The Staff of Magnus (Skyrim)

Overview

 * Prerequisite: Mzulft
 * Reward: Archmage's Robes
 * Reputation Gain: Unknown

The College of Winterhold
Upon arriving back from Mzulft, you find Ancano in the room with the Eye of Magnus. He is keeping everyone out with a shield and doing something with the Eye. Upon trying to stop him, Savos Aren is killed, and you are tasked to find the Staff of Magnus from the Labyrinthian to put an end to whatever Ancano is doing.

Labyrinthian
It is strongly recommended to first get some shock resistant armor before arriving as the boss uses very powerful shock magic and can summon a Storm Atronach. Note in Savos Aren's room there is a pair of lightning resistance boots next to his bed. Upon arriving at the Labyrinthian, the staircase the right leads to a large stone door. Opening this door requires the Torq of Labyrinthian obtained from Savos Aren's Death.

Here you see what appears to be a remnant memory of the place. You can see the mages of the college all discussing entering the Labyrinthian. Note, on the right side of the room inside the Labryrinthian, there is a randomly generated spell tome. Known spell tomes: Detect Life, Iron Flesh, Telekinesis, Waterbreathing. After watching them talk, go into the next room, where you will see a lever and iron bars. On the other side are several skeletons and a Skeletal Dragon (note, this dragon does not have a soul to absorb).

If you are having trouble with this section, pull the lever, but do not go through to doorway. The fence will eventually close, but you can cast a few spells before it does.

After this room is another vision, describing their encounter with the dragon the first time around. Standing in the hall is an Etched Tablet which reads:

"Hail All - Brave City Bromjunaar Forever These Walls Shall Stand May Enemies See Her Majesty May all Quake to Behold Her" The next room holds a frozen door and two guardians. A voice speaks to you before entering the room, which drains you of all your mana, but does not hurt. To pass, you must melt the door with Flames. If you do not have this spell, there is a book to teach you it in the same room.

Down the path a little ways is a room guarded by two Draugr Wights or a troll depending on your level. A Door Sealed with a Lightning Rune lies behind them. This rune does approximately 100 pts of lightning damage, and wards do not protect against any of it. However, an enemy can open the door from the other side and not set off the rune. In this room is a spell book for Equilibrium which turns 25 pts of life into mana per second. At the bottom lies a river. Follow it through several doors (along the way you should find 4 malachite ores in a pool/side area of one of the halls).

A large metal bar gate stands on the other side of a room, pull the lever to continue. On the other side, three wisps float around a fire and stones. They are non-hostile until you run past them. After defeating the Wispmother, continue to a door which is on fire. Use frost magic on the door to put it out.

Some more ways down you will find a spell of Steadfast Ward. This will be needed as the next hallways will shoot fireballs and runes at you. Make sure to keep your ward up, and your companion back before clearing this room. To stop the fireballs, remove the soul gems from their pedestals, if you know the Fireball spell, you can cast it at the gems, move out of the way, and the explosion will dislodge them, allowing you a (mostly) safe journey.

Farther in, the Power Word Slow Time can be found.

At the end stands Morokei, the dragon priest, wielding The Staff of Magnus. To defeat him, you must first kill the enthralled Mages holding him in his bubble. Which, as you'll find out, are two colleges of Savos Aren sacrificed to hold Morokei here. Then the fight against Morokei begins.

Combating Morokei
He uses wards, shouts, and shock spells, but also has a spell which may convert summons or zombies against you, although he doesn't use it if player character is on lower levels or summoned creatures stay away from him. If he has a line of sight on you he will not move, so as long as he can not hit you because of cover you can easly shoot him with arrows.

-->ProTip; When entering the room, with a high enough sneak skill it is entirely possible to kill the two wizard thralls with one hit stealth attacks, allowing you to remain hidden. If you do so, Morokei will not be aware of you. If you time it right, it is possible to not only kill him in 1, 2, or 3 hits (depending on weapon and skill), it is easy to go through the entire section without getting hit once. It is advised to save before attempting, as with all boss fights. If you stay stealthed, it will take 3 hits from the Blade of Woe from behind on Master difficulty.

Upon leaving, Estormo attempts to kill you to retrieve the Staff of Magnus from you for Ancano.

Note: It is possible for some if not all of the ghost memories to fail to trigger.

Note: Sometimes upon killing Morokei you will recieve 2 Staffs Of Magnus.

The College of Winterhold Again
Return to Winterhold where the mages were pushed out to. Use the Staff of Magnus to dispel the cold weather blocking your path and enter the college. Find Ancano, still at the Eye of Magnus, and defeat him.

He can paralize your followers before the fight and will have magical anomolies assisting him in the fight. He will also have a shield that prevents him from being damaged while active. To defeat him, you must hit the Eye of Magnus for 1 second with the Staff of Magnus to dispel Ancano's shield. While his shields are down, you will need to attack him before his shield recovers. Once defeated, Quaranir of the Psijic Order shows up and takes the Eye of Magnus away, putting it in a safe place until the world can learn how to use it correctly. You also are now appointed Archmage, and are given Archmage's Robes and Quarters.

Bugs

 * When entering the Labyrinthian Thoroughfare, the game will crash upon hearing the ominous voice talk to you, after walking past the Novice-locked gate. No known fix.