To 100% Skyrim, first decide what “100%” means: earning every achievement or trophy on your platform, or completing a broader checklist of quests, add-ons, exploration, and chosen collectibles. Those goals are not interchangeable. This guide uses the second, player-defined meaning for a full-content run while treating platform achievements as a separate, bounded target. It covers Skyrim Special Edition and Anniversary Edition; check which add-ons and Creation Club content your copy includes before building your list.
What counts as 100% completion in Skyrim?
Skyrim has no single universal completion checklist that covers every platform, edition, quest, collectible, and Creation. Declare your scope before you start so “complete” has a clear meaning.
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- Achievement or trophy completion: Earn every achievement or trophy listed for your platform and game version. This is a finite target, but it does not prove that you completed every quest or found every item. Steam’s Skyrim Special Edition achievement list, for example, includes discovering 100 locations and completing 10 side quests: Steam’s Skyrim Special Edition listing.
- Expanded content completion: Finish the main story, major faction questlines, side quests, the add-ons you own, and the exploration or collectible categories you choose to track. Record exclusions too; this is your defined checklist, not an official universal 100% standard.
For a broad run, specify whether you include Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn, and Anniversary Edition Creations. Also decide how you will treat repeatable jobs and miscellaneous objectives: they can continue beyond the unique story content, so a checklist should distinguish them rather than imply there is a final finite total.
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Know which edition and content you are tracking
Bethesda describes Anniversary Edition as Skyrim Special Edition bundled with Creation Club content, including quests, dungeons, bosses, weapons, spells, and more. Its current Anniversary Edition page describes more than 500 unique Creation Club pieces: Bethesda’s Anniversary Edition page. Bethesda Support separately describes the edition as including 74 Creations and showcasing over 500 individual elements, such as quests, items, armor, and houses; that wording does not mean there are 500 quests: Bethesda Support: Anniversary Edition contents.
Before adding Creation Club content to a checklist, compare the content actually available in your edition with Bethesda’s description. Edition names, platform versions, and store listings can differ; do not assume a checklist for one copy automatically matches another.
Protect achievement eligibility before starting
If achievements or trophies matter, make that decision before enabling mods. Bethesda Support says Creation Club items bundled with Anniversary Edition do not disable achievements or trophies, while other Creations and mods do. Bethesda also says a modded save stops earning achievements; to resume, remove or disable mods and load a save from before they were installed. See Bethesda Support’s Creation Club and achievement guidance and Bethesda Support’s mod guidance. Platform behavior and future updates may affect the details, so consult the guidance for your platform.
- Choose whether your goal includes platform achievements or trophies.
- For an achievement-focused run, begin with a clean save and avoid non-bundled Creations or mods unless your platform’s current guidance confirms they are safe.
- Keep a separate backup or pre-choice save before consequential dialogue or quest decisions. This is prudent route management, not a guarantee that any specific named quest or item is missable.
Build a checklist that fits your definition
Use separate sections in a notebook or spreadsheet, and mark each entry as not started, in progress, complete, or excluded. This prevents an achievement list from being mistaken for a complete inventory of the game.
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- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Official Game Guide
- Set scope: Record platform, edition, achievement target, add-ons included, whether Anniversary Creations count, and which collectible categories you intend to finish.
- Track the main story: Keep a dedicated section for the main quest and mark it complete only when you have reached its ending.
- Track faction stories: Give each major faction questline its own progress section rather than folding all faction activity into one box.
- Log side content: Separate unique side quests from miscellaneous objectives and repeatable tasks. Decide whether repeatable work is outside your chosen definition.
- Add owned expansions and Creations: Create distinct sections for Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn, and any Anniversary content you have confirmed is included.
- Define exploration and collectibles: Choose what counts, such as locations discovered or selected collectible types. Use a platform achievement target where available, but do not treat it as a universal location or item inventory.
- Audit the result: Compare your completed platform achievements with the expanded checklist, then list any content you excluded.
This is a tracking framework, not a verified item-by-item master list. The available official sources establish edition content and achievement rules, but do not provide an exhaustive inventory of every quest, collectible, missable, or Anniversary Creation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Do achievements carry over to Anniversary Edition?
Bethesda’s November 5, 2021 FAQ says achievement and trophy progress from Skyrim Special Edition carries over to Anniversary Edition, with an exception when upgrading the PlayStation 4 version to the PlayStation 5 version. The FAQ also contains historical release and availability details; it is not a current price or stock listing. Check your platform’s current store and upgrade information before relying on transfer behavior: Bethesda’s Anniversary Edition FAQ.
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