Not a list of all 75 — that's what the wikis are for. This is what changes how you play: what edition you're even counting against, the two achievements a bad choice can erase for good, and the order that dodges both traps without needing a second save.
How Many, and On Which Edition
The number depends on which release you own. The original 2011 release (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) shipped 50 achievements in the vanilla base game; Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn then added 10, 5 and 10 more as each DLC launched, so an original copy with all three installed sits at 75. Special Edition (2016, PS4/Xbox One/PC) bakes all three add-ons in from day one, so its total is 75 from the start — the same headline number, reached a different way. The 2021 Anniversary Edition upgrade to Special Edition adds no new achievements at all; its bundled Creation Club content is achievement-safe by Bethesda's own account.
| Release | Achievements | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Original (2011), base game only | 50 | Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC, no DLC installed |
| Original + Dawnguard + Hearthfire + Dragonborn | 75 | +10 / +5 / +10 as each DLC released |
| Special Edition (2016) | 75 | All three DLCs included from launch |
| Anniversary Edition (2021 upgrade) | 75 | Creation Club content adds none |
The Achievements That Can Actually Vanish
Most write-ups name exactly two truly missable achievements, and a third is missable in practice even though few roadmaps count it that way:
- Oblivion Walker needs 15 Daedric artifacts. Sources don't agree on exactly how many are choice-locked: one detailed breakdown counts 18 artifacts total, excludes the Skeleton Key from the tally, and treats Azura's Star vs The Black Star as mutually exclusive (UESP notes Ring of Hircine and Savior's Hide can both be obtained) — leaving 5 of the remaining 16 tied to a quest decision; a separate aggregated roadmap puts the missable count at 8. Both agree on the mechanism, just not the number: several Daedric quests hand you one artifact or another based on a dialogue line or who you let live, never both, so look up a quest's branches before you commit rather than after.
- Stalhrim Crafter requires learning stalhrim smithing through "A New Source of Stalhrim", which Deor Woodcutter gives in Skaal Village after "The Fate of the Skaal" — and if Deor Woodcutter or Fanari Strong-Voice die before it, you can never learn it (UESP).
- Werewolf Mastered (all 11 perks in the Werewolf tree) isn't on most "missable" lists, but community threads and DLC walkthroughs agree it can be lost outright: becoming a Vampire Lord cures your lycanthropy, Aela the Huntress will only turn you back into a Werewolf once, and burning that favor before finishing the perk tree — then becoming a Vampire Lord again — locks the achievement out for that save.
Order Matters, Even On One Save
Two more achievements are obtainable on a single save regardless of which side of a fork you pick — but only if you sequence it right:
- War Hero and Hero of Skyrim resolve on either side of the Civil War (Fort Sungard and the Battle for Solitude for Stormcloaks; Fort Greenwall and the Battle for Windhelm for Imperials — see our Civil War guide). The trap is Season Unending, the main-quest peace conference: negotiate it carelessly and you can hand your own side's required fort to the enemy at the table, before you ever get to fight for it.
- Vampire Mastered and the Werewolf Mastered achievement above are both reachable on one character, but becoming a Vampire Lord cures lycanthropy and Aela restores it only once (UESP), so plan the order of the two trees.
Neither achievement above needs a specific difficulty: Skyrim's list is confirmed difficulty-agnostic, and a single playthrough is enough to reach every achievement it has — unlike some other games' lists, nothing here demands its own dedicated run.
What Takes the Longest
No single achievement is singled out by name as the one big grind; full completion is instead estimated at 100+ hours spread across the whole list. The closest things to a dedicated long haul are the two mastery achievements above (11 perks each, earned through repeated feeding or kills in that form over many hours) and simply tracking down all the Daedric artifacts and DLC content across the base game, Dawnguard and Dragonborn in one pass.
A Clean-Up Order
- Take Daedric quests as they appear rather than saving them for later, and check a quest's branches first if it looks like it offers a choice.
- In Dawnguard, max the Werewolf perk tree before committing to a Vampire Lord playthrough.
- In Dragonborn, keep Deor Woodcutter and Fanari Strong-Voice alive so "A New Source of Stalhrim" can still teach you Stalhrim smithing (UESP).
- Go into Season Unending already knowing which fort your side needs, so the peace talks can't give it away.
- Leave the open-ended trackers — Dragon Shouts, Standing Stones, Unique Weapons, Dragon Priest Masks — for natural exploration; none of them are missable.