Skyrim talk:Boethiah's Calling

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Archive 1: Nov 2011 - Jun 2012

Decapitations?[edit]

If you decapitate the last cultist will Boethiah reanimate a headless corpse? Just wondering. — Unsigned comment by 67.84.170.25 (talk) at 00:02 on 17 January 2012

Failing the Quest[edit]

Is there a way to fail this quest such that it is removed from the journal? This is for RPG purposes, my "hero" character would be against it. I've so far avoided getting it in my quest log by simply not reading the book Boethiah's proving. Would be nice if there was an actual way to fail it, like killing Logrolf in Molag Bal's quest or Eola in the Taste of Death. — Unsigned comment by 207.6.229.124 (talk) on 28 May 2012

I was wondering the same thing. I tried to use the setstage command to force-finish the quest just to get it off my quest list, but I put in stage number 100, and doing so basically summoned a dying version of Eilisif into the room I was standing in, and Boethiah congratulated me. After the sequence of Boethiah talking ended, I had an endlessly wounded Eilisif crawling around my kitchen floor. Amusing, but not what I was aiming for. I can't tell from the Wiki page what number I should put in to finish it more cleanly, even though it suggests you can do that. 40, maybe? 162.129.44.120 19:33, 5 December 2012 (GMT)
Stage 15 is the part of the quest where she possesses the reanimated body of the person you sacrificed and tasks you with killing the bandits at the dungeon and taking the Ebony Mail from the leader. I'd suggest starting there. If you're partial to mods, there is a mod on the Nexus forums that's basically an alternative for good characters:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/22818
Basically, with the mod installed, you just touch the pillar instead of having a follower to touch it as Boethiah ordered you to. There's no extra dialogue, she's essentially like "FINE," and provides a victim herself. After you kill that person, the quest proceeds as normal. 97.125.249.178 07:55, 31 July 2013 (GMT)

Armor bug[edit]

On the 360, I noticed my armor rating go down considerably after I looted the Champion's body. I had all the Heavy Armor perks spent, save the reflect damage one on the right track. With all my Legendary Ebony Armor on and no HA enchants, I had a rating of 1177. I did a test and unequipped and reequiped a ring after looting (actually taking all of his items) and the rating shot down to under 900. Can anyone confirm what's happening or why? I don't know if some of my perks were practically disapparated or what. The points are still spent and whatnot. The only thing that seems to have changed is the rating. It was very disappointing, and I decided against finishing the quest. The Mail seems like more trouble than it's worth, anyway. I know the armor maxes out around 600 or so, but I still don't like to feel like I've lost something.68.59.126.206 06:03, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

I noticed this as well. I don't have a handy save to test this on, but when I unequipped and reequipped my armor I regained the rating I expected (eg where it was before looting the body). My guess is that upon looting the body the armor is supposed to automatically equip and doesn't, but updates the AR anyway. The point is, the lowered AR isn't a permanent condition. --EarlJ 05:24, 19 August 2012 (UTC)
I can not say I have observed that one on the PC, but I have never had so high armor rating in any game either. I never even bothered to try it on, as I each time had found armor with enchantments suiting me better. I find it unlikely that the Ebony Armor should be scripted for automatically equipping, but I guess some who can read the files with the Construction Kit could check that one on the PC. (The script would be the same on all platforms.) Have you tried to unequip all and reequip to see if you have regained your armor rating? —MortenOSlash 08:38, 19 August 2012 (UTC)
I once got something similar to this, where if i carry a piece of armor similar to my equipped armor (i.e. i wear self-enchanted, renamed ebony armor(legendary), then loot/take a piece of unenchanted, unimproved ebony armor somewhere), my AR will drop to the base AR of the armor equipped, without improvement.
Re-equipping the armor won't fix the glitch, but getting rid (selling/storing/dropping) of the other, similar armor fix the problem for me. I can't reliably duplicate the glitch again though, maybe a patch/USKP fixed it. CindyLee (talk) 06:30, 8 June 2013 (GMT)

Item Duplication / Possibly Exploitable?[edit]

With my latest PC, I sacrificed Ralis Sedarys for this quest. I had taken some of his items beforehand, like his money and his unique pickaxe, Hoarfrost. After gutting him on the altar, I checked his body again and found that his inventory had respawned, so I now have two Hoarfrosts. Haven't tested this with other NPCs, but it might be a viable way to duplicate unique items that they own. SonGoharotto (talk) 16:28, 3 January 2013 (GMT)

Always Night?[edit]

It was 1:47 PM in-game when I reached the Sacellum to begin the quest. As I approached the area, the sky got dark. I had the quest activated, but didn't get a chance to test out what would happen if I approached without the quest activated. Once I had gained a follower, I started at the Windhelm stables to approach on foot again. It was noon, but the sky grew dark as soon as I got on the road past Traitor's Post.

Can anyone else confirm this? I'm playing on Xbox 360 with the 1.8.159.0.7 patch.

ZapDynamic (talk) 22:01, 30 January 2013 (GMT)

Correct. There is a special weather that engages when you enter the area. Technically it is not night, just a dark sky. — Unsigned comment by 109.133.107.77 (talk) at 21:50 on 5 February 2013

Using DLC's as an exploit[edit]

Would it be viable if we hire a follower from a DLC and kill that in Boethiah's calling, and uninstall the DLC, and then reinstall it so that all the people and quests of that DLC are reset? If this is exploitable, we are technically not sacrifying anyone to finish this quest. -Joshua.yathin.yu (talk) 19:31, 24 March 2013 (GMT)

Starting the quest[edit]

Looks like my game doesn't want me to start this quest. I'm pretty sure it's due to my game having bugged "Increased Level" event required to start this quest, as I'm also unable to start Meridia's or Mephala's quest (no Boethiah's Proving books, no cultists, no beacon, no orders form Meridia near statue, no rumors about Nelkir, etc.), probably also true for all other quests with this event. I've already tried Startquest console command, but it has no effect and GetQR still returns 0. Any idea how can I force those quests to start? 178.235.114.38 21:07, 14 July 2013 (GMT)

Do you have any add-ons and mods running that can interfere? —MortenOSlash (talk) 04:38, 15 July 2013 (GMT)
I do have a few mods (and all of Arthmoor's unofficial patches), yes, but nothing that can break those quests comes to my mind. 178.235.114.38 23:01, 16 July 2013 (GMT)
They may interfere unintentionally. Turn them all off and see if you still get the bug :) Jeancey (talk) 23:04, 16 July 2013 (GMT)
It's not fault of my mods - I started new game with the same mods as I have on my main save and I could start all those quests without problems. Looks like my save is broken. Thanks for help. 178.235.114.38 16:18, 23 July 2013 (GMT)
I met the same problem. My solution is to use console commands to start this quest. First input player.setlevel 30. Then use the incPCS command repeatedly to upgrade my skills until my level ups, for example input player.incpcs sneak repeatedly. After upgrading my level to 31 by this way, I successfully started this quest. This way also works on Daedric Quests The Cursed Tribe and The Break of Dawn.180.165.3.64 15:44, 12 November 2019 (GMT)

Champion of Molag Bal?[edit]

Has anyone else gotten the option to diss Boethiah and visit the altar of molag bal?

I completed the House of Horrors and became Molag Bals champion. Then I went to the sanctellum of Boethiah and killed all the followers. At that point Boethiah spoke to me asking why had I killed everyone. One of the options was 'To honor my Lord Molag Bal' Selecting this option led to a quest objective to visit molag Bals altar in Markarth to see if the lord of destruction will grant you any special powers. (Going to the altar, nothing happens, the quest is then unfinishable)

Anyone else have this happen?? — Unsigned comment by Paj006 (talkcontribs) at 18:41 on 16 July 2013

I've looked into both Boethiah's and Molag Bal's Quest in the CK, and couldn't find any such line. The only response to "Tell me, why have you slain those who profess to follow in my ways?" is "My reasons are my own." (Newest Patch & Dragonborn loaded). Making a quest unfinishable that way is also not Bethesda's style. Do you propably have any Mods active that could cause this? -- SarthesArai Talk 19:12, 16 July 2013 (GMT)

Investigate the Boethiah Cultist[edit]

Can someone find a fix for the bug where this journal entry never leaves. It's driving me insane. I was about level 30 when I read the book accidentally, just didn't want clutter in my journal. I'm now level 90. — Unsigned comment by 173.51.247.17 (talk) at 20:21 on 7 February 2014

Assuming you're on a PC, try typing setobjectivecompleted WEDA02 10 1 in the Console. If you're on a gaming console, you're probably out of luck. Robin Hood  (talk) 01:30, 8 February 2014 (GMT)
I'm on PC and it didn't work. Tried complete quest as well, and setstaging all other stages, tried resetting quest and still nothing. -maddening. Any other ideas? — Unsigned comment by 173.51.247.17 (talk) at 04:18 on 8 February 2014‎
This is more of a long shot, and I'd suggest you save first in case this just makes the problem worse, but try:
startquest WEDA02
setobjectivecompleted WEDA02 10 1
stopquest WEDA02
You may want to try a few setstages in there as well for good measure, but I doubt that'll make much difference. If that doesn't work, you may not be able to get rid of it at all unless you can find a saved game editor somewhere that'll do it. I've had an objective stuck like that before because it had become disassociated from the quest that added it. If that's what's happened to you as well, then there's probably nothing you can do. Robin Hood  (talk) 09:27, 8 February 2014 (GMT)
There's also a fix available in the form of an .esp file that you can download from Nexusmods (not sure if I can link to third-party websites). Just do a google search for 'investigate the boethiah cultist glitch fix' and it should appear near the top. Load up a save with that esp enabled and the journal entry should clear. Save the game, and you can then remove the esp file. Cheers! -Deltahost (talk) 01:53, 8 March 2014 (GMT)
As long as you're not advertising Louis Vitton, yes, you're welcome to include external links on talk pages. For commonly used ones, like TES Nexus, we even have templates to make the wikitext easier to read and to make it easier to deal with if the URL ever changes: Investigate the Boethiah Cultist glitch Fix. Robin Hood  (talk) 05:24, 8 March 2014 (GMT)

Follower Won't Activate the Altar[edit]

For some reason, my follower can't activate the Altar. Could someone give me a workaround for this, or some sort of console command I could use to force them to use the Altar? This problem is most likely due to a mod, although I can not pinpoint which mod is causing the problem. In fact, I have deactivated all of my mods, and the problem still persisted. Piffinatour (talk) 09:39, 16 February 2014 (GMT)

If your follower cannot activate the altar, make sure your follower is *NOT* essential (meaning they can die). Only non-essential followers can activate the pillar. If you really want to sacrifice an essential follower (hopefully it doesn't break any other quests), then you will need to find that follower's base id and change it to 'setessential <base ID> 0' using the console. Hope this helps. Cheers! -Deltahost (talk) 23:41, 7 March 2014 (GMT)
Came up with away around this that was pretty simple where you can have mods that make everyone that's a follower essential. Simply bring in a 'cannon fodder' NPC - if you've finished the Dark Brotherhood quest line, one of those followers are easy. They shouldn't be essential - and even if they are, most mods allow them to made NOT essential. Quick and easy sacrifice. (I have the UFO mod active, and everything I tried would NOT allow me to not make a 'named' follower unessential - tried several of them, no go. Brought in an inconsequential NPC, dialogue let him become unessential, and chop, chop, continue the quest. This is also my first time on a full run through on the PC, I've done way too much Xbox.) Agmen (talk) 03:09, 15 January 2016 (UTC)
I had hired a mercenary (so not essential) and he accepted my order to use the altar, but did nothing. I found the reason: I had to sheathe my weapons - so my follower too - and it was OK. So apparently the altar can't be activated if the weapons are drawn. Can anyone confirm this?

Got the follower to the pillar, now the dialogue won't start[edit]

I took Faendal to the pillar, activated it and all was well.. Boethiah said one sentence through him, and the "option" to open dialogue is there, but I can press A all I want and the dialogue won't start. He's just kinda sitting there at the shrine. Is there any way to fix this? I'm using an Xbox console if that matters. — Unsigned comment by 99.197.193.241 (talk) at 13:30 on 18 April 2014 (GMT)

Could your exprience be related to the the first bug described under the Bug section of the article? —MortenOSlash (talk) 18:33, 20 April 2014 (GMT)

misc. mission part ~360~[edit]

Does anyone know how to get rid of the 'Investigate the Boethiah cultist' if you left the body and it despawned, you use the xbox 360 and without cheating in any way??? I'm stuck with the annoying quest piece but worried about glitching the game up. D:< 67.3.153.18 21:42, 29 June 2014 (GMT)

Ummmmmm[edit]

I have a 360 and on the cultest scarifying is fine but when I kill all the cultest there is a Aarow pointing in the ground and it won't go away no matter what I do I've tried saving and reloading doing other quest coming back shoot the aarow whole nine I don't have a clue. Anyone? — Unsigned comment by 166.137.101.168 (talk) at 21:10 on 23 October 2014‎

I've had that happen once, myself, and the only solution I found was to reload a game from before the sacrifice then do that whole part over. Robin Hood  (talk) 22:37, 23 October 2014 (GMT)
I've just had this happen - only five cultists are present at the shrine, and when I get to the stage of killing all the other cultists, there are three quest markers hovering over bits of ground, therefore the quest is not completable. I tried loading a save from before I even started the quest, and the same thing happened. I suspect what happened is that the other three cultists somehow died prior to me starting the quest, though I'm not sure how, as I've not gone near that area prior to taking this mission. --118.148.100.71 04:56, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

Are animal followers elligible for sacrifice?[edit]

Like Meeko, Stray Dogs or Vigilance? I assume not, but the article doesn't specify. 178.183.4.97 10:10, 19 December 2014 (GMT)

Entrance to the second part of the cave collapsed after equipping ebonymail and completing quest[edit]

Is this supposed to happen? I coundt find exit so I just reloaded and equipped ebony mail when I had passed the collapsing part. Now the second part seems to be unaccessible again.— Unsigned comment by 91.154.128.239 (talk) at 23:21 on 4 January 2015‎

I didn't see anything about this happening on this page or the Knifepoint Ridge page and I've never had this happen to me in my gameplays either. Maybe someone else around has an answer? •WoahBro►talk 01:04, 5 January 2015 (GMT)
What kind of platform was used? If it was PC, were there any mods of unofficial patches installed? —MortenOSlash (talk) 05:58, 5 January 2015 (GMT)

Are sacrificed NPCs lootable?[edit]

Wondering if being made Boethiah's "conduit" changes the sacrificed NPC's corpse from a lootable container to something that cannot be interacted with. Evil-i (talk) 03:20, 1 February 2015 (GMT)

Boethiah cultist just won't die[edit]

So here I am at Boethia's shrine, I killed most of the cultist exept for two seemingly immortal cultists who can attack me but won't take any damage themselves, I only stumbled on the Shrine at a level of 35, I didn't find any book... Please if anyone can help me. — Unsigned comment by 105.237.92.241 (talk) at 10:15 on 25 June 2015 (UTC)

I think you have to give more to go on. Have you started the quest before starting to kill off the cultists or did you want to start it by choosing the alternative with killing them all to trigger it? Further it might be important to know what platform you are playing, and if it is PC, do you have any mods or unofficial patches installed that might affect NPCs, quests or game dynamics? —MortenOSlash (talk) 15:32, 25 June 2015 (UTC)
I am having the same problem, except I actually did start the quest before this happened. And for me there is just one cultist that won't die. I tried to do this peacefully but they are automatically aggro'd on me when I arrive, and no matter how much 'waiting' I do, or lowering my weapons, they will not stop being aggressive. Help? I can't find anyone else that has also had this problem. — Unsigned comment by 76.29.207.114 (talk) at 21:57 on 13 September 2015 (UTC)
The same questions apply to you: What platform you are playing, and if it is PC, do you have any mods or unofficial patches installed that might affect NPCs, quests or game dynamics? —MortenOSlash (talk) 04:25, 14 September 2015 (UTC)
I also could not kill them with the 'kill' command in the console. This was before I talked to Boethiah. When I got to the camp, two of the cultists were fighting. They were invulnerable to me--and to each other. The quest would not proceed, and each had a quest indicator (arrow) pointing to them. I clicked on the offending cultist and used damageactorvalue health x (where x is greater than their current health, which I could see with a mod--without that mod use like 500 as the highest of the two was 489). Rinse and repeat for the other cultist. That command killed them. Then Boethiah appeared in the flesh of the last one killed and the quest proceeded as normal.209.54.5.31 07:19, 31 July 2016 (UTC)
Thanks for that hint.. damageactorvalue health 500 worked.. the bugged cultist was immune to the kill command, immune to shouts, didn't take any damage and hit like truck. Also, recycleactor did not restore it to a working version either. WooShell (talk) 22:43, 12 March 2018 (UTC)

Sacrificed Follower[edit]

Is the sacrificed follower "respawned" and rescripted so they are the conduit? — Unsigned comment by 67.161.110.240 (talk) at 04:14 on 17 July 2015 (UTC)

Sacrifice Counting as Murder[edit]

Since there seems to be some disagreement over whether the act of killing the sacrifice counts as a murder, I've moved the following note here from the article:

Making the sacrifice may count as a murder. If the quest Boethiah's Calling is completed, all witnesses to the "murder" will have been eliminated, so technically no murder is provable.

The editor who modified the note to say that it may count as a murder instead of flat-out counting as a murder raised the point that it wasn't considered a murder in his game, which mirrors my own experience; I've never received a bounty from killing the sacrifice. I see that there's already been some discussion about this, the upshot of which seemed to be that killing the follower increased the "crimes" statistic. However, there was no mention of a bounty being implemented for the killing in that discussion, and when we say that killing an NPC is "considered a murder" in our articles, we're typically not talking about the "crimes committed" statistic; we're saying that if you're caught, you'll get a bounty and the guards will come after you.

So we're presented with two questions here: Will killing the sacrifice result in a bounty, and if not, is it worth noting?

With regards to the second question, I'm of the opinion that if you don't get a bounty for killing the sacrifice, there's no need to have a note at all. As stated above, the cultists won't be in any position to report you even if they are capable of doing it, so having a note outside of the main walkthrough just seems out of place. I also don't see the point of mentioning that it will count as a murder in your stats screen, since that stat doesn't have any direct impact on gameplay. What does everyone else think? Zul do onikaanLaan tinvaak 19:55, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

The Users edit summary says "With regard to the sacrifice counting as murder, my player has done this quest with no increase in attributed murders. So the game does not register as murder either the "sacrifice" or the killing of all the cultists. No witnesses remain." This sounds more like the stat increase to me, than an actual bounty. And I don't remember getting any bounty from that, either. And if there's no bounty, I too think the note can be omitted. -- SarthesArai Talk 20:01, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

Cannot pickpocket Ebony Mail[edit]

Since the quest says "..., don the Ebony Mail." I wanted to try and pickpocket the armor to see what happened (with the Perfect Touch perk). Once in the inventory however, I noticed I had a 0% chance to pickpocket the armor, while I had a 90% chance to pickpocket any other piece of equipment. Drinking a Fortify Pickpocketing potion (174%) didn't change anything. Seems logical to disable this, to allow only one solution for the quest; but I couldn't find it on this page. Maybe it warrants a note? TheTelvanniTurtle (talk) 20:01, 17 November 2021 (UTC)