Skyrim talk:Durnehviir (quest)

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Glitch?[edit]

After defeating and then speaking to Durnehviir, receiving the words of power, and activating all three words, I find I can't use this shout anywhere in Skyrim. All that happens is my avatar says the first word, there's a bit of a fizzing sound, and no dragon shows up. The summoning mark starts out white but turns red when the shout fizzles out. This might be my bug, but if it happens to others we should note it in the Bugs section of this page. Anyone else get stuck this way? Wordmama 01:13, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

You need to shout it on the ground and have enough room for him to summon. — Kimi the Elf (talk | contribs) 01:25, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
Did that -- stood in the middle of a broad open plain (the open ground between Rorikstead and Whiterun) and Shouted at the ground, then at the sky, then straight out in front of me. Same reaction every time. I'm in the process of redoing Dawnguard from the beginning with a different avatar and will report if it makes a difference. Wordmama 03:53, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
Me again. I went through this quest again with a different avatar, and this time the shout worked perfectly. So his nonappearance the first time must have been the bug now noted on the page here. Any input about a possible workaround would be welcome; nothing worked for me. Wordmama 03:58, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
That happened to me once. But in my case, the 80% spell absorption is the one responsible. After a little work with the CK, now I can summon Durnehviir just fine.117.5.17.92 02:56, 18 August 2012 (UTC)
I had the same problem - couldn't summon Durnehviir. I went back to the Soul Cairn and used the shout there, inside the Boneyard. Durnehviir appeared, I learned the first word of Soul Tear and achieved the objective "Summon Durnehviir in Tamriel" despite not having summoned him in Tamriel... After this I returned to Skyrim and could use the shout again to get the second word of Soul Tear. MrKWatkins (talk) 19:31, 5 May 2013 (GMT)

"The shout to summon Durnehviir can only be used when in battle..."[edit]

I don't think this is necessarily true? I summoned him fine, and - unless I'm missing something - there's nothing hostile nearby. 203.206.123.23 06:26, 1 April 2013 (GMT)

  • The shout to summon Durnehviir can only be used when in battle or while hostile enemies are around. Durnehviir will aid you in the fight, but only after he's taught you a word of the Soul Tear shout, which can take a while because he's a slow talker. As such, it might be advisable at least the first three times you summon him to do so in a not-very-difficult fight, as it's difficult to deal with fighting for your life while trying to learn a new shout at the same time.
This isn't true, at least in the needing to be in a fight. I actually sought out a peaceful spot and summoned him three times in quick succession to get the trophy for learning Soul Tear. Silence is GoldenBreak the Silence 08:49, 1 April 2013 (GMT)
Agreed. You can summon him at any time. I think it is true, however, that the first 3 times that you summon him, if you are in the middle of battle, he does waste a lot of time talking instead of fighting for you. --Xyzzy Talk 15:23, 9 April 2013 (GMT)

Unsummon - moved from article[edit]

* Due to the way the shout works, Durnehviir can be summoned indoors (for example, in Blackreach). If there is not enough space to accommodate him, he will unsummon himself. This will not reset your shout cooldown.

I moved this here because it contains redundant information, but also says that Durnehviir will "unsummon" himself if there isn't sufficient room. My experience is that if there isn't enough room for him, the shout will abort without starting the cooldown clock. Oddly, nearby guards will still comment as if you had successfully shouted, possibly because of the first two syllables being successfully spoken. --Xyzzy Talk 15:16, 9 April 2013 (GMT)

Quest"breaker"?[edit]

I dont know if it is a bug but, when I quit the Talk after he "greeted" me, I wasnt be able to talk to him again and have to load a earlier Savegame.--Calhaora (talk) 21:38, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Can't Summon in Special Edition[edit]

I'm running the Special Edition on an XBox One, and I have the same problem where Durnheviir can't be summoned. My character isn't wearing any magic items other than an amulet of Talos. I spoke to Durnehviir before leaving the Soul Cairn, and I let him exhaust all the conversational topics. But when I get back to Tamriel, the shout doesn't work to summon him. I've tried aiming it at the ground, at the horizon, and at the sky. I've tried it in the open plains near Whiterun where there's a vast amount of space. I've tried it in the middle of combat. All that happens is that the x turns red for a second and there's a dull buzz/thump sound.

Greg Hullender (talk) 20:19, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

Is the shout fully unlocked and are you holding down the shout button? Durnehviir will only come if you use all three words. Since the shout works like a Conjuration spell you do need to aim at the ground. --Oriwa Talk 20:31, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

Dragon Rising?[edit]

I see that Dragon Rising was originally added as a prerequisite for "completing" this quest. Given that Durnehviir has special pre-Dragon Rising dialogue for this quest, clearly it is not a prerequisite to start the quest. Is it that you cannot learn the three Words of Power (and therefore complete the quest) prior to Dragon Rising? —⁠Legoless (talk) 10:29, 16 November 2020 (UTC)

Indeed, I just tested and given that without completing Dragon Rising you are unable to learn any Shouts, you cannot progress (and thus complete) the quest beyond talking to Durnehviir. --SerCenKing (talk) 14:02, 15 March 2023 (UTC)