Skyrim: Here’s How To Drag Bodies (PC, PS4, Xbox, Switch, VR)

Skyrim allows you to interact with the world in amazing ways. It’s one of the most open-ended games out there and due to that, it’s no wonder that a lot of mechanics were implemented that allow you to modify the world and the objects around you however you see fit. One of the mechanics is grabbing objects or to be more specific, bodies. A lot of players are aware that you can move smaller objects like weapons, fruits, and other clutter, but how to drag and move bodies in Skyrim?

Dragging a body in Skyrim during “The Recipe for Disaster” quest

Dragging a dead body and being able to move it, in general, doesn’t seem like something that you will use often in Skyrim, and you won’t. Occasionally you will be required to move something out of your way or place a bucket over the shopkeeper’s head in order to rob him blind, but that’s about it. Then you start playing the Dark Brotherhood Storyline and Recipe for Disaster quest starts. One of the optional objectives for that quest is to Hide Balagog’s corpse in a place where his body will remain undiscovered for a longer time.

At first, it sounds easy enough but then you do the dirty deed of assassinating Balagog and you figure that you can’t move his body. And by being unable to move his body you forfeit the bonus as well. So, how do you do it? Simple enough!

How do drag bodies in Skyrim?

You can drag bodies in Skyrim by pressing the usual button reserved for “using“ and “activating“ objects.

To drag bodies on the PC, aim toward the body and press and hold the “E“ button. On PS3 and PS4 aim toward the body and press and hold the “X” button. On Xbox One bodies can be dragged by pressing and holding the “A“ button. The same button is reserved for Nintendo Switch.

If you manage to hold and drag a body and then immediately drop it, it means that the object is heavy and you might need to repeat the action. Sometimes (as is the case with Balagog’s body) you will perhaps need to hold and drag the body several times until you manage to drag it far enough for the game to register it as „hidden“.

What are the alternative ways of moving objects in Skyrim?

If you have trouble with using the hold/drag function, you can always move bodies and other objects in Skyrim via spells, other items, and shouts. There are plenty of shouts at your disposal with a great capacity to move objects around you, the first being the FUS-RO-DAH shout.

When it comes to spells, the Telekinesis spell from alteration school is the most useful as it allows you to move objects across distances without physically interacting with them. You can find Telekinesis spell tome in  Redwater Den and Benkongerike Great Hall.

When it comes to purchasing the spell, your best bet is Tolfdir at College of Winterhold and Wylandriah at Mistveil Keep in Riften. While casting the spell you can control only one object at a time, and throwing certain items at enemy NPCs might result in them becoming hostile toward you.

Objects in-game as well as bodies will also be moved as a result of explosions and other similarly destructive events that are produced while casting spells.

Can you drag bodies in Skyrim VR?

Unfortunately, so far, you cannot drag bodies in Skyrim VR. The function has never been implemented. Several players have reported that the in-game physics tends to break if you attempt to hold/drag certain objects and bodies in-game. Currently, we can’t speculate whether the function will be eventually added to the game as Skyrim VR is quite dated as it is.

Conclusion

As you can see, dragging items in Skyrim is fairly easy if you know the right button to press. If you get frustrated with this manual function you can always resort to using shouts or telekinesis alteration spells to move obstacles out of your way or hide bodies. While it’s not used often, the dragging function can be a true lifesaver in case your path or items get blocked by another object.

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