In this Skyrim ebony blade guide, we teach you all about this iconic weapon, with step-by-step instructions on how to get it, as well as tips on how to enchant it. With our help, you’ll be wielding this bad boy and felling your foes in no time.
For more on one of the best RPGs of all time, be sure to check out our picks for the best Skyrim memes, as well as guides for Skyrim Serana, Skyrim’s map, and Skyrim cure vampirism.
Now, Dragonborn, here’s everything you need to know about the Skyrim ebony blade.
How do I get the ebony blade in Skyrim?
Despite being a terrifyingly powerful weapon, you can pick up the ebony blade pretty early on in your adventure. But before we start, you need to meet the following prerequisites:
- Your character must be level 20 or higher
- You need to complete the Dragon Rising quest line
- Hulda needs to be alive – if you’ve already killed her, you need to start a new game or find a load where she’s still alive
Once you’ve got both of those checked off your list, follow these steps to obtain the ebony blade in Skyrim:
- Go to The Bannered Mare in Whiterun
- Talk to Hulda to start the Whispering Door quest
- Go to Dragonsreach and talk to Balgruuf the Greater
Note: if you’ve already joined the Stormcloaks, you can find Balgruuf in the Blue Palace basement instead - Talk to Nelkir (Balgruuf’s son) in Dragonsreach
- Follow the quest marker to the whispering door and talk to it
After learning that the voice behind the door is a daedric princess called Maphela, she asks you to open the door – but first you need to get the key from either Farengar Secret-Fire or Jarl Balgruuf. We recommend going with Farengar, as he’s easier to locate. So, follow these steps to get the key and continue the quest:
- Some time in the evening, locate Farengar in Dragonsreach
- Follow him around until he goes to bed
- While Farengar is sleeping, pickpocket the key
- Return to the whispering door and use the key to open it
And there you go – the ebony blade is yours for the taking. Ignore all the ominous whispering, it’s all worth it for such a cool weapon!
Ebony blade enchantment in Skyrim
Now, you’re likely wondering how to enchant Skyrim’s ebony blade. This unique weapon requires a unique method of enchanting, and to boost the healing properties of the blade, you need to kill ten friendly characters. Of course, this removes them entirely from the game, and killing certain NPC’s can prevent you from completing certain quests, so it might be a good idea to save maximizing your ebony blade until you’re well into the end-game content, but we’ll leave that up to you.
The easiest way to upgrade your ebony blade enchantment to the max without having to lose any characters is by summoning a familiar and felling it ten times in a row. This doesn’t work on all versions of the game, but it’s worth trying. If that exploit doesn’t work for you, you’ll have to go for the intended method of laying waste to the good people of Skyrim. Sorry.
There you have it, all you need to know to find and enchant Skyrim’s ebony blade. To find yourself with more space on your mobile, check out our guides on how to delete contacts on iPhone and how to delete apps on iPhone.