Do You Get Anything From Defeating Alduin?

Straight to the point – after that epic final battle, the mighty Alduin himself unfortunately drops no loot or rewards that you can directly claim. However, the Nord god Tsun will teach you the “Call of Valor” shout which lets you summon an ancient hero to fight at your side. And while a bit underwhelming given Alduin‘s stature in the lore, defeating him does complete the main questline and open up new adventures across Skyrim.

So let’s take a closer look at what exactly you get after taking down the World-Eater himself compared to loot from those other common dragons roaming the land. As a gamer myself, I’m always curious to analyze the risk-reward ratio for these big fights!

Unlocking the Call of Valor

Once Alduin is defeated in Sovngarde and you emerge back atop the Throat of the World, Tsun will grant you a new shout – Call of Valor. With all three words unlocked, this lets you “Call up the ancient heroes of the Nordic people to fight for you.”

In practice, it summons ghostly version of one the great Nord heroes like Hakon One-Eye or Gormlaith Golden-Hilt to battle at your side for 60 seconds. They act just like a standard follower NPC – equipped with iconic Nord armor and weapons, high health levels, and capable of bashing enemies and dealing extra damage.

Call of Valor can be especially useful against tougher foes like high-level warlocks, giants or legendary dragons. For those playing as a stealth assassin or mage, having a warrior ally draw attacks and flank enemies is a nice perk. It gives you a nice edge in those situations where Lydia just can’t quite cut it!

Now is it the most epic reward ever? Well no, given Skyrim mythos places Alduin on par with figures like Mehrunes Dagon, some unique gear or bonuses would have better befitted such an earth-shattering victory. But it’s still a fun and situationally powerful new arrow for your shout quiver. And Hey – in a pinch, you can always shout for Hakon to tank damage while you pepper the enemy with arrows or spells!

Completing the Main Quest Opens Up Post-Game Content

While Alduin himself holds out his loot, defeating him does mark the pivotal turning point where you fulfill the “Dragonborn” prophecy and cement your place as the ultimate dragonslayer. And that comes with plenty of additional adventures and challenges across Skyrim – kind of like the endgame content you unlock after beating the boss and “beating” the game!

Dragon Riding Becomes Available

Once the threat of Alduin has passed, Dragons are still common across Skyrim but no longer seem focused on ending the world. With their leader gone and prophecy fulfilled, you can actually approach and gain cooperation from these once mortal foes.

Odahviing and a few other named dragons will offer to serve as your mount, allowing you to fast travel by air to any discovered location in Skyrim. Certainly beats walking and lets you see Skyrim from breathtaking new heights!

Additionally, random dragon encounters still occur and you may keep testing and honing your combat skills against these spawn. Only now you have the ability to absorb their soul and shout in your arsenal against them.

Dawnguard & Dragonborn DLC Content

Defeating Alduin also neatly opens up the ability to dive into the excellent Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLCs. Without going into full detail, highlights include:

• Dawnguard – Join vampire hunter ranks, gain exotic crossbows and allies, and uncover mysterious prophecy around eldest vampires.
• Dragonborn – Travel to Solstheim and confront Miraak, first Dragonborn attempting to return and steal your title. Ride exotic dragons, gain shouts, and explore ash wastes

I’d personally rank the stories and environments introduced in Dawnguard and Dragonborn up with finest moments in the vanilla game. Between those two DLCs alone you’re looking at over 30 hours of highly polished new adventures!

So while the showdown with Alduin decides lacks appropriate pomp and celebration, in my eyes defeating Skyrim’s existential threat pays off more through unlocking additional challenges to overcome afterwards. Paarthurnax does say it best – “What is better ? to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?”

Harvesting Dragon Parts & Souls

Alduin’s scales may be invulnerable, but the hundreds of other named and generic dragons populating Skyrim offer plenty of crafting reagents and unique power to claim after you take them down. As the Dragonborn, it becomes almost a calling to regularly seek out and defeat Skyrim’s winged beasts.

I’d estimate through regular exploration, guild missions, random encounters and some dedicated dragon hunts, the typical player slays 50+ dragons in their journey. And from each fallen foe you can loot or harvest:

• Dragon Souls – Unlock new dragon shout abilities. Average 5-10 souls per dragon based on difficulty.
• Dragon Bones/Scales – Smith bone and scale armor/weapons at forges. Around 4 bones and scales per dragon.

Higher-level named dragons also produce exotic loot like dragon priest masks which boost various skills. Definitely solid rewards that grant you power and abilities rather than just vendor trash to sell.

Let’s analyze some numbers around harvesting dragon materials:

As an example, defeating 50 random dragons would net around:

• Dragon Bones – 200 (Craft 40 weapons or armor pieces)
• Dragon Scales – 150 (Craft 37 armor pieces)
• Dragon Souls – 400 (Unlock 100+ shouts)

So while far from exciting, regularly sending dragons to dragon heaven does provide a steady stream of useful crafting goods!

Weighing Alduin Loot vs. Named Dragons

Analyzing all the outcomes, killing the mighty Alduin directly gains you a cool-if-situational shout and unlocks further adventures. But he himself holds no epic armor, weapons, or mounds of gold to loot. A bit anticlimactic perhaps, but understandable given his deity status (can’t have players running around in full Alduin armor sets).

However, named dragons such as Odahviing, Nahagliiv, Sahloknir, and Viinturuth offer guaranteed unique loot drops on defeat. These named beasts are already powerful foes, with boss-level health and attacks compared to their generic brethren. But managing to take them down gives you:

• Dragon Priest Masks – uniquely named masks like Nahkriin or Otar each offer sizable bonus to skills like Destruction or Heavy Armor (full list). Certain mask combinations also produce set bonuses.
• Specialized Shouts – named dragons grant access to rare or specialized shouts upon absorbing their souls e.g. Drain Vitality, Cyclone.

So while Alduin bitterly clings onto his treasure in death, picking fights with his disgraced former lieutenants or brothers can produce mighty fine rewards!

Paarthurnax does counsel the Dragonborn that there are alternatives to needless dragon slaughter. But after experiencing Skyrim’s savage beauty from astride Odahviing under the Northern Lights? Well, even dragons may need to be felled for the greater good.