Skyrim’s Dark Brotherhood questline is one of the most engaging narratives in The Elder Scrolls V, and A New Order serves as your entry point into one of the game’s most iconic factions. Whether you’re starting a fresh playthrough or finally committing to the shadowy world of contract killing, this quest kicks off a chain of events that’ll fundamentally reshape your adventure. The Dark Brotherhood isn’t just another faction, it’s a complete playstyle shift with exclusive rewards, unique dialogue, and some of the most memorable moments in the entire game. If you’ve heard the whispers about this questline but haven’t taken the plunge, here’s everything you need to know to join Skyrim’s legendary assassins.
Key Takeaways
- A New Order is the entry quest to Skyrim’s Dark Brotherhood, one of the game’s most engaging narratives, triggered by finding Aventus Aretino performing the Black Sacrament ritual in Windhelm.
- Joining the Dark Brotherhood unlocks exclusive rewards including Sanctuary headquarters, unique gear like the Dark Brotherhood Shroud, infinite radiant contracts for consistent gold income, and branching narrative outcomes based on your choices.
- Stealth-based gameplay is rewarded but optional—the Dark Brotherhood accommodates multiple playstyles including sneaking, archery, magic, and environmental kills, with no single build being mandatory for success.
- Scout locations thoroughly before contracts, exploit NPC routines and patrol patterns, use poisons and spells strategically, and arrange ‘accidents’ through environmental hazards to eliminate targets without bounties.
- The questline explores the Brotherhood’s internal politics and moral complexity, with your decisions as a new recruit directly determining the faction’s fate and creating consequences that echo through the endgame.
What Is The Dark Brotherhood And Why Join?
The Dark Brotherhood’s Role In Skyrim
The Dark Brotherhood is Skyrim’s premier assassination guild, operating from the shadows to carry out contracts for coin and favor. Unlike more straightforward factions, the Brotherhood values stealth, precision, and the art of the kill. They’re organized, professional, and absolutely dedicated to their craft, there’s no “kill everyone in the room” mentality here. Each contract is a puzzle to solve, and how you approach your targets is entirely up to you.
This faction has existed across multiple Elder Scrolls games, but in Skyrim, they’re reeling from internal conflict and declining membership. That’s where you come in. The Dark Brotherhood needs capable hands, and A New Order marks the beginning of their resurgence, or their end, depending on your choices later in the questline.
Joining Benefits And Unique Rewards
Joining the Dark Brotherhood unlocks one of the richest reward pools in the game. You’ll gain access to Sanctuary, their hidden headquarters, which serves as a player home with training dummies, alchemy labs, and enchanting stations. Beyond the infrastructure, you’ll earn exclusive gear including the iconic Dark Brotherhood Shroud and Blade of Woe, a weapon with serious sentimental weight in the lore.
Contracts generate consistent gold income, especially once you’re full-fledged. More importantly, completing Dark Brotherhood quests unlocks perks and skill progression tied directly to your playstyle, whether that’s sneaking, archery, or blade work. The faction also offers unique dialogue options and narrative outcomes that branch significantly based on your decisions. If stealth-based gameplay appeals to you, this questline practically doubles your character’s potential.
How To Start The A New Order Quest
Finding Aventus Aretino
A New Order begins when you encounter a child performing the Black Sacrament, a ritual where someone has “destroyed the Dark Brotherhood.” To trigger this, you need to find Aventus Aretino in Windhelm. He’s typically in the Orphanage, or you might stumble across him before officially entering the building, depending on when you happen through the city.
Adventures can find Aventus living in the Aretino Residence in Windhelm, though he’ll move to the orphanage if Constance Michel runs him out. Talk to him, and he’ll explain his situation: he’s been isolated and mistreated, and he’s desperate enough to hire the Dark Brotherhood to kill someone. His dialogue is genuinely unsettling, which makes the whole setup work.
You don’t need to accept his contract directly. Simply overhearing the ritual or talking to Aventus flags the quest. The game’s design is clever here, you can ignore him completely and stumble into Dark Brotherhood content through other means, but A New Order specifically requires acknowledging his Black Sacrament.
Attending The Black Sacrament Ritual
Once you’re aware of Aventus’s ritual, the Dark Brotherhood takes notice. The faction’s leadership recognizes a summoning when they see one, and they decide to send someone to investigate, that someone being you, whether you realize it yet or not.
You’ll need to confront Aventus and deal with his contract. He’s hired a killer, and the Dark Brotherhood is listening. This is where the quest officially activates: the Brotherhood extends an invitation through circumstance and fate. Your response to Aventus and the contract he’s placed sets the tone for everything that follows.
Step-By-Step Walkthrough Of A New Order
Kidnapping Sloane The Knife
Once A New Order is active, Aventus’s contract target is revealed: Grelod the Kind, the matron of Honorhall Orphanage, though her name is deeply ironic, as she’s genuinely horrible. The quest directs you to kill her, but here’s where choice enters the picture.
You can approach this objective several ways. Stealth in at night when she’s alone, poison her dinner, sneak a blade between her ribs, or walk in during the day and deal with witnesses. The game doesn’t penalize creative approaches, use fire spells, arrange an “accident” with environmental hazards, or engage in direct combat. Each method has trade-offs: stealth preserves your cover, but direct kills are faster.
Once Grelod is dead, return to Aventus. He’ll provide a reward (typically gold and items) and reveal that the Dark Brotherhood themselves are impressed. That’s the hook, the Brotherhood’s leadership has noticed you, and they want to meet. This is where the real questline begins.
Dealing With The Contracts And Targets
After dealing with Grelod, a Dark Brotherhood contact will approach you. You might find them in an inn, on the road, or they’ll seek you out directly, the game’s scripting ensures you’ll encounter them. They’ll reveal that the Brotherhood’s inner circle has taken interest and invite you to Sanctuary, their hidden base.
Before you can join formally, but, the Brotherhood likes to test recruits. You’ll be given a contract to complete: eliminate Anoriath, an archer in Solitude. This is a straightforward assassination contract, though again, how you handle it matters. The Brotherhood values discretion, failing to be discreet results in consequences.
Complete the contract and return for your reward. This isn’t a one-off: it establishes a pattern. Future Dark Brotherhood quests follow similar structures: receive contract, locate target, eliminate target, report back. It’s a simple loop, but the questline’s writing and the variety of target locations keep it engaging across multiple playthroughs.
Meeting Astrid And The Dark Brotherhood Leadership
Once you’ve proven yourself, Astrid becomes your primary contact. She’s the questgiver for most Dark Brotherhood contracts and the face of the faction you’ll interact with most frequently. Astrid is calculating, professional, and deeply invested in the Brotherhood’s success, she’s not a friend, but she respects competence.
Meeting the full Dark Brotherhood leadership at Sanctuary reveals the faction’s true scope. You’ll meet Babette (a vampire), Nazir (a Redguard warrior), and others. Each has a personality and role within the organization. The Sanctuary itself is a well-designed location with multiple chambers, and it becomes your base of operations for all future Brotherhood activities.
The beauty of this questline is that while A New Order is just the prologue, it establishes everything: the faction’s values, the types of work you’ll do, and the consequences of joining. By the end of this quest, you’re not just a member, you’re an integral part of something larger.
Dark Brotherhood Skills And Perks To Prioritize
Assassination And Sneak Builds
If you’re committing to the Dark Brotherhood, tailor your character accordingly. Stealth and Pickpocket are non-negotiable skills. Stealth allows you to approach targets undetected, while Pickpocket lets you plant poisons or steal contracts from targets beforehand. Prioritize perks like Sneak (reduced detection), Backstab (extra damage when sneaking), and Assassinate (instant kill with daggers while sneaking).
Pickpocket perks like Perfect Touch (stolen items don’t count as stolen) and Light Fingers (50% better pickpocketing) dramatically improve your options. You can steal rare items from high-value targets, making contracts profitable beyond the contract reward itself.
Illusion and Alchemy are secondary skills that elevate assassination gameplay. Invisibility potions provide escape routes, while Paralysis poisons or Mayhem spells create chaos that lets you slip away undetected. Some players swear by Muffle spells (Illusion) to eliminate footstep sounds entirely, it’s a quality-of-life improvement for stealth runs.
Combat And Weapon Mastery
Not every contract requires stealth. One-Handed and Archery weapons deal devastating damage when built correctly. If you prefer frontal approaches, invest in Blade or Blunt weapon perks alongside Light Armor for mobility and survivability.
Archery is phenomenally strong in Skyrim. Crit Shot (critical hits with bows deal extra damage) synergizes with headshots, and Eagle Eye improves zoom distance. From distance, a well-placed arrow eliminates targets before they know they’re under attack. Combine archery with Poison application for massive damage spikes.
Destruction magic offers another approach. Fireball and Incinerate spells deal massive AoE damage, useful when stealth fails or you need area control. But, magic-heavy builds require substantial Magicka investment, which can feel resource-limited early on. The Sanctuary’s alchemy and enchanting facilities let you augment whatever build you choose, transmute gear for better stats, enchant weapons for elemental effects, or brew poisons that turn lethal damage into guaranteed kills.
The Dark Brotherhood doesn’t mandate a specific build. Success comes from understanding how your character’s strengths align with contract objectives and adapting accordingly.
Complete Dark Brotherhood Quest Line Overview
Quest Progression And Story Arcs
A New Order kicks off a questline that spans the entire game. After joining, you’ll undertake a series of story quests that explore the Brotherhood’s internal politics and external threats. The main questline includes chapters like With Friends Like These, Sanctuary, and Mourning Never Comes, each pushing the narrative forward and revealing deeper lore.
The overarching story involves a schism within the Brotherhood. Some members follow Mephala, the Daedric Prince of murder and secrets, while others question the faction’s direction. Your role as a new recruit makes you pivotal in resolving this conflict. Without spoiling specifics, your choices during the main questline directly determine the Brotherhood’s fate, and whether you live to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Skyrim’s Dark Brotherhood questline is renowned for its storytelling, character development, and moral complexity. It’s not straightforward “evil assassination guild” content, the writers infused genuine conflict, memorable characters, and consequences that echo through the endgame. This is why Skyrim Archives – Turbogamerrealm continues to attract players specifically seeking Dark Brotherhood guides years after release.
Contracts And Optional Dark Brotherhood Content
Beyond the main questline, the Brotherhood generates radiant contracts through Astrid and other contacts. These are infinite, repeatable assassination jobs that keep paying indefinitely. There’s no “end” to Brotherhood contract work, as long as you’re a member, contracts exist.
But, radiant contracts feel less polished than the main questline. They’re randomly generated, which means targets can be generic, locations repetitive, and objectives predictable. That said, they’re excellent for grinding gold, gaining assassination experience, and maintaining your standing within the faction.
Optional content includes side activities like becoming a Sanctuary guardian or engaging in lesser-known assassination requests. Some players pursue specific contract types (killing nobles, bandits, guards, etc.) to role-play different specializations within the Brotherhood. The flexibility here is genuinely impressive, if you want to be a righteous assassin targeting only evil targets, the game lets you do that. If you want to be an amoral killer-for-hire, that option exists too.
If you’re looking for foundational Skyrim knowledge before diving into Brotherhood content, exploring Skyrim Dungeons: Uncover Secrets, offers valuable dungeon-clearing strategies applicable to stealth-based gameplay.
Common Mistakes To Avoid During A New Order
Failing Objectives And Breaking Stealth
The biggest pitfall during A New Order is failing contract objectives through carelessness. If you’re supposed to kill a specific target quietly and you start shouting or casting visible spells, guards investigate. Get caught, and the contract becomes a bounty. Some players think “mission failed” is the only consequence, but reputation matters, guards across Skyrim will remember you’re a wanted criminal.
Breaking stealth early is recoverable if you’re prepared. Quicksave before every major action, reload if things go sideways, and always have an escape route planned. If you’re caught, run immediately. Guards can’t pursue forever, especially in wilderness areas. Once you’re out of sight for a minute or two, your bounty persists, but active pursuit ends.
Another common error: killing bystanders unnecessarily. The game tracks this. Kill an innocent during a contract, and the Brotherhood notices you’re sloppy. While one civilian casualty won’t disqualify you, repeated failures or excessive collateral damage can lock you out of future contracts or trigger consequences later in the questline.
Missing Important Dialogue And Loot
Dark Brotherhood NPCs drop unique dialogue based on your reputation and past actions. If you skip conversations with Astrid or other members, you miss character development and context that enriches the questline. These aren’t mandatory for completion, but they’re essential for understanding the faction’s motivations and the political tensions beneath the surface.
Loot is another consideration. Some targets carry valuable items or keys to hidden caches. Pickpocket during contracts to grab jewelry, gems, or potions before the kill. These items are additional profit beyond contract rewards. Overlooking loot is leaving money on the table, especially early on when every gold coin matters for gear upgrades.
Contacts sometimes provide conditional rewards for finishing objectives in specific ways. Kill silently without being detected, and you get bonus gold. Kill the target in a particular location or manner (poison, fire, environmental kill), and additional rewards unlock. Reading the contract details carefully is crucial. Skyrim’s quest journal is sometimes vague, but hovering over objectives or re-reading Astrid’s dialogue reveals nuances that completionists appreciate.
Timing is also subtle. Contracts specify locations, but not always the best windows to strike. Visiting a location at midday when targets are surrounded by guards is infinitely harder than approaching at night when they’re isolated. Observing patrol patterns, NPC routines, and guard shifts saves countless reloads.
Mastering The Dark Brotherhood: Advanced Tips And Strategies
Optimizing Your Assassination Approach
Mastery of Dark Brotherhood contracts comes from understanding target behavior and environmental design. Before attempting a kill, scout the location thoroughly. Identify guard positions, NPC routines, and escape routes. Most locations have multiple entry points, windows, back doors, unguarded passages. Use these to your advantage.
Invisibility is the stealth player’s best friend. Whether through invisibility potions, spells, or perks like Invisibility from Illusion magic, invisibility lets you walk past guards undetected, assassinate targets at point-blank range, and disappear before alarms trigger. The trick: enemies will see you if you attack while invisible (the invisibility breaks), but they won’t know where you went. Strike once, slip away, circle back once detection resets.
Facilitating “accidents” is an underutilized strategy. Lure targets near cliffs and push them off. Trigger traps or environmental hazards to eliminate them indirectly. Arrange encounters between your target and powerful enemies, letting them fight while you escape. These methods generate no bounties and count as successful contracts. The game doesn’t penalize creative problem-solving, exploit it.
Abuse the AI’s predictability. NPCs follow strict routines: they wake, eat, work, sleep. Interrupting their routine at predictable moments, alone in bedrooms at night, walking between locations with minimal witnesses, maximizes success rates. Fast-travel to a location, wait until your target’s daily schedule places them in isolation, strike, and vanish.
Using Poisons, Spells, And Environmental Kills
Poison is underrated. Craft paralysis potions using Imp Stool and Namira’s Rot (or purchase them from alchemists). Slip poisons into a target’s food or drink via pickpocketing, and they’re debilitated when the poison takes effect. A paralyzed target can’t fight back, this is the moment to finish them quietly. Some targets automatically consume food or drink during their routines, making poison near-guaranteed success.
For damage, Deathbell and River Betty Root create lethal poisons dealing massive health damage. Pair these with paralysis for compound effects. Targets die before recovering from paralysis, and bodies disappear cleanly, no witnesses, no investigations.
Spells for assassination work differently. Fury and Frenzy spells make enemies attack each other. Cast Fury on a guard in a tavern, and they start brawling with other patrons. In the chaos, slip away or perform the actual assassination unnoticed. Mayhem creates even larger scale chaos, useful when multiple targets or heavy guard presence complicates stealth.
Telekinesis spell (Alteration) is broken in the best way. Grab a target’s weapon telekinetically, yank it away, and they’re defenseless. Combine with an archer standing downrange, and targets die before they realize they’re in combat. It’s not “stealthy” in traditional sense, but the game engine doesn’t penalize it.
Environmental kills include triggering traps (spike plates, pits, pressure plates), collapsing structures, or positioning targets near hazards. If you can’t engage directly, let the environment do the work. These methods rarely trigger bounties because the game recognizes them as “accidents.”
For maximum efficiency: scout with invisibility, identify the cleanest kill method, execute, and exfiltrate. Every contract is puzzle, your job is finding the optimal solution. The Dark Brotherhood values professionalism, and there’s nothing more professional than a contract no one suspects was ever a contract. If you’re interested in broader character optimization, consulting resources like PC Gamer’s gaming guides provides general strategies applicable across Skyrim content.
Conclusion
A New Order is the threshold between admiring Skyrim’s Dark Brotherhood from afar and becoming an integral part of its shadowy operations. The quest itself is straightforward, find Aventus, deal with his contract, catch the Brotherhood’s attention, but what follows is one of gaming’s richest narratives exploring morality, loyalty, and consequence.
The Dark Brotherhood questline rewards planning, precision, and role-play immersion. Whether you’re a ghost assassin leaving no trace, a chaos agent causing maximum disruption, or something in between, the faction accommodates your playstyle. The Sanctuary becomes your home, contracts generate infinite income, and exclusive gear enhances your capabilities. Most importantly, you’re part of a faction with genuine character, conflicting motivations, and a story that respects player agency.
If stealth builds appeal to you or you simply want to experience one of Skyrim’s most compelling questlines, A New Order is absolutely worth pursuing. The journey from street urchin’s plea to legendary assassin is one Skyrim’s writers absolutely nailed, and the Dark Brotherhood’s internal politics ensure that your choices ripple through the endgame in ways few other factions achieve. Start the quest, join the Brotherhood, and discover why this faction remains a fan-favorite a decade and a half after Skyrim’s launch. For additional character building guidance, Imperious Skyrim: Transform Your Gameplay with Unique Racial Dynamics and Abilities – Turbogamerrealm offers complementary optimization strategies worth exploring alongside Dark Brotherhood content.
