Skyrim talk:College of Winterhold (place)

Arcanaeum page?Edit

Is there gonna be a separate page for the Arcanaeum, or should we just link here? Minor Edits 00:31, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

I just spoke to our resident Arch-Mage, rpeh - he can't access the site at the moment, but suggested the Arcanaeum as part of this very article. So for now, better to link here. --Krusty 00:54, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

ShoutEdit

"You can also tell her that you're the Dragonborn, and show her a Shout. She will name you an Apprentice and guide you into the College."

This doesn't seem to work for me (360). I tried shouting at her, and that didn't work, eventually the guards got annoyed too. I tried telling her I was dragonborn but no such option appeared.

As far as the main quest I'm up to having the horn and needing to return it to the Greybeards, and not having spoken with Delphine a second time. 76.115.250.108 07:44, 17 November 2011 (UTC)

I didn't get the option to say I'm Dragonborn either (PC).--76.120.1.206 17:01, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

Same here, no option. --Cdevine 17:43, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

See Skyrim:First_Lessons#Joining for details. According to that you must be on the mainquest Elder Knowledge to have the shout option. --Alfwyn 23:38, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

I've done this and it works for me, I'm looking for the specific criteria needed to be met (to do this again). Currently, I've only been able to do it once. Possibly it was because, at the time, I had enough shouts or completed a large amount of the Alduin quest-line? Until you need the "kel" [elder scroll]. — Unsigned comment by 173.171.89.25 (talk) at 17:56 on 3 August 2012

Arch-Mage's QuartersEdit

Anyone know if the containers there are safe? I know only 3 in your "room" are safe, and I want to make sure before I start organizing all my junk. --Saphireking65 05:48, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

This room will completely reset, even the frost boots will respawn. Dragonalumni 18:33, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Unsafe containers in the Apprentice Quarters?Edit

The four barrels appear to be respawning containers, although possibly only if you completely empty them first. 124.170.15.129 19:48, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

This room will completely reset. Dragonalumni 18:33, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Does it still reset? I've been Arch-Mage for quite some time [though not sure exactly how long] and nothing has ever reset? Was this something that was patched? Or do I need to head back there post haste and retrieve all the stuff I have stored there? — Unsigned comment by 74.2.96.30 (talk) on 15 March 2012

The reason it hasn't respawned for you is most likely because you haven't left the zone for a long enough time for it to do so. A list of non-respawning locations can be found here and more information on safe storage can be found here. ABCface^◥ 22:51, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

If you're talking about the room your were given as a student, the wardrobe and dressers will not respawn their contents but the area will reset which is why any soul gems you take will be replaced over time. If you're talking about the Arch Mage's Quarters, the area resets but all the containers are safe. While normal barrels, sacks and chests will respawn contents the ones in the Arch Mage's Quarters are distinct from normal ones and are not flagged to respawn. If you leave items out in the open in the Arch Mage's Quarters and don't revisit the cell for 30 days they will disappear (and the garden will respawn).--DagmarH 00:27, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

HGH JUMP AND FREEFALL!Edit

After you gain access to the roof of the Arch-Mage's Quarters, you can quickly reach the courtyard by jumping off the front of the tower, or off the back to reach sea-level after a FIVE SECOND freefall. Although, using the shout Become Ethereal to avoid damage or Whirlwind Sprint to reach deeper water is highly recommended if you want to survive.

Can the above be added to the College of Winterhold page? --Dlsmith08 02:46, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Rofl I jumped off the bridge where its crumbled a bit without any shouts etc... landed alive on my 10th try. Was a lot of fun! Lord Eydvar^Talk 06:54, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

Draugr?Edit

I walked into the college earlier and the mages are attacking. I assume its a dragon, but no. Its a few draugrs running around. Does anyone know why? — Unsigned comment by Videogameruler (talk • contribs) at 07:17 on December 28, 2011

Happened to me a couple of times when fast travelling. A draugr when fast travelling to one of the northern Imperial camps an a sabre cat/wolf when fast travelling to Whiterun. Both times they were right behind me.

Miscellaneous Book Finding QuestsEdit

Someone should fix this. It is a series of quests, not just finding 'the wolf queen' Ive also had to find 'war of the first councel' (i had to find that one twice already) and 'hanging gardens' which is from morrowind! — Unsigned comment by Hope (talk • contribs) at 19:44 on December 31, 2011

I fixed that, but the quests are already listed (in more detail) at Skyrim:College of Winterhold (faction). If we want to duplicate them here, we may want to put them on a subpage that can be transcluded by both pages. Or we just refer to the quests on the faction page. --Alfwyn 20:00, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Music console command?Edit

Is there any console command to get the music play again in this area? Because I walk in total silence there due to a glitch. — Unsigned comment by 77.120.164.129 (talk) on January 3, 2012 04:39

Incorrect stair placementEdit

I have worked out why the floor layout is messed up in the guild. The Arch Mage quarters should be on the top floor, the Arcanaeum on the middle and the hall of elements on the ground floor. If you enter the guild and take the right set of stairs, it is correct. two flights to the arcanaeum, two more to the arch mages quarter. There is no access on the left set of stairs to the arcaneum, so the left set of stairs should go straight to the Arch Mages floor, however, they only put two flights of stairs rather than the four it should take to get from the ground floor to the arch mages floor, which accounts for the confusion. — Unsigned comment by 92.19.56.39 (talk) at 15:03 on January 15, 2012

Perhaps it is not a mess-up/bug. Perhaps it is intentional, like "Harry Potter". Those magical stairs. — Unsigned comment by 175.143.190.19 (talk) on 8 May 2012

if that was the case, you shouldnt be able to go down from Arch Mage quarters to Arcanaeum or up from it to the Arch Mage quarters... 77.2.208.168 22:03, 31 May 2013 (GMT)

Came here just to see if anyone else reported this. Glad to see someone did indeed. --Rope Dog (talk) 22:41, 3 July 2013 (GMT)

I don't see why that should be the case: the Arch-Mage's quarters are above the Arcanaeum, so naturally you can go down from the former to the latter. OP's description seems accurate to me (reference the windows on the SW wall of the Arcanaeum and Arch-Mage's quarters to the exterior of the building). The most likely explanation is that the devs simply chose not to depict a few flights of stairs (which are traversed between entering the ground floor's AMQ door and exiting AMQ's HoElements door). I'm going to remove the description of this 'extra-dimensional oddity' from the Bugs section. 109.79.22.236 00:02, 1 February 2015 (GMT)

Higher chance of random dragon attacks?Edit

Has anyone noticed that this location has a higher chance than usual for random dragon attacks? At one point, I had 3 in a row, each time I fast-traveled. The courtyard was basically paved with skeletons afterwards. A plus though is that there is plenty of room to hide behind the columns, and also mages attack it with powerful spells. — Unsigned comment by 78.96.214.241 (talk) at 00:09 on January 16, 2012

I have had this happen to me on two of my three characters-- for about a month straight (in-game) a dragon appeared every single time I went there. I have read others say the same in forums. I'm unsure if this is a random bug or if it is a bug prompted by some action your character takes, or something else entirely. If it happens to enough people, maybe it should be listed in the 'Bugs' section of this article? Alphabetface 00:35, 16 January 2012 (UTC)

My 55th level Arch-Mage gets hounded by Ancient Dragons just about every time I walk outside the building, or fast travel there. There is also a glitch where phantom dragon skeletons appear and relocate randomly on the campus. At one point there were 3 skeletons littering the college grounds just outside the Hall of the Elements.— Unsigned comment by 74.2.96.30 (talk) on 15 March 2012

Necromancy?Edit

On the page is says that the College of Winterhold "regards Necromancy as a viable arcane practice" however during the Blood on the Ice quest, when speaking to Wuunferth the Unliving he seems to think that the College of Winterhold haven't allowed necromancy for hundreds of years. I am also pretty sure someone else in the college said necromancy was accepted but I couldnt find who it was to ask them again (There are Necromancy spell tombs sold tho). So is Necromancy accepted or not? — Kimi the Elf ^{(talk | contribs)} 19:10, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Well, it is and isn't in a sense. Since the mages guild had collapsed and the laws on necromancy went with it, necromancy is now accepted in the college itself (and likely all of Tamriel because no one really enforces the laws because the Guild did originally). However, even if it is accepted by the college, the local Nords and non-mages think otherwise, because they still think necromancy is illegal (as you can tell, not all of them are fans of magic so they don't keep up with what happens). So the mages are pretty much private about the practice itself to avoid trouble, despite the fact it is legal. — Unsigned comment by 130.157.32.235 (talk) at 05:33 on 2 March 2012

The dialogue is not consistent, and the game data is somewhat confused. No College of Winterhold mage sells Black Soul Gems, only Falion in Morthal does that, and his dialogue with Agni indicates he doesn't get along with the college. Phinis Gestor does however sell all the raising undead conjuration spell tomes, and in his dialogue he says that necromancy is OK as long as you don't frighten the locals.

On the subject of the Mages Guild. In the time period of Oblivion, necromancy is also legal. However, it's banned by Cyrodiil's Mages Guild, so members of that Guild are prohibited from practicing it. There's no indication in dialogue that the Mages Guild ever ran the College of Winterhold, and a significant amount of data suggesting they didn't. Serana in Dawnguard knows about the College, which means that it predates the Empire, which was created after she was hidden away by her mother.

Still, necromancy as defined in Oblivion is the practice of soul trapping people in black soul gems, not raising undead, which is allowed by the Mages Guild in that time period. So it may be that Wuunferth is referring to black soul gem type necromancy while Phinis is referring to zombie minion type necromancy. --Morrolan (talk) 15:10, 18 August 2013 (GMT)

Hall of Attainment's ContainersEdit

I've a question.

I put all my things into my room at Hall of Attainment. Are they safe? Are they make respawn? Hasanalicik

See note here. --Xyzzy 13:37, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Entering the College without joiningEdit

Is it possible to get into the College via the cave that exits at the bottom of the pillar of stone upon which the College sits, and leads to the Midden? And if you can, how do the inhabitants of the College react to your presence? Obax 00:46, 6 June 2012 (UTC)

It is possible, yes. They generally treat you like they do when you officially join, and in at least one case there's additional dialog options from unused story elements. You can partake of the usual beds and free stuff as usual. One drawback is that none of the Master Spell Ritual quests can be initiated (for me, neither Tolfdir nor Drevis allowed the dialog option for these). Also, while First Lessons initiated when I spoke with Nirya, it won't progress any. . .Mirabelle doesn't provide the tour or direct you to Tolfdir (who remains idle & alone in the Hall of Elements).76.186.153.247 19:42, 11 December 2016 (UTC)

Locked out of the College of WinterholdEdit

Can anyone explain why I owuld be locked out of the College of Winterhold? My character is a level 69 mage and the The Arch Mage of the college. Until now the doors would swing open when I visited. I have been coming and going for may levels. When I approach the doors I can see NPC's walking around but they will not engage. Deanmakoma 13:44, 25 June 2012 (UTC) deanmakoma

I can't think of any reason why you would be locked out, unless you attacked somebody or something like that. You might be able to get in the window ledges if you use whirlwind sprint. If that doesn't work you can get in by going through the cave entrance to the midden, if you can find the entrance that is. As a last resort you could try to attack a summoned creature until it turns hostile and maybe the mages will open the doors to help you fight the summoned creature. RIM 16:26, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Sneaking into the CollegeEdit

I didn't feel like starting the College quest line with my current character, but I wanted Velehk Sain's stash, so I snuck in through the Midden. Do certain NPCs just not spawn if you do that? So far, I've only seen Mirabelle, Ancano, and Urag gro-Shub. It's weirdly empty... SonGoharotto 13:28, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Missing Students QuestEdit

Is there or section about the missing students that appear to be dotted around Skyrim? I know of Yisra and Ilas-Tei; both have unique items (a necklace and a ring) that are unremarkable except for their unique names. Are there others? Is there a section discussing this? The incomplete quests page doesn't list anything so I'm curious to know where it's covered, as it seems like an unfinished College quest as if you should be able to hand the unique items in to someone. -- Haravikk (talk) 17:32, 21 November 2012 (GMT)

PeopleEdit

This page should have a "people" page, as a place connected to people. That there's a faction is a separate issue. --JR (talk) 13:12, 3 February 2013 (GMT)

Hall of the Elements layoutEdit

The page has a bug note stating that the fact that the Arch-Mage's Quarters and the Arcaneum appear to occupy the same space may be intentional. However, if you pay attention to Mirabelle Ervine during her initial tour, she directly states that the Arcaneum is above the Hall of the Elements, and the Arch-Mage's Quarters are above that. I would suggest removing the note that the layout may be intentional, as in-game dialogue states that it isn't. Swk3000 (talk) 22:33, 5 June 2013 (GMT)

Another curious quirk to note is that as Sergius (or any NPC) exits through the Arcaneum door while you exit to the courtyard but to find Sergius walking in the courtyard just in front of you!

--Lmstearn (talk) 12:51, 25 November 2013 (GMT)

Magic Lights Go Out?Edit

I'm not sure if this is just my installation or whether others have experienced it. Faralda lights the three on the bridge when you first gain entrance to the College. After some time (a month or two in-game?) they go out. Anyone else getting this and any clues as to why it might be happening? 72.183.214.11 21:15, 4 July 2013 (GMT)

Same thing happened to me. It's been a while since I arrived there, but the lights are definitely out. 71.131.130.83 18:51, 27 September 2013 (GMT)

Radiant Misc. QuestsEdit

It has been verified on the wiki that the three following quests are radiant, and repeat: "Enchanting Pick-Up" "Tolfdir the Absent-Minded" "Restocking Soul Gems" (Note that "Restocking Soul Gems" is not listed as a misc quest on the wiki page.)

"Out of Balance" is not classified as radiant, but it repeated in this player's game. --Lmstearn (talk) 15:59, 24 November 2013 (GMT)

Yes, this is a confirmed bug and noted on the quest page. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 16:04, 24 November 2013 (GMT)

One of the bugs on the main page doesn't appear to exist.Edit

There's a bug which says there's a huge black square in the sea NE of the College. I've been all over the sea and couldn't find it. Anyone else see it? Dreifach (talk) 11:34, 23 April 2016 (UTC)Dreifach

Bug Listing for StairwaysEdit

I'm a bit confused by the bug entry on the Stairways for the Hall of Elements:

The stairways between the Hall of Elements, the Arcanaeum, and the Arch-Mage's Quarters act in strange ways. Entering from the ground floor, both the Arcanaeum and the Arch-Mage's Quarters seem to be on the floor above, in an arrangement that would have them both occupy the same physical space. There are stairs that lead between the two, however. This may be a bug in the links between cells, or an intentional extra-dimensional oddity of the College. This glitch also messes with an NPC's pathfinding abilities, forcing them to travel through the Arch-Mage's Quarters when they need to travel between the Arcanaeum and the Hall of the Elements.

I'm not sure I'm seeing what the problem is here; there are two stairways, one to each side of the tower entrance of the hall of elements; one of these goes up one storey to the Arcaneum, and then up another to the Arch-Mage's Quarters, while the other goes up two storeys directly to the Arch-Mages quaters, bypassing the Arcaneum (where there is only a blank wall, with no stairwell). The pathing problem is annoying, particularly for quest markers which seem to really want to go via the Arch-Mages Quarters, but doesn't appear to be extra dimensional in nature, but that for some reason Skyrim doesn't consider both doors, so ignores that one of them is a direct route. Not sure if there's a way to fix that without somehow breaking part of the loop or making it less likely to be used.

Anyway, my point is that it seems to me that the stairway layout in the Hall of Elements makes logical sense, so unless someone can explain why it doesn't, then I think this "bug" should be removed, or simplified to focus on the pathing issue only. -- Haravikk (talk) 21:10, 5 February 2018 (UTC)

The discrepancy is obvious in the CK. The "layout" is OK, but the model doesn't have all the stairs built, and the doors are poorly placed. So the navmesh distance doesn't calculate properly, resulting in poor pathing choices for NPCs, and as you note for quest markers and clairvoyance. For those of us with fairly good spacial cognition in game, it is confusing going through doors that would exit out of the side of the building into thin air, or take us through extradimensional space vertically. It is particularly disorienting in VR.
DayDreamer (talk) 16:13, 11 October 2020 (UTC)