Skyrim Ebony Blade | Location | Features
There are many diverse daedric artifacts in the world of Skyrim, but out of the total number you can select a sword called "Ebony Blade". This artifact is found in all games of the series and has a different look, but it always has one peculiarity - the abduction of health from the victim, in Skyrim it is presented in the form of a two-handed Akavir katana. The peculiarity of this daedric blade is that its potential at the time of acquisition is not fully disclosed and that the blade would have gained full strength, it is necessary to kill people close to him, for Dovahkiin.
Artifact of Mephala
Mephala's Daedric artifact is located behind one of the locked but non-cracking doors, in the «The Reach» he castle of Whiterun. You can get access to the key from this door and to the artifact itself during the quest - «The whispers Door».
This quest can be started in the «The Bannered Mare» asking the local tavern owner about the rumors. Then you can safely go to «The Reach» and communicate with the children of Jarl Balgruuf about the oddities of one of his sons. The quest will not be possible to start if the level of Dovahkiin is less than twentieth.
Having found out about the mysterious door from the jar’s son on the spot, whom Mefala had already had a detrimental influence, we’ll go in search of her (to the left of the throne room, you need to go down the stairs from the kitchen down to the servant’s rooms, there will be blood stains at the right door). The key that unlocks the “whispering door” is located at the jarl and his court magician, and except to steal the key from one of them, you won’t get it. Behind the door is a blade and a diary, which serves as a kind of warning about the insidiousness of this blade. Having picked up the blade, Mephala herself will speak with Dovahkiin and inform that the blade is far from its former greatness and that in order to restore its former power and glory, it must be nourished with the blood of betrayal.
Blood of Betrayal
The key feature of the blade is the absorption of health, a base indicator at the time of acquisition of 10 units per second, but it can be increased to 30. When the blade speaks of "blood of betrayal" it means - the death of Dovahkiin's friends. The purpose for saturating the blade will be the characters whom he helped during his adventures. To restore the blade to its former power, it is necessary to kill ten close friends for Dovahkiin, for each pair of killed, the ability of health absorption of the blade will increase by 4 units, to the flesh of the desired 30. After every second kill of Mephal, through the blade will speak with Dovahkiin when committed ten kills Mephal will say: "Finally, my blade regained its former glory. Now go, child. Continue your secret war against the orders of trust and intimacy". On this improvement of the magical properties of the blade can be considered complete.
The Victims
You can sacrifice a blade to everyone who becomes a companion of Dovahkiin, but this is completely inappropriate, because you can find those who become an enemy after completing third-party quests.
- During the quest of the Daedric Prince of Namira – «Taste of Death», three characters will become excellent victims for the blade: Eola, Lisbeth and Benning. They have neither trade nor plot value, and plus everything else they are cannibals and without remorse can be sacrificed to the blade.
- During the contracts of the Dark Brotherhood from Nazir, three victims can serve as Narfi (you need to look for his sister before the murder), Beitild (to sell ores) and Hearn. If there is a desire to destroy the Dark Brotherhood, then during the Goodbye Dark Brotherhood quest, all members of the Brotherhood will be suitable victims for the blade.
- In Solitude, one argonian will ask Dovahkiin to put out the lighthouse after the deal is done, it will be possible to go to the crash site of the «Picky Sload» and there will be two suitable victims for the blade Jari-Ra Dija - the petitioner and his sister.
- The representative of the Talmor - Ondolemar, after completing the quest «Search and arrest»
To completely saturate the blade, you can go for some tricks. Having received a companion at your disposal, you can resurrect and kill him again and again, but so that after killing the resurrected body does not turn to dust, you must also mark in your arsenal the talent «Stone of the Ritual».
An alternative to this method can be a console command that performs the same functions, resurrect - will resurrect any killed person. However, an important factor here is secretive killing, because if the victim leads away, who killed her, then later on he can become aggressive and then the killing will not count.
Improvement
In addition to improving the magical properties of the blade by killing «friends», the blade can also be improved in terms of combat component. Improving the blade can be done on any grindstone, for this you need the skill «Blacksmith Wizard» and the most common ebonite ingot, so the blade can be pumped to the "legendary" quality.
Advantages of the «Ebony Blade»
The valuable advantages of the «Ebony Blade» include the fact that it is the fastest two-handed weapon in the game. The blade also deals excellent damage to both dragons and ordinary characters, and if you take into account a fully pumped blade, it can completely make Dovahkiin almost immortal, constantly replenishing the lost health reserve in battle.
Another advantage is that, along with other enchanted artifacts, «the Ebony Blade» does not require recharging at all, the magic in it is infinite and therefore soul stones can be used for other purposes or sold for clear Septims, for which you can purchase something useful
Bugs
But the blade has an unpleasant feature, whenever it is placed on a weapon rack, somehow it can magically disappear from there and the valuable artifact will be lost forever (of course, if you do not use the console to return it). Also, during the quest with the Talmor embassy, the blade will be taken from Dovahkiin at the entrance, and upon return all his properties will be returned to their original state, this can be avoided if the blade is fully pumped to go to the Talmor embassy.