If gamers have realized they missed a side-quest in Skyrim, it probably is not that surprising. The game is huge in terms of not only the map but also in story content. There are some quests that are quite easy to get, while others are pretty hidden. This is greatly due to where the quests are located.
Casual players do not typically explore the entire map of Skyrim. For the hardcore players that have explored the whole map, then it is likely that they were one of the few players who have completed these Skyrim hidden quests. Some of these quests are not even marked but have a story and rewards.
Updated on May 6th, 2023, By Ben Painter: Skyrim never seems to go out of fashion; it is one of the best games of all time, and gamers keep coming back to see what Bethesda's most popular game has in store. With hundreds of different quests to do, hours upon hours of time can be put into Skyrim, and there may be some quests that are missed. A lot of the missions inside the cold landscape can be easily missed; the map is so big, it takes some in-depth exploring to make sure that nothing is missed by the Dragonborn. This list adds five new quests that could have easily been missed by the player. Make sure to fire up Skyrim to ensure that these quests are completed.
18 Liar's Retreat
This location does not have a marked quest, but it has a story with some reward involved. It is a bandit hideout that is filled with Falmer. So both bandits and Falmer are fighting to the death in here, with the Falmer winning.
Gamers can find the bandit's dead bartender, who has a weapon called "The Longhammer." The bandits can find the Dragonborn and assume it was the player who killed their barkeep and attack. "The Longhammer" is a decent weapon, as it can move 30 percent faster than a typical Skyrim war-hammer.
17 Frostflow Abyss
This quest is gained in the Frostflow Lighthouse, which is around the coast of Winterhold. Players get the quest once they enter the center room of the lighthouse. The quest can get bugged if entering the basement before the center room, so be careful of that.
The quest is a little spooky and cool. Here gamers will find the scene of a couple of grisly murders, and the quest is to find out what happened. The reward for completing this quest is unique, as it's an active effect called "Sailor's Repose" that gives healing spells a boost.
16 Coming of Age
This quest comes with exploring a Nordic Tomb called "Ironbind Barrow." The Dragonborn encounters other adventurers, NPC's Salma and Beem-Ja, and they explore the area also. Without giving anything away, the story is pretty cool since it involves betrayal and treasure.
The location is in a pretty remote area, which is why it counts as a hidden quest. It can be difficult for low-level players to get to the area since it is shrouded by frost trolls, wolves, dragons, and sabre cats. Gamers can also get the "Become Ethereal" dragon shout at Ironbind Barrow.
15 Rise In The East
The giver of this quest is Orthus Endario, who is located in the East Empire Company office. The office can be found on the docks of Windhelm. He asks the Dragonborn for help dealing with some pirates called the Blood Horkers. Luckily, this is a marked quest, so once received, it is not hard to complete.
The only reason that the quest is often missed is that Orthus is in an out-of-the-way location. While the player can be rewarded with money, the more interesting reward is a follower by the name of Adelaisa Vendicci.
14 Repentance
This quest begins upon entering Darklight Tower when arriving gamers are approached by an NPC, Illia, who just killed a fellow witch. She was part of their coven but decided to rebel. Her mother, Silvia, is also part of the coven, and she wants the propagandist's help in getting to the top of the tower to stop her mother.
Upon completion of the quest, the reward is the mother's staff, "Staff of Hag's Wrath," which shares the effect of the spell "Wall of Flames." Do be careful, as Illia can die during the quest. However, the quest can still be completed without her.
13 Composure, Speed, And Precision
This unmarked quest is received by Angi at Angi's Camp. Unlike most of the hidden quests, this one is less life-and-death or solving mysteries and more along the lines of doing some archery tests. There are four tests that Angi sets up, also giving the player some practice arrows.
The first test is just about hitting three close targets, the second test is doing the same thing, but within an eight-second time limit, the third test is to hit the furthest target, and the last test is hitting all four targets in four seconds. The shout "Slow Time" is definitely advised for those having difficulty with time limits. Once completed, getting Angi's bow is the prize.
12 The Great Skyrim Treasure Hunt
With no stages or objectives, this quest is the most often ignored. After all, Skyrim is enormous. Finding a treasure map but getting no markers can be overwhelming. However, there are 11 maps in all. They are not randomized, and they can get the player valuable loot.
An important aspect of these maps to know is that the treasure is impossible to obtain without finding the treasure map first. The game made it so that the treasure chest does not spawn in its location until its corresponding map is obtained.
11 Forgotten Names
This quest is known as "hidden" since it never appears in the quest journal. Gamers will have to figure it out on their own, but it is not hard. An odd gauntlet can be discovered in The Midden Dark. If the player looks around, they can find an incident report and a key.
The report mentions rings that are missing and hidden around the Arcanaeum. Once the player finds and collects these onto the mysterious gauntlet, which will summon a dremora, Velehk Sain. Players get the choice of whether to set the dremora free, which gets a treasure map, or to kill it, which will get players a daedra heart.
10 The Ghost Of Old Hroldan
This quest is easy to miss, as it is located at a remote inn along the shores of the Karth River. The player is also required to sleep in Tiber Septim's room. Once these things are done, it then summons Old Hroldan's ghost. The ghost mistakes the Dragonborn for someone else and wants to bring back a sword to fulfill a promise.
The location of the sword is random, but common areas the sword may be are: Broken Tower Redoubt, Bruca's Leap Redoubt, Deepwood Redoubt, and Dragon Bridge Overlook, just to name a few. The reward for this quest is one-point bonuses to the player's one-handed and block skills.
9 The Pale Lady
To get this quest, players need to discover the Frostmere Crypt. The location is southwest of Dawnstar and not too far from the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon. The player receives this quest from a Nord bandit just outside the crypt named Eisa Blackthorn. If she survives being attacked by other bandits, she can talk to the player to give them the quest. If not, her body will have a journal that gives the quest instead.
The rest of the quest takes place within the crypt itself. It is also worth exploring the crypt to learn a new shout, as the location does have a Word Wall.
8 Vulthuryol
This dragon is one of the more difficult to find. It resides within the underground city of Blackreach. However, the dragon is not just there and waiting; it needs to be summoned.
To do this, players need to find a yellow orb that is above Blackreach's Debate Hall and Hall of Rumination. Then using Unrelenting Force on the orb, it will react like a gong and echo throughout the city. It is only through doing that then Vulthuryol will make an appearance. Know that this dragon cannot be tamed by the "will bend" shout, and it is best to tackle this dragon if gamers are past level 20.
7 The Ebony Warrior
This quest is only available to those with the Dragonborn DLC who have gotten their character to level 80. That is just the beginning, though, as this is known as one of the harder fights of the entire game.
The Ebony Warrior is an NPC that challenges the Dragonborn to a fight to the death. Despite him being such a tough enemy to defeat, he actually wants to lose, so his soul can go to Sovngarde. Once players are at level 80, the quest is not so hidden. He will appear in any major city.
6 Kyne's Sacred Trials
Gamers will need to travel to Froki's Shack, southwest of the Rift, to speak to Froki Whetted-Blade to activate this quest. Froki asks the Dragonborn to defeat seven guardian beasts in total. A really unique quest as each of these beasts is ghostly and some take some beating.
Upon completing the quest, the player will be rewarded with Kyne's Token, which will gift a 10% reduction of damage taken and a 5% increase in the power of bows. Perfect for a hunter.
5 A Night to Remember
Upon reaching level 14, the gamer can encounter Sam Guevenne in any random tavern, Sam will challenge the Dragonborn to a drinking contest. This results in a quest similar to that of the movie 'The Hangover' as the player looks to piece together what happened in the night.
This quest is an important one as the prize for completing it is a Daedric artifact, 'The Sanguine Rose,' which summons a Daedra to fight for the player for 60 seconds. It is also a step toward the Oblivion Walker achievement for collecting all Daedric artifacts.
4 The Book Of Love
Easily missed by the player as it can only be started by talking to Dinua Balu in the Temple of Mara in Riften when the Dragonborn asks for the Blessing of Mara.
Nothing is given in this game, and the player must complete a series of steps to receive the Agent of Mara blessing, which grants the user a permanent +15 of resist magic. Insaly useful in the game, so make sure to head to Riften and start this one.
3 The Dragon Bridge Crime Scene
Although this one isn't actually a quest, and it doesn't actually reward the user with any sort of item or ability, this is just a little easter egg that shows how much detail gets put into the game.
In what is a scene from CSI, a crime seems to have accured near Dragon Bridge in an unmarked location named the Ambushed Caravan. It is up to the user to decide what has happened and put together the pieces from the evidence, a true detective of Skyrim.
2 The Notched Pickaxe
Fans of Minecraft will love this little quest. Sitting at the top of the Throat of the World is the Notched Pickaxe, which is a reference to Minecraft and its creator, Notch.
But not only is this pickaxe just a nice easter egg, but it also has in-game advantages; the pickaxe grants the Dragonborn +5 towards Smithing, and when used as a weapon, it inflicts 5–7 shock damage in addition to its regular damage.
1 The Abandoned Prison
This abandoned, haunted, and half-flooded prison is not part of any marked quest line. In fact, there is not much to do there. However, exploring and learning what happened to the prison is fun. Players get to see ghosts and learn about what happened to them. There are books and notes left behind that are worth reading to discover the truth of what happened there.
Skyrim is available now on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.