The Hardest Dungeons In The Elder Scrolls Franchise, Ranked

The Elder Scrolls series is a long and proud lineage of some of the best open-world RPGs to date. While many games might take inspiration from this prestigious series of titles, few have managed to imitate that sense of wanderlust that every Elder Scrolls game manages to instill within the player.

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But where does this wanderlust lead players in the Elder Scrolls universe? Whether it's in the ashy wastes of Morrowind or one of the expansive regions of The Elder Scrolls Online, the answer is usually a dungeon of some kind. Maybe a long-forgotten crypt where a cabal of vampires nest, or an ancient dwarven ruin where the souls of obliterated Dwemer rest, and their brass machinations continue to scuttle and whir. Or maybe it's a cave with, like, seven bears inside. Whatever the case, these dungeons stand as some of the hardest and most brutal across the Elder Scrolls library.

5 Forelhost (The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim)

A Foreboding Crypt, Lengthy And Grim

Forelhost is a Nordic ruin found southeast of Riften, normally sticking out to any players who are exploring that region. From the outside, it seems like a standard-fare dungeon, but this crypt grows deceptively large as players continue to explore it, and it hosts the full gambit of Nordic temple foes within—Draugr, the restless spirits of long-dead dragon cultists, skeevers, and a much-feared Dragon Priest within the dungeon's innermost sanctum.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is known for its incredibly engaging side quests, and Forelhost is host to one if players have made some ground in the civil war. A general claiming to represent the player's faction wishes to examine the mask of the Dragon Priest within Forelhost, and this can be an excellent hook to get players to explore an incredibly enemy-heavy and maze-like ruin.

4 Coral Aerie (The Elder Scrolls Online)

A Lengthy Group Dungeon That Doesn't Pull Punches

The Elder Scrolls Online has a reputation for its incredibly difficult group dungeons on the higher end of its content. While there will always be content available for the average player running through dungeons they find through the dungeon finder or even the overworld, Coral Aerie is a group dungeon that takes the cake for being the most difficult, with its near unending slog of bosses and areas proving an incredible challenge, especially on veteran mode.

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Seven bosses, a mix of spell caster, debuff, tank, and DPS enemies, and only more difficulties on the higher challenge versions of this dungeon, Coral Aerie is a beautiful, but dangerous group dungeon that should only be tackled by those who have a good understanding of what sets best suit their classes.

3 Skuldafn (The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim)

Alduin's Base Of Operations On Mundus

Isolated from the rest of the realm, Skuldafn is only available as part of the main quest in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - and a late part of the main quest at that. It is where the fearsome Alduin plans on Mundus, but players are not here to fight him directly. Instead, Skuldafn has the portal to Sovengarde that players will need to enter in order to finally put an end to the threat that the world eater poses. But this is easier said than done, and Skuldafn is one of the hardest obstacles players will have to overcome in Skyrim.

Many high-tier Draugr cluster within the halls of this crypt, and the four isolated areas of this dungeon each hold a slew of potential threats. At higher levels of play, players can expect Draugr death lords, one of these creatures' most fearsome variants, to appear. The Dragon Priest Nahkriin waits at the temple's apex, resistant to all forms of damage to some degree and with many powerful spells at his disposal.

2 Castle Wayrest (The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall)

A Dungeon Hidden In Plain Sight

The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall took the Elder Scrolls franchise in many directions that it has not traveled since, offering a level of freedom and exploration on a scale that has not been matched by a game since, albeit with some very surface-level approaches to concepts that other games took on with more depth. Castle Wayrest has many guards who, regardless of the player's motive or affiliation with any of the broader factions at play, will always be hostile to them.

Castle Wayrest is the center of power in High Rock, and many treasures are held within, but whether players are going questing within its depths or thinking themselves enterprising thieves, they will have to deal with waves of incredibly high-powered guards, the strongest in the region, who will mercilessly attack players through its labyrinthine halls.

1 Fort Firemoth (The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind)

An Abandoned Fortress, Teeming With Undead

Fort Firemoth is available as an official plugin for the PC users of The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. Unfortunately, this means players taking on this game through consoles won't have access to the quest that grants access to the Firemoth Islands. Morrowind stands among some of the best classic RPGs of all time in no small part due to how it doesn't hold the player's hand, and that is epitomized by this Fort and the islands surrounding it.

Over 100 undead creatures in various forms lurk on this island and within the fort, a near-unending horde of skeletons that will continue to attack the player relentlessly. Even if players can overcome this army of undead, the lich controlling them, Grurn, is one of the game's strongest enemies and regenerates health at a rate rarely seen by any other enemy in the game.

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