So you want to know how respawning works in Skyrim? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Get yourself a cuppa tea and let’s go.
Dungeons
Before we can talk about loot specifically, I’ll talk you through dungeons.
There are three kinds to note.
Safe Storage Locations
These locations never reset, which means any items you put in chests will stay there forever. Most of these locations are player-purchased homes like the Breezehome, Tundra Homestead, or Hendraheim.
Uncleared Dungeons
When you have not yet killed all enemies in a dungeon, it will remain uncleared.
In this case, any enemies, ores mined, etc. reset every 10 days.
Cleared Dungeons
When you have killed all enemies, however, the dungeon will be considered cleared.
You can see this on the map, with the cleared tag showing up beneath the dungeon name.
In this case, any enemies, ores mined, etc. reset every 30 days.
Be aware that you cannot come in a range of the dungeon while it is respawning.
Do you know how you discover a location if you come close to it?
That counts as entering the ground of the dungeon, and it alone will stop the respawning process.
Enemies and Puzzles
As a little side note, I’ll tell you about the obstacles inside the dungeons.
Enemies respawn in several tiers. Like bandit outlaws or bandit chiefs. Or restless draugrs and druagr scourges.
What tier the enemies respawn in depends on your level. If you come back to Bleak Falls Barrow later in the game, for example, you will notice draugr thralls and wights spawning instead of the ones you fought during the dragonstone quest.
While we’re taking Bleak Falls Barrow as an example, all puzzles and doors in dungeons reset too, with the only exception being doors opened by dragon claws.
Loot
Loot, finally.
Just like enemies, their weapons and loot from chests scale with your level.
A nifty perk to pick up is in the lockpicking tree. It’ll give you a 25% higher chance to find special treasure, which usually includes gemstones and enchanted weapons.
All chests in dungeons reset, with the exception of certain special chests and items.
A good example is the Dragonstone, which will only spawn in Bleak Falls Barrow the first time you clear it.
That's everything we are sharing today for this The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition guide. This guide was originally created and written by Sivir is Bae. In case we fail to update this guide, you can find the latest update by following this link.