Game Skyrim Forum

The dragon behavior depends somewhat on where you are in the Main Quest. That behavior of circling but not attacking sounds like early in the quest line (after "Dragon Rising"). Then there's one part of the quest line (during "Blade in the Dark") where they only are found at word walls, and don't fly at all. After that they become more aggressive, and start attacking towns.

Can't say for 100%, but YES, the dragon should be displayed as red dot if he sees you as an enemy. It is possible that he do attack people without seeing you as an enemy.

No, the ones who circle overhead and leave will never land to fight. It is possible that you miss a dragon attack if you leave unwalled cities (especially falkreath, morthal and Dawnstar) in a hurry when a dragon spawn was triggered, and in that case, yes, it′s possible that they kill NPC without you ever knowing they attacked.

Yeah, these dragons that will circle overheard and leave to the horizon are very characteristics of early levels playing the main quest. Once I had one of these appear along with one that engaged me, then he even appeared as a target in my radar for a second, but never landed and just left while the other stayed. Past the middle of the game, any dragon that sees you will attack.

I′ve had this dragon circling over outside the gates of whiterun, several guards shooting at it, I hit it with magic, it went red, I hit it with a soultrap bow that failed, it continued circling and left, red until it faded. And the only other time I managed to hit them was the one I mentioned, which it also turned red but never landed, engaged or anything, it just left. Every other time they′re too up high for anything to hit them, let alone city guards or trolls.


Like I said, randomly spawned dragons that would atack anyway will attack without you noticing it. But these are not the ones that circle and leave to nowhere at the beginning of the game.

I can′t speak for the behavior of modded games however.

She meant the dragon engaging NPCs without your radar indicating it as a red dot to show that it′s aggressive towards you.

Exactly that... I missed a word I guess...

Dragon fly's by Player character.. no red dot... goes all aggressive on NPC's and kills them... Lost 1/2 of Rorikstead that way... I think Eric decided to the "the Slayer" before his time...

I always get one of these guys after visiting the Greybeards the first time (usually lvl 10 or a little above). It's kind of cool, atmosphere-wise. I don't think you're supposed to fight them.

I suspect that the non-aggressive dragon you see is the one from Helgen. He is hostile only within specific quests. Outside of those quests you may see him from time to time as he goes about his business (related to your progress in the main quest, I think).

The only times you see him are when he is resurrecting another dragon and in the MQ when he is scripted to do so... the other dragon's that you see are different dragons' and completely depend on the level you are. I've had characters lvl 40 and had dragon's do fly by's... the one that spawns near Honey Brew is famous for that..

Areial, do you use any "Dragon Changing Mods?" As far as I can tell, a "fly-by" dragon stays a "fly-by" dragon. I have tried and tried to "lure" them with arrows, shouts, spells, or anything else at hand. They have yet (not "never") to change their disposition. Now sometimes, from far away, I'll see a Dragon circling and by the time I get there, they are attacking something, like a war camp or open town. But if a dragon just expresses its joy in flight, I have yet to see that change

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that your experience seems quite different from my own

One thing to remember... In Skyrim, "action" only happens in cells you're in or nearby. Nothing happens in Solitude when you're at the nearby Sawmill. Nothing happens in Rorikstead while you explore Fort Sungard. Dawnstar is peaceful when you're near Riften. We truly are "the catalysts of Skyrim"

I do Deadly Dragons/ ASIS... but having played on 360 for 4 years.. I do remember how dragons behaved .. and Rorikstead was on 360.... My PC didn't get the dragon's attention til after it was attacking other NPC's.

Deadly Dragon... Oh heck no.. Not a friendly in sight... sometimes I'm lucky to hear them come before they start attacking.

This is partly true. There is a http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:World_Interactions that is actually called "Dragon Fly by" (found under the "Encounters with differing outcomes" section on that page). These particular Dragons are scripted to be non-hostile. They will attack wildlife but not the player. With much persistence they can be attacked and even persuaded to land. But it is extremely hard to make them turn hostile for any length of time. Chances are, they will just take off again and resume their normal AI routine.

Oblivion and Skyrim have a function called "low level processing." Actors that have the "No low level processing" flag enabled (such as bandits, most animals, wilderness encounters, Draugr) aren't processed in the background. But some NPCs in cities, such as Gurdur, Agni, Balgruuf, etc., are processed in the background at all times. It is used sparingly in both games because, as you might expect, it is demanding on the CPU. But it does exist.

When I have been in an exposed position and a dragon has passed me by without becoming hostile, it occurs to me that I may be near a resurrection spot and that the dragon could be the one from Helgen. On the occasions that I have attempted to identify the non-hostile dragon, it is the one from Helgen. On the occasions that I haven't attempted to identify the dragon, I cannot say with certainty which dragon it was.

Good find.

Further down the wiki page...

Dragon Attack..........A dragon attacks a settlement....... Completed Dragon Rising.

Dragon vs Giant...... A dragon and a giant fighting........ Completed Dragon Rising... and in The Pale or Whiterun Hold.

Dragon vs Player..... A dragon attacks you. ...................Completed Dragon Rising.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Alduin I suppose it's possible he is flying from one to the other.. I've never seen it.. doesn't mention it in the wiki.. but that's nothing new either.

My posts are based on what I new about dragon encounters, which isn't everything, as you and others have shown me.

Not a problem so are mine... 5 year's later and I learn new thing's all the time... I don't generally resort to the Wiki.. but when in doubt..

I remember it this way.. someone else remember's it that way... wiki... Not that the Wiki is always right either, but generally it is. The top part of the post was aimed at Lady Selene, who quoted the wiki page.. not at you, I just hadn't quoted her...

If not mentioned already sometimes you see one from a lair circling it's mtn top word wall esp near the hot springs.

Thanks for those clarifications. I learned something more today