Skyrim dragon riding looks so cool but it has a big catch

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"How haven't I seen more people do this?"

Skyrim
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Skyrim dragon-riding and fighting might make you look like an absolute badass, but there's one very simple reason you may not have seen anybody doing it before now.

Reddit user imkaneuno posted a dramatic, minute-long gameplay clip that shows the Dragonborn clinging to the neck of a dragon by the strength of their mighty Dovahkiin thighs, remaining locked in pitched breath weapon combat against a rival flying lizard. It doesn't take any mods to do, just Skyrim itself and the Dragonborn expansion, and the title of the post understandably asks "how haven't I seen more people do this?" 

8_years_of_dragonborn_but_how_havent_i_seen_more from r/skyrim

However, if you've tried it yourself in the nine years since Dragonborn was released, you probably already know the answer: while it looks cool, it doesn't really get anything done. Even after you use your Bend Will shout to get a dragon to let you ride it, you can't steer it around - it will only follow general commands about what to target for attacks. As you can see for yourself in that gameplay footage from Reddit, those attacks do very little damage to other dragons, and with nothing to fight your temporary ally will just continue to circle the same spot.

Don't be too crestfallen: the player community has already broken out from these limitations with a number of mods, including the popular Fully Flying Dragons. 

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Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan
Former GamesRadar+ News Writer

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.