Volsung
| Volsung | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Armor Rating | 21 |
| Weight | 5 |
| Value | 4611 |
| Slot | Head |
| Set | Dragon Priest Masks |
| Level | - |
| Class | Helmets |
| Skill | Light Armor |
| Unique | Yes |
| Item ID | 00061cab |
| Game/DLC | Skyrim |
Volsung is a dragon priest mask, a unique light armor helmet with a base armor rating of 21 and a weight of 5. It gives better prices, more carrying capacity and water breathing. It is taken from the dragon priest Volsung at the summit of Volskygge.
Armor Enchantment
Prices are 20% better, carrying capacity rises by 20 points, and the wearer can breathe underwater.
The Enchantment Effects page lists every armor enchantment.
Volsung Map Location and Quest Guide
Volsung map location:
The Volsung mask is taken from the Dragon Priest Volsung at the summit of Volskygge. Volsung rises from the sarcophagus in front of the word wall.
- Travel to Volskygge.
- Reach the word wall at the summit of the ruin.
- Kill the Dragon Priest Volsung when he rises from his sarcophagus.
- Take the Volsung mask from his remains.
Map credit by Map Genie.
The mountain above the entrance can be climbed to skip the dungeon.
How It Plays
Volsung is the corundum dragon priest mask, and it is the explorer's mask of the set. It carries three small comforts at once: better prices, a little more carrying capacity and the power to breathe underwater. All three matter most in the hours spent between fights.
The price bonus works at every merchant. Every item sold earns more gold, and every item bought costs less. A character who loots dungeons and sells the haul in town gains a little on every trip. Over a long game, those small gains add up to a fortune.
The extra carrying capacity fits the same habit. A looter can carry a few more pieces of armor or a few more ingots before becoming overencumbered. The bonus is modest, yet it stacks with every other Fortify Carry Weight effect.
Water breathing is the rare part. With Volsung on, the wearer can stay under water without a time limit. Sunken chests, shipwrecks and flooded caves can be searched at leisure. The mask makes underwater treasure hunting as easy as an Argonian finds it.
Volsung is light armor, and it shares the highest base rating among light helmets with Krosis. A light armor character loses little protection by wearing it. A character with a stronger helmet can also keep Volsung in the pack and put it on only to trade or swim.
Perks and Builds
The Speech Skill tree builds on the price bonus. Haggling improves buying and selling prices further. Allure and Merchant open more trade options. Investor and Master Trader add gold to merchants. With these perks and Volsung, a trader squeezes every coin from each sale.
The carry weight bonus stacks with the Steed Stone and the Heavy Armor perk Conditioning. It also stacks with rings and necklaces of Fortify Carry Weight. A character who wants to haul everything combines several of them.
The Light Armor Skill tree covers the armor side. Agile Defender raises the rating of the mask. Custom Fit adds a bonus when the head, chest, hands and feet are all light armor. Volsung fills the head slot for that bonus.
Compared with Other Masks
Krosis is the other light armor mask with the same top rating. Krosis improves Archery, Lockpicking and Alchemy. It suits a thief or archer, while Volsung suits a trader or explorer.
The Masque of Clavicus Vile is the main rival for trading. The Masque raises the Speech skill as well as prices and also regenerates Magicka. It beats Volsung for pure trading. Volsung wins when water breathing or carrying capacity matters.
The Circlet of Waterbreathing from the Dawnguard DLC lets its wearer breathe underwater too. Volsung gives the same freedom under water and adds trade and carry weight bonuses on top.
Volsung is the most valuable dragon priest mask by sale price. The water breathing enchantment is counted many times over in its value. That makes the mask worth a great deal of gold, though selling it would block the path to Konahrik.
Volskygge
Volskygge is a Nordic ruin far west of Solitude, past Dragon Bridge and just south of Lost Echo Cave. The guards of Solitude warn travelers to stay clear of it. They call it a cursed place and a tomb where the dead still live.
Bandits hold the outside of the ruin. Inside, draugr, traps and locked doors fill the halls. A book named The Four Totems of Volskygge gives the clue for a lever puzzle. The levers must be pulled in the order Snake, Bear, Fox and Wolf. A wrong pull wakes the dead. The right order opens a gate to a spiral stair and the passages below.
The passages end at a door that leads out onto Volskygge Peak. The word wall there teaches part of Whirlwind Sprint. Learning the word wakes Volsung, who bursts from the coffin in front of the wall. He is extremely skilled in four schools of magic and fights with frost.
A shortcut exists. The peak can be reached by climbing the mountain above the entrance. Volsung and the word wall are then reached without entering the ruin at all.
Lore
The first part of the name, "Vol", means "Horror" in the dragon language. Volsung was one of the eight high ranking dragon priests who served the dragons in Skyrim. His mask is one of the eight placed on the shrine at Bromjunaar Sanctuary to reveal Konahrik.
A loading screen of the game says the highest ranking Dragon Priests were granted magical masks that defy the laws of time.
Bugs
Volsung sometimes fails to fight back after leaving his coffin. He only backs away, which makes the fight very easy.
Placing Volsung on its bust at the shrine removes any tempering. Temper the mask only after Konahrik is claimed.
Gameplay Tips
- Temper it at a workbench with one Corundum Ingot. The Daedric Smithing perk doubles the improvement, and the Arcane Blacksmith perk is needed.
- Place it on its bust at the shrine in Bromjunaar Sanctuary, together with the other seven masks of Skyrim, to reveal Konahrik.
Smithing Guide
Enchanted weapons require the Arcane Blacksmith Perk to upgrade.
Upgrades
Volsung is improved at a workbench with one Corundum Ingot per improvement. The Daedric Smithing perk doubles the improvement, so each quality tier needs less Smithing skill. An enchanted copy can only be improved with the Arcane Blacksmith perk.
| Quality | Smithing | With Perk | Armor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine | 14 | 14 | +1 |
| Superior | 31 | 22 | +3 |
| Exquisite | 65 | 40 | +5 |
| Flawless | 100 | 57 | +7 |
| Epic | 134 | 74 | +8 to +9 |
| Legendary | 168 | 91 | +10 |
Armor Set
Volsung is one of the Dragon Priest masks. The table shows all of them.
| Name | Image | Slot | Armor | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahzidal | 
|
Head | 23 | 9 |
| Dukaan | 
|
Head | 23 | 9 |
| Hevnoraak | 
|
Head | 23 | 9 |
| Konahrik | 
|
Head | 24 | 7 |
| Krosis | 
|
Head | 21 | 5 |
| Miraak | 
|
Head | 27 | 9 |
| Morokei | 
|
Head | 5 | 4 |
| Nahkriin | 
|
Head | 23 | 9 |
| Otar | 
|
Head | 23 | 9 |
| Rahgot | 
|
Head | 23 | 9 |
| Vokun | 
|
Head | 23 | 9 |
| Volsung | 
|
Head | 21 | 5 |
| Wooden Mask | 
|
Head | 1 | 2 |
| Zahkriisos | 
|
Head | 23 | 9 |
Armor Categories
All Helmets
Light Armor
All light armor helmets are listed below with their armor rating, weight, set and upgrade material.
Heavy Armor
All heavy armor helmets are listed below with their armor rating, weight, set and upgrade material.
Dragon Priest Masks
The Dragon Priests wore these masks, and each one carries its own enchantment.
| Name | Image | Armor | Weight | Value | Set | Upgrade | Perk | DLC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahzidal |
|
23 | 9 | 1165 | Dragon Priest Masks | Ebony Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Dragonborn |
| Dukaan |
|
23 | 9 | 1202 | Dragon Priest Masks | Ebony Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Dragonborn |
| Hevnoraak |
|
23 | 9 | 891 | Dragon Priest Masks | Iron Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Konahrik |
|
24 | 7 | 3200 | Dragon Priest Masks | Gold Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Krosis |
|
21 | 5 | 1615 | Dragon Priest Masks | Iron Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Miraak |
|
27 | 9 | 849 | Dragon Priest Masks | Cannot be upgraded | None | Dragonborn |
| Morokei |
|
5 | 4 | 637 | Dragon Priest Masks | Refined Moonstone | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Nahkriin |
|
23 | 9 | 2173 | Dragon Priest Masks | Ebony Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Otar |
|
23 | 9 | 1521 | Dragon Priest Masks | Refined Malachite | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Rahgot |
|
23 | 9 | 962 | Dragon Priest Masks | Orichalcum Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Vokun |
|
23 | 9 | 2182 | Dragon Priest Masks | Steel Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Volsung |
|
21 | 5 | 4611 | Dragon Priest Masks | Corundum Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Skyrim |
| Wooden Mask |
|
1 | 2 | 51 | Dragon Priest Masks | Cannot be upgraded | None | Skyrim |
| Zahkriisos |
|
23 | 9 | 1239 | Dragon Priest Masks | Ebony Ingot | Daedric Smithing | Dragonborn |