Dragon Attack Frequencies?

[Bad-People]

Does anybody know anything about the frequency of dragon attacks, particularly in cities? Some seem to get hit MUCH more often than others. For example, I’ve never seen a dragon attack in Morthal or Falkreath, but in Dawnstar and Winterhold they seem to show up every time I step outside.

Walled cities seem different as well, I’ve been attacked in Markarth and Solitude twice each, (twice in a row in Solitude) but NEVER in Riften, Whiterun, or Windhelm. What’s the deal?
　

 

[dunklunk]

Go see Maven. I'm sure that #%@$& is behind all this. . . .

 

[Dagmar]

It's random. I've encountered dragons at every city including Whiterun, Riften, Winterhold, Morthal and Falkreath. I've encountered them near various towns as well as simply on the roads. The reason why they are more frequently encountered at cities by many players is because players that use fast travel tend to use it most frequently to travel to cities, and there is an encounter check every time you fast travel.

 

[Bad-People]

Thing is, I don’t go to Dawnstar or Winterhold all that often, not nearly as much as say Riften or Whiterun, but it seems 4 out of ever 5 times I go there, here comes some big flyin’ lizards.

 

[Hunfar]

The only city I haven't encountered a dragon in yet is Solitude, but was attacked by one right outside of there. I have noticed dragons much more frequently now though.

 

[DdraigGwyn]

While not technically a city, the College seems to get attacked far more frequently than chance ( I imagine the residents saying " Here's Dovakhin again: grab the marshmallows".

 

[ChevyGirl]

I don't even activate the dragons until I'm well up in level and have done all the quests I want to in peace. And by that I mean I don't talk to the jarl of Whiterun after coming from Riverwood. It's alot more peaceful without dragons careening out of the sky lol.

 

[sahqonsah]

Just outside winterhold is a hotspot for me, and bleakfalls barrow

 

[Start Dale]

It's random. I've encountered dragons at every city including Whiterun, Riften, Winterhold, Morthal and Falkreath. I've encountered them near various towns as well as simply on the roads. The reason why they are more frequently encountered at cities by many players is because players that use fast travel tend to use it most frequently to travel to cities, and there is an encounter check every time you fast travel.

So thats whats happening, heh. Teach me to fast travel to cities all the time. I got hit once by two dragon inside solitude right after completing the main quest. One came at me then another one after the first was dispatched. Afterwards i just stood there for a while in the market place in shock. So that was revenge for Alduin.. Heh, Dragonrend then Wuuthred over the head a fair few times them dragon are now contemporary art instillations in Solitude.

 

[Dovahlink69]

Not that this is going to be helpful or productive,but every time I'm in Dawnstar there's a Dragon.
Literally.
EVERY.TIME.

 

[Bad-People]

I did a little experiment over the last few days. I decided to do all the non-faction quests in my queue in order and see how the dragons responded to ‘normal gameplay’ I encountered three dragons, one in Winterhold the one time I visited and two in Dawnstar out of three visits.

In all my files I’ve visited Winterhold maybe fifty thimes and have killed probably twenty dragons there, but I’ve visited Whiterun probably five-hundred times(I always buy a house there) and have not once seen a single dragon.

This ‘random’ theory is starting to border on mathematically impossible.

 

[bananban]

This ‘random’ theory is starting to border on mathematically impossible.

I agree. The dragon appearances can't be "random" because that's not actually a thing with computers.

From something I have seen (not sure where), the game says there are certain "zones" for where dragons appear and one will spawn after a certain amount of time passes in that particular area. Winterhold is a hotspot because so many people fast travel to it, triggering long periods of time to pass during the travels. I go to Winterhold maybe once every other week in game and get attacked by a dragon on almost every single visit. Other zones have lots of dragons because the dragon zones overlap and can spawn multiple dragons in close succession.

Other causes of lots of dragons in the wilderness is sometimes because you wander by a dragon roost (even if it doesn't show up on the map yet, the dragon can still find you) and get hit by a zone spawn.

Personally, I have never been attacked within a walled city, I wasn't aware it was even possible. I thought all dragon attacks had to occur outside. Although, I've had four dragons attack me within an hour of play.

 

[Oren74]

You don't want dragons in cities. I've gotten to the point where I will find an earlier save immediately if I go into a city and a dragon pops.

Seems like last couple of times I fought a dragon inside a city, something gets screwed up in the city. Had Belethor disappear permanently...key quest giver at the Bard's College disappeared, and all of the merchants outside the forge in Windhelm disappeared...all after I killed a dragon in their city.

 

[Vinz]

I really don't think the dragon attacks are random. That may have been the intention but sadly it doesn't seem like they are, at least not in my game. seem to find Winterhold and Dawnstar really inviting for some reason. Guess they like the weather there. Also, OP states that they didn't encounter a dragon in Falkreath. I got slammed by 2 dragons at once the first time I ever travelled there

 

[Dagmar]

I agree. The dragon appearances can't be "random" because that's not actually a thing with computers.

It actually is a thing with computers. It's very easy to code a random encounter engine for a program and lots of games do this.

...the game says....

The "game" says nothing of the sort. The Official Game Guide classifies Dragon attacks as one of various moving world encounters that the game engine can generate meaning it's random and that it is not linked to any location.

....In all my files I’ve visited Winterhold maybe fifty thimes and have killed probably twenty dragons there, but I’ve visited Whiterun probably five-hundred times...This ‘random’ theory is starting to border on mathematically impossible.

Claiming something is mathematically impossible is redundant. It's either possible or impossible. Your sampling doesn't indicate anything even close to impossibility regarding the random nature of Dragon encounters, especially since other players get conflicting results.

 

[Warhammer77]

If you look at the Dragon Stone in the beginning of the game it shows you where the "random attacks" will happen, now im not saying that the timing isn't random That would be why they are called roaming attacks, however the placement is not random at all. I hope this helps.

 

[Dagmar]

If you look at the Dragon Stone in the beginning of the game it shows you where the "random attacks" will happen, now im not saying that the timing isn't random That would be why they are called roaming attacks, however the placement is not random at all. I hope this helps.

The Dragonstone shows where Dragon Mounds are located not where World Interactions take place which is where random dragon encounters can occur. The Dragons buried in the Dragon Mounds are encountered after Alduin resurrects them. There are 149 spawning points for World Interaction encounters which is significantly greater than the number of Dragon Mounds in Skyrim.

 

[Nocte Aeterna]

Dragon spawning rate increases the farther you are in the main questline. I don't believe you can even encounter a dragon until Dragon Rising.

 

[Adam Warlock]

In my experience , the dragons may randomly appear in any of the above-mentioned locations but the % chance of appearance is different depending on where you are and what stage of the main quest you have completed.
I had dragon attacks inside Windhelm(once) , Whiterun(once) , Markarth(twice) , Riften(3-4 times) , and Solitude(3-4) before completing the main quest at level 81.(200+ total dragons killed)
Dragon attacks still occur elsewhere but none in the major cities since then.

As an experiment, I made a save at a point when there had been no attacks for a while and a new one was due.
Fast-traveled INTO Riften 3 times , reverting to save afterward , and no dragons appeared.
Fast-traveled to Riften`s Stables instead and dragon spawned 2 out of 3 times.
Personally convinced that dragon attacks after f-t INSIDE walled cities have a lesser chance of occuring than in places like Falkreath , Dawnstar , and the College of Winterhold.

News on the 1.9 update says dragon attack frequency after fast-travel will be reduced after completing the main quest but doesn`t say how much.

When I know a dragon attack is eminent due to peaceful passage of time and I want to visit a particular spot without the hassle , I now f-t to Falkreath first where a dragon will almost surely appear.
All the outside NPC there except the respawning Guards are long ago dead and i just hide at Lod`s empty forge and watch the guards kill the dragon before moving on to my planned destination.

 

[Chadonraz]

For me it seems that each of my characters' games has a single "hot-spot", where dragon attacks occur more frequently than anywhere else. These hot-spots have included at least Dawnstar, Falkreath (Elder and Frost dragon at the same time, once), Morthal (there are two dragon lairs nearby, so not that surprising) and Honningbrew Meadery ( ).

I thought dragons wouldn't attack walled cities until one appeared in Solitude. Since then Whiterun and Riften have had one attack each.