Skyrim player accidentally got two Dawnbreakers instead of one and learned from veterans that many clone this sword on purpose

Daedric artifacts in Skyrim are meant to be one of a kind. Each one comes at the end of a long quest, and owning one is supposed to make the hero special. Sometimes, though, the divine reward starts multiplying, and the chosen one ends up with a set.

That is what happened to one player. After finishing Meridia's quest in Kilkreath Ruins, they found two Dawnbreakers. One sword lay on the temple floor, and the other sat on the pedestal, right where it belongs. When the player asked whether this was intended, veterans of the game answered almost in unison:

Technically no, but it's a very common bug

The trick is simple. The sword on the pedestal in Meridia's temple is a physics object. During the fight with the necromancer Malkoran, anything that shoves objects around can hit it: the Unrelenting Force shout, a fireball, any area-of-effect spell, or even a plain fire arrow. The blade goes flying, but the quest script never notices and hands over the legitimate reward from the pedestal anyway. There is only one condition: grab the displaced copy before activating the pedestal and leaving the chamber.

The bug has outlived every re-release. Skyrim launched on November 11, 2011, and since then Bethesda has put out Special Edition, Anniversary Edition, a VR version, and Nintendo Switch ports. The duplication never went away. One player recalled that in Skyrim VR their arrow missed an enemy, knocked the sword off its stand, and they spent a while wondering where the second one came from. Only the fan-made Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch fixes it. Some players don't like such patches, though, since they also scrub out familiar exploits.

Many have long since stopped treating it as a mistake. One player admitted they get annoyed when they only receive a single blade, while another deliberately shouts at the pedestal right as the fight begins. The second Dawnbreaker usually goes into the off-hand slot. A pair of swords that set the undead on fire and make them explode looks like a perfectly legitimate vampire hunter build against a crowd of draugr. Someone even offered a lore-friendly explanation:

too many people refusing to touch the beacon, meridia had to increase the reward lol

Todd Howard promised that "it just works," and in Meridia's temple it works even better than planned.