Skyrim:Battle for Windhelm

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Conquer the Stormcloak capital and bring Ulfric to justice. Quest Giver: Legate Rikke Location(s): Eastmarch Imperial Camp, Windhelm. Prerequisite Quest: The Battle for Fort Amol Reward: Leveled Sword and ability to buy Hjerim. ID: CWSiegeObj

Forcing Ulfric Stormcloak to surrender

Quick Walkthrough

1. Fight through waves of Stormcloaks.
2. Reach the Jarl's palace.
3. Force Ulfric Stormcloak to surrender.

Detailed Walkthrough

For the Empire! For the Legion!

Arrive at Windhelm for the battle to begin. You will find General Tullius at the gates, giving a speech to a group of Imperial Soldiers:

For the Empire! For the Legion!

"All right. It's time to deliver the final blow to the Stormcloak rebellion. You have all fought bravely, and sacrificed much to bring us to this point. Ulfric thinks he can hide behind the walls of his castle. But we will fight our way in and drag him out through the rubble to face justice. Because this is the end for them, the Stormcloaks will fight like cornered rats. They will be fierce and crafty. But they are no match for Legionnaires. You are the best and the brightest warriors in Tamriel. Professional soldiers, fearless and devastating. The Emperor will be paying close attention to what happens here today. Men who distinguish themselves will be well rewarded. Ready now! Everyone, with me! For the Empire! For the Legion!"

When he finishes with this, charge into the main gate.

Battle for Windhelm

Once inside, you will be met by wave after wave of infinitely respawning Stormcloak Soldiers. Your options are to either stick around and fight off the soldiers, or rush through the opposition to the interior of the Palace of the Kings. You should be able to find your way to the Palace (debris will block your normal route) by taking the immediate left, then moving up the alley and into the market square. Upon reaching the square, turn right past the blacksmith and out to the cemetery. Once in the cemetery, take a left down the steps, then take the steps up past the Hall of the Dead. Upon reaching the top of the steps and smashing the barricade, take the first right down an alley. Once you reach the end of the alley, take a left up the steps, destroy the barricade, and proceed to the Palace of the Kings, where Ulfric and his second in command, Galmar Stone-Fist, are waiting for you.

Palace of the Kings

When you reach the palace, you may either attack Ulfric and kill him yourself, or allow the General to do it. You get an enchanted sword based on your level from the General when he asks you to use his sword for the execution. There is no penalty nor a mention for not using the General's blade. If you choose not to do the execution you will receive the sword after the speech.

After the completion of this quest, the Imperials will install a new Jarl, Brunwulf Free-Winter. If you later approach him, he will grant you the privilege of buying property in Windhelm and, if you speak to him, the opportunity to become Thane of Eastmarch.

Achievements

One achievement is unlocked at the end of this quest:

• Hero of Skyrim (30 points/Silver) — Capture Solitude or Windhelm

Notes

• During and after the siege of Windhelm, three catapults are present in nearby Windhelm Military Camp. They can be activated to fire projectiles into Windhelm. However, this has no effect on the siege.
• If you complete this quest before finishing the main quest, you can encounter both Ulfric's and Galmar's spirits in Sovngarde, lost in Alduin's soul-ensnaring mist. Ulfric expresses dismay at how all his war did was feed Alduin, while Galmar is incensed that even in Sovngarde the Dragonborn still dogs his steps. After the defeat of Alduin, Galmar will state that an eternity is too long to hold a grudge and praise you for defeating Alduin.
• If you talk to Rikke or Tullius after completing the quest, they'll tell you that they expect you to clear out any Stormcloak camps you come across. All occupants of these camps will continue to attack you after giving warnings to leave, but the Stormcloak commanders in each camp will still be marked as essential, making them unkillable.

Bugs

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• After killing Ulfric and Galmar, their corpses will not disappear and will remain in the palace permanently, even after Brunwulf has been made Jarl.
  • This bug is fixed by version 1.0 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
• After finishing the battle outside the Jarl's palace, enter the Jarl's palace as normal. All doors lock, then General Tullius speaks to Ulfric. When they stop talking, Ulfric and Galmar will attack only the Dragonborn while Legate Rikke and General Tullius draw their swords but otherwise remain still. Both NPCs can then be forced into submission state but will not die or allow a conversation to start. If Ulfric fails to see the Dragonborn he will go upstairs despite all doors being locked.
• In some cases when you meet General Tullius outside of Windhelm, the city gates will be open slightly. If the player activates the gates they will close and then lock. After this happens there seems to be no way to access Windhelm.
  • Reloading to a previous save may only work if you go back before the start of the quest.
  • On PC this can be solved by opening the console, selecting the gate and using the unlock-command.
• Sometimes after you hear General Tullius give his initial speech and charge into the Windhelm, the battle will not load. Instead you will enter the normal city with no Legion Soldiers or Stormcloaks. General Tullius and Legate Rikke will both be there and will attack the Windhelm guards on sight. If you have this bug, going back to a save before the start of liberate Eastmarch quest will not help. What triggers this bug is currently unknown, but some unknown previous interaction with the city seems the probable culprit. ^?
  • PC users can use the console commands to complete the quest, but Ulfric will continue to rule Windhelm and the house there will be inaccessible. A workaround to complete the quest with full imperial occupation of Eastmarch is to continue with General Tullius and Legate Rikke into the Palace, confront and defeat Ulfric, and then leave the city for thirty days until it resets.
  • This is possibly because General Tullius will follow his showdown scripting once you get him into the palace. When you enter the palace you need to move quickly away from the door or you will become stuck in cinematic mode. A solution to this issue, is to quit without saving, and let the game pick up the auto save from inside the Palace of Kings. This may take two or three attempts. The other thing you need to be careful about is the presence of two Windhelm guards at the door and Yrsarald Thrice-Pierced. The guards will attack General Tullius and Legate Rikke (who will not respond) and Yrsarald Thrice-Pierced will join the final battle, but since he is an essential character, you won't be able to kill him. Afterward, General Tullius will not give his speech and Yrsarald Thrice-Pierced will follow you around attacking until you leave the city. After the thirty days there should be no difference in result from a normal victory.
• After finishing the quest, Hadvar will constantly follow you with his sword drawn. This bug happens when he comes a few days after the battle to thank you. ^?
  • To fix this, simply stand as close to him as possible, save your game, then close and relaunch Skyrim.
• After finishing The Battle for Fort Amol and returning to the Imperial camp, Legate Rikke tells you to get orders from General Tulius, but the quest marker remains on Rikke. ^?
  • Open console and enter: setstage CWSiegeObj 1. This will start the siege quest. Then proceed normally.
• After finishing the quest, Brunwulf Free-Winter sometimes won't appear in the Palace of the Kings. All Stormcloak versions of the Jarls and their housecarls will be there, sitting at the table, but without Brunwulf in the palace, you are unable to purchase Hjerim.
  • Use the unrelenting force shout on everyone at the dinner table. This will give you a bounty in all the locations where the jarls were from. Fast travel away from windhelm, then back.
• It is possible for the General to never give you his sword, forcing you to do the execution without it. ^?
• After the battle ends, Windhelm may not be restored to its pre-battle condition (i.e. fires/barricades remain), and fast-travel icons may not reappear. Waiting will not fix this. Fast-travel to a distant city and reboot Skyrim to fix this. ^?
• After the battle ends, the game may continue looping the battle music, regardless of combat status. ^?
  • This can be fixed by opening the console and entering removemusic MUScombatcivilwar.
  • Rebooting the console will fix this.

Quest Stages

Only the quest stages and objectives that are possibly relevant to this radiant version of the quest are shown.

• <Alias=General>: General Tullius
• <Alias=City>: Windhelm

Battle for Windhelm (CWSiegeObj)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
1		I am to join General Tullius in the final attack on Windhelm, putting an end to the Stormcloak rebellion, once and for all.
1000		(Objective is assigned): Get your Orders from <Alias=General>
1005		(Objective is assigned): Break through the Enemy Barricade
1015		(Objective is assigned): Follow <Alias=General>
1020		(Objective is assigned): Open the Exterior Gate
1030		(Objective is assigned): Open the Drawbridge
1050		(Objective is assigned): Enter <Alias=City>
1060		(Objective is assigned): Break through the First Barricade
1070		(Objective is assigned): Break through the Second Barricade
1080		(Objective is assigned): Break through the Final Barricade
1200		(Objective is assigned): Force Jarl <Alias=Jarl> to surrender
1210		(Objective is assigned): Accept Jarl <Alias=Jarl>'s surrender
3010		(Objective is assigned): Break through the Enemy Barricades
3020		(Objective is assigned): Open the First Exterior Gate
3030		(Objective is assigned): Open the Last Exterior Gate
4001		(Objective is assigned): Force Ulfric Stormcloak to surrender
4101		(Objective is assigned): Execute Ulfric Stormcloak
8999
9000		We have captured Windhelm, killed Ulfric Stormcloak, and destroyed the rebellion..
9999

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