I saw one outside Whiterun but it flew away, should I just reload and try to make it land? It headed towards the mountains (I was near Battle-born Farm) after circling around me twice and I wouldn't like it to go and kill NPCs. What generally happens when they fly away?

I wouldn't worry about it, there are more than enough dragons out there to fill your needs. No need to worry about the one that got away, you've got bigger fish dragons to fry.

Remember. Not all the Dragons serve Alduin anymore.

I haven't gotten that far in the game. I'm rather curious, because during my first encounter it did land however as I was about to kill it I got killed (I didn't use enough health potions). So next time I reloaded and travelled there again it respawned but this time it didn't land. So that's why I assumed it was hostile.

It is perfectly fine to let them fly away. It may have just not detected you the second time, or it may be one of the dragons at one of the word walls taking a fly around its mountain. head up north into the mountains im sure you will find it.

oh no you let 1 fly away!? they fly to the nearest village and kill everyone! ha na its ok, some dragons dont attack or land

If you let them fly away, I am pretty sure that in most cases they will just despawn when out of sight, so nothing actually happens.

Sometimes, you'll have no choice. I'll often see a dragon, and before I can get a shot off, it flies past a mountain, where I can't get to it. If I try to follow, it's long gone.

Unless you see a dragon attacking anything, you shouldn't have to worry about it burning some village to the ground. They only seem to do damage when the Dragonborn is close enough to watch. If you're really worried about it, then just check the particular un-walled village and reload if anyone you like is dead, or move on.

I noticed at level 8 there is one that appears but just flies in circles above you but when you hit level 10 they start attacking you.

Some dragons attack immediately, others just seem to circle and fly away. There really isn't any way to fight the passive ones unless you have the dragonrend shout or really really good aim with the bow or ranged magic.

I encountered a dragon at labrynthian that was a fly by dragon but suddenly turned and attacked a frost troll as if the troll shouted a yo mama thu'um. I ran to it and it wasnt even concerned with me even though im lvl 70, i had to shout dragonrend to piss it off and get it to fight me..need those delicious dragon souls

You can still use Dragonrend on Dragons that just fly around and never do anything, it'll force them to land and they'll become hostile. Could always get a good bow or magic shot off for the same effect.

Personally I love chasing them and trying to do the latter. Sprinting over the tundra of whiterun and landing a crit on a dragon circling miles above you is quite rewarding.

I've let them fly off plenty of times. No biggie.

During my game last night, I was headed north out of Whiterun off to Winterhold, and saw a dragon buzzing around, so I ran to where it was, in case it was attacking someone. Nah, it was just flying lazy circles and swooping down now and then. Watched it for a while, then decided it wasn't going to cause trouble, so I resumed my trip. Well, no sooner had I turned to trudge north than I got this blast of fire from behind. Crafty dragon, waited til I wasn't watching, almost like an aerial sneak attack by something too big to miss.

try and see what kind of dragon it is then pelt it with spells if you can get close enougth then use an enchanted two haded weapon le an axe ore large sored bith doa fair bit of damage to dragins if you can get by the wing so that he cat bite you you can take him out witha few well placed hits

some dragons just circle around you and then fly off, so it′s nothing to worry about

...


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Had something of the same thing just the other day out on the tundra between Whiterun and Rorikstead. I know there are several dragon lairs up in the mountains between there and Morthal, so if I see a dragon off in the distance circling over the peaks I'll watch and if it doesn't alter its pattern after a couple minutes I just move on.

So I leave Whiterun and head west and get about halfway across the tundra, hear a roar, look up, yep there's a dragon circling a mountain up to the northwest of me. It's just circling, circling, so I shrug and move on, keep looking up every time I hear another roar but it's still just circling. After a while I just stop watching it because I don't plan on going up in the mountains or messing with any lairs as I have other pressing business to attend to. I'm not going to be getting close enough to it to have to worry about anything, right?

Lots of mammoths out on the tundra that day, so I'm keeping an eye out for them and listening for the thud of big heavy feet to make sure I don't accidentally get near enough to one to cause any problems with them or any giants that might also be around. Had just skirted around a couple mammoths who appeared to be unescorted by any giants and thought I'd gotten well out of their path when I passed one of the little rivulets and had a mudcrab pop up. Shot it and was standing there getting ready to loot some chitin for my alchemy when I hear a big THUD behind me and hear the distinct sound of my follower unsheathing his weapon. Oh no, I think, I must've run right into the path of another mammoth and he's not happy and now we're in for a fight.

I turn around and... OH HELLO MR. DRAGON I was not expecting to see you there holy crap where's my potion bag.

I'm not even sure if it was the same dragon I'd seen circling, but there was no dragon up circling the mountains any more after I killed that one. And it's the second time I've had one land right behind me and I hear the thud and turn around and he's just sitting there waiting, and he doesn't attack me from behind. It's like he just enjoys the element of surprise too much and wants to see the look on my face when I finally turn around.

Thats kind of what I was thinking.

it will just burn down a few farms and villages no big deal

There's no limit to the amount of dragons and they probably won't do anything.

You ok, bro?

As has been said, dragons spawn as either hostile or non-hostile. The non-hostile dragons just fly around and look scary. They won't attack anybody and nobody will attack them. In fact, if you attack a non-hostile dragon, it will be recorded as an assault in your stats sheet.

Same thing happened to me, except, miracle of miracles, my (usually poorly aimed) Fus Ro Dah got its attention while it was making a particularly low dip in its flight pattern. Then Brelyna started shooting it with a Staff of Chain Lightning, so it stayed aggressive, yet kept circling and circling- as trolls came out of their midday naps to stamp their feet and roar in challenge. Brelyna and I had to trek halfway down the slopes in order to lure the dragon to land, while fighting two trolls on the way. Ultimately, the dragon landed to fight a third troll, and I cleaned up. Overall, the battle lasted a good 20 minutes. It was fun.

Normally, I wouldn't make so much effort to get a dragon's attention, but this character has more shouts than souls, so I've been needing to harvest.

Guards will still try to attack the non hostile one. They're never any good at it though, they just get their bows out and run around for a bit.