Summary
Stumbling upon an enclosed space brimming with bad guys, monsters, and loot is one of the foundations of fun in theElder Scrollsgames. However, all too often, as soon as the player is gearing up to begin some serious dungeon delving, the track ends, and they are forced to backtrack out (or, inSkyrim’s case, ejected back to the entrance via a secret doorway).
Thankfully, there are plenty of extra-large-sized dungeons across the series for intrepid explorers to get lost (and die) in at their pleasure. Whether long and winding or tangled and convoluted, the maddeningly intricate layouts of these underground gauntlets might take some players a kalpa to find their way back out.
7Labyrinthian - Skyrim
As Long-Winded And Confusing As Its Name Might Suggest
As its name might suggest, Labyrinthian is a sprawling maze of Nordic ruins that can only be truly explored throughSkyrim’s College of Winterhold questline. It contains all the usual assortment of fiends: draugr, trolls, and skeletons, as well as a few more enchanting enemies to knock down, including wisps, dragon priests, and even an undead skeletal dragon.
Throughout its five large zones (the exterior, Labyrinthian, Chasm, Thoroughfare, and Tribune) are hints of a fallen city and, of course, loot distributed between chests, urns, and corpses. Apowerful dragon wordfor slowing time shout can be found here, and thankfully, it only slows time for enemies and does not add to the time needed for clearing this dungeon.
6Sundercliff Watch - Oblivion, Mehrune’s Razor DLC
Not Exactly A Quick Cut To The End
This dungeon, added withOblivion’s Mehrune’s Razor DLC, is so large that it has the equivalent of a tower block of people living in it. Thepowerful Daedric artifact, which had been conspicuously missing from the game before the DLC, must be hard-won behind a grueling 23 zones filled with Mehrune Dagon’s cultist worshipers.
Sundercliff Watch begins as an ordinary-looking ruined watchtower no different from the many others dotted around Cyrodiil. However, delving below reveals an entire village, production forge, mine complex, and Ayleid ruins. Traveling below reveals a layer of cave systems and, eventually, traces of Daedric architecture and the razor itself.
5Bthardamz - Skyrim
A Healthy Jaunt Through A Sizable Dwarven Settlement
Any dungeon that has a zone called “upper district” is bound to be a long one. Bthardamz, found in The Reach, in the westernmost part of Skyrim, is a Dwemmer ruin (or perhaps more accurately, aruined Dwemmer city) filled with those who call themselves “the Afflicted.”
The afflicted are the subject of the quest “The Only Cure,” in which the player can obtain the Daedric artifact Spellbreaker. Of course, hidden around Bthardamz’s upper and lower districts, workshop areas, dwelling areas, library, and vaults are dwarven automatons, traps, and exposed steam vents, which make the job of assassinating the Afflicted boss that much harder.
4Darkfall Cave, Darkfall Passage, & The Forgotten Vale - Skyrim, Dawnguard DLC
A Gauntlet Of Nightmares And Dark Winding Passages
Part of what makes thisSkyrimdungeon feel utterly huge is the pitch-black darkness, the difficult traversal, and all the awful monsters wandering around. This dungeon is split into two (arguably three) dark, brutal sections: Darkfall Cave and Darkfall Passage.
Depending on whether a dungeon crawler could consider an outside area technically a “dungeon,” the final part of this chain of locations, the Forgotten Vale, would extend Darkfall Cave to frighteningly large proportions, especially when considering the effort it takes to reach the shrines, the temple, andone of Skyrim’s most powerful ranged weapons, Auriel’s Bow at the end.
3The Soulcairn - Skyrim, Dawnguard DLC
The Ultimate Dungeon Space For The Torture Of Eternal Souls
The Soul Cairn, introduced inSkryim’s “Dawnguard” DLC, is a realm-like dungeon that lies beyond the veil of life and death. Exploring the Soul Cairn rewards the persistent player with soul gems, hidden treasures, and the chance to uncover lost knowledge. Finding their way out may be more than a challenge than getting in.
Thishaunting sub-plane of Oblivion, the entrance of which is found at the depths of Castle Volkihar (which itself could be considered a dungeon depending on which side the player aligns themselves with), is filled with trapped wandering souls, powerful undead enemies and the ever-present, eerie glow of the Ideal Masters, who watch over their collection of black souls with unknown intent.
2Scourg Barrow - Daggerfall
A Labyrinthine Nightmare Befitting The God Of Necromancy
While many ofDaggerfall’s locations look generic thanks to the game’s heavy reliance on procedural generation, the story behind this maddeningly tangled dungeon may be at least familiar with its most famous inhabitant, Mannimarco, otherwise known as the King of Worms. Thisnecromancer-turned-god(or some incarnation of him) reappears during the Mages Guild questline inOblivion.
Navigating Scourg Barrow is a trial of patience and perseverance. The dungeon’s design is sprawling, with its 22 in-game dungeon blocks of twisting passageways and chambers that feel almost deliberately disorienting. Because of the low fidelity of dungeon textures, the passageways of Scourg Barrow can feel copy pasted from start to finish. Even the 3D map can be confusing to read, padding the length of the crawl extensively.
1Blackreach - Skyrim
Welcome To Deepest Darkest Dungeon City
Of all the massive dungeons inSkyrim, Blackreach probably lingers the longest in the trauma memories ofElder Scrollsfans. This enormous subterranean cavern is accessible through several large Dwemer ruins, such as Alftand or Mzinchaleft, and is filled from top to bottom with bioluminescent plants, Dwemer architecture, Falmer, and dwarven automatons.
Exploring Blackreach feels like discovering a lost world rather than a dungeon, with its glowing fungi, eerie ambiance, and sprawling design creating a sense of wonder and frustration in equal parts. The whole area is more akin to a super-sized city than a cell for prisoners to rot in. However, there are plenty of rotting foes to contend with (andthe elven corpse of a familiar face), as well as unique bounties, such as crimson nirnroots.
