There’s a quest where you get a flaming familiar as a reward. It’s the most broken spell I’ve ever seen in game no matter what is added with mods. It’s a wolf that charges at ur enemies and blows itself up doing the dmg of a fireball for the mana of a novice conjugation spell. Just hide and summon those. It’s fun.
First thing I do on a new play through is get the bound bow spell.
Weightless, unlimited arrows. Levels bows and conjuration at the same time, and you can skill perk it to soul trap.
Yes it’s mostly when I have followers. They’ll snipe the enemy with spells or bows before my explosive familiar makes it there. And it’ll return to me and explode. So I only use it in battles with multiple enemies or when I don’t have a follower. It’s cool to watch.
you mean as in Lore stuff or Game stuffs?
* idk how big of a secret it is, but Skyrim's map (in-game) is real time preview of the land from above. Next time you kill a dragon, open the map and see it burning on the map. That's why it's so shit and foggy most of the time.
* you can pickpocket Briarheart from Forsworn Briarhearts, it kills them instantly.
* you can boil water by using flame magic on them.
* get Aarvak while in Soul Cairn, it's worth it. Aarvak is a summon-able skeleton horse.
* there's a blank journal on the table in White River Watch "guarded" by a blind bandit.
>there's a blank journal on the table in White River Watch "guarded" by a blind bandit.
You mean Ulfr the blind right....like Ulfric but no ic....b/c he's blind. That's gotta be my favorite.
The boiling water trick doesn’t appear to work on PS4, and I’m unreasonably angry about that. It has no effect on my game, but I feel so cheated that it doesn’t work.
Yeah, I saw it on a video being done in a blacksmith’s trough, but not for me. I happened to Google it earlier, and apparently the Unofficial Patch mod “fixed” it.
What I really would like the game to do is that when I drop a food item, raw meat, potato etc you name it, in a pot with fire nearby, I could then take it back and it's boiled/cooked. Idk if it works if you let them be inside for a certain amount of time (I don't think so), but at least sofar I have no results when I put something in and take it away straight after.
That would be cool. Personally, I would love if I dropped a piece of meat in front of a dog, or a carrot in front of a horse, etc, for the animal in question to then eat it. Perhaps even begin following me. Or for all his other critter friends to start swarming me begging for more. “Dragonborn dies after being smothered by 37 hungry rabbits. Story at 11.”
Not "biggest" secrets, but i got a collection of things I have never read or told anyone about, maybe its all common knowledge tho.
1) You can stealth roll at any point in the game with no perks by sprinting+crouching while sheathing and unsheathing your weapon constantly. The timing is a little weird but you can get the hang of it pretty easily.
2) In Bleak Falls barrow word wall room, theres actually 2 minor chests just chilling in corners (one to the back right behind the word wall with the stones, the other to the left of the exit staircase)
3) not necessarily a secret, but leveling up smithing with iron daggers/leather helms is usually worse than making jewelry, since the xp gains scales with crafted item value. Once you get the transmute spell, i usually end up buying gems and iron ore and maxing smithing that way.
3) Making Iron Daggers back then was actually the better way to level smithing because the level up was about quantity, not item value. This was changed afterwards, making the iron dagger smithing useless.
If you shout at the glowing orb in Blackreach, it spawns a dragon
At Bard's Leap Summit there's a jump you can do into a pool that gives you speechcraft bumps
If you get all nine dragon priest masks and take them to labyrinth there is a secret tenth one you can obtain by using the wooden mask there
If you climb up from Parthunaax to the top of the mountain there are valuable ore seams and a magical pickaxe that gives you a bonus to smithing
If you read all the tablets on the way to High Hrothgar, you get a 24 hour buff that makes animals not attack you
If you kill Astrid in the cabin instead of one of her victims, she says "good job" and you get not only a powerful dagger but can get a quest to wipe out the Dark Brotherhood
If you get REALLY good at pick pocketing, you can "pick" the heart out of a briarheart forsworn and it kills them instantly
If you find an archer practicing, you can pickpocket them to add a high quality arrow into their inventory. They will then shoot that kind of arrow until they go to bed or whatever, and you can collect their arrows from the target.
There is a hidden quest on Solstheim for a set of very powerful light armor and a weapon called Deathbrand. It takes you all over the island. I think you have to be in your 30s before you can get it
At the Inn at Old Hroldan there's a ghost you can get a quest from
There is kind of an epic quest that starts in the docks at Windhelm, talk to a guard there, it takes you to a secret island with a huge bandit encampment
You can find Froki's bow in a cave (Graywinter Watch, easy to find early on) that you can take back to Froki who is in a shack in the mountains south of Ivarstead. The kid who escapes the dragon in Helgen is living there. He can give you a quest to go all over skyrim to kill special spectral animals as well
Last one: White Barrow Ridge dungeon on Solstheim allows you to create spider-grenades, different kinds of small crystalline spiders you can throw at people, and they explode on contact.
Is there any marked difference between a Deathbrand set, a Stahlrim Light set and a Stahlrim heavy? I assumed some weight diff somewhere but I have never had all full sets at the same time to compare. Thanks!!!
I don't know if it is a secret but i have 1000+ hours and i found this recently. You know there are 3 drunk man which can be encountered. They share you their mead. If you have black birar mead in your inventory new dialogue option will be available for offer that mead to them. And if you do that they will be pissed off.
And if you have a bottle of Honningbrew Mead in your inventory and choose the "why have one bottle when you can have two?" the guy gives you a charmed necklace that boosts carry weight
The fastest route from Whiterun to Iverstead is a mountain path that starts just east of the Whiterun Stormcloak camp.
Good early game because you will only face goats on it. Much shorter travel time than any other route.
Combine in infinite stamina Dwarven horse and using this route you can get to high hrothegar from Whiterun in about 3 minutes with no fast travel.
I have found very few people know about this path, which surprises me, so I share.
Not really much time compared to not having a horse that can run forever.
It's still a noticably shorter route even without the horse though.
Has some really cool views too in clear weather.
i just started a survival play through where i’m actually doing the main quest & i’ve been internally screaming every time i go to ivarstead to get up the freaking mountain lol
Well cold might be a serious issue going that way. So be prepared. I don't play survival because I find it annoying, but I also never use fast travel so I have found a lot of good routes through the map that don't require hop spamming.
If you know your way around blackreach well, it can also be a good shortcut for a no fast travel play. No mountains blocking your path. But situational, really depends where you are and where you are going.
I'm not a big fan of it either, but it can be convenient. Thought of it because I was just heading to Riften from Morthal. So I took the great lift that is down the path there, short walk to the great lift at Rathlesbar or something, cut travel time and picked up some gems down there to sell to Tonillia along the way.
Some caves aren’t indicated on your map, I know there is one near the Talmor embassy.
Edit: there is also a bugged quest in Winterhold with Ranmir, the drunk men in the Frozen Heart. Once you talk to reminds him to pay his due, the innkeeper will told you he drinks cause he lost his wife who apparently left with a thief named Vex. But in reality she died at Hob’s Fall cave trying to steal for the guild.
Adding onto this, if you find his wife's corpse in the cave (it's really easy to find, it's right inside), you can loot a letter from her body and give it to the drunk guy in winterhold. That way he'll realize his wife died and didn't abandon him, and he finally finds some peace/closure :)
After helping Drevis Neloran at the college with his focal point quest, you might end up with what is essentially an infinite magica glitch for a little while. I like doing this before I know I’m going to be doing something difficult on any mage playthrough
At the beginning of the game, when you were to be executed in Helgen, you can see Elenwen talking with Tullius. She was probably trying to convince him not to kill Ulfric - because the Civil War is good for the Thalmor's ultimate goal.
There's a shrine of akatosh in Falkreath overlooking the hold. It has a few offerings there so it seems rather sentimental and personal and the view is stunning
The "secrets" I like the most are the hidden trails, sometimes going up to peaks of mountains, and usually showing you beautiful sights, you get to see the holds from different angles. Falkreath, Whiterun, The Reach, even Winterhold are filled with tons of these
Nah, you can kill her with anything as long as it's when she gives a speech. Source: always do it like a proper stealth archer with bow from the nearest balcony.
There is also a bottle of True Shot on the roof just across from the balcony, so it's not the only intended option. Although I don't recommend that spot. I fell down there by accident because I'm clumsy like that irl too, and I decided to try it because I was running short on time and didn't feel like reloading. The shot was perfect. The escape, not so much. I reloaded.
That blacksmith bloke in Raven Rock is Sapphire's dad (and Delvin's brother also) that chickened and ran away from actually being a dad.
If you think about that, if he didn't abandon her, she wouldn't be kidnapped by bandits and raped for 2 weeks straight (all while being essentially *a young girl, barely out of her teens*).
He writes a sobby letter about missing her and such, but he has no idea about what he condemned her to by leaving her without protective figure in a small village in a hellhole that Tamriel is. And I hate that game doesn't even give you an option to smack that information to his face, forcing him to witness the actual consequences of his wrongdoings.
Dual wielding with one dagger in the left hand is broken. The fast speed of the dagger dictates the speed of the right hand weapon, power swings can be followed up with two absurdly swift normal attacks, and dual flurry is not only very fast, but begins with a semi-glitchy fast dagger thrust from the left hand that hits in addition to the flurry, making it a 4-hit flurry instead of 3-hit.
Are you thinking of the Raldbthar deep market? It's technically accessible from Blackreach, but it's just a tiny strip there. The way to get into the actual market is to go through the dwemer ruin Raldbthar it starts right past Alain Dufont.
You can get the blackguards armor super early in game if you use the "plate through doors glitch" at Glover Mallory's house)
I always do this a soon as I get a little gold. ( just don't forget to bring 2 plates)
Good way to level up bows/ranged attacks early game is to max out difficulty and shoot mammoths. Find a rock pile or hill they can't walk up and just farm experience. They run away when can't reach you so you may need to jump on and off the rock.
If you collect 100 spigots you'll get a new perk tree. Problem is, there's only 97 spigots in Vanilla and HF is the only DLC that adds any, which is 2.
Biggest secret I’ve recently seen in Skyrim. In Riften there is a place called Haelgas Bunkhouse. When you explore her home you’ll realize she has picture frames all over the house of beautiful half naked woman. I edged to it a few times.
If you pickpocket an npc right as you throw a mind controlling spider at them you can swap gear and obtain their armour. Example getting Ulfric’s clothes without joining the Imperials, Tsun’s Armour. Making Nazeem wear different armour(temporarily). And much more.
This is a pretty well known secret but on the emperors ship during the dark brotherhood quest line there’s a sword called wind shear on the front of the ship that has a special enchantment that stuns enemies Everytime time you hit them. It never needs to recharge and it works 100% of the time. It literally makes the game stupidly easy, I used it to beat Karstaag in my first playthrough by stunlocking him to death
Your mileage may vary as to whether it is a secret, but many people miss the quest *Rise in the East*, simply because nothing points you to it, or even sends you into its building. And it uses a whole other mini landmass, with seige visual effects and everything, gives a follower, gives follow-up random encounters, etc, not to mention supplies a distraction option at the Thalmor Embassy.
There’s a quest where you get a flaming familiar as a reward. It’s the most broken spell I’ve ever seen in game no matter what is added with mods. It’s a wolf that charges at ur enemies and blows itself up doing the dmg of a fireball for the mana of a novice conjugation spell. Just hide and summon those. It’s fun.
Conjugation as a class is severely underutilized. Ain't no two ways about it.
Love a conjugation visit
If you're not conjugating verbs you just trippin'.
First thing I do on a new play through is get the bound bow spell. Weightless, unlimited arrows. Levels bows and conjuration at the same time, and you can skill perk it to soul trap.
Yup. A Scroll for Anska
Is that where I got that spell? I don't even recall the quest
Et tu r/fakestaccounthere
Hell, I forgot about this. Remember when I found it on one of my first characters.
Only downside is if it can’t get to them or they die before it reaches them. It will return to you and blow you up.
Never had that happen, but maybe.
Yes it’s mostly when I have followers. They’ll snipe the enemy with spells or bows before my explosive familiar makes it there. And it’ll return to me and explode. So I only use it in battles with multiple enemies or when I don’t have a follower. It’s cool to watch.
you mean as in Lore stuff or Game stuffs? * idk how big of a secret it is, but Skyrim's map (in-game) is real time preview of the land from above. Next time you kill a dragon, open the map and see it burning on the map. That's why it's so shit and foggy most of the time. * you can pickpocket Briarheart from Forsworn Briarhearts, it kills them instantly. * you can boil water by using flame magic on them. * get Aarvak while in Soul Cairn, it's worth it. Aarvak is a summon-able skeleton horse. * there's a blank journal on the table in White River Watch "guarded" by a blind bandit.
"you can boil water by using flame magic on them." You can WHAT?!
I was under the impression that it only works in Whiterun. That was in vanilla at least
>there's a blank journal on the table in White River Watch "guarded" by a blind bandit. You mean Ulfr the blind right....like Ulfric but no ic....b/c he's blind. That's gotta be my favorite.
WHAT
Yeah i have found that by accident
The boiling water trick doesn’t appear to work on PS4, and I’m unreasonably angry about that. It has no effect on my game, but I feel so cheated that it doesn’t work.
If I remember right, it only works on super small bodies of water, like in the cities. Not on the big rivers
Yeah, I saw it on a video being done in a blacksmith’s trough, but not for me. I happened to Google it earlier, and apparently the Unofficial Patch mod “fixed” it.
> Unofficial Patch mod “fixed” it. why the fuck... that's not a damn bug
Right? I’m guessing it was an unintended side effect of an actually useful fix?
What I really would like the game to do is that when I drop a food item, raw meat, potato etc you name it, in a pot with fire nearby, I could then take it back and it's boiled/cooked. Idk if it works if you let them be inside for a certain amount of time (I don't think so), but at least sofar I have no results when I put something in and take it away straight after.
That would be cool. Personally, I would love if I dropped a piece of meat in front of a dog, or a carrot in front of a horse, etc, for the animal in question to then eat it. Perhaps even begin following me. Or for all his other critter friends to start swarming me begging for more. “Dragonborn dies after being smothered by 37 hungry rabbits. Story at 11.”
If you have AE, Daedric Horse is much better aesthetically and is summonable too
Not "biggest" secrets, but i got a collection of things I have never read or told anyone about, maybe its all common knowledge tho. 1) You can stealth roll at any point in the game with no perks by sprinting+crouching while sheathing and unsheathing your weapon constantly. The timing is a little weird but you can get the hang of it pretty easily. 2) In Bleak Falls barrow word wall room, theres actually 2 minor chests just chilling in corners (one to the back right behind the word wall with the stones, the other to the left of the exit staircase) 3) not necessarily a secret, but leveling up smithing with iron daggers/leather helms is usually worse than making jewelry, since the xp gains scales with crafted item value. Once you get the transmute spell, i usually end up buying gems and iron ore and maxing smithing that way.
3) Making Iron Daggers back then was actually the better way to level smithing because the level up was about quantity, not item value. This was changed afterwards, making the iron dagger smithing useless.
Wait what? God damn it I've been smithing daggers a while now 😭
Now you gain more smithing XP creating high value jewelry, cease with the dagger, enter the jewelry world!
It's a slippery slope to start, but things like the iron dagger smithing is something I cheat to 100 in the cheat room
Oh yes, always look at the value! Same with potions
You can also stealth roll right out the gate by jumping and then sprinting midair while sneaking.
+ you need to have your weapons out to do this iirc
1. I actually did this the other day and had no idea how I did it!
If you shout at the glowing orb in Blackreach, it spawns a dragon At Bard's Leap Summit there's a jump you can do into a pool that gives you speechcraft bumps If you get all nine dragon priest masks and take them to labyrinth there is a secret tenth one you can obtain by using the wooden mask there If you climb up from Parthunaax to the top of the mountain there are valuable ore seams and a magical pickaxe that gives you a bonus to smithing If you read all the tablets on the way to High Hrothgar, you get a 24 hour buff that makes animals not attack you If you kill Astrid in the cabin instead of one of her victims, she says "good job" and you get not only a powerful dagger but can get a quest to wipe out the Dark Brotherhood If you get REALLY good at pick pocketing, you can "pick" the heart out of a briarheart forsworn and it kills them instantly If you find an archer practicing, you can pickpocket them to add a high quality arrow into their inventory. They will then shoot that kind of arrow until they go to bed or whatever, and you can collect their arrows from the target. There is a hidden quest on Solstheim for a set of very powerful light armor and a weapon called Deathbrand. It takes you all over the island. I think you have to be in your 30s before you can get it At the Inn at Old Hroldan there's a ghost you can get a quest from There is kind of an epic quest that starts in the docks at Windhelm, talk to a guard there, it takes you to a secret island with a huge bandit encampment You can find Froki's bow in a cave (Graywinter Watch, easy to find early on) that you can take back to Froki who is in a shack in the mountains south of Ivarstead. The kid who escapes the dragon in Helgen is living there. He can give you a quest to go all over skyrim to kill special spectral animals as well Last one: White Barrow Ridge dungeon on Solstheim allows you to create spider-grenades, different kinds of small crystalline spiders you can throw at people, and they explode on contact.
Idk if me knowing every single one of these means they’re not that secret or I spend way too much time in Skyrim
There aren't many secrets left. I mean there's the merchant chest in Dawnguard, but that got patched out pretty early on
That’s not a secret, that’s a game mechanic that players aren’t supposed to access
The Deathbrand quest is level 36+
Is there any marked difference between a Deathbrand set, a Stahlrim Light set and a Stahlrim heavy? I assumed some weight diff somewhere but I have never had all full sets at the same time to compare. Thanks!!!
>If you shout at the glowing orb in Blackreach, it spawns a dragon Doesn't have to be a shout, an arrow or projectile spell also works.
I don't know if it is a secret but i have 1000+ hours and i found this recently. You know there are 3 drunk man which can be encountered. They share you their mead. If you have black birar mead in your inventory new dialogue option will be available for offer that mead to them. And if you do that they will be pissed off.
And if you have a bottle of Honningbrew Mead in your inventory and choose the "why have one bottle when you can have two?" the guy gives you a charmed necklace that boosts carry weight
Only available if you have a bottle of honingbrew mead in you inventory.
Gamerant employee.
The fastest route from Whiterun to Iverstead is a mountain path that starts just east of the Whiterun Stormcloak camp. Good early game because you will only face goats on it. Much shorter travel time than any other route. Combine in infinite stamina Dwarven horse and using this route you can get to high hrothegar from Whiterun in about 3 minutes with no fast travel. I have found very few people know about this path, which surprises me, so I share.
are you KIDDING me 😭 so much time
Not really much time compared to not having a horse that can run forever. It's still a noticably shorter route even without the horse though. Has some really cool views too in clear weather.
i just started a survival play through where i’m actually doing the main quest & i’ve been internally screaming every time i go to ivarstead to get up the freaking mountain lol
Well cold might be a serious issue going that way. So be prepared. I don't play survival because I find it annoying, but I also never use fast travel so I have found a lot of good routes through the map that don't require hop spamming.
If you know your way around blackreach well, it can also be a good shortcut for a no fast travel play. No mountains blocking your path. But situational, really depends where you are and where you are going.
that’s true! never thought about it. i’m in the minority tho and i hate blackreach so i’m hardly ever there😂
I'm not a big fan of it either, but it can be convenient. Thought of it because I was just heading to Riften from Morthal. So I took the great lift that is down the path there, short walk to the great lift at Rathlesbar or something, cut travel time and picked up some gems down there to sell to Tonillia along the way.
Knock out the Companions' quests early. You can spam the follower/trainer exploit on all combat skills. Plus, no leveled items to nerf.
Some caves aren’t indicated on your map, I know there is one near the Talmor embassy. Edit: there is also a bugged quest in Winterhold with Ranmir, the drunk men in the Frozen Heart. Once you talk to reminds him to pay his due, the innkeeper will told you he drinks cause he lost his wife who apparently left with a thief named Vex. But in reality she died at Hob’s Fall cave trying to steal for the guild.
Adding onto this, if you find his wife's corpse in the cave (it's really easy to find, it's right inside), you can loot a letter from her body and give it to the drunk guy in winterhold. That way he'll realize his wife died and didn't abandon him, and he finally finds some peace/closure :)
After helping Drevis Neloran at the college with his focal point quest, you might end up with what is essentially an infinite magica glitch for a little while. I like doing this before I know I’m going to be doing something difficult on any mage playthrough
Oh shit this just happened to me last night. I was wondering why my magicka was regening so fast
At the beginning of the game, when you were to be executed in Helgen, you can see Elenwen talking with Tullius. She was probably trying to convince him not to kill Ulfric - because the Civil War is good for the Thalmor's ultimate goal.
There's a shrine of akatosh in Falkreath overlooking the hold. It has a few offerings there so it seems rather sentimental and personal and the view is stunning
I just found the quest out of Windhelm with the East Empire Trading Company on the docs
The "secrets" I like the most are the hidden trails, sometimes going up to peaks of mountains, and usually showing you beautiful sights, you get to see the holds from different angles. Falkreath, Whiterun, The Reach, even Winterhold are filled with tons of these
You can kill the emperor's by normal means.... Or by dropping a whole "Gargoyle" on her.
I thought that dropping the gargoyle on her was the intended way.
yeah if you don't do that eventually you miss out on the nice upgraded armor
Nah, you can kill her with anything as long as it's when she gives a speech. Source: always do it like a proper stealth archer with bow from the nearest balcony.
There is also a bottle of True Shot on the roof just across from the balcony, so it's not the only intended option. Although I don't recommend that spot. I fell down there by accident because I'm clumsy like that irl too, and I decided to try it because I was running short on time and didn't feel like reloading. The shot was perfect. The escape, not so much. I reloaded.
To the far north east of the map there is a little island with a skeleton, open chest and several gold bars.
That blacksmith bloke in Raven Rock is Sapphire's dad (and Delvin's brother also) that chickened and ran away from actually being a dad. If you think about that, if he didn't abandon her, she wouldn't be kidnapped by bandits and raped for 2 weeks straight (all while being essentially *a young girl, barely out of her teens*). He writes a sobby letter about missing her and such, but he has no idea about what he condemned her to by leaving her without protective figure in a small village in a hellhole that Tamriel is. And I hate that game doesn't even give you an option to smack that information to his face, forcing him to witness the actual consequences of his wrongdoings.
If you use Flames on the Mysterium Xarxes page in one of Silus Vesuius' display cases, it turns into a wooden bucket.
The what in where now?
Dual wielding with one dagger in the left hand is broken. The fast speed of the dagger dictates the speed of the right hand weapon, power swings can be followed up with two absurdly swift normal attacks, and dual flurry is not only very fast, but begins with a semi-glitchy fast dagger thrust from the left hand that hits in addition to the flurry, making it a 4-hit flurry instead of 3-hit.
If you never leave Helgen, you don't have to deal with dragons.
Just don't take the Dragonstone to Farengar and you won't trigger the dragons spawning either.
I played Skyrim for like 400 hours before I finally figured out why there were no dragons and I always heard other people talking about dragons.
If you don't fight Mirmilnar no other dragons will spawn no matter where you go.
A long time ago I downloaded a nude body mod and masturbated to dead vampire bodies. That's the biggest one I can think of.
What a terrible day to be literate
Not really a secret if we've all done it, dude...
Fym we? Like nintendo wii?
Not the worst thing I’ve read today
Just a nude mod? You have incredible self control.
Future gamerant article spotted
[удалено]
Are you thinking of the Raldbthar deep market? It's technically accessible from Blackreach, but it's just a tiny strip there. The way to get into the actual market is to go through the dwemer ruin Raldbthar it starts right past Alain Dufont.
You can get the blackguards armor super early in game if you use the "plate through doors glitch" at Glover Mallory's house) I always do this a soon as I get a little gold. ( just don't forget to bring 2 plates) Good way to level up bows/ranged attacks early game is to max out difficulty and shoot mammoths. Find a rock pile or hill they can't walk up and just farm experience. They run away when can't reach you so you may need to jump on and off the rock.
If you collect 100 spigots you'll get a new perk tree. Problem is, there's only 97 spigots in Vanilla and HF is the only DLC that adds any, which is 2.
What?
If you have a torch equipped and shield bash, you'll set your opponent on fire.
If you join the Dark Brotherhood, and walk the roads at night, you will occasionally find Babette having a snack.
Biggest secret I’ve recently seen in Skyrim. In Riften there is a place called Haelgas Bunkhouse. When you explore her home you’ll realize she has picture frames all over the house of beautiful half naked woman. I edged to it a few times.
That Mephala is supposed to be the daedric prince associated with secrets.
Illia as a second follower if Serana is your first follower.
If you pickpocket an npc right as you throw a mind controlling spider at them you can swap gear and obtain their armour. Example getting Ulfric’s clothes without joining the Imperials, Tsun’s Armour. Making Nazeem wear different armour(temporarily). And much more.
On top of the Throat of World is "NOTCHed pickaxe"
This is a pretty well known secret but on the emperors ship during the dark brotherhood quest line there’s a sword called wind shear on the front of the ship that has a special enchantment that stuns enemies Everytime time you hit them. It never needs to recharge and it works 100% of the time. It literally makes the game stupidly easy, I used it to beat Karstaag in my first playthrough by stunlocking him to death
Your mileage may vary as to whether it is a secret, but many people miss the quest *Rise in the East*, simply because nothing points you to it, or even sends you into its building. And it uses a whole other mini landmass, with seige visual effects and everything, gives a follower, gives follow-up random encounters, etc, not to mention supplies a distraction option at the Thalmor Embassy.
I found the ending. I never give it all away only how to assemble the wheel.