Top 10 Choices Elder Scrolls Players Always Regret!

Summary

Players’ choices in Elder Scrolls games can impact factions, history, and narrative outcomes.
Making impactful decisions gives players agency and leaves a lasting mark on the world of Tamriel.
Whether it’s joining factions, deciding fates, or choosing between werewolves or vampires, Elder Scrolls players will often need to make significant choices.

The Elder Scrolls series has established a benchmark for open-world role-playing games; however, it’s not primarily focused on choices impacting the storyline. Nevertheless, players do encounter decisions that significantly shape the destiny of factions or even Tamriel’s history and world as a whole.

Each installment is packed with numerous quests and opportunities to interact with diverse characters. At times, these interactions lead to critical choices where the outcome significantly shapes your journey. When such decision-making moments arise for the player, they offer a powerful feeling of control over the storyline that can create a lasting impression on the gaming experience.

9. By The Nine Or Not At All

Aligning With The Nines Demands Complete Commitment

Making this decision means embracing a particular way of life, and it’s exclusive to the Knights of the Nine expansion within The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. To join the ranks of the Nine Divines faction, you must embark on a journey to nine sanctuaries that are strategically placed across the map. Upon completing this pilgrimage, you’ll be granted access to chapels in each main city, offering an abundance of helpful items, spells, and quests.

Any armor obtained through the Nine Divines will be taken away if players accumulate Infamy points. Being a follower of the Nine Divines involves adhering strictly to their principles. Nevertheless, players have the option to atone for their misdeeds by making another pilgrimage.

8. What To Do With Barbas

Players Can Kill, Reunite, Or Save Him

In “A Daedra’s Best Friend” mission, the protagonist, the Dragonborn, helps out a talking dog named Barbas who is aiming to rejoin his master. It turns out that this dog belongs to none other than Clavicus Vile, one of the seventeen Daedric Princes symbolizing power, deceit, wishes, tranquility, and agreements. Barbas advises the Dragonborn against striking any bargains with Clavicus Vile.

As a Dragonborn, stumbling upon Clavicus Vile’s shrine, I was tasked by the mischievous prince with fetching the Rueful Axe. Upon my triumphant return, Vile puts me in a tricky spot. He wants me to either wield this sinister weapon to take down Barbas or leave it with him, sparing Barbas’ life. Though it may seem insignificant compared to the grand tales of Tamriel, the choice I make will definitely linger in my mind.

7. Fighters Guild Vs. Thieves Guild

Slaughtering Thieves Or Leaving Them Alone

In the game Morrowind, players have the freedom to join multiple guilds, but as they progress through the story, they’ll uncover rivalries between some of these guilds. The Fighters Guild, an Imperial organization, emphasizes discipline and strength. It operates more like a military contractor, which is fundamentally opposed to the Thieves Guild. The Thieves Guild, on the other hand, functions as a criminal network that’s somewhat tolerated by local authorities due to its role in regulating crime.

Sjoring Hard-Heart, as a member of the Fighters Guild at the rank of Guardian, presents you with a mission to eliminate the leaders and members of the Thieves Guild. If you decide to accept this quest, it will prevent you from joining the Thieves Guild in the future. The successful completion of this task will result in the annihilation of the Thieves Guild’s leadership, ultimately leading to the virtual disappearance of the Thieves Guild from the world.

When you reach a certain rank in the Fighters Guild, Sjoring Hard-Heart offers you a mission to take out the leaders and members of the Thieves Guild. If you choose to go ahead with this task, you won’t be able to join the Thieves Guild afterward. Completing the mission will result in the destruction of the Thieves Guild leadership, effectively erasing them from existence.

6. Werewolves Or Vampires

Become A Vampire Lord Or Join The Hunters

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

In the Dawnguard expansion, an ancient prophecy revealed in Elder Scrolls foretells a conflict: a war between vampires and the Dawnguard, a group of vampire hunters. With the Dawnguard expansion, you can transform into a Vampire Lord multiple times. However, the werewolf form can only be reversed twice, making the choice between these two powerful entities a difficult one.

Choosing to support Lord Harkon’s Volkihar Clan will set into motion the prophecy, transforming players into Vampire Lords. On the other hand, if they opt for the Dawnguard, they can harness Lycanthropy and aid the faction in thwarting the advance of vampires.

5. Paarthurnax’s Impending Doom

Help The Blades Or Spare Paarthurnax

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

In days long past, dragons held dominion over Skyrim. Yet, during the happenings of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, these mythical beasts reemerged. To counter this resurgence, an ancient band of warriors, known as the Blades, arose from the shadows. Historically, they were a powerful network of elite defenders for the Imperials and played pivotal roles in Tamriel’s history. However, in Skyrim, their numbers are scant, with Delphine, a dedicated dragon slayer, leading their remaining members.

A serene dragon dwells atop the World’s Neck, named Paarthurnax, who guides the Greybeards. He tranquilly waits for the emergence of the Dragonborn. Delphine of the Blades believes that once, Paarthurnax was a menacing force on the world. Although the dragon exhibits calmness now, she persists in her belief that the Dragonborn should eliminate him. This presents players with a significant and influential decision to make.

4. For Neravar

Joining The Tribunal Temple Or Toppling It

The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

In the world of Morrowind, you’ll find The Tribunal – a religious group that reveres three deities referred to as Vivec, Almalexia, and Sotha Sil. Their temples are dotted across Vvardenfell. If a player decides to join this organization and progressively work their way up the ranks by completing tasks, they will be aligning themselves with these divine beings and inadvertently endorsing their authority.

As they progress through the game’s hierarchy, players uncover a shocking truth: The Tribunal, once revered leaders, are responsible for the murder of the celebrated hero Nerevar and usurping his divine powers. Players then have an option to challenge their authority by assassinating Vivec, a god-like figure, which would strip him of his divinity. This action would trigger the message: “By this character’s demise, the prophecy’s line is broken… either mend the tapestry of destiny or continue in the doomed world you have forged.

3. To Kill An Empire

Become The Emperor’s Assassin Or Betray The Dark Brotherhood

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

In the game Skyrim, the Dark Brotherhood eventually presents players with the mission “To Kill an Empire,” a gruesome undertaking that requires assassinating the Emperor. At this juncture, players are given two options: either fully align themselves with the Dark Brotherhood or opt for Commander Maro’s quest, “Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!”, which they can find in Dragon Bridge.

If you eliminate the entire Dark Brotherhood, it ensures that the Emperor won’t perish, preserving the Empire. However, this decision means forfeiting several rewards throughout the Dark Brotherhood questline. In the event that players manage to kill the Emperor, their wanted level will skyrocket, and they’ll encounter Imperials ransacking Sanctuary – a place where the Dark Brotherhood narrative takes an ominous turn.

2. The Civil War

Choosing The Stormcloaks Or The Imperial Legion

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

Among the key storylines found in Skyrim, one particularly significant is the Civil War questline, which portrays the continuous conflict between the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks. Throughout this narrative, each faction presents a chain of quests leading to a decisive battle over the other’s main city.

As I find myself standing at the precipice of Skyrim’s destiny, the ominous threat of Alduin looming ever nearer, I gather with the venerable Greybeards for a council known as “Season Unending.” Here, the Imperials and Stormcloaks convene in an attempt to broker peace amidst the chaos. It’s my call, as the Dragonborn, to make pivotal decisions that shape the balance of power between these two factions. But alas, once Alduin meets his end, the civil war resumes with a vengeance. I stand ready to lend my mighty arm to whichever side I’ve chosen, fighting for their ultimate victory.

1. The Mantella Effect

Decide The Fate Of Daggerfall

In the world of Daggerfall, the happenings largely reflect a medieval era, marked by a complex web of entangled alliances and rivalries among dominant forces and guilds. Beneath these conflicts lies a significant green gem, known as the Mantella, that acts as an immense reservoir of magical energy. This gem is exploited by Tiber for his conquest endeavors. Notably, the Mantella was utilized to energize the towering golem, Brass God Numidium.

In the tale of Daggerfall, it’s unveiled that all significant forces within Iliac Bay are vying for possession of the Mantella. To add more intrigue, the player eventually receives the “Journey to Aetherius” mission, which demands them to gather the Mantella. Upon returning the Mantella to quest giver Nulfaga, the scene depicting victory shows the Numidium being destroyed, releasing a tremendous power. Yet, players have the option to pass the Mantella to five other individuals, leading to significantly diverse conclusions for the game.

2025-02-03 06:06