The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim possesses some of the biggest and baddest dungeons in the RPG genre. Skyrim has caves, mines, and ruins so expansive that even Bethesda's follow-up, The Elder Scrolls Online, sometimes can't compete with its predecessor's scale. Skyrim features close to 200 dungeons across its map, ranging from smaller locales with brief encounters, to ones that will take up plenty of the Dragonborn's time in order to complete.
A major reason why the land of Skyrim is rife with dungeons is its extensive history. As noted in the book Giants: A Discourse from ESO, Skyrim has existed much longer than the Septim Dynasty that now defines the Elder Scrolls timeline. The Nords have built atop the remains of the societies that came before them, leaving histories, cities, and entire cultures buried beneath the surface of Skyrim. As a result, old Nordic and Dwemer ruins have turned into mine shafts and excavation sites that the criminals of Skyrim take over and convert into dungeons.
There are entire cities lingering beneath the soils of Skyrim, with some of the longest dungeons belonging to the Dwemer, who used to live in the country before the Nords’ Battle of Red Mountain. These ancient Nords, too, hold significant portions of Skyrim’s underground property, some of which extend onto the surface. However, Skyrim’s expansions like the Dragonborn and Dawnguard DLCs also brought humongous ruins to the already sizable land of Tamriel, with various other Elder Scrolls races residing in them.
Skyrim's Blackreach Is The Size Of A City
Blackreach is an ancient city buried deep underground that belonged to Skyrim's ancient Dwemer civilization. Though it predates the existing cultures of Skyrim by several millennia, the cavernous land appears much more advanced with technology so superior to that of the Nords that the Dwemer's automatons still guard each location. The Dwemer ruins dotted across Skyrim's map often make for the most challenging encounters, with players having to contend with deadly traps, automatons, and enemies that have moved in.
While Blackreach may be more of a city than a dungeon, the path to the treasure trove resembles one of the longest and most treacherous dungeons in all of the game. In fact, there are actually four paths to Skyrim's Blackreach location, all of which are parts of large Dwemer ruins located in the northeastern part of the map. These ruins include the Tower of Mzart, Raldbthar, Mzinchaleft Gatehouse, and Alftand. As the most popular of the four, Alftand is a complex mineshaft that slowly transforms into the remains of the lost Dwemer civilization as it spirals downwards. Inhabited by Falmer, automatons, and hostile treasure hunters, the journey through Alftand is an incredibly long and difficult one.
However, once players make it to Blackreach, they find their reward for their hard-fought battles, as the city is littered with treasures, riches, and plenty of Dwemer artifacts. There are still plenty of enemies to fight in the area, though, including a monster that is one of Skyrim’s best-kept secrets. Gathering all there is in Blackreach is impossible in one go, which is why Bethesda was nice enough to make three elevator shafts that take players to the surface. Considering that Blackreach is so big that it cannot be completed in one run-through, it must be considered one of the largest dungeons in all of Skyrim.
Labyrinthian Is One Of Skyrim's Biggest Dungeons
Labyrinthian is an ancient Nordic dungeon located deep within the mountain range in the central-western portion of Skyrim. So large is Labyrinthian that it expands above ground, making it one of the coolest areas in the game. The location is bigger than any of the military fortresses players will encounter in Skyrim’s Civil War questline but is remote and difficult to locate even when specifically searching for it.
The dungeon of Labyrinthian starts on its surface, as the journey through the Nordic Ruin can only begin once the player can find the entrance in one of many structures the ancient Nords left behind. This is a task easier said than done, for two frost trolls guard the area and will attack players on sight. The snowy terrain also makes locating the entrance and avoiding the trolls an even more difficult challenge.
Once finally inside Labyrinthian, the player will find the dungeon is not any easier to traverse. Constructed by the Dragon Cult, Labyrinthian was made to befuddle the smartest of mages to test their skills outside of Magicka. Unfortunately, there is no longer a group of fellow mages to congratulate players on finding the center of the dungeon but instead Skyrim's wrathful Dragon Priest Morokei, who yields the Staff of Magnus. With Labyrinthian’s deep lore also comes deep passageways that make the dungeon one of Skyrim's longest.
Darkfall Cave Is One Of Dawnguard's Toughest Dungeons
Darkfall Cave was added to Skyrim as part of the Dawnguard DLC. Though they are often overshadowed by the upgraded vampires Dawnguard added to Skyrim, the Snow Elves play a major role in making Darkfall Cave an important location. Found in the Reach, this dungeon is part of the “Touching the Sky” quest in which the player must receive Auriel’s Bow. Little to the player’s knowledge, though, Darkfall Cave is one of the longest, most spider-infested caves in the game, playing host to many of Skyrim's worst monsters.
Once players enter Darkfall Cave, they find themselves walking through winding corridors with hoards of frostbite spiders until they come across a bridge. This bridge then breaks, sending players into a fast-flowing river that lands them in the middle of a frostbite spider nest. From there, the player must continuously trug along an incredibly deep cave system until they come across Knight-Paladin Gelebor, one of the few remaining Snow Elves in the world.
On top of its expansiveness, what makes Darkfall Cave so long is the frostbite venom’s paralysis effect. Considering the massive amount of ground players have to cover, frostbite spiders feel like they're one of Skyrim's most difficult bosses inside Darkfall Cave. Nevertheless, the reward of Gelebor as a companion makes this incredibly lengthy dungeon worth it.
Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC Introduced Apocrypha
Apocrypha is arguably the biggest dungeon in the game. As part of the Dragonborn DLC, Apocrypha is the Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora’s plane of Oblivion. Thus, it is much like Blackreach in that it teeters on the edge of being both a dungeon and a city.
Also like Blackreach, Apocrypha is very dangerous. The land is defined by forbidden knowledge that is kept heavily guarded by Hermaues Mora’s disgusting devices. Dark, poisonous waters with hostile tentacles lurking beneath the surface constantly threaten players who visit this treacherous location to defeat Skyrim’s first Dragonborn, Miraak, making Apocrypha the most violent, difficult, and expansive of all dungeons.
Even after nearly a decade, Skyrim’s lengthier dungeons still offer players tons of new experiences. Between Blackreach’s treasures and Apocrypha's ever-changing landscape, there is always something left to discover beneath Skyrim’s soil and in the planes of Oblivion. Players will be able to explore these dungeons on current-gen consoles when The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition comes out on November 11.