Shalidor's Maze is a landmark located at the ancient Nordic city of Labyrinthian. The entrance is located directly east of the Bromjunaar Sanctuary (Dragon Priest shrine). Traversing this maze results in a fight with a Dremora and a word for the Dismay Dragon Shout.
Background
Shalidor's Maze was constructed by Arch-Mage Shalidor during the First Era in the ruins of the ancient Nordic city of Bromjunaar as a testing ground for new Archmages. The test consisted of navigating the ruins in order to reach the labyrinth and traversing the labyrinth itself, if the journey was survived.[1]
Walkthrough
Just inside the entrance, there is a charred corpse holding a soul gem and a Tattered Note. Upon nearing the corpse, four staves rise out of slots in the ground. The note reads:
"Enter Twice - Exit Only Once. Alteration will lead you to Destruction. Only Illusion shows the way to Restoration. Conjure not, but be conjured instead."
Take all four staves, walk straight forward. There is a sigil of Alteration. Use the Staff of Magelight or cast any ranged Alteration spell (Magelight, Paralyze, etc.) on the sigil to lower the gate. Inside the corridors are shutters that act as chests in this area, and allow the Dragonborn to see through the maze.
Using the shutters inside the maze as markers to tell what areas have been explored by opening and closing them is not necessary.
After running through a few corridors, opening the shutters in the corners on the way, there will be a Destruction sigil. Cast any ranged Destruction spell on it or use the Staff of Firebolts to open the trap door below to continue.
At the bottom of the trap door, a sigil of Conjuration is to the left. For now, it cannot be activated. Continue forward. A staircase will slide down like an elevator - taking it will result in placing the Dragonborn back outside near where the four staves appeared. Follow either side of the maze to get to the back. In the back there will be a dragon word wall for the shout Dismay.
Turn around and enter the back exit of the maze, to find the sigil for Illusion. Cast a ranged Illusion spell or use the Staff of Fear to open this gate. Follow the corridors, opening the shutters in the corners, until the sigil of Restoration is reached. Cast a ranged Restoration spell (but not Healing Hands or Heal Other) or use the Staff of Repulsion to open the trap door.
Here there is a portal to the "Trials of Conjuration" if all of the sigils in the maze have been activated. A leveled Dremora is waiting on the other side and attacks the Dragonborn on sight. When attacked, the two are teleported back to where the staves were, where the Dragonborn is attacked by the Dremora and an Atronach of each type. After defeating them, the Diadem of the Savant may be taken from the Dremora's corpse.
Enemies
- Skeevers
- One Ice Wraith
- Leveled Dremora
- Flame Atronach
- Frost Atronach
- Storm Atronach
Notable loot
- Liminal Bridges (Conjuration skill book)
- Spell Tome: Heal Other
- Diadem of the Savant, which is a crown that makes all spells cost 5% less Magicka to cast
- Centurion Dynamo Core, found behind one of the Shutters
Ingredients
Trivia
- It is possible to jump or use Whirlwind Sprint to reach the top of the structure surrounding the area to the west. There is a chest and, on the other side, a skeleton with a leveled mace.
- It is a unicursal maze, meaning there is only one path to follow.
- It is possible to one hit Dremora Kynval and be teleported back to the start and unable to loot the body, due to it still being in Trials of Conjuration.
- It is not necessary to use the enchanted staves to activate the sigils. E.g. Calm can be used on the Illusion sigil instead of Fear, and presumably any targeted spell from the proper school will work, except for Restoration. For Restoration, "Healing Hands" and "Heal Other" don't work - "Repel Lesser Undead," however, will. The difference is that the spell fires a projectile, which is the case for the latter spell, but not the former ones.
- A Destruction spell may also open the Restoration sigil.
- Even though Shalidor's Maze was constructed as a test for Archmages, completing it doesn't require any previous magical abilities or knowledge, as spells required for it are given in form of staves.
Bugs
This section contains bugs related to Shalidor's Maze. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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