Skyrim: The Best Dragon Priest Masks (& How To Get Them) (2024)

The Elder Scrolls franchise has some very unique concepts when it comes to equipment; an example of this would be the Daedric weapons and armor scattered throughout each game. However, Skyrim added an entirely new set of armor you to uncover in the form of Dragon Priest Masks. Each of these masks grants the wearer protection against damage and a unique ability.

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To obtain the Dragon Priest Masks, you'll need to defeat the Dragon Priest that resides at the end of each major Nord dungeon throughout the open world. Here are all of the Dragon Priest Masks throughout Skyrim, ranked by their ability.

9 Nahkriin

• Armor Type: Heavy Armor
• Ability: -20 Percent Less Cost For Restoration And Destruction Spells, +50 Magicka
• Location Found: Skuldafn

Nahkriin is a heavy armor mask that you obtain while completing the final chapter of the main questline. There isn't an opportunity to acquire this piece of armor once you've left Skuldafn, other than with the use of console commands or mods, so make sure to pick it up after defeating the dragon priest at the end of the dungeon.

The bonuses that are granted for wearing the Nahkriin mask aren't particularly useful unless you're a restoration or destruction mage, so it's only worth wearing this mask if you use these types of magic regularly.

8 Volsung

• Armor Type: Light Armor
• Ability: +20 Percent Better Barter Prices, Breathing Under Water, +20 Carry Weight
• Location Found: Volskygge

Volsung is one of the least notable dragon priest masks when it comes to combat abilities. However, it does have a few unique buffs that you can't get with most other armor.

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Notably, the Volsung mask grants three bonuses while wearing it, and they're all disconnected from each other; they also only have use outside of combat. The most important ability that you'll obtain while wearing the Volsung mask is the ability to breathe underwater indefinitely. This effect is useful while exploring sunken ships on Skyrim's coast.

7 Rahgot

• Armor Type: Heavy Armor
• Ability: +70 Stamina
• Location Found: Forelhost

Although Rahgot has one of the simplest abilities out of all of the dragon priest masks, it's still worth considering if you prioritize melee damage. You gain an extra 70 stamina while the Rahgot mask is equipped, which is equivalent to seven level-ups.

Even if you don't use melee damage, you probably use stamina a lot for sprinting, so it's worth wearing the Rahgot mask in certain situations if you need an extra boost to your stamina stat.

6 Otar

• Armor Type: Heavy Armor
• Ability: +30 Percent Fire, Frost, And Shock Damage Resistance
• Location Found: Ragnvald

Otar is another powerful option for a mask if you use heavy armor. This mask prioritizes defense by granting you a large bonus to your fire, frost, and shock resistance. Combined with the high armor rating due to being classified as heavy armor, Otar's magic resistance makes it one of the strongest helmets in the entirety of Skyrim.

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Although Otar won't be a good fit for your build if you use light armor, it's earned its reputation as a sturdy piece of equipment that every adventurer should collect.

5 Morokei

• Armor Type: Light Armor
• Ability: +100 Percent Magicka Regeneration
• Location Found: Labyrinthian

There are two different dragon priest masks that you can collect at the ruins of Labyrinthian, and Morokei is the first of these two items. Morokei is a light armor mask that grants +100 percent bonus to your Magicka regeneration, which means that you'll double the rate at which your Magicka stat regenerates both inside and outside of combat.

Magicka regeneration is particularly useful for players that use a lot of destruction and conjuration spells as their main damage source; however, it's also useful if you use restoration magic to restore your health or illusion spells to distract enemies.

4 Krosis

• Armor Type: Light Armor
• Ability: +20 Percent Archery, Alchemy, And Lockpicking Skill
• Location Found: Shearpoint

Krosis is the perfect dragon priest mask for a thief or assassin build because it grants a major bonus towards your archery, alchemy, and lockpicking skills.

All three of these skills are crucial for creating the best stealth character possible, and the extra archery skill will be the most important if your character is an archer. Even if you don't use bows regularly, alchemy allows you to create powerful poisons, and lockpicking grants you access to many powerful items in the long term, so it's worth picking this mask up no matter what build you're using.

3 Vokun

• Armor Type: Heavy Armor
• Ability: -20 Percent Cost For Conjuration, Alteration, And Illusion Spells
• Location Found: High Gate Ruins

Vokun may not seem like one of the best helmets in Skyrim at first glance; however, it's one of the most useful pieces of armor in general.

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The Vokun mask allows you to cast Conjuration, Alteration, and Illusion spells for much less Magicka than they would usually require. The reason that this ability is so useful is that most adventurers incorporate all three of these magic types into their journey, even if they have a melee build. The cost reduction will then allow non-mages to cast Conjuration, Alteration, and Illusion spells that they couldn't cast because of the amount of Magicka required, effectively granting non-mages access to a ton of new spells.

2 Hevnoraak

• Armor Type: Heavy Armor
• Ability: Grants Immunity To Poison Damage And Diseases
• Location Found: Valthume

Hevnoraak is found inside Valthume, and it's one of the best pieces of armor in Skyrim because it grants complete resistance to both poison damage and all diseases.

Diseases are very common throughout Skyrim, especially while fighting certain enemy types such as wild animals, so this mask is useful in many different situations. Poison damage isn't a common damage type in Skyrim, but it is present in certain enemies so it's still a useful effect of this helmet, especially considering that you acquire complete immunity to it while wearing Hevnoraak.

1 Konahrik

• Armor Type: Heavy Armor
• Ability: Provides A Chance For Healing And Damages Enemies When You Reach Low Health
• Location Found: Obtained In The Sanctuary Of Labyrinthian Once All 8 Masks Are Collected And You Are Wearing The Wooden Mask

Konahrik is a heavy armor helmet and the hardest dragon priest mask to obtain. To acquire this mask, you'll need to first collect all eight of the main dragon priest masks and then take them to the sanctuary in Labyrinthian.

Once there, you must equip the wooden mask, and then you will be given the Konahrik mask. This mask grants you a chance to damage enemies and heal yourself whenever you reach low health, so it's a piece of armor that's worth obtaining if you use heavy armor.

NEXT: Skyrim: The Best Bows, Ranked