Skyrim:Great Lift at Mzinchaleft

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SR-mapicon-Dwemer.png
Dwarven Ruin:
Great Lift at Mzinchaleft
(view on map)
Clearable No
Respawn Time 10 days
Console Location Code(s)
BlackreachElevatorMzinchaleft, BlackreachQuickExitMzinchaleft
Regions
Hjaalmarch, Blackreach
Location
South of Mzinchaleft
The Great Lift at Mzinchaleft

The Great Lift at Mzinchaleft is a Dwarven lift to Blackreach located south of Mzinchaleft. It is a mechanical lift which can only be entered and used after starting the quest Discerning the Transmundane. Inside the lift building is a lever which, when activated, will bring you up from or take you down into Blackreach. The lift will open a short distance southeast of the exit from Mzinchaleft Gatehouse inside Blackreach. The topside of the lift is housed in a building surrounded by metal barriers, one of which is a gate. The gate can only be opened from within, by pulling a lever to the right of the gate, after which the lift can be entered from Skyrim whenever you travel there (fast traveling places you right outside the lift). The map marker for this location does not appear until the lift is activated inside Blackreach.

The lift is Dwemer in origin, and is one of seven entrances to Blackreach, which must first be entered by traversing the ruins of Alftand, Mzinchaleft, or Raldbthar and using the Attunement Sphere from Septimus Signus to open a door to Blackreach.

Related Quests[edit]

Walkthrough[edit]

Exterior[edit]

The lift is in a tower just off the road between Dawnstar and Morthal, a short distance down the road from the lift that provides a shortcut exit from the ruins of Mzinchaleft itself. There is a corundum ore vein a few paces northwest of the entrance, and a frost troll may be found wandering the forest nearby. Southwest of the lift, along the road to Morthal, the player will come across a battle between a group of conjurers driving a horse-drawn wagon and a group of bandits. The wagon contains a crate holding a selection of potions, a basket holding several ingredients, two satchels containing more ingredients, and a copy of the Speech skill book A Dance in Fire, v6.

Great Lift at Mzinchaleft[edit]

In Blackreach, the lift is southeast of the exit from Mzinchaleft Gatehouse and northwest of the Hall of Rumination. Before using this lift to enter Blackreach, you must first lower spears blocking access to the lift in Blackreach by activating a button on a sculpted metal head in front. You may then ride the lift up and use a lever to open a gate in Skyrim. Similar to the lift entrance on the surface, there is a corundum ore vein a few paces northwest of the Blackreach entrance. On the road to the southeast, a giant patrols the road over an underpass, under which is a chest and a Dwarven centurion in a docking station.

Bugs[edit]

  • A bug may occur when the great lifts are accessed to or from Blackreach. When the character reappears in Skyrim or in Blackreach, the game autosaves, then the screen goes blank/black, reappears a few seconds later, and then goes blank/black again. This continues to occur indefinitely; attempts to move/run/sprint or use Whirlwind Sprint only result in the character reappearing at the original place of arrival during intervals when the game screen reappears.
    • Opening the menu or favorites screen and leaving the screen open for 15 - 30 seconds stops the bug.
  • Sometimes after activating the lift from Blackreach, you are positioned outside the lift building on the surface, preventing you from opening the door from within the building. This bug may also be triggered if you have too many followers from unfinished quests and/or summoned followers, such that you are pushed outside the lift building on the surface in order to make room for the followers.
    • If this happens, load the previous save, then have your dog and regular follower (if any) wait for you in Blackreach outside the lift area before activating the lift. You may then use the lift and open the gate from within the lift building once you reach the surface.