Skyrim: Break Of Dawn Daedric Quest Walkthrough (2024)

Quick Links

  • Starting Break Of Dawn

  • Clearing Kilkreath Temple

  • Solving Kilkreath Ruins

  • Defeating Malkoran At The Kilkreath Catacombs

  • Getting Dawnbreaker

One of Skyrim's most memorable moments involves picking up a seemingly innocuous object. As soon as it enters your bulging pockets, you are subjected to a loud, grating, and nagging voice ordering you to bring the object back to a deity's shrine. It may not be apparent, but this is the start of a Daedric quest.

Related: Skyrim: Breaching Security Dark Brotherhood Quest Walkthrough

The quest itself is a dungeon crawl through a desecrated temple infested by undead shades led by a necromancer. As with all the Daedric quests, you are rewarded with a powerful artifact of dubious origins. If you are stuck in the bowels of Mount Kilkreath, use this guide.

Starting Break Of Dawn

Skyrim: Break Of Dawn Daedric Quest Walkthrough (1)

There are two ways to start this quest. The first is to play Skyrim normally and clear out dungeons. Once you reach level ten, the loot at the end of a dungeon may contain Meridia's Beacon.

Picking it up will have the Daedric Prince of Life bombard you with a demand to cleanse her temple of a necromancer. As a being that despises the undead, she will not suffer the insult.

If you had thought that the Beacon was clutter and left it in a chest, visiting her Shrine will give you a quest marker to the object, allowing you to continue with the quest.

The second way would be to visit her shrine located by the road between Solitude and Dragon Bridge. Speaking to the statue will start the quest and point you to a dungeon where you find the Beacon.

She gives you the next instructions when you return the Beacon to her statue. You will have to guide a beam of light through the desecrated temple to restore it to glory.

Walk down the hill to reach the entrance to Kilkreath Temple.

Clearing Kilkreath Temple

Skyrim: Break Of Dawn Daedric Quest Walkthrough (2)

Kilkreath Temple is filled with the desecrated corpses of the necromancer's victims and their hostile shades. You will need to fight them as you raise pedestals throughout the temple to clear the way ahead.

The desecrated corpses often contain hefty sums of gold, making pilfering them a lucrative activity.

The first room familiarizes you with this mechanic. Walk to the pedestal and interact with it. Doing so will reflect the beam to the next beacon and open a door on the south side of the room.

In case you are curious, walking through the beams will deal Shock damage over time and very quickly.

Go through that room to find a short hallway with a handful of shades. At the very end, you will reach another room with a single pedestal at the center. Interact with the pedestal to open a door to Kilkreath Balcony.

The Balcony itself lacks enemies, though watching the beacons will show you the light spreading through the temple. There is also a large, locked chest by the final set of stairs that contains leveled loot.

Solving Kilkreath Ruins

Skyrim: Break Of Dawn Daedric Quest Walkthrough (3)

Kilkreath Ruins is where the temple gets a little confusing. Start by clearing out the Shades spread throughout the room. Go to the east pedestal, up a set of stairs to open a doorway next to it. This brings you to a long hallway with a few more Shades.

Keep your eyes peeled for an axe trap in the middle of the hallway.

At the very end, you will be able to reach the next pedestal that is isolated and without any connections to adjacent platforms. While it may look impassable, sprinting across will get you to the pedestal. Interact with it to open the path to the next pedestal. There will be no need to leap across; it is connected to the rest of the room by a doorway on the west.

Finally, go through the door and fight another Shade. Go up a set of stairs to the east to reach the final pedestal. Interacting with it will open the path to Kilkreath Catacombs.

Defeating Malkoran At The Kilkreath Catacombs

Skyrim: Break Of Dawn Daedric Quest Walkthrough (4)

The final part of the quest needs you to defeat the necromancer Malkoran, the one responsible for desecrating the temple. Not only is he surrounded by several Shades, but he is also capable of casting powerful Frost magic and is not afraid to use it.

Malkoran will stay at the altar throughout the fight to sling magic from relative safety, thanks to the Shades separating you. If you can keep the Shades distracted, it is possible to snipe Malkoran before continuing.

Once defeated, Malkoran will transform into a Shade and immediately resume attacking you. Be prepared for this and top up your health prior to defeating him. Vanquish him a second time to satisfy Meridia.

Getting Dawnbreaker

Skyrim: Break Of Dawn Daedric Quest Walkthrough (5)

At the very end, Meridia will ask you to pick up Dawnbreaker from the altar. Once again, she lifts you to the sky, where she declares you her champion. Regardless of how you answer, she returns you to the ground with a new weapon in hand.

Dawnbreaker is a powerful one-handed sword that excels against the undead. Its unique enchantment deals ten points of fire damage to the target. If an undead foe was defeated using its enchantment, there is a chance for it to explode. Nearby undead will be set alight and may suffer the effects of Turn Undead.

As vampires are considered undead, the explosion will damage and possibly kill you. It will also affect undead allies such as Serana.

The weapon can be improved with ebony ingots at a grindstone with the Arcane Blacksmith perk.

Next: Skyrim: Paladin Build Guide

Skyrim: Break Of Dawn Daedric Quest Walkthrough (2024)

FAQs

What level should I be to do the Dawnbreaker quest? ›

Upon reaching level 12, the Dragonborn will find Meridia's Beacon in a random chest anywhere in Skyrim. Upon obtaining the beacon, Meridia will speak about a foul darkness that has defiled her temple. She wants it destroyed, and will direct the Dragonborn to the shrine.

How to beat the break of dawn quest in Skyrim? ›

Quick Walkthrough[edit]
  1. Find Meridia's Beacon or find the Statue to Meridia.
  2. Bring Meridia's Beacon to the Statue to Meridia.
  3. Replace the Beacon.
  4. Guide Meridia's Light through the temple.
  5. Destroy Malkoran.
  6. Retrieve Dawnbreaker.
May 9, 2024

What level should you do the break of dawn? ›

You need to be level 12 or higher before you can attempt The Break of Dawn.

What happens when you complete all Daedric quests? ›

Upon completion of each quest, the Dragonborn is claimed by the Daedric Prince as their champion, their emissary on Nirn, and is rewarded with a Daedric artifact.

What level should I be for Dawnbreaker? ›

the weapon has set stats, doesnt matter if you get it at level 10 or level 40. it'll be exactly the same. the boss fight in the quest however does scale, so the longer you wait the harder he'll be to beat. so its a good quest to do fairly early since its a decent weapon thats great against draugr.

What is the saddest quest in Skyrim? ›

The Saddest Quest In Skyrim Is Entirely Optional

During the quest "Mourning Never Comes," the player is asked to kill the former lover of a woman named Muiri.

Does Dawnbreaker scale? ›

I'm guessing you're asking if you'll receive different, more powerful versions of it for completing the quest at higher levels? If so, the answer is no. Like all the Daedric items, Dawnstar does not scale and will always have the same stats regardless of when you acquire it.

How to get two Dawnbreakers? ›

"two copies of dawnbreaker can be obtained. This is achieved by casting a spell or using a shout with significant kinetic force(I.e.,fire storm, fireball,fire rune,etc,)beside the sword altar after defeating malkoran and his shades.

What level is Meridia's beacon? ›

Before players can begin searching for Meridia's Beacon, they must first ensure that their Skyrim character has reached Level 12. Upon reaching this level, the beacon will spawn in almost any boss chest available in the game.

How do you get final dawn? ›

The Final Dawn is a post-Moon Lord rogue weapon that is dropped by Yharon, Dragon of Rebirth.

How long does the light of dawn quest take? ›

The event lasts for approximately ten minutes. Highlord Darion Mograine yells: Soldiers of the Scourge, stand ready! You will soon be able to unleash your fury upon the Argent Dawn! Highlord Darion Mograine yells: The sky weeps at the devastation of sister earth!

Do I need all 15 Daedric Artifacts at once? ›

To obtain it, 15 Daedric artifacts must be collected. Note that due to updates, one need only to have possessed 15 Artifacts (excluding the Skeleton Key). They do not all need to be in the inventory, or even in possession, one just needs to have finished the requisite quests and obtained the items at some point.

What quests never end Skyrim? ›

Each of the factions (except the civil war) provide these infinite radiant quests. They are usually available at the end of their main quests. They are Radiant quests. They give you an objective and a location, each picked at random from a list.

Does Auriel's bow count as a Daedric artifact? ›

The sky does not flash if the bow is not aimed at the sun, which can help with finding the sun on cloudy days, for example. Obtaining Auriel's Bow counts towards the Oblivion Walker achievement, despite not being a Daedric artifact.

What level is the Mythic Dawn quest in Skyrim? ›

Quests. "Pieces of the Past" is a quest that can be started at the newly made Mythic Dawn museum in Dawnstar, after the Dragonborn receives an invitation from a courier. The courier is triggered once the Dragonborn reaches level 20.

What is the quest to get the Dawnbreaker? ›

The Dawnbreaker is gained from The Break Of Dawn quest. Burns for 12 points, and when killing undead, a chance to cause a fiery explosion that turns or destroys nearby undead. Addtionally, when power swung, it increases the damage of itself and other weapons for a short period of time, bows, two handers, etc.

What level should I start the Boethiah quest? ›

This quest can begin once the Dragonborn is at least level 30. Upon reaching level 30, the book Boethiah's Proving will spawn in various locations: Septimus Signus's Outpost on the bookshelf (the location of "Discerning the Transmundane").

What level should I be for Skyrim main quest? ›

Level is the insignificant part. Some people beat the main quest at level 12. Others beat it at level 55. Sometimes I edit my sig so it continues whatever I was posting about.

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