One thing that always bothers me when I play this game ... It just doesn't feel right to kill dragons with bow & arrow or even swords. I mean, come on, they are Dragons! I just find it quite hard to belief that such a creature can be killed by a few arrows (I would even think that they would rather just bounce off his scales like stone or at least don't go that deep in). Before release I loved the idea of having shouting duels with the dragons but the shouts - though a nice addition - are just not strong enough for this, or they have a long cooldown that would make me completly passive for that time if I just fight through shouting.

What do you think?

I use magic powers. Impact for the win. I'm an alchemist though and poisoned tipped arrows are a nice touch.

When I fight dragons I always use Storm Call (Level 3), then just pound them with either a daedric sword or daedric arrows. The fights are alright, but they're not great.

That dawnguard trailer where the dragon dived trough the ice into the water looked cool...maybe their fighting style get's updates.

I dunno, every Fantasy book I have ever read where the hero has to fight a dragon, most use swords, usually magical, but melee weapons are the choice du jour. It usually ends with the hero standing on the dragons back and plunging the weapon in the neck.

What difficulty are you playing on ? I play on master and the dragons are a pain in the ass. More so when they refuse to land and just bombard you from above.

Hrmm...if you think about dragon lore, then what else would you kill it with? To me it makes MORE sense to kill it with non-magical things. Dragons are ancient, powerful, intelligent, and massively magical creatures. As such, magic is basically like flicking a mammoth on the big toe. Repeatedly. And expecting it to fall over dead.

Meanwhile, if you want to get down to a more "realistic" dragon fight in the Skyrim world, while a few arrows might bounce off and swords might only scratch the surface, all those scraqes and scratches build up to the removal of a scale - at which point the real damage comes...and fast.

Think about all the old classics in killing dragons. It's always either the removal of a scale on the head and stabbing through, or (the more dangerous) attack on the underbelly.

Same here, the dragon was really tough but was still killable. But there are certain instances where said hero had to quest to retrieve a special weapon in order to kill the dragon.

The "Year of the Dracorage" book series in the Forgotten Realms has a crapton of dragon slaying in it, and every time it took an experienced group of dragonslayers to kill the dragons.

Honestly though, this is what dragon fights should be like in Skyrim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODFOLtRdRok&feature=relmfu

I think it makes some kind of sense. Yes, Dragons are old, and powerful. And if you have ever just stood back while one descended on a village, you will see proof of concept: The dragon racks up quite a body count before the guard takes it down, IF the guard manages at all. What you have to remember is that you are Dovakhiin. Dragonborn. You were gifted with the ability to slay dragons. Canonically, I assume this gives you an edge over dragons that most villagers and guards will never have.

Also, I think there is a kind of romantic notion there, the lone warrior facing off against a Dragon with only a sword and shield. I waited quite awhile before starting the main quest. I had deadric weaponry before I encountered my first dragon. And though the fight did not last long, I still got chills being able to live out that fantasy.