If you’ve spent any time roaming the Riften sewers or running jobs for the Thieves Guild, you’ve almost certainly heard whispers of the shadowy, Nocturnal-worshipping group that guards the guild’s deepest secrets. I still remember the first time I tried to figure out how to join the Nightingales back when I first started playing Skyrim: I wasted three hours running random side quests for Brynjolf before I realized I was missing a key prerequisite. This guide cuts through all the confusion, with tested steps I’ve used across four playthroughs to unlock the faction, get the iconic Nightingale armor, and access Nocturnal’s unique perks.
Core Prerequisites You Need to Meet Before You Can Learn How to Join the Nightingales
First off, there’s no way to skip the Thieves Guild grind to get to the Nightingales. I’ve tried every trick in the book, from console commands (if you play on PC) to sneaking into the Twilight Sepulcher early, and none of them work without triggering the right quest flags. You must complete the first 7 core Thieves Guild quests leading up to the “Hard Answers” mission to unlock the invitation to join the faction. That means you’ll need to run jobs for Brynjolf, help Mercer Frey track down Gallus’ journal, and resolve the initial conflict with Maven Black-Briar first.
You also don’t need to have a specific stealth level to join, but a sneak level of 30 or higher will make the final initiation quest far less frustrating. If you’re playing a heavy armor warrior build, I recommend picking up a few illusion spells like Muffle or Invisibility before you start the initiation, too. Common mistakes people make here? They skip the small city jobs for Delvin and Vex thinking they don’t matter, but you don’t need those to unlock the Nightingale questline. Those are only required for restoring the Thieves Guild to its former glory, not for joining the Nightingales specifically.
Step-by-Step Initiation Process for the Nightingale Faction
Once you finish the “Hard Answers” quest, Karliah will reach out to you and Brynjolf to explain the true history of the Thieves Guild and the role the Nightingales play as Nocturnal’s personal agents. The first step of initiation is traveling to the Twilight Sepulcher, the ancient temple dedicated to Nocturnal that sits in the frozen tundra west of Falkreath. Make sure you clear out your inventory of any stolen items before you head to the sepulcher – there’s a bug on some console versions of the game that can erase all stolen goods in your inventory when you trigger the initiation cutscene, and I learned that the hard way when I lost a 3,000 gold diamond I was planning to sell to Maven.
Once you arrive, you’ll walk through a series of trials that test your stealth, lockpicking, and archery skills. None of them are particularly hard, but if you rush, you can trigger traps that deal up to 75 points of damage per hit, which can one-shot lower level players. Then, you’ll take the Nightingale oath. You have three optional perks to choose from when you take the oath:
- Nightingale Strife: A power that lets you drain 100 points of health from a single enemy once per day, perfect for close combat builds that get caught out by tough foes
- Nightingale Subtlety: A power that makes all enemies ignore you for 120 seconds, ideal for stealth players that get spotted mid-heist
- Nightingale Luck: A power that boosts your lockpicking, pickpocketing, and barter skills by 25 points for 120 seconds, great for players who focus on making gold through thievery
You can only pick one, but you can unlock the other two by returning to the Twilight Sepulcher once every in-game month to swap your active power. A lot of players stress about which one to pick first, but it doesn’t matter that much in the long run, since you can swap any time you want.
Key Perks and Rewards You Get After Joining the Nightingales
Once you finish the initiation, you’ll get access to a set of rewards that make all the Thieves Guild grind worth it. The first and most famous is the Nightingale Armor set, a light armor set that boosts your sneak skill by 25%, mutes your movement completely, and gives you a 50% bonus to lockpicking speed. The armor scales with your level when you receive it, so if you wait until you’re level 40 or higher to finish the initiation, you’ll get a legendary version of the armor that’s strong enough to use for the rest of your playthrough.
You also get the Nightingale Bow, which deals 25 points of frost and shock damage to enemies, and the Skeleton Key, an unbreakable lockpick that you can use to open any lock in the game without worrying about breaking picks. You do have to return the Skeleton Key at the end of the “Darkness Returns” quest, but if you hold onto it for as long as you want before finishing that quest, you can use it for every lockpicking challenge in the game. I usually hold onto it for 10 to 15 in-game hours to unlock every chest and door I come across, then turn it in to get access to the Nocturnal’s Blessing perk, which gives you a 10% chance to automatically pick any lock you attempt for the rest of the playthrough. You also get access to Nightingale Hall, a hidden base near the Twilight Sepulcher that has free bed rest, a blacksmith forge, and storage chests that never reset, so you can store all your stolen goods there without worrying about them disappearing.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Joining the Nightingales
I’ve messed up almost every part of this questline at least once, so I can tell you exactly what not to do if you want a smooth run. Never attack any core Thieves Guild NPCs before you complete the initiation. If you even punch Brynjolf or Karliah by accident, the entire faction will turn hostile, and you won’t be able to trigger the Nightingale questline at all without reloading an earlier save.
Second, don’t rush through the Twilight Sepulcher trials. The trial with the moving floor tiles might look like a race, but if you take your time and watch for the tiles that don’t sink when you step on them, you’ll avoid falling into the pit of poison spikes below. I once tried to sprint through that trial on a level 15 character and died instantly, wasting 20 minutes of progress. Third, don’t turn in the Skeleton Key immediately unless you already have 100 lockpicking skill. The unbreakable lockpick is one of the most useful items in the entire game for leveling up your lockpicking skill fast, so hold onto it until you hit level 70 or 80 lockpicking at minimum. Finally, don’t forget to check the hidden chest in Nightingale Hall after you finish the initiation. It’s tucked behind the stone statue of Nocturnal, and it has a free set of Nightingale clothes and a handful of soul gems that a lot of players miss on their first run.
Joining the Nightingales is one of the most rewarding questlines in Skyrim, and it’s well worth the time you put into grinding the early Thieves Guild jobs. Whether you’re playing a stealth thief build or just want the iconic Nightingale armor for your collection, the steps are straightforward once you know what prerequisites you need to meet. Now that you know how to join the Nightingales, you can head back to Riften, wrap up those core Thieves Guild quests, and start your journey as one of Nocturnal’s shadowy agents. If you get stuck on any part of the initiation, just take it slow, and don’t be afraid to fall back on stealth perks or illusion spells to get through the tough parts.
