Players who would like to roleplay as a pirate in Skyrim may be interested in boarding the Dead Man’s Dread. Indeed, this legendary ship is the perfect home for a freebooter, and it is available to all owners of Skyrim Anniversary Edition. For those fans that would like to learn a bit more about unlocking the pirate ship home in Skyrim, full details can be found in this guide.
Updated October 3, 2022, by Talha Bin Rizwan: The Skyrim Anniversary Edition gave players a plethora of Creations or mods to enhance their experience in the game. From different armor sets and weapons to legendary artifacts of Elder Scrolls lore, players were in for a treat with the amount of content added to the game. One such creation is the Dead Man's Dread, which adds a pirate ship house for players to use as their home. Owning this home requires players to complete a short quest named The Restless, which can be started by reading a book in the Solitude tavern. They will find tons of functions on the ship, including crafters, workbenches, displays, gardening areas, and much more.
What Makes The Skyrim Pirate Ship House Special?
The Dead Man's Dread is the Skyrim pirate ship home added with the Creation of the same name, and because it's a gigantic ship moored inside an even larger cave, it's arguably the largest player home in the game. In addition to simply being a pirate ship and having a massive amount of room for decor, the Dead Man's Dread comes with a ton of amenities and useful features, too.
This Skyrim pirate ship house comes with a host of crafting stations – Alchemy and Enchanting tables, a Tanning Rack, a near-full Blacksmithing suite that allows Skyforge smithing, and an area to cook. It lacks a Smelter, a Staff Enchanter, and an oven for specialized cooking recipes.
Aside from crafting stations, the Dead Man's Dread comes with a huge amount of places to display gear and unique items, including Dragon Priest masks, Bugs in a Jar, and almost every unique weapon and staff in the game. There's a lot more hidden in the Dead Man's Dread, like a farming area and skill books, but these are better left uncovered by the player themselves.
How to Unlock the Pirate Ship Home in Skyrim
The first step toward taking possession of this pirate ship home is to confirm that the Dead Man’s Dread Creation is installed. This can be done through the Creation Club, which is accessed through the game’s main menu, and again the Creation is included with Skyrim Anniversary Edition. Once Dead Man’s Dread is installed, fans should hop back into the game and head on over to Solitude.
More specifically, players should make their way to the Winking Skeever in Solitude and look for a book called The Restless inside. This book can be found on a table in the inn, amidst a jug of wine, a mug, and some gold pieces, and reading it will initiate the Restless quest. This quest is the key to claiming the Dead Man’s Dread as player housing, and it begins by sending Skyrim fans to examine a pirate’s corpse in Castle Dour’s dungeon.
The Castle Dour
While this preliminary step can be approached in a couple of different ways, the easiest option is probably to convince the guard to grant access to the cell where the corpse resides. Players can simplify this approach by interacting with the Shrine of Dibella in Skyrim's Temple of the Divines, as this will make it easier to persuade the guard.
Regardless of how a fan enters the cell, they should read Kevon’s Note on the table and continue following the quest waypoints.
The Camp At Orphan's Tear
The game will prompt players to a location on Skyrim's northern coast, East of Icewater Jetty at Orphan's Tear shipwreck. Players will find a bandit camp outside belonging to the Blackwater Brigands and their leader called Celeste. The bandits are in no way a threat and will go down in a few hits. However, their leader Celeste can be challenging for players, especially with physical builds, as she is heavily armored and carries the Blackwater Blade. The Blade is a unique one-handed sword with an absorb stamina enchantment on it which can drain the players' stamina pool quickly.
Depending on their build, players must keep an eye on their stamina pool and engage Celeste at a distance. Magic and bow builds will need the assistance of a tanky follower like Lydia, Jordis the Shield-Maden, Uthgerd the Unbroken, or Mjoll the Lioness to weather Celeste's blows as they attack her at range. Physical builds who like getting up close and personal should stock up on stamina potions and also carry weapons with a drain stamina enchantment to cancel out the drain from the Blackwater Blade. Once Celeste has been dealt with, players must make sure to loot her body for the sword and any other loot she may be carrying and then proceed towards the boat which will take them to the Blackborne Isles.
Blackborne Isle and the Dead Man's Dread
Eventually, these waypoints will lead players to Blackborne Isle, and they will find the Dead Man’s Dread inside of its grotto. This is where fans will complete the Restless quest, though they will not take possession of the ship as soon as it is done.
Indeed, players must obtain a pirate’s note from a Courier before they can officially call the Dead Man’s Dread home, and that can be done simply by heading to any of the major towns in Skyrim and pushing the in-game clock forward by 24 hours.
Enemies At The Dead Man's Dread
Players will find more enemies inside the grotto which they need to dispatch before they can claim the ship at their home. As soon as they arrive, they will find a few skeletons outside and on the ship which will attack them as they get close. The melee skeletons will go down easily but the ones carrying bows will need a few hits to take down.
It is best that the player uses a weapon that has a damage boost against the undead such as Dawnbreaker, Auriel's Bow, or other weapons with a Fire Damage enchantment or a Turn Undead enchantment. Alternatively, magic builds can use fire-based Destruction spells or anti-undead Restoration spells such as Sun Fire, Turn Undead, and Circle of Protection instead.
Enemies Inside The Ship
Once the Dragonborn is inside the ship, they will find some more skeletons that they need to take care of. They aren't very challenging and will go down in a few hits. Unless the players fight in an area where they all mob on them, they will not be a significant threat. After dispatching the Skeletons, the game will lead players to the Captain's Cabin where they will be prompted to loot the chest. Inside they will find Cyrus's Clothes and Boots along with other loot. They then will be led to his Sabre on the wall and his journal on the table which shines some light on the fates of the previous crew of the ship. Once everything has been acquired, players can then leave the cabin where they will find the ghosts of the crew.
The ghosts are formidable enemies who are difficult to take down and can take significant chunks off the players' health bar. Weapons and spells that provide a damage boost against the undead are a must, but players must also take a follower with them to even the odds. It is best to engage the ghosts one by one and try not to get mobbed by them. Once the crew inside the ship has been taken care of, players will be led to the top deck where they will find more ghosts along with the ghost of the former captain of the ship. Players must simply repeat the process and prioritize taking out the captain first and then the rest of the crew.
Once the ghostly crew has been dispatched, players must exit the grotto, take the boat back to mainland Skyrim and head on over to any of the major holds of Skyrim. After about 24 hours in-game, a courier will approach the Dragonborn with a note from a pirate. Once this happens, the pirate ship can then be used as a player home.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition is available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.