Please try not to spoil the quest too much! (This is the reason I've only looked very briefly at the UESP page, it's possible some of the answers are there, but, you know... I suppose I'm going to run into one of the Gauldurssons - I have started Forbidden Legends a couple of times by mistake but never finished it since I've never done CoW before and Saarthal therefore has been locked, so that particular thing isn't a spoiler for me, but other things might be.)

First: Onmund and J'zargo decided that an excavation sounded booooring, and are currently chillin' in the Hall of Elements. Does this in any way matter for the quest?

Second: As usual I did things in the wrong order. I picked up the Ancient Amulet first of all, and proceeded with the quest. Any problem with this? Can I go back and pick up the other things later?

Third: Tolfdir left me on my own after that room where you have to lower/raise two sets of bars. I checked the UESP, and it seems like he's supposed to do that, is this correct?

Fourth: Any tips how a level 9 mage with no particular focus so far who keeps dying all the time survives multiple draugr are welcome.
No staves, no armor, only weapon is a dagger.
I have a bunch of magicka and health potions, but not excessively many.
Only shout is Fus.
The spells I have that can be of use are Oakflesh, Lesser Ward, Conjure Familiar, Raise Zombie, Restoration, Flames, Sparks and the most basic Ice spell, whatever it's called. Oh, and Fear and Fury, but I'm not really sure if they're any good against draugr. I'm Imperial, but I guess Voice of the Emperor doesn't work on draugr, either.

(This is my second major dungeon with this guy. Bleak Falls Barrow was a piece of cake, but then I had Faendal to back me up - now I'm on my own. Guess what: I'm not used to playing pure mages )

the old mage will leave you from time to time. Just complete the mission following the markers. you have to kill the final "boss" brother in the end to get his piece anyway. You "may" want to take some precautions though. the final guy isn't a push over. Infact you can't hurt him at the beginning of the fight until the old mage does something. Just keep away from the brother. He uses melee and a shout.

Conjure Familiar and Flames should do it. Casting flame with both hands should handle all but the leveled Draugr near the end. Distract him with the familiar and flame him from the side. I assume you have at least novice Destruction perk and conjuration too.

Nope, pretty sure they will just show up along with everybody else once you get there.


I don't think you can go back and get them, but if you're talking about the "enchanted items" that you're directed to go looking around for which leads to you finding the Amulet, there's really no reason to go back for them. They're not relevant to the rest of the quest and aren't anything special. About all I remember them being good for was selling them to the first available merchant for some extra coin.


Answered above but yes, it's what he does. He'll turn up again on his own when you get further along.

Re fighting drauger: I like the challenge you have set for yourself. I only wear Forsworn armour and fight one handed. No sneaking. No bows. Some magic but I'm not very good at it. No scrolls. No potions except for healing.
The result, similar to your experience, is a lot of personal death but I'm getting much better at surviving.
The most basics things for me are: 1. only fight one enemy at a time; 2. find "safe" places where you can retreat to and recover for a few seconds; 3. use traps to do some damage for you; 4. try to use surprise power attacks (without sneaking in my RP.); 5. keep moving around while fighting, don't fight toe to toe for any extended time.

I find the challenge of trying to separate multiple enemies into individual fights one of the more interesting aspects of exploring.
One technique is to move to just outside the detection zone of one of the enemies and then swing your weapon to get his/her/its attention. Immediately back up and then sometimes, at least, the more distant enemies are either not alerted or lose interest as you've moved too far away.
When I say "back up" I really mean "run away" just fast and far enough that you get followed. I suppose this is just a form of kiting.

I love using traps like the swinging axes and spiked doors when possible to eliminate invincible foes. Standing behind a trigger and taunting the enemy to his death is pretty sweet.

I have used Fus to blow strong enemies off of high places to their demise.

Well, you probably know all of that.

Oh, Fear. My son tells me that it is the best spell ever and that I am an idiot because I never use it. I believe my son...but I continue to be an idiot.

You're going to want to get more ranged offensive spells eventually, which will allow you to take them out from a greater distance and avoid having to melee them. For this quest, though, you'll probably want to use Conjure Familiar and Flames (draugr are weak to fire). If you're taking a lot of damage, use Oakflesh and Healing. There are a bunch of traps and stuff that you can lead the draugr into, as well--use the terrain to your advantage!

Also, I find followers very helpful in the early going, just get a ranged one like Faendal or Jenassa so they're not getting in the way of your spells. Or take along another mage, like one of your fellow students, all of whom can become followers after you complete a quest for them, or Marcurio, who's excellent.

Yes, I have a tip: don't do this.

Like The Naked Courier and JosieJ said you're gonna' have separate them and take them one at a time. And, as JosieJ suggested you might need a follower. I'd take a tough meleer - maybe Lydia. Plus, she loves carrying stuff.

Hah! http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?&app=forums&module=extras§ion=legends#

Another tip: once you get through this quest, go somewhere else and level up doing other stuff. Get some better spells and conjured creatures and enchanted apparel and protective and recuperative potions. You really don't want to take on Labyrinthian (where you'll have to go towards the end of the quest line--not gonna spoil it any more than that) at a low level and unprepared.

"flame him from the side" *notes*

I have those perks, yes. I figured out I'll have to depend on those two spells, mostly. Problem with the Familiar is that it isn't very tough - on the other hand, on my level, I guess I mostly will be dealing with ordinary draugr and restless draugr. (I now regret not buying that Atronach spell I was thinking of...)


No, they didn't, only Brelyna showed up. It seems like the others decided to skip class. Well, I guess I'll do fine without them.



Ok, then. I'm currently trying to lay my hands on anything I can disenchant, but since Skyrim is full of such items, I suppose it's no big deal.


Thanks for the advice! I have dabbled in magic before, but never built a pure mage, so I thought it would be fun for a change. It is fun, but much harder than I expected. I'm so used to rely on armor and blocking, and after all, at the lower levels, just slashing things with a sword is much more effective than using spells and run out of magicka all the time.


Faendal is useful in the beginning, but I find him so boring I usually send him home early on. I was thinking of trying Jenassa, but I thought it would be strange to have a follower along when I came to join the College. I haven't had the opportunity to make those quest for my fellow studentsyet, but I will. I love love LOVE Marcurio, so once I get to Riften hiring him is about the first thing I'll do (after a whole playthrough with a Nord warrior who was very suspicious of mages and simply refused to hire him). Come to think of it, he and my mage has in fact some things in common - good-looking male Imperials, likes Dwemer ruins, prefers destruction spells... Either they will be friends, or they will see each other as competitors.

I agree about ranged followers for a mage. Dremoras and such can be meatshields.


I actually did use Lydia for a couple of bounty quests around Whiterun, but since she's one of the most annoying NPCs in the entire game IMO, she's now eating bread in Dragonsreach. And so she will, unless I buy Breezehome, then she can eat her bread there instead.


...Then I guess I'll wait a little before going after that book the librarian wanted me to fetch from - Labyrinthian...

Tips for fighting multiple draugr.

If more than one go in first w/ a shout like fire breath or frost breath, then dagger and destruction magic.
If you don't have the shouts then find higher ground...and usually there is in most caves / tombs and get there. Draugr can't jump and you can rain down destruction magic on them.
If u r in close qtrs, then go dagger in RH and destruc magic in LH so even if your magic gets low you can still keep fighting.

The above is why I am a BIG believer in the battle-mage.

I would've suggested Mjoll, but once you lock her level you can't Wabbajack her. IDK if 1.6 caused her to level with you.

Having a follower would be kind of cheating, wouldn't it? I'm just saying.
They dictate when the battle starts and what the tactics will be -- e.g. separating multiple enemies becomes very difficult.
If the follower has the skills and weapons that you lack then he/she might do all the dirty work and not even in your style.
Or if the follower isn't strong enough then he/she just brings disaster for you.

I'm generalizing and exaggerating. And, of course, this is just IMHO.