Dragons were central to the plot ofSkyrim, having returned to Tamriel after disappearing from the land during the reign of Tiber Septim. Although the last mainElder Scrollsgame focused heavily on dragons, that does not mean that they should be absent fromThe Elder Scrolls 6.
In fact, the lack of focus on dragons inThe Elder Scrolls 6’s main plot could allow for encounters with the creatures to be made far more interesting and story-driven in the next game. Here’s how the nextElder Scrollsshould handle dragons, and why dragon encounters could end up being more interesting after the Dragonborn’s story has come to an end.
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Dragons in Skyrim
The vast majority of the dragons seen inSkyrimare random world encounters.As the Dragonborn increases in power, so too do the dragons that appear to attack the Dragonborn. As the game goes on and the player levels up they are exposed to increasingly powerful types of dragons, with their own unique looks and shouts.
While there are a few dragons inSkyrimwho can befound perched on Word Wallsinstead of appearing as part of a random world event, there are very few dragon encounters in unique lairs or at the end of story-driven questlines. Most dragons just appear overhead before attacking the player character. The game’s randomly generated dragons are scripted to appear after a certain amount of time has passed since the last dragon encounter, often appearing directly after the player fast travels to a new location.
This kind of randomly generated dragon system was necessary inSkyrimfor a few reasons. Most importantly, killing dragons was the only way to attain dragon souls, which could then be spent tolearn new words of power. Without an essentially infinite supply of randomly generated dragons, it would be far harder for the player to progress through one ofSkyrim’s main mechanics. This also partially necessitated the ability for dragons to appear and attack anywhere inSkyrim’s open world, otherwise hunting down dragons would risk becoming a burden for players who wanted to learn new shouts.
The Elder Scrolls 6will almostcertainly not star the Dovahkiin as its protagonist, but if it follows the pattern established in the series so far it will take place after the events ofSkyrim. This means that dragons will have returned to Tamriel, but will likely be far less central to the next game’s main story and principle mechanics. This provides Bethesda with an opportunity to create some interesting dragon encounters inThe Elder Scrolls 6that could be far more unique than the randomly generated encounters needed inSkyrim.
The Last Dragons
The dragons encountered inThe Elder Scrolls 6might have a unique place in the lore after the events ofSkyrim. If the Dragonborn defeatedAlduin inSkyrimand chose not to kill Parthurnaax, then Parthurnaax will express a desire to spread the peaceful teachings of the Way of the Voice to the rest of his kind.
Without shouts,The Elder Scrolls 6won’t need aSkyrim-style randomly generated dragon system. As such the few dragons that appear in the next game should have more unique characterizations and lair designs. Alduin’s defeat could mean thatThe Elder Scrolls 6’s dragons will be more peaceful, or at least reasonable, than the ones that returned inSkyrim.It is unlikely, however, thatParthurnaaxwill have been able to overcome every dragon’s innate draw towards domination before the events of the next game.
Players should come across far fewer dragons inThe Elder Scrolls 6, but those dragons that do appear should be far more integrated into specific areas and questlines. Players might, for example, explore aDwemer ruinwhere a dragon who survived the return of the Dragonborn has been hiding among the automatons, and maybe even augmented itself with Dwemer technology. If the game is set in somewhere like Hammerfell or High Rock, players could find a single dragon that took refuge in the mountains, is harassing a village, and needs to be tracked down before being slain or reasoned with.
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Fighting Dragons
The next game’s dragon encounters should be far more intimidating that the relatively repetitive and unchallenging dragon encounters found inSkyrim. While the Dragonborn was sought out by dragons as they travelled the world, theprotagonist ofThe Elder Scrolls 6should have to explore dangerous ruins and hunt across wild landscapes to track down one of the rare remaining creatures.
There are also many ways dragon fights could be improved inThe Elder Scrolls 6. Despite beinga huge part ofSkyrim’s story, fighting dragons in the last game wasn’t particularly different from many other combat encounters in the world, and was mostly a war of attrition. The Dragonborn might unlock a final killing blow animation that involved them climbing on the dragon’s back, for example, but there was no way to climb dragons during a fight.
Despite their legendary status, most of the dragons inSkyrimare also far smaller than the ones fans of the franchise would later encounter inThe Elder Scrolls Online. The villain of theElsweyrandDragonholdexpansions was a dragon named Kaalgrontiid. AlthoughElder Scrolls Onlinewould also include dragons as part of world events similar toSkyrim’s generated dragons, Kaalgrontiid provides a good example of what a post-Skyrimdragon could look like.
Kaalgrontiidis a colossal jade elder dragon, giving him a distinct look that involves huge gem-like protrusions on his body. UnlikeSkyrim’s randomly generated dragons, he is attached to a unique storyline, and poses a unique threat that few dragons did inSkyrimbeyond Alduin himself.
The dragons who appear inThe Elder Scrolls 6should have their own lairs, individual characterizations, and new boss fight mechanics. They should also be extremely uncommon, allowingBethesdathe chance to attach them to unique stories, environments, and decisions. Ironically, this could make dragon encounters in the next game far more interesting than the ones found inSkyrim, and could helpThe Elder Scrolls 6step out of the last game’s shadow.
