Skyrim has a bunch of different questlines that you can complete within the game, and fans have loved completing them for years because of how interesting they are and the unique spin they offer compared to regular quests. Some of the factions in Skyrim are very fleshed out; however, unfortunately, Bethesda didn't do right by some of the less interesting groups in the game.
This list will cover every questline in Skyrim and rank it by how good the writing was when compared to the other factions and questlines. Without further ado, here is every questline in Skyrim ranked from worst to best and how it holds up, according to the writing.
Updated on August 13, 2021, by Michael Caruso: Skyrim has many factions scattered throughout the main region and the island of Solstheim. Some of the factions are large, while some are smaller in member count and the number of quests that they offer. However, the smaller factions such as the Bard's College and Tel Mithryn are important too, even though they're smaller in scale, so here are a few more questlines that are worth discussing.
10 The College Of Winterhold
The College of Winterhold did have some plot points that were very interesting and surprisingly unique such as the Staff of Magnus and the Thalmor involvement with the college, especially Ancano. Unfortunately, the questline couldn't live up to past Elder Scrolls games when compared to the Mages Guild.
This questline generally felt like there was a lot of cut content, and the developers likely rushed some of the quests because they didn't have time to finish them in their entirety. Overall, the College of Winterhold was an exciting concept that turned out to be the opposite of a stellar faction.
9 The Bard's College
Although the Bard's College isn't nearly as long or traditional as the other questlines in Skyrim, it's still a relevant set of quests that's surrounded by one of Skyrim's most important cultural factions. During this questline, you'll have the chance to upgrade your skills and collect instruments that the Musicians have lost throughout the dungeons of Skyrim.
The writing in the Bard's College questline isn't particularly special, but it holds up well, and the characters are written in a way that makes them feel like real people because they have unique personalities with musical passions. The Bard's College may not be the most interesting questline, but you'll meet fascinating characters and gain a lot of upgrades for your skills, which is invaluable when you're at a high level.
8 The Companions
The Companions had a very intriguing questline because the Dragonborn could become a werewolf if they followed this storyline. You could even become the leader of the faction itself, similar to other guilds in the game.
However, the main Silver Blood plot was dull when compared to other guilds such as the Dark Brotherhood, and a lot of fans couldn't get finished with it sooner because there wasn't enough interesting plot going on to keep them engaged. The Companions were a nice shift from the ever-present Fighters Guild, but a lot of Elder Scrolls fans hope that they aren't present in the next game.
7 The Main Quest
The dragon plotline wasn't particularly interesting when compared to past stories such as the Red Mountain or the Oblivion Crisis. This is unfortunate because so many fans had high expectations for the dragons in Skyrim, but the questline overall felt boring and repetitive. However, there are some positive story-telling aspects with this questline, such as the lore behind Parthurnaax and the Greybeards.
One of the primary issues with the main questline was the annoying personalities of many members of The Blades and how hateful they seemed to be, even towards peaceful dragons that the Dragonborn interacted with, such as Paarthurnax. Hopefully, future Elder Scrolls main plotlines will be better written than this one.
6 The Civil War
The Civil War of Skyrim allows the Dragonborn to make an interesting choice: Which side do they align themselves with during the war? However, this doesn't make up for the repetitive quests and annoying fort battles that fans have to endure to complete this group of quests.
The result of finishing this questline is minimal rewards, and the landscape of Skyrim changes very little compared to what you would expect under the new ruling faction. The one saving grace of this questline is the moral dilemma of choosing between the unpleasant Thalmor and the enraged Storcloaks with their annoying Nord superiority. The Dragonborn loses regardless of which side they choose.
5 Tel Mithryn
Tel Mithryn is one of the Telvanni Houses of Morrowind; however, it's located on Solstheim instead of Vvardenfell. Master Neloth is the leader of this house, and he's one of the most fascinating characters in Skyrim. Neloth is a Dark Elf mage that has dedicated his life to learning more about Ash Spawn magic, which is a type of magic only present in the Dragonborn DLC. During this Telvanni questline, you'll get to learn more about Ashen magic, the lore behind it, and the particulars of the spells. You'll also get to learn these spells while completing the questline, so this is one of the best factions to join if you're creating a mage build.
There are funny, serious, and strange moments during these quests; however, all of it keeps you engaged and regularly rewards you for your adventurous actions. The only downside of this questline is that it doesn't feel as world-changing as a faction questline such as the Dark Brotherhood or College Of Winterhold, but that could also be considered a positive if you prefer to role-play a regular adventurer instead of the Dragonborn.
4 The Thieves Guild
The Thieves Guild in Skyrim was, unfortunately, much less fleshed out than in earlier entries of the franchise. However, there are still some interesting parts that you get to experience on your journey. Some of the characters, such as Brynjolf, Karliah, and Vex, are fully fleshed out characters that fans formed a strong bond with throughout the faction's questline.
The Thieves Guild ended up being a divisive line of quests that some players loved and others disliked heavily. Some of the plot points, such as Mercer's rebellion, annoyed players and left them feeling unsatisfied. There are also many repetitive radiant quests that the player must complete to finish the questline and become the leader. Despite the decisiveness about the questline, most Elder Scrolls fans can agree that this faction was one of the more interesting groups in Skyrim.
3 The (Other) Dragonborn
The Dragonborn DLC allowed for a continuation of the main story by allowing you to meet a counterpart Dragonborn that lived hundreds of years before the events of Skyrim. The interesting concepts such as the Black Books and All-Maker Stones changed up the general gameplay of Skyrim and allowed for many new mechanics to be brought into the game.
There were also many other interesting characters within the Dragonborn main questline, such as Miraak and Neloth, the wizard. Overall, this was an exciting new questline that brought the Dragonborn to a new land full of exciting creatures and a unique plot.
2 The Dark Brotherhood
The Dark Brotherhood is the best faction that Skyrim has to offer. There are many reasons for this, but just a few of them are the interesting characters and high rewards that you get for completing the questline in its entirety. There's also an interesting choice at the beginning of the questline, allowing you to destroy the group of evil assassins instead of joining them.
When you fully complete the Dark Brotherhood questline, you will be rewarded with 20,000 gold to spend however you would like. There are many interesting characters such as Cicero, the wacky jester, and the leader Astrid that had unique voice actors and lots of dialogue to learn about their pasts, so it should come as no surprise that the Dark Brotherhood questline earns one of the highest spots for narrative.
1 The Dawnguard
The Dawnguard DLC has the most interesting choice that Skyrim offers. This choice allows you to be completely evil and side with the vampires or be noble and complete the questline on the Dawnguard side. One of the other great features about this questline is the characters such as Harkon, Isran, and Serena that add more back story to the areas that you're exploring and the land of Skyrim in general.
Most quests and especially questlines in Skyrim are very linear, so a choice such as this one was a surprise to a lot of fans that had come to expect a more linear and set path for them to take in most situations. Fans also enjoyed getting to learn about the extensive backstory of Fort Dawnguard and use their signature Crossbow. Hopefully, Bethesda will learn from this questline and make more choice-based quests in the future of the Elder Scrolls games, as they add much more depth to the already expansive content in Skyrim.