This article is about the NPCs. For the class, see Bandit (class).
Bandits are aggressive NPCs. They are always hostile towards you and will attack you on sight, with the exception of Highwaymen. Bandits are regularly found in campsites, although they are also fond of inhabiting caves, as specified in Bandit Dungeons.
There are three basic bandit varieties:
- The most common variety is identified simply as Bandit and is a blunt-weapon melee fighter of the Bandit class.
- The next most common variety is the Bandit Bowman, a Bandit Archer-class NPC equipped with a bow. They are armed with a dagger, which makes their melee attacks relatively underpowered, as their class has Blunt as a major skill, rather than Blade.
- The least common bandit, the Bandit Hedge Wizard, a spell-casting bandit of the Bandit Wizard class. Hedge wizards generally only have a chance of appearing in bandit campsites, although there are nine locations in dungeons where hedge wizards appear.
In addition, there are also three specialized type of bandits:
- The Black Bow Bandits that are only found in a few locations near Leyawiin; see the Knights of the White Stallion quest for more information.
- The Bandit Ringleaders. Bandit bosses (with the Bandit Boss class), and are only found in dungeons. Eleven dungeons have a single Bandit Ringleader, typically as the final enemy you will encounter. One additional dungeon, Rockmilk Cave, contains two Black Bow Ringleaders. Despite having Alteration as a major skill, they do not possess Alteration spells.
- The Highwaymen, who are technically bandits, but behave a little differently by demanding gold rather than becoming hostile on sight. This behavior also carries over (in a limited fashion) to the more common Khajiit bandits. If you were to raise a Khajiit bandit's disposition (through Charm spells or Fortify Personality) high enough, he accosts you with the highwayman's demand of gold instead of the mundane conversations you'd otherwise get from bandits of other races.
- Unlike a highwayman, surrendering the 100 gold to the bandit will not satisfy him for long. As soon as his disposition returns to its original level, he will attack despite having accepted your gold.
- Male Khajiit bandits are not the only ones who will exhibit this behavior, as female Khajiit bandits will do the same thing. Despite the fact that there are no actual female highwaymen in the game, female Khajiit do have the voice file needed to conduct business as highwaymen under these circumstances.
All bandits, including bandit bosses, highwaymen, and dogs, are members of the Bandit Faction, all with rank "Grunt" (although the faction has a "Boss" rank, none of the bosses have been given that rank). This faction ensures that they are allied with other creatures, but also ensures that they are bitter enemies of any Marauders. Black Bow Bandits and their ringleaders are also members of the Black Bow Faction.
Bandits are also frequently accompanied by dogs, who may actually appear in place of a bandit. Most of the time when you encounter a bandit, the game only specifies that a randomly determined bandit-type enemy will appear in that location. In dungeons, such a bandit-type enemy has a 50% chance of being a melee Bandit, a 25% chance of being a Bandit Bowman, a 12.5% chance of being a Dog, and a 12.5% chance of being a nuisance animal. In bandit campsites, the chances for melee Bandits, Bandit Bowmen, and Dogs are the same, but the final possibility is a 12.5% chance of a Bandit Hedge Wizard.
The following table summarizes the various types of bandits in the game. There are three general areas where bandits are found: many campsites are occupied by bandits; various caves, mines, Ayleid ruins and forts are occupied by bandits (see Bandit Dungeons for details), and there are 50 locations on roads where bandits can appear.
| Name | Race(s) | Level | Armor (all Light) |
Weapon | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bandit | Khajiit Redguard |
-1 to -3 | Boots Cuirass Gauntlets (25%) Greaves (25%) Shield (50%) |
Blunt* | 0-3 healing potions** 1 poison (25%) 3 lockpicks (25%) pants |
| Bandit (Vilverin only) |
Dark Elf Khajiit Redguard |
-4 | Boots Cuirass Gauntlets (25%) Greaves (25%) Shield (50%) |
Blunt | Pants |
| Bandit Bowman | Dark Elf Wood Elf |
-1 to -3 | Boots Cuirass Gauntlets (25%) Greaves (25%) |
Bow* Arrows* Dagger |
0-3 healing potions** 1 poison (25%) 1-3 Lockpicks (25%) Pants |
| Bandit Carrier (Only with the Orrery plug-in) |
Imperial Nord Redguard |
+1 | Boots* Cuirass* Greaves* (75%) Helmet* (75%) Shield* (50%) Gauntlets* (25%) |
Blunt* | 0-3 healing potions** Pants Poison (50%) Lockpick (25%) Dwarven item |
| Bandit Hedge Wizard | Breton | -1 to -3 | Boots | Dagger Staff (10%) Multiple spells |
0-3 healing potions** 1 poison (50%) robes |
| Bandit Ringleader | Dark Elf Redguard |
+1 | Boots* Cuirass* Gauntlets* (25%) Greaves* (75%) Helmet* (75%) Shield* (50%) |
Blunt* | 0-3 healing potions** 1 poison (50%) 4 lockpicks (25%) pants |
| Bandit Ringleader (Vilverin only) |
Redguard | -1 | Boots* Cuirass* Gauntlets* (25%) Greaves* (75%) Helmet* (75%) Shield* (50%) |
Blunt* Blade* |
Pants |
| Black Bow Bandit | Dark Elf Wood Elf |
-1 | Cuirass Gauntlets (25%) Greaves (75%) |
Black Bow Arrows Dagger |
1 poison (Drain Health or Paralyze) Pants |
| Black Bow Ringleader (Rockmilk Cave only) |
Dark Elf Redguard |
+4 | Boots* Cuirass* Gauntlets* (25%) Greaves* (75%) Helmet* (75%) Shield* (50%) |
Blunt* Black Bow (but no arrows!) |
1 poison (Drain Health or Paralyze) Pants |
| Dead Bandit | Argonian Wood Elf |
1 | Boots Cuirass |
(none) | Pants 1 Poison (25%) |
| Dead Bandit (Vilverin only) |
Khajiit | 1 | Boots Cuirass Gauntlets Greaves |
Bow Dagger Arrows |
Pants |
* This item may possibly be enchanted; the likelihoods are as follows:
- Regular Bandit: Blunt weapon: 12.5% starting from level 3, rising to 20% at level 6 and 25% at level 9
- Bandit Bowman:
- Arrows: 4% starting from level 4, rising to 8% from level 9
- Bow: 2% starting from level 4, rising to 4% from level 9
- Bandit Carriers and Bandit Ringleaders:
- Armor: 20% starting from level 3, rising to 25% at level 6 and 30% at level 9
- Blunt weapon: 25% starting from level 3, rising to 40% at level 6 and 50% at level 9
** The average and maximum number of potions that may appear changes depending upon your level, as does the quality of the potions. Individual Restore Health potions have a 19% chance of appearing
Level: This is the NPC's level relative to your character
Inventory:
- All items without a percentage next to them are guaranteed to be present on an NPC (although some items, such as potions or poisons could be used before you get a chance to loot them).
- Items with a percentage will only appear randomly.
- The quality of armor is determined by the Armor Leveled List; for weapons and staves see the Weapons Leveled List. Only the Boots and Cuirass of Bandit Ringleaders are always the strongest possible level.
- Bandits always carry light armor.
Bandit Hedge Wizard SpellsEdit
Bandit Hedge Wizards have a large amount of magicka: they get +50 magicka from an NPC Mage birthsigns, plus their Breton bonus, giving them +100 maximum magicka. It is highly recommended that you use a silence spell or silence enchanted weapon against them to prevent the use of spell casting.
Each Hedge Wizard will know how to cast five randomly selected spells, one from each school except Mysticism. In each case, the effect is randomly determined from the following list; the strength of the spell is randomly determined based on the hedge wizard's skill level. The possible effects for each school are:
- Alteration (major): Burden on touch, Fire Shield, Frost Shield, Shield, or Shock Shield.
- Conjuration (minor): Bound Weapon (Bound Axe or Bound Dagger) or Summon (Ghost, Scamp, Skeleton, or Zombie).
- Destruction (minor): Damage Health, Drain Health, Fire Damage, Frost Damage, or Shock Damage (the damage spells may all be either on touch or on target).
- Illusion (major): Chameleon, Invisibility, or Silence on target.
- Restoration (minor): Absorb Health on touch or Restore Health.
BugsEdit
- With the Shivering Isles DLC installed, the Zealot Wizard class completely overwrites the Bandit Wizard class, turning all Bandit Hedge Wizards into a Zealot Wizard by class. This strengthens their melee attacks (as they gain Blade as a major skill) but also removes Illusion as a major skill. Due to the latter change and the NPC skill leveling mechanism, Hedge Wizards will only be able to cast up to Apprentice-level Illusion spells (starting from player level 18).
The Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch, version 1.5.9, fixes this bug.
- Bandit Wizards were supposed to gain an additional +25 magicka from a custom birthsign. However, a bug prevents abilities granted from leveled spell lists from working. ?
GalleryEdit
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Khajiit Female Bandit
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Khajiit Male Bandit
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Redguard Female Bandit
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Redguard Male Bandit
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Dark Elf Female Bandit Bowman
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Dark Elf Male Bandit Bowman
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Wood Elf Female Bandit Bowman
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Wood Elf Male Bandit Bowman
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Breton Female Bandit Hedge Wizard
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Breton Male Bandit Hedge Wizard
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Dark Elf Female Bandit Ringleader
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Dark Elf Male Bandit Ringleader
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Redguard Female Bandit Ringleader
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Redguard Male Bandit Ringleader
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Dark Elf Male Black Bow Bandit
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Nord Male Bandit Carrier (Orrery)
