If there’s one thing Bethesda succeeded in with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it’s giving the player proper choice in how to play the game. There simply aren’t that many rules or limitations, especially when mods or console commands come into play. This is what has kept the game so fresh all these years.
However, this isn’t just about character builds. It’s about custom rules and limitations that are so crazy and impossible that it’s a miracle some players have even managed to make them work. And yet, there’s proof that they do work, as seen in these insane challenge runs.
10 Pure Combat Run – MajorSlackAttack
Starting off fairly tame yet surprisingly difficult when it gets down to the nitty gritty, there’s MajorSlackAttack’s Pure Combat run. This is a great challenge for those who have experience with the game itself but are new to the whole challenge run scene, and might be intimidated by the more hardcore runs.
This run includes no crafting or buying of any sort, meaning all items must be found in the wild or loot in order to be used. Additionally, the player adds two finishing conditions: the armor cap needs to be reached, and he has to have level 80 one-handed. This is definitely no easy task, especially as the game is on Legendary difficulty.
9 Illusion Magic Only – G00SE_IT
In general, magic-only builds tend to be quite challenging, since magic is so underpowered in the game. But that’s what makes the schools of magic such great challenges for players to try out in a pure mage build, especially the schools that tend to see little to no use, like Illusion.
G00SE_IT actually has a pretty ingenious way to tackling this challenge in his own run. The first thing he does is create a High Elf, which gives him access to a starting Illusion spell called Fury. He then uses that to pit enemies against each other, or lure enemies to traps and the like.
8 Stolen Items Only – DangerBen
Some challenges focus more on what kinds of items the player can use, rather than specific skills. This is another fantastic way to limit gameplay to only a few select items, or make the player work twice as hard to actually find usable stuff.
The stolen items only challenge is just as the title implies: only objects that have been stolen can be used by the player. With legendary difficulty on as well, this really is a tough one to crack, but DangerBen does it beautifully in his completed challenge run. For anyone wanting to make a true thief build, this is a wonderful challenge.
7 Tools Only – G00SE_IT
There are a bunch of side activities in Skyrim that can earn the player a bit of money, as well as just increase the immersion with the game’s world. From mining to chopping wood, these are just a few of the cool little things that the Dragonborn can focus on in between dungeon quests.
G00SE_IT, inspired by these features, decided to try his luck at a tool-only challenge run, which basically narrows down available weapons to tools like the Woodcutter’s Axe and Pickaxe. Although these items are easy to come by, they’re not exactly high on damage, which makes this run devastatingly hard on Legendary.
6 Fists Only – Senza
Melee is just one of the many aspects of the game that nobody ever uses. Ever. And for good reason: it does so little damage that there’s really no point in it. Even Khajiit and their race power, a damage boost to their unarmed hits, deal such minimal damage that it just doesn’t make sense to build a character around melee and fists only.
However, Senza decided to make the impossible possible. His challenge run is not only fun and comedic to watch, but it’s also quite intelligently executed. The only rule is not to have any special gauntlets equipped for damage boost. And yes, it does take a long time to kill enemies in this run, meaning most of the fights will actually just push the player to run away.
5 Torch Only – Mitten Squad
Ah yes, torches; those items that most players probably only use to light their path. Not many know that torches can be used to block damage, the same way that shields are used to bash. Consequently, torches set enemies on fire, but using them drains stamina.
This didn’t dissuade Mitten Squad from trying his hand at a torch-only challenge run, the main issue being the finding of torches that can be equipped. While he does use Restoration to heal himself during combat, otherwise he can only take enemies down with a torch. This is an insane task, especially since the flame dies in four minutes, rendering the torch useless after.
4 Main Quest Speedrun – Waz
Getting into the top four here, it wouldn’t be a proper challenge list without the mention of a good old speedrun. Skyrim is a massive game, and speedrunning all the quests is a bit redundant with how much time it consumes and the sheer amount of content there is.
However, speedrunning the main quest has become pretty popular, and was successfully completed by Waz in just under 24 minutes of in-game time. This is absolutely insane, and the video of his challenge showcases a lot of the cool manipulation that speedrunners do to achieve a quick run of the game.
3 No Damage Taken – Mitten Squad
In games like Skyrim, it’s impossible to avoid being hit by the enemy. Or… is it? Players have started to question everything that makes this game what it is at its core, which has given rise to absurd challenges like this one: the no-damage taken challenge.
As the name implies, even 1 damage point taken is marked as a failure, and through console commands it can be made so that the character constantly only has one health point to make matters easier to track. Mitten Squad has a really cool challenge run of this, which puts a ton of emphasis on stealth and archery.
2 Pacifist Run – Ymfah
Taken damage aside, how about not inflicting any damage at all? Given that there are so many enemies that need to be killed for quests to progress in the game, it might feel like running a fully pacifist character in the game would be an impossible feat.
Not at all, actually. Ymfah’s pacifist run is great proof of that, although it’s evident that it’s a lot of trial and error on his part. From luring bosses to traps or pitting enemies against each other with Fury spell, there are some workarounds to make this challenge run possible.
1 No Armor, No Weapons – Rhetam
Armor, weapons, second chances. Those are the things that make Skyrim so great among fans; the ability to try again and to level up a character through experience. What if all those were taken away? With Legendary difficulty and permadeath, it’s a nightmare challenge waiting to happen.
Rhetam begins his journey in the no armor, no weapon challenge run as a Khajiit. Most of his run is based around unarmed combat, as well as spells, and also involves baiting allies to fight tougher enemies and minimize damage that way. In many ways, this really is the ultimate backwards way of playing Skyrim, which makes it the most fun — and craziest — of the bunch.
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