the answer to that question isn't exactly straightforward. It all depends on what players are trying to achieve. Unlocking all the Shouts requires a whopping 44 dragons to be killed, and if players want to complete the Blades storyline, they'll need to kill Paarthurnax as well. The most straightforward question is how many dragons players must kill to complete the main storyline and nothing else, and the answer to that is quite less: either three or four.
Killing Mirmulnir in Skyrim
The first dragon that players have no choice in killing is Mirmulnir, who is encountered early-on in Skyrim's main storyline. The Dragonborn will have to fight Mirmulnir after going to investigate Whiterun's Western Watchtower. Unlike the vast majority of the dragons in the game, Mirmulnir wasn't raised from the dead by Alduin. Instead, he managed to survive since the previous time of dragons, making him one of the oldest of his kind ever to have lived.
As the first dragon that players fight in Skyrim, Mirmulnir isn't the most challenging. He will attack from the air at first, but will land after taking enough damage. On the ground, Housecarl Irileth and her Whiterun Guards will help to distract Mirmulnir, allowing the Dragonborn to slay him and advance the storyline.
Killing Sahloknir in Skyrim
The second dragon that players must kill to complete Skyrim's storyline is encountered at the Kynesgrove burial mound, during the quest "A Blade in the Dark." Alduin raises Sahloknir from the dead right in front of the Dragonborn, before commanding the subordinate dragon to kill them along with Delphine.
Although Alduin doesn't stick around for the fight, Sahloknir is a lot more challenging than Mirmulnir. Having a companion beside Delphine will help in distracting him, allowing the player to avoid the worst of his fire and frost Shouts.
The Encounter at Karthspire
While the next dragon encounter on the main storyline counts toward the total of dragons, it isn't guaranteed to occur. Some players will find a dragon at the Karthspire camp during the Alduin's Wall quest, others won't. However, if the dragon is present then players will have to kill it before advancing the storyline with Delphine and Esbern.
Fortunately, players who encounter this dragon will also find it attacking a large group of Skyrim's Forsworn. If the player holds back, then the Forsworn can do a lot of the work in actually slaying the unnamed Karthspire dragon. Getting close may provoke the Forsworn, who will attack regardless as soon as the dragon falls.
Alduin's Fall in Skyrim
The fourth and final Dragon that players cannot avoid killing to complete Skyrim's storyline is Alduin, the main antagonist of the entire game. By the time players are ready to kill Alduin, they'll already have defeated him once before. Ironically, this second encounter in the Nord afterlife of Sovengarde can actually be a lot easier than the first one.
The reason for this is players will have the assistance of the three Nord heroes, Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, Hakon One-Eye, and Felldir the Old. The Dragonrend shout will force Alduin to the ground, where the three heroes and the Dragonborn will be able to surround him. The heroes are unkillable, so as long as the player is careful, they'll be able to safely slay Alduin and complete Skyrim's story.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on all major platforms.