The famous Thuum or Dragon shouts are a special power in Skyrim — but which of them are the best?
The famous Thuum or Dragon shouts are a special power in Skyrim — only wielded by a few characters besides the Dragonborn. This ability utilizes special “words of power” written in the tongue of the Dragons, and consist of three terms, each of which enhances the respective power.
In fact, the process of learning Thuum is so arduous that the Greybeards of Hrothgar only learn it after decades of continuous practice and introspection. Each is unique in its own way, but many of them are of little use to players during gameplay.
5 Krii Lun Aus (Marked For Death)
Marked for Death is an interesting shout, as it permanently reduces the “armor rating” of those enemies against whom it is used. Even though the actual reduction is not considered when taking into account how quickly most fights end, Krii Lun Aus has proven to be of great advantage when combating impossible adversaries, such as Dragons, Dragon Priests, and also those slimy Falmers that are inexplicably hard to put down.
On the other hand, overusing the shout can potentially make the battle end way too quickly for comfort, regardless of the opponents level.
#27 – Kyne’s Peace – Worst Dragon Shout In Skyrim
Kynes Peace pacifies wild animals in the Dragonborns vicinity, causing them to lose their desire to fight or flee. This shout is somewhat useful early in the game when players are weak and animals like bears can pose a threat, but once players can fend off animals, it becomes completely useless.
Animal Allegiance is nearly identical to Kynes Peace, except animals will fight on the Dragonborns behalf instead of doing nothing. This is marginally more useful than the previous shout early in the game but quickly falls off when animals stop being a threat to players.
This dragon shout momentarily clears up the weather for a minute. This might seem superfluous, but it does have some niche uses. It can display any storm-related magic ability, most notably the Meteor Storm called by the dragon Alduin early in Skyrims campaign.
Clear Skies can also be used to dispel flammable gas traps in dungeons, like Unrelenting Force, but with a shorter cooldown. These narrow-use cases land it low on the list.
Using this shout will summon Hakon One-Eye to fight alongside the Dragonborn for one minute, but players wont be able to shout again for three minutes afterward. Skyrim already allows one NPC to follow gamers as hired help, which makes this shout severely underpowered.
Call Dragon will summon the dragon Odahviing to fight by the Dragonborns side until all threats around them are eliminated. Odahviing cannot be killed and is a formidable ally, but this shout can only be used outdoors, the dragon takes a while to arrive, and players cant shout for five minutes afterward. That makes Call Dragon more of a party trick rather than a core ability.
The Dragonborn can call forth a thunderstorm that lasts for three minutes and randomly strikes anything within 150 feet with lightning. Its undoubtedly a sight to behold, but players shouts are put on cooldown for 10 minutes after using it, and the Dragonborn can quickly rack up a massive bounty if they use Storm Call near a city, since civilians and guards can be struck by lighting as well.
Dismay lets the Dragonborn scatter lower-level enemies, but it fails to make a case for itself because theres an Illusion spell that can do the same thing on higher-leveled foes.
This shout can be used to stun dragons, like Unrelenting Force and Dragonrend, but its only better than those two if the Dragonborn has not yet mastered them.
Drain Vitality causes enemies to lose 5 points of stamina, Magicka, and Health every second for 30 seconds. Unfortunately, the shout doesnt absorb those values and give them to the Dragonborn. It only causes damage. This damage doesnt scale with players level either, so it will simply tickle higher-level enemies during Skyrims endgame content.
This dragon shout launches a chilling blast in front of the Dragonborn to deal Frost damage and momentarily slow enemies hit by it. Still, much like Drain Vitality, its damage doesnt scale, and it becomes a weak late-game. Many foes in Skyrim, like Ice Wolves and Frost Trolls, also have an innate resistance to Frost damage, to make matters worse.
The Fire Breath dragon shout launches a fireball in front of the Dragonborn thats excellent for taking out foes susceptible to fire damage, like vampires and Frost Dragons. It still suffers from the same scaling issue as Frost Breath and Drain Vitality, but it deals massive damage to certain targets.
This shout works just like a Conjuration spell and summons the dragon Durnehviir to fight alongside the Dragonborn.
Its substantially better than Call Dragon because it can be used indoors; still, its 5-minute cooldown is less than ideal.
Battle Fury enchants nearby allies weapons to deal more damage. This shout is only solid if players have a follower with one of Skyrims powerful weapons or if theyre conjuring zombies to fight alongside them. Characters that play solo have no use for Battle Fury.
Disarm forces enemies up to level 30 to drop their weapons, which the Dragonborn can then pick up. Foes will prioritize finding another weapon if there are any around, but the shout is a good way to make early Skyrim boss fights much easier.
This shout lures unsuspecting enemies away from the Dragonborn, allowing them to avoid conflict or set up for stealth kills. Its a solid choice for players who are building a rogue or assassin character.
Cyclone creates a powerful updraft that sends targets upwards. The gust of wind deals damage itself, and enemies take fall damage when they come crashing down.
This dragon shout is similar to Unrelenting Force but is best used when there are no cliffs around to push enemies off of.
The Dragonborn can freeze the enemies in front of them using Ice Form, which makes it another good alternative to Unrelenting Force when theres no cliff around. They can also use it to make escapes, but keep in mind enemies with resistance to Frost will barely feel it and large enemies, like Dragons and mammoths, are immune to being frozen.
Elemental Fury doubles the Dragonborns attack speed for 15 seconds, but it cannot be used on Skyrims enchanted weapons. Since most players will magically enhance their weapons late in the game, this shout can prove useless to some users. Still, players can keep an unenchanted weapon with high base stats to make use of Elemental Fury.
Dragonrend forces Skyrims dragons to land so players can easily slay them without having to chip away at them in the air until they automatically land when they reach 50% Health. This is a pivotal shout that makes amassing Dragon Souls substantially easier, and it has a brief 15-second cooldown.
Whirlwind Sprint propels the Dragonborn forward, allowing them to avoid traps, make daring jumps, and get out of dicey situations.
This shout only serves as a mobility tool, but it makes many situations on foot a breeze.
Fus-Ro-Dah! Unrelenting Force is Skyrims most iconic Dragon Shout and is extremely useful during all parts of the game. It can thrust enemies off of cliffs to defeat them instantly, stun large creatures, and even instantly kills weak enemies.
This shout slows down time by 90% for 16 seconds. The Dragonborn is partially affected by the shout, but they can move much quicker than the affected foes. Slow Time lets gamers quickly dispatch powerful foes without giving them much of a chance to fight back, and it even prolongs the effects of enchantment and potions.
Soul Tear deals a fixed 300 damage, but enemies under level 100 killed by the shout are reanimated as zombies to fight alongside the Dragonborn for 60 seconds. While its damage might not scale, it can revive powerful NPCs, like Ebony Warriors, to fight with players.
The Dragonborn can use this shout to control animals, people, and even dragons once they find the third word of power. Once a dragon has been subdued, players can ride them as mounts, which is one of the most satisfying parts of Skyrim.
This shout can also be used to pacify and slay dragons instead of Dragonrend for anyone who doesnt want them to put up a fight.
Dragon Aspect momentarily buffs the Dragonborns attack power, armor rating, Shout damage, fire and frost resistance, and decreases Shout recharge time. These effects last five minutes and can greatly simplify boss battles that players are struggling with.
Aura Whisper lets the Dragonborn see through walls to prepare for any foes who may be lurking in the dark corners of Skyrims many hidden areas. Unlike the Detect Life spell that only works on specific creatures, Aura Whisper tracks the undead, daedra, and animunculi as well.
Marked for Death is the Dragonborns strongest offensive Shout. It applies a minute-long debuff that reduces 4,500 armor and deals 180 damage for its duration. This makes otherwise powerful bosses very weak, and it only has a 40-second cooldown.
10 Zun Haal Viik (Disarm)
In the beginning stages of the game, Disarm becomes a powerful tool to use against powerful enemies (capped at Level 30.) It can not only knock the weapon out of the opponents hands, but also manages to briefly fluster them, allowing the Dragonborn enough time to launch their own attacks.
Of course, this can be used against the player as well, for instance by high-level Draugr characters who are able to use Zun Haal Viik to the same effect.
FAQ
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