@@grivebulbs7539I used to avoid Windhelm at all costs.... If I didn't figure out the murders within a few days the whole thing glitched, and I had to do it or any time I got close to Windhelm it crashed my game.
@@grivebulbs7539 Yeah, that one has a history of being very buggy for me too. That one and the Forsworn Conspiracy/No One Escapes Cidhna Mine are the two buggiest quests quite regularly in my playthroughs.
Interesting I never known to show him the diary. I just made sure to speak about him with Calixto and Viola and then come at him with "I heard that you are dabbling in Necromancy" and go from there. Since it seems to have led to misunderstandings for some people, I should mention that when I talk to Calixto it includes me showing him the amulet, he tells me that it's a wheelstone traditionally carried by the court mage. I ask him if I shouldn't give it to Wuunferth and Calixto replies something about how he founds Wuunferth creepy and that he heard that he is into necromancy.
Yep. I reloaded my first game to save her because I thought I’d failed! I also tried to save Rothgar (sp?) from beheading, but shooting his executioner turns everyone hostile so I figured I had to let him die. Killing Margaret’s murderer isn’t flagged as a crime, so I figured the game wanted me to do it!
If you want to both keep the golden claw AND complete the mission to return it to the Riverwood trader without stealing it, just turn around and retrace your steps without ever opening the puzzle door that needs the claw after you get it off the thieves body and return it to the trader. Then when you start the dragonstone quest it'll give you the prompt to retrieve the claw from the trader. When you get there you can either buy it from them outright or pass a persuasion Check to convince them the jarl needs it
The funny thing about the forsworn conspiracy quest is that, if you are playing on anniversary edition and you give some gear to Hilda the pet goat to carry, you can summon her with a spell from inside Cidna mine and retrieve said gear to use during the escape.😂
Or you could summon the spectral servant from the black book, thats what I do for both this quest and the embassy quest. I tried it in the mind of pelagius but you cannot access spells.
During the Silverblood quest in Markarth... If you keep going back to the Talos shrine as you pick up a new pieces of info, the guy who picked up your "dropped note" will usually pay you a sum of coin for finding each new info up until he's killed by the guards after discovering who "the nose" is.
you don't need to discover who "the nose" is. you just need to finish investigating either of the leads - the one with the nose or the one that leads you to speak with the Silverblood at the Treasury house
He has the same full amount of money on his dead body in temple after being sent to prison by guards from my own experiences because sometimes I do forget to keep visiting him in between doing his quest too. I have learned to do town npc quests first and foremost along with Jarl's quests that ends with getting his family shield to get the house before this questline begins or you might get glitch bug where you are unable to get the house and one of my favorite housecarl Argis who is amazingly balanced warrior follower that doesn't get in your way liked Lydia and potential one of best male spouses because you can be frustrated of not get buy the house option to show up with Jarl's uncle at his side if you do this quest first before doing all of town npc quests and Jarl's quests.
Suppose you help get Braith to stop bullying Lars. In that case, you can simply enter the battleborn house and take the missive without it being marked as stolen because the game marks you as a friend and so all cheaper items in the house will be considered free to take including the missive.
If you kill Saadia after turning her in, Kematsu expresses an upset nature that now they can't bring her back to be judged for her crimes. Why would Kematsu be upset about this if he was lying, therefore turning her in is the correct path.
However, if you give her to Kematu, you will later find her tombstone in Whiterun in the Hall of the Dead. Which implicates that they never gave Saadia a fair trial but killed her right there and then.
@@galileogalilei325i doubt it, the urn is probably just an oversight on the developers part, because saadia is technically no longer in the game and the urn is just automatic
@@galileogalilei325yeah, probably that's just unintended consequence of the urn mechanic and not a deliberate hint, so I whould not read into it too much
Also considering the fact that hammer fell and the Thalmor are even greater enemies than the imperials and Thalmor as part of the white gold concordat, hammer fell was given to the Thalmor but Hammerfell staged an uprising. It would make zero sense that alik’r warriors would be helping the Thalmor
I literally didn’t know you could start the Golden Claw any way *other* than overhearing the traders arguing. I can’t imagine not going to the shop on the way through, and you can’t avoid getting the quest, so I didn’t know it would start anyway on killing the bandits! First playthrough I didn’t do it before visiting Whiterun, but ever since then I have (since Farengar praises you for bringing the stone before he asks for it lol)
The only problem with that is that Delphine won't be there, and she brings the book, Holdings of Jarl Gjalund. I like to roleplay a book collector, of sorts. Specializing in rare and instructional books, and a few notable series. That book being one-and-only, it is a necessary part of my collection.
Yeah I dunno what happened with that one. Riverwood is...literally the first place you go to. How the hell could anyone have missed that interaction in the only shop in the first place you're in after the tutorial.
Idk about everyone, but since the first time I played Skyrim I've always started the Golden Claw quest from the Valerius siblings, because isn't it like RPG player's common courtesy to check every item shop in every town or city?
I honestly didn’t know most of these. The one that surprised me the most was the golden claw quest. Mostly because for me it was the opposite. I thought you HAD to visit the siblings first this entire time lmao
There's a quest where you join some hunters to slay a werewolf. You can instead kill the hunters and spare the werewolf, leave the cave you get a reward for "turning the hunt on it's head" or something like that. You can then re-enter the cave, kill the werewolf, leave and be given another reward.
If you go to Bloated Man's Grotta(that cave) prior to starting that quest, you can get Bolar's Oathblade. It's by a Shrine of Talos that isn't in the cave if you start that quest. If you haven't yet started the quest, the Shrine is there with the sword. Great early game sword too
With Gissur, if you make yourself seen in the Flagon, he wil report your pressence to the Thalmor at the bridge point in the Ratway entrance. Killing them there would prevent the Thalmor from entering the vaults.
I think Saadia is the liar with 99% certainty. I remember that this quest sets an assassination flag if you side with Saadia it will be the Dark Brotherhood, but if side with Kematu it is Thalmor agents.
Bethesda put so much into skyrim that people are still finding new stuff in it all this time later. Meanwhile, their newer games have so little content that they may as well be flash games from the early 2000's.
If you enter Markarth without going through the front entrance, then Waylin won't attack Margaret until you get close to the market. The easiest way to do this is to start the quest "A night to remember", which puts you at the temple of dibella
Overall nothing new for me but then I have over 11,000 hours in the game (half from mod playtesting). One quest that I have not seen anyone discuss: You can get a second quest from Sibbi Black-Briar to find a girl named Svidi who was supposed to marry him. She found letters he had received from another woman and confronted him which resulted in her brother being killed and her going into hiding. He hires you to find out where she is so he can have her killed. Turns out she is Lynly Star-Sung and you can confront her and if you pass an intimidation or persuasion check she will ask for your help. You can tell Sibbi where she is or that she has fled into Morrowind.
i have never not done Forgemasters fingers, i know orcs can give you bloodkin title but the npcs are so rare that i have not done forge masters fingers
Not to mention some of the requirements, two of them are in markarth, one asks for a daedra heart while the other asks for a rare skill book, another requires you to become a mage, idk if itll make you blood kin but if yoy kill the morthal bard youll make a chief smile. Not to mention those who bother to get the investor perk in the speech skill.
I only ever got the Forgemasters Fingers twice in all my many playthroughs. I always clear the mine above the shack on my way to Markarth early on and the orc in the small community just outside Markarth says I'm a friend to the orcs.
Usually I go clear the gold mine near markarth. When you cleared out the forsworn go to the city by foot. When you get close to the farms in front of markarth, go to the iron mine and let the npc dialogue continue. The north and orc will enter a building, follow them and talk to the northern first. He will give you gold for clearing the mine, next talk with the orc and he'll make you bloodkin. A nice update, when the forsworn spawn in again, they have a chance to lose, but if they win there's a high chance you'll receive an inheritance of small gold, notifying you the mine has respawned it's gold. You will not lose the bloodkin status
@@dennis.k8499 or if you got the real estate mod then rent the whole mine for 50 gold and you got yourself a way to level up smithing, make some extra cash, all without the transmute ore spell
I've literally always started the golden claw quest in Riverwood since it's less work to go straight to Bleak Falls before Whiterun. It wasn't until pretty recently I realized not doing that and starting in Dragon's Reach instead means you "meet" Delphine for the first time there and not at the inn in Riverwood. I figured going to Whiterun first to get the quest would be the secret decision if anything especially since it's hard to even find footage of that on YT.
Most people don't seem to know that you don't actually need to complete Brynjolf's initiation quest to get into the Thieves Guild. You can fail the quest, for example by getting caught lockpicking, pay your fines and Brynjolf will still tell you to go to the Ragged Flagon and join. And you didn't send Brand-Shei to jail for nothing. Which is nice since he also has a quest for you.
me: "yeah, yeah, sure, tell me SOMETHING I don't know after 13 years of playing Skyrim" also me 1 minute later: " ...okk, Maurice? where is Maurice? who is Maurice? and why is Maurice?"
I just play the Gissur part yesterday, i thought he was one of people who come to Flagon after i revives the Thieves Guild. But suddenly he got attacked and killed by Guild members, just realized his identity after read the note.
I didn't realize who he was either. I've never killed him in the Thalmar Embassy. I've always crept in and waited for him to leave because you are supposed to be stealthy.
It is really something that Skyrim being out for a decade and there are things still showing up. There was 3 on you're list that I did not know about , after playing for probably 1000 hrs between PC and Xbox. That is why it is still a top game. Good video.
I recently found Froki's Bow while exploring. Didn't even start the quest, hell haven't even been to his shack by then. It's always there until you take it, whether or not the quest is active.
You can start the Dragonborn questline without being attacked by the cultists. You have to go to Solstheim, learn the Bend Will shout, and use it on the Wind Stone (you can even cleanse all but the Tree Stone at this point). That will free most of the Skaal. Storn will thank you, and tell you to meet Frea at the Temple of Miraak.
One thing you forgot to mention in the last segment is that, after killing Madanach, you have to go back unto the mine and come back out and through into Markarth before Thonar shows up.At least, that's what I've had to do every time I've followed the course of action you recommended. When you kill Madanach the quest defaults to instructing you to read the note on his body, and everything flows from that.
Whenever I tried to pull off the both rewards trick the game glitched to where Thonar and some guards just stood outside indefinitely and couldn't be interacted with and I was forced to reload a previous save. I ended up cutting my losses and did it as the game intended but maybe I should have tried going back into the mines because that armor is pretty slick.
@@ThisguySL Of all the glitchy quests in Skyrim, this has to be near the top, possibly surpassed only by blood on the ice. I always make point of putting down a hard save before surrendering to the guards, just in case something happens that a quick save can't fix. PS A helpful little tip I've picked up over the years. Go through Benkongerike before doing this, do the black book, and get the secret servant reward. That way you can bring all your stuff, armour, weapons and all, into the mine with you; you just have to rmember to give it all to the daedric servant before surrendering yourself.
The 'far horizons' music track gets me every time. No matter the video or topic, as soon as that track hits I'm transported into the Skyrim back when it was still a new experience.
Yeah you got me. I didn't know about killing Madanach after the escape starts and getting both rewards. There's a 'did you know' thread on my home forum and I linked your video there.
After I binged every single one of Epic Nate, Fall Damage, and Fudge Muppet’s videos and learning more Skyrim knowledge than anyone I have so far met, this video still with me some things. Well done Black Rose 👏👏
I believe saadia was tricked into doing bad, fled, and with cleverness decided to hunker down in an imperial city, but that's also not thalmor controlled, because loyalty against thalmor. Also the alikir may have come up upon a derisive of saadia's "betrayal" planted by thalmor as a way of getting the warriors out of the way, and possible mutual destruction. Playing a possible clever elder scrolls game would be nice, but also a pipe dream.
If you go to the basement of the Blackbriar house in Riften. The master locked room (your right) has the Black Sacrament performed. On the small table is a complaint letter to the Dark Brotherhood about their agents not being able to kill a certain person. Yes! She has sent the DB after you. Sibbi becomes killable after Frost is stolen. “In time of need “, understand that the events happened 30 years earlier and there has been a treaty between Hammerfell and the Aldmeri Dominion for the past 15 years. Kematu says that a couple of noble houses hired them. Saadia is also from a noble house. The city is ruled by a king. The lore is different from how the present situation is. No Aldmeri troops are in Hammerfell presently or actually for almost 30 years. The occupation of Taneth was only for about a year.
No, Maven sent the Dark Brotherhood after an old associate who was hiding in Whiterun. You can even find the skeleton in Dragonreach's moat. *edit* The Dark Brotherhood assassins come after the Dragonborn before you ever meet Maven.
@@mlmii1933 We are talking about 2 different letters. And the skeleton in the moat is still a mystery as it has been also associated with the missing wife of Jarl Balgruf. Read the basement letter, multiple failed attempts? Is the letter present prior to level 7? How do you know that you or your family hadn’t known Maven prior to the start of the game? She does have thugs available to kill people also, Louis Letrush is killed by her minions in the Frost quest aftermath. The letter in the Riften basement fits the random Dark Brotherhood attacks upon you.
@michaeltelson9798 ... Because when you first meet Mavin, it's clear that she doesn't know you. *edit* As for the skeleton, it's only a mystery because people don't bother to put two and two together after reading the letter Mavin sent him.
@@mlmii1933 The letter in the Bannered Mare and the skeleton to me are always associated in my view. But some “deep divers” with large channels say otherwise. We disagree about the Riften basement letter, but that is ok and let’s leave it as that. There are a lot of incomplete quests in the game with loose ends spread around. Some are so poorly integrated with the lore like “In time of Need”, that it has confused players to think that the key events were recent when they are 30 years in the past.
@michaeltelson9798 ... That's fair, as much as I enjoy listening to the "deep divers" channels, they often make stretches or ignore obvious connections to fit whatever content they are currently making.
LOL at the 64k damage on Frokki's Bow. It's so good to know, after all of these years, that Skyrim definitely doesn't have any exploits that completely break the game...
@@mememaster9703 That's because it only shows the first 3 digits. It still does the full amount. If you have an inventory mod like SkyUI, it will show the full damage on the list under damage.
The first "decision" being an unintended exploit had me skeptical. However, the alternative solutions in the "Missing in Action" quest are new to me. I didn't know about the "Forgemaster's Fingers either." Funny thing: I started a playthrough as an Orc once, but I did the Dawnguard DLC pretty much right away and became a vampire. When I happened upon an Orc stronghold, they didn't recognize me as an Orc. My guess is that the "vampire" status overrides the player's chosen race. That or I encountered a bug.
The Idolaf option for Missing in Action and Froki's Bow were new to me, as were the possibility to get both rewards in Blessings of Nature and Escape from Cidna Mine.
If you've completed the Civil War quest line siding with the Imperials, you don't even have to kill any of the elves to complete Missing in Action. You simply go see Tullius and ask him for a letter demanding the release Thorald.
14:28 Yeah we do. Saadia us lying. The lore is clear that the Alikir are one of the few factions still in open opposition to the Thalmor. They would never punish someone for speaking out against the Dominion, but would definitely be assigned to brining in a Dominion sympathizer.
I saved Margret in Markath by starting a drinking contest with Sam Guevenne which starts the A Night to Remember quest and you wake up in Dibella's temple. Since you didn't come in the main gate Margret isn't killed yet. Then you run to the market, or to where you can see the market , and shoot Welin with an arrow.
If you go to the Left Hand Mine outside Markarth, get the mission to clear out a mine of Forsworn, go back and complete the mission, if you talk to the Orc there, you'll get the Blood-kin label too
Great video! I didn't know half of them. Btw, I highly recommend to side with Saadia, because those two Alik'r warriors may serve Whiterun as vigilant guard forever, greatly reducing the chance of neutral NPCs killed by random vampire attacks.
@@paulwei6596 I had never had a vampire attack on Whiterun or really anywhere, not even when playing vanilla and dragon attacks on Whiterun itself are very uncommon. They mostly attack outside Tundra Homestead and I would hate being stuck with Saadia.
@@paulwei6596I only play on console or gamepass (no possible mods) and can’t recall ever having a dragon attack within white run. Every other city yes but weirdly not inside white run, only outside the city.
Definitely saving this video and trying some of the things you said so thank you! I can’t believe I didn’t know half of what you mentioned! I’ve been playing for about 10 years now. I was introduced to it a few years after it came out and I am still playing it lol I actually am playing at this moment😂
i remember my first playthrough i got maurice to come with me on the gildergreen quest. in my 10+ playthroughs after, when i did that quest i thought i hallucinated an angry man coming with me because i was always alone. good to know now lol
A handful of the quests you mentioned about the "hidden" way to complete the quests, those were my first options to start said quests. There were other nuances I wasn't fully aware of, though, in the other quests mentioned.
If you've helped out Lars Battle-Born then you can simply take their letter. It's no longer classed as stealing. Also they sometimes unlock the door to it, making it even easier.
Not sure what you're on about, every time I approached an Orc stronghold, they'd send me to get the Forgemaster's Fingers. I always assumed it's the default parameter and was surprised that helping Orc npcs around Skyrim could actually bypass it.
16:05 I've never not done it this way, I always thought you were just supposed to walk into whiterun and flex you have the stone already. Always would sell off the armor and weapons I collected in Helgan to Lucan immediately
I actually didnt know about the orc befriending thing. I always thought you had to go to that one stronghold to get the quest for the fingers to be able to enter the other strongholds. I dont think ive ever befriended an orc before going to that stronghold, and ive definitely never played as an orc before. So ironically you taught me something i didnt know by explaining how "everyone else" does it, and then the actual "no one does this" thing was what ive been doing since 2011.
Excellent. Regarding the missing in action quest, are you aware that if you've sided with the Imperials in the civil war and completed a couple quests for them, you can go to Tulius and ask him to release Thorald from the Thalmor at Northwatch? He'll give you a document securing Thorald's release. Take it to Northwatch and give it to the first Thalmor guard you meet, and they'll release Thorald.
those were interesting, definitely didn't know some! here's one for y'all tho: in Missing In Action, there's also a broken option to go to General Tulius for that letter, if you had sided with the Imperials, I remember downloading a mod that fixes it (it's fully scripted+voiced by Bethesda)
I always save Margaret from Weylin by getting plastered from the quest A Night to Remember, because you teleport right into the Temple of Dibella in Markarth, which doesn't make the event trigger just yet, as it triggers only when you're close enough to Weylin. When you leave the temple, you can head over to the bridge right above Weylin and just snipe him-- ideally with archery, because spells will typically have an AoE issue.
I've never once had Maurice initiate the dialog once inside Eldergleam sanctuary. He always just stops following me and hangs out with the other people in there.
As far as Bleakfarrow barrow or whatever its called (golden claw quest) you can also just let Arvel run into a spider... The spider is stronger then Arvel. Hes never meant to make it back out that dungeon😂.
Back to the battle born quest, if you are a legate for the imperial, you can ask tullius to let him go, he'll say no because it's the thalmor but it's still secret dialog
you know what, I'll give it to you... even as a veteran player there was still at least 1 detail in this I didnt know about (if you stay undetected in the thalmor embassy the guy goes down to the interrogation chamber)
It's funny how many of these are basically only secret because of how Skyrim marks quests. I'm sure if the letter wasn't marked in the Battleborn/Greymane quest plenty of people would have still robbed the house and still very few would know you can blackmail Jon. But talking to Idogalf would probably be more well known, since "investigating" tends to involve talking to people, so without the map marker more players would likely be inclined to talk to the family.
15:15 I believe kematu is telling the truth because if you kill sadia in that scene he get angry if he was truly an assassin he wouldnt care but if he was bringing her back for trial he would.
You forgot yet another option for the in my time of need there's another option to tell the traveling warriors that you'll turn her in avoiding having to bail the guy out or going to the cave altogether.
I've had Skyrim for only a year and a half, I'm on my 7th playthrough, and I knew all of these. One thing I like to do that's kind of devious, is marry Mjoll the Lioness, then have her follow me through the thieves guild quests 😅😅
In that red guard quest if you give her to those warriors if you wait a few days you can go to the Hall of the dead and find her urn meaning that they did kill her
I've done Promises to Keep and intentionally avoid it because after completing it Letrush will walk to the stables in front of Whiterun and just stand there... then he'll do it again, and again, and again. Something bugs out that makes an additional copy of him show up at the Whiterun stables every few days, and the clones just pile up. So I consciously don't do that quest anymore.
Yep, that's what happened a lot on my first attempt to lead him there. In subsequent playthroughs I always find the Eldergleam first so I can fast-travel with him safely. I've always gotten the sapling, never the sap.
Sorry, Bro I already knew about all of these. I pre-ordered Skyrim so I have played it from launch day. On at least one play through of the Forsworn Conspiracy early in the game's days, I beat the 3 guards in the chapel before, saving Eltrys. The guards outside still acted as if Eltrys were dead.
I got the quest for the golden claw when I entered the shop with brother and sister arguing. I also got Maurice to join me in the quest to revive the tree, but he kept attacking bandits unarmed and I couldn't save him 😂 The other 8 ways to resolve o r affect the quests I had no idea you could do them this way.
I have been playing Skyrim (PC) since it’s release, almost all type of build and race, some of the things I already knew but some I didn’t, I’m going to try
Was surprised people didn’t know about the first one. I met the pilgrim at the sanctuary, but if you walk too fast you miss the confrontation with him. My husband was watching me play and was surprised by it.
I knew about the Maurice route but that's only because he walks over and outright initiates conversation with you if you stick around the temple long enough after Danica sends you off to collect the sap. I did not know that you can collect both the sampling AND the sap and continue the quest normally, tho.
wuunferth the unliving. give him the diary rather than the steward and you prevent his arrest and save the next victim
After playing this game from release night, I only *just* discovered that myself about a week ago. I thought that was really cool!
I've literally only been able to finish that quest correctly once without it bugging out after ten years of play.
@@grivebulbs7539I used to avoid Windhelm at all costs.... If I didn't figure out the murders within a few days the whole thing glitched, and I had to do it or any time I got close to Windhelm it crashed my game.
@@grivebulbs7539 Yeah, that one has a history of being very buggy for me too. That one and the Forsworn Conspiracy/No One Escapes Cidhna Mine are the two buggiest quests quite regularly in my playthroughs.
Interesting I never known to show him the diary. I just made sure to speak about him with Calixto and Viola and then come at him with "I heard that you are dabbling in Necromancy" and go from there.
Since it seems to have led to misunderstandings for some people, I should mention that when I talk to Calixto it includes me showing him the amulet, he tells me that it's a wheelstone traditionally carried by the court mage. I ask him if I shouldn't give it to Wuunferth and Calixto replies something about how he founds Wuunferth creepy and that he heard that he is into necromancy.
I always save Margeret in Markath, it just feels like a necessity 😂 to the point where if I fail I'll just restart! Great vid!
Same
Yep. I reloaded my first game to save her because I thought I’d failed!
I also tried to save Rothgar (sp?) from beheading, but shooting his executioner turns everyone hostile so I figured I had to let him die. Killing Margaret’s murderer isn’t flagged as a crime, so I figured the game wanted me to do it!
Roggvir - had to look him up. Apparently my hearing is *terrible* 🤣
@@Cthulhus_MumMust've from meditating on High Hroggvir.
Weirdly, the guards JOIN in on the manslaughter of the would-be assassin?! Markarth really has a grudge on the Forsworn than the Thalmor.
If you want to both keep the golden claw AND complete the mission to return it to the Riverwood trader without stealing it, just turn around and retrace your steps without ever opening the puzzle door that needs the claw after you get it off the thieves body and return it to the trader. Then when you start the dragonstone quest it'll give you the prompt to retrieve the claw from the trader. When you get there you can either buy it from them outright or pass a persuasion Check to convince them the jarl needs it
I didn't know this one. Awesome!
Ok this is an actual 'today I learned' thanks 🎉
You got me with this one too, kudos.
The funny thing about the forsworn conspiracy quest is that, if you are playing on anniversary edition and you give some gear to Hilda the pet goat to carry, you can summon her with a spell from inside Cidna mine and retrieve said gear to use during the escape.😂
Or in a moded game you can do the same with Inigo ! And have an ally to help you !
Or you could summon the spectral servant from the black book, thats what I do for both this quest and the embassy quest. I tried it in the mind of pelagius but you cannot access spells.
This is the only correct answer.
@@ccerutid4301 Yeah, this is what I do.
It just works
During the Silverblood quest in Markarth...
If you keep going back to the Talos shrine as you pick up a new pieces of info, the guy who picked up your "dropped note" will usually pay you a sum of coin for finding each new info up until he's killed by the guards after discovering who "the nose" is.
you don't need to discover who "the nose" is. you just need to finish investigating either of the leads - the one with the nose or the one that leads you to speak with the Silverblood at the Treasury house
He has the same full amount of money on his dead body in temple after being sent to prison by guards from my own experiences because sometimes I do forget to keep visiting him in between doing his quest too. I have learned to do town npc quests first and foremost along with Jarl's quests that ends with getting his family shield to get the house before this questline begins or you might get glitch bug where you are unable to get the house and one of my favorite housecarl Argis who is amazingly balanced warrior follower that doesn't get in your way liked Lydia and potential one of best male spouses because you can be frustrated of not get buy the house option to show up with Jarl's uncle at his side if you do this quest first before doing all of town npc quests and Jarl's quests.
Y😂gyt8😢
Which is literally what he tells you to do
Suppose you help get Braith to stop bullying Lars. In that case, you can simply enter the battleborn house and take the missive without it being marked as stolen because the game marks you as a friend and so all cheaper items in the house will be considered free to take including the missive.
This is the bypass I've always used. I didn't know about going through Idolaf or Jon because of it lol
@@ryanroyce Neither did I 🤣
If you kill Saadia after turning her in, Kematsu expresses an upset nature that now they can't bring her back to be judged for her crimes. Why would Kematsu be upset about this if he was lying, therefore turning her in is the correct path.
However, if you give her to Kematu, you will later find her tombstone in Whiterun in the Hall of the Dead. Which implicates that they never gave Saadia a fair trial but killed her right there and then.
@@galileogalilei325i doubt it, the urn is probably just an oversight on the developers part, because saadia is technically no longer in the game and the urn is just automatic
@@galileogalilei325yeah, probably that's just unintended consequence of the urn mechanic and not a deliberate hint, so I whould not read into it too much
@galileogalilei325 that is just how the game handles deaths. It is an oversight.
Also considering the fact that hammer fell and the Thalmor are even greater enemies than the imperials and Thalmor as part of the white gold concordat, hammer fell was given to the Thalmor but Hammerfell staged an uprising. It would make zero sense that alik’r warriors would be helping the Thalmor
I literally didn’t know you could start the Golden Claw any way *other* than overhearing the traders arguing. I can’t imagine not going to the shop on the way through, and you can’t avoid getting the quest, so I didn’t know it would start anyway on killing the bandits!
First playthrough I didn’t do it before visiting Whiterun, but ever since then I have (since Farengar praises you for bringing the stone before he asks for it lol)
The only problem with that is that Delphine won't be there, and she brings the book, Holdings of Jarl Gjalund. I like to roleplay a book collector, of sorts. Specializing in rare and instructional books, and a few notable series. That book being one-and-only, it is a necessary part of my collection.
You can also get the quest by just picking up the claw in the first place.
Yeah I dunno what happened with that one. Riverwood is...literally the first place you go to. How the hell could anyone have missed that interaction in the only shop in the first place you're in after the tutorial.
Finally, after 13 years, a video that actually shows me new content
Which part? Cause I was holding out.
The missing in action one got me. Thank goodness
Idk about everyone, but since the first time I played Skyrim I've always started the Golden Claw quest from the Valerius siblings, because isn't it like RPG player's common courtesy to check every item shop in every town or city?
I honestly didn’t know most of these. The one that surprised me the most was the golden claw quest. Mostly because for me it was the opposite. I thought you HAD to visit the siblings first this entire time lmao
Same here 😂
There is a character named narfi. You can get him to leave town and say that you killed him. When you didn't and get paid for it.
Yeah, if you kill narfi the dude makes fun of you for murdering a defenseless bum
@@keithmichael112 😆 guy, I don't think you read my comment carefully 😆
@@Sksk27547 I did, I was saying it's better if you leave him alive
@@keithmichael112 okay 😆 I was making sure 😆
Does this work for the Dark Brotherhood quest involving him?
There's a quest where you join some hunters to slay a werewolf. You can instead kill the hunters and spare the werewolf, leave the cave you get a reward for "turning the hunt on it's head" or something like that. You can then re-enter the cave, kill the werewolf, leave and be given another reward.
Ooh, the Hircine quest! That's a good one :)
i believe that was patched out
Just did it on the switch @@darcraven01
@@darcraven01nope, it works. Did it on anniversary edition yesterday July 22
If you go to Bloated Man's Grotta(that cave) prior to starting that quest, you can get Bolar's Oathblade. It's by a Shrine of Talos that isn't in the cave if you start that quest. If you haven't yet started the quest, the Shrine is there with the sword. Great early game sword too
With Gissur, if you make yourself seen in the Flagon, he wil report your pressence to the Thalmor at the bridge point in the Ratway entrance. Killing them there would prevent the Thalmor from entering the vaults.
I think Saadia is the liar with 99% certainty. I remember that this quest sets an assassination flag if you side with Saadia it will be the Dark Brotherhood, but if side with Kematu it is Thalmor agents.
Bethesda put so much into skyrim that people are still finding new stuff in it all this time later. Meanwhile, their newer games have so little content that they may as well be flash games from the early 2000's.
If you enter Markarth without going through the front entrance, then Waylin won't attack Margaret until you get close to the market. The easiest way to do this is to start the quest "A night to remember", which puts you at the temple of dibella
Yup, pretty much the only way I go to markarth
Overall nothing new for me but then I have over 11,000 hours in the game (half from mod playtesting).
One quest that I have not seen anyone discuss:
You can get a second quest from Sibbi Black-Briar to find a girl named Svidi who was supposed to marry him. She found letters he had received from another woman and confronted him which resulted in her brother being killed and her going into hiding. He hires you to find out where she is so he can have her killed. Turns out she is Lynly Star-Sung and you can confront her and if you pass an intimidation or persuasion check she will ask for your help. You can tell Sibbi where she is or that she has fled into Morrowind.
You can also kill Thonar Silver-Blood after he gives you the ring to attain your revenge. Three rewards in one quest.
i have never not done Forgemasters fingers, i know orcs can give you bloodkin title but the npcs are so rare that i have not done forge masters fingers
Not to mention some of the requirements, two of them are in markarth, one asks for a daedra heart while the other asks for a rare skill book, another requires you to become a mage, idk if itll make you blood kin but if yoy kill the morthal bard youll make a chief smile. Not to mention those who bother to get the investor perk in the speech skill.
I only ever got the Forgemasters Fingers twice in all my many playthroughs. I always clear the mine above the shack on my way to Markarth early on and the orc in the small community just outside Markarth says I'm a friend to the orcs.
Usually I go clear the gold mine near markarth. When you cleared out the forsworn go to the city by foot. When you get close to the farms in front of markarth, go to the iron mine and let the npc dialogue continue. The north and orc will enter a building, follow them and talk to the northern first. He will give you gold for clearing the mine, next talk with the orc and he'll make you bloodkin.
A nice update, when the forsworn spawn in again, they have a chance to lose, but if they win there's a high chance you'll receive an inheritance of small gold, notifying you the mine has respawned it's gold. You will not lose the bloodkin status
@@dennis.k8499 or if you got the real estate mod then rent the whole mine for 50 gold and you got yourself a way to level up smithing, make some extra cash, all without the transmute ore spell
I've literally always started the golden claw quest in Riverwood since it's less work to go straight to Bleak Falls before Whiterun. It wasn't until pretty recently I realized not doing that and starting in Dragon's Reach instead means you "meet" Delphine for the first time there and not at the inn in Riverwood. I figured going to Whiterun first to get the quest would be the secret decision if anything especially since it's hard to even find footage of that on YT.
Most people don't seem to know that you don't actually need to complete Brynjolf's initiation quest to get into the Thieves Guild. You can fail the quest, for example by getting caught lockpicking, pay your fines and Brynjolf will still tell you to go to the Ragged Flagon and join. And you didn't send Brand-Shei to jail for nothing. Which is nice since he also has a quest for you.
You can also tell Brynjolf that you lost the ring. Even when you have it! in witch case you also save Brand-Shei :)
me: "yeah, yeah, sure, tell me SOMETHING I don't know after 13 years of playing Skyrim"
also me 1 minute later: " ...okk, Maurice? where is Maurice? who is Maurice? and why is Maurice?"
I just play the Gissur part yesterday, i thought he was one of people who come to Flagon after i revives the Thieves Guild. But suddenly he got attacked and killed by Guild members, just realized his identity after read the note.
I didn't realize who he was either. I've never killed him in the Thalmar Embassy. I've always crept in and waited for him to leave because you are supposed to be stealthy.
I'm almost sure it wasn't modded and at some point of missing in action if you're higher imperial legion rank you can ask Tullius for help
You can.
@@BlueLighteningGojo But... It's so buggy you need a mod to actually use that option...
@BlueLighteningGojo ...
Only if you have the Unoffical Patch ... in vanilla the option doesn't work.
@@binglover694I've never needed one
It's worked for me with no mods don't remember if it was ps3 or 4 though
It is really something that Skyrim being out for a decade and there are things still showing up. There was 3 on you're list that I did not know about , after playing for probably 1000 hrs between PC and Xbox. That is why it is still a top game. Good video.
I recently found Froki's Bow while exploring. Didn't even start the quest, hell haven't even been to his shack by then. It's always there until you take it, whether or not the quest is active.
You can start the Dragonborn questline without being attacked by the cultists. You have to go to Solstheim, learn the Bend Will shout, and use it on the Wind Stone (you can even cleanse all but the Tree Stone at this point). That will free most of the Skaal. Storn will thank you, and tell you to meet Frea at the Temple of Miraak.
One thing you forgot to mention in the last segment is that, after killing Madanach, you have to go back unto the mine and come back out and through into Markarth before Thonar shows up.At least, that's what I've had to do every time I've followed the course of action you recommended. When you kill Madanach the quest defaults to instructing you to read the note on his body, and everything flows from that.
Whenever I tried to pull off the both rewards trick the game glitched to where Thonar and some guards just stood outside indefinitely and couldn't be interacted with and I was forced to reload a previous save. I ended up cutting my losses and did it as the game intended but maybe I should have tried going back into the mines because that armor is pretty slick.
@@ThisguySL Of all the glitchy quests in Skyrim, this has to be near the top, possibly surpassed only by blood on the ice. I always make point of putting down a hard save before surrendering to the guards, just in case something happens that a quick save can't fix.
PS A helpful little tip I've picked up over the years. Go through Benkongerike before doing this, do the black book, and get the secret servant reward. That way you can bring all your stuff, armour, weapons and all, into the mine with you; you just have to rmember to give it all to the daedric servant before surrendering yourself.
The 'far horizons' music track gets me every time. No matter the video or topic, as soon as that track hits I'm transported into the Skyrim back when it was still a new experience.
Margaret has never died in my play throughs
Had a friend playing over my shoulder who told me be ready to save her so me too.
Yeah you got me. I didn't know about killing Madanach after the escape starts and getting both rewards. There's a 'did you know' thread on my home forum and I linked your video there.
I knew of all these quests, but you definitely knew some options that I had never heard of! Nicely done!
After I binged every single one of Epic Nate, Fall Damage, and Fudge Muppet’s videos and learning more Skyrim knowledge than anyone I have so far met, this video still with me some things. Well done Black Rose 👏👏
I believe saadia was tricked into doing bad, fled, and with cleverness decided to hunker down in an imperial city, but that's also not thalmor controlled, because loyalty against thalmor. Also the alikir may have come up upon a derisive of saadia's "betrayal" planted by thalmor as a way of getting the warriors out of the way, and possible mutual destruction.
Playing a possible clever elder scrolls game would be nice, but also a pipe dream.
👀
If you go to the basement of the Blackbriar house in Riften. The master locked room (your right) has the Black Sacrament performed. On the small table is a complaint letter to the Dark Brotherhood about their agents not being able to kill a certain person.
Yes! She has sent the DB after you.
Sibbi becomes killable after Frost is stolen.
“In time of need “, understand that the events happened 30 years earlier and there has been a treaty between Hammerfell and the Aldmeri Dominion for the past 15 years. Kematu says that a couple of noble houses hired them. Saadia is also from a noble house. The city is ruled by a king. The lore is different from how the present situation is. No Aldmeri troops are in Hammerfell presently or actually for almost 30 years. The occupation of Taneth was only for about a year.
No, Maven sent the Dark Brotherhood after an old associate who was hiding in Whiterun.
You can even find the skeleton in Dragonreach's moat.
*edit*
The Dark Brotherhood assassins come after the Dragonborn before you ever meet Maven.
@@mlmii1933 We are talking about 2 different letters. And the skeleton in the moat is still a mystery as it has been also associated with the missing wife of Jarl Balgruf.
Read the basement letter, multiple failed attempts? Is the letter present prior to level 7? How do you know that you or your family hadn’t known Maven prior to the start of the game?
She does have thugs available to kill people also, Louis Letrush is killed by her minions in the Frost quest aftermath.
The letter in the Riften basement fits the random Dark Brotherhood attacks upon you.
@michaeltelson9798 ...
Because when you first meet Mavin, it's clear that she doesn't know you.
*edit*
As for the skeleton, it's only a mystery because people don't bother to put two and two together after reading the letter Mavin sent him.
@@mlmii1933 The letter in the Bannered Mare and the skeleton to me are always associated in my view. But some “deep divers” with large channels say otherwise.
We disagree about the Riften basement letter, but that is ok and let’s leave it as that. There are a lot of incomplete quests in the game with loose ends spread around. Some are so poorly integrated with the lore like “In time of Need”, that it has confused players to think that the key events were recent when they are 30 years in the past.
@michaeltelson9798 ...
That's fair, as much as I enjoy listening to the "deep divers" channels, they often make stretches or ignore obvious connections to fit whatever content they are currently making.
LOL at the 64k damage on Frokki's Bow. It's so good to know, after all of these years, that Skyrim definitely doesn't have any exploits that completely break the game...
it went back down to 645 in his inventory tho, still really crazy. gonna have to find it and use it
@@mememaster9703 That's because it only shows the first 3 digits. It still does the full amount. If you have an inventory mod like SkyUI, it will show the full damage on the list under damage.
I literally don't think I've ever become blood-kin any way other than finding the Forgemaster's Fingers. Guess everyone plays differently though
8:20 finally, one of these things actually gave me something new. Thank you.
Didn't know about the blackmail option for Missing in Action.
Didn't know about the speech check for missing in action. Neat
The first "decision" being an unintended exploit had me skeptical. However, the alternative solutions in the "Missing in Action" quest are new to me. I didn't know about the "Forgemaster's Fingers either." Funny thing: I started a playthrough as an Orc once, but I did the Dawnguard DLC pretty much right away and became a vampire. When I happened upon an Orc stronghold, they didn't recognize me as an Orc. My guess is that the "vampire" status overrides the player's chosen race. That or I encountered a bug.
The Idolaf option for Missing in Action and Froki's Bow were new to me, as were the possibility to get both rewards in Blessings of Nature and Escape from Cidna Mine.
If you've completed the Civil War quest line siding with the Imperials, you don't even have to kill any of the elves to complete Missing in Action. You simply go see Tullius and ask him for a letter demanding the release Thorald.
14:28 Yeah we do. Saadia us lying. The lore is clear that the Alikir are one of the few factions still in open opposition to the Thalmor. They would never punish someone for speaking out against the Dominion, but would definitely be assigned to brining in a Dominion sympathizer.
I saved Margret in Markath by starting a drinking contest with Sam Guevenne which starts the A Night to Remember quest and you wake up in Dibella's temple. Since you didn't come in the main gate Margret isn't killed yet. Then you run to the market, or to where you can see the market , and shoot Welin with an arrow.
I had NO idea about the Missing in Action tidbit!!!! Like 10 years later and I’m still learning
I did not know there were alternate ways of getting the info in 'Missing In Action'
If you go to the Left Hand Mine outside Markarth, get the mission to clear out a mine of Forsworn, go back and complete the mission, if you talk to the Orc there, you'll get the Blood-kin label too
Ok 😊 I didn’t know about the alternate options in Missing In Action.
Great video! I didn't know half of them.
Btw, I highly recommend to side with Saadia, because those two Alik'r warriors may serve Whiterun as vigilant guard forever, greatly reducing the chance of neutral NPCs killed by random vampire attacks.
Ikr. Vampire and dragon attacks used to annoy me sooooo much. But now I turn them off with mods.
@@paulwei6596 I had never had a vampire attack on Whiterun or really anywhere, not even when playing vanilla and dragon attacks on Whiterun itself are very uncommon. They mostly attack outside Tundra Homestead and I would hate being stuck with Saadia.
@@KimberlyKjellberg I only play vanilla, vampire attacks are very common in every big cities. Are you sure you didn't mod your game in anyway?
@@KimberlyKjellberg Do you only travel during the day? Vampires are nocturnal.
@@paulwei6596I only play on console or gamepass (no possible mods) and can’t recall ever having a dragon attack within white run. Every other city yes but weirdly not inside white run, only outside the city.
Dude after 13 years I didn't even know that Blessings of Nature quest even existed
You got me, gotta share the video now.
Definitely doing the thing with Maurice! I feel so bad that I can't save those two pilgrims
One well placed spell or shout can take care of that guy, so I would suggest stocking up on spells or shouts before going to Markarth.
If you save Malborn in the Thalmor Embassy, you can find him in Windhelm and he has a quest for you.
Definitely saving this video and trying some of the things you said so thank you! I can’t believe I didn’t know half of what you mentioned! I’ve been playing for about 10 years now. I was introduced to it a few years after it came out and I am still playing it lol I actually am playing at this moment😂
Me too! lol
i remember my first playthrough i got maurice to come with me on the gildergreen quest. in my 10+ playthroughs after, when i did that quest i thought i hallucinated an angry man coming with me because i was always alone. good to know now lol
This quality had me thinking you were a big TH-camr and just to see you got 5k is surprising keep it up
Thank you, I will!
I did the golden claw quest the “secret way” my first playthrough and had no idea the other way existed
A handful of the quests you mentioned about the "hidden" way to complete the quests, those were my first options to start said quests. There were other nuances I wasn't fully aware of, though, in the other quests mentioned.
If you've helped out Lars Battle-Born then you can simply take their letter. It's no longer classed as stealing. Also they sometimes unlock the door to it, making it even easier.
I'm currently replaying again (might actually beat it this time!) and I learned a lot here.
Liked, commented and subscribed.
Holy shit - never knew about the sapling! After devoted playing for 13 years, that really is something...
Not sure what you're on about, every time I approached an Orc stronghold, they'd send me to get the Forgemaster's Fingers. I always assumed it's the default parameter and was surprised that helping Orc npcs around Skyrim could actually bypass it.
The fact I’ve done or known about these so long is so fucked. Only one I didn’t is Froki’s bow I got his quest once but never finished it.
16:05 I've never not done it this way, I always thought you were just supposed to walk into whiterun and flex you have the stone already. Always would sell off the armor and weapons I collected in Helgan to Lucan immediately
I actually didnt know about the orc befriending thing. I always thought you had to go to that one stronghold to get the quest for the fingers to be able to enter the other strongholds. I dont think ive ever befriended an orc before going to that stronghold, and ive definitely never played as an orc before. So ironically you taught me something i didnt know by explaining how "everyone else" does it, and then the actual "no one does this" thing was what ive been doing since 2011.
Excellent. Regarding the missing in action quest, are you aware that if you've sided with the Imperials in the civil war and completed a couple quests for them, you can go to Tulius and ask him to release Thorald from the Thalmor at Northwatch? He'll give you a document securing Thorald's release. Take it to Northwatch and give it to the first Thalmor guard you meet, and they'll release Thorald.
Wow even after 13 years there's still things I didn't know about skyrim
You can turn traitor during the Jagged crown quest. After picking a side, return the crown to the opposite leader
those were interesting, definitely didn't know some! here's one for y'all tho: in Missing In Action, there's also a broken option to go to General Tulius for that letter, if you had sided with the Imperials, I remember downloading a mod that fixes it (it's fully scripted+voiced by Bethesda)
That's crazy, I always thought the forgemasters fingers was the only way to do it, outside of being an orc
i had no idea you could get in if youre friends with an orc, ive been doing forgemasters fingers for over a decade lol
I always save Margaret from Weylin by getting plastered from the quest A Night to Remember, because you teleport right into the Temple of Dibella in Markarth, which doesn't make the event trigger just yet, as it triggers only when you're close enough to Weylin. When you leave the temple, you can head over to the bridge right above Weylin and just snipe him-- ideally with archery, because spells will typically have an AoE issue.
That's how I got to Markarth on my very first trip there in my first playthrough! Good times
I've never once had Maurice initiate the dialog once inside Eldergleam sanctuary. He always just stops following me and hangs out with the other people in there.
As far as Bleakfarrow barrow or whatever its called (golden claw quest) you can also just let Arvel run into a spider... The spider is stronger then Arvel. Hes never meant to make it back out that dungeon😂.
Back to the battle born quest, if you are a legate for the imperial, you can ask tullius to let him go, he'll say no because it's the thalmor but it's still secret dialog
you know what, I'll give it to you... even as a veteran player there was still at least 1 detail in this I didnt know about (if you stay undetected in the thalmor embassy the guy goes down to the interrogation chamber)
It's funny how many of these are basically only secret because of how Skyrim marks quests. I'm sure if the letter wasn't marked in the Battleborn/Greymane quest plenty of people would have still robbed the house and still very few would know you can blackmail Jon. But talking to Idogalf would probably be more well known, since "investigating" tends to involve talking to people, so without the map marker more players would likely be inclined to talk to the family.
In the Quest ill met by moonlight, you Can get both Hircines Ring and Saviors hide, if you kill Sinding the Werewolf After You’ve helped him
2k+ hours and still didn't have clue about the crab and the bow! Thanks for the nostalgia mate
15:15 I believe kematu is telling the truth because if you kill sadia in that scene he get angry if he was truly an assassin he wouldnt care but if he was bringing her back for trial he would.
You forgot yet another option for the in my time of need there's another option to tell the traveling warriors that you'll turn her in avoiding having to bail the guy out or going to the cave altogether.
Haha I new all of these. Come back when you collected all of the pieces of the razor before pieces of the past
Skyrim's the gift that keeps giving
Oooh the Margaret thing is news to me as well. Very nice
I've had Skyrim for only a year and a half, I'm on my 7th playthrough, and I knew all of these. One thing I like to do that's kind of devious, is marry Mjoll the Lioness, then have her follow me through the thieves guild quests 😅😅
I just happened across one a week ago where you do a quest for cicero when he’s on his way to the sanctuary
In that red guard quest if you give her to those warriors if you wait a few days you can go to the Hall of the dead and find her urn meaning that they did kill her
Didn't know you could get the sap and seed both. So good call👏👏👍
I've done Promises to Keep and intentionally avoid it because after completing it Letrush will walk to the stables in front of Whiterun and just stand there... then he'll do it again, and again, and again. Something bugs out that makes an additional copy of him show up at the Whiterun stables every few days, and the clones just pile up. So I consciously don't do that quest anymore.
Every time u tried doing the Maurice option he'd usually get killed by bandits or something 😭
Yep, that's what happened a lot on my first attempt to lead him there. In subsequent playthroughs I always find the Eldergleam first so I can fast-travel with him safely. I've always gotten the sapling, never the sap.
I'm afraid I already knew about these, but I will still share the list
Sorry, Bro I already knew about all of these. I pre-ordered Skyrim so I have played it from launch day.
On at least one play through of the Forsworn Conspiracy early in the game's days, I beat the 3 guards in the chapel before, saving Eltrys. The guards outside still acted as if Eltrys were dead.
I got the quest for the golden claw when I entered the shop with brother and sister arguing.
I also got Maurice to join me in the quest to revive the tree, but he kept attacking bandits unarmed and I couldn't save him 😂
The other 8 ways to resolve o r affect the quests I had no idea you could do them this way.
I have been playing Skyrim (PC) since it’s release, almost all type of build and race, some of the things I already knew but some I didn’t, I’m going to try
Was surprised people didn’t know about the first one. I met the pilgrim at the sanctuary, but if you walk too fast you miss the confrontation with him. My husband was watching me play and was surprised by it.
I knew about the Maurice route but that's only because he walks over and outright initiates conversation with you if you stick around the temple long enough after Danica sends you off to collect the sap. I did not know that you can collect both the sampling AND the sap and continue the quest normally, tho.
I actually did not know about the secret paths in these missions nor did I know a good portion of these quests exist.
I didn't even notice that I didn't notice the blessing of nature option, I assumed i always did it that way 😅