Skyrim Dawnguard DLC Guide: Undead Horse, Auriel’s Bow & Achievements

Want to know how to find the undead mount Arvak? Need help with the Dimhollow Puzzle or just want to know if you can change your facial features?

Well we’ve detailed all the questions you might have for Skyrim’s Dawnguard DLC, each detailed and solved below.

And if you have any more questions you need answering, just drop a message into the comments below and we’ll try our best to answer them.

How to get Arvak, the undead horse

This undead mount was revealed in the Dawnguard trailer, but it’s easy to miss out on gaining access to it.

During the section inside the Soul Cairn and after the quest ‘Chasing Echoes’ you’ll head back with Serena to the exit portal that returns to Castle Volkihar.

Along the path you’ll hear a Soul yelling ‘Arvak!’. Speak to the Soul and he will tell you Arvak has run off, and that you must look for him. 

Head to the large castle in the Soul Cairn (the one with all the scary effects shooting into the sky) and then head east-ish. Look for a small structure surrounded by pillars with a few wraiths nearby.

Then you should collect Arvak’s Skull from the altar in centre. Immediately after look for the quest marker which pinpoints the quest giver, who has appeared nearby.

Speak with him and the horse will be yours to summon at will, both in the Soul Cairn and Skyrim.

Arvak’s skull can be found to the east of this castle.

How to change your face in Skyrim

As part of Skyrim’s Dawnguard DLC, you can meet an NPC who will – for a fee – enable you to recustomise your character’s facial features.

This NPC is called Galathil and can be found on a bench outside the Ragged Flagon in the sewers of Riften. 

You’ll need to spend 1,000 Gold to use the service, which will let you alter any facial element – but not your gender or race. That’s locked in.

Additionally, using the service will unlock the Achievement “A New You”, scoring you 20Gamerscore.

How to find Auriel’s Bow

Since you can earn the Achievement Auriel’s Bow for using its special power, you probably want to know where to get the rare weapon?

Don’t worry, this is part of Dawnguard’s main quest line and will be found during the quest Touching The Sky, after becoming a Moth Priest.

But what is the special ability? After beating the DLC’s quest line you can speak to Serena, who will combine her power with the arrows you are given.

This will give you Bloodcursed Arrows. Take these and Auriel’s Bow outside in Skyrim, notch an arrow and fire at the sun. Achievement Unlocked.

Follow the questline for the vampires and you won’t need to worry about Auriel’s Bow Achievement.

How to fight and defeat a Legendary Dragon

Again the Achievement whores among you will already know there’s an Achievement for finding and killing a Legendary Dragon.

This new breed of dragon is an upgrade on vanilla Skyrim’s Ancient Dragons and, as such, won’t appear until until you’re at least level 50.

There isn’t any confirmation of what level you need to be for a Legendary Dragon to spawn – assumedly it will be at or over level 60 – so if you’ve seen one let us know in the comments below, and what level you were.

Taking down one of these beasts works in much the same way as any other dragon. It has black and gold skin and can use both Fire Breath and Frost Breath as well as Drain Vitality.

Use whatever tactics you usually do when tackling dragons, but remember it will have considerably more health.

These appear randomly, however, so if you’re eager to get one to spawn try to fast travel between cities repeatedly until one appears. 

Once it is dead you’ll unlock the Achievement ‘Legend’ for 40 Gamerscore.

How to solve the Dimhollow Puzzle

Early on in Dawnguard’s DLC quest you’ll enter Dimhollow Cavern, which is filled with vampires. At the end of this quest you’ll arrive at a platform in the centre of an underground lake and a button in the centre.

This button activates a purple flame, and a puzzle to go along with it. Your objective here is to push the pedastals into the correct of three potential positions.

The solution is simple. The first pedastal is highlighted by the wall of flame and should be pushed to the back, furthest from the centre of the area.

From there the flame will pinpoint the next pedastal and which position it should be moved into. Simply push the pedastal into the location where the fire stops.

Do this for all of them until the fire stops and the platform moves.

 

After the Dimhollow Puzzle you’ll end up here, where it’s time to pick a side.

How to level up as the Vampire Lord

So you know that you need to kill enemies as the Vampire Lord while using his Life Drain ability to level up and earn new perks, but this might not always work. So what’s the problem?

The trick is to avoid staying too far from your enemies. Using Life Drain will activate a sort of tether that will appear for a couple of seconds. You must be in range of this tether for it to count.

It doesn’t need to be the killing blow, either. If your companion is the last to strike an enemy, it will still count if Life Drain is still active.

You can also earn new perk experience when using the bite power attack too, but it’s often easier to just stick to Life Drain.

How to craft your own crossbows

This is an ability you might miss if you pick the vampire path in Dawnguard, but if you choose the Dawnguard path you will soon find the quest Arcane Technology.

After completing this quest you will earn the ability to craft your own Dwemer crossbows. However, this is only possible at Gunmar’s Forge inside the Dawnguard Keep.

These can be enchanted too.

You wouldn’t know it to look at the contents, but you can craft your own crossbow if you pick the Dawnguard route.

How to find and use Soul Tear

This is a little tricky. Not because it’s hard to find or difficult to beat, but because it can be a little buggy setting up.

After unlocking the Dragon Shout Summon Durnehviir as part of Dawnguard’s DLC quest line you will need to travel back to Skyrim and use the shout.

It can be a pain getting the dragon to appear, especially since it works differently to summoning Odahviing. You need to look for open, flatland and point your cursor at it when activating the Dragon Shout.

Durneviir will appear from the ground, so he needs space to appear. 

It’s also known to be a little buggy, and only activating the first word of the Shout. A potential fix for this is to use the Shout on an NPC (follower or civilian) and this should free you to use it properly.

Once Durneviir appears, talk to him to learn the first word of Soul Tear. Repeat this process to learn the second and third words and the full Dragon Shout is yours.

There’s an Achievement to go with it, also, aptly named ‘Soul Tear’ and unlocking an extra 20Gamerscore.