I haven't had any random dragon encounters in forever. The few I did have; I got killed, reloaded, tried again, eventually gave up. What do you think? I'm 19 hours in...

@Louis0nFire said:

I haven't had any random dragon encounters in forever. The few I did have; I got killed, reloaded, tried again, eventually gave up. What do you think? I'm 19 hours in...

I think I had at least 3 or 4 by level 13, so maybe you're bugged.

Fast travel more? You have to be a few quests in before they show up. Have you tried going back and looking around? Maybe there is a limit on the amount of dragons it will spawn at once.

level 20 never saw one they start coming when you get to a point in the main quest specifically when you first fight one in that line

@Leptok: Fast travel is almost all I ever do. So I thought maybe that could've been the problem. But I don't really know. I'm gonna be so discouraged if this save is bugged and I have to start over again...

@lord_canti: I fought my first dragon already. That's the only soul I have.

I've had 3 at the mages college alone. I think I've fought a good 10 or 12 dragons but I spend most of my time just running around the world.

Have you been to see the Greybeards?

@CannonGoose: Yeah but right now I'm sitting on the 'Locate the dragon burial site' and 'Return the horn to Arngeir'.

Chill on the fast travel and just explore around. Also as dude above says, go to the Greybeards and get through the first sequence. For me that's when more dragons started popping up, and actually 30 hours in, is as far in the main story I have gotten so far.

I'm level 22, and have only fought around 3-4 dragons. I've seen 2 others, but they always flew away.

Hmm, you think maybe it's because I'm in the middle of that quest?

@Louis0nFire said:

@Leptok: Fast travel is almost all I ever do. So I thought maybe that could've been the problem. But I don't really know. I'm gonna be so discouraged if this save is bugged and I have to start over again...

Fast travel less. I only ever got attacked by random dragons when I was wandering around.

Alternatively, just go looking for them (mountains are good). I'm sure you'll find one.

If that fails, look at a map with the locations put on and go to a spot that has a gauranteed dragon. If there isn't one there, then yes, something is wrong.

Do you just fast travel between town interiors non-stop? Cause you won't be seeing any dragons if you just go between solitude and whiterun all the time, or whatever. Some towns are outside, though and if you fast travel enough you'll get attacked when you arrive.

My problem is that the dragons I encounter are bitches and just want to toy with me, they keep flying around causing a stir, but never get close enough for my sword, or even my arrows.

Do you just fast travel between town interiors non-stop? Cause you won't be seeing any dragons if you just go between solitude and whiterun all the time, or whatever. Some towns are outside, though and if you fast travel enough you'll get attacked when you arrive.

My problem is that the dragons I encounter are bitches and just want to toy with me, they keep flying around causing a stir, but never get close enough for my sword, or even my arrows.

I spend quite a lot of time fighting dragons. I actively look for dragon lairs in the world (they always have a shout) but most have just shown up and picked a fight.

@gike987: Whaaaaat? I had no idea they could spawn in "interior" settings like inside walled cities. That's crazy. Oh god, now I'll never feel safe.

You might have a bugged save. I'm level 17 and have fought 5 so far. Try looking for the dragon's speech in the open world. Some dragons hang out there. There's one near Dagon's shrine if that helps.

I'm level 26 and I've only killed 3. I've seen 2 more that flew away though.

I've lost count of how many dragons I've fought. They started showing up by the truckload after you kill the second one in the main quest line.

I hadn't encountered my second dragon either and here's what I did. I fast traveled a ways out side of Whiterun and rode in. I rode to the western watchtower where you fight the first one, and sure enough, another showed up.

@XII_Sniper: Yes I had a dragon attack me at the college of magic, it would land on top of the walls and breath down into the courtyard. So badass. (As is the dragon skeleton outside the entrance now)

I get dragons all over the place, one attacked me in the middle of Whiterun, his corpse is still in town :P

I'm level 8 on skyrim, I seen 4 dragons already.

You should explore more. There are places on the map where they hang out by a word wall. I seem to run into them while I'm trying to circle around a giant camp.

They're random as hell.
 
I only finished the first story dragon so far.
Sometimes I don't see one for hours, then get jumped by two of the bastards, and then right after another one flies over...and then they go extinct again.

Level 22 Seen 7, Killed 6. But then I undertake epic journeys to Riften and to the College pretty often.

I don't think your save is bugged. Dragons don't appear too often. If you get any Dragon Roosts on your map be sure to check them out. It's easier to find dragons on your own than have them come to you.

I've had too many dragons, one time I saw two dragons flying all near the same spot. As I snuck around that area instead, I accidentally ran into a blood dragon. Fared okay until I backed up into a horde of Spriggants.

@Louis0nFire:You should probably continue a little further in that quest line. Complete the "Locate the Dragon Burial Site" objective - I would definitely understand why Bethesda would restrict dragon spawning prior to completing this quest. Or, at the very least, restrict dragon spawning during this quest.

Oh, also, try walking around more. I don't understand why anyone would recommend fast travel as a solution to not finding dragons. Apart from the first dragon battle, I've only ever encountered a dragon randomly out in the wild.

Try going to the mage college. Dragons HATE that place. I'm now on 10 dragons slain in that town alone.

I'm only level 19 or 20 and those darn dragons attack me all the time. I was climbing up a mountain in the middle of nowhere when all of sudden I got burned to a crisp. Walking around some creepy dudes house...frozen by a dragon. I've resorted to hiding under pieces of houses to escape them. Why are there so many!

It could be a number of things but yeah, maybe get through to where you are with the gray beards and kill the second dragon. But I had encountered a few by then. Mostly ice dragons. Kinda weird.

@Louis0nFire: That is what I thought at first too and I also haven't been to see the Grey Beards yet. I also hardly ever fast travel to only to drop off gear and go back. Then at some point they just started popping up more and more while traveling. Crazy I have found 7 shouts, unlocked 5 of them, have 3 souls, remaining, blacksmith at lvl 100, lvl 35, 90 locations found and I only have been to one major city so far.....well

God I love this game.

Definitely do more exploring. I've only got three shouts, but have seven dragon souls just waiting to be spent. I've just spent a lot of time exploring and doing quests in towns. Don't get you ton of levels, but incredibly entertaining.

@XII_Sniper said:

@gike987: Whaaaaat? I had no idea they could spawn in "interior" settings like inside walled cities. That's crazy. Oh god, now I'll never feel safe.

Fighting dragons inside cities is awesome. Especially when they land in the center of town and every guard in a 30-mile radius runs up and starts wailing on them.

I haven't had any random dragon encounters in forever. The few I did have; I got killed, reloaded, tried again, eventually gave up. What do you think? I'm 19 hours in...

So the issue was that I was in the middle of that quest to find the dragon burial site. I went there, killed the dragon, and the next town I went to a dragon spawned. Thank God!

@Geo7877: No. Those two times they spawned and I kept dying were pre-level 10.

I believe dragon spawning is similiar to the oblivion gates in Oblivion, as you did the main quest you would hit a point that would spawn more. And if you just need to farm souls, any outside word wall place that is represented by a Dragon's head has a dragon waiting there, and the dragons there will respawn. So if you can find 2 or 3, you can fast travel to them, kill the dragon, go to another, go to a town, sell/buy/rest, and then pass enough time for the to respawn again. It's the easiest way to gets souls if you find yourself with a lot of words or need a lot of bones, since the dragons in the world are random, outside of the story ones.

Don't know what to tell you. I had 10 souls banked by level 20. And had multiple shouts unlocked. I also went the specific places marked on the map where they have Dragons and dragon walls. If you find those places (on the map it looks like a Dragons head) almost every time you go some sort of dragon will be there.

look for a dragon lair on the map, icon kinda looks like a dragons head. the dragon should be perched on the word wall once you get there

@Louis0nFire said:

@CannonGoose: Yeah but right now I'm sitting on the 'Locate the dragon burial site' and 'Return the horn to Arngeir'.

This is your problem. The random dragons don't appear until you visit the burial site and fight your second (story) dragon.

The dragons never stop coming. They spawn outside of towns, inside of towns. I wouldn't be surprised if one showed up in a cave at some point.

@Havox said:

@Louis0nFire said:

@CannonGoose: Yeah but right now I'm sitting on the 'Locate the dragon burial site' and 'Return the horn to Arngeir'.

This is your problem. The random dragons don't appear until you visit the burial site and fight your second (story) dragon.

Uh ... not for me. I got a random dragon before I killed the second story dragon.

I am at level 21. I have killed the first dragon in the story, I then saw a random dragon and took care of kim 2 hours later, and then another a few hours after that at around 10 hours in. I am now 28 hours in and I have only just met another random dragon, after 18 hours of silence.