For other uses, see Steam Centurion.
"That's a Dwarven Centurion; it's very strong, and very deadly."

Dwarven Centurions are very large mechanical guardians in Dwemer ruins. Their giant bodies, undoubtedly designed for combat, are constructed of solid Dwemer blocks and armored with thick dwarven plates. Their arms are equipped with a Dwarven Warhammer and a Dwarven Battleaxe. Their enormous body makes them move slowly, but this is balanced by the ability to take lots of damage and use very powerful attacks, making them extremely dangerous to low-level opponents.

Of all the Animunculi left behind by the ancient Dwemer, the Dwarven Centurions are the most elaborately constructed, well-armed, defensive, and arguably the most dangerous.


Battle behaviorEdit

Centurions prefer to stay within melee range, which can stagger the Dragonborn. Compared to other Dwemer automatons, they have a very high damage resistance. Like the other Dwemer automatons, they are highly resistant to magic and ranged attacks. Centurions can fire steam—which is their only ranged attack—as well as fight at melee range. The only weakness of the centurion is its lack of speed. Fire magic is useful against centurions, just as with other Dwemer automatons.

The steam attack fired by the centurion is considered a magical attack for purposes of magic resistance; a high magic resistance will significantly reduce the damage caused by the steam. A centurion's steam attack is a medium to short ranged weapon and can usually be avoided by staying out of range, but the attack can pass through doors and damage the Dragonborn on the other side.



There are three different models of Dwarven centurions.

Name Level Health-icon MagickaIcon Stamina DamageIcon Special Base ID
Dwarven Centurion 24 653 15 292 75 0010F9B9
Dwarven Centurion Guardian 30 819 15 416 100 0010E753
Dwarven Centurion Master 36 1000 15 540 112 150% damage output 00023A96

Dwarven CenturionEdit

The basic centurions. They attack with melee and steam attacks, though have relatively low health compared to the other types.

Dwarven Centurion GuardianEdit

These use powerful melee attacks, as well as spraying hot steam at their opponents.

Dwarven Centurion MasterEdit

The Centurion Master features a lot of armor, as well as the capability to do more damage to their opponents with attacks. This model also attacks with melee and steam.

The Forgemaster DGEdit

A unique boss called the Forgemaster can be found in the quest "Lost to the Ages" with the addition of Dawnguard. It is larger than normal centurions and spits fire instead of steam. It is also more resistant to fire than other centurions, but it has a weakness to frost.



  • Centurions are vulnerable to fire, but are very resistant to weapons, like the other Dwemer automatons.
  • Centurions which are encased in walls step out when a character gets too close. This can be prevented by sneaking, but only a very high Sneak skill will allow the player character to remain hidden.
  • Centurions can often be avoided, as they can't open doors or go through small doorways (for example, during the College of Winterhold quest "Revealing the Unseen" when a key is needed from a chest).
  • Centurions will sometimes not attack the Dragonborn when Falmer are nearby, or may completely ignore any nearby Falmer and focus only on the Dragonborn.
  • Centurions continue to walk normally under water (observed in Nchardak).
  • The Visage of Mzund allows the Dragonborn to use a steam attack, similar to a Centurion.
  • Arrows will do damage to the centurion even if they ping off of its front deflector chestplate.
  • An effective, if slow, way of killing a centurion is to wear light armor while firing either arrows or Destruction spells at it while sprinting away at regular intervals.
  • It is not advised to conjure Atronachs in the presence of a Centurion, as the colossus will easily dispatch most conjured enemies. Flaming familiars can prove effective against Centurions, as they explode in a large radius of fire damage when defeated and cost minimal magicka. Conjured Dremora can also prove to be a reasonable challenge for Centurions, while a single Dremora is unlikely to kill the machine, two Dremora can easily dispatch the weaker Centurions and damage Centurion Masters substantially if not kill them.
  • The steam attack on a Dwarven centurion appears to not hit when the Dragonborn is at pointblank range, making them a very good enemy with which to level Blocking or the Light Armor and Heavy Armor skills.
  •  PC   Centurions' melee attack animation is registered as shield bashing (confirmed by player.setrace dwarvencenturionrace)
  • If the player attacks a Centurion, but then runs away and hides until the sneaking "eye" is partially closed, the Centurion will periodically stop searching and rotate its upper body 360 degrees around and around.
  • The Large Decorative Dwemer Strut, Solid Dwemer Metal, and Large Dwemer Strut all come from the Dwarven Centurion; the Large Decorative Dwemer Strut is the Centurion's helm decoration, the Solid Dwemer Metal is one of its forearms, and the Large Dwemer Strut is the decorations on its shoulders. The combined weight of the recognizable parts is 109, including the Centurion Dynamo Core.
  • To utilize its steam attack, the Centurion lifts its shoulders, and the hot steam then shoots out from the area around its head. Also, the Centurion cannot turn in a different direction whilst spraying steam, meaning that the player can get out of the way and attack from another direction during this attack without reprisal.
  • Dodging a melee attack from a Centurion will almost throw it off balance, as the top half of the Centurion is much heavier than its legs, and it will be some seconds before it regains its balance.
  • Wards, including the ward cast by the Daedric artifact Spellbreaker, are ineffective against the steam attack used by centurions; even Greater Ward is shattered by the power of the steam. This means that it does greater damage than dragons' breath attacks, as those can be stopped by a Lesser Ward.


This section contains bugs related to Dwarven Centurion (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

  •  PC   360   PS3   After killing a centurion, the Dragonborn can sometimes appear to shoot steam out of their body. This can affect the detection while invisible or sneaking.
  •  360   Sometimes the metal supports holding them can't be activated while using the Become Ethereal shout.
  • Sometimes using a shield bash on a dormant centurion will cause it to remain paralyzed until it is killed.
  • Sometimes when shouting as a werewolf it stops and doesn't attack.
  • Sometimes when the gate is closed before entering Blackreach the centurion goes through it.
  •  PC   360   Centurions have been known to stand still in front of the Dragonborn or a follower, not attacking, but strafing around them.
  •  PS3   If a centurion is killed by using a sneak attack before it steps away from its frame, it cannot be looted and no longer exists as a solid entity (meaning it is possible to walk through it).



Start a Discussion Discussions about Dwarven Centurion (Skyrim)

  • Dwaven Animuncili: Robot or man?

    8 messages
    • As mentioned before, there are no black soul gems used to power them, maybe because if you would use a human or elvish soul the centurion wo...
    • I agree with you schnitzel v. A tamed skeever soul would stop it from attacking the Dwemer but then it wouldn't attack the L...
  • cheep shots

    3 messages
    • Them?
    • oh. i think i undid the link to the dwarven golem 