How to Find Azura's Star in Skyrim

PDF download Download Article
PDF download Download Article

Azura's Star is a powerful Daedric artifact that functions a lot like regular soul gems, except that it is not destroyed after enchanting items or recharging enchanted items. Obtaining Azura's Star thus gives you a convenient means of storing souls without constantly replenishing your stock of soul gems. This makes it especially useful for players who carry enchanted weapons that eat up a lot of charges, from fire-slinging staves to lightning-charged broadswords.

Steps

PDF download Download Article
  1. Ask innkeepers about the latest rumors as you explore Skyrim, and one of them will eventually tell you about the shrine. This will result in a quest marker popping up to lead the way.
  2. The easiest way to reach it is to travel to Winterhold and make your way south-southeast to the shrine. [1]
    Advertisement
  3. Your quest marker will lead to a female Dunmer named Aranea Lenith right on the Shrine of Azura. Talk to her, and she will speak of a prophecy about a fortress and an elven mage. She will then leave you with instructions to look for clues in Winterhold.
    • There might be a bug where she is hostile on meeting her. Just run away, wait for a few in-game days, and return.
  4. Travel to Winterhold, ask people about an elven mage, and they will direct you to Nelacar who can be found in the Frozen Hearth inn. Or you can just go straight to the Frozen Hearth and talk to Nelacar.
  5. He will be reluctant to share information about Azura's Star with you. Pressing him on the issue will result in a Speech check with three options: Persuade, Bribe, or Intimidate. The easiest way to get him to talk is to intimidate him, though all options are open if you have enough Speech skill to pass them. Once you get him to open up, he will start explaining the properties of soul gems as well as sharing the story of Malyn Varen, a former College teacher who tried using the Star to make himself live forever and lost his sanity as a result. Nelacar will then task you with finding the star in Ilinalta's Deep while pleading with you to not return the Star to Azura. [2]
  6. This will be easy if you have discovered the Lady Stone, as the dungeon is right next to the Standing Stone. If not, then you can travel to the three Guardian Stones you encountered at the start of the game as you were making your way to Riverwood. Cross the river to the north of the Stones and follow the northern bank of the river all the way to Ilinalta's Deep. You will find the dungeon's trapdoor entrance atop a large sunken tower. [3]
  7. You will be facing a lot of skeletons and necromancers in Ilinalta's Deep. The skeletons are not that difficult to deal with, but the necromancers can prove to be a serious pain if you are not properly prepared to deal with them. Kill the necromancers as fast as you can, but don't be too aggressive and let yourself be struck down by their attacks. Retreat to an easily defendable choke point when you get swarmed by undead, and use the tight corridors to take cover against spells. Continue following your quest marker, and you will eventually find the broken Azura's Star in a room with Malyn Varen's remains.
    • A high resistance against frost and magic will prove useful against the necromancers in Ilinalta's Deep. You can gain these resistances by quaffing the respective potions and donning equipment enchanted with the appropriate resistances.
  8. Once you have Azura's Star in your inventory, you will be given a choice between giving the Star to Nelacar or Aranea Ienith. Giving the Star to the latter will lead you to a conversation with the Daedric Prince Azura. Giving the Star to Nelacar, on the other hand, will lead to him to think about finishing what Malyn Varen started. Both options will ultimately lead to you entering the Star to defeat Malyn Varen, who is trapped inside the Star and whose presence prevents it from being fully restored.
    • Choosing to give the Star to Aranea Ienith will ultimately reward you with the restored Azura's Star. It will trap the white souls of creatures, which you can then use for your own purposes. You will also gain Aranea as a potential follower if you choose to have her accompany you.
    • Giving the Star to Nelacar will lead you to the Black Star, which should, according to the lore, only be able to contain the black souls of sapient beings. In the game, however, the Black Star is capable of holding both white and black souls, making it the more practical choice from a purely pragmatic point of view. You will not, however, gain Aranea as a follower. In fact, she will threaten to kill you for defiling the Star if you ever talk to her again.
  9. Azura or Nelacar will send your soul inside the Star, depending on who you gave the Star to. Once inside, you will end up confronting Malyn, a powerful mage who will retreat deeper inside the Star and send three arguably more powerful Dremora spellcasters to stop you. Kill them all, and either Azura or Nelacar will pull your soul out of the Star, granting you Azura's Star or the Black Star—depending on who you gave the Star to.
    • The Dremora will hit you with a lot of magic, oftentimes with different elements all at once. It is for this reason that raising your magic resistance is a very good idea for this particular encounter. Again, potions and enchanted equipment will help you do this as well as gaining the blessing from the Atronach Stone. This particular blessing will give you a 50% chance to absorb spells in exchange for slowing your magicka regeneration by 50%. [4]
    • Loot the corpses of the Dremora before dealing with Malyn, as killing him will trigger your being pulled out of the Star. Once you are being pulled out, you will have a very short window of time to loot what else you can, including Malyn's corpse if you're fast enough to do so.
    10. Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Tips

      • If you don't mind not getting dropped items from the Dremora, just run to Malyn and start attacking him. You will be transported out of the star upon killing him, all without having to deal too much with his Dremora minions.
        Thanks
        Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
      • The Dremora primarily use fire spells, so stock up on fire resistance potions.
        Thanks
        Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Submit
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
      Advertisement

      Warnings

      • The structure of the star makes it difficult to sneak up on three Dremora and Malyn, so assassins will have to switch tactics here.
        Thanks
        Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
      Advertisement

      You Might Also Like

      How to
      Buy a House in Whiterun
      How to
      Buy a House in Riften
      How to
      Retrieve and Deliver the Dragonstone in Bleak Falls Barrow in Skyrim
      How to
      Kill Gaius Maro in Skyrim
      How to
      Defeat Alduin
      How to
      Get the Ebony Blade in Skyrim
      How to
      Return the Skeleton Key to the Ebonmere in Skyrim
      How to
      Start Hearthfire
      Advertisement

      References

      1. ↑ http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Shrine_of_Azura
      2. ↑ http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Black_Star
      3. ↑ http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Ilinalta's_Deep
      4. ↑ http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Black_Star

      About This Article

      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 55,031 times.

      Did this article help you?

      Advertisement