Oblivion:Great Gate

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Contents 1 Quick Walkthrough 2 Detailed Walkthrough 2.1 Time Limit 2.2 Layout of the World 2.3 Reaching the World Breaker 2.4 Ascending the World Breaker 2.5 Back to Bruma 3 Notes 4 Bugs 5 Maps 6 Journal Entries

A time limited quest to find the Great Sigil Stone and close the gate before a Daedric siege engine enters Tamriel! edit Quest Giver: Martin at the Bruma Battlefield Location(s): Planes of Oblivion Prerequisite Quest: Defense of Bruma Next Quest: Paradise Reward: Progression in the story line, a statue of you as "Savior of Bruma" Fame/Infamy: Fame +2 ID: MQ14

The Great Gate that opens outside Bruma

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

1. You have 15 minutes to complete this quest.
2. Enter the Great Gate and make your way to the World Breaker (the main tower).
3. Ascend the World Breaker tower to the Sigillum Sanguis.
4. Take the Great Sigil Stone to close the gate.
5. Return the stone to Martin.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Time Limit

You have a time limit of 15 minutes (real time) to complete this quest. Any longer and the indestructible Daedric siege engine will make it to Tamriel, resulting in Martin's inevitable death, and the invasion of all Tamriel by Daedra. At that point, your game is over: you must reload an earlier save game. The clock starts when you first step through the Great Gate. This quest (and the entire game) can also be terminated if Martin dies while you are in the Oblivion World (although the combat in Tamriel actually pauses while you are in the Oblivion World, so Martin should only die if he received a fatal blow just as you stepped into the gate).

You do not need to worry about losing track of time: every minute, the game will post a reminder on the screen telling you how many minutes you have left. However, this countdown clock is actually one minute off: the first message you see tells you that you have 13 minutes left, when in fact you have 14 minutes left. This countdown will continue until it tells you that you have 2 minutes left (at which point you really have 3 minutes left); 65 seconds later, the countdown changes to reminders every 5 seconds (starting with one telling you that you have 115 seconds left).

Fifteen minutes is a relatively short time to get through this world, but not so short that you need to panic. A character with a speed of 98 can make it from the gate to the Sigil stone in just over three minutes, running the most direct route and without stopping to fight anyone or collect any loot along the way. So even if you get lost on the way to the main tower, as long as you make it to the bottom of the tower with two minutes to spare, you should still be able to finish the quest... as long as you can avoid stopping to fight anyone.

Preparing for this quest with some extra potions and/or enchanted armor can be useful. Fortify Speed always comes in handy. Invisibility is perhaps even more useful, since stopping to fight the Daedra and Dremora is the easiest way to waste precious time. Resist Fire and Fire Shield will help to limit the damage that you take from the fire towers.

[edit] Layout of the World

When you first step through the Great Gate, you will see a huge war gate in front of you that is just starting to open. On the far side of the war gate is the ominous Siege Crawler, which over the next 15 minutes will slowly walk forward towards the great gate. The Siege Crawler does not pose any immediate threat to you, although the many fire towers in the area and the couple of Daedra accompanying the Siege Crawler can be lethal.

The main tower, the World Breaker, is directly in front of you on the far side of the Siege Crawler. The main tower is, as always, recognizable by the yellow light visible at its top. Between you and the main tower are six peripheral towers, the World Breaker Guards: a line of three on your left, and a line of three on your right. The nearest four World Breaker Guards are basically optional; they provide one way of getting from where you are to the main island. The furthest two World Breaker Guards, however, each contain a switch on their top level that opens the final sets of war gates. Therefore, you will need to ascend one of those towers in order to gain access to the main World Breaker tower.

The one other feature of interest in this world is a cave system, The Smoke and Scorch which provides access to the bottom levels of the final two World Breaker Guards. Otherwise, the rest of this world is pretty barren. There are no fleshy pods or other rewards in the exterior world, other than the usual assortment of Oblivion plants. There are very few creatures, even: only the two Daedra at the beginning and then four Dremora near the final tower, at least in the exterior sections.

[edit] Reaching the World Breaker

The most direct way to get to the main tower is to ignore the first four World Breaker Guards. Instead, run towards the Siege Crawler, following the left-hand (western) lava shore. It is possible to run along this shore without stepping in the lava, although you will be under constant attack from the numerous fire towers in this area; players who can survive some lava damage may also choose to just swim through (or run over) the lava. Once you pass the middle pair of World Breaker Guard towers (probably shortly after you reach the Siege Crawler), jog to the west to get under the bridge. Continue north and you should run straight into the door to The Smoke and Scorch cave. This can be done in less than a minute.

Enter the cave system, and jump down through the hole in the floor. Be prepared to encounter a few creatures in the caves. You can either work your way one room to the east (for the entrance to the western of the two final World Breaker Guards), or you can work your way south through the tunnels (leading to the eastern Guard tower). You may even want to spend some time exploring the whole cave system, because there are multiple fleshy pods in here.

Exit from the caves into one of the World Breaker Guard towers. Ascend the Corpse Masher then climb the circular ramp to the top level, where you will find a Blood Fountain, The Punished, a dremora, and, most importantly, a Gate Control. Activate the Gate Control, then work your way back down the tower to the door half-way down. Exit through the door to find yourself on the final bridge leading to the main tower... with four Dremora between you and the door.

There are many alternate routes for how to get from the entrance to the final pair of World Breaker Guard towers, one of which you must climb in order to open the war gates on the final bridge. (Unless you have extremely high agility and want to try to jump around the north side of the war gates. It is possible to bypass the war gates completely, but it is also possible to get yourself permanently stuck in between the rocks, so this option is not recommended).

The most obvious alternative is to enter one of the first two World Breaker Guard towers. This allows you to keep well clear of the lava and avoid a few fire towers. On the downside, you will have to fight or evade a couple creatures in each tower, and waste some time running up and down and riding Corpse Mashers. Each tower has two doors leading to high-level narrow bridges that connect the various Guard towers. Cross the bridge that leads north to one of the middle pair of Guard towers. Descend in that tower to the lower level door, that lets you out onto one of the wide bridges continuing northwards. Alternatively, if you have high health or acrobatics, after entering the second tower, take the door on the same level as the one you entered through, to find yourself on the bridge that joins the middle two towers. Then jump down. This method is quicker, but at the expense of health. Your next problem is that these bridges have collapsed, on both sides. You can try to jump across the broken spans, or else you have to jump down and make it across the broken terrain underneath.

Another alternative is to not go through the cave system. It is possible to make your way on the surface to the exterior doors to each of the final two World Breaker Guard towers. If you can jump the broken spans of bridges, you are on a path that leads right to the towers. Otherwise, you need to work your away around the many rocks and cliffs on the surface to reach the entrance. By taking the surface route, you avoid a couple creatures and avoid a slow ride up the Corpse Masher. On the other hand, you can waste a lot of time finding your way through the rocks, and you also miss some of the little loot available in this world.

[edit] Ascending the World Breaker

The World Breaker tower is a fairly standard Oblivion tower, with a Sigillum Sanguis at the top where you will find the Great Sigil Stone. In the lower level there is just one Dremora, the Sigil Keeper. If your lockpicking skills are poor, you will probably want to stop and kill the Sigil Keeper, because he possesses the Sigil Key that opens the Sigillum Sanguis. Or you can wait until the upper levels of the tower, where there is a second Sigil Keeper with the same key.

From the ground floor, you will enter the Vaults of End Times. Ascend the first corridor, watching out for the three guillotine traps. The corridor leads to a room with three possible exits. The way upwards is through the door on your left (on the south side of the room); the other doors are just dead ends without any loot.

Continue upwards in the main tower to the Sigillum Sanguis. The door is locked, but it can be lockpicked (if you didn't get the key from the Sigil Keeper). In the Sigillum Sanguis, you probably want to stop and find the two instances of The Punished, which can contain fairly good loot. Then grab the Great Sigil Stone. Be careful to grab just one Sigil stone. Like other quest-related Sigil towers, Sigil stones can be taken multiple times here (unconfirmed if this is simply a bug or not), however this tower will only donate great Sigil stones, and Martin will only take one of them. Unless you're fine with hauling 2-3 great Sigil stones in your pack (which are flagged as quest items, but are mercifully weightless), do not jackhammer your use key.

[edit] Back to Bruma

You will arrive back on the battle field underneath the Siege Crawler, which will immediately collapse around you when the Great Gate closes. No matter how quickly you complete the quest, the Siege Crawler will have emerged partway through the gate. On the ground you will find a standard Sigil Stone, leveled as usual, that drops from the Siege Crawler when it shuts down. Sometimes you have to activate the siege machine to release the Sigil Stone.

Note: If you leave the stone on the ground and choose not to pick it up it will continue to level up as you do. I.e. If you do the quest at level 6 but don't pick it up until level 17 you will get a Transcendent Stone instead of a Subjacent at level 6. Like other Sigil Stones its effects will not be determined until you pick it up.

Help clean up any remaining daedra or dremora. Martin is once again essential, so do not worry about keeping him alive. If there are any survivors of the battle, they will start clapping. Talk to Martin, who will take the Great Sigil Stone from you and tell you to meet him at Cloud Ruler Temple when you are ready for the next quest: Mankar Camoran's Paradise.

When you return to Bruma from Cloud Ruler Temple, you will find a statue of you as the Savior of Bruma, located to your right when entering the city from the North Gate. The statue's appearance is determined (and it spawns) the moment you enter a "new" cell occupied by Martin. This will usually be when you open the door to Cloud Ruler Temple after he has returned there, but can be on the road to it if you intercept him along the way. The armor and weapon will actually be the best quality items that you had in your inventory at the time, not necessarily the items that you had equipped.

The game determines the "best" items, not just the most expensive items, taking into account enchantments; for example, the Dark Brotherhood Black Hand Robe has zero value but will take precedence over many other items, including some magical armor. If you are very particular about the appearance of your statue, it is recommended that you leave all of your additional items in a safe place before talking to Martin. If you possess a quest item that cannot be removed that you do not wish your statue to wear, it is still possible to work around this; see the Notes below.

[edit] Notes

• There are some weird possibilities with the "Savior of Bruma" statue that appears after this quest. If you open the console, target your statue, and enter the resurrect command, your statue will come alive as a giant version of your character. This "living statue" will make random comments as any other character will when you walk by them, but will be otherwise unremarkable. It has no conversation topics, and will not turn hostile even when attacked though it may if you attack guards or other innocent citizens. It actually doesn't even register damage as it has no health to speak of. If you leave the area and come back, the statue will have returned to its inanimate state and resumed its original pose and position on the pedestal, this time with no weapon in its outstretched hand as its weapon will be sheathed. On a side note, if you type kill into the console instead of resurrect, the statue assumes a "death position" in which it will remain until you use the console on it again. As it dies, the weapon/shield in its hands turns into a real object and can be picked up afterwards and used as a real item. A little pointless perhaps, since you already have any item it can drop, but interesting all the same.
  • If you have exploited a permanent enchantment glitch, the statue can end up wearing items with active effects that you no longer possess.
  • If you have no shield, more than 1000 torches, and aren't using a two handed weapon when the statue is created, the statue will be holding a torch in its right hand as well as the weapon: if the weapon is large enough, it will hide the torch's branch and it will appear that the weapon itself is flaming.
• If you are in possession of certain quest items, you will be unable to remove them from your inventory and your statue will end up equipping them. The Bloodworm Helm and Umbra in particular can be obtained permanently (tagged a quest item), and because of the grade of the enchantments, will always be forcibly equipped on the statue. To boot, these items either cannot or should not be removed (Helm irremovable via a clone-dupe bug, Umbra's benefit is 0 weight from never turning it in). To get around this, either enchant a ring or create a spell that will disintegrate armor (or weapon) "on self". Wearing only the quest item in question, repeatedly equip the ring/cast the spell until the item is broken.
  • Since the statue is quasi-living, it shares the same AI as NPCs, and therefore will not equip a broken item.
  • In the case of the Bloodworm Helm, it is still possible to have your statue wear no helmet at all. Even if the Helm is broken in your inventory, the statue will not wear it and its face will be fully visible.
• After the statue has been created, Bruma residents will occasionally greet you by saying:

Hey, you look just like your statue! What can I do for you?

• Take note that when you enter the great gate the siege crawler may blast fireballs at you but unlike normal fireballs it fires them in bursts.
• This is the only time in the game when you can see and watch oblivion gates opening, all other gates are pre-opened

[edit] Bugs

• When you take the Great Sigil Stone, the Great Gate may not close when you return to Tamriel, even after the Siege Crawler has emerged from the gate. If this happens, re-enter the Great Gate and run back through the world once more to the Sigilum Sanguis. At that point you should be transported back to Bruma, with the gate gone.

• When you take the Great Sigil Stone, you may not be transported back to Bruma. If this occurs and a save game does not seem to rectify the problem, make your way back to the gate and manually leave Oblivion. The main quest will continue as normal.

• It is possible that the statue will not hold a staff correctly if it was the best weapon in your inventory at the time the statue was created. The only fix is to reload from an earlier save.

[edit] Maps

[edit] Journal Entries

Great Gate (MQ14)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0
10		The Great Gate has opened! I must enter it at once and get its Great Sigil Stone, before the Bruma defenders are overwhelmed.
15		(player enters great gate for the first time)
20		I have entered the Great Gate. The Daedric Siege Engine is crawling towards the portal! If it exits the Gate before I reach the Sigil Stone, all is lost.
30		The Daedric Siege Engine has almost exited the Gate! I must reach the Sigil Stone!
40		The Daedric Siege Engine has exited the Great Gate!
45
48		(set when player returns from Oblivion)
50		I reached the Great Sigil Stone and closed the Gate. The Battle of Bruma is won! Now to give the sigil stone to Martin.
60		Martin was pleased to see me return alive from the Great Gate. I gave him the Great Sigil Stone, and he has gone to Cloud Ruler Temple to prepare for the portal-opening ritual.
100	0

Notes

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage quest stage. Where quest is the internal name of the quest, and stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.

Prev:  Defense of Bruma

Up: Main Quest

Next: Paradise