Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Fight Alduin at the Throat of the World
• Method 2 of 2: Fight Alduin in Sovngarde
• Tips
• Warnings

Alduin the World-Eater, a time-traveling dragon that eats the souls of the dead, appears twice in Bethesda's "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" to fight the player. For both battles you will have access to the powerful "Dragonrend" shout, which will force Alduin to the ground so that you can attack and fight him directly (this is also necessary with weapons used at a distance). The strategies for both battles are very similar, but the final battle has some limitations as it happens in Sovngarde.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Fight Alduin at the Throat of the World

1. Prepare to climb the mountain. Buy or make some health and fire resistance potions in a city. You will also want to consider recruiting a follower to help you.
   • A strong lead fighter like Lydia or Mjoll is a good choice for attacking Alduin when he lands. Ilia is also in good choice, thanks to her frost magic skill.
   • There will also be some Ice Wraiths when you climb the mountain, so it might be a good idea to bring some frost resistance drinks with you as well.
   • If you have training in restorative magic, you can use spells in place of health and stamina potions.
2. Learn the "Dragon Trend" shout. When you reach the top you will speak to Paarthurnax and watch a long cut scene to learn about the shout before the fight against Alduin starts.
   • Paarthurnax will help you during the fight against Alduin and act as a distraction, but you will have to do most of the damage.
3. Use "Dragon Trend" to bring Alduin to the ground. Press and hold the shout button to charge it. Follow Alduin's flight with the camera while charging the shout so you don't miss out. If you miss you will have to wait while your shout reloads.
   • Wear an "Amulet of Talos" if you want to shorten the shout's cooldown time.
   • Although Paarthurnax will spar in the air with Alduin, Alduin cannot be damaged until you take him down with Dragonrend.
   • A single tap of the shout button will load a single charge of the shout that Alduin can still effectively stun after he's already grounded. You can use this to help keep him from taking off again.
4. Use "Clear Skies" tactically. Alduin has its own shout that will cause meteorites to fall from the sky. When this happens you can use Clear Skies to undo the shout.
   • You should have learned this shout from the Greybeards before climbing the mountain, so you can't have missed it.
   • If your shout is in cooldown when this happens then it's a great time to use a fire resistance potion.
   • Remember that when you use Clear Skies your shout will go back into cooldown, and you will have to wait for it to load again before you can use Dragonrend.
5. Avoid the front of Alduin. When grounded, Alduin uses a powerful fire-breathing attack that deals a lot of damage to anyone in front of him, and swings his tail vigorously from behind. Try to attack him from the sides, regardless of whether you are using melee or ranged weapons.
   • Eventually he will turn around to bite you, bringing you back to his front, so keep moving to his sides.
   • Fire-resistant potions can help if you choose to fight him from the front, but it's better to avoid this altogether.
6. Use frost magic. If you have destruction magic training, games like "ice spike" and "ice storm" can do a lot of damage to Alduin, because he has a soft spot for frost.
   • Be careful when using ice storm as it can cause damage to your follower.
   • If you have it, the "Marked for Death" shout can greatly increase your damage with magic, but it can be difficult to find the right timing for it between Dragonrend and Clear Skies.
7. Apply poison to your weapons. Persistent poisons can be just as effective against Alduin as they are against any other living thing. These can be made or bought at an alchemy shop in any city.
   • It is very effective to use poison from a distance with a bow while a follower is attacking Alduin within melee range.
8. Keep Alduin under pressure. Keep Alduin grounded with Dragonrend, use health potions when your health gets low, and after a short while, Alduin should succumb to the damage and leave.

Method 2 of 2: Fight Alduin in Sovngarde

1. Prepare for the fight. If you're already in Sovngarde and can't go back, hopefully you'll have a fair supply of health and fire-resistance potions. Consider equipping yourself with armor that provides fire resistance and a weapon that heals on strike (such as the Ebony Blade or others with the enchantment Absorb Health) if you have one in your inventory.
   • The point where you cannot go back is when you have the option to go from Whiterun to Skuldafn. You will lose an entire dungeon full of progress if you decide to go back to a previous save to stock up in the city.
   • If you are trained in restorative magic, you can cast spells in place of health and stamina potions.
   • You can't bring followers with you to Sovngarde without mods, but you will get help from the NPCs out there during the fight.
2. Use the "Clear Skies" shout three times. Your NPC companions will automatically use the shout when you do to clear up Alduin's blocking nebula. Alduin will restore the haze until you clear it three times.
3. Use "Dragon Trend" to bring Alduin to the ground. Hold down your shout button to charge it. Follow Alduin's flight with the camera while charging your shout so you don't miss it. If you miss you will have to wait again while your shout charges.
   • Wear an "Amulet of Talos" if you want to shorten the shout's cooldown time.
   • Even though the NPCs will shoot at Alduin while he is flying, he cannot actually be damaged until he is forced to the ground with this shout.
   • A single tap of the shout button will load a single charge of the shout that Alduin can still effectively stun after he's already grounded. You can use this to help keep it from flying back into the air.
4. Have an ally take the damage. Each time Alduin lands, wait a moment for an ally to attack him and get his attention.
5. Avoid the front of Alduin. When grounded, Alduin uses a powerful fire-breathing attack that deals a lot of damage to anyone in front of him, and swings his tail vigorously from behind. Try to attack him from the sides, regardless of whether you are using melee or ranged weapons.
   • Eventually he will turn around to bite you, bringing you back to his front, so keep moving to his sides.
   • Fire-resistant potions can help if you choose to fight him from the front, but it's better to avoid this altogether.
   • If you have to choose between the two, catch a slap from its tail instead of a fire breath attack. You will suffer much less from this.
6. Use frost magic. If you are trained in destruction magic, spells like "ice spike" and "ice storm" can do large amounts of damage to Alduin, because he has a weakness for frost.
   • Ice storm can damage your allies, so be careful when using it.
   • If you have it, the "Marked for Death" shout will greatly increase your damage with magic, but it is better to use Dragonrend as much as possible to keep Alduin grounded.
7. Apply toxins to your weapons. Persistent poisons are just as effective against Alduin as they are against any other living thing.
   • It is very effective to use poison at a distance with a bow, while NPCs catch Alduin's attacks.
8. Keep repeating this. Keep Alduin grounded with Dragonrend, and let your allies get attention so you can heal yourself when needed. Eventually, Alduin will run out and be defeated once and for all.

Tips

• You might run into Alduin when you wander around the world. He can be seen around dragon pits and reviving other dragons. You can damage him, but he cannot be killed during these scenarios.
• The battle in Sovngarde is the last (story) battle. If you still find yourself struggling after reading this and don't want to go back to a previous save, you may want to think about adjusting the game's difficulty settings (this can be done at any time).
• Alduin is very resistant to fire and weak to frost.

Warnings

• Watch your follower's health. Followers like Lydia are likely to die when Alduin spews fire. Try out essential (immortal) followers like J'zargo.
• Even if you run around Alduin when you are near him, he will follow you with his fire breath.
• Skyrim is suffering from a lot of glitches. In some rare cases, Alduin can hold up to damage throughout the fight. If this happens, try reloading from a save point. If your Skyrim patch version is included, there is a smaller chance that this will happen and the game will also be automatically saved before the battle starts. This glitch can be triggered by using Dragonrend before Paarthurnax tells you to, so don't use the shout for the first time until prompted.