Skyrim: Life After Alduin – What To Do After Beating The Main Quest
So, you’ve vanquished Alduin, the World-Eater, and saved Skyrim from imminent destruction. Congratulations, Dragonborn! But don’t think that’s the end of your adventure. Far from it! Skyrim is a vast and teeming province, brimming with quests, challenges, and secrets just waiting to be uncovered. The main quest is merely the beginning. After defeating Alduin, you have the freedom to truly forge your own legend. Focus on expanding your powers, exploring the world, completing side quests, and immersing yourself in the deep lore of this epic land.
Endless Possibilities: Forging Your Legend After Alduin
Skyrim’s true strength lies in its open-world nature. After the main quest, you can delve into several fulfilling opportunities, including:
- Completing Faction Questlines: The Companions, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and College of Winterhold offer substantial storylines, unique perks, and powerful rewards. Becoming the leader of these factions is a rewarding accomplishment in itself.
- Exploring the Dragonborn and Dawnguard DLCs: These expansions add massive new areas to explore, compelling storylines, and formidable enemies. Face off against Miraak, the first Dragonborn, in Solstheim or choose to become a vampire lord or vampire hunter in a battle against ancient evils.
- Becoming Thane of Every Hold: Each of Skyrim’s nine holds offers unique quests and rewards for becoming Thane, including the ability to purchase property and gain a personal housecarl.
- Crafting and Enchanting Powerful Gear: Dedicate yourself to mastering Smithing, Enchanting, and Alchemy. Create the ultimate set of armor and weapons, imbued with potent enchantments and enhanced by alchemical concoctions.
- Discovering Daedric Artifacts: Embark on quests for the Daedric Princes and claim their powerful and often morally ambiguous artifacts.
- Exploring Ancient Ruins and Dungeons: Skyrim is littered with ancient Nordic ruins, Dwemer cities, and forgotten crypts, each filled with treasures, traps, and challenging enemies.
- Hunting Hidden Bosses: Throughout Skyrim’s vast wilderness, you can encounter various optional bosses like Karstaag or the Ebony Warrior. These tough battles are for seasoned warriors.
- Building Your Dream Home: With the Hearthfire DLC, you can purchase land and build your own customizable house, complete with gardens, crafting stations, and even a family.
- Roleplaying and Immersion: Simply living in Skyrim, embracing your chosen character’s personality, and making choices based on their motivations can lead to countless hours of engaging gameplay.
- Modding: The PC version of Skyrim has a thriving modding community that can drastically alter and expand the game, adding new quests, items, characters, and even entire new lands to explore. The possibilities are virtually endless.
Essentially, after defeating Alduin, Skyrim transforms from a quest to save the world into a platform for limitless self-directed adventure. You are the Dragonborn, and the fate of Skyrim, beyond the immediate dragon threat, rests in your hands.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Post-Alduin Skyrim
Here are 15 frequently asked questions about life in Skyrim after completing the main quest, providing even deeper insights into the game’s vast potential.
1. Can I still play Skyrim after beating the main story?
Absolutely! Skyrim doesn’t end when you defeat Alduin. The game encourages you to continue exploring, completing side quests, and experiencing everything else the world has to offer.
2. Are there still dragons after defeating Alduin?
Yes! While the frequency might decrease slightly, dragons continue to spawn after Alduin’s defeat. This is especially true if you haven’t completed the Dragonborn DLC, where dragons play a significant role. This allows you to continue using your Dragonborn abilities and improve those skills.
3. What is the hardest quest in Skyrim after the main questline?
Many consider quests like “The Ebony Warrior” (a high-level encounter) or “No Stone Unturned” (requiring finding all 24 Stones of Barenziah) to be among the most challenging. Certain Daedric quests also present difficult moral choices and combat encounters.
4. How long would it take to truly 100% complete Skyrim?
Achieving true 100% completion in Skyrim, including all quests, locations, achievements, and skill mastery, can take well over 200 hours, even for experienced players. The sheer volume of content is staggering.
5. Is Miraak the true final boss of Skyrim?
No. Miraak is the final boss of the Dragonborn DLC, not the entire game. He offers a challenging fight and a compelling storyline, but he’s just one piece of the larger Skyrim experience.
6. What should I do with Paarthurnax after defeating Alduin?
This is a controversial decision. The Blades want you to kill Paarthurnax because of his past, while others argue for his continued existence. The choice is yours and will have consequences, primarily affecting your relationship with the Blades.
7. What happens if I finish every quest in Skyrim?
While completing every named quest is possible, Skyrim’s radiant quest system means there are always new, randomly generated quests available. True “completion” is therefore technically impossible, but completing all the major questlines brings a great sense of accomplishment.
8. What are some good ways to spend my gold after beating the main quest?
Invest in property, purchase rare ingredients or training from skill trainers, commission powerful enchanted items, or simply hoard it as a testament to your wealth and success. Having a large amount of gold at your disposal makes acquiring almost anything easier, and will significantly change your gameplay.
9. What is the maximum level I can reach in Skyrim?
There is no level cap in the unmodded version of Skyrim. You can theoretically level up infinitely by continuing to improve your skills.
10. Are there any missable quests or items in Skyrim?
Some quests can become unavailable if you make certain choices during the Civil War questline or other branching storylines. Certain unique items may also be unobtainable if you don’t acquire them during specific quests.
11. What are some of the best mods to enhance the post-game Skyrim experience?
Popular mods include those that add new quests, areas, characters, and gameplay mechanics. Mods that improve graphics, performance, and immersion are also highly recommended. Mods can completely change the landscape of the game.
12. Can I still get Dragon Shouts after defeating Alduin?
Yes! Dragon Shouts are found throughout Skyrim, regardless of whether you’ve completed the main quest. Explore ancient ruins, delve into dungeons, and seek out Word Walls to learn new and powerful shouts.
13. What is the best race to play in Skyrim?
The “best” race depends on your preferred playstyle. Nords are strong warriors, Bretons are skilled mages, and Khajiit are adept at stealth. Ultimately, choose the race that appeals to you the most.
14. Where can I find the most challenging enemies after beating Alduin?
The Dragonborn DLC offers some of the toughest enemies, including Miraak and powerful dragons. Certain high-level dungeons and locations also contain formidable foes. The world scales to your level, so there will always be enemies to match your power.
15. What is the best way to roleplay in Skyrim after completing the main quest?
Develop a detailed backstory for your character, make choices based on their personality and motivations, and immerse yourself in the world. Join factions that align with your character’s values and pursue goals that are meaningful to them. This is how you can extend the life of the game indefinitely.
Skyrim is much more than just a game with an ending. It’s a world that you can continuously live in and explore with no end in sight. The Games Learning Society is a great resource to further research other ways to utilize games and their learning capabilities. Visit GamesLearningSociety.org to discover how games can be used for educational purposes.
So, go forth, Dragonborn! Your legend is just beginning.