#1: Bloodskal Blade
Bloodskal Blade is a two-handed sword found in Raven Rock mine in Solstheim by accepting the quest “The Final Descent.”
This sword’s base damage is 21, which isn’t bad, but the real glory of this weapon is its unique enchantment, which fires a powerful energy wave that staggers all enemies it hits.
This makes for a great defense against archers and mages as it allows you to stagger ranged attackers and close the distance between you and them before they can let off any more attacks.
It also works very well on groups, with one energy wave being able to hit multiple targets if they’re positioned in your favor. On top of everything else, the energy waves this sword emits still damage opponents while using the become ethereal shout, leading to brief overpowered immortality!
#2: Mace of Molag Bal
This mace has a base damage of 16, putting it one damage less than a dragon-bone mace.
This mace’s utility comes from its enchantment, which deals with twenty-five points of damage to stamina and Magicka. While not always as good as direct health damage, it does make sure enemies with shields can’t block for long and enemy mages can’t cast.
Additionally, this works as a soul trapping weapon, securing your opponent’s soul for you should you kill them shortly after hitting them with this mace, meaning you never have to worry about running out of charge in your enchanted weapons.
It’s highly recommended to pair this weapon with Azura’s Star to always have some way to catch the stronger souls you come across without weighing down your pockets with dozens of black soul gems.
You can find this Daedric artifact by doing the quest “The House Of Horrors” accepted by going to the abandoned house in Markarth.
#3: Ebony Blade
The Ebony Blade is obtained through the quest “The Whispering Door” in Whiterun; the quest can be accepted by asking Hulda in the Bannered Mare if she has heard any rumors lately after you reach level twenty and complete a preceding quest.
With a base damage of Eleven, this two-handed sword doesn’t appear incredibly powerful initially, but its enchantment fixes that quickly.
The enchantment absorbs ten points health on hit at first but becomes more powerful every two friendly NPC’s you kill, friendly usually being those you have done a task or quest for.
The enchantment lets you upgrade it with up to ten murders; this culminates into thirty points of health drained per hit for a total of forty-one damage.
The best part about this sword is that even though it’s two-handed, the ebony blade lets you swing as fast as a one-handed sword, so you can sometimes drain health more quickly than the enemy can hurt you.
#4: Long Hammer
No quest is attached to this weapon; it’s found in Liar’s Retreat next to its owner’s body.
The base damage is 21, which is somewhat low for a Warhammer, but the enchantment of 30% increased attack speed gives it the best DPS out of any two-handed weapon.
However, the enchantment doesn’t count as an enchantment, meaning you can use the Elemental Fury shout to attain a 130% attack speed increase giving you the highest DPS in the game barring the use of enchanting exploits.
Coming back to the “doesn’t count as an enchantment” part, this means along with the attack speed, you can still add up to two other enchantments, giving this hammer a lot of potentials to be the most potent weapon in the game.
Do keep in mind, though, that with enchantments, you can no longer use Elemental Fury on the hammer, so just make sure the enchantments you put are worth the transition.
#5: Dawnbreaker
“A new hand touches the beacon!” A line that starts a quest I’m sure most Skyrim fans are tired of by now. Despite the annoyance of the quest that gets you this sword, Dawnbreaker itself is pretty impressive.
It has a base damage of twelve with an extra ten points of fire damage per swing.
Still, its true specialty comes with fighting the undead, causing them to explode into a cascading fireball that can either destroy or turn away all nearby undead.
After completing the infamous quest “The Breaking Dawn,” this sword will be a valuable ally in most Dragur tombs.
#6: Zephyr
Zephyr is a bow found during the quest “Lost to the Ages,” shown to you by your ghost companion at the time, Katria.
It has a base damage of twelve, sitting it a bit behind other bows you can find later in the game, but once again, the enchantment makes this weapon very worth it.
The unique enchantment makes the bow fire 30% faster than other bows, causing its DPS to be far higher than most bows around the same damage.
Mixing this with the “Quickshot” perk and further enchanting the Zephyr can quickly turn it from a pretty good bow to an end game bow.
#7: Nightingale Bow
Part of the beautiful Nightingale set and acquired through the Thieves Guild quest “Blindsighted,” this bow has a base damage of twenty, and while that is one less than a dragon-bone bow, it fires very quickly, giving it the higher DPS of the two.
The enchantment on this weapon is stronger the higher your level is when you find it, so if you find it at level forty-six or higher the enchantment will be at max strength doing thirty points of frost damage to health and stamina as well as fifteen points of shock damage to health and Magicka.
This can get you a total of sixty-five damage plus your arrows damage. The icing on the cake here is that thirty points of frost damage, as that slows anything that isn’t resistant to ice, making kiting far easier against any melee opponents.
#8: Auriel’s Bow
A mighty bow and most important artifact in the main Dawnguard questline, Auriel’s bow has some unique powers. It starts with a base damage of 13 but weighs half of what a dragon-bone bow does, so it fires much faster.
Its enchantment is an extra twenty points of sun damage to any target and sixty points of sun damage to undead, meaning under the right conditions, a single arrow from this bow can do more than seventy damage.
On top of that, you can get special arrows after completing the Dawnguard questline, the Sunhallowed arrows, and the Bloodcursed arrows.
The Sunhallowed, when shot at the sun, rains down a bombardment of sunlight dealing severe damage to anything hit, while the Bloodcursed arrows block out the sun allowing vampires to wander the daylight without their crippling sun debuffs.
#9: Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow
This crossbow can only be found after completing all six “Ancient Technology” quests, but being one of the best-ranged weapons in the game is very worthwhile.
The Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow does twenty-two base damage and resists 50% of all armor, already making it hit incredibly hard. Still, it also gets access to elemental bolts that can further the base damage to around thirty-seven, and that’s before any enchantments, or special crafting is done!
#10: The Wabbajack
The Wabbajack is a weird one. It is acquired from the quest “The Mind of Madness” in Solitude by speaking to Dervenin near the blue palace, and being the artifact of the Daedric Prince of madness; it is a little unpredictable.
This staff can put almost any magical effect on any NPC the blast hits, which means using this weapon has an inherent risk. That risk almost always pays off in the end, though, sure. You can accidentally heal the enemy back up to full health with one cast, but the next cast can disintegrate them.
Anything from turning someone into a chicken to a regular fiery explosion can happen at random, and while I’m sure that might sound stressful or bad, this staff does make for a handy and powerful offhand weapon.
#11: Blade of Woe
The Blade of Woe can be found in several ways. However, the most common is to get it from Astrid at the end of the quest “Death Incarnate.”
The dagger has twelve base damage, same as the dragon-bone daggers, along with ten points of health absorption giving it twenty-two total base damage.
But that isn’t what makes this weapon worth using; the reason is the Blade of Woe has the highest damage benefit from the sneaking perk “Assassin’s Blade,” which multiplies your sneak attacks by fifteen. With that perk added on, each sneak attack deals upwards of one-hundred-and-eighty damage, not leaving very many things left in the world that can survive a backstab from you minus some dragons or giants.
#12: Chillrend
This is another sword whose enchantment grows with your level until you find it; this sword is most powerful if you find it at or over level forty-six.
It has a base damage of fifteen but at max power adds on thirty points of frost damage that hits health and stamina; this makes Chillrend a great weapon against shielded opponents. However, the icing on the cake is the chance to paralyze enemies on each hit for two seconds.
This can become very broken depending on how lucky you are, as at times before an NPC can stand back up, the paralyze effect will hit them again, turning a fight into a slaughter in most one on one situations. You can find this sword in Riftweald Manor during the Thieves Guild quest “The Pursuit” in an expert display case.
#13: Mehrunes Razor
Mehrunes razor is probably the coolest looking dagger in the game! Obtained from the quest “Pieces of the Past” by helping out the Museum in Dawnstar, this dagger has a base damage of eleven and an extraordinary enchantment.
Every time the dagger strikes something, it has a 2% chance to instantly kill the target, and while that doesn’t make it as reliable as the Blade of Woe, it can potentially be just as if not more useful.
Any large creature you fight in Skyrim will have ample health to strike through, especially on greater difficulties, and that is what Mehrunes Razor is great at. Enemies you have to attack for a prolonged period have a greater chance of being instantly put out of commission.
#14: Bloodscythe and Soulrender
These swords are unique in that you need to duel wield them for their enchantments to work.
Both sport base damage of thirteen, and each has a chance to chip down at different defenses with every attack. Soulrender absorbs fifteen points of Magicka and has a chance to lower the target’s magic defense, while Bloodscythe absorbs fifteen health and has an opportunity to lower the target’s armor.
Together they can be a major damper on any mages near you. They can be found in possession of the spirit Haknir Death-Brand in Gyldenhul Barrow at the end of the “Deathbrand.”
#15: Nightingale Blade
Found in the thieves guild quest “Hard answers,” this is one of the game’s best swords.
It starts with a base damage of 14, which is on par with Daedric swords, and it has an enchantment that is leveled depending on your level when you get it. At level forty-six or higher, it absorbs twenty-five points of health and stamina per swing.
With an enchantment like that, there aren’t very many people that can block your attacks for long before you deplete their stamina, and while not as effective as the Ebony Blade, it can still keep you healed through an impressive amount of damage without much worry.
#16: Windshear
Arguably the strongest weapon in the game due to its enchantment, Windshear can be found on a ship called “The Katariah” during or after completing the Dark Brotherhood quest “Hail Sithis!”
The sword’s damage isn’t impressive, with its base being eleven, but the enchantment is what makes it powerful. The enchantment says it’s supposed to have a 30% chance of knocking enemies down with bash attacks, but what isn’t listed is that anything this sword hit is staggered.
From your average bandit to the biggest dragon, this sword will stagger it every hit and keep it in a state of forever-stagger until you kill the enemy no matter how strong they were. With a power like that, it is easy to see why some people say this is the strongest weapon in the game despite its lower damage output.
