The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has a huge world filled with all kinds of joinable factions. These factions range from an ancient organization of dragon slayers, to an underground guild of professional assassins. Each also has its own motivations and goals. Though, of course, some are better than others.
Granted, there are plenty of ways to measure the quality of a faction in Skyrim. In this particular tier list, every joinable faction will be judged based on their quests (both the main quest and side quests), the characters affiliated with said faction, and lastly, the player rewards. Thus, factions in the highest tier have a good balance of compelling quests, memorable characters, and lucrative rewards. Those in the lower tiers lack in either one aspect or more.
S-Tier
The Dark Brotherhood – The Dark Brotherhood has one of the strongest starting quests in the game, and continues to deliver with the ambitious emperor assassination job. Though the quests start to taper down in quality after killing the emperor, the faction still manages to tell a compelling story. Additionally, the Dark Brotherhood is home to some of the most memorable characters in the game — Cicero being the most obvious candidate in Skyrim. Though Astrid and Babette are pretty noteworthy as well. Finally, the faction rewards the player with many different armor sets, such as the Shrouded Armor as well as Cicero’s Outfit (should the player choose to kill him).
The Thieves Guild – The Thieves Guild of Skyrim is another fan-favorite in the community, and for good reason. Like the Dark Brotherhood, it has a strong opening quest and a compelling main questline centered around bringing the guild back into power. Plus, every member of the Thieves Guild has some backstory to them, making for interesting conversations. Though The Thieves Guild has plenty of generic quests (particularly, the “small jobs” from Delvin and Vex), accomplishing enough rewards the player with special merchants who set up shop in the Ragged Flagon. Additionally, the player can acquire Thieves Guild armor and the Skeleton Key (though only temporarily).
A-Tier
The Dawnguard – Skyrim’s Dawnguard and its main questline are fun to play through, but many of the quests in the DLC feature Serana more than the actual Dawnguard. It also introduces a number of side quests wherein the player must hunt and kill vampires in Skyrim. While these are enjoyable, they don’t really add to the faction’s main storyline. As for characters, not many of the Dawnguard are particularly memorable except for perhaps Isran. On the flip side, this faction has some of the best player rewards: Besides Dawnguard armor and the Crossbow, players can also acquire dogs and armored troll followers.
The Nightingales – The Nightingales faction is very closely tied to the Thieves Guild. Thus, it features more or less the same quests and characters. It doesn’t quite stand on its own, which is why it’s not in S-Tier. However, the player rewards that come with becoming a Nightingale are the reason why the faction is no lower than A-Tier. Apart from acquiring the Nightingale armor set in Skyrim, players can also utilize Agents, which are special powers granted by Nocturnal. These Agents are excellent powers for any stealth-based character.
The Volkihar Clan – The Volkihar Clan’s quests are similar to the Dawnguard’s in that they’re mostly the player teaming up with Serana, rather than being a part of the vampire club. That said, Serana is no doubt one of the most interesting characters in the entire game, along with her father, Lord Harkon. Additionally, the Skyrim player can become a Vampire Lord and call on Death Hounds to become their follower.
B-Tier
The College of Winterhold – The College of Winterhold in Skyrim has an engaging main questline that centers around a mysterious magical device. However, the entire plot feels rushed, with the player going from student to Archmage too quickly. Additionally, many players can complete the entire College questline using little magic, which takes away from the immersion. The redeeming factors for this faction are the interesting characters, like Tolfdir and J’zargo, as well as the easy access to some of the best magic trainers in Skyrim.
The Companions – Similar to the College’s issues, the Companion’s questline feels rushed. The player goes from new recruit to a member of the Circle, to the leader of the Companions in such a short time. Though on the flip side, the faction has some memorable characters, like Aela and Farkas. The Companions also have some of the best combat trainers among their ranks and can turn the player into a werewolf in Skyrim.
The Civil War Factions – Both the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloak Rebellion have similar questlines, which is why they’re in the same section. Though both interesting, the questlines feel like they weren’t utilized fully. This is likely because the civil war quests have the most cut content in Skyrim. Additionally, the player rewards aren’t that special, as both factions give the player their armor and a house. So, even though General Tullius and Jarl Ulfric are undeniably interesting characters, everything else falls short.
C-Tier
The Bards College – The Bards College of Skyrim has one of the shortest main questlines among the factions, and its final task is a pretty generic dungeon crawl. Granted, reconstructing Olaf’s Verse and the ensuing celebration are nice touches, but this doesn’t mean much when the questline is so brief. There also aren’t any notable characters in the faction. Perhaps the only upside is the player reward — a power known as “Gift of the Gab,” which increases the player’s speech by 15%.
The Blades – While the Blades’ quests are tied to Skyrim’s main questline, it doesn’t really feel like the Blades are helping the Last Dragonborn; It’s more of the reverse. Moreover, the faction doesn’t have any worthwhile side quests, and even locks the player out if they refuse to kill Paarthurnax in Skyrim. While this no doubt makes Delphine a memorable character, the community remembers her for all the wrong reasons.
The Coven of Namira – Namira’s Coven has the shortest questline among the factions here because it only consists of a single quest. While that one quest is enough to establish what the coven is, it makes the faction pale in comparison to all the others on this list. Still, it definitely has some of the most shocking characters as well as a unique perk for its character reward — allowing the player to become a cannibal in Skyrim.
Skyrim is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
