Awful Skyrim Quests (With The Worst Rewards)
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15 AWFUL Skyrim Quests Everyone Does Even Though They Have The Worst Rewards
These are the lamest Skyrim quests of all time. Why does Bethesda insist on wasting everyone's time? As the most recent installment in Bethesda's wildly successful Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim is a game that goes above and beyond to provide players with a wealth of quests that are challenging, interesting, and rewarding. Many players estimate that in order to complete the game in full, you need to complete over 300 hours of gameplay. Casual gamers can easily play the same campaign for over a year at a time and will still not have completed the bulk of the story. Some quests have alternating paths that require multiple play throughs of the entire game itself in order for every angle to be explored. While it's easy to highlight the great and exiting quests that Skyrim has to offer, some of the missions that The Dragonborn is sent on can vary dramatically in their overall difficultly, content, and reward. While the vast majority of Skyrim's quests tend to be fun and rewarding, a small handful of them can be tedious, frustrating, and downright offensive. Some problems with certain quests range from being overly complicated to being too simplistic. A few of Skyrim's guild quests tend to fall short when comparing them to the campaigns that can be found in Oblivion or Morrowind as well. Worst of all, some quests take a million years to complete and only result in a dinky amulet or a weapon with a low value or a limited range of usage. Here are the top fifteen most frustrating and unfulfilling Skyrim quests of all time. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY No Stone Unturned
via: DeviantArt.com (HagfishVII) This is yet another item collecting nightmare quest. After bringing an Unusual Gem for it to be appraised by everyone's favorite surly Thieve's Guild member, Vex, players learn that this item is part of a set of twenty-four precious gems known as the Stones of Barenziah. Vex tells you that the gem is worthless on its own, but is incredibly valuable if you can collect them all. How many of these stones could there possibly be? Twenty-four. You have to track down twenty-four of these obnoxious rocks, and they're literally scattered all over the map! Once a stone is in your inventory, it's a quest item, and that means you can't set it down. Until you can find all twenty-four stones, they occupy a considerable portion of your inventory space. The only reward you get for completing this quest is a higher frequency of finding gems in chests. Grin And Bear It
via: NexusMods.com Some quests are especially difficult if you happen to take them on while you're still in the earliest parts of the game. In this quest, you are given the task of collecting ten Bear Pelts by Temba Wide-Arm, a Nord who runs a mill in Ivarstead. Temba claims that the local bear population is seriously damaging her business, and offers to reward you handsomely for collecting the pelts. This challenge is difficult for several reasons. If you take on this quest when you're still at a low level, putting down a bear can be just as challenging as taking out a dragon. On top of the difficulty for low-level characters, Bear Pelts weigh three pounds each, which adds up quickly when you don't have that much inventory space. All you get in return for this difficult task is typically a low level War Axe. The House Of Horrors
via: NexusMods.com Skyrim is a game that's known for it's range and versatility. Players often return to this series to explore it through the creation of role-playing scenarios. This particular quest has been criticized in the past because it doesn't give the player a wide range of moral choices that can be made. In this quest, you are recruited by Vigilant Tyranus, who seeks your help in exorcizing a demon from a haunted house. What you quickly learn is that this demon is none other than Molag Bal, one of the more insidious Daedric Lords. Players are forced to act as the hand of Bal and to commit several brutal acts in his name. The only reward for all of this is the Mace of Molag Bal, a weapon that's only useful if your character is skilled in one-handed weaponry. The Book Of Love
via: YouTube.com (SkyrimMAG) Skyrim is a title that typically puts gameplay over story, but this departure from the norm veers dangerously into the territory of melodrama. In this quest, The Dragonborn is ordered by Dinya Balu, a Priestess of Mara, to do the will of the Aedric Goddess in order to receive her blessing. Players have to wander down to Ivarstead to sort out a complicated situation between young lovers and their disapproving parents. The reason why this quest is so unrewarding is because it's so pedestrian. Here you are, as the actual Dragonborn, and you're passing notes between two lovers? Are we in Tamriel, or in middle school? When you complete the quest, you get an Amulet of Mara, which allows you to get married to NPCs, just in case you're not sick of all this mushy stuff yet. Bleak Falls Barrow
via: ElderScrolls.Wikia.com A lot of quests in this game rely somewhat on puzzle solving and using tools, like books and visual cues in levels, to help you progress into different areas. This particular quest goes absolutely overboard, and becomes a chore to get through. In order to clear Bleak Falls Barrow, players have to use their Golden Claw to sort out dozens of the exact same type of puzzle while cutting their way through hordes of Bandits and Draugrs. If you manage to make it through this excessively long dungeon, you're tricked into thinking the quest is over when you reach a room with a Word Wall and an item-filled chest. However, a high level Draugr pops up when you least expect it, forcing you to face a boss fight while you're low on supplies. The Companions
via: ElderScrolls.Wikia.com This is another series of guild quests that a lot of players feel was lacking in content and quality. When joining up with The Companions, you very quickly learn that the only way to progress in this series of quests is to accept the "gift" of Lycanthropy from your fellow guild members. If you do decide to go through with this and become a Werewolf, the negative symptoms of this disease often drastically outweigh the benefits. Once you make it through a long series of radiant quests, all while coping with your Lycanthropy, you finally reach the end of this set of missions. Your only reward is the Shield of Ysgramor, which once again, is only really worthwhile or useful if you're playing as a one-handed character. Soul Cairn Husks
via: ElderScrolls.Wikia.com As yet another annoying quest where you're tasked to find a certain number of rare items, this minor quest is a huge annoyance for anyone who chooses to complete it. While you're wandering around in the Soul Cairn, you can run into the ghostly spirit of Morven Stroud, who offers to supply you with a selection of random items for the steep fee of 25 Soul Husks. Collecting this many Husks is seen as a complete hassle, as the landscape of the Soul Cairn itself is very repetitive. It can be difficult to remember where you've been in this level, and it's even harder to track down as many Husks as Morven requests. The items you get for completing this task vary in quality, but none of them are truly worth the effort it takes to harvest this many Husks. Blood On The Ice
via: ElderScrolls.Wikia.com Are you seeking a way to live out your Sherlock Holmes fantasies for a remarkably unsubstantial reward? Look no further than this quest. While in Windhelm, which is arguably Skyrim's worst designed city, The Dragonborn runs into a murder scene in the city's graveyard. After a long and ambling series of collecting clues and interrogating suspects, and after possibly accusing the wrong person of these series of murders, players are lead to the quest's dramatic conclusion. The quest is arguably enjoyable, but it does take a considerable amount of time to complete. The only real reward that you will receive after completing this particular quest is the Necromancer's Amulet, an item that boosts your Conjuration skills but severely damages your Health and Stamina regeneration to the point where this item is practically unwearable. Few And Far Between
via: NexusMods.com In this long, drawn-out, and positively infuriating quest, The Dragonborn is tasked with assisting Ingun Black-Briar in completing her research so that she can cover her mistakes in alchemy while training under Master Elgrim. In order to help Ingun maintain her position at Elgrim's Elixirs, she needs for you to find twenty Deathbell, twenty Nightshade, and twenty Nirnroot. Now, the Deathbell and the Nightshade are an absolute breeze to find, as they're scattered with some frequency across cities like Solitude, and in the Mage's College. However, locating twenty Nirnroot is an arduous task that requires players to schlep across the entire map searching fruitlessly for that irritating chiming noise that indicates one of the elusive plants is near. The worst part is that your only reward for this ridiculous challenge is the key to Elgrim's chest, where you can find a handful of okay (but not great) potions. The Mind Of Madness
via: DeviantArt.com (alesthewoodcarver) This quest is unusual in that it has a really unique premise, and it has gameplay that's unlike anything else you're going to encounter in the rest of the game. However, the reward you receive from completing this challenge is negligible at best. After a brief negotiation with Falk Firebeard in the Blue Palace, and a jaunt through an abandoned wing of the castle, you find yourself at a dinner party with none other than Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. Sheogorath lets you know that you're trapped inside the tortured mind of the dead king Pelagius II. The only way out of this situation is to play therapist to Pelagius by helping him combat his issues with self-esteem, anger, and confidence. Your reward is the Wabbajack, a silly weapon that has very little practical usage. The Dark Brotherhood
via: DeviantArt.com (KyleChadwick) This is somewhat of a controversial selection, but the quests associated with The Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim just don't match up to the ones in previous installments in the Elder Scrolls series, such as Oblivion and Morrowind. After a promising start in the quest "Innocence Lost" where you have to take out an evil Governess in front of a room full of kids (who actually cheer her death), The Dark Brotherhood makes a few annoying twists and turns before eventually petering out completely. While you're still tasked with taking out various targets in Skyrim, most of the deaths are too straightforward and can be seen as being slightly uninspired. While the end quest where you have to take out the Emperor sounds like a cool challenge, it ends up being too simple and easy to be rewarding. A Return To Your Roots
via: NexusMods.com Just when you thought you were done with gathering stupid Nirnroots, another collection quest decides to rear its ugly head. Unlike the previous Nirnroot collecting challenge, this time we're presented with a twist, as Avrusa Sarethi isn't interested in collecting just any old Nirnroot this time. Instead, we have to trek down to the waterlogged world of the Blackreach and collect a grand total of THIRTY Crimson Nirnroots. Finding this many Nirnroots in a smaller, more contained map might seem like an easier task, but it's almost as annoying and time-consuming as the previous root-based challenge you face earlier in the game. Once you complete this challenge and bring your noisy roots to Avrusa, she rewards you with Sinderion's Serendipity, an ability that gives you a 25% increase in making two potions instead of one. The Bard' s College
via: SkyrimForums.org This series of quests is considered by many loyal Skyrim fans to be an absolute wasted opportunity. After a brief interaction with Viarmo, the guild's headmaster, The Dragonborn is sent on a series of quests where you have to hack and slash your way through various Nordic Tombs, like Dead Man's Respite, until you find some special token instrument or item to help flesh out the guild. Not only are there only a handful of quests for this guild, but none of the missions you're sent on really have anything to do with being a Bard. The only exception to this is when you have to rewrite the lyrics to King Olaf's Verse in the quest "Tending The Flames." Once you collect the various lutes and drums Viarmo wants, the Bard's College quests are over, and all you walk away with are a few septims and some Goat Cheese Wheels. Caught Red Handed
via: YouTube.com (FudgeMuppet) Skyrim is known for being relatively egalitarian in its portrayal of male and female characters, as the game very rarely makes discriminations based on the gender of The Dragonborn. However, one quest, in particular, leaves a nasty taste in the mouths of some women players. In this mission, players are tasked with naming and shaming the lovers of Haelga, the sole operator of Haelga's Bunkhouse, after her servant, Svana, wants to see her humiliated. You are required to track down Haelga's lovers and acquire their Marks of Dibella in order to blackmail this small business owner into ceasing operation of her "Dibellan Arts." Not only does this quest make you persecute a religious minority, but it also implies that promiscuity should only have consequences for women, and not for men. Plus, the only reward you get is a randomized scroll, which is hardly worth the icky feelings this quest generates. Forbidden Legend
This quest is a total pain in your rear end just because of how much time and effort it takes up. First of all, you have to learn about the Gauldur Legend by finding a specific book in the game. Then, it's up to you to complete three separate Nordic Ruin caves in order to collect three pieces of this amulet. Once you've wasted enough time fighting off wave after wave of Draugr and you finally have all of these items, you are forced to take them to Reachwater Rock, a small cave area that is East of Markarth. What do you get when you manage to smith these items together? The Gauldur Amulet, an item that fortifies your Stamina, Magicka, and Healthy by thirty points each. This seems like a decent reward, but it's absolutely underwhelming when you consider the time and effort this quest requires.