Skyrim: How to Get The Ebony Blade

The Ebony Blade in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a powerful Daedric artifact that can be obtained and upgraded to be one of the best weapons in the game. Players will need to be at least level 20 before they can obtain the quest that leads to the Ebony Blade. The “Dragon Rising” quest will also need to be completed before players can begin the “The Whispering Door” quest and claim the Ebony Blade in Skyrim.

To start “The Whispering Door,” players need to visit Hulda and ask if she’s heard any rumors. Hulda can be found behind the bar in the Bannered Mare inside Whiterun. Players will visit Whiterun at the beginning of Skyrim, so the fast travel point should be unlocked for players to quickly reach this NPC. Hulda has a few different quests available, so players should keep speaking to her until she mentions strange children and players receive the task of speaking to the Jarl.

The next step will be to speak to Balgruuf, the Jarl of Whiterun. Players can head up the stairs to Dragonsreach, then speak to Balgruuf who will ask the player to have a word with his son Nelkir. Players can find Balgruuf’s son in Dragonsreach, but he won’t be running around there at nighttime. When players speak to him, they will learn a few of Balgruuf’s secrets, including the fact that Nelkir has a different mother than his siblings. Lastly, Nelkir will tell players about the Whispering Lady and a locked door in the basement at Dragonsreach.

Completing the Whispering Door and Upgrading the Ebony Blade in Skyrim

Upon reaching the basement door, players will have an eerie conversation with the Whispering Lady, Mephala. She will ask players to open the door, then they will need to return to Nelkir once more. He informs players that only Balgruuf and Farengar can open the basement door. Players can either use their pickpocketing skill in Skyrim to get the key from Farengar or kill him and loot the key from his body. Killing Farengar can have severe consequences, so it’s recommended that players simply steal the key from him.

The next step in obtaining the Ebony Blade in Skyrim is to open the basement door. Inside, players will find a book with some lore about the blade and the weapon itself sitting on a table. The rest of the room is empty, so players can read the book if they choose, then pick up the Ebony Blade and exit the basement. The Whispering Lady will explain that the blade players picked up isn’t actually the Ebony Blade yet. To gain the enchantment, players will need to use the sword to kill an NPC in Skyrim that trusts them.

The base damage for the Ebony Blade in Skyrim is only 11, but the appeal of this weapon is in the enchantment. Although it starts at 11, it can also absorb up to 30 health from enemies with every hit. There is no cooldown or charge time for the Ebony Blade enchantment, so players will be able to heal themselves with every hit they land using the blade. Upgrading the enchantment becomes increasingly difficult because it requires two NPC deaths for every four points added to the absorbed health amount for a maximum of 30.

Choosing the right NPCs to kill can be difficult because a lot of them give quests or will trigger permanent hostility with other NPCs. However, there is a way for players to gain the Ebony Blade enchantment in Skyrim without ruining any aspect of their game. Before players can kill an NPC, they will need to gain their trust and friendship. The easiest way to upgrade the blade is to give gold to beggars or alcohol to drunks to befriend them, then kill them with the sword. Players can also use the Dead Thrall spell to reanimate an NPC they’ve killed, then kill them again and repeat the process to quickly level up the sword.

Once the enchantment for the Ebony Blade is maxed out, the Whispering Lady will claim that her blade has returned to its former glory. This indication means that players can stop killing NPCs because the enchantment has reached the maximum amount of 30 health absorbed per hit. With the enchantment maxed, the Ebony Blade will deal a total of 41 damage per hit making it a very powerful Daedric artifact to use in Skyrim.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is available for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

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