Why can't I use spells while riding dragons?

I got the Dragonborn dlc and I can mount dragons and all, but I can't use my destruction spells (lightning bolt, sparks, flames or anything) while riding a dragon. How can I use spells while riding a dragon?


You are able to use your spells and shouts while riding a dragon, but only once you've ordered the dragon to start attacking a target. Once you're airborne, your dragon can scan for nearby enemies (the Help menu should give you the keys for your particular platform, I think it's triangle to lock on, L3 to attack).

Once your dragon has engaged an enemy, you should be able to use your shouts and spells to assist.


I'm on PS3 and I had the same problem. It seems Dawnguard causes this bug. Only solution I found was moving Dawnguard to the top of the load order, but being on PS3, I can't just click and drag. I've spent several hours deleting and redownloading the DLC in different orders to make Dawnguard at the top, and I've discovered that the way to do it is:

  1. Delete your game data
  2. Download Dawnguard first to put it on top
  3. Then download the rest of the DLC

It should work fine then. It did for me!