RELATED: Skyrim: 10 Secret Side Quests Everyone Missed
By simply playing the game, a few trophies will be easily acquired without even trying. The rest of the trophies will require the player to grind away at tasks or unlock certain perks in order to gain every trophy in the game. Today, we’ll check out five of the easiest, along with five of the hardest.
10 Easy: Blessed
This will most likely be one of the first trophies the player gets, as there are three Standing Stones located around the beginning of the game. After the player escapes Helgen and exits the caves, they can find three Standing Stones on their way to Riverwood.
By interacting with one of the stones, the player will gain a new power (these three provide a bonus to experience gained in one of three sets of skills, depending on the stone used) and the trophy will appear. Even if the player does not follow the beaten path to this particular set, there are plenty more around Skyrim that the player can find and activate.
9 Hard: Reader
This trophy might sound like a simple task, but it requires the player to read 50 unique skill books. Things start easy, as the player is entirely likely to accidentally pick one up. But as the player gets closer to 50 books, it will become increasingly difficult to locate new ones. That said, skill books are a smart thing to seek out to begin with, so it’ll come naturally. It will take quite a while, though.
8 Easy: Hard Worker
If activating the Standing Stone is not the first trophy the player gets, it will be this one. This trophy requires the player to cook food, chop wood, and mine materials. All of this can be done in Riverwood and the surrounding area without going too far out of the way.
RELATED: Skyrim: Every Thieves Guild Shadowmark (& What They Mean)
It’s a fairly minuscule time investment, and considering most players will want to start grinding the crafting skills as soon as possible, this one’s a practical no-brainer.
7 Hard: Auriel’s Bow
In the Dawnguard DLC, the player can obtain Auriel’s Bow and the necessary Sunhollowed Elven arrows. To unlock this trophy, the player must use Auriel’s bow to shoot one of these arrows into the sun.
Doing this will blot out the sun, allowing a vampire player to use their powers in the day. It is important to note that the trophy will not appear until an explosion occurs, which can happen 30 seconds to a minute after the player shoots the sun. It seems like a simple task, but it requires quite a bit of time invested into Dawnguard before it can be unlocked.
6 Easy: Dragon Soul
At the beginning of the game, the player will complete a few quests around Whiterun if they’re following the typical route through the main quests. One of these quests will involve slaying a dragon that’s threatening the hold.
As it is an incredibly early leg of the main quest, this one’s practically handed to the player. After the dragon is killed, the player will absorb the soul and earn this trophy. It’s nearly impossible to miss this one.
5 Hard: Architect
In the Hearthfire DLC, the player is able to buy land and build a house. To get this trophy, the player must build three different wings onto their house. This may sound easy, but it requires the player to have enough materials and a significant sum of gold.
RELATED: 10 Mods That Make Skyrim Feel Like A Completely Different Game
After buying the land, crafting the components (which involves a timesink or even more gold), and finally actually building the wings onto their home, the player will achieve this trophy. The plus side is the player will now have a cozy home to rest in. The amenities, however, will require even more work.
4 Easy: Sideways
This trophy requires the player to complete ten side quests in the game. By talking to the many characters in Skyrim, the player is sure to find ten different quests they can complete with ease. Given the rewards involved, ranging from free skill training to unique items, weapons and the like, they’re generally worth the time to begin with. This one’s sure to be completed naturally without the player going out of their way.
3 Hard: Hero of the People
Though similar to the last trophy, this one requires the player to complete 50 miscellaneous quests. These fall under a unique category in the menu. Like the last trophy, these quests can be unlocked by talking to the characters found around the game or by reading certain notes.
RELATED: Skyrim: 5 Of The Coolest Looking Helmets (& 5 That Look Terrible)
The quests in this category can range from clearing a bandit hideout to simply visiting a major location in the game. Generally, these aren’t very hard, but what makes this truly difficult is grinding out 50 of them. Given that these aren’t the most interesting activities to begin with, it gets remarkably tedious.
2 Easy: Delver
This trophy requires the player to clear 50 dungeons. It’s similar to the last task, but with so many unique dungeons to explore it’s a great deal more engaging and feels a bit more natural to grind out. Playing through the main quests will result in a fair number being knocked out, anyway. It’ll be fun, varied, and likely to result in far less fatigue than chasing down miscellaneous objectives.
1 Hard: Master
This trophy will be a bit of a grind, as it requires the player to reach level 50. Needless to say, this can take quite a while. The first few levels come quickly, and chances are you won’t even be “grinding,” they’ll just occur incidentally as you’re doing whatever strikes your fancy.
You can, of course, cheat a bit and resort to buying lessons from trainer NPCs en masse, but this will require a significant sum of gold when you’re attempting to actually level up using this method.
NEXT: Skyrim: The 10 Most Intelligent Characters, Ranked
