I don't get it. A random dragon appears, flying 100 feet over my head blowing fire, what am I supposed to do?

I propose a rename to: The Elder Scrolls V: You Have to Play as a Marksman.

That is all.

They'll land. It's the Dragon's choice!

Even with a bow it can be pretty hard to hit the dragon when he's flying around. Best to just wait for him to land.

The scripted dragon I had to fight at the beginning of the game landed.

The random encounters may land, I guess, but not until after I'm dead for the sixth time.

Get their attention and make sure where you are standing has space for them to land. Not all dragons will aggro BTW. I've seen one who just like flying around, he looked right at me, and then he flew off towards the horizon and vanished.

Okay...

Here's what I do - when the dragon appears, just keep on the move, keep running around, avoiding the flames. Meanwhile, cast some destruction spells at it if it's close enough, or take some bow shots at it. I THINK the dragon won't land until it's taken some damage.

But eventually they DO land. The trick is keeping yourself alive until they do.

Once they land, I just pretty much conjure stuff, attack with spells, attack with swords. It'll fly away and land again, repeat... It should be dead 4th ot 5th time it lands around level 10.

EDIT: And yes, I also encountered a dragon that didn't attack. And you GOTTA make sure it has enough space to land.

some of the dragons seem to be blind. wait for them to hover and about to breathe fire at you then hit them with the dragon force push crap.

You mustn't be that far into the story if you think this.

Maybe I am just the only one smart enough to think this......but shout Dragonrend much? It forces them to the ground

Always the first thing I do too, Dragonrend em.

Not the only one to think it, just the first one to post a spoiler.

You do understand that they land, right? You attack them then. I personally hide as they fly around and heal myself magically, then when they land I attack their tail. See, you don't need to be a marksman to kill a dragon.

Yeah, I've had around three or four dragons circling above eventually just fly away from me because they wouldn't land nor could I hit them (they were flying too fast or were too far for my arrows). A bit frustrating, but I've fought enough dragons to not worry about it so much.

no im a nord and dragonrend is for cowards!!!!

Ba dum chish.

Yep, just started. mailman, any games you currently playing that maybe I could send some spoilers your way for? Idiot.

Sorry I ruined your game by posting something you find out within the first 2 hours of gameplay with an ability that is the staple of the quest line. Maybe next time you should try and figure it out for yourself before coming into the forums if you indeed just started and play the dam game. But hey I guess that's too much for you.

BTW I am playing BattleField3 how do I kill people in it? Do you get weapons or something? OOOO wait....see what I did there

as a pure melee warrior, i find dragon fights to STILL be too easy; its just a matter of dodging the flames while shouting my own YOL until the dragon is dumb enough to land, whereupon i sprint power attack him repeatedly. at level 30, i can take out a dragon before it has a chance to take off again. thats the trade-off of being a warrior; your helpless while the dragon is flying, but once it lands its the dragon who's helpless.

BAH! My orc has no ranged capabilities besides Frost Shout. He handled a frost Blood Dragon in Markarth fine. No casualties at all, not even with the guards.

You just have to kite him and get to a large, open area that he has enough room to land in. If it's too enclosed, he'll just strafe you over and over, or perch and spew flames/ice over the area.

hahaha staple of the questline? are you serious? that ability is totally worthless.

Luckily i play as a mage so i can throw spells at a flying dragon. Even then it's sometimes hard to hit them, especially if they are constantly flying around or it's being distracted by a bear or a bunch of bandits quite far away.

Read the board description.

Man I hate newbs.

Useless? That just means you haven't tried it. Every dragon fdight I use it and it makes it 100% easier. Plus the fact they made a full quest dedicated to using it and then force you to use it in another part.

The Dragon that attacks Riverwood only lands at 40% health.

I've noticed that most dragons once low on health crash an skid.

I had this experience too, a dragon appeared while I was sneaking near a fort of bandits, the dragon started to attack them, I went in to try to help but the bandits didnt want it of course they just kept attacking me, I could find nowhere to hide and attack so I could see my efforts were fruitless. In the end I said, "Stuff you barbarians, die the firey death you deserve while I watch on the hill side". After a couple of minutes of watching the dragon at work on the fort, he caught sight of me, swooped down and landed right next to me. I had my weapon sheathed and walked around him for about 30 seconds have a nervous squiz at his brilliance, he did nothing at all just kept looking at me. After our cease fire encounter he flew off, sadly he didnt finsh the bandits off he must have gone back to his lair.

Edit: Oh, a dragon fighting tip, if your companion isnt around and you do magika or have a staff of a scroll, summon an atronarch and let the dragon focus his attention on that, keep a distance and fire away with your bow but be on the ready to do a shout or get out your mellee weapon if he spots you. I found in most cases they tend to stick to a cycle of land here, fly there, so the become a little predicable after a couple of minutes making it easier to know when to attack.