Compared to how Nords, Bretons and Imperials all look like standard humanoids, the reptilian Argonians in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are easily one of the most visually recognizable races in the games, if not in all the lore of The Elder Scrolls. They can be an incredibly appealing race for new players to play based on their design alone. However, one of the more disappointing aspects of the Argonians is that they aren’t the most appealing race to pick from a statistical standpoint.
While other races get unique buffs that provide them with increased spell casting power or stronger melee attacks, the Argonians are left with the rather underwhelming ability to breath underwater, among other things. However, the Argonian’s’ lore and design make them worth picking for a new Skyrim playthrough.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
History of the Argonians
Argonians originated from the Black Marsh. The swamp-like environment is great for them due to its abundance of waterways. They provide creatures capable of traversing them easily accessible throughout the otherwise thick swamp vegetation, demonstrating the Argonian’s excellent swimming ability. Despite how dangerous the Black Marsh can be for other races, Dummer still makes a common habit of raiding the area and capturing Argonian slaves.
Given their reptilian nature, one could guess that Argonians reproduce by laying eggs. While there are female Argonians, there used to be another subrace of Argonians known as Naga that were much taller than others of their species. When Argonians die, their souls are absorbed by a type of tree known as Hist trees so that their memories can be properly preserved for future generations of Argonians.
The Black Marsh used to be part of the Empire but would eventually become an independent province after the Oblivion Crisis. Like many other non-Nordic races, the Argonians are heavily discriminated against in the province of Skyrim. Despite the active hostility from the Stormcloak rebellion, it’s actually fairly rare to find any Argonians serving either side of Skyrim’s Civil War. This exemplifies their solitary nature as a species.
When building an Argonian, players who enjoy role-playing elements or who are using mods that encourage playing a character may want to know what they could base their character’s background on. There’s a handful of Argonians in Skyrim of note, including Veezara and Derkeethus. Veezara is a member of the Dark Brotherhood that showcases an Argonian’s natural skill in stealth. Derkeethus is the only Argonian follower in the game and has similar agility-based skills.
Argonian Racial Bonuses
As shown by the notable Argonians in Skyrim, they usually make fantastic thieves and assassins due to their natural agility. Argonians get a +10 boost to their Lockpicking stat and a +5 boost to their Light Armor, Alteration, Pickpocket, Restoration and Sneak skills. This makes them great for assassin or thief builds, though they lack the boost to melee attacks that would assist them in combat.
Their racial bonuses are focused on giving them a little more survivability in battle. Their 50% resistance to disease is advantageous, as many enemies in Skyrim debuff the player with diseases. They’re also able to use the active ability Histskin, drawing power from the Hist trees of the Blackmarsh to get a 60-second boost to their health regeneration. As previously mentioned, they’re also able to breathe underwater.
The Argonian’s racial abilities aren’t as useful as some of the other selectable races in Skyrim, as they tend to get less useful in the late game. Breathing underwater is convenient for grabbing sunken treasure, but it doesn’t really make a big difference in normal gameplay. When building an Argonian, it’s better to focus on their incredible stat increases rather than their racial bonuses, as said bonuses aren’t incredibly useful.
Argonian Build Suggestions
An Argonian in Skyrim is best built as an assassin, as their +5 stat boost to light armor and stealth work together. They don’t make great tanks even if their abilities give them some decent early-game resiliency, so focusing on heavy armor or two-handed weapons isn’t ideal. There’s a lot of room with how players build an assassin in Skyrim since there are plenty of weapons that fall under the one-handed category.
Stealth-archer is an almost overused build in Skyrim, but it’s popular for a reason. Staying hidden and at a distance prevents enemies from spotting the player, allowing them to pick off enemies with relative safety silently. The Bows skill tree increases the lethality of the stealth-archer build, making this well-known Skyrim build a fairly solid choice for an Argonian playthrough.
Outside of Stealth-archers, players could also try doing a magic and melee hybrid build. The Argonian isn’t completely out of luck when it comes to magic since they get a +5 boost to their Alteration and Restoration skills. Alteration magic is best described as utility magic, such as creating magic lights and making living creatures visible through walls. Alteration is usually the magic of choice for the thieves and assassins of Tamriel, making the Argonian’s specialization in it fairly useful.
That being said, Argonians are in a unique position as one of the most versatile races in the game. Their racial abilities are fairly obsolete, and their other stats can easily catch up to their boosted ones. That being said, their boosted stats are also used by a wide range of builds outside of assassin-focused ones, which only serves to increase how creative players can get with an Argonian Dragonborn.
About The Author