Bethesda's Skyrim's Dragonborn protagonist they control. One of the hero's defining traits is their ability to learn Dragon Shouts, which are powerful spells the Dragonborn can call forth by speaking "words of power" that are found carved into the walls of ancient temples and decrepit dungeons.
There are 27 Dragon Shouts in Skyrim after Bethesda's three DLC bundles; each one of them has three words of power that players must find to unlock the shout's full potential. The Dragonborn first gains access to Unrelenting Force that pushes all enemies in front of them away and steadily discovers more shouts as s progress through Skyrim. Dragon Shouts all have drastically different effects that can be used offensively and defensively, but which is best?
It might be difficult to decide which shout players should spend their hard-earned Dragon Souls on with so many options. Here's a ranked list of all of Skyrim's Dragon Shouts from worst to best. The ranking is ordered based on each shout's most powerful form, i.e. when all three words of power have been discovered.
#27 - Kyne's Peace - Worst Dragon Shout In Skyrim
Kyne's Peace pacifies wild animals in the Dragonborn's vicinity, causing them to lose their desire to fight or flee. This shout is somewhat useful early in the game when players are weak and animals like bears can pose a threat, but once players can fend off animals, it becomes completely useless.
#26 - Animal Allegiance
Animal Allegiance is nearly identical to Kyne's Peace, except animals will fight on the Dragonborn's behalf instead of doing nothing. This is marginally more useful than the previous shout early in the game but quickly falls off when animals stop being a threat to players.
#25 - Clear Skies
This dragon shout momentarily clears up the weather for a minute. This might seem superfluous, but it does have some niche uses. It can display any storm-related magic ability, most notably the Meteor Storm called by the dragon Alduin early in Skyrim's campaign.
Clear Skies can also be used to dispel flammable gas traps in dungeons, like Unrelenting Force, but with a shorter cooldown. These narrow-use cases land it low on the list.
#24 - Call of Valor
Using this shout will summon Hakon One-Eye to fight alongside the Dragonborn for one minute, but players won't be able to shout again for three minutes afterward. Skyrim already allows one NPC to follow gamers as hired help, which makes this shout severely underpowered.
#23 - Call Dragon
Call Dragon will summon the dragon Odahviing to fight by the Dragonborn's side until all threats around them are eliminated. Odahviing cannot be killed and is a formidable ally, but this shout can only be used outdoors, the dragon takes a while to arrive, and players can't shout for five minutes afterward. That makes Call Dragon more of a party trick rather than a core ability.
#22 - Storm Call
The Dragonborn can call forth a thunderstorm that lasts for three minutes and randomly strikes anything within 150 feet with lightning. It's undoubtedly a sight to behold, but players' shouts are put on cooldown for 10 minutes after using it, and the Dragonborn can quickly rack up a massive bounty if they use Storm Call near a city, since civilians and guards can be struck by lighting as well.
#21 - Dismay
Dismay lets the Dragonborn scatter lower-level enemies, but it fails to make a case for itself because there's an Illusion spell that can do the same thing on higher-leveled foes.
This shout can be used to stun dragons, like Unrelenting Force and Dragonrend, but it's only better than those two if the Dragonborn has not yet mastered them.
#20 - Drain Vitality
Drain Vitality causes enemies to lose 5 points of stamina, Magicka, and Health every second for 30 seconds. Unfortunately, the shout doesn't absorb those values and give them to the Dragonborn. It only causes damage. This damage doesn't scale with players' level either, so it will simply tickle higher-level enemies during Skyrim's endgame content.
#19 - Frost Breath
This dragon shout launches a chilling blast in front of the Dragonborn to deal Frost damage and momentarily slow enemies hit by it. Still, much like Drain Vitality, its damage doesn't scale, and it becomes a weak late-game. Many foes in Skyrim, like Ice Wolves and Frost Trolls, also have an innate resistance to Frost damage, to make matters worse.
#18 - Fire Breath
The Fire Breath dragon shout launches a fireball in front of the Dragonborn that's excellent for taking out foes susceptible to fire damage, like vampires and Frost Dragons. It still suffers from the same scaling issue as Frost Breath and Drain Vitality, but it deals massive damage to certain targets.
