Tolfdir just stands there and never casts his spell at me, so that I can cast my ward spell. I have seen this bug posted here and at the steam forums multiple times, but no one has posted a solution to this problem. And no I dont have any previous saves to load (FRUSTRATED). I thought this recent patch would have addressed this bug, but I was WRONG. Not sure how bethesda could have either missed this bug, or have just ignored it. I'm already at level 12, and do not want to start the whole game over again from scratch. If I had known that there would be a bug this bad, and hard to work around I would have started making speacial saves. But up until this point the game has run very good for me. I have tried the few supposed fixes I have seen on google to no avail. 1 - Tried loading ward on both hands, and double casting it. 2 - Tried pushing tolfdir off where he is standing on the floor. 3 - Tried selecting this mission only. 4 - Tried entering TAI in the console, and then reentering it. 5 - tried entering the building from the other door, and going upstairs and back down. 6 - Tried talking to everyone in the area OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AND NOTHING WORKS FOR ME. In fact I have probably spent 3-4 hours just trying to get past this BUG FROM HELL. If at all possible could an ADMIN look into a solution to this bug for me, because I dont think any player has found a solution to this problem yet. Anyhow thatnks for reading my rant, hope someone has a real solution, help me OBI WAN your my only hope!

I would guess that as it's working for the vast majority it's not an inherent bug. Try standing in a different place before casting the right ward spell (he won't cast his until you are already holding the ward, of course).

Definitely try standing in different places - took me a while to find the right spot.

I have tried standing in different places with no luck. I'm still bugged but have some new info to add. I found a youtube video with this section of the game, and noticed that this guy had been given a tour of the school by mirabelle or however you spell her name, but I was never given this tour by her. But now when I speak to her she doesnt say anything about a tour of the school she is suposed to give me. So maybe this is where it first got bugged. So I dont think I can pass the tolfdir part unless I get her to give me the tour first. So if anyone knows how to force her to do so that would be very helpful. I emailed bethesda about this bug but still no response from them yet.

I just did that quest. I stood in the circle in front of him and he didnt begin to cast UNTIL i cast my ward spell.

Hope this helps you out.

Ok sorry maybe I havent been clear enough, I have casted my ward spell till I'm blue in the face, but tolgdir just sits there lifeless. So again to reiterate I'm completely aware you have to cast the ward spell for him to cast his spell at you. It doesnt matter how many times I cast the ward spell, and it doesnt matter where in the room I cast it from, he does nothing. And again I have tried to cast the ward spell from my right hand, my left hand, and both hands at the same time, still tolfdir sits there like a statue and does nothing. He's not even talking at this point, unless I talk to him and ask him the same 3 questions over and over again.

I've hit this too... it's the first major bug I've run into myself. I keep regular saves, so I'll go back to an earlier one and retry. I wish I knew how to set quest variables with Papyrus scripting as I can see them but not do anything with them.

Edit: I tried right-handed, left-handed, dual-cast, close, far away, in the circle, outside, all over the room. The ward is active... he just stands there. I notice that his dialog glitched just before, so I think that's the cause. I checked and this bug is all over the internet... it's definite. It's mentioned that having a companion might cause it, but I don't.

Can you upload your save to megaupload or somesuch, I bet I can get it to work, resave, and send it back

Kinda looking for the reason why.

I was able to figure out the papyrus command.... setpqv mg01 Wardgiven_var 0 will back his behaviour and the three apprentices' up but it breaks again. Any ideas on the cause? I'm thinking I'm going to be the one who ends up fixing it (hope I'm pleasantly suprised) so it would be handy to know.

Edit: I went back to a save made when I first entered the College and this time it didn't glitch out and worked.

Save Early, Save Often, Save Separate.

Hey Kivan, thanks for the info and effort in trying to figure it out, I hope you can do it. Also I did have a companion with me when it first glitched, but I tried leaving her outside and then trying the mission again, but it didnt fix the glitch. And during one of the times I tried to fix the glitch a dragon came and attacked the school, all the mages went outside and killed it. Not sure if these things make a difference, just thought I would mention them.

What do you mean about "set quest variables" I'm not familiar with this procedure. Is it something you do in the console, like enter this comand "setpqv mg01 Wardgiven_var 0" in the console? And if yes that's what you mean what happens when you enter it into the consule, what result do you get? I tried entering the "TAI" command in the consule, which I think basically turns the AI off, and then going outside then entering the "TAI" command again which turns the AI back on, but still was unable to pass the glitch. Anyhow thanks so much for your help, I hope you have better luck then me. Let me know if you get any results with these commands or anything else.

Yup, that command in the console sets a quest variable. All setpqv mg01 Wardgiven_var 0 means is: Set Papyrus quest variable for quest MG01's (internal name for the quest) variable called Wardgiven_var to 0.
The equivalent in Oblivion was just set . to

Kivan? Did that commands fix your bug?

Nope, just going back to an earlier save and retrying. The command did reset their behavior but it just happened again. setstage mg01 200 should complete the quest and start the next one.

K I just tried it and it did reset tolfdir, but it still has the same result. What would the command be to start the college from the beginning? Because I think it got bugged when I first entered the college. Because like I said I never got the tour of the school from mirabelle. So I think if I can reset the entire school mission, maybe I can finally get past this bug once and for all. By the way I really appreciate your help Kivan thanks again.