Skyrim Dawnguard DLC Guide: How To Find All The Dragon Shouts

With Skyrim’s Dawnguard DLC, three brand new Dragon Shouts have been included for all Dragonborns to hunt down and utilise against their enemies.

They’re not particularly simple to find, however, so we’ve tracked down all of the words of each shout, how to collect them and even detail exactly what it is they do.

How To Find All Three Words Of Drain Vitality

This is one of the first Dragon Shouts you can unlock from Dawnguard’s DLC, with the first Dragon Wall located during the first dungeon of the expansion.

During the quest ‘Awakening’ you will rescue a Mysterious Woman. After this you’ll come to an arena with a lot of steps leading to the bottom.

Clear out the skeletons then head up the stairs to the exit. As you do, however, look to the right for a Dragon Wall and the first word of this Dragon Shout.

The second word is a little easier to spot, since it is located in the middle of the frozen lake at Forgotten Vale, which you will visit as part of the quest-line. After collecting this word, two unique dragons will assault you.

The third and final word is located at Arcwind Point, a place you may already have visited during vanilla Skyrim. The Dragon Wall is positioned to the left of the altar in this area.

If you haven’t already been here, Arcwind Point can be found far to the southwest of The Rift area, all the way west of Riften in a frozen corner that borders the mountains between Falkreath.

Drain Vitality – once all three words have been collected – lets you drain stamina, magicka and health from your enemies.

The first word will be found after rescuing Serana.

How To Find The Summon Durnehviir Dragon Shout

This is the easiest of the bunch to collect. During the section inside the Soul Cairn, you will inevitably fight the undead dragon Durnehviir.

After defeating him you will end up speaking to him later on, unlocking this Dragon Shout and letting you use it at any point in Skyrim.

It can be a little finicky, however. This is a summon akin to a spell rather than the ability to call the Dragon Odahviing. 

This means you need a space of open land without interruptions. To use the Shout, point the cursor at the land and use it. Note, you shouldn’t be directing it at your feet or in the sky.

It can be a little buggy too, often only using the first word of the Shout. A potential fix is to direct the Shout at an NPC such as a follower and hope it will let you use it properly again.

You’ll find Durnehviil in the Soul Cairn.

How To Find The Soul Tear Dragon Shout

This Dragon Shout is actually dependant on the Summon Durnehviir shout. Without the ability to summon the undead dragon, you won’t be able to gain access to Soul Tear.

Follow the instructions above on getting the Summon Durnehviir Dragon Shout to work – remember it can be a bit awkward – and then, when it appears, speak to it to unlock the first word of Soul Tear.

The second and third words are unlocked in exactly the same way, so simply fast travel to a location (that will have enough space for the dragon to appear) and repeat the process two more times.

Soul Tear will let you ‘rip a soul’ from your opponent, turning them into ally’s and having them fight alongside you.