Relic Hunter Guide

Legacy of the Dragonborn
Relic Hunter Guide

Aim to explore and discover lost places, artifacts and history, Build the guild house from the ground up as the guild master, then recruit new members, each with their own unique back stories and special guild functions. Explore ruins and excavate relic fragments to re-assemble into artifacts to display in the museum. Set up a guild store with the quartermaster and much more.

General recommendations

Please keep in mind these three rules when playing Legacy of the Dragonborn in order to guarantee the most stable experience possible:

1) Do not add or remove mods after starting a playthrough.

2) Do not use console commands unless instructed to do so by a developer.

3) Save your game regularly using hard saves.

Tips

1) Write down the order you should do quests to prevent any items being missed (check the Missable Items list below).

2) Do not let any named non-essential NPCs die beyond scripted or mandatory deaths. Many NPCs are needed for quests and if they die, their quests and therefore any items that would be obtained during them also become unavailable. For example, after a dragon attack use the Detect Dead Spell to check if any NPC died, if they did, reload a previous save.

3) Frequently return to Auryen and do the Finder's Keepers and Research Project Quests as much as possible, but do beware if they send you to an area that would ruin the order you made on point 1. Either ask Auryen for a new relic or load a previous save (in the case of Research Project).

4) Due to the nature of Legacy of the Dragonborn, a follower is strongly advised to carry extra items and/or other materials you may need. Items, Powers and Skill perks that increase carry weight are also advised.

5) Frequently visit Blacksmiths to obtain weapons, armor and/or materials to fill out the Armory.

6) Once accessible frequently visit the Arcanaeum for rare books to fill out the Library.

7) Level up your Pickpocketing Skill Tree as fast as possible for perks like Extra Pockets, Misdirection and Perfect Touch as well as the Poisoned Perk to be able to use a trick to get items that are too valuable and therefore normally would always have a 0% chance to pickpocket.

8) Obtain the Malrus' Codex as soon as possible, it gives many benefits to supported mods like Skyrim Unique Treasures, Aetherial Weapons and Armor and Fossil Mining.

9) If you have the Fossil Mining Mod, periodically visit the hot springs area in the Eastmarch hold and mine the 10 fossil excavations sites scattered throughout the area, each guarantees 2 fossils minimum and a decent chance at the rarest fossils (takes 30 in-game days to respawn).

Missable Items

Each of these locations can either only be visited once or the relics will despawn after your first visit. They will be lost forever if they are not obtained during your first (and last) visit.

Sovngarde
Roasted Ox Head
Roasted Ox Leg
Nord Head (requires BadGremlin's Trophy Heads, the main quest completed esp on BadGremlins Trophy Heads mod page places the head atop the Throat of the World instead)

Skuldafn
Jade Priest
Dragon Priest Staff (Wall of Lightning) (you must let Nahkriin take it from the seal so you can loot it and thus make the replica later.)
Nahkriin
Nahkriin's Gloves (requires Konahrik's Accoutrements)
Nahkriin's Robes (requires Konahrik's Accoutrements)
Nahkriin's Greaves (requires Konahrik's Accoutrements)
Cloak of Nahkriin
Orc Head
Dovah Luv (Technically also obtainable at player level 75 via smithing. Requires Jaysus Swords)

Irkngthand
Left Eye of the Falmer
Right Eye of the Falmer

Labyrinthian
Drainspell Bow
Drainheart Sword
Morokei
Morokei's Gloves (requires Konahrik's Accoutrements)
Morokei's Robes (requires Konahrik's Accoutrements)
Morokei's Greaves (requires Konahrik's Accoutrements)
Cloak of Morokei
If either of the masks Morokei or Nahkriin are missed, Konahrik becomes unavailable. Without Kohnarik, most items from Konahrik's Accoutrements become unobtainable.

Bloated Man's Grotto (except during 'Ill Met by Moonlight')
Bolar's Oathblade (except during Ill Met by Moonlight)

Any Orc Stronghold, except Largashbur
The Forgemaster's Fingers (Not obtainable if you are an Orc) (As of V5.0.29, the replica recipe is set to activate once you become an Orc Friend via any means)

Hag's End
Ancient Shrouded Armor (not obtainable if you decided to destroy the Brotherhood or neglect to kill Giaus Maro in public)

Japhet's Folly
Jade Lady

Pelagius' Mind
Jyggalag's Sword

Shadowgreen Cavern
Claws of Hiefnir (requires Artifacts of Skyrim)

Serpent's Bluff Ruins
Ghazorah's Inferno (requires Artifacts of Skyrim)

Falskaar
Vanvir's Masterpiece (requires Falskaar) (the player must be Level 60 or higher in the Two-Handed Skill to receive it as a reward from a quest)

Others
The Relics added by Wintersun - Faiths of Skyrim (Goblet of Infinite Grace, Ebony Raven, Tempus Dominus, Lantern of the Ancestors and Stone of the Forebears), only 1 of each spawns per playthrough in a random Boss chest determined upon the start of a new game, including chests that may be in any of the locations above that cannot be visited after

Quests to postpone

• Ill Met by Moonlight
  • Bolar's Oathblade despawns during this quest. Travel before beginning or after completing the hunt to Bloated Man's Grotto.
  • If you choose to save Sinding, you will not be able to craft Savior's Hide (Replica). Therefore it is advised to kill & skin Sinding, since you will still be able to craft Ring of Hircine (Replica).
• A Daedra's Best Friend
  • If you kill Barbas, the Masque of Clavicus Vile becomes unobtainable, nor can you craft the replica. It is therefor advised to save Barbas, since that will allow you to obtain the masque and craft The Rueful Axe (Replica).
• Lost to the Ages
  • This quest requires you to travel to Raldbthar where it is very hard to avoid fighting Alain Dufont. Killing him during this quest instead of during 'Mourning Never Comes' will result in Muiri's Ring being unobtainable.
• Find the Helm of Winterhold
  • If the Helm of Winterhold spawns in Yngol Barrow, the Helm of Yngol will be replaced and therefore unobtainable.
  • Make absolutely sure you get the Helm of Yngol before you talk to Jarl Korir.
• Civil War
  • It is recommended that you become Thane of every hold before completing the Civil War questline, as siding with either the Empire or the Stormcloaks will make certain quests and unique items unavailable.
  • Finishing this questline will change guards in some holds, making their outfits unobtainable.
  • If you side with the Empire:
    • Maven Black-Briar will become Jarl of Riften. She will not give you the option to become Thane of Riften if you have completed the 'The Raid' prior to siding with the Empire.
    • Jarl Korir will not be available for the aforementioned Helm of Winterhold quest.
    • 'Blood on the Ice' cannot be started, making the Necromancer's Amulet unobtainable. You may be able to start this quest by purchasing Hjerim and entering the home.
  • If you side with the Stormcloaks:
    • Thongvor will become Jarl of Markarth. He will not give you the option to collect Hrolfdir's Shield.
• Season Unending
  • Will cause certain Jarls to step down making their quests unavailable and change the outfits of town guards, making them unobtainable.
• Dawnguard
  • Only for users of Royal Armory. This quest usually starts at level 10, and destroys the Hall of the Vigilant, meaning you cannot get Keeper Carcette's unique mace Pendulum.
• To Kill an Empire
  • After the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary is destroyed at the conclusion of this quest, Greigor will be no longer be available to start the quest 'The Hand of Glory.'
• Revealing the Unseen
  • If you are using Royal Armory, the Dagger of Shalidor will no longer be obtainable after this quest.

Archeology

Getting your archeology skill up is a major part of a relic hunter run. As soon as you get your Explorer's Society guild house, you have acces to the special skill trees. Look out for excavation dig sites in every dungeon, they yield important fragments for your Hall of Lost Empires. The amount of fragments you need for every craftable item are listed below. Note that these numbers would require over 250 minings to get (without the perks).

Besides mining, the player can send 4 Explorer Society Guild members on excavations (Eriana cannot be sent out) every 3 days to collect fragments. They collect about 5 - 6 pieces each with a decent chance to get keystones.

One other alternative are quests, as both Tools of the Trade and The Excavation of the Ruins of Rkund offer many fragments as a reward.

	Fragment	Keystone
Dwemer	385	28
Falmer	365	24
Nordic	365	24

Dawnguard vs Volkihar Clan

Not sure what side holds the most relics for you to display? They're listed below.

Dawnguard
Staff of Ruunvald

Note: The Dwemer Crossbow schematics are made available to Vampires by Legacy of the Dragonborn through the Ancient Technology quest.

With V5 of Legacy of the Dragonborn, all artifacts should be obtainable regardless of which side you pick.

Other quest choices

Amulets of Skyrim users can only obtain the Amulet of the Rueful Axe by killing Barbas, and users who spare Barbas can acquire the Amulet of Clavicus Vile by exchanging the Masque of Clavicus Vile at a forge for the amulet.

Helpful mods

Keep in mind these mods are not officially endorsed by the developers.

• The Get Both Rewards Series

Allows you to get both artifacts from quests where you would normally have to choose only one of two.

• Clan Volkihar Epilogues (Classic only)

Allows you to get both side's artifacts from the Dawnguard quest chains. A third party legacy patch exists for this mod, be sure to get it.

• Royal Armory Tweaks and Fixes

Makes some Royal Armory artifacts like Dagger of Shalidor and Pendulum more accessible, and all artifacts are slightly easier to pickpocket.

• Smart Training - Tweaked SE

Keeps your unused training sessions for later. Good if you are looking to boost your pickpocket to high levels to get equipped artifacts, or activating the skill related displays.

• NPC Bartering

If you would rather barter with people for their items, NPC Bartering allows you to do just that [Note: unknown if NPCs will sell their weapon].

• moreHUD SE and moreHUD Inventory Edition

Will show books as having been read or not simply by hovering the cursor over them in the world.

• Unread Books Glow

This mod allows you to quickly scan bookcases etc for unread books, without having to hover over every book individually. Note: In Classic this mod is known to make Calcemo's note during Much Ado About Snow Elves appear blank.

• Atlas Map Markers for Skyrim Blackreach Dawnguard and Dragonborn

This mod adds over 700 new map markers, allowing you to bypass the usual once-per-playthrough restrictions on Japhet's Folly and Skuldafn, should you miss any of the artifacts at either location.

• Amulets of Skyrim - Tweaks and Fixes

This mod adds new locations to many of the items added by the Amulets of Skyrim SSE mod that become unavailable due to player choice, such as the Dragon Priest amulets/rings (of which only one can be obtained due to only one of each Dragon Priest mask being available per playthrough).