SkyrimProvement: Pit Fighter Faction Mod

I travel to Whiterun for the Companions, Winterhold for the Mages, and Riften for the Thieves. Skyrim is loaded with things to do, but like all Elder Scrolls games, it's still largely defined by its factions. Oddly enough, it's the one area where mods have come up short... until now. Introducing Faction: Pit Fighter, a mod by Thirteenoranges that adds a new organization to Skyrim while bringing back the glory of Oblivion's arena.

Re-Open the Arena

In the Grey Quarter of Windhelm, you can find a group of battle-hardened gladiators, the remnants of the Paladins. The Paladins were once champions of Windhelm's arena, but since it was closed, the team has turned to underground pit fights to earn coin and renown. If you want in, you'll have to step into the ring and prove yourself against the most fierce and dangerous opponents Skyrim can throw at a warrior.


More than just a series of arena fights, Faction: Pit Fighter features an impressive level of depth and breadth of content. What's been attempted is a fully realized faction, complete with lore and characters, that allows you to add another title to your already bristling stream of honorifics.

A good example of the care that's been put into this mod is in the Paladins' old trophy room. When you start, it's being used as storage for everything the fighters don't have space to display. Cobwebs abound, and the walls are bare and dirty. As your wins mount, though, the room starts to get cleared out, trophies from your victories put on display, and the walls covered in paintings depicting your greatest triumphs. Nice touch.

Get to Know the Gang

There are 10 or so characters in the Pit Fighter's faction, and all of them are voiced to a professional standard. Although there's a slight tendency to repeat lines as you go from one fight to the next, when it matters, there's nuance in the delivery, especially in Gerich, the fight master. He'll give you a little pep talk before each fight, warning you of your opponent's strengths and giving you a short chance to prepare.


Beyond the actual fights, there are short side quests you can undertake for the members of the guild, fetching items, or dealing with problems for them. They're enjoyable enough, but basic Skyrim fare, and nothing above anything Bethesda achieved. Still, it all blends seamlessly with the core game, and for a modder to stand shoulder to shoulder with a professional studio, even in just a small section of Skyrim, is an achievement in itself.

A New Destination

Most impressive are the champion fights, which punctuate the standard pit fighting battles with a more dramatic flare. Not only are they tougher bouts, they also net you new weapons as a reward. These won't replace any end-game weapons you might have accrued, but most are custom-made models created specifically for the mod, and that makes them special enough.


Fundamentally, the Pit Fighters can easily stand with the rest of Skyrim's factions without seeming like the runt of the litter, and that is a mightily impressive thing for a mod to achieve. Thirteenoranges has been putting out consistently high quality mods for Skyrim, and this one is no exception.

When I play Skyrim now, I travel to Windhelm for the Pit Fighters.

Download Faction: Pit Fighters