Skyrim Daedric Quest guide

Peryite – The Only Cure

Requirements: Level 12
Starting Location: Shrine to Peryite

This mission can start one of two ways – meet one of the “Afflicted Refugee” on the roads after reaching level 12, an incredibly rare occurrence, or just going to the Shrine to Peryite. Either way you’ll need to reach that shrine in the middle of nowhere, stashed between the far southwest of Solitude and far northeast of Markarth. Once there speak with Kesh the Clean to be given one of the most arduous collection quests in the entire game.

Here are the ingredients we need and how to get them:

Vampire Dust: If you don’t have any at this point and can’t find any to buy in one of the alchemy shops then you’re going to have to hunt down some fangy-vamp thingies. Numerous ones can be found in Morthal if you follow the quest “Laid to Rest” and investigate the burned down house. Some can be found if you search in the various Jarl’s homes near where their mages work. Lastly Haemar’s Shame, important to Clavicus Vile’s quest, is home to numerous vampires.

Silver Ingot: Purchase this from one of the various armorers.

Deathbell Flowers: If you can’t be bothered to hunt for this then just buy it at an alchemist's shop.

Flawless Ruby: There is only ONE fixed place in the entire game to get this thing. In a small boat hidden in the river, by the rocks, near Sky Haven Temple you can find several gems including this ruby. If it’s not there for some ungodly reason (like falling in the water when it spawned) or you already got it… then good luck. There is a mine in Karthwasten, southeast of the shrine, where you can possibly get this. Prepare to mine, reload and try again many times.

The ruby is just north of the custom marker on the map above.

With that done return to Kesh the Clean to commune with Peryite. He gives you your mission – kill Ochendor for deviating from the task Peryite set for him. The Elf hides in some Dwarven ruins nearby so guess what we get to do? Time to explore a Dwemer ruin. 

Bthardamz isn’t too far away so run on over there. Be wary of the Afflicted though, they aren’t very strong in combat but they have one very dangerous ability, that of a poison spit. This poison does a very large amount of damage like an acid and is something you must avoid. Try to stay mobile when fighting them, especially in groups, and dispatch them efficiently. Don’t spread out your attacks, focus on one at a time so that they don’t keep hitting you or your follower with this crap or things can go south really fast. Luckily Ochendor isn’t anything special so smite him and then unlock the nearby elevator for a quick escape.

Upon returning to Peryite he will be grateful for your assistance and reward you with one of the best Daedric Artifacts out there, Spellbreaker. This Dwarven heavy shield has a special effect where, upon being raised, it will erect a barrier that reduces all incoming magic damage by 50, kind of like a spell ward. No charges, no limits on this, nothing. Just do it as much as you like. Awesome.

Sanguine – A Night to Remember

Requirements: Level 15
Starting Location: Whiterun

This quest starts off innocuously enough and doesn’t really even warrant a whole lot of direction. When you go into the Bannered Mare after passing the required level a man named Sam Guevine will challenge you to a drinking contest. Agree to do so and just follow the dialogue prompts to start this rather funny quest. From here you will have a number of tasks to perform to get that staff that Sam promised you. Take note that if you have a high Speechcraft score then it’s possible to skip parts of this mission by simply passing a speech check with each person along the way.

Upon awakening in a Temple of Dibella you have to clean the place up to find out where you need to go next. The priestess will direct you to the small hamlet of Rorikstead on your quest to find out what the hell happened last night.

Here a man named Ennis will confront you about stealing his prize winning goat. Now we have to get his goat back from the giant we apparently sold it to or he won’t tell us where we need to go next. Climb the mountain, walk over the goat and then just walk off. The giant usually won’t get hostile about this although your follower will attack him. It might be safest to just blindside him before he gets the chance to attack you. Now lead the goat back to Ennis for the next tip.

Back to Whiterun! The quest will often lead you to the woman Ysolde but there are times when it will pick another local. Either way they will berate you for taking their best ring and not paying for it. She points you towards Witchmist Grove where your bride to be is waiting. Waiting for us here is a Hagraven named Moira who will speak to you, eager to consummate your relationship. Asking for the ring back prompts her to attack so kill her off, get the ring and return it to Ysolde. She explains that your bride is supposed to be waiting for you at Morvunskar. Off we go to the ruins!

This leaves us in Whiterun with the Sanguine Rose, a very useful staff that summons up Dremora to help you in combat. It has plenty of charges too so this is something that is well worth carrying around with you.

Sheogorath – The Mind of Madness

Starting Location: Solitude

To start this quest you’ll need to speak to a man in Solitude. Rumors will reveal a strange man walking around the graveyard area near the Bard’s College and the Blue Palace. Speaking to Dervenin prompts him to ask for your aide and if you agree he explains that you’ll need to get into the locked part of the palace. Oh he also gives you an item called Pelgaius’ Hip Bone. To get into the locked section of the palace you have one of two options: do a quest for the court and ask Falk Firebeard for the key or persuade it out of the maid, Erdi.

Once you’re inside of the Pelagius wing it’s a simple matter of wandering forward until you are pulled into another realm entirely. This starts the quest proper which consists of completing several tasks for Sheogorath in this realm.

Task 1: Night Terrors – Wait until Pelagius has fallen asleep, then use the Wabbajack on him to summon his night terrors. Don't attack any of the harmless creatures like the goat or maiden: if they appear, just use the Wabbajack on Pelagius again to spawn a dangerous enemy which is the embodiment of his night terrors. Defeat a wolf, a bandit chief, a hagraven, a flame atronach, and a dragon priest to complete the task. 

Task 2: Paranoia – Stand in the spot where you can see the two Atronachs and then wait for Sheogorath to stop talking. Once he does so use the Wabbajack but not on the Atronach, use it on the men on either side of Pelagius. They will change shape, the madman runs off and you win.

Task 3: Confidence – Use the Wabbajack on Anger (the large version of Pelagius) to make him tiny, and then use the staff on Confidence to make him as big as Anger once was. Confidence will then beat Anger and you'll complete the mission. 

That’s it, you’re done. Now you will return to the real world with the Wabbajack in hand. This staff deals either stamina, health or magicka damage to your target… or turns them into a random object / enemy. Enjoy turning your enemies into sweet rolls and then having a snack!

Vaermina – Waking Nightmare

Starting Location: Dawnstar

After all of that nonsense and massive running around of the last few quests it’s nice to have a simple dungeon crawl. That’s all this quest is, a fairly long dungeon crawl with a few really interesting elements to it. So let’s get to this.

Make your way to the city of Dawnstar and have a chat with some of the locals to find out that there’s a rash of nightmares going on in the city. Nobody can get any sleep and thus everyone is on edge. You’re directed to a man inside the inn, a priest who is investigating the issue. Have a chat with him to find out what the issue is – apparently an artifact of Vaermina’s is going out of control and causing these issues. So you and him get to head over to a nearby dungeon to solve the problem.

From here there isn’t a whole lot to say. The dungeon is fairly straightforward although it is actually fairly difficult. All of the enemies are strong but most notable are the Orcs who can kill even a melee oriented character incredibly fast so be very careful when dealing with them.

At the end when Erandur is dealing with the staff you have a decision to make. Vaermina suggests that you kill him and take the staff for yourself. It’s a fairly weak artifact as it does low damage unless you absorb dreams from sleeping people (not treated as an attack) but even then the damage is nothing you couldn’t get from another staff. But it counts towards the Oblivion Walker Achievement/Trophy so if you need it for the fifteen artifacts then you’ll have to kill him. Letting him live allows you to recruit Erandur, a powerful mage, as a follower which isn’t a bad idea for any non-mages.

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Azura
Boethiah
Clavicus Vile
Hermaeus Mora
Hircine
Malacath
Mehrunes Dagon
Mephala
Meridia
Molag Bol
Namira
Peryite
Sanguine
Sheogorath
Vaermina