Ranking Every City in Skyrim

in the land of Skyrim you will likely run across one of the many cities that exist in the land either to sell equipment you took off a bandit conclave you massacred attempting to join one of the multiple guilds visiting your grandmother for canis Root tea and sweet rolls or to commit heinous crimes like murder and jaywalking hello everyone I'm nelloth and today I want to rank all of the cities in Skyrim and decide which are the best and which don't even deserve to exist but before we begin let me quickly highlight some criteria Behind These rankings I will only be ranking any official hold or city with its own independent crime system so this will be including Raven Rock towns and Villages like Riverwood or Dragon Bridge will not be on this list I will also be judging each City on its beauty and livability if someone is able to make a living in that City if I feel that that I will die of hunger or get stabbed the second I walk through a gate the city will not be ranked that high but with all that being said let us rank the cities of Skyrim number 10 Winterhold similar to when I discussed the bards college and my factions ranked video which you should definitely check out if you haven't already I don't believe a single endoir is surprised that I put Winterhold in last place when you walk into Winterhold you will be greeted by four buildings the yarls Longhouse which is quite generic an empty bar a failing General Store and a house of some hopeless Optimist there is extremely little work to be done for someone who may want to visit the city with the exception of joining the College of Winterhold which doesn't even seem to be a part of Winterhold and is quite independent from the city for a city that once used to rival Solitude for the capital of Skyrim it is quite sad to see this quote-unquote city as nothing more than a useless town they don't even seem to have a farm or a mine to generate revenue from they just have a chicken just somewhere in this city wandering around what the luckily this design of Winterhold is no fault of Bethesda because this was the exact intention behind the city similar to that of Brazil in cyrodiil however it is still incomplete last place number nine Markarth Markarth is a complete death trap but let me explain why on one side of the spectrum you have a city that is practically besieged by Forsworn that live in the mountains of the reach and make it practically impossible for supplies to go in and out and impossible for travelers to come and go these four swore not only dominate all of the reach but they also have infiltrated the city of Markarth as well and murder people all the time just like Margaret when you first enter the city on the other side of the spectrum you have extreme corruption inside the city walls because of the silver blood family you think the black Briars are bad because Maven is slightly mean well get a load of these sweats the silver blood family uses the terrorist Force sworn to their advantage and guides them to slaughter any possible competition in order to keep their Monopoly on everything in Markarth primarily mining but everything in Markarth if that doesn't make you want to run out of the city with a khajiit's tail between your legs the city of Markarth was originally a Dwarven City with plenty of Dwarven architecture which doesn't sound half bad until you remember that the underground of the city is swarmed with Dwarven automatons and traps waiting to slice you to Ribbons the city has a bigger poverty epidemic than Riften with its Beggars who live in a place called the Warrens also the workers are treated harshly with little pay and beaten as well and the beds are made of Stone and last but certainly not least there is both a cannibal cult that worships the Daedric prince vermina that resides mainly in Markarth and also Molag ball who makes his home there as well the city of Markarth may seem pretty cool on the outside but due to its atrocious living conditions difficulty to find appropriate work without being killed or extorted corruption heavy Daedric presence and the foresworn this place makes Riften look like a goddamn paradise and should be avoided at all costs speaking of Riften number eight Riften ah Riften home of the beautiful Autumn trees and the Luscious Lake honbrick also home to the intense Mafia style corruption from the black Briar family and the Thieves Guild Riften is a city that can only be described as beautiful on the outside and ugly on the inside kinda like my fictional wife anyways yes rifton has an intense amount of corruption that makes living there almost like a prison being robbed and being forced to pay protection money every week if you speak to the yarl of Riften yarral Layla law Giver you will find that she is quite blind to the corruption and doesn't even leave her castle to see the townsfolk this is likely because her own Steward is in the pocket of the Thieves Guild on top of all of that there is an intense amount of poverty working conditions at the black Briar Meadery are sub-optimal and scuba dealings are also going on so if all that bad is happening how is it any better than Markarth well it's not but hey at least the city isn't constantly Under Siege by terrorists and also there is the Temple of Mara that helps individuals like the player get married and tries to help the citizens however they can be pretty poor at their job but still the thought is there additionally an individual could work at the Riften fishery which is owned by Boley honey hand who is very charitable and treats his workers rather well and the forests outside of Riften are ripe with game and one could possibly make a decent living as a hunter lastly if you are an individual who has a morally gray Compass you may find living in Riften to be quite nice especially if you decide to work with the Thieves Guild or the black Briar family in a more legally flexible capacity but due to intense corruption high crime rate apathetic rulers and a Skooma problem Riften sucks number seven morethal Morthal is a marsh City and like Winterhold it is one of the four unwalled cities that exist in Skyrim depending on who you are you may find morethal to be either beautiful or revolting I belong to the former category but I understand why people might not like the location and the environment now I haven't screamed and bitched about how bad the city is yet so why is it so low well even though I Vibe with the city Morthal has a multitude of problems there is a vampire plot to turn morethall's citizens into thralls monsters that exist out in the night Mages practicing secret magic in the dark and also an apathetic ruler that leans more into her Visions than caring for her citizenry and assuring them of their safety there's also not much work to be found around Morthal you have a family that has a sawmill but that's it other than that there's plenty of ingredients scattered around Morthal and an alchemist you could sell them to but that's all there is when it comes to work with that being said morethal is a very quiet City but with its dark side it is placed here on the list number six Raven Rock Raven Rock is a mining town owned by the stupid idiot house known as rhetoren the town is really only known for its Ebony Mine which has completely dried out when you first visit the city so if you want to mine you are as unlucky as the Nara Vereen without wraithguard even if new Ebony veins are discovered in the mine some individuals will say it is only a matter of time until the Mind dries out again and everyone is back to their destitute lives and I agree heavily on top of having no real income and being controlled by the rhetoren there's also an issue issue with the elemental Stones forcing individuals to build a monuments when they're asleep and there's constant attacks from the Ash spawn and don't even get me started on the pathetic halalu agents in Raven Rock trying to make an assassination attempt only way this town could turn around as if some fabled hero were to come and fix all its problems anyways number five Windhelm to quote dalen machard a Breton sailor on the Windhelm docks never cared much for Windhelm this place is depressing which is very true in my case Windhelm is a fortified City in the snow and has good access to the Sea for shipping and has a surprising amount of farms as well the only downsides of Windhelm that prohibits it from being higher on the list is that most of its resources are directly poured into the Stormcloak Rebellion poverty exists in the city much racism exists in the city as well as we can see with the dunmer being shoved into the gray quarter and argonians not even being allowed into the city at all on top of all that there is a serial killer killing a bunch of women and the guards are so inept they can't even follow a very obvious blood trail to the Killer's Lair which is also home to a victim of the same serial killer apologies for my yelling I am just projecting on how horribly written that Quest is for the serial killer and how easy it is to solve the case but aside from all that Windhelm is not actually a bad place to live as long as you're not a dark elf or an Argonian or Khajiit or a big number four Dawn star Dawn star is a winterized version of mortal that is on the coast of Skyrim and acts as both a porting town and a mining town all in one Dawnstar doesn't really have much Beauty to it unless you count the endless planes of snow and like every city it's plagued with many issues like a terrible leader sub-optimal mining conditions mainly with a pathetic iron breaker mine unless with the awesome Quicksilver mine and also a nightmare issue set forth by the Daedric prince veramina while Dawnstar does have its issues it's better than some of the cities on this list and it is a good place to make a living if you want to work hard as a miner or a porter just make sure to work with the Quicksilver mine instead of the stupid iron breaker mine not the best city but also not the worst just uh Don't Go Near That Door up the coast number three Falkreath Falkreath is my favorite city that I never visit I have had characters reach level 60 and have never even set foot in Fall Creek simply because the city doesn't have a lot of quests connected to it and is very out of the way from many of the main quests and faction quests that exist in the game however while I do not visit this city often I genuinely like its atmosphere and it is a very peaceful City aside from a werewolf issue and a corrupt yarl the city doesn't have really any serious issues attached to it and it's primarily known for its Lumber and its massive graveyard Falkreath also has a lot of Rich Game to hunt so if you're a hunter at heart this region is perfect for you and here scene would approve not much to say about Falkreath even though I ranked it number three but I just like it even though I rarely visit it but still I just like it number two Whiterun similar to Winterhold but the opposite I don't think anyone is shocked that I have ranked Whiterun this High it is a very nice and vibrant City with Rich hunting grounds and plenty of farms to feed the populace aside from a minor Daedra problem in Dragon's reach the city has next to zero issues and is a very safe City to settle down in the city of Whiterun is also home to the companion so on top of the White Run guard which are already pretty badass for taking on a dragon the companions could easily protect the citizenry from any non-political attack the yarrow of Whiterun yarrow ball and ball group the greater is also a very stand-up guy and will often head to the tavern some nights to speak with his people and lastly as I have already mentioned the planes is outside of Whiterun are perfect for farming crops and also hunting game and there doesn't seem to be any major poverty and even the lower class citizens seem to be pretty well off at least better than some cities number one is Solitude I think every nation in Tamriel has its own quote-unquote Rich City and Solitude would certainly fit the bill Solitude does have its problems with necromancy public executions religious persecution and shitty landlords but when you walk through Solitude and see the beautiful architecture of the city and the numerous Lumber Mills and Farms those problems seem rather minut not only does solitude have Sawmills and Farms Galore but it is also the headquarters of the East Empire company in Skyrim which is a company that ships Goods all over not just Skyrim but Tamriel entirely so because of all of that it might be quite easy to find work in solitude additionally as much as I hate the bards college from a gameplay perspective as well as a slight lore perspective they are also a major Boon to Solitude uh and provide merry mint and joy to many citizens through its bards and music while there is a current political struggle going on for who is High King of Skyrim and subsequently which city is the capital of Skyrim I think we can all agree that its location and Majestic Beauty makes Solitude a Clear Choice as the capital so uh off Winterhold and that's all I wrote a video ranking the cities of Skyrim according to livability and beauty and also my personal opinion this was definitely a hard category to rank and I found myself changing the rankings even while editing the video at the very end but I do hope you enjoyed it I'm curious what you think of the video in the comments down below so with that all being said I hope you enjoyed and make sure to like the video like the Subscribe button and like the Bell notification down below to be updated on future videos and I will see you whenever the I decide to upload again be with you please oh hero of Skyrim I shall be ever so grateful I'm gonna sneeze I'm about to sneeze oh I have that feeling we're about to sneeze and it's I it won't let me sneeze I just want to sneeze please buy Azora let me sneeze

Channel: Master Neloth

Views: 122,829

Keywords: Skyrim, Winterhold, Markarth, Riften, Morthal, Raven Rock, Windhelm, Dawnstar, Falkreath, Whiterun, Solitude, Morrowind, Solstheim, Vvardenfell, Hjallmarch, Hjaalmarch, Hafingar, Haafingar, The pale, The Reach, The Rift, Whiterun Hold, Falkreath Hold, Ranking, Tier List, Ranks, List, Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V

Id: uWhTCKm8odU

Length: 17min 9sec (1029 seconds)

Published: Wed May 24 2023