Bugs (Oblivion)

No game is perfect and Oblivion is certainly not without its bugs.
 * First, be sure to install the latest patch (currently v1.2). You can get more information at our patches page.
 * Important Note: Many of these bugs, glitches, and exploits have been fixed as of the patch v1.2.
 * Ensure that a bug is widespread among other users (and not just a problem with your system setup), or has been confirmed as a real bug.
 * Feel free to discuss any problems, glitches, or bugs in the talk page. This page is continuously undergoing cleanup to remove non-bugs or individual gaming issues.

Using the console

 * For more information on using the console and its commands, see Console commands.

For PC users, some of the bugs on this page can be circumvented using the console, specifically the bugs where Item X is needed but doesn't show up. To open the console, simply press the tilde key (~), which is the key to the left of the '1' key and below the 'Esc' key. Some have stated that the at (@) key (the '2' key) can also open the console.

Disk read errors
These seem to occur on the Xbox 360 version from time to time even with a clean, unscratched copy of the game. This bug may very well have to do with the console itself rather than the disk, but is notable, as it occurs on many consoles.

Solution Save fairly often (should be done anyway in case you die). It helps that the game itself (if set to) auto-saves frequently. If this happens, restart the game, and it should play fine. If it continues, the problem seems to go away if you remove and reinsert the disk.

Seemingly endless "enemy nearby" or "guards pursuing you" messages
If when you try to wait, you get either of the aforementioned messages, commit a crime and pay the fine (a petty crime, obviously) and you should be able to wait and fast travel again, or you could just use save/load. Use the console ~, and type "swdp" (without ""). This should list a group of people currently detecting you. Whoever isn't physically present (i.e Imperial Watch), is who you want to find, and talk to. Often they will run up to you, as if to confront you, but the result will be the same as if you started a conversation. For this reason, if you commit a crime in, say Imperial City, its often a good idea to get rid of the bounty while still there, and talk to a guard afterwards. To test if you still have the issue, try to wait. Usually this fix works. See this thread for more details, including how to extract from the proprietory Installshield .cab files: here.

On the PS3 Version if you jump off a high enough rock, or jump of a house (for example) press select to try and bring up the wait menu. It will say 'Unable to Wait While Falling or Unable to Wait While In the Air' Then when you land it will get rid of the bug and you can now wait or quick travel (unless there truly is an enemy nearby or guards pursuing you!!)

Mages Guild - Cheydinhal Recommendation
This has been found on several forums for both PC and Xbox 360 versions.

If this quest is not completed within three game days of starting the quest, the item you're looking for will disappear (as part of the normal body removal routine, I suppose) from the place where you are supposed to search, and therefore makes the Mages Guild quest impossible to complete!

Another bug which has been confirmed happens when you take the ring of burden off Vidkuns body and drop it before the journal update appears. This results in the quest not being able to be finished. The only way to fix this is to reload from a previous save game.

Solution: You can use the cheat player.additem 0002E5AC 1 to fix this (it gives you the ring - then just walk into the building and talk to Deetsan).

Mages Guild - Arcane University - A Mage's Staff
By falling off the island (near the staff) instead of fighting the necromancers, you will be forced to return to Wellspring Cave again to regain access to the island. When you return the necromancers will be gone and you will be unable to finish the quest. More information on the discussion page for this quest.

Solution: Either re-load a previous save or use "setstage 000e4e14 30" in the console.

Main Quest Line - Mages Guild Suspension
If you have been accepted to the Arcane University and then suspended from the Mages guild, you will not be able to complete the quest to speak to the librarian in the guild for the main quest until you have been re-accepted into the guild.

Thieves Guild - May the Best Thief Win
On the PC version there is a bug in this quest. Methredhel gets to the diary almost immediately, and although the map indicates that the book is in her chest in her house, it does not appear in the chest when it is opened. It is not possible to pickpocket Methredhel for it since she is not carrying it. Even after 30 days Methredhel never takes the diary to Armand, and the secondary method of entering the Guild is never triggered. It is therefore impossible to join the Thieves Guild should this bug happen. An interesting version of this bug is when Methredhel doesn't get the diary immediatly. This could happen if she gets interupted by another NPC, or when she get's stuck on a "glitch spot" - a spot where NPC are stuck and can't move. My Wood elf got the diary this way, much to my suprise (Methredhel was busy talking to a guard). Another solution is to have an amazingly high Athletics score, and as long as you know where you're going, you can beat Methredhel there. It doesn't actually matter if she beats you there or not. Methredhel is always in sneak mode in the house, so all you have to do is run to the desk that the diary is in and take it (no sneaking needed).

Solutions:

Use the cheat player.additem 000355ED or use movetoqt 1 to get the diary and give it to Armand to complete the quest and join the guild.

Or do what I did and learn an invisibility spell, like Deathly Visage from the Dark Brotherhood. If you go invisible as soon as you enter the door, you can sprint past her and get to the book before she can. I've completed the quest this way with all my characters.

Another way to complete this that has always worked for me is-- Talk to the beggar and get the location, then fast-travel there. Run full-tilt for the door, she will likely beat you there. Go in after her (having the Tower Stone active on you helps open the door) and she is still in sneak mode, in an empty floor of the house... Just unsneak and dash past her to the desk, where the diary is. She never breaks sneak, the house owner is never downstairs to see you un-sneaking, and Methredhel doesn't care if you are visible to her when you get it. The invisibility is not required.

The easiest way I've found to do this, is to pickpocket Methredhel or her "partner" before getting the quest. Steal the house key, start the quest, let her take the book, then just go back to her place and voila!

Note: If you have skill at lockpicking, a spell to open locks, or The Tower Key power, gotten by being born under the Tower sign, then you can easily ulock the door, and she seemed not to report me, when she SAW me stealing the book.

Another way is to attack her. She is a quest character and therefore cannot die. When she overtakes you, attack her and take the diary.

Another solution is to simply wait at night, and then pick Methredhel's house door and sneak past her to the cupboard. The book is in there.

Copying Daggers and Staves
This glitch requires you having the Staff of Worms acquired from Mannimarco, and the Skull of Corruption from the daedric Vaermina. To start this glitch off you need to kill someone or find someone that is already dead. Once you have found a dead body. Put the weapon you want to copy on the dead person's body that isn't the Staff of Worms or the Skull of Corruption. After that use the Staff of Worms and reanimate the dead person. Once they are up off the ground shoot the Skull of Corruption at the person you reanimated. When the clone appears of that person you will notice that they have the weapon that you want to copy. Once the clone gets the weapon out like they are going to attack something kill them before the original reanimated person dies. The weapon you want to clone should be on the floor somewhere after you kill the clone. Collect the cloned weapon off the floor and then go to the dead body you cloned search their body and take the weapon you cloned. After all of this is done you should have a duplicate of the weapon you wanted to duplicate.

To duplicate the Staff of Worms, find a dead body, then remove any weapon it may have. Stand close so you can still "open" the corpse. Begin to shoot the body with the Staff, but quickly (before the animation completes and the bolt fires) open the corpse and place the staff in it. The bolt will still fire, resurrecting it; proceed to clone and kill/disarm the clone.

Crash on exit leading to crash on running/loading
Some players find that Oblivion crashes sometimes on exit. They also find that Oblivion will crash on startup after one of these crashes. While we don't know the cause of the crash on exit, a cause of the crash on startup has been found.

Solution:

Apparently corrupts the Oblivion - meshes.bsa file when it crashes on exit, and this causes it to crash on startup. To fix the problem, replace the current meshes.bsa with an original copy from the DVD by copying it out of the Installshield .cab files on the DVD, or by reinstalling the game.

Stretching People
When people/creatures are killed, sometimes their body turns to 'jelly' and they ball up on the floor. When this happens, it continually happens to that creature until the game is reset. This can be quite fun as now you can strech the body as long as you want and it just keeps stretching. This might also happen when you shoot them with a paralyze spell.

Shifting Staves
When a staff is placed somewhere by a player it will shift a foot or two towards the direction the head of the staff is facing. This happens when a player reloads into the area after saving in another area. (Has been fixed in patched versions)

Paintbrushes
A miscellaneous item that can be found in many areas in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. While seeming ordinary, Paintbrushes are not under the effects of the physics engine in Oblivion; that is, you can drop one from your inventory and it will float in the air in front of you. This is very useful for creating a "bridge" of paintbrushes to reach areas more easily. Unless you hate cheating, it's a good idea to carry several paintbrushes, and pick up any you might find.

Paintbrushes can usually be found in many chests, barrels, and sacks in cities, which prove to be the easiest places to find them.

This also seems to work with bricks and bones.

Note: On the PS3 version if you have the Shivering Isles Expansion the Paintbrushes will be added under the effects of the physics engine.

Jumping the Bruma wall
On the southeast wall of Bruma there are several houses that allow you to jump onto the wall with high enough skill. While there are multiple areas that allow you to jump onto the wall, there is no invisible wall guarding the southeast wall, allowing you to jump over.

With high enough Agility, Athletics, and Acrobatics, you can jump from the ledge around the chapel onto J'Ghasta's House, and then jumping to Helvius Cecia's House. After doing so, stand on top of the roof as high as possible and jump onto the ledge on the wall. Simply jump over the wall in order to enter an unbound map with no detail. If you cannot reach the top of the roof, try quickly running downwards for a step or two and then switching directions and running back up (as long as you continue running you can walk up a roof without problem).

You may un-glitch yourself by entering the main gate of Bruma (which will be to The Jerall Mountains) or by using map-travel.

This is actually a brilliant way to find map locations without having to worry about enemies. You can go all over Cyrodiil with everything unloaded and you can find any map location. The only danger is that you cannot see the ground you are walking on, only the grass (every so often) so you have no idea if you are going to drop off a mountain. you can also train your acrobatics skill while doing this (almost necessary actually) jumping instead of walking. Remember to save often.

If you travel to the edge of the map you will fall for a short period of time and then instantaneously die.

Note: This is possible to do on every major city in Cyrodiil. There is even a way to exit Crucible this way.

Bodyless Horseman
When riding a horse switch to the third person view and look at your shadow to see a man riding a horse, then switch back to first person and watch as a horsie is riding solo.

Permanent Enchantment

what you need to do is, have 2 scrollsand select it twice, then drop and enchanted item. 2 of the item will drop so pick up the copy. equip one and then repeat the process on the unequiped item and they willboth drop, but the enchantment will remain on you

Infinite Money – Dorian Glitch

 * Note: This bug may not always work. This bug works even with the latest patch (v1.2.0416) release. * Does not work with xbox 360's latest patch.

This bug reportedly works for both the PC and Xbox 360 version. In order to achieve infinite money, murder Dorian located in Imperial City Talos Plaza District. Loot him, and take his money. Instead of being removed from his inventory, the money remains and can be taken as long for as you want. After you're tired, save, then when the guards come pay the fine. You should still have the money, minus the fine, in your inventory. You can also simply use a paralyze spell on him and pickpocket the money without having to kill him.

If you cannot kill Dorian before he runs out the door, then either come back when you can, use the difficulty slider, or use a spell to paralyze him. You could also use the Yield exploit to drain a lot of health before he actually starts to run away.

Note: This bug is somewhat inconsistent. Often times Dorian will only have 10 gold on him (or another very low amount) This happens because you have just recently begun the game. If you have played the game for at least 30 days or so then he will have somewhere near 200 gold or higher. for some reason, the NPC's seem to gain money the more days you have played the game. In this scenario you will not be able to grab infinite money. Use the sneak ability to pickpocket him and it should show how much money he has (you don't want to actually take his gold at this point). If he does not have a reasonable amount, specifically at least 35 gold, use the speechcraft (disposition) system and bribe him. This will put money in his pocket and make the glitch viable. If you keep using the Yield exploit, you'll be draining his disposition, making it possible to keep bribing him over and over - we managed to shove over 2000g into him before he ran out of health - that's 2000g every single time you try to grab the money!

His body should stay there for several game days (allowing you to continue stealing infinite money from his corpse), however the game seems to do garbage collection on dead bodies.

Be warned: If you hit the "Take All" command when looting his body after the glitch has been activated your system will freeze.

Example movie: see here

Notes:
 * With the new patch, you can simply paralyze him to accomplish the goal (360, PS3). Doing it this way will count as pickpocketing everytime you do it as there was technically a witness, and raise your bounty every time as a result. So I suggest using this only if your in the thieves guild and/or are the Grey Fox.

Infinite Money – Vampire Cure Reward Glitch

 * Note: This bug may not always work. The effectiveness has not been checked since the latest patch (v1.2.0416) has been released.

After completing the Vampire Cure quest and getting the potion to the count's wife, come back the next day and ask him for a reward. He'll give you level dependent gold(A level 20 should get about 3000). You can keep asking and clicking 'reward' and he'll give you the reward each time. If you are over level 30, the cash reward will be 10,000 septims.

This glitch assumes that you can give the woman bloodgrass. Many forums are talking about this bug. She might not recognize that your inventory has bloodgrass, therefore making you unable to complete the Vampire Cure quest (If you have the PS3 version, you can bypass this glitch by changing the Ps3's system language to German, as this will change the in-game language). Think twice about becoming a vampire unless you have the The Vile Lair official plug-in.

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Infinite Money – Female Orc in Kvatch

 * Note: This bug may not always work. The effectiveness has not been checked since the latest patch (v1.2.0416) has been released. *Does not work with xbox 360's latest patch.

There is an exploit if you can find a person that will buy items that is outside a city while on a horse. The best NPC is an orc woman who buys and sells weapons in the camp just outside the main gate to Kvatch. Obtain a very high-valued weapon and equip it, go to the camp and while on your horse with the weapon equipped, sell this item to her and you will receive the gold for the weapon, however as you are on your horse the game will not allow you to unequip weapons. The result is that you sell the item however it will not leave your inventory so you can sell it again and again until you have the amount of gold you feel happy with. The upside to this exploit is that it is faster than above and you can raise your mercantile skills as you are trading to receive the gold.

Notes:
 * This will only net you 200g per sale, as she only has 200g on her (unless you are an expert or master of mercantile, which will allow you to add up to 1,000 gold to her inventory permanently).
 * A video of the glitch being used on PC.
 * This bug does not work on the playstation 3 version.

Permanent Bound Items
For this, you may need a Disintegrate armor/weapon spell or just somewhere to wear down your bound armor/weapon and some repair hammers depending on how good at armorer you are. First of all, summon your bound armor/weapon, then use your Disintegrate Armor/Weapon spell or damage it in some way so that when you return to the inventory its rating is not 100. Then use your repair hammers to repair it WITHOUT unequipping it, it should let you drop them. Now your bound armor/weapon should be on the floor in front of you. All you have to do now is wait. Once the spell has worn off you'll see the familiar yellow mist around you as your weapon/armor supposedly evaporates but it won't disappear off the floor. Pick it up again and you now have weightless bound item!

Cloning Items
At one point, duping was easy. There used to be four or five ways to do so, but all of them involving arrows have been patched. Even still, we've found new ways to cheat the game.

You need two or more of any one kind of scroll, e.g. flare, whatever. Just equip that particular scroll and drop any other single item. The key is that you must be dropping more items than you have: Two scrolls will drop two items. If you have three of the item you are trying to drop with two scrolls, nothing will be duplicated, you will just drop two items. Also, you cannot duplicate damaged equipment. The equipment being duplicated must be in perfect quality. It must be only at 100 condition.

Be careful when duplicating large numbers of items, as it can lag excessively. It is a good idea to pick up previously cloned objects before making more. Using stacks rather than singular items reduces the lag (if you're duping an item with 100 scrolls, 100 objects will be rendered and calculated on the screen, if you use a stack of 5, it only needs to render 20 objects).

No character-specific items, quest items, or rewards will duplicate: the game includes only a certain number of these, period. This includes Nirnroot, Buma's armor, the Staff of Worms, and all other quest-related items or character-specific items: anything carried by one specific NPC and one only (Buma, Mainnimarco, anyone with a real name). Also, most items the player must create will not dupe: Black Soul Gems, player-enchanted armor, etc. (Enchanted armor found on enemies will dupe, so long as the item is common.) A few common items may not be duplicated:
 * Boar Meat
 * Glass War Axe
 * Daedric items - Confirmed

Alternate Cloning Methods
Dawnfang/Duskfang

One interesting bit about the fangs is that if your mounted at the time that the swords do their switch (6:00 A.M./P.M.) and you have it equipped, you still retain the original fang but you also get the other fang (i.e. You're mounted at dusk with Dawnfang, you still have Dawnfang but Duskfang is still added to your inventory - this glitch only allows you to obtain an indefinite amount of swords)

Has been confirmed for PS3 and Xbox360.

It is Important to note that the latest Patch for PS3 has eliminated this Glitch. It has not been fixed on the latest Patch for Xbox360.

The ones that were here have been Patched! (Please do not delete things even though they may have been patched66.32.69.129penguinbrawler)

Permanent Enchantment Glitch
This is an interesting way to send your attributes skyrocketing, if you have the time. You will need:


 * Sigil Stones or Soul Gem with a level of Grand
 * Two of the Same Scroll
 * Optional: Already Enchanted Item


 * 1) Use either a Sigil Stone or Grand Soul Gem to make an item at the altar of Enchanting
 * 2) Enchant an easy item (For Example:A Copper Ring) with the desired effect (only works with rings, on the PC at least).
 * 3) After making the item of choice, duplicate the item. Remember, only use two scrolls to duplicate it with.
 * 4) Retrieve the items, and then equip one.
 * 5) Duplicate the item that you are not wearing, that one plus the one you are wearing should be dropped.
 * 6) You will notice that if you attempt to put back on the dropped items, you will not be allowed to and will get some sort of message. Congrats, you now have the effect of the item permanently bound to you. Be warned though, all effects are one-hundred percent permanent and in no way can be removed. So be warned when using effects such as Chameleon or Night-Eye. Can be useful if one uses this glitch to give oneself Water Breathing.

Notes: Duplicate Sigil Stones/Grand Soul Gems and Copper Rings (or other item you are enchanting) so you do not have to re-purchase the items over and over.

It is recommended that you use Sigil Stones, as they come with useful Enchantments such as Feather or Fortify Magika. Imagine, if you duplicate a Sigil Stone that uses feather over one hundred times and then duplicate a copper ring one-hundred times, you can use this permanent enchantment glitch to make your character to be able to carry well over ten-thousand pounds!

Cloning Yourself With The Skull of Corruption
It is possible in game to clone yourself with the reward you get from the Vaermina Daedric Quest The Skull of Corruption. There are two methods to do this.

Method 1 is easier than Method 2 but you need a mysticism of at least 75. This is for a reflect spell 100% on target spell for at least 2 seconds. You also need a follower to do this trick or someone who dosen't move.


 * 1) First create the reflect spell using the Spellmaking altar in the Arcane University or Frostcrag Spire if downloaded
 * 2) Make sure it 100%, is a target spell and lasts for at least 2 seconds
 * 3) Find a long room and tell your follower to wait on one side of the room and you go down to the other side
 * 4) Cast the reflect spell at them then use the Skull of Corruption on them quickly
 * 5) Drop the Skull of Corruption before the spell from the staff hits the target
 * 6) If done correctly you should now have a clone of yourself
 * 7) If you kill your clone within the 30 second time limit you can loot it by saving just as its dieing with you next to its body, then loading it back up and press to loot the body and all your equipment will be on the clone (Excluding Umbra, Skull of Corruption and Wabbajack)
 * 8) If you kill your follower then leave the area without the Skull of Corruption the clone will be permenant
 * 9) It will be hostile originally but if you have the Staff of Worms you can kill it and bring it back to life
 * 10) You will have to keep bringing back to life though every 30 seconds and you will lose the Skull of Corruption if you want to keep the clone.
 * 11) To get rid of the clone just pick up the Skull of Corruption

Method 2 is harder as it requires an NPC to pick it up and fire it at you which can be tricky without a Disintergrate weapon Spell. On the plus side though no need for a high level mysticism spell.


 * 1) Find a cave somewhere with NPCs that use weapons.
 * 2) Kill everyone in the cave except for one person at the entrance (if you want a permenant clone if not anywhere in the cave)
 * 3) 100% charmeleon helps here as well or invisiblity potions
 * 4) Drop the Skull of Corruption next to the NPC and use a Spell that Disintergrates weapons
 * 5) The NPC will eventually drop their weapon and pick up the Skull of Corruption as long as no weapons are on the ground nearby
 * 6) Step away form the NPC and let him fire it at you
 * 7) Kill the NPC after you have the clone pick up the Skull of Corruption and then drop it (So its not reset when the cave resets)
 * 8) Leave the cave before the spell wears off
 * 9) And you should now have a permenant clone of yourself. It will be hostile at first but follow the steps above
 * 10) You can also get items from it using the steps above as well
 * 11) Also you can use a command humonoid spell on it (high level) if you don't have the Staff of Worms. (Also works for Method 1)

Cloning items with the Skull of Corruption and Staff of Worms
If you don't want to clone yourself to clone items you can also do this:


 * 1) Find a suitable NPC (any will do)
 * 2) Kill them
 * 3) Place the item you wish to clone in their inventory
 * 4) Use the Staff of Worms to bring them back
 * 5) Wait until the animation finsihes(so there stood fully on the ground) the shoot them with the Skull of Corruption
 * 6) Kill the clone before it can kill the dead NPC then save and load next to its dieing body to loot it and recieve the item you wished to clone
 * 7) Do not pick up items with Missing Name if you drop them your game will crash. If you accidently pick them up the place them in a container adn just walk away
 * 8) You can do this in the arena to loot their armor and weapons

Permanent 50% Resistance to Poison and Disease
You must have Lifting the Vale active, and have recovered the Draconian Madstone, but not returned it to the Countess.


 * 1) Put on the Draconian Madstone
 * 2) Take the Shrine of Sanguine quest
 * 3) Complete the quest, still wearing the Madstone
 * 4) All items will be removed from your inventory, including the quest item and normally irremovable Madstone. When you get it back, you will not be able to wear it again, and the effects are now permanent.
 * 5) You can now get the reward for Lifting the Vale, the Ring of Vipereye.

Thieves Guild: The Stationary Fox
This is an odd bug that is triggered by adding the Boots of Springheel Jak (item) to your inventory via the console prior to completion of Taking Care of Lex. Upon adding the boots to your inventory, you will get a quest pop-up from the Boots of Springheel Jak quest, saying that you must return the boots to the Gray Fox in Ganredhel's house in Cheydinhal. However, if you try to talk to him there, his greeting will be, "I assume you have the boots" as if you have completed the quest, yet the standard yes/no dialogue options will not appear. You will instead be presented with the regular dialogue options presented when talking to any other guild member, and you will have to complete Taking Care of Lex to ride out the bug.

Here is basically what happens: When you get the quest Turning a Blind Eye from Methredhel, the Gray Fox will not be in Helvius Cecia's house like he is supposed to be. He will remain in Ganredhel's house, saying, "I assume you have the boots" only now you can talk to him about your next assignment. This will keep happening until you complete Boots of Springheel Jak quest. Note this also happens on the two consoles, if you loot his corpse or pickpocket him.

Where Spirits Have Lease
Issue: After finding Velwyn Benirus in Imperial City, he says to meet him back at The Count's Arms in Anvil. However, you may find that he's not there.

Solution: He says to meet in a couple of hours, so wait around two hours and he should show.

Also, try looking in the staircase of the inn, I found his head in a corner and after talking to him he moved to our meeting place and was unbugged.

Another problem that occurs is Velwyn getting himself loaded inside a wall or staircase in the Count's Arms. This is related to the bug description just above, and it also happens in the Imperial City. The only solution I could come up with was to leave the quest sit for a game-week or so while I did other things. When you return to the inn you should hopefully see a reloaded Velwyn standing out in the open where you can talk to him. The only way I ever discovered where he was while loaded in the wall was by using my Vampire's Hunter Sight. Otherwise I might never have found him.

Note: This wall glitch occasionally happens to other quest characters. Glarthir has been found inside the cathedral wall when you go to talk to him about those he thinks are spying on him.

The Siren's Deception
Issue: In Anvil, for the quest The Siren's Deception, it is possible that you won't be able to enter the farmhouse. Signy Home-Wrecker and Faustina Cartia may attack you at the Flowing Bowl. If you kill them, you do get the basement key but are locked out of the farm to finish the mission. This bug can be fixed by removing all your infamy before meeting them at the Flowing Bowl the first time.

Solution: Be sure to meet them at the farmhouse at the appropriate time: after 11 pm.

If you are locked out, use the cheat code "player.coc GwedenFarmInterior" without quotes and kill the woman in there and then the mission should finish automatically.

Also it is possible that after killing the gang that the quest is not updated. In that case type this into console "player.setstage MS04 60" this will then bring the two guards into the farm house.

Bruma - Lifting the Vale
Issue: When you go north to find the Akaviri artifact for the Countess of Bruma, and complete the quest and come back, you may still have "enemies nearby", even in towns and inns, no matter where you go.

Solution: To fix this, you must go back to Serpent Trail, to the ruin you found the artifact in, and search it extensively. There are many skeletons in there, and you have to find the one or many that are giving you the message and kill them.

Bravil - Caught in the Hunt
Issue: After talking to Kurdan gro-Dragol and traveling in the boat to fort grief, you will find the gate is closed. Since it requires a key that is found inside the gate, you will not be able to finish the quest. Cause of the problem is unknown. It my be caused by talking to Ursanne Loche after talking to Kurdan gro-Dragol, or talking to Kurdan gro-Dragol a second time before traveling to Fort Grief.

Solution: Use lever to the right of gate.

Mages Guild - Chorrol Recommendation
If you opt to go with the "Guild Way" and return the item to the guild, the guildmaster will tell you that you get his recommendation, BUT the green arrow still points to him although you actually have in effect received the recomendation, the quest pointer is incorrect and can be ignored.

Go Fish: Slaughterfish
Issue: During the quest that involves you killing twelve slaughterfish for their scales, the quest markers may be off at times (in locations with no fish).

Solution: This is a large pain, but if you swim around the lake using Detect Life, you should eventually find the slaughterfish. It will be perfectly still, making no movement at all; once you attack it, the map marker will update and it will start to move and attack as normal.

Issue #2: During the quest you may not find any fish, even at the green marker.

Solution: This comes from a clipping problem where the fish spawned directly in a rock under the water. You can use the console command to turn off the clipping and walk under/through the rock. The fish will usually follow you out. After that, turn clipping back on and complete the quest.

Issue #3: A slaughterfish is found at the arrow, but it doesn't have a scale.

Solution: To fix this issue without the console (for Xbox360 and PS3 users, mainly), simply abandon the quest for around three days, this will allow the slaughterfish to respawn, giving it the scale needed to complete the quest.

Unfriendly Competition
In Unfriendly Competition, sometimes it is difficult to find the required evidence shovel in the Mausoleum. It is NOT the shovel that is at Agarmir's house. Look around the mausoleum carefully, as things can fly around during battle. Especially check dark corners.

It is also possible that if you go into the mausoleum and attack Agarmir or his partner, then a guard will give you the normal "Jail, Resist, Fine" options. If you choose Jail/Fine, the mausoleum will require a key. If you choose to resist, you must defeat all three enemies.

Lost Histories
Issue: When clicking "map," it shows no arrow for Shum gro-Yarug. This may apply to both the Lost Histories quest, and the quest to buy the house in Skingrad. The quest arrow just points you to a road, and upon arriving at the arrow, you find nothing. Therefore you can't finish either quest.

He actually falls off of the bridge and dies, and where his body landed is where the arrow is pointing for the house quest.

Solution: The best way to fix this is to either: 1) use the console to summon him with his NPC ID, or 2) find his NPC HEX ID, point to it, and use the resurrect command. After some time he showed up walking on the road. Enter the console, and type the following:


 * prid 00028FB6
 * resurrect

Another way to bypass this bug (for lost histories only) is to ignore the chance to fake the job, and instead, go to the Skingrad prison and pickpocket the dungeon key from the jailor, then carry on as if Shum gro-Yarug never died. The reason this works is because the game only recognizes opening a locked door (like the door to the cells) as a crime if a lockpick/the Skeleton Key is used, because the appropriate key is used, unlocking the door isn't seen as a crime. (This is useful for Xbox 360 and PS3 users)

Mankar Camoran's Paradise
Issue: Mankar Camoran does not appear in the building at the end of the Paradise mission. Instead, he seems to be wandering around the inside of Cloud Ruler Temple, and you're unable to attack or pickpocket him. He just asks you, without voice acting, to "enter the hall" to challenge him. You cannot complete the Paradise mission because of this.

Solution:If you are experiencing this glitch it is because Mankar Camoran is stuck either in Lake Arrius Caverns...at the Dagon shrine, or from what I have heard he sometimes gets stuck at cloud ruler temple. First you need to find him either at the Cloud Ruler temple or at the Dagon Shrine inside Lake Arrius Caverns. I found him in the far right corner (Just off of the platform) of the Dagon shrine. If he is at Cloud Ruler Temple he should be in the main room where Martin is. A word of Caution, save before you enter Lake Arrius Caverns, and do not attack anyone but Mankar. My system crashed everytime I tried to attack anyone else. You have to run straight to Mankar without attacking anyone else. Speak to Mankar, and then start hacking away, loot his body and grab the amulet of kings. After you have the amulet of kings start running, because by now you probably have a whole herd of cultists after you. After a few seconds the loading window will show up and you will be back at cloud ruler temple with a message saying the you defeated Mankar and that the portal to paradise has closed.

Shrine of Clavicus Vile quest bug
Issue: When attempting to return the Umbra Sword to Clavicus Vile's shrine for his quest, both PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game crash. The crash has something to do with the statue that Clavicus Vile will give you to carry with while you do his quest. The crash occurs when this statue has to be placed back onto the shrine pedestal from your inventory. At the end of the quest when you go back and talk to the shrine again, whether you give the sword, or keep it, when the statue gets removed from your inventory, the game crashes. This is confirmed on the PC version as well.

Solution: The latest patch fixes this quest. If it does not fix it for you, keep reading:

Before ever talking to the Shrine of Clavicus Vile, go to Vindasel, here you can find Umbra with her sword. Defeat her and take the sword, then go talk to the Khajiit worshipper by the shrine. This will add the Clavicus Vile quest to your journal. You can then speak with the shrine, and he will immediately say, "You've found the sword!". He will take the sword and you won't have to do his quest. Do this and you won't have the glitch with the statue having to get removed from your inventory.

It may also be possible to get around the bug by making sure that the sword Umbra is not currently equipped. This seems to have worked for at least a few on the PC version of the game. It is recommended that you try this method first, as another lucrative quest may hinge on the completion of this line.

For those who do not want to have to reach level 20 this is a good alternative. One simply has to receive the quest and activate the shrine without the loss of gold.

Another possibility is to use wait. Immediately after returning the sword to Clavicus but just prior to the Baucus's parting remarks, simply "wait" for an hour. This has the effect of "time-warping" the character past the final remarks, so they are never given. The game may still lock up later if you ever return to the shrine again, however.

Additionally, for the path of keeping the sword, you can try and warp to the waterfront district. The seller's words should interrupt those of Baucus (the dog) and allow you to continue (tested only on 360). This doesn't seem to work when you accept the Masque.

Another solution is to simply have the Umbra sword in your inventory before going to the Shrine of Clavicus Vile. When you travel to the shrine with the Umbra sword, do NOT talk to the shrine. Instead, talk to the Khajiit nearby and tell him you have the sword. He will tell you to approach the shrine. You have the choice to keep the Umbra, or exchange it for the Masque of Clavicus Vile, this mask somewhat resembles a samurai faceplate and is the only mask in the game. (Note: This solution has been confirmed and is guaranteed to work).

A final option, if any of the above does not work is to travel to the East gate of Cheydinhal. As soon you give/don't give the blade to Clavicus immediately pause the game to the Journal and travel to the East gate. As soon you spawn to Cheydinhal the Dog Statuette will start talking and will head back to the shrine and will leave your inventory without freezing the game. (This has been confirmed.)

Wabbajack glitch
Issue: For some reason, when you use the Wabbajack to transmute your own horse, you are simultaneously kicked out of every guild you have joined. Each message claims that you have stolen from another guild member, except the one for the Dark Brotherhood, which only says you have broken one of the tenets. The suspected reason for this is that since it's your horse, it belongs to all the factions you are in.


 * The Reason for this is that the horse belongs to you, and if you attack your horse you are somehow stealing from yourself, a guildmember.

See the Gray Fox's Face before completing The Ultimate Heist
You can take the Gray Fox Cowl off of The Gray Fox before the you recieve it for completing the Thieves Guild

First you need a mages hood any will do as long as it is zero-weight (you can buy one from Rindir's Staffs

Secondly pick-pocket him and give him the Mages Hood (reverese-pickpocketing)

Leave the house he is in fast travel anywhere go into a building or cave and wait 24hours

Go back to him and he should be wearing the hood letting you see his face.

If you have an incredibly high sneak skill you can also pick-pocket it off of him

If you don't have a high sneak skill you can knock him unconcious (causing a blood price of 500 septims) and pickpocket it off him as hes getting up

Before he is supposed to give the gray cowl drop your stolen one and he will give you a new one netting you 2 gray cowls each with separate bountys so you can have 3 personas