You’ve ridden past that giant statue on the mountain near Solitude a dozen times and never stopped, haven’t you? Bro. You’ve been leaving one of the best one-handed swords in Skyrim sitting up there.
I’m Kratos13. The Break of Dawn is Meridia’s Daedric quest, and it ends with Dawnbreaker in your hand. Short, clean, and the reward wrecks undead for the rest of the game. Let’s get into it.
How The Break of Dawn Starts
Meridia hates the undead, and a necromancer has taken over her temple. She needs a champion. There are two ways in:
| Detail | What you need to know |
|---|---|
| Daedric Prince | Meridia |
| Start A | Visit the Statue to Meridia on Mount Kilkreath, southwest of Solitude |
| Start B | Pick up Meridia’s Beacon, which can turn up in dungeon boss chests from level 12 |
| Dungeon | Kilkreath Temple, below the statue |
| Boss | Malkoran, a necromancer, and his shade |
| Reward | Dawnbreaker |
- The Statue: Walk up to the statue and Meridia talks to you. If you haven’t found her Beacon yet, she points you to a dungeon where it’s waiting.
- The Beacon: Loot it from a boss chest and Meridia starts calling to you the moment it’s in your pack. She’s not subtle about it.
Both routes end at the same pedestal. Pick whichever is closer and move.
Step by Step Walkthrough
The Play: do this, then this, then profit.
1. Get the Beacon
Either loot it from a boss chest or follow the marker Meridia gives you at the statue and clear that dungeon.
2. Place the Beacon on the pedestal
Climb back to the Statue to Meridia and put the Beacon on the pedestal in front of it. Meridia lifts you high into the sky and gives you the job: cleanse her temple, kill the necromancer and take back her blade.
3. Enter Kilkreath Temple
Head down to the temple entrance. Inside, the halls are full of corrupted shades and the bodies of people the necromancer has raised.
4. Guide the light
Meridia’s light shines into the temple. Activate the pedestals as you go to redirect the beam, room by room. The beam opens the path forward and burns through the darkness, so keep it moving with you.
5. Kill Malkoran
At the end waits Malkoran, the necromancer behind all of this. Take him down and his shade rises for round two. Put that down as well.
6. Take Dawnbreaker
Grab Dawnbreaker from its pedestal. Meridia lifts you up again and names you her champion. GG.
Stop Doing This: Don’t sprint through the temple swinging at everything. The light puzzles are simple, but shades swarm careless players fast.
Beacon trouble?
If you looted the Beacon long ago and dumped it in a chest because it looked like junk, no harm done. Visit the statue and follow the marker back to it. And if you never found one at all, the statue route sends you straight to a dungeon that has it. Either way, you are never locked out of this quest just because you ignored a glowing trinket once.
What Dawnbreaker Does
Why This Slaps: every hit burns, and killing undead with it can trigger a blast of holy fire that damages or sends other undead running.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | One-handed sword |
| Weight | 10 |
| Enchantment | Fire damage on every hit |
| Undead bonus | Chance of a fiery explosion when it kills an undead enemy, hitting nearby undead too |
| Charge | Uses charge like any enchanted weapon, so carry soul gems |
In a draugr crypt, this sword hits different. You swing, things pop, and the room clears itself. It’s also the perfect partner for vampire hunting if you’re running the Dawnguard side of that DLC.
Want a build to carry it? A one-handed sword plus a spell in the off hand is the whole idea behind the spellsword build, and the battlemage build loves extra fire damage. If you’re brand new, the best beginner build works great with a shield in the other hand.
Pro Tips
- Bring fire: Shades and the walking dead don’t like flames. Fire spells or a fire weapon speed up every fight.
- Fight in doorways: Make the shades come at you one at a time instead of surrounding you.
- Carry healing: The Malkoran fight gets messy once his shade joins in.
- Loot the bodies: The corpses in the temple carry some gold. Grab it as you clear each room.
- Soul gems: Dawnbreaker runs on charge, so keep a few filled gems on you.
Every other Daedric quest and build sits on the Skyrim hub. And if you want to know how many people are still swinging Dawnbreaker in Tamriel, check the Skyrim Special Edition player count.
The Break of Dawn FAQ
Where is the Statue to Meridia?
On Mount Kilkreath, in the mountains southwest of Solitude. You can see it from the road.
What level do you need for The Break of Dawn?
Plan on level 12 or higher. That’s when Meridia’s Beacon starts appearing in boss chests, and the Beacon is what the whole quest runs on.
What does Dawnbreaker do?
It deals fire damage on every hit, and killing undead with it can cause an explosion that hurts nearby undead as well.
Can you start the quest without the Beacon?
Yes. Visit the statue and Meridia tells you where to find the Beacon.
GG: Fast travel to Solitude, ride up to Mount Kilkreath and go take Meridia’s sword back. If you’re still swinging an iron sword in a draugr crypt, I’m begging you to stop. Trust.
