Skyrim: Flying Is Possible & Here’s How To Do It
Because Skyrim is a game that extensively features dragons, magic, and various other supernatural and high fantasy elements, fans were excited about the prospect of flying in-game. However, instead, we are stuck with horses that tend to wander off, fast traveling and walking on foot. Flying or rather levitation was implemented in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, so there’s no good reason not to be in Skyrim as well right? We’re going to answer this question and many more in today’s post that’s all about flying in Skyrim. So, how can you fly in Skyrim?
Flying is technically possible in Skyrim
Technically it is possible to fly in Skyrim, by riding dragons. This is achieved by using a Bend Will shout on a specific dragon. After your shout hits a dragon, it will land and you will be able to give that dragon a specific command. You cannot directly control the direction in which you are going to fly as the dragon tends to circle the same area while in the air.
After mounting a dragon you can order him to attack specific targets or simply land so you can dismount. Due to the fact that you cannot simply mount a dragon in Whiterun and fly away to Windhelm, no one considers this to be true flying.
How do you get Bend Will dragon shout?
Bend Will dragon shout is tied to the main questline of Dragonborn expansion.
- The first word in the Shout Gol can be found on the Word Wall at Saering’s Watch during the quest The Fate of the Skaal. You will use Gol to cleanse the All-Maker stones.
- The second word in the shout Hah is learned from Hermaeus Mora during the quest The Gardener of Men.
- The third word in the shout Dov is learned likewise from Hermause Mora during the same quest.
Are there any mods that make flying possible in Skyrim?
There are several mods that allow you to fly in Skyrim but to keep the immersion and the feeling of the game intact we’re only going to mention mods that add realistic flying to the game.
The first mod that allows you to realistically fly is Real Flying SE. This mod adds special mutagens to the game that will enable you to grow wings. All mechanics such as gliding, collisions, and speeding forward are included, and mutagens are a nice way to explain in-game how you ended up with the wings. This mod is available for Skyrim Special Edition.
The second mod, Soarin’ Over Skyrim adds levitation spells to Skyrim similar to the ones we had a chance to see in TES III: Morrowind. You can find spells while exploring Hight Hrothgar or Tower of Mzark, or you can simply add them by using console commands. Soarin’ Over Skyrim is compatible with Skyrim Special Edition as well.
If you don’t want to be the only winged humanoid creature in Skyrim, you can always add wings to your followers by installing Animated Wings Ultimate Mod. Animated Wings Ultimate Mod not only gives your followers wings, but it also enables them to fly as well. This mod also adds several types of wonderfully animated and textured wings. Some do however break immersion but some are completely okay lore-wise. Animated Wings Ultimate is compatible with Skyrim Special Edition.
Can you walk in the air in Skyrim?
You can walk in the air by using the toggle collision console command. Simply open your console by pressing “~” and typing tcl. You will see the effects of the command in-game immediately as you will be able to pass through every solid object, texture, or obstacle. That includes falling through the floor of the world.
Even though disabling collision can be useful while you’re trying to reach a high area, it’s extremely immersion breaking and sometimes it can even lead to various glitches and bugs that can be fixed only by restarting the game. You can disable collision for other NPCs as well, you can do that by targeting them before you execute the command.
Can you fly in Vampire Lord form?
Even though Vampire Lords have bat wings, they cannot fly. They mostly just hover a few inches above the ground. This isn’t considered true flying as well. Vampire Lord form is sometimes a real hassle to deal with due to awkward perspective. Vampire Lord hovering is useful if you’re trying to cross over a large body of water as it allows you to “walk on water”.
Conclusion
The only way to fly in the Skyrim base game is to use Bend Will shout. This will allow you to mount a dragon and fly above a specific area until you decide to command that specific dragon to take you down. This is not considered true flying due to being severely limited and you don’t have control over the direction of flying.
You can always disable collision through commands that will allow you to walk in the air, but this might lead to an unpleasant experience. The last feasible options are mods. Mods enable you to fly by adding levitations spells or wings to the game that you can either craft or purchase. As far as Vampire Lord form goes, you cannot fly with it as well as it only hovers slightly above the ground.