Look, let’s be real for a second. If you’re hunting for the Skyrim Oblivion Walker achievement, you’re not just playing a game; you’re basically signing a contract with fifteen different Daedric Princes who all want to ruin your day. It’s infamous. It’s glitchy. It’s arguably the most stressful trophy in the entire Elder Scrolls V catalog because one wrong dialogue choice—literally one sentence—can flush twenty hours of progress down the Whiterun sewers.
I’ve seen people reach the end of a hundred-hour playthrough only to realize they’re stuck at 14 artifacts because they were too "nice" to a talking dog or decided that cannibalism was where they drew the line. Skyrim doesn't care about your morality. It cares about your inventory.
To get this done, you have to collect 15 Daedric artifacts. Sounds simple? It isn't. The game is notorious for its internal "flagging" system, where certain items count and others—despite being literal gifts from gods—don't. This isn't just a list of quests. It's a minefield of Bethesda-flavored bugs and obscure triggers.
The One Rule: You Must Be a Villain
Honestly, you can't be a hero and expect to walk away with the Skyrim Oblivion Walker achievement. Most of these quests require you to be a Grade-A jerk. You’ll be betraying priests, murdering friends, and eating people. If you try to take the "moral" path in quests like The Whispering Door or The House of Horrors, you simply won’t get the artifact. No artifact, no achievement.
Take "The Taste of Death," for example. You meet Eola in the Hall of the Dead in Markarth. If you kill her because she's a cannibal, you fail the quest's chance at an artifact. To get the Ring of Namira, you have to actually go through with the feast. It’s dark. It’s gross. But the achievement demands it.
The Problem With Barbas and Clavicus Vile
This is the big one where most people mess up. "A Daedra's Best Friend" is the quest where you hang out with a talking dog named Barbas. At the end, Clavicus Vile—the Prince of Bargains—gives you a choice. He tells you to kill the dog with the Rueful Axe.
Don't do it. It feels counter-intuitive, right? Usually, the "evil" choice gets the Daedric prize. But the Rueful Axe is a trap. It is technically a Daedric item, but it does not count toward the Skyrim Oblivion Walker total. To get the credit, you have to refuse to kill Barbas. Clavicus will take the axe back and give you the Masque of Clavicus Vile instead. That is the artifact that triggers the achievement counter. If you chop the dog, you’ve just locked yourself out of the platinum trophy for that save file.
Missing Pieces: What Actually Counts?
There are 16 potential Daedric quests, but you only need 15 artifacts. You’d think that gives you a safety margin. It doesn't.
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Some items are fickle. The Skeleton Key from the Thieves Guild? Doesn't count. Why? Because you have to give it back to finish the questline. Bethesda only counts items that stay in your permanent possession.
Here is the "official" list that the game engine looks for:
- Azura's Star (or The Black Star—both count)
- Dawnbreaker (Meridia)
- Ebony Blade (Mephala)
- Ebony Mail (Boethiah)
- Mace of Molag Bal
- Masque of Clavicus Vile (The axe is a lie!)
- Mehrunes' Razor
- Oghma Infinium (Hermaeus Mora)
- Ring of Namira
- Sanguine Rose
- Savior's Hide or Ring of Hircine
- Skull of Corruption (Vaermina)
- Spellbreaker (Peryite)
- Volendrung (Malacath)
- Wabbajack (Sheogogath)
The tricky bit is the "Ill Met by Moonlight" quest. This is the Hircine quest where you hunt a werewolf named Sinding. Most players don't realize there's a "double artifact" exploit here. If you play your cards right, you can actually get both the Ring of Hircine and the Savior's Hide, which gives you a "buffer" artifact in case another quest glitches out. You help Sinding kill the hunters, get the ring, then turn around and kill Sinding to get the hide. It’s ruthless, but it’s the safest way to ensure the Skyrim Oblivion Walker trophy pops.
The Level 30 Wall and Other Progression Gates
You can't just run out and grab all 15 at level one. Skyrim gates these quests behind your character level. If you're wondering why a certain quest won't start, you're probably just too green.
- Level 1: You can get the Mace of Molag Bal and the Wabbajack almost immediately.
- Level 12: Meridia’s Beacon starts appearing in random chests. "A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON." You know the drill.
- Level 15: This is huge. "September Signifer" at the Septimus Signus outpost unlocks the Oghma Infinium quest.
- Level 20: The Museum in Dawnstar opens, starting the Mehrunes' Razor quest. Also, the Ebony Blade becomes available in Whiterun.
- Level 30: The final gate. Boethiah's Calling won't trigger until you hit 30. You’ll usually find a book on a dead cultist or get attacked randomly. This is often the last one people get because of the level requirement.
Erandur and the Great Disappointment
In Dawnstar, there’s a quest called "Waking Nightmare." You’re helping a priest named Erandur destroy the Skull of Corruption. He’s a nice guy. He wants to save the town from nightmares.
If you let him finish his ritual, he lives, and the staff is destroyed. You get nothing. To get the artifact for Skyrim Oblivion Walker, you have to listen to Vaermina’s voice in your head and kill Erandur while his back is turned. It feels terrible. Erandur is one of the few genuinely decent people in the province, but his life is the price of that achievement. This is where a lot of "good" playthroughs die.
Why the Oghma Infinium is Dangerous
The Oghma Infinium is the reward for "Discerning the Transmundane." It’s a book that boosts your stats. Back in the day, there was a famous glitch involving bookshelves that let you hit level 81 in five minutes. Bethesda patched that ages ago.
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The real danger now? If you read the book and it disappears from your inventory before the game registers it for the achievement, you’re in trouble. Always make sure the "Quest Complete" notification pops up before you use the book. Better yet, keep it in your inventory until the achievement actually triggers.
Tracking the Untrackable
The biggest headache with the Skyrim Oblivion Walker achievement is the lack of a checklist. The game doesn't tell you which ones it has counted. You have to keep a manual log.
I’ve found that the most reliable way to avoid bugs is to never sell or lose a Daedric artifact until the trophy pops. Toss them all in a specific chest in Breezehome. If you lose Mehrunes' Razor because you threw it at a dragon and couldn't find it in the grass, you might have just bricked your progress.
Also, watch out for the "Oblivion Walker" counter in the "General Stats" menu. It is notoriously unreliable. Sometimes it shows 13 when you have 14; sometimes it shows 15 and the achievement still hasn't popped. Trust your physical inventory, not the menu stats.
The "Master of the Macabre" Strategy
If you're starting a fresh save specifically for this, go for the "Double Hircine" glitch. It’s the only real insurance policy you have.
When you enter Bloated Man's Grotto during "Ill Met by Moonlight," talk to Sinding and agree to spare him. Clear out the hunters. Once the "quest complete" message for sparing him appears, walk outside. Hircine will appear in the form of a white stag and give you the Ring of Hircine.
Immediately walk back into the cave. Kill Sinding. Skin him. Hircine will appear again (this time in his spectral form) and give you the Savior's Hide. Now you have 16 artifacts in your inventory. If the Skull of Corruption quest or the Boethiah quest glitches out—which they often do—you still have your 15.
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Hard Truths About the Skyrim Engine
We have to talk about the "Bethesda Tax." Scripts in Skyrim break. Sometimes a Daedric Prince just... doesn't talk. Or an NPC essential to the quest spawns under the map.
If you're on PC, you might be tempted to use console commands. Be careful. Using player.additem to give yourself the Mace of Molag Bal will not trigger the achievement. The game checks for the completion of the quest script, not just the presence of the item in your bags. If a quest breaks, you're better off reloading a save from three hours ago than trying to force it with the console. It’s painful, but it’s the only way to be sure.
Essential Next Steps for Your Hunt
Before you head out into the tundra, you need a plan. Don't just wander.
- Check your level. If you aren't level 30, you can't finish the set. Focus on grinding those last few levels by casting Muffle or smithing gold rings.
- Audit your house. Go to wherever you store your loot and physically count your Daedric items. Match them against the list of 15.
- Identify the "Missables." Have you already done the Vaermina quest? Did Erandur live? If so, and you didn't do the Hircine double-glitch, you're officially locked out. You'll need to start a new character or load an old save.
- Save often. Before starting any Daedric quest, make a "Hard Save"—not a quicksave. If the achievement doesn't pop at the end of the 15th quest, you'll want those saves to backtrack and figure out which one didn't register.
The Skyrim Oblivion Walker achievement is a test of patience more than skill. It requires you to navigate the messy, interconnected web of Skyrim's oldest code. Keep your artifacts in a chest, keep your morals at the door, and for the love of Talos, don't kill the dog.