Reavers are notorious thieves encountered throughout Solstheim, like the bandits found in Skyrim. They are a common enemy in Solstheim and are very aggressive, willing to attack anyone on sight if they come too close. Reavers can be found in camps all over the island, as well as a few other locations, including Nchardak, Kagrumez, Gyldenhul Barrow, the Wreck of the Strident Squall, and a few camps that are not marked on the game map. Reavers utilize a variety of fighting types: some will attack you in melee, while others keep their distance, preferring to attack with bows and spells.
While the stronger reaver types will not appear until after you've reached the levels shown, you will continue to meet low-level versions even at high levels. Boss-level reavers will always be at the highest possible level, and in some specific locations are identified as "Reaver Lord". Unlike the bandits found in Skyrim, all reavers you meet in Solstheim are Dark Elves.
These reavers are members of the BanditNPC class and wield one-handed melee weapons and shields in battle. They carry one of the following weapons, depending on your level:
Boots: fur shoes, hide boots, leather boots, or scaled boots
Gauntlets: 50% chance of fur bracers, hide bracers, leather bracers, or scaled bracers
Shield: 20% chance of a hide shield, iron shield, or elven shield
Reavers also have a small chance to carry a random assortment of items, which include beverages, lockpicks, food, jewelry, gems, tools (a pickaxe, axe, or shovel), ingots, and a small amount of gold. Reaver Plunderers and Marauders carry more gold and may carry additional lockpicks. The reavers marked with [1] below are more likely to have these miscellaneous items, since the leveled list containing these items is listed twice in their inventories.
Archer reavers prefer to fight from a distance with a bow and arrows and have the Bandit Archer class. They wear the same armor as the melee fighters listed above, with the same exceptions for reavers marked with a [3] in the table below. These reavers are armed with a bow, a dagger, and a selection of arrows:
Reaver mages are members of the Bandit Wizard class and rely primarily on spellcasting in battle. They wear the following leveled armor:
Cuirass: fur armor
Boots: fur shoes, hide boots, leather boots, or scaled boots
Reaver and Reaver Outlaw mages carry an iron dagger, while Reaver Thug mages carry a steel dagger. Reaver Highwayman, Reaver Plunderer, and Reaver Marauder mages carry a leveled dagger (iron, steel, orcish, dwarven, or elven).
In addition to their gear, reaver mages carry a random assortment of items, including lockpicks, food, jewelry, soul gems, ingredients, books, spell tomes, a leveled Conjuration or Destructionstaff, and a small amount of gold. Reaver Plunderers and Marauders carry more gold and have a chance to carry more lockpicks than lower-level mages. On death, reaver mages can be looted for random potions of restore health, and potions of restore magicka.
Boss-level reavers have both spells and weapons at their disposal, and are members of the Bandit(DB) class. They wield one of the following one-handed weapons:
War Axe: steel war axe, enchanted iron war axe, orcish war axe, enchanted steel war axe, enchanted orcish war axe, dwarven war axe, enchanted dwarven war axe, elven war axe, enchanted elven war axe, glass war axe, enchanted glass war axe, or ebony war axe
In addition to their main weapons, reaver bosses also carry daggers: the Reaver Outlaw and Reaver Thug carry a steel dagger, the Reaver Highwayman carries an orcish dagger, and the Reaver Plunderer and Reaver Marauder both carry an elven dagger.
Boss-level reavers have a small chance to carry a random assortment of items, which include beverages, lockpicks, food, jewelry, gems, tools (a pickaxe, axe, or shovel), ingots, and a small amount of gold. Reaver bosses are more likely to have these miscellaneous items than most generic reavers, since the leveled list containing these items is listed twice in their inventories.
On death, reaver bosses can be looted for random potions, potions of restore health, and potions of restore magicka.
Unlike other reavers, Reaver Lords appear in specific locations on Solstheim. They are all based on the reaver bosses listed above, and will have level-dependent attributes, spells, perks, and equipment. All Reaver Lords are male.
While the reavers listed above are met in combat encounters, some reavers have been possessed by Miraak's influence and can be found laboring on his temple and on the shrine at the Sun Stone. They are all named "Reaver" and use the reavers listed above as templates, but are not hostile even after they have been released. Like other reavers, they will respawn if killed. They belong to the same factions as the reavers you meet in encounters, as well as the pillar builder faction.
Reaver melee fighters and archers are generally twice as likely to be male than female. In most cases, the leveled lists that spawn these reavers list each male reaver twice and each female reaver once.
According to Creation Kit data, Reavers were slated to also include Nords in their ranks at one point.
Reanimated Reavers may still use their idling dialogue when following you out of combat, rather than the usual grunts of reanimated mainland NPCs.
Reavers tend to carry doubles of certain loot (e.g., 2 Silver Rings, 2 Ales, etc.), unlike the Bandits of mainland Skyrim, which only carry one of each.