Be anyone, do anything

As the prophesized hero that Skyrim’s been waiting for, you have a lot of options. Follow the main questline to discover the secret behind the return of an ancient evil, dragons…or collect a lot of sweet rolls. This is your adventure to play any way you choose.

Step into Skyrim

If all this freedom has you wondering where to start, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Go everywhere

Every corner of this world has something to discover. You never know where you’ll run into bandits, giants, or dragons, so go ahead and step off the marked roads.

Make good choices—or terrible ones

The choices you make will be reflected in the game world, changing storylines and the way characters respond to you. Join one of the many available factions or guilds. Become a vampire. Or lead a giant into a dragon fight—just because you can.

Find new adventures

Wondering what to do next? These will often lead to new quests:

Make time to chat: Talk to characters such as innkeepers to get news, requests for help, or juicy gossip.

Go sightseeing: Look at your in-game map to find major cities and explore them. Or just pick a direction and discover new places as you go.

Open doors: See a door? Open it! Of course, you might have to pick the lock.

Choose your combat style

In this world, you may not have to fight—but it’s pretty fun. After all, you might want to defend yourself from the occasional dragon attack. Or bandit attack. Or giant spider attack. Or…well, you get the idea.

Melee: Use weapons like swords and axes to take out enemies up close and personal.

Ranged: Use bows to fire at targets further out.

Magic: Cast spells to confuse enemies, hurl fireballs, or summon a spirit to do your fighting.

Try different control styles

Play using Joy-Con^TM controllers or a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. For example, using Joy-Con controllers will let you use motion controls to swing your melee weapon and draw and aim your bow with realistic movements.

Use the power of The Voice

As the Dragonborn, you’re able to harness the power of The Voice to create magical Shouts. Shouts can have all kinds of effects, from turning enemies to ice to blasting away foes, and changing the weather.

Shouts are made up of three “words of power” from an ancient Dragon language. To unlock a Shout you’ll only need to discover the first word, though they get more powerful after learning the other two. Since each word requires a harvested dragon soul to unlock, gaining access to all Shouts is easier said than done.