From the moment you slay your first dragon (most likely in the outskirts of Whiterun) you start accumulating dragon bones.
Maybe you have experience with RPGs and realize right away what they’re for. Or perhaps you just pick them up and haul them back because, well, they were dropped by a dragon.
It must be important, right?
Well, yeah! The Dragonbone weapon family is easily the most powerful of them all. If you have enough carry weight to haul around these heavy weapons, they’ll serve you like nothing else on the battlefield.
Still, there are always some ways to improve a weapon – especially with the help of mods.
Whether you want more power, high-res textures, or a totally new design, here are some mods to help customize your Dragonbone equipment.
One item that has always bothered me profoundly in the Dragonbone family is the arrow, which features a three-pronged fork arrowhead that makes no sense unless you’re hunting fish.
Do you know how arrows kill? They make holes in vital organs.
Do you know what a three-pronged arrowhead won’t let it do? Penetrate more than one or two centimeters.
I get that Bethesda wanted it to look primal and dangerous, but this is just immersion-breaking.
This mod by Jokerine quickly fixes the issue by replacing the original trident arrowhead with a more believable pointy arrowhead.
Next up, we’ve got a hybrid weapon set that combines elements from the vanilla Glass and Dragonbone weapons to create a unique and attractive Dragon Glass pack.
Each of these weapons fuses the handle of a Dragonbone weapon with the blade of a Glass one.
The vanilla Glass blades can look a bit goofy due to their bright aquamarine color – but not these.
No, this weapon set by XvomTheMad features transparent a smoky gray crystal worthy of the name “Dragon Glass.”
Every time a giant bounces me hundreds of meters up in the sky, I blame my weapons.
It’s not that a small-brained brute just bested me with sheer strength despite my years of Thu’um training and fighting expertise – it’s that my weapons are like toothpicks against these lumbering titans.
Well, not anymore.
The Dragonbone Claymore by Augh will finally give you the massive anime blade you always deserved.
Plus the dragon vertebrae scabbard is some next-level intimidating stuff.
With this weapon, I only have myself to blame when I inevitably get bounced into the air again.
Of all the Dragonbone weapons, the warhammer is by far my favorite. There’s nothing more badass than a giant hammer made from a dragon’s femur!
Do you know how much trouble I’ve gone through carrying those stupidly heavy bones back to the forge? That weight is just perfect for a hammer.
If you love the Dragonbone Warhammer but have grown a bit bored of it after so many years, consider Vpulse08’s alternative hammerhead models to switch things up.
I think this is one of the most appealing hammers ever made for Skyrim, and it fits right in with both the Dragonscale and Dragonplate armor sets.
Creator LeviAEthan brings us an exciting update to the vanilla Dragonbone Weapons, imbuing them with extra power and a dark color palette that makes them look, well, charred.
All of these Charred Dragonbone Weapons are almost identical to their vanilla counterparts, except their color is closer to the Ebony armor.
Some also have decorative red rubies on the handle for extra impact.
This new color scheme gives them a different vibe than the vanilla Dragonbone weapons, making them ideal for a dark knight or even a demon.
Alternative weapon textures and other minor improvements are fine – but what about an entirely new weapon?
The Dragonbone Crossbow by Smognoggler is the most advanced piece of equipment for long-distance medieval murder in all of Skyrim.
This mod includes the corresponding Dragonbone Bolts, and special magic bolts that blow up and deal elemental damage.
Don’t worry about this top-of-the-line weapon making your game unbalanced. After all, you need to level up your Smithing to 100 for the Dragon Armor perk before you can make it!
Skyrim walks a fine line between goofy fantasy tropes and a gritty aesthetic.
The Dragonbone weapons are some of the grittiest. After all, they’re made out of a dragon’s skeleton. That’s hardcore, and the weapon’s designs reflect this bestial origin.
If you’re playing a more refined type of character, you’ll appreciate QuestionableKhajit’s Simply Destructive Dragonbone Weapons, which look like they were made during a Renaissance-like period in Skyrim’s history.
They’re beautifully decorated, boasting intricately sculpted hilts with golden accents. Yet they still look “worn” enough to match Skyrim’s more realistic style.
For those of you who like the vanilla design but want to bring it to the 2020s, the Frankly HD Dragonbone and Dragonscale mod by FrankFamily is a must-have.
Rather than changing the design of these fierce weapons and armor, this mod replaces their textures for high-definition versions, including 2K, 4K, and 8K.
Thanks to the neural network software used to upscale the vanilla textures, the resulting weapons and armor look crisp, with clearly defined details that really take them to the next level.
Another fantastic option for those who appreciate Bethesda’s original designs is the Dragonbone Mastery Weapons Retexture by Nazenn.
This retexture’s objective is to make the weapons look custom-made by a master blacksmith.
That means the finest wood, clean craftsmanship, and beautiful scabbards worthy of a prophesied hero.
There’s even a version with engraved dragon language text spelling “Dovahkiin”. Kind of like having your initials sewn into a handkerchief, but bloodier.
And here we’ve got one of the most badass weapon reworks ever made – Dragon Bone Weapons Complete by modder Theycallmecheese.
This takes the vanilla set’s rough and somewhat prehistoric appeal, and cranks it up to eleven.
These weapons look like something the Barbarian from Diablo III would enjoy.
Something that drives me wild about these weapons is how the edges of the blades are actually metallic. They look as if dragon bones had a metal core, which the blacksmith revealed through sharpening.
Of course, the non-bladed weapons don’t stay behind in how deadly they look.
The mace’s distinctive design is menacing, and that warhammer… it’s just brutal.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
