Zephyr

Zephyr
Base Damage	12
Speed	1
Weight	10
Value	670
Level	1+
Category	Bow
Class	Dwarven
Variants	Dwarven Bow, Dwarven Black Bow of Fate
Skill	Archery
Unique	Yes
Item ID	XX00CFB6
Game/DLC	Dawnguard

Zephyr is the bow of Katria, an adventurer whose ghost guides the way through the Dwemer ruin of Arkngthamz. It is a Dwarven bow with a built in speed boost, and it is one of the fastest bows in the game. It is found during Lost to the Ages, a Dawnguard side quest in the Reach near Dushnikh Yal, which opens as soon as the ruin is entered.

Katria fell to her death in the ruin during a great earthquake. Her bow stayed behind on the end of a fallen log above the chasm where she fell. When she spots it, she asks the finder to take good care of it.

Weapon Enchantment

The faster draw is built into the bow and has unlimited charge.

The Enchantment Effects page lists every weapon enchantment.

Enchantment
Fires 30% faster than a standard bow

Zephyr Map Location and Quest Guide

Zephyr map location:

Zephyr rests on the end of a fallen log over a chasm in Arkngthamz. Katria points it out during Lost to the Ages.

1. Travel to Arkngthamz.
2. Climb with Katria until she points out the chasm.
3. Walk carefully out along the log.
4. Take Zephyr from the end of the log.

Map credit by Map Genie.

Gameplay Tips and Tricks

Temper it at a grindstone with a Dwarven Metal Ingot. The Dwarven Smithing perk doubles the improvement.

Smithing Guide

Enchanted weapons require the Arcane Blacksmith Perk to upgrade.

Upgrades

Zephyr is improved at a grindstone with one Dwarven Metal Ingot per improvement. The Dwarven 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	Damage
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

Crafting Materials	Upgrade Materials	Smithing Level	Smithing Perk
Cannot be crafted	Dwarven Metal Ingot	-	Dwarven Smithing

Weapon Levels

Some weapons in Skyrim are Levelled. The power of a levelled weapon is based on your charcters level when you get them. Some get stronger in both physical and magical aspects, while others only improve their enchantments. These items don't get better as your character levels up.

Zephyr has the same damage at every character level.

Level	Damage	Weight	Value	Enchantment	Level ID
1+	12	10	670	Fires 30% faster than a standard bow	XX00CFB6

How It Plays

Zephyr trades power for speed. Each arrow hits a little softer than a top tier bow, but the arrows come out much faster. In an open fight, the stream of arrows can bring down enemies quickly. Guides call it one of the best bows for open combat for that reason.

The speed matters less for a stealth archer. A sneak attack depends on one heavy first shot, and Zephyr's low base damage often fails to kill outright. The target then finds the archer, and the fight becomes an open one. For pure sniping, a bow with more base damage is the better choice.

A fast bow also burns through arrows. Enemies at higher levels need several shots each, so carry a large stock. Zephyr is at its best from the moment it is found until the late game, when crafted Daedric and Dragonbone bows pull ahead.

Perks and Builds

Quick Shot in the Archery Skill tree makes every bow draw faster. Its bonus stacks with Zephyr's own speed, so the pair turns the bow into a rapid fire weapon. Overdraw raises bow damage and covers much of Zephyr's weak base hit. Five ranks of Overdraw help most.

Dwarven Smithing is one of the early Smithing perks. A smith who takes it can raise Zephyr well above its base damage long before the late game metals are in reach. That keeps the bow useful for longer.

Compared with Other Bows

The bow's text promises fire that is thirty percent faster than a standard bow, but bows differ in speed by type. Zephyr is faster than a normal Dwarven Bow and far faster than a Daedric Bow. It shares its draw speed with the Long Bow, the fastest of the common bows.

Auriel's Bow from the main Dawnguard story is also very quick. It adds sun damage that hits the undead three times as hard. The Nightingale Bow hits much harder with each arrow, while Zephyr wins on rate of fire.

Quest Background

The quest begins with the book The Aetherium Wars, or simply with a visit to Arkngthamz. The book tells of a lost Dwemer forge for working Aetherium. Its author, Taron Dreth, dedicated it to Katria. In truth the research was hers, and her own apprentice stole it.

Inside Arkngthamz, a ghostly voice warns visitors to turn back. Katria then appears and explains that she died there chasing the Forge. "I can't rest. Not until I find the Forge, until I can prove that it was my discovery." She guides the way through Falmer, chaurus and Dwarven machines to the summit. On the way, she points out the chasm where she fell. "Here's where I fell. Feels like ages ago." Then she sees her bow on the log.

At the summit, a deadly Tonal Lock guards the first Aetherium Shard. Its resonators must be struck in the right order, and they hang high on the walls, so a ranged weapon or spell is needed. Zephyr arrives just in time for that job. A wrong strike sets off the traps. Katria explains that this is how she died: she struck the resonators in the wrong order and brought on the earthquake. Her journal and a dead adventurer's note give most of the right order.

Three more shards lie in other Dwemer sites. One sits on a plinth beyond the bridge at Deep Folk Crossing. Another lies deep in Raldbthar, past the Deep Market and a Dwarven Centurion. The last waits behind locked doors in the Dwarven Storeroom near Mzulft. Katria's journal marks all of them.

Together the four shards form the Aetherium Crest, which opens the hidden Forge beneath the Ruins of Bthalft, south of Ivarstead. A long lift leads down into a place no one has entered for four thousand years. The Forge's guardians attack in waves of Dwarven spiders and spheres. Last comes The Forgemaster, a huge Dwarven centurion that rises from the lava and sprays fire.

The Forge can make one item from the crest, and the choice is final. The Aetherial Crown keeps the power of the last standing stone and adds it to the current one. The Aetherial Shield makes enemies it bashes ethereal for a short time, so they can neither attack nor be attacked. The Aetherial Staff summons a Dwarven Spider or Sphere. Once the item is made, Katria finds her peace and fades away. "And now... I think I can rest."

Lore

The Aetherium Wars tells the story behind the hunt. Long ago, four Dwemer city-states in Skyrim worked together, led by the great research center of Arkngthamz. They found Aetherium, a rare crystal with a strong magical aura, and built a forge to work it. The weapons it made were so powerful that every city wanted the Forge for itself. The alliance broke apart in war, and the weakened cities fell to the Nords under High King Gellir.

The key to the Forge was split into four pieces, one for each city that had worked on it. That is why Katria recognizes the first shard as "part of a key" when she sees its precisely cut edge. Her life's work was to put those pieces back together.

Notes

Katria asks the new owner to take good care of her bow.

Ranged Weapon Categories

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• 

  Bows

• 

  Crossbows

All Unique Bows

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Name	Image	Damage	Speed	Weight	Value	Enchantment	Item ID	Level	Upgrade Material	Crafting Perk	Skill	DLC
Angi's Bow		7	0.937	7	50	Cannot be enchanted	000CC392	1+	Steel Ingot	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Auriel's Bow		13	1	11	1000	21 points of sun damage. Undead targets take triple damage	XX000800	1+	Refined Moonstone	Elven Smithing	Archery	Dawnguard
Bow of the Hunt		10	0.937	7	434	Animals take 20 points of extra damage	000AB705	1+	Steel Ingot	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Drainspell Bow		14	0.875	6	458	Absorb Magicka 15 points	000F82FC	1+	Cannot be Upgraded	None	Archery	Skyrim
Dravin's Bow		7	0.937	7	50	Cannot be enchanted	0006B9AD	1+	Leather Strips	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Dwarven Black Bow of Fate		13	0.75	10	1446	50% chance for each attribute to absorb 25 pts. of Health, Stamina, and/or Magicka	XX02C01A	1+	Ebony Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Dragonborn
Firiniel's End		13	0.687	12	785	Target takes 20 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina	00017059	1+	Refined Moonstone	Elven Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Froki's Bow		6	1	5	307	Does 10 points of Stamina damage	000C0186	1+	Iron Ingot	None	Archery	Skyrim
Gauldur Blackbow		14	0.875	18	972	Absorb 30 points of magicka	000F5D22	36+	Steel Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Glass Bow of the Stag Prince		16	0.625	14	375	Wielder receives an increasingly powerful blessing for every 20 animals killed by the bow	XX018ED5	1+	Refined Malachite	Glass Smithing	Archery	Dragonborn
Karliah's Bow		25	0.625	9	5	Cannot be enchanted	000DEED8	1+	Cannot be Upgraded	None	Archery	Skyrim
Nightingale Bow		19	0.5	18	3405	Freezes the target for 30 points and shocks the target for 15 points	000F652C	46+	Ebony Ingot	None	Archery	Skyrim
Zephyr		12	1	10	670	Fires 30% faster than a standard bow	XX00CFB6	1+	Dwarven Metal Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Dawnguard
Bow of Shadows		19		18	2500	Weapon draw is 20% faster and casts invisibility for 30 seconds.	XX000807	1+	Ebony Ingot	Arcane Blacksmith	Archery	Creation Club
Ruin's Edge		12	0.875	7	750	Randomly applies one of these effects to the target: - Demoralize, 100 pts for 20 seconds - Drain Magicka, 1000 pts for 20 seconds - Frenzy, 100 pts for 20 seconds Frost Damage, 25 pts - Paralyze, for 15 seconds Paralyze, for 1 second	FEXXXD63	1+	Daedra Heart	Daedric Smithing	Archery	Creation Club