Oblivion talk:Boots of Springheel Jak

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Archive 1: February 2007 - December 2009

Another Note[edit]

I was doing that quest (with a follower,it's not related,whatever) on a french version of the game.I came in the vampire's cave and ran away,avoiding fight.I then ran outside for a hope of getting helped by imperial guards,when only one vampire (that i didn't see in the cave) came out.I was even more surprised when i searched his body and found out he was Jakkben;he was wearing a mithril armor,ice enchanted claymore,and the boots.I didn't get any journal entry for his death,i only got a message that said i got the boots,nothing more.I took his sword but i was overweighted so i placed it back in his inventory,and it duplicated (it got back normal as soon as i closed the inventory.All the Gray Fox part of the quest went good,but i'm kinda surprised by how i didn't get any journal information about Jakkben Imbel.if this can help,i pickpoketted the key of his house at the start of the quest.So here is my question:what happenned? — Unsigned comment by 86.203.134.30 (talk) on 26 February 2010

To me, it sounds like a very strange one-off glitch but if someone else can pledge to this happening to them than it should be added to the article.--21:29, 26 February 2010 (UTC)
Oh,and i forgot to mention i ran directly to the coffin and took the journal when i came to the cave.Surprisingly,i didn't see Jakkben in the cave,and he was the only one to get out and fight the imperial guards. — Unsigned comment by 86.203.134.30 (talk) on 26 February 2010
Probably just a timing glitch. Another possibility is that Jakben is supposed to fight you inside the cave, not outside; so the scripts forcing the journal stages went a bit berserk. --SerCenKing Talk 23:17, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Trying to shed some light into some weird things[edit]

There are two things that at start seem weird. 1st: His servant warns you how much of a fighter and aggressive his master is, but Jakben later on cowers like a little girl when you talk to him. He then proceeds to give you the catacombs key quite easily, while he knows there are things (vampires) in there he wouldn't like you to see. 2nd: There is a tomb down there supposedly of Springheel Jak which however later on you learn is the same guy as Jakben. So why is there a tomb for a living person? My take on 1st is that Jakben is pretending. Note that when you talk to him he says that the catacombs "give him the creeps" which is kinda ironic. The 2nd case can be explained if you count the available beds in the house. It's only one. And it's his servant sleeping there at night, so my conclusion is that Jakben is supposedly sleeping in the coffin. Eth 01:04, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

Also a funny thing to note: After you finish the quest and reenter Ganredhel's House, you can witness Grey Fox's unmatched thieving ability - he just stole the very same chair he was sitting at. :P Eth 02:12, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

He cowers and acts frighten because he is leading you to believe that he isnt Springheel Jack. He tries to kill you when you get into the catacombs thats why he gives you the key because he thinks that him and the vampires should kill you. And him having the tomb is just a trap for you.--Toungennose 15:36, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

No this is meant to happen because it doesnt matter wether you kill him or not. You can actually just pickpocket him.

Can't equip boots anymore![edit]

Thought I'd post on here seeing as there doesn't seem to be a specific page for the boots themselves, but I have a problem now where I get the message 'You cannot equip this enchanted item right now' when I try to equip the boots. I was having no problem beforehand, but since doing the Sanguine daedric quest, I can't use the boots. They still appear in my inventory as working,so why is it that I can't use them? I've gone to jail before and they haven't been taken away or made unequippable. 81.104.163.95 16:07, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

You probably had them equiped when you did the Sanguine shrine quest- No? This causes the permenant effect quest item glitch. If you look in your abilities section of your spells, you will probably see the enchantment of them there, even though they are not equiped.--Arch-Mage MattTalk 16:15, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Guard Tip?[edit]

taken from the article:

  • If you get caught in the act of breaking into his home just lure the guard into his basement and then the vampires and guards will stop fighting thus you can escape the guards and get everything you need for the quest. This means of doing the quest also proves to be very lucrative because you can loot all of the vampires.

I'm not sure what it means or if it is really helpful. Nevertheless, if someone can prove that this is a good tip, the wording should be a lot better before we put it back. --Krusty 21:15, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

springheel jack[edit]

i went into the crypt in the basement and got the diary and i think i killed jack but i did not grab the boots since my guy had alot of stuff on him so i left n sold my items then went back to find that he is gone so if anyone can help me my xbox360 name is geriatricisland --99.181.136.236 20:04, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

Why didnt you grab them? As far as I remember they were 0 weight items --ArnyTalk 20:14, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

they might have been idk but i still can't find his body ive search every where and even the ground of the crypt is it possible that he glitched thru the floor maybe?

Check where you killed him if he isnt there because you play on the 360 load an earlier save --ArnyTalk 20:45, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

i don't have a earlier save of that mission :(

Read the bugs section on the page to see if there is a solution, if there isnt you will have to load a save before the bug happened sry, if you were on the pc you could have easily fixed this --ArnyTalk 20:51, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

nope there is not i guess i'll just stop doing the grey fox quest for now which sucks for me well thank you for trying to help me i appreciate it

Im sry I couldnt help you I know how it feels I play on the 360 too and my Vampire cure quest glitched so I cant complete it, I found a previous save but if I load it I will lose 8 lvls. ArnyTalk 10:20, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

--I found 2 boots of springheel Jak right after closing the Oblivion Gate in Kvatch, which is still WAY early in the game, but now that I'm a shadow foot every time I walk in to talk to Gray Fox he's like, " You have the shoes?", and in my mind I think, I never even started the quest to begin with and how did I find you so easily, aren't you supposed to be hidden?, and the only option is "no give me more time", I'm still waiting for Methredel to give me the start of the new Shadowfoot quest but at this point I don't think it's ever gonna happen. I've waited 3 days and nothing has turned up, I think I'm stuck between TURNING A BLIND EYE mission and THE BOOTS OF SPRINGHEEL JAK, almost in a paradox where I can't ever hand over the damn boots or start the next mission.

This happened again in Adijari's Heirloom: there were 2 rings in the box that I took, I figured ,"Hey, why not give one back and fence the other?", but then Adijhari kept saying, "You have the ring?" and all I could say was, "Nope", or, "That stupid lizard tried to doop the countess". But when I went back and re-did the mission [luckily I saved right before taking the rings] and only took 1 of the 2 rings and it worked out OK. Thanks a lot Bethesda, you're buggy games have served all of us well.

~And on a side note: Fallout 3 isn't much better.

Springheel Jak Glitch[edit]

Help! I went into the basment and started to fight off the vampires as there were loads of them. Then i killed the last one and it turned out to be Springheel Jak. Anyway i searched him and found that he only had normal glass armor on and not the boots, but i hadnt read the diary yet so I went upstairs to his house and read his diary. I went down to check of he had the boots on but he didn't. I then searched all the vampires all the chests and generally everyone, everything and everywhere in the house yet I could not find them. Can anyone help? By the way I cant do the Console glitch because im playing on Xbox 360.92.8.150.244 15:28, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

I think I figured it out. Before, whenever i went back there were more vampires sop I went back again because i got some cool stuff from them but my game froze. So I was there looking for them and I found his Corpse:-)92.8.150.244 16:05, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

About the name..[edit]

Just thought it might be intresting to you guys: The name Springheel Jak and the boots were most likely inspired by a character from English folklore/urban legend during the Victorian era called Spring Heeled Jack. He was a man or devil-like being who could jump to amazing lengths. Rica T'snark 17:00, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

You're exactly right, and this easter egg is already stated here. -- Jplatinum16 17:12, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Stuck on the quest, thievery doesn't update[edit]

Hi, I'm having trouble with this quest on my xbox360. I can complete it, but when it's done, the independent thievery quest doesn't update, it keeps saying 'I reached my goal, I fenced over 800gold', but this is needed for the quest I just did. Some things I noticed I thought were strange: when the quest is done, Grey Fox stays in the house in Chorrol, only saying 'I need time to think', and also when I meet Jakben in his house he doesn't hide himself, he sees me as a intruder (and shouts 'intruder') but keeps standing up, and I can't talk about the crypt to him. But when I steal the Imbel Genealogy, he imediately gets down shaking, and I can ask for the key to the crypt. Please can anyone help me? I don't know what I'm doing wrong :( Also, Fathis doesn't like me after the Sins of the Father quest. 77.162.59.40 00:31, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

A Very Frustrating bug[edit]

So I'm on the boots quest and when I am told to go back to the house in Cheydinhal the gray fox is not there I went back to Bruma to see if he was there but nothing. Can anyone give me a way to fix this. I'm on xbox 360 by the way — Unsigned comment by 86.183.153.146 (talk)

This happend to me to! I found out that my problem was that i somehow got the boots before i read diary of Springheel Jak. I just loaded an earlier save. --Archain 14:47, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Regarding my recent contribution on the boots availability[edit]

  • Tested on the PC.
  • Thieves guild has not been approached in any form. No dialogue initiated.
  • At level 5, my character checked Jak's inventory which had low level armor, including boots, and a weapon. At level 17 he again had appropriately leveled equipment.
  • At level 20 I again checked his inventory. He had glass boots and gauntlets, magical greaves and cuirass, and a Daedric longsword.
  • I attacked Jak at level 20 with a destroy armor spell then ran and hid. Later that night I again checked his inventory. All the armor was damaged, but remained the same type.
  • I attacked him until he was unconscious. I checked his inventory as he fell to the floor and twice when he was on the floor.
  • Several game days later he still carries the same armor.
  • When he is not wearing the armor he is wearing low shoes or slippers.
  • The artifact boots were never seen at any time.

Sniffles 09:26, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, but he definitely has the boots all along.
The problem is that Jakben is essential so there's no way to see the equipment that he is wearing. As you're on the PC, you can use the console command setessential 000148D5 0 then kill him. You'll find the boots on his corpse, equipped.
I'm guessing this is why all his leveled equipment can be enchanted except the boots. This means the enchanted Springheel boots will always be chosen as "better" than his other pair so he'll wear those.
I've double-checked this in game and in CS so it's definitely correct. rpeh •TCE 10:08, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

So why do I see him wearing glass boots when he is wailing on me? Sniffles 11:12, 29 November 2010 (UTC) And, why did the glass boots get damaged from my destroy armor spell? Sniffles 11:16, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

When he attacks, he'll switch to armor - the boots are clothing. rpeh •TCE 11:14, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Now that makes sense! The low shoes or slippers are really the 'boots'. Mystery solved!

Yup. Giving Jak some zero weight Daedric boots works. Wap him once or equivalent and he changes to armor. Let him calm down and pick pocket his boots. Is this cheating, exploiting a glitch? No more so than instantly donning armor as he goes into combat mode.

/* Notes */ Addition and clarification - Should this be here or on the Jak page?[edit]

Some of the information about Jak should be moved to the Jak page and fit into the standard NPC template format. 118.172.34.140 21:46, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

His inventory and clothes really doesn't belong on the quest page, with the exception of the brief explanation in this section, which I added for flow, nothing more. His inventory, including a detailed description of his leveled armor and weapon, belongs on his own page. --Krusty 21:56, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Jak not going to crypt[edit]

Whenever I read up on this quest here it says that you read Jak's diary, and he then shows up at the catacombs. However, on all three of my files, this has not been the case. Instead, I read the diary and he does not show up. I then leave Jakben's house, and wait for a few hours, he then comes charging in angrily and the guards kill him. Can someone tell me why this is the case? Is this only on the PS3 version?

Dark Brotherhood trigger[edit]

I was replaying this quest and got to the point right after opening Jak's coffin and reading the diary. I knew that he was supposed to rush in right after that, so I kept my bow aimed at the door to shoot as soon as I saw him running towards me. Soon enough he showed up in the distance and I shot an arrow and killed him (I was sneaking and he hadn't noticed me yet), but then I got the DB message "Your killing has been observed by forces unknown". I thought it was weird, so I reloaded my save and tried again. This time, I waited for him to get close and notice me, then he drew his weapon and I killed him. No DB message showed up. It seems that while Jak's running towards you, and if he hasn't yet noticed you, he's not hostile so sneak killing him counts as a murder. It does not incur a bounty though. Can anyone confirm this? I'm using the UOP, so it might be causing that.

That happened because you killed him the first time without provocation, or well the game lists it as such. The second time was self defence, and that situation is more or less the same as being attacked by a bandit, so to speak. So yea it's perfectly normal that it happened, and it's not caused by the UOP. Razor 17:43, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Quest doesn't update properly[edit]

Playing with my second character, I go down into the catacombs and get the book from the tomb. I read it, nothing happens. I've tried dropping the book and reading it again but Jakben never appears, and the quest doesn't update. So I head out of the catacombs and back upstairs until I find him in his study. He's suited up and attacks on sight. After I've killed him and collected the boots, the quest then updates with 'I have the boots. Now to get back to the Gray Fox in Ganredhel's house in Cheydinhal.' So there's no problem, I can still finish the quest, I just thought it was weird because when I did the quest with my first character, it updated fine. Has anyone else had this happen? TabbyHaHa 00:50, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Check out the long bugs section on the quest page; you are not the only one! :) --Krusty 23:20, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Same with me by the way what version you using i am using 360 --Candc466.183.188.243 03:27, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

A very annoying glitch.[edit]

I hadn`t read the diary as i knew how to do it but after completing the quest the game freezes when i read the diary its very annoying as its stuck in my house. Xxgreenbunnyxx 16:09, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

I think I remember a glitch where unpatched games freeze when trying to read the diary from anywhere except the inventory. Only suggestion I have is to move it to an unobtrusive place or cover it up. Sorry!--Catmaniac66 17:57, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Oh darn thats a shame since i have to dump it somewhere in rosethorn hall Xxgreenbunnyxx 23:29, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Keeping the boots after The Ultimate Heist quest[edit]

After you get the elder scroll, sneak back into the guards barracks in the palace that you came into. Click on the grate in the fireplace and it should say you jumped from the battle mage's fireplace and were wondering if that was why you needed to boots of springheel jack. Since the grate in the guards barracks were locked with a key you cant get through. All you have to do is get caught by the guards. then they are all yours.

Nub747 02:22, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

It says that on the quest page for The ultimate heist, it doesnt need to be here as well.--Catmaniac66 02:26, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

Any way to fix the bugs on the 360?[edit]

So I made the mistake of talking to the Grey Fox about knowing Springheel Jak before I talked to him about the boots, and now he'll only say "Not now, I need to think." The problem is I didn't know this was a problem until too late. It was only when I mentioned to my boyfriend that it had been a while since I'd been contacted by the Thieves' Guild that he told me about the bug, but I've done a lot of stuff in the game since then, and don't have any saves from before talking to the Grey Fox. Since I'm playing on my boyfriend's Xbox360 I can't use the patches or command line to fix bug; does anyone know of any way to fix this that works on the 360? Please, I'd hate for my whole Thieves' Guild questline to be over because I picked the wrong conversation topic first.

76.178.146.200 05:37, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Unfortunately that was a major flaw in the quest script that was never officially patched. The only solution without access to the console is to load a previous save, sorry. --DKong27 Talk Cont 13:07, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Bug testing, please?[edit]

Okay, just wanted to refresh everybody’s memory about THIS supposed “bug” – that turned out not to be a bug anyway. Eventually. Maybe.
After I wrote the quest page, I took a real close look at Jakben and it turned out he went to the crypt during several hours of the day, a fact backed up by AKB in his recently added schedule on Jakben's page. So this little bold note needs testing; why is it that Jak SOMETIMES wanders around in his study all day long – and sometimes not? When will he enter the crypt – and how does he do it without a key? Testing involves both the quest page and NPC page, but feel free to test it – and remember to do so BEFORE and DURING the quest. It’s a tedious job, but we should be able to get this right. --Krusty 08:50, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

"When you accept the quest from the Gray Fox, Jakben will stop sleeping in the crypt between 6am and 6pm. This package was supposed to be reactivated when you have received information from the beggars, but the corresponding Journal Entry (25) is missing from the game. This causes Jakben to stay awake at all times, making your investigation of the house much harder."
This is incorrect... stage 25 is there, and although it has no journal text this makes no difference at all; it's still a valid stage. The package JakbenSleep6x12's conditions are if the stage is <25 or >30. It appears as this was deliberately put there so that he wouldn't sleep, to make the break-in more of a challenge. There are no other Jakben packages that aren't already assigned to him that could be assigned to cause the problem. From this cursory check I don't see a bug. Kivan 01:50, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Killing Jakben[edit]

If you kill Jakben while he is cowering and before reading the diary, can you still loot the boots? Can someone look into this? SkoomaManiac 19:47, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

im pretty sure he's essential until you get to the part where you have to kill him... Kitkat1749 ;) 20:57, 8 August 2011 (UTC)
I'm unconvinced. His character page says that he's Essential until the Boots of Springheeled Jak quest. I'll look into it. SkoomaManiac 19:43, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

I think that means he's essential until the end of the quest. Kitkat1749 19:53, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

I saw something in the archives that made me think otherwise. I'm very close to that quest, so I'll add something to the notes if I can confirm it. SkoomaManiac 13:29, 12 August 2011 (UTC)
Confirmed: You can kill Jakben before entering the crypt and thus bypassing the vampire fight. I'm adding a note. SkoomaManiac 01:03, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
Somebody must have seen this conversation and beaten you to it :)

But yeah, you're right. My only concern is; does it break the questline? Kitkat1749 TalkContribE-mail 01:15, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Lol it's ok. I got to improve it; it was pretty poorly written. Thanks for the revision. It doesn't break the questline. I was able to start The Ultimate Heist with no problems at all. Poor foresight on Bethesda's part, really. Makes it so much easier. SkoomaManiac 23:27, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Permanent effect glitch.[edit]

Maybe this was a one time thing, but if the boots are equipped when starting the Through A Nightmare Darkly quest, they will be removed and returned at the end of the quest. They cannot be put back on or dropped, however, the acrobatics skill will still retain the 50 point bonus (It will be in green). This allows the use of different boots, with a permanent bonus!

Yes, this is a known bug. I believe it was mentioned in the article. When equipped quest items are forcibly removed you retain their special effects. SkoomaManiac 22:43, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Annoying freeze issue[edit]

I know the game is older than old, but I just got it so bear with me please. Something I noticed during this quest. If you steal his armor while he's in his study so that he'll be easier to kill, the game freezes when you go through the door to the catacombs. I went down before so I know it's not the disk. So pretty much the only choice you have left is to kill him and incur a bounty. This XBox 360 Version. I tried multiple times to go into the catacombs and even waited 20 mins. It just freezes on the loading screen. — Unsigned comment by 108.223.66.132 (talk) at 23:38 on 13 May 2013

Imbel Genealogy does not appear[edit]

This hasn't happened to me before, which is why I only noticed it now. Sometimes, after you break into Jakben Imbel's house as part of the quest, the Imbel Genealogy does not appear in the desk in his study. I'm not entirely sure of the cause, but prior to the quest, I had broken into his house multiple times for the sake of robbing it. This included going into his study and looking inside his desk. Normally, the book appears in the desk once the quest is initiated, but this time I can't seem to find it. The quest can still be completed by talking to Jakben, but I don't know what happened to the book. Also, Jakben Imbel does not attack me in the crypt like he's supposed to, rather, I had to find him in his study, at which point he attacked me. FrozenWolf150 (talk) 19:12, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

Yep, this has just happened to me and whenever I go to talk to him directly, he just has the 'Rumours' dialogue option. I've reloaded a save from a while back, but seemed to have the same problem. I must have triggered this bug even earlier in the game. I'm on Xbox 360, with only Wizards Tower and Orrery installed - The Options -> Video tab displays v1.2.1. Drumachine01 (talk) 07:58, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
So upon further investigation, it looks like I had already broken into his house earlier in the game. I must have broken into the desk before I even started the thieves guild quest and I wonder if this was the cause of my problems. I tried to get around this issue by straight up murdering Jakben and stealing his boots, which seemed to work - the quest even gets marked as complete after I return them to the grey fox. However, the next stage of Independent Thievery never initiates. I tried to force this to update by fencing beyond 1000 gold, but with no success. It looks like the end of the road for me on this one. Another classic questline-killing bug! Drumachine01 (talk) 14:43, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

I need to think glitch[edit]

I got the boots and did the quest, then I started with the Dark Brotherhood quest line and during it I read the diary for Jakben and a pop up came saying I had to talk to the Gray Fox about it. When I did, he just said I need to think and then I completed the Brotherhood quest line and he still says it plz don't do dis to me Oblivion. I'm on Xbox 360

5 bounty when entering the basement?[edit]

From what I read about this mission I think I'm hitting a bug with the bounty and/or Jakben. My steps:

  1. Find out about Jakben from a beggar.
  2. Sneak into his house. He's romaing around the 2nd floor at 1.30 AM. I sneak or use Moonshadow to get into the study and read the diary.
  3. I come down and confront Jakben.
  4. He gives me the key and and starts following me (he doesn't go hiding in the study as I read elsewhere).
  5. I go down to the basement door and pick the lock to enter the basement. Upon doing so I instantly get a 5 bounty. Jakben stays behind by the basement door (as soon as I go back into the house I get a guard in my face).

Now here's the worst part. After entering the basement a guard can appear at random triggering the arrest (I tried several times). Resisting makes things almost impossible as more continue to appear. If I make it to the crypt with the vampires the guards fight the vampires first, but afterwards they try to arrest me, leaving me with a big bounty.

Maybe because of Jakben following me to the basement and seeing me trespassing the bounty is triggered?

The only way to make it without the bounty is having the locks picked BEFORE confronting Jakben. Even if the icon on the basement door is red, the bounty doesn't trigger when he "sees" me trespassing.

Also Jakben is impossible to pickpocket from. If I try to pickpocket an item, the item never appears on my inventory and a guard appaers instantly. Jakben is unkillable, before or after reading the diary, attacking him makes guards appear from nowhere. I couldn't manage to check it though, if I continue to attack him more and more guards appear turning the affair into an orgy of steel. — Unsigned comment by 201.235.49.179 (talk) at 18:44 on 14 October 2017

You appear to have encountered multiple bugs, and I would seriously suggest reloading from before you took the quest if possible. Not being able to pickpocket is a sign that his essential status remains (and obviously being unkillable), but it should be gone. There is a bug listed concerning trespassing and a guard appearing, but this includes Jakben not appearing in the cave. I'm not sure but it implies that you should not be considered trespassing at all. Jakben should not follow you, as you need to break through so many doors (or pickpocket Gemellus for a key to most of them). I just can't see with all these bugs how you can get through it, especially the unkillable Jakben, but you could try the arrest route to be sure. Silence is GoldenBreak the Silence 18:23, 14 October 2017 (UTC)