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As a Daedric Artifact, the Skull of Corruption can only be acquired by completing a questline for Vaermina. Interestingly, the staff’s ability to steal dreams in Skyrim is different from its previous Elder Scrolls iterations in Oblivion and Daggerfall, where it could clone NPCs who then turn hostile against the original target.
Skull Of Corruption Stats And Effects
Weapon Type: Staff Item Weight: 10 Gold Value: 1680 Special Effects: 20 Damage on hit in a small area. Collect Dreams from sleeping NPCs to increase power, up to 50.
In Daggerfall, the Skull of Corruption was just that: a skull. In Skyrim, though, the original skull is fixed to the top of a staff. Because Vaermina is the Daedric Prince of Dreams, this staff has the ability to steal dreams from sleeping NPCs. For every dream stolen, the base 20 damage dealt when casting is increased up to a maximum of 50 damage.
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To steal a dream from a sleeping NPC, sneak up beside them at night, point the staff at them, and cast like you normally would. The damage dealt only affects waking NPCs, so the process of absorbing a dream won’t alarm the NPC. The damage is not a typical elemental type like fire, freezing, or lightning, so it doesn’t benefit from Perks that enhance those kinds of spells.
How To Get The Skull Of Corruption
The Skull of Corruption can be earned by completing Vaermina’s Daedric Quest in Skyrim, which begins in the northern city of Dawnstar. Head to the Windpeak Inn and speak with the Priest of Mara inside named Erandur. He directs players to a nearby temple and after a small series of quests the player finds themselves faced with a choice.
At the end of the quest “Waking Nightmare” players help Erandur take down the barrier to the Skull of Corruption with the goal to destroy it. If the player kills Erandur when he begins to take down the barrier, Vaermina will reward the player with the Skull of Corruption to use as they see fit. If you went through all of this but don’t want to kill Erandur, you can complete the quest normally and get him as a follower, but the Skull of Corruption cannot be obtained if his life is spared.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is available on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S
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