What are the advantages of dark elves in Skyrim?
As a passionate gamer who has put over 500 hours into Skyrim, I can confidently say that dark elves (Dunmer) stand out as one of the most versatile and powerful races to play as. The Dunmer bonuses to combat, magic, and stealth make them uniquely suited to adapt to any playstyle you want. If you‘re looking to really customize your Dragonborn and optimize them for certain builds, dark elves have compelling advantages you‘ll want to consider for your next playthrough.
Unrivaled Stealth and Thievery Abilities
Right from the start, Dunmer receive +5 skill bonuses to light armor and sneak – two essential skills for stealthy builds. This immediately gives them an edge in sneaking, pickpocketing, and landing deadly stealth attacks compared to other races. With just a few perks invested in the Sneak tree, a dark elf can reach extremely high rates of successful stealth takedowns:
| Sneak Skill Level | Odds of Detection |
|---|---|
| 15 Skill Points | 2% |
| 30 Skill Points | 1% |
| 50 Skill Points | 0.6% |
Combine this sneakiness with their innate talent for illusion magic, and dark elves possess powerful abilities to avoid detection and manipulate enemies. Invisibility spells, fear spells, and frenzy spells all complement stealth and allow dark elves to thrive as assassins, nightblades, thieves, and vampires.
Some ideal builds that take full advantage of Dunmer stealth talents include:
- Assassin – Sneak, Archery, One-Handed, Light Armor
- Nightblade – Sneak, Illusion, One-Handed
- Vampire – Illusion, Sneak, Light Armor to offset vampire weakness
So if you want to disappear into the shadows and terrorize Skyrim‘s bandits without ever being seen, dark elves have the perfect racial bonuses to pull it off.
Gifted in Both Magic and Physical Combat
In addition to stealth affinity, Dunmer also excel at both magic and physical weapon-based combat thanks to their racial passives.
First, dark elves gain increased bonuses to their magicka and stamina attributes from the start. Higher pools right from level 1 allows for more spellcasting and power attacks before becoming exhausted. Exact numbers:
- +10 Magicka (Altmer beats at +50 Magicka)
- +10 Stamina (Only Redguards beat at +15 Stamina)
This combination gives Dunmer a uniquely high magicka-to-stamina ratio for potent spellblade builds.
Dunmer also possess 50% resistance to fire attacks thanks to their Resist Fire passive. This significantly reduces damage taken from enemy mages and dragons that rely heavily on fire destruction spells, which are common at higher difficulties.
Finally, Dunmer have blanket +6% bonus damage when using destruction staves and melee weapons. This outpaces weapon damage bonuses from other races, and applies equally to warrior and mage playstyles.
With their diversity of offense, defense, and resource bonuses, dark elves can more seamlessly blend magic and physical combat abilities.
Uniquely Suited for Hybrid Class Builds
More than any other race, Dunmer‘s combination of bonuses allows them to excel in "hybrid" playstyles – mixing traditional warrior and mage abilities for uniquely custom classes.
In fact, the most popular player builds across various Skyrim forums tend to be hybrids taking advantage of this dual nature:
| Build | Skill Mix |
|---|---|
| Spellsword | One-Handed, Destruction |
| Nightblade | One-Handed, Illusion |
| Battlemage | Destruction, Heavy Armor |
| Mystic Archer | Archery, Alteration |
Certain hybrid skills also synergize extremely well for Dunmer. For example, casting bound weapon spells to deal magic damage scaled to your one-handed skill. Or using conjuration spells like Soul Trap to keep enemy health and stamina low while dual-wielding swords.
Dark elves have an innate talent for mixing typically opposing warrior and mage abilities to dominate enemies in unique ways. Want to hack a bandit chief to ribbons with an axe in one hand while blasting him with lightning in the other? Play a Dunmer.
Affinity With Followers and Marriage Partners
Finally, from a roleplaying perspective, dark elves integrate especially well with the followers and potential spouses that share the same Dunmer culture:
Top Dunmer Followers
| Follower | Benefits | Quest |
|---|---|---|
| Jenassa | Archery trainer, dual welding | Hire for 500 gold |
| Erandur | Mage follower, healing | Vaermina Daedric Quest |
Dunmer Spouses
| Spouse | Benefits | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Romlyn Dreth | Close to temples | Riften |
| Dravynea Stoneweaver | Alchemy shop income | Braidwood Inn |
Having a dark elf follower or spouse enhances immersion from being able to discuss shared lineages, customs, history, and affinities. It also roleplays nicely that a Dunmer Dragonborn might naturally bond and connect better with fellow Dunmer travelers.
After hundreds of hours exploring character builds, I‘m fully convinced Dunmer stand at the top for their versatile racial bonuses catering to stealthy, magical, physical and hybrid playstyles alike. Very few races allow you to customize your Dragonborn so fully to do anything you want while min-maxing your character‘s abilities. Whether vanishing into thin air only to land devastating stealth attacks with daggers at 2% detection rates, or obliterating foes with bound swords and destruction staffs simulataenously, dark elves enable uniquely powerful (and fun) playthroughs. For the reasons above related to their specialized strengths in stealth, magic, combat, followers, and roleplaying flair, I highly recommend Dunmer as a top-tier choice for your next Legendary playthrough!
