During the combat, your dragon will follow your commands. If you have given it the attacking command, they will keep attacking the locked target with their deadly shouts and powerful bite. This progress might be very slow because your dragon will spend much time circling in the sky before it is ready to attack the target again. If the target moves too fast or finds a good hiding spot, the dragon would be unable to attack even it has reached the preconcerted attacking position. In this case, it will cancel this attack and fly again to find another position for attacking. If current target has been killed, the next potential target will be chosen and locked automatically.
While riding a dragon, you can only use certain spells, shouts and powers to assist the combat. A detailed list of spells and shouts available is provided below. The types of magic you can use are very limited and you cannot use any weapons either. However, your magic will always aim at the current target automatically on the back of a dragon. You only need to pay attention to the effective range of your spells and other factors. Keep it in mind, due to the movement of your dragon, certain spells are easy to miss the target. At the same time, the landscape will affect your magic too.
If the dragon you're riding take too much damage during the combat, it can be killed. Then you will fall to the ground. If your dragon is flying before its death, the falling damage can easily claim your life. In some cases, you cannot be too careful. If your dragon is struck with the Unrelenting Force shout, you may get knocked off, resulting in your death if you fall too far.
- Every time you load a save and tame a dragon, many spells can be equipped while riding your dragon. However, it's still impossible to cast them and the game will remind you "You cannot cast that type of spell while riding a dragon." Open the magic menu again and these spells will become unable to equip as they should be.