Skyrim talk:Battle for Solitude

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A bug that prevents the quest from being completed and locks you inside Castle Dour[edit]

My report:

I have a game breaking glitch on The Battle for Solitude quest. When I get the quest I go to Ulfric outside Solitude and listen to his speech. We then enter the city and kill a few soldiers. I enter Castle Dour and listen to the argument between Ulfric and Legate Rikke. Rikke and General Tullius attacks me but Ulfric and his second in command do not join in the fight. I damage Tullius until he is on the floor in defeated mode but I can not talk to him.

Rikke can not be killed, when I drain all her health she just gets back up again after awhile and is not hostile. When I talk to her she has dialogue options as if the fight had never happened. When I talk to Ulfric he has dialogue options as if he was still on his throne back in Windhelm. Because I can not finnish the quest I am stuck in Castle Dour forever without the key.

Alternative reports: [1], [2], [3]

— Unsigned comment by 86.46.143.143 (talk) at 15:18 on 8 December 2011

The exact same thing happened to me. Rikke won't die, quest glitches no matter how often I reload.--184.91.189.182 21:43, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
For me, Rikke was suitably mortal, but a "Legate Adventus Caesennius" turned up and wasn't: he kept interrupting dialogue with combat, even after I knocked him out then used the console to lock the dividing door. The console wouldn't let me temporarily disable him, either. Reloading did nothing. :<
Also, the Jarl and his commander were the ONLY ONES to arrive in the city, despite other stormcloaks going in the gate. I can only assume that they took the most direct route to Sovnguarde. — Unsigned comment by 122.59.241.226 (talk) at 10:19 on 12 December 2011
I'm having precisely the same problem as directly above, except for that I manage to kill Tulius and get out of the castle. However, Adventus follows us out and continually interrupts. I tried casting calm on him, but the Jarl's sidekick attacks him anyway. Also, I get a massive bounty for the fighting in the city, and once the Stormcloaks take control their guards arrest me but will not take me to jail when I plead guilty, leading to an endless loop of guards arresting me, leaving me alone, then trying to arrest me again. — Unsigned comment by 173.49.80.69 (talk) at 04:05 on 16 December 2011
--BUG FIX--I had the problem with no soldiers entering Solitude and "Legate Adventus Caesennius" being immortal. Here's exactly what I did. First i went into Solitude after Ulfric's speech. Then I went directly to Castle Dour. I killed Rikke, knocked Tullius into submission, and then knocked Caesennius down. Then I just kept beating the crap out of Caesennius while the dialogue between Ulfric and Tullius was going in. Then when Ulfric asked me if I wanted to kill Tullius I told Ulfric to do it, then I went ahead and killed him. Then i said I do not want to be part of his speech (had to go through the dialogue twice, not sure why). Then walked out with Ulfric. Then there was about 12 or so Solitude guards that were hostile, so I killed them all. Then I fast traveled to Whiterun and after about 15 minutes of in game time of being there, Solitude was back on the map and under stormcloak control. Not sure what exactly in here solved the bug, but I tried it twice and it worked both times. — Unsigned comment by 24.12.192.173 (talk) at 17:57 on 8 January 2012
I have ran into a different problem again in what seems to be a very buggy area/quest. Having completed the Get Your Orders From Ulric section we entered Solitude and began the battle working our way towards Castle Dour. Upon arriving at the castle I proceeded through the door to what should have been the final battle. Upon entry to the room I am unaccompanied by either Ulfric or Galmar. Legate Rikki and General Tullius are in the room but are not hostile. I am able to initiate conversation with both of them but it appears to be their regular dialog tree(though I am unsure as I have never spoken to them before this occasion). There is no way to initiate combat short of attacking them but once this is done they do become hostile. After beginning the fight it is possible to kill Legate Rikki but not General Tullius who simply goes to a knee when his health reaches zero and then after several seconds regains full health and resumes fighting. There is also no option to leave the room as the door back to Solitude is locked and requires a key. This problem has occurred while playing the game on a PS3. — Unsigned comment by 124.148.55.40 (talk) at 00:44 on 26 January 2012
I experienced the glitch that wouldn't let you into the city after "receiving your orders" from Ulfric outside of the city gates. The doors would be locked and are unable to be picked. ultimately this would completely cut off the city from the game. a very disturbing fact after sinking almost 200 hours into the game already.
--what worked for me--
if you get into the east empire trading co. warehouse, you should see that it is already being guarded by stormcloacks. all you have to do is kill a guard and then agree to pay off your bounty. it is probably best to be alone, I have experienced problems trying to yield to guards with a follower in my service.
paying off your bounty will load you right outside of castle dour. i didnt attempt to go back and fight the "perpetual" imperials. i did have a glitch the first time I entered the castle, I was frozen in "dialogue mode." the second time went off like a hitch. someone in the castle actually said "where did you come from?" over all this was a pretty underwhelming end to what was supposed to be one of the best questlines in the game. its nice to have solitude back on the map and hopefully be done with the glitchiest part of the game. ≈≈≈≈ — Unsigned comment by 66.31.25.43 (talk) at 02:19 on 8 March 2012

() I had a simliar glitch: couldn't get out of the castle Ulfric and friend stood still while Tullius and Rikka fought, would never die. I left it and came back after finishing the main quest. After that hings went okay, except now Solitude is gone from the map as if it was still under attack. Moreover Astrid thinks the war is still on and won't give me my next quest. Help! — Unsigned comment by 137.186.149.152 (talk) at 01:47 on 13 May 2012

I went through the Battle for Solitude twice doing it my way, charging headlong into the fight and ignoring ALL the dialog. On my third attempt, I stopped and waited for ALL the dialog to finish to completion or I was presented with some sort of dialog options. Hope this helps othersTng88 22:08, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
I tried over and over to reload at a new places so that Ulfric and Galmar would attack Rikke and it never worked, so I gave up for a few in-game days. When I went to do the quest today, I found that I could talk to them once inside Castle Dour, before Rikke became violent. I was given the option to say kill her or to ask if they would. To be safe, I talked to both Galmar and Ulfric and I did not ready my weapon until after they engaged in battle with her, but they finally did. So to everyone else who can't seem to get her to die, try talking to Ulfric and/or Galmar immediately after stepping into Castle Dour. Hopefully that helps someone else, too. — Unsigned comment by 98.255.200.192 (talk) at 22:42 on 27 August 2012
I tried that and it didn't work for me. When I got this bug I had The Fallen active after having talked to the Jarl of Whiterun just before getting the objective to get my orders from Ulfric and join the battle and learned Odahviing's name from Paarthurnax. I reloaded to an hour earlier before I talked to the Jarl of Whiterun and everything went smoothly from there. First time I ever ran into this bug but also the first time I ever did the quests in such a wonky order. So I dunno, if anyone else had the same problem and did the same thing then perhaps that could be the cause. MV4IUVmEkoFqLk7 (talk) 10:46, 23 August 2013 (GMT)
I did the same as above. Reloading to an earlier point and immediately meeting up with Ulfric and starting the battle of Solitude didn't work. Instead I went to Whiterun, captured Odahviing first, and then returned to Solitude and was able to kill Legate Rikke.71.127.215.49 15:18, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

carriage[edit]

in the notes it says solitude disappears can you take a carriage— Unsigned comment by 70.250.184.25 (talk) at 19:36 on 23 December 2011

It's a very short walk to solitude, it would take longer to go to a place with a carriage than it would to walk. (Eddie The Head 05:48, 3 January 2012 (UTC))
You should be able to fast travel to the stables outside of Solitude, and from there you just walk up the path. 211.30.234.20 09:17, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

unlimited enemies?[edit]

I know that I'm the one that added it, but can anyone confirm theres unlimited enemies? I wanted to train my skills a bit so i hung around, but now no more imperials are spawning. (Eddie The Head 05:44, 3 January 2012 (UTC))

I noticed that they always spawn next to those wooden baracades and when you destroy those they stop spawning in that area. I have no idea if there is a limited amount of spawns however. Kimi the Elf 02:10, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
Another point to take into account is that enemies will only spawn after your allies have made their way to the "area" you're in, namely the sections between the barricades; It's possible to rush to the castle and not encounter any resistance after the first barricade. Enemies stop spawning in the sections that have been left by your allies. If you seek to kill endlessly, don't break any of the barricades. If you run out of enemies, break one and move on. 98.180.215.134 18:19, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Key bug confirmation[edit]

I can confirm the key needed to Solitude bug on the 360. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but I was riding a horse the whole time. I rode the horse into the city entrance area and stayed on the horse while Ulfric was speaking. It said "Completed: receive instruction from Ulfric" (or whatever it says), then I attempted to ride the horse into the city, but the door was closed, so I got off the horse and everyone else had already ran into the city ("transporting" through the door). When I walked up to the door it says "Key Required. Cannot be picked, blah, blah, blah." Pconwell 20:44, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

  • UPDATE: I reloaded my last save and I was still riding the horse, but before I even got up to where Ulfric was it said "Completed: Receive instructions..." and the door was open. Pconwell 20:53, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
I also have a glitch in the battle for solitude where I get into the castle dour and get into the main room and the 2 inside put all there weapons away and stand there and do nothing...i cant move or do anything. If anyone else knows of this one and a way to fix thanks? — Unsigned comment by 96.3.22.233 (talk)
I noticed on the PS3 for me that if the door is ajar (angled inwards like it is in the process of opening) when I activate to open Solitude it goes to the correct position and then requires the key. This may fall in line with the standard door glitch just with a quest killing addition. Can anyone else confirm?— Unsigned comment by 67.233.168.219 (talk) on 8 April 2012
I didn't destroy the barricades, however the imperials stopped spawning. So it appears that there is a limited number of soldiers. — Unsigned comment by 95.77.144.136 (talk) at 18:24 on 7 July 2012
had this bug, try reloading game — Unsigned comment by 149.135.145.109 (talk) at 16:36 on 10 January 2013

Did not receive the sword (Bug)?[edit]

After making Tullius surrender I didnt get Ulfric's sword, even though he said I should use it. Reloading and doing it again solved the problem for me. — Unsigned comment by 186.220.214.187 (talk) on January 15, 2012 16:51

Can't start Assault[edit]

When I go to Haafingar to get orders from stone fist, I don't get the option to start the battle for solitude. — Unsigned comment by 71.194.173.45 (talk) at 07:34 on 20 January 2012

Try checking your quest menu. If you have the Liberation of Skyrim active it will point you to Galmar. Just walking up to him should give you the Battle for Solitude quest.Nothinglord 17:51, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

No battle[edit]

So I enter solitude after Ulfric's speech and there are no soldiers. Ulfric and the general are there and they attack guards but off I do it just adds to my bounty and it becomes a fight between me and 10 hard to kill guards. And there is no fire or barricades. Any idea how to fix this? — Unsigned comment by 173.141.178.226 (talk) on 15 March 2012

This is definitely a bug. Here's a suggested workaround. You don't have to attack any Imperial soldiers to complete this quest. Head straight for Castle Dour, just dodge/block attacks as best you can if anyone attacks you, skip straight to forcing Tullius to surrender. What platform are you on, and do you have any mods or DLCs installed? --Morrolan (talk) 18:49, 27 March 2013 (GMT)

After Liberation of Skyrim[edit]

I found all the "Empire" friendly Jarls in the basement of Blue Palace in Solitude with their families and since I did not enjoy the civil war (at the end I ask Ulfric to leave me out of his speech) I was wandering if there is a way to bring a more balanced outcome to this conflict or maybe persuade Ulfric to really unify all of the Nords.

And what about the council that will apoint him High king when is this going to happen?

And Elisif ...I have become very fond of her, she speaks sense. I don’t want to see her overthroned.

And the Forsworn shouldn't there be a more just ending to their fight?

And the Falmer ... I can not believe that an entire race could be twisted as thus from another race.

I admit that all of the scenario is quit realistic, but if I wanted and liked reality I wouldn’t have played the game… — Unsigned comment by 94.70.60.242 (talk) at 09:20 on 5 April 2012

There is no way to bring a more balanced outcome, the most you can do is just not doing any civil war quests. The rest of your post is extremely forum-like so I would like to bring your attention to the UESP forums, talk pages are for discussing things that will improve the article, or asking for extra information.
As I recall, Elisif remains Jarl of Solitude. It's Tullius the Stormcloaks want gone, not necessarily Elisif herself. I checked another page on this Wiki on the Jarls, and it shows Elisif as Jarl regardless of civil war outcome. Also, if you liked reality (quoting your own words), you wouldn't be playing a game where you can yell 3 words and kill people with them. Vyc Ðarkshådøw 01:35, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

Possible Fix?[edit]

After attacking the last fort I returned to Galmar near Solitude and he said I should go get orders from Ulfric. I when up to the gates of Solitude and no one was there. When trying to open the door it said, "wait for the others or something. I was able to fast travel in. Stormcloaks and Imperials were fighting but no Ulfic or significant people. I went around the gate and walked into the Castle. Ulfric and Galmar were there. The ending played out. I was confused but this seemed to take care of things. — Unsigned comment by 76.113.9.152 (talk) on 19 April 2012

Leveled sword?[edit]

I take it the level for the sword given to you at the end of the quest is determined when you start the quest? It wasn't mentioned anywhere I could find... --Kvaener 22:39, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

I would assume so. After all, nearly all rewards in the game are leveled. ~ Ad intellige (talk) 03:29, 9 June 2014 (GMT)
Yes, it is. Confirmed in CK. Robin Hood  (talk) 04:50, 9 June 2014 (GMT)

Galmar is attacking me[edit]

So, when I went to Galmar to get the assignment to attack solitude, he just started attacking me. My armor's good enough that it wasn't really a problem, but it made it so I can't progress in the questline. I'm going to try the usual reloading technique (I attacked some guards in Windhelm before I went to him, maybe I had a minor bounty or something, so I won't attack them on this reload), but in the past my luck with that hasn't been good. Any other ideas, just in case? Atomic223 15:17, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Never mind. Reloading worked. I guess he just didn't like that I attacked the guards. Atomic223 15:19, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Radiant versions[edit]

One note says "This quest, Battle for Whiterun (Stormcloaks), Battle for Whiterun (Imperial), and Battle for Windhelm are all different radiant versions of the same quest." Battle for Windhelm, I can understand that one as it is the end of the Legion's quests, but I fail to see how the Battle for Whiterun quests are radiant versions. It's possible that they are managed radiantly in the CK, but is such a thing worth noting? They're different enough that I think the note just creates confusion. Vely►Talk►Email 15:01, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

The general outline of the battles is the same in all four. March onto a city, kill a bunch of soldiers, head into the leader's hideaway, and watch a cutscene. While there are differences between the two Whiterun battles and the two final Civil War battles, they can be seen as radiant versions of the same quest if looked at properly. Schiffy (talk) 00:13, 29 November 2012 (GMT)
The main difference between the Whiterun battles and the final Civil War battles is that the Whiterun battles require killing soldiers, while the Battle for Solitude/Windhelm doesn't. --Morrolan (talk) 18:51, 27 March 2013 (GMT)

Ulfric does not give his speech after the battle[edit]

Basically after executing Tulius and agreeing to hear Ulfric's speech I went out to the courtyard but some Solitude guards started attacking the three of us and after dispatching them both Ulfric and Galmar just walked off without giving their speech.

Is there any way to fix this? Loading a previous save file does not seem to help. — Unsigned comment by 202.156.8.11 (talk) at 08:19 on 26 September 2012‎

Possible Cause for Solitude Bug[edit]

While trying to track down some bugs in Open Cities, it became apparent that it is possible to never visit the city prior to the battle. If that should happen, then the city gate is never swapped for the one with the civil war keyword tag on it, thus the change in state for the city never happens and you'd end up with everything looking and behaving normally. Has anyone who hit this NOT visited the city prior to the battle? Arthmoor (talk) 22:45, 8 October 2012 (GMT)

Same problem Please help — Unsigned comment by ‎207.231.232.164 (talk) at 01:50 on 9 February 2013

Ulfric isn't there![edit]

When I am told to go get orders from Ulfric outside Solitude he is not there! There is an arrow over where he should be. There are 2 soldiers inside fighting imperials but they die and I cant go any farther! Is there any way to fix this? — Unsigned comment by 50.125.161.100 (talk) at 17:20 on 9 February 2013

Could it have something to do with this? (from the Notes section on the main page):
If you're currently doing the Dark Brotherhood quest Bound Until Death, the Battle for Solitude will be delayed until that quest is complete. Ulfric will stay in his bedroom, and if spoken to there, will tell you, "We're ready to march on Solitude, but the Emperor's cousin is getting married! If royal blood was spilt, all of Cyrodiil would be up in arms. We can't afford an all out war with the Empire. So we'll bide our time for now." --50.160.211.34 18:31, 3 November 2013 (GMT) EDIT:--NibKing (talk) 19:11, 3 November 2013 (GMT)
I have run into this same exact problem. I have taken the fort then talked to Galmar. He tells me to meet the boys getting ready to take Solitude so I run over and Ulfric is giving his pep talk. Then everyone runs inside so I follow. Once I have entered Solitude the quest 'Battle For Solitude' starts. The game tells me to get orders from Ulfric but he is nowhere to be found. The quest marker shows that he is still outside the city. I use the console to unlock the door and go back outside and I see the quest marker that should be over Ulfric's head but he is not there. I tried reloading and getting his reference ID before everyone enters the city and using the 'moveto' command to bring him inside. He's still not there but his quest marker is. Then I use the 'enable' command and finally he appears but I cannot interact with him and the quest does not update, he just runs off and starts killing things. I was able to get the quest to advance by entering Castle Dour. Only after Tulius is dead does the quest update but then I have another problem. The combat music never stops. I am hoping that someone will have some advice for this problem. I have not been able to get around it no matter how many times I reload and try again. Also I have not touched the Dark Brotherhood quests yet. RadN3X (talk) 00:47, 8 December 2013 (GMT)

Problems with Followers?[edit]

Lydia went into the battle of Solitude with me and disappeared around the time we entered the castle courtyard. After the battle I fast travelled back to Whiterun and she appeared with me but her inventory was empty. Are there known bugs with taking followers into that battle? — Unsigned comment by ‎ 98.160.100.108 (talk) at 01:15 on 22 March 2013

There aren't any listed in the article like this. Are you sure that her inventory wasn't already empty? This is the first time anybody's reported a follower's inventory emptying that I've seen. --Xyzzy Talk 04:34, 6 April 2013 (GMT)
Yes, I was using her as storage because I didn't have a house at that time. I gave her a few things to hold before the battle (so I'd have inventory space in case of loot) and she was stuffed with everything I'd decided to keep so far. After the battle (back in Whiterun) I opened her inventory to take things to sell and she was empty. She still had her sword and armor but those don't usually show in her inventory, right? I'm on PC with all the DLC, official and unoffical patches, no companion mods. 98.160.100.108 02:05, 20 April 2013 (GMT)
That's a new one AFAIK. I would go ahead and add it as a bug that needs verification. I wonder if she some how "reset" during the battle and respawned with just her beginning inventory, possibly as a result of damage taken during the battle. Definitely warrants some testing. --Xyzzy Talk 02:13, 20 April 2013 (GMT)

Possible solution to Tullius bug (360)[edit]

After slaying Rikke, I opted to Kill Tullius myself, but no matter how many times I hit him, he didn't die--he just remained in the kneeling position that alll essentials do when low on hp. Finally, I hit him with an unrelenting force shout, which did the trick.--149.160.118.51 00:40, 23 May 2013 (GMT)

Added to the article. Thanks. --Xyzzy Talk 05:03, 24 May 2013 (GMT)

Moved from article[edit]

  • After taking Solitude for the Stormcloaks, Elisif may be removed from the game (console commands will fix this) while the Stormcloak guards that replace the Imperial Solitude guards may never appear at all.

This seems incredibly unusual to me. I've never had any problems with Elisif disappearing or the Stormcloak guards coming to Solitude. A brief glance at the talk pages of several related articles don't reveal any known issues like this either. Can someone with CK access verify if this is something that happens naturally in the unmodded version of the game, rather than just a result of tinkering or mod conflicts? ThuumofReason (talk) 16:38, 27 November 2013 (GMT)

Stormcloaks in Solitude[edit]

I've come across a bug on ps3. After completing the Battle for Solitude and listening to Ulfric's speech, the 20 - 30 Stormcloak soldiers remain in the courtyard indefinitely. Attacking them results in each soldier individually asking you to 'pay for your crimes' etc. along with huge framerate drops. Anyone else come across this?

fight doesn't end[edit]

when i was about to go to solitude to start the quest (get orders from Ulfric) i decided to walk because i hadnt gone to solitude yet. (or the stables/docks) while i was walking a haafingar guard ran up to me and told me that i had committed crimes and stuff. i paid off my bounty and was teleported outside the castle dour. i walked in finished the quest normally. however when i came back back to solitude ulfric was standing outside with all the men as if the quest was about to start normally. but he didn't give the speech and i couldn't go inside. — Unsigned comment by 24.71.140.170 (talk) at 23:55 on 17 July 2014

Door in castle dour disappeared[edit]

I killed tullius and said that i could join ulfrics speech and they went downstairs to the escape hatch and i followed i went back up and i couldn't leave the castle the door had disappeared and had also vanished from the local map. I can't get the action mushic from the battle to stop playing. The game is going insane! Please help!!!!


had the same problem, anybody solved it?

After completing battle for solitude no guards spawn[edit]

After completing battle for solitude the stormcloak guards that are sposed to replace the imperial guards never spawn so the city has no guards is there a way to fix this plz message SAINTS_FLOW on steam

Bug: Got Arrested before "Battle for Solitude"[edit]

I got arrested right after I fast traveled to Katla's Farm. I accidentally pressed "pay the fine" option and got teleported to Castle Dour door. I wanted to get my stolen good so I entered Castle Dour and it triggered the event where you kill General Tullius, Ulfric and Galmar was with me once I got in. I killed Tullius and Ulfric gave his victory speech. I continued to play and I needed to go back to Solitude but there was no Fast travel point to the city or the Blue Palace. I fast traveled to Katla's farm and Ulfric is at the gates giving his speech to soldiers. After the speech Ulfric doesn't move, the city gates are locked and I no longer have the Liberation quest chain. So What to do from here? Also I used Unrelenting Force on Ulfric but he came back to the same spot — Unsigned comment by 88.251.36.164 (talk) at 11:01 on 4 July 2015 (GMT)

Rikke won’t die.[edit]

After entering castle Dour, the whole argument plays out like normal, until Rikke becomes hostile. Then, she and Tulius both attack me while Ulfric and Galmar just stand there. When reduced to 0 HP, Tulius remains down, but Rikke remains alive. She goes to her kneed after being reduced to 0 HP, but then stands back up and just walks around until I attach again. How do I fix this? (Playing on Switch) — Unsigned comment by 98.38.31.221 (talk) at 12:57 on 17 June 2021 (UTC)