Skyrim Oblivion Walker: 15 Artifacts and Where the Margin Is

Short answer: there are 16 Daedric quests, and working through all 16 does not guarantee the Oblivion Walker achievement. The achievement asks you to collect 15 Daedric Artifacts, not to finish 15 quests.

One of the 16 does not count at all. The Skeleton Key, which comes out of the Thieves Guild chain, is not counted as an artifact. So only the remaining 15 quests can supply one, which is exactly the number you need. Taken one artifact per quest, that leaves no spare, and picking the wrong ending once puts the achievement out of reach. There is exactly one exception: Ill Met By Moonlight can yield two. More on that below.

Everything here was checked against UESP on 29 September 2026. The reference build is Special Edition 1.7.104.

All 16 Daedric quests

Level requirements, rewards and the right-hand column are as listed on UESP. Rows containing "or" are the ones where your choice changes the outcome.

The right-hand column reproduces UESP's "Pointer Quest and/or Shrine Location". It is not always somewhere you can start from. Pieces of the Past begins by speaking to Silus Vesuius at the museum in Dawnstar; the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon comes later. UESP states outright that A Daedra's Best Friend cannot be started at the shrine. The Twilight Sepulcher is likewise a late destination in the Thieves Guild chain, not its start.

Why 16 quests do not add up to 15 artifacts

Nocturnal's Skeleton Key does not increment the achievement. UESP records this as a bug and notes it is fixed by the Unofficial Patch, USSEP 4.3.2. Which also means that without that patch it stays uncounted.

Two things follow.

• Taking one artifact per quest, you must choose the artifact-bearing ending in all 15 of the others. The next section covers the only way to create a spare
• Equally, on an unmodded game you can skip the Thieves Guild chain entirely without affecting the achievement, since it never counted

The only spare artifact comes from Hircine

Ill Met By Moonlight is the one quest that can yield two artifacts. UESP states plainly that both the Savior's Hide and the Ring of Hircine count, and both can be obtained at the same time. That gives you a sixteenth, so one mistake elsewhere becomes survivable.

The procedure UESP gives is:

1. After joining the hunt, talk to Sinding and choose to spare him
2. Help Sinding kill every hunter, then save the game here
3. Talk to Sinding once they are all dead. This completes the quest
4. Leaving the cave makes Hircine appear and award the Ring of Hircine
5. Sinding can still be killed and skinned after the quest is over, which yields the Savior's Hide as well

The conditions attached to this are not minor.

• UESP treats it as a bug, and the Unofficial Patch (USKP) changes it so that you cannot obtain both rewards. If you run the patch, this is not available to you
• UESP says outright that it goes against the intended mission design and that the method has been reported to fail. If it does, reload the save from step 2 and vary the circumstances — inside or outside the cave, before or after leaving
• The Cursed Ring of Hircine that Sinding hands you at the start is a different item from the Ring of Hircine reward. Hircine takes the cursed ring back when you leave the cave or skin Sinding, so stash it in a container or with a follower first if you want to keep it
• Taking both means you can earn the achievement without completing one of the supposedly required quests

The endings that cost you an artifact

• A Daedra's Best Friend — one ending has you kill Barbas and keep The Rueful Axe. The Rueful Axe does not count. Return the axe, reunite Barbas with Clavicus Vile, and take the Masque of Clavicus Vile instead
• Pieces of the Past — you have to kill Silus Vesuius when Mehrunes Dagon asks. Refuse and the journal records "The Razor is forever out of my grasp"; it cannot be obtained afterwards
• Waking Nightmare — take the Skull of Corruption, or keep Erandur as a follower. Choosing the follower means no artifact
• The Taste of Death — killing Eola fails the quest. Side with Eola if you want the Ring of Namira
• The Black Star — Azura's Star and The Black Star both count, so take whichever you prefer

Quests that can be lost or locked out

• Can be failed: Discerning the Transmundane, Pieces of the Past, The House of Horrors and The Taste of Death. Killing the quest giver is the usual way it happens
• Cannot start if the giver dies first: A Daedra's Best Friend (Lod in Falkreath) and The Whispering Door
• Black Books from the Dragonborn DLC are artifacts of Hermaeus Mora, but they do not count
• Creation Club artifacts do not count either. UESP lists the Bittercup, Bow of Shadows, Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, Goldbrand, Nerveshatter, Ring of Khajiit, Scourge, Shadowrend, Staff of Sheogorath, Sword of Jyggalag and Umbra. USSEP only fixes the three from free Creation Club content: Nerveshatter, the Ring of Khajiit and the Sword of Jyggalag

Where the level requirements bite

The latest gate by a wide margin is Boethiah's Calling at level 30. Plan for it from the start if you are chasing the achievement. It also requires sacrificing one of your followers; UESP documents an alternative that keeps the follower alive, but warns that they revert to their original equipment and anything you gave them may be lost.

Discerning the Transmundane needs more care than its level suggests. Besides level 15, it is tied to Elder Knowledge in the main questline, or Scroll Scouting in Dawnguard. UESP warns that handing Septimus the Lexicon below level 15 gets you dismissed, and simply returning once you reach the level will not work — you have to wait for a courier to deliver his letter. Check your level before handing it over.

The remaining gates: Pieces of the Past and The Whispering Door at 20, A Night To Remember at 14, The Break of Dawn and The Only Cure at 12, A Daedra's Best Friend at 10, The Cursed Tribe at 9. Everything else is available from level 1.

Your journal cannot tell you how far along you are

This one catches people out. The only relevant number in General Stats is "Daedric Quests Completed" — and that number goes up even when you finish a quest without receiving the artifact.

UESP puts it this way: the game tracks the artifact count and the quest count separately, only the quest count is visible, and so it may not reliably indicate progress toward the achievement. Counting the artifacts you actually hold is the more dependable check.

Two related points. You do not have to keep the artifacts — the counter increments when you obtain one, so selling or dropping them later is harmless. And The Cursed Tribe is built differently: Volendrung is placed in front of you rather than put into your inventory.

A workable order

1. Clear the six available from level 1 first: The Black Star, Ill Met By Moonlight, The House of Horrors, The Taste of Death, The Mind of Madness and Waking Nightmare
2. Then The Cursed Tribe (9), A Daedra's Best Friend (10), The Break of Dawn and The Only Cure (12), A Night To Remember (14)
3. Fit Discerning the Transmundane (15) around your main-quest progress, and reach level 15 before handing over the Lexicon
4. Pieces of the Past and The Whispering Door (20)
5. Boethiah's Calling (30) last. Decide in advance which follower you are giving up

Sources (UESP is a community-run wiki): UESP — Skyrim: Daedric Quests for the list of 16, the level gates, the achievement conditions and what does not count; UESP — Ill Met By Moonlight for the double reward and the Unofficial Patch closing it; UESP — Pieces of the Past for the journal entry when Silus is spared; UESP — Discerning the Transmundane for the level 15 handling and the courier letter; UESP — Boethiah's Calling for the level 30 gate and the sacrifice.