The Elder Scrolls 6was announced back in 2018, and with few signs that the next chapter in Bethesda’s flagship fantasy franchise will be at E3 next month, fans are looking to get theirElder Scrollsfix any way they can. FromArenatoThe Elder Scrolls Online, the series provides a variety of stories ranging across different RPG sub-genres.
In an ideal world, to enterThe Elder Scrolls 6with the best possible understanding of the series so far, a completionist would have to beat every availableElder Scrollsgame. Not only that, but the open-ended nature ofElder Scrollsgames mark a clear difference between beating the main quest, beating every questline, and completing everything the game has to offer. Here’s a breakdown of just how long it would take to beat everyElder Scrollsgame, and some of the different ways players might consider the games completed.
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Finishing The Main Quest of Every Elder Scrolls Game
Skyrim’s main quest lasts around 33 hours, from the Helgen Execution sequence to defeating Alduin in Sovngarde.Oblivion’s main quest comes in slightly shorter — it takes around 28 hours from escaping the Imperial prison to witnessingMartin Septim’s sacrifice in the Imperial City.
AlthoughMorrowind’s world is smaller, the lack of fast travel or quest markers makesMorrowind’s main quest a little longer. It can take around 45 hours for an averageMorrowindrun, from the player’s release in Seyda Neen todefeating Dagoth-Ur.Daggerfall’s main quest is closer toSkyrim’s in length, coming in at an average of 31 hours. Shortest of all the mainElder Scrollsgames is Arena, with a main quest coming in at roughly 23 hours.
This puts completing the main quest ofevery mainElder Scrollsgameat 160 hours, or over six straight days of playing. There are moreElder Scrollsgames than just the main series, however. Assuming the player only focused on the main quest inThe Elder Scrolls Online, it would take them around 41 hours to defeat Molag Bal. This number is ultimately harder to determine — there are far more factors at play in an online game, from PvP to world events, that might slow a player down. Nonetheless, this brings the average total up to 201 hours — over eight full days of playingThe Elder Scrolls.
The Elder Scrolls 6is likely years away, however. Players who need even moreElder Scrollsin their lives can addBattlespireandRedguardto their lists.An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire’s main quest adds 15 hours, whileRedguardadds another 18 hours. Together, this brings the total for every main questline so far to 234 hours.The Elder Scrolls: Bladesadds 10 more hours, bringing the total up to 244 hours.
Every Major Questline
The Elder Scrollsgames aren’t just about their main questlines, however. The franchise has always prioritized freedom, allowing players to complete a multitude of questlines in almost any order. Most fans complete the main quest as well as the main supplementary questlines like the Dark Brotherhood andthe Thieves Guild.
Completing all the majorSkyrimquestlines takes about 118 hours, according to howlongtobeat.com. Completing all the major questlines inObliviontakes 86 hours, andMorrowindtakes 109.Daggerfallwould take 91 hours to complete, andArenawould take 45 hours.
In total, completing every major questline in every mainElder Scrollsgame would take 449 hours, or nearly 19 straight days ofThe Elder Scrolls. Fans who want hours upon hours more of content, however, can add far more to that time by adding every major questline inThe Elder Scrolls Online. That adds up to 142 hours, bringing the total up to 591 hours.
Completing most ofBattlespire’s quests adds 28 hours.The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguardis a more set story, and so still only adds around 18 hours of gameplay. Completing most main objectives inBladesadds 15 hours, however, bringing the total for completing most major quests acrossThe Elder Scrollsseries to 652 hours, or just over 27 days of played time.
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The Completionist Run
It’s beenover 1000 days sinceThe Elder Scrolls 6was announced, and it’s likely to be a long time until it finally hits the shelves. Players who find themselves tempted to do a completionist run ofThe Elder Scrollsseries can expect to spend a very long time with the games.
Competing every objective inSkyrimwould take about 230 hours and leave the player the head of the Thieves Guild, theSkyrim Dark Brotherhood, and the College of Winterhold. A completionist run ofOblivionwould take 183 hours,Morrowindwould take 397,Daggerfallwould take 306, andArenawould take 84 hours. Completing every single mainElder Scrollsgame to the best of the player’s ability would take an average 1200 hours, or exactly 50 days of playingThe Elder Scrolls.
With PvP and world eventsThe Elder Scrolls Onlinecan technically be played forever, with steady content patches like the upcomingGates of Oblivionexpansion. However, a true completionist run is estimated to take roughly 360 hours, bringing the total up to 1560 hours. Throw inBattlespire,Redguard, andBlades— 41, 18, and 24 hours respectively — brings that to 1643, or nearly 70 unbroken days ofThe Elder Scrolls.
EvenElder Scrollsfansneed sleep, however. Assuming that the player sleeps the recommended 8 hours a day and works eight hours a day, that leaves eight hours in a day to play as muchElder Scrollsas possible. In other words, it would take 210 days of playing eight hours a day to complete everyElder Scrollsgame. Knock the daily played hours down to far healthier two hours per day, and completing everyElder Scrollsgame would take 840 days, or nearly 28 months.
Of course, there are so many games involved with so many different factors at play that this would vary significantly per player. Nonetheless, it shows just how muchElder Scrollscontent is out there, not to mention the huge number ofElder Scrollsmods- including some that add huge new areas and questlines — that the community has created for all the mainElder Scrollsgames. If fans finish those, there’s alwaysSkyrim: Very Special Editionon the Amazon Echo.
The Elder Scrolls 6is currently in development.
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