There is a reason that even after ten years, countless RPG fans are still playing Skyrim. There are over 270 quests in the base game alone making it have more replayability than almost any other game on the market. With countless mods and several DLC packs, it's hard to find a game with more to do in it than Skyrim.
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There are many boss battles in the game but few are quite as difficult as defeating the Ebony Warrior. The quest to take on this powerful warrior is only available to those with the Dragonborn add-on and will push players to their limits to take him down.
Players will have to grind until they reach level 80 before the Ebony Warrior will even appear. Once players enter a Hold after reaching that level, he will appear there to speak with the player. Sometimes the game can get confused and send him to the wrong place, so if players don't see him they can search for him in the following locations.
- Falkreath, by the Hold entrance
- Markarth, outside The Warrens
- Riften, outside The Scorched Hammer, by the forge
- Solitude, by the Hall of the Dead
- Whiterun, by the Hold gates
- Windhelm, behind Candlehearth Hall
Once players encounter the Ebony Warrior, he will issue the player a challenge. "The time has come. I have done all that can be done. There is nothing left. No quests to be undertaken. No villains to be slain. No challenges to face. Except for you. You are my last challenge. Only you can send me to Sovngarde with honor. Make your preparations. When you are ready, come find me at my last vigil."
Players will need to find the Last Vigil before they can help send this brave warrior to Sovngarde. It's located in the Velothi Mountains, but players looking for a faster way to get there can fast travel to Fort Green and head northeast or go to the Ruunvald Excavation and head southeast. When players arrive he should be standing in the mostly empty camp, waiting for them.
This battle is not only difficult, but it's also almost downright unfair (he literally has a perk to deal extra damage that players cannot get). He has 50% resistance to poison, fire, frost, and shock damage. He's not only immune to the Wabbajack, but multiple shouts also have no effect on him. These include:
- Ash Shell
- Bend Will
- Dead Thrall
- Disarm
- Ice Form
- Paralyze
- Soul Tear
- Vampiric Grip
- Whirlwind Cloak
His signature ebony armor also grants him massive defense bonuses that can be difficult to overcome for those unprepared. He also carries five potions of vigorous healing which he will use to make it harder for the player to deal the final blow. He can even deal damage to players when they hit him as he has the Reflect Blows perk.
He's not only a defensive powerhouse, he can absolutely decimate players and make himself even harder to kill. Close Wounds and Ironflesh can make damaging him difficult, and that's when he isn't surrounded by a Frost Cloak. He doesn't even fight alone as he can conjure a Storm Atronach and can even cast Command Daedra.
If that wasn't enough, players have to be prepared for an opponent that can use shouts against them. Be it the Fus Roh Dah of Unrelenting Force or the Zun Haal Viik of Disarm, players won't want to get hit by these long-distance attacks.
There are thankfully ways to get the upper hand. The Ebony Warrior won't start attacking the player unless they try to strike first, allowing those with enough stealth to sneak up on him and steal as many items as they can to even the odds.
Warning: on PC, sometimes doing this will result in him still having all of the items equipped once the battle begins. This does let the player loot the items off of his corpse a second time if they defeat him, but reduces the advantage going into the fight.
Players should try to keep their distance while avoiding the paralysis that can be caused by the warrior's bow. If the warrior can close in, players are in for a load of pain. It is not recommended under any circumstances to take him head-on with melee damage. They. Will. Lose. If his added damage doesn't stop them, his vampiric sword surely will.
Players need to make sure they can deal fire damage in some way, as even with his resistance to fire damage, it can help slowly drain his life away. Players can use their own bow to do this or cast fire or explosive spells to try can get the damage ticking away. Using the full Dragon Aspect shout can also help give players a small edge.
There are a few ways to try and make the fight a bit easier with a little bit of cheese. No, not literal cheese, just some strategies that somewhat break the fight. As an example, the only damage that the Ebony Warrior has no resistance to is fall damage, so players can find ways to repeatedly shove him over a ledge to deal large swaths of damage.
If players can use Gol Hah Dov, otherwise known as Bend Will, they have the potential to ride dragons into battle. They not only can manage to deal tons of damage with their fire breath but also can keep the player high enough away from the battlefield to make it so their opponent has a hard time hitting them with anything but their bow.
There's also one last option but it takes a lot of luck. If the player has Mehrunes' Razor, they have a 1.98% of defeating the Ebony Warrior in a single hit. Players can also attempt to combine a sneak attack using Valdr's Lucky Dagger (which has a 25% chance of having a critical hit) with a Shrouded Glove enchantment, and the Assasin's Blade perk to try and end the battle in a single blow. If players are orcs, they can even add on the Berserker Rage power to make their attack even more overpowered.
However players take down this incredible warrior, they will receive a massive amount of incredible rewards. These include:
- Black Soul Gem (Grand)
- Daedra Heart
- Ebony Armor of Regeneration
- Ebony Boots of Frost Suppression
- Ebony Bow of Winter
- Ebony Gauntlets of Extreme Wielding
- Ebony Helmet of Waterbreathing
- Ebony Shield of Fire Suppression
- Ebony Sword of the Vampire
- Human Heart
- Necklace of Shock Suppression
- One flawless gem of each type
- Ring of Peerless Wielding
There are few enemies in the game strong than the Ebony Warrior. Anyone that defeats him should feel an immense sense of pride and revel in their rewards.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
