I just killed all the bandits and all the warriors in the cave ... but the map fails to tag and show 'cleared'.

Is this bugged?




???

That cave gets used for multiple quests & is never taged clear (two side quests in Whiterun). There are few other spots like that.

Thanks.

I'll look for other quests.

Will it get tagged clear after all of the quests that take you there?


???

No, not so far. Not sure whether it's been scripted as a dungeon or a vista/settlement. Got to wait for the creation kit.

I encountered several dungeons (usually tied to a quest) which will never be registered as clear. I think it's a glitch too because sometimes reloading an earlier save or clearing a cave before the quest starts will make them registered as clear.

From what I've read in the Wikis, "cleared" means you've explored it thoroughly, not that you've cleared all the mobs. And, of course, when they respawn, it'll still show as cleared. But you are right that there are some that never "clear" no matter what.

In my experience, "cleared" often means killing off a particular high level occupant (the "boss" of the location, even if there are lessers still remaining). Other times, it simply means clearing it out, like some animal caves. It varies.

"Clearing" Swindler's Den may be tied to a quest. Can't say for sure. In the long run, it doesn't matter. There are plenty of clearable locales not associated with quests, if it's the achievement you're after.

I've never even been to this cave, and I got "Delver" a long time ago on my first character.

True and you hear a sound after the last one is dispatched.

But in some cases it's never marked as cleared for some reason and stays that way even if you return to the dungeon and repeat the cleanup process after some time. It happens more often with places visited during quests.

I don't think Swindler's den ever shows up as cleared which is fine because that cave respawns very quickly in comparasion to the other dungeons.

Yup need to kill everybody, explore the entire map AND loot all unique equipment. After you do that you get this tune/sound and it's cleared. It's a pain to do however and it took me some time to get the clear 50 dungeons achievement(console and I want 100% achievements). Luckily patches of forest on the map and small caves also count to this number.
Sometimes they won't clear because there is some unique equipment on a dead body you overlook or something behind a locked door.

spoiler warning


You get clear credit for Swindler's Den if you choose to kill Kematu and all of his guards during "In My Time of Need". You must speak to the prisoner in Dragonsreach Dungeon first to get the location. If you leave him alive or do this quest any other way, killing just the bandits doesn't seem to be enough in my experience.

I've done this, but it is still not cleared.