Skyrim talk:Hard Answers

City Guards

Two details: First, it doesn't seem that the city guards ignore you in the lab, as I always was caught by them and given a 5 Septim bounty. And 2nd, the city guards in the lab seem to be buggy, too, especially when using shouts (like Throw Voice or the Aura Thingy): In both cases, the guard started coming torwards me (me still being hidden, the 2nd time the guard even seemed to spawn out of nowhere) and tells me to stop. After that, as the guard is now near me, he tries to arrest me suddenly. --Irian 17:05, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

When i did this, i sneaked behind a guard patrolling, and without noticing me, he turned around and tried to arrest me with the same dialogue as in the prison quest when you get framed, even though i'd already completed that. --Bonabopn 18:01, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

Confirmed. City guards inside the Laboratory will notice ANY shout, including Aura Whisper, even if you have Quiet Casting, even if you are sneaking and 100% hidden on the farthest side of the room, even if you are in fact invisible. They will immediately home in on your location to give the "stop shouting, it's upsetting people" speech and cannot be avoided, then once you exit the dialog they will instantly become hostile, ruining stealth. Extremely frustrating for those used to using Aura Whisper to sneak around NPCs. Tested many times on two stealthy characters of different races, both with Quiet Casting, on Xbox. These guards are simply shout-psychics. :( 71.178.115.32 16:51, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

(←) Problem Solved: All guards outside the museum ignore me. Upon entering the museum and coming into view of the guards I too am given a 5 Septim bounty and they try to arrest me. Killing them by any means (weapon or console) causes guards outside to become hostile. Killing all three in museum results in the "no more witnesses..." message but again all outside guards become hostile. There is no chance of dialog with these hostile guards.

So, I decided to go to jail. The dialog started,

1. I can try to persuade (fails)
2. I can mention "I am with the guild..." and pay (fails)
3. I did respond as if the entire quest had been restarted (I'm innocent I tells ya) "It wasn't me. I've being framed!"

The guard replies as expected, "you aren't fooling me..."

Now I respond "I submit..."

To which the the guard replies again as expected "You will never see the sun again..."

Now I'm given two more dialog options.

1. "What's wrong?"
2. "What's the problem?"

Choosing "What's wrong?" the guard replies "You're not supposed to be in here" and walks away. All guards are now calm but attempting dialog with them will result in a repeat of the above.

Now leave and return and the whole process repeats itself. Also now, some guards in Understone Keep when passing near say "In the name of the Jarl I order you to stand fast.". You can initiate a dialog that begins with "You're making a mistake.". You now have the above options except after submitting your only dialog choice is "...". This causes the entire process to be repeated. Tab out of the dialog and the guard replies "I'll take my leave then.".--RasterOps 18:28, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

Quest Glitch

Something to beware (and test)

I've long since completed the Thieves Guild Quest line, however upon returning to Calcemo and going through all of his Dialogue options, I managed to persuade him into giving me the key to the Museum. Once I obtained the key the quest re-activated, telling me to copy down his notes again.

I've yet to go though with this, however I'm assuming it will never get completed (As some of the characters involved might not exist in my Game world anymore.)

~Dero (I'll remember my account password eventually) 8:55, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

I've experienced the same glitch. The quest: Hard Answers renews. However what makes it even more baffling is that by mistake, I already HAD a copy of Calcelmo's Stone Rubbing in my possesion. I don't know if that would affect the continuation of the quest as I also possess the Nightingale Blade as well. I will post back after any updates/changes to this glitch. Hopefully it will just finish itself, esp. after visiting Enthir as the poster below states.67.83.14.133 12:36, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

Aicantar seems to be stuck in the Calcelmo's Tower and won't leave not matter what method I've used to complete the side quest for the College of Winterhold side quests. I'm afraid now that I won't be able to access the rest of the side quests to improve the College given by Sergius Turrianus67.83.14.133 12:36, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

The quest reactivated for me as well, simply by visiting the dwarven museum, I completed it again and that was that, although I do not know what effect it could have had on Karliah. — Unsigned comment by Lauriy (talk • contribs) at 01:36 on 27 November 2011

This is the bug which leads to the bugged quest TG08A (Trinity restored) where Karliah will move back to Winterhold. Resolving it this way or via console solves the bug in TG08A and following. 91.42.214.185 00:37, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

I've had the same issue. Interestingly, I had to go into Calcelmo's lab again to pickpocket Alicanto because of one of the Radiant TG quests. It started the quest for me, so I followed it to see what would happen. It turned out they completed the quest as if normal, and Karliah gave me a better Nightingale Blade. Then she started using her normal dialogue, i.e. after the TG questline is finished. But I never had it lead to the Trinity Quest, it just ended.Aresvallis 16:00, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

For the first run, I somehow gained entry into the museum other than persuasion or killing Nimhe. Now, coming back for Nimhe and Puzzle Cube, I officially got the key from Calcelmo and upon entering the museum, Hard Answers reactivated for me as well. But now I can't seem to enter Calcemo's Tower a second time as the door from the balcony "requires key". (Same with the shortcut gate back to the entrance area of the lab. Amusingly, if you try to open the latter, the door behind you slams shut and is "barred from the other side", trapping you there. I had to reload.) I killed the quest with setstage TG06 200 which, of course, leaves a second quest log in the completed list and gives you a Nightingale Blade for your current level. 84.63.187.133 23:09, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

Pickpocketing the key again works as well. — Unsigned comment by 24.122.49.149 (talk) at 21:12 on 9 January 2012

(←) I have been trying to get this glitch to happen in my gme and have been unable to do so. We are on patch 1.4. Is it possible that this got fixed, or is there something special I have to do to get this quest to restart? — Unsigned comment by Ysne58 (talk • contribs) at 20:23 on 13 February 2012

Calcelmo's Lab

I just ran through the lab w/ his guards in pursuit. They didn't follow me on to the balcony area. As the main article points out, there's no bounty involved in being detected by his guards.

After collecting the rubbing, I left his quarters by strafing left and up on to the ledge above the hallway. If you sneak quickly you can sneak out just as they're beginning their search of his quarters.

On the return trip through the lab, you can unbarricade the door that bypasses the long trip through the zone, so sneaking back through fairly easy.

Bootstomp 02:06, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

In the laboratory, the wizard guards do not give any bounty if attacked and killed. There is one city guard who always catches you resulting in a 5 Septim bounty. He can see you even if you are invisible and will start coming towards you. Once he is close enough, he will initiate dialogue about you having committed crimes against the city and you will get a bounty. If you try and pay the bounty off, you are transported to the entrance of Cidhna Mine even though he replies to the effect of the bounty being taken care of and all your problems going away. Killing him results in a bounty at this point and is the only way out of the quest dialogue without being transported outside.

One solution is if you sneak and shoot him with a bow and arrow before being detected, he will attack along with the wizard guards in the area. You can kill all of them now and you will not get any bounty. From there, only wizard guards will be left in getting to and out of the laboratory. They can be killed with no bounty. — Unsigned comment by 72.226.50.198 (talk) at 19:11 on 29 November 2011

He can be avoided. I completed the quest without ever getting caught, or getting a bounty. Chris3145 00:44, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Another option for entering the Museum

It is entirely possible, with a high enough persuade skill, to have him give you the key by telling him you are a huge fan of his work, to which replies that there is no way a teacher could deny an aspiring student or some such. After which, he gives you the key, and tells you to stay out of his lab. Knowing that his work is, in fact, in his lab -_- — Unsigned comment by 75.71.114.55 (talk) at 00:36 on 1 December 2011

Journal Stuck in Inventory

I completed this quest and I still have the journal in my inventory and won't let you drop it. Is it supposed to remain a quest item or is it supposed to be taken by Enthir? Anybody else hit this bug?--76.98.59.192 17:57, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

I have the same thing. My guess is that it used again during the quest line. Chris3145 19:21, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

I also have the journal permanently stuck in my inventory. While Enthir "read" the book in front of me, the image of the book appeared open, but the page he was reading was pitch black. The opposite page was white and looked normal. When I first got the journal, I opened it and looked at it, perhaps this breaks it? --Amsuko 04:04, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Regarding the pages looking black, it is only a trick of the extreme/glitchy lighting in the room. If you also walk around to his side of the table and look over his right shoulder, you'll see writing on both pages of the book. The left-hand page looks normal, while the right-hand page has shading applied to it, which looks black from farther away. Leon Kowalski 15:42, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

Dialogue bugs

Therr seems to be a lot of people claiming not to get certain dialogue options. I for one completed his love quest thing yet I never had that dialogue option available to use to puersade him, which would have been nice and helpful. The only option i had was to mention the spider i killed and he just responded with "gtfo" — Unsigned comment by 86.181.86.26 (talk) at 03:13 on 6 December 2011

One way to get rid of the city guard

The city guard seems to start at the front of the first large room. If you time it right, you can easily get to a nook before the two large pillars at the entrance to the large room -- stay to the right side. On the pillar is a pull stick/lever thing that pops two large spinning blades on the floor. Wait for the city guard to start his miniature patrol route around the room -- he'll pass through the center, right over top of the blade track (you can see the track along the floor). Jump out of your hiding spot when he's over it & facing away from you -- the blades will instantly kill him, and you're free to either sneak through the rest of the wizard guards, or murder them as you see fit. — Unsigned comment by Daegon44 (talk • contribs) at 22:44 on 17 December 2011

I cant 2 Doors open => into Calcelmos Laboratoy

The Doors are: on Left Side => open only with Key, and behind from Lab, behind the Trone of Dwermer => open only with Key Big THX for Helping, i search the Key (not the Main-Entrance Key) in to Clacelmos Laboratory => Big THX — Unsigned comment by 80.144.228.205 (talk) at 11:23 on 24 December 2011

Dwemer Museum bug

I have long finished this quest and entered the Dwemer Museum again, searching for a possible Stone of Barenziah in there. As soon as I entered, I was set back to stage 30 of this quest and got the respective on-screen message and journal entry. If anybody can confirm this, this should be added to the list of bugs. — Unsigned comment by 89.245.216.61 (talk) at 10:12 on 27 December 2011

I just hit this same bug. I came back to get the Stone of Berenziah, and entering the museum caused the quest "Hard Answers" to re-activate. — Unsigned comment by 108.161.115.60 (talk) at 03:36 on 12 March 2012

I went back after doing Darkness Returns and had it trigger again. Possibly some bad logic forcing a setStage? Maybe tied to the doorway? 155.92.101.79 17:28, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

Confirmed, this is due to an activator called TG06Breadcrumb01 (or similar) in the cell MarkarthWizardQuarters01. I used the CK to delete it and the quest does not start again. Which is odd, since the script checks if the quest is running before doing a setStage, but I guess it doesn't resolve properly somehow. 155.92.101.79 17:32, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

Another glitch

It appears I have got stuck at stage 200. On entering riften a theif is attacked and killed by the town guards around the marketplace area. If I resurrect him using the console command he attacks any npc and the player and is soon killed by the town guards & citizens. Brynjolf is at his market stall and won't talk to me. Karliah is nowhere to be found and the graveyard entrance to the Thieves Guild is still usable. I see no way to advance the quest line. --80.6.24.203 16:09, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Permission Revoked?

I have patch 1.3 and what I discovered is if you return to the Dwemer Museum on your way back instead of jumping off the waterfall the city guards become hostile; they also act as if the player has a high enough bounty that they become unresponsive to dialog. The guards were originally friendly since I had the key from helping Calcelmo out twice. I believed this to be a bug since no guard ever saw me and I did not incur any bounties during the run. I killed all three city guards in the museum using stealth and the regular city guards outside act normally. Killing them does not bring up the last witness removed message; letting them attack me never displays a bounty message; but killing them without stealth incurs the normal bounty. I also reloaded and tried running out of the museum; the regular guards do not become hostile, but it may be difficult to make it to the door if the player has little health or armor. 75.80.97.155 01:53, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Hard answers / Trinity restored

(PS3) - So id finished Hard Answers and moved onto Trinity Restored, but Karliah wasn't at the standing stone. I read on here it might be a good idea to start Hard answers again by going into the museum, finishing the quest and then Trinity restored would reset itself. It all seemed to be working, up until I get to the point where it says 'speak to Karliah' (in the basement of The Frozen Hearth). Now she simply won't talk to me (annoyingly just saying "hmm"?) and I don't seem to be able to do anything about it! Also annoying is that Enthir just stands next to her (saying "give my regards to Karliah, if you see her"! Grr!) and has the same things in his inventory to sell (never Deadric hearts!) ...Anyone have any fixes, id LOVE to know? - Andy — Unsigned comment by 2.222.64.186 (talk) at 09:54 on 26 January 2012

Fixing the bug on Hard Answers

I just simply stole the key and the guards were hostile. So I completed the quest (without being arrested). Then I just went and started the "Forbidden Legend" quest. Towards the end of the quest, a guard should be outside of where you need to be. I talked to him, and all my options came up. I simply just paid the bounty, and he took whatever I stole (I stowed them away before he could take them)and now the bounty is gone, and the guards are back to regular dialogue. — Unsigned comment by 88.45.222.97 (talk) at 16:30 on 3 February 2012

Terrible for Business 360

I dont know if this counts as confirming it but playing on the 360 I had the same issue with not being to talk to Ethnir with the Staff of Magnus still active --24.105.224.83 21:44, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

"You're not supposed to be in here"

I have Stenvar as a follower. I have already completed all the quests related to Calcelmo, so the city guards let me pass through the museum. However, while within the museum or Calcelmo's lab, all dialog options are gone from Stenvar. He still follows me and mirrors my moves, yet all he will say is, "You're not supposed to be in here." Not sure if this is intentional -- does it happen will all followers? When I exit the museum he goes back to normal. I was going to add it as a bug, but I'm not sure whether it is or not. 75.166.140.16 23:56, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

It happens with all followers whenever you are trespassing in an area. --Nephele^Talk 00:40, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Bug

The bug relating to the water is a general bug, the solution is here. The Silencer has spoken 18:14, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Not giving next quest

After you recieve the Nightingale Blade, I did not recieve the next quest from Karliah or Enthir. Karliah only says "hmm?" when spoken too. — Unsigned comment by DarxMatter (talk • contribs) at 18:34 on 7 June 2012

You need to return to the ragged flagon for the next quest. The Silencer has spoken^Talk 18:03, 7 June 2012 (UTC)

broken quest marker

The quest marker pointing to the door that leads to the wizards' balcony is stuck. Permantly indicating that you need to pass through it, to continue the quest. Reguardless if you've gone through it already. Making the stone rubbing impossible to obtain in Calcelmos' tower. Depite having ample charcoal and rolls of paper in your inventory. — Unsigned comment by 208.54.38.167 (talk) at 04:02 on 2 July 2012

Not Getting Next Quest(Karliah goes back to the same place)!!!!

When i finish the quest "Hard Answers",I dont get the next quest...only the nightingale blade.After Karliah said to meet her at the Ragged Flagon she left and i literally followed her right back to the same place i got the quest "Hard Answers"!?Any one know what to do.#31^*harry

Karliah goes back to the same place i met her at right after hard answers quest....then i have to do it again.....what do i do!!!--67.142.182.26 05:08, 13 August 2012 (UTC)noah h.

Did you try going to the Ragged Flagon anyway? The Silencer speaks^Talk 06:46, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Yes and still nothing the speaking with silence quest reactivates at snow veil sanctum — Unsigned comment by 70.50.25.27 (talk) at 16:42 on 16 November 2012‎

returning to Calcemo's lab: no guards

So: I snuck through Calcemo's lab & tower, got the rubbing then (after killing a couple guys) went to the balcony and jumped down the waterfall. But what's interesting (and should be mentioned in the article, for people that are sneaking) is that I went back -- to get my companion whom I told to wait -- and the lab and other parts were empty of people! So it was easy to go through and collect loot. — Unsigned comment by 98.114.34.194 (talk) at 22:13 on 26 October 2012

It's already mentioned on the location page that the museum and lab don't respawn. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 22:16, 26 October 2012 (GMT)

To clarify: Most of the guards were not killed (I snuck past them); I only killed the last two after getting the rubbing. But upon return the place was deserted. This seems to conflict with (first paragraph under Return to Ethnir, last sentence) "You can also just retrace your steps back through the museum, avoiding any guards you didn't kill earlier." — Unsigned comment by 96.245.198.189 (talk) at 17:27 on 4 November 2012

This player, after duly despatching all the wizard guards forgot to "Duplicate the writing on Calcelmo's Stone", and returned to the museum. Oddly enough, the erstwhile friendly Markarth guards in there turned hostile. However, jumping over the balcony and talking to the guards by the Understone Keep was no problem.--Lmstearn (talk) 09:11, 30 December 2013 (GMT)

After the 30 day reset, the museum guards resume their "friendly" disposition.--Lmstearn (talk) 14:48, 25 February 2014 (GMT)

Dwemer Puzzle Cube/Litany of Larceny Bug Issues

PC Soutions listed here Vainamoinen-Talk-Stuff 05:56, 10 November 2012 (GMT)

Aicantar dying on his own, possible bug

I was in the last room and upon activating the traps Aicantar ran away and left the cell. Later on he didn't appear with the guards in the tower. I didn't kill him and there were no traps activated so i assume he was somehow killed by the game. Using the moveto command placed me in front of the door going from the laboratory to the museum, so my guess is that the game killed him there. I don't have any previous saves though, so i can't test the issue. — Unsigned comment by 87.15.232.228 (talk) at 23:21 on 24 February 2013 (GMT)

Karliah talking to herself.

This is on the Xbox 360. I wish i recorded this, but I was returning to the thieves guild for the first time with Karliah with me. She would pass Brynjulf go up through the shortcut in the Cistern. First time she did this I just reloaded right when I entered the door. Second time She did the same thing so I followed her up there. She starting having a conversation with Brynjulf up there. After she says her line she would just go hmmmm. Third time, I blocked her in front of the entrance in the cistern with the ragged flagon behind her. She finally gave up and started talking to Brynjulf there. Im not sure what would cause this? — Unsigned comment by 98.18.183.226 (talk) at 11:58 on 10 August 2013‎

Each NPC's AI package will have them randomly talk to themselves or other NPCs. This sounds like normal behavior. --Xyzzy ^Talk 14:01, 10 August 2013 (GMT)

Speaking With Silence Restarted After Completing Hard Answers

I finished Hard Answers, and to my dismay, I didn't get the follow-up quest (because I had mercers plans in my inventory probably). I fast traveled to the Thieves guild, and didn't see her there, I did some searching around online and read that Karliah went back to Snow Veil Sanctum, so I went there and found her stuck behind the door. I freed her, and she just stood there. I took a few swings at her out of frustration and she became aggressive. I figured she would follow me outside, but when I got out there, she was no where to be found. All of a sudden, the screen fades to black, and I wake up outside Snow Veil Sanctum with her still aggressive to me, and the quest Speaking with Silence restarted with the only objective to speak to her. Any help would be very appreciated. — Unsigned comment by 174.236.3.56 (talk) at 16:32 on 12 March 2014‎

Same problem as the one above

After speaking with silence I get potions and a journal but no new quest pops up or anything — Unsigned comment by 81.159.15.1 (talk) at 11:46 on 31 May 2014 (GMT)

I had this problem and all I did was remove mercers plans and chillrend from my inventory before I spoke to either of them and then it let me start the next quest — Unsigned comment by ‎68.171.179.155 (talk) on 20:46 9 July 2014 (GMT)

Barred door glitch

I just opened the barred door from the non-barred side. Managed to get the option to activate the door bar through the wall on the right hand side of the door. Very quick and easy way to get past the guards. — Unsigned comment by 198.53.123.165 (talk) at 21:20 on 1 November 2014 (GMT)

Same for me. This was a very quick and easy quest. Almost disappointing. Also, I didn't see anything pointing me towards jumping down a waterfall. Very easy to just go back, activate the bar (even without a glitch) and sneak past the last guard--83.68.238.154 21:13, 19 June 2021 (UTC)

The poison gas and poison resistance

The walkthrough implies that resistance or immunity to poison is of no use against the gas (the same thing is said on the page Skyrim:Resist Poison, which is a mess by the way), while the notes say immunity will indeed make you immune. That's contradictory, and both versions contradict Skyrim:Understone Keep, which says that resistance helps but won't eliminate the damage completely. I, for one, remember crossing this area as a vampire (without mods) and taking no damage. This seems to require more research. --95.222.29.110 22:45, 7 September 2018 (UTC)

Note about Calcelmo's "stubbornness"

One of us is missing something here. As far as I see, the editor who added the note was referring to how the quest log would call Calcelmo "stubborn" and "refusing access" even if he gave you the key willingly, which seemed contradictory to the editor. However, Calcelmo will always insist that you are only allowed to enter the museum, and that his laboratory (where his research material is) is "off limits" (see the dialogue in the table); that's what he is "stubborn" about, and it's exactly what the quest log says. So I don't see what's wrong about the entry. --95.222.30.34 02:11, 9 September 2018 (UTC)

Yes you are. The most obvious situation is where you complete the Nimhe quest before starting this one, under which circumstances you have access to the museum and have no need to talk to Calcelmo, so your last interaction from him is "You have my gratitude. That spider had been interfering with my excavations for months. As promised, here's the key to the Dwemer Museum. Mind the displays. Some of them are quite fragile." A second missing scenario is breaking into the museum, again without talking to Calcelmo. The "extremely stubborn" in the log is hardly a proper depiction of Calcelmo's attitude for anything other than his comment when completing the Nimhe quest for the key during this quest. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 14:07, 9 September 2018 (UTC)

I think in your last sentence you meant to say the opposite, in that he isn't being stubborn in his comment after the Nimhe quest?

It doesn't say that in the note, though. And it seems rather nitpicky to me, considering that the journal entries almost never refer to how you completed an objective and which dialogue options you picked.

Of course "stubborn" is a subjective view that one could argue about endlessly, but we should try to make clear what the note is trying to say. It doesn't seem to be about a mistake in the journal (since Calcelmo does refuse you access to his research and is stubborn about it), but rather about how the journal fails to mention a specific detail about what some character did that doesn't affect the outcome of the quest. Do you think that's actually worth a note? (The one who wrote it didn't seem too sure either, after all.) --95.222.29.140 01:52, 11 September 2018 (UTC)

I too have to question whether this note about Calcelmo's "stubbornness" is meaningful. The person who wrote the note appears to be implying that Calcelmo wasn't stubborn because you can get him to give you a key to the museum. The trouble with that implication is that the information your character needs isn't in the museum, it's in Calcelmo's Laboratory which he stubbornly refuses to give you permission to enter no matter what option you pick, successful or not. So Calcelmo does indeed stubbornly refuse to allow you to go where you need to go to find the information that you need to translate the journal. That's why, even if you arrange things so that you can freely explore the Dwemer Museum, you still have to break into Calcelmo's Laboratory where you are trespassing. That's why Enthir makes such a point of not asking how you got into Calcelmo's Laboratory to produce the rubbing. He knows you had to break in to get it. I admit that it's a minor point, but I cast my vote for removing that particular note. Valeria (talk) 01:46, 8 September 2019 (UTC)