[Claire]

The most most problematic thing in Skyrim in my opinion is the Blood on the Ice quest. I think its probably the most broken thing in the game at this current time. Its the one thing stop me from buy that amazing house in wind helm, and im sure other people are just as mad as me.

From what i was able to research there are a few ways you can start the quest-
1) pick pocket the house key from the shatter shield home...
2) use a certain number of fast travel combos and return to the city...
3) return to the city at 9:30 pm
4) return to the city at 11:30 pm
or 5) wait for a damn patch...

and that last option is my only option and from what iv been able to gather no one is work on this for the next patch.
now the main purpose of this forum is to also help me search for a work around for this quest, weather its a work around, or some kind of fix. If you could help support me and your fellow gamers then maybe we can get this noticed and patched up. but until then we should look for a solution. so any help is very appreciated. and please comment, any feed back is wanted...

[IM NOT EASY]

My method....which worked for me bug free (aside from forgetting about the amulet still in my inventory):

I did the stormcloaks quest (im sure the same could be done for imperials as well as long as control is on your picked side) up before the solitude mission.

I was offered a house in the city as soon as I talked to Ulfric. I bought the house from the steward and stopped at that. (The key is just getting access to the house and from there its smooth sailing)

I went to visit my house (like normal a quest popped up to visit my new home) and blood on the ice activated automatically upon entering, this is where background knowledge of the quest helps so you know where to go and who to talk to. The quickest method and takes less then 30 mintues:

Investigate every possible spot which would include-mead bottles, chest, both wardrobes, secret room altar, pots and pans in the kitchen and the bed upstairs. Make sure to find both butcher journals 1 and 2 as well as grabbing the amulet and one of the butcher flyers.

After the above is done search out a woman named Viola in windhelm and talk to her (this is why the flyer and journals are needed). She will advise you based on your conversation to speak with the Steward....do NOT speak with the steward. Instead confront the mage accused directly and he will deny it and direct you to investigate the marketplace after dark to catch the real killer.

Wait till around 10 pm or so then head to the marketplace, you will hear a woman say help and see the killer sneaking up on her. Attack him, kill him (he may run too) and loot his body.

The only reason I did the quest was to avoid any future unencountered bugs, but from the looks of it I didn't really need to since the option to clean the house as well as getting the furniture were all available as soon as it was offered to me. One thing I made sure of was to make sure I chose clean up the mess first before buying anything then heading to my home to make sure it was clean. A bugged house will still have glass but no blood and the weird lighting conditions during the murder investigations. A clean house will obviously be fully clean no cobwebs or glass and is safe to then decorate.
I think blood on the ice is really just an addition to the house and not really a pre equisite for getting it or decorating it.

[Greg Cavaliere]

I finished blood on the Ice, by some miracle. I'm also not able to purchase anything for that house. It sits vacant now.

[Monika]

I finished blood on the Ice, by some miracle. I'm also not able to purchase anything for that house. It sits vacant now.

I have a sinking feeling you are on the console and now are stuck with an elaborate comfy open warehouse to drop stuff in lol. If you are on the console you can use the say command in console and force the steward to offer the options again.

[Natasha Biss]

I got the house on my first playthrough without a glitch. It just worked.

2nd playthrough, it didn't trigger at all. my son plays 2 characters on my computer, both got the house and the quest without a problem.

I decided after trying to do everything honestly I just used the console. Got the quest to progress to the end.. well what should have been the end.

STILL can't get the house. and now it's not in the options, tho I have been congratulated on finding the "real" killer.

It's just bugged. House is empty and even though I HATE windhelm, but love Ulrich (that's another topic), I really wanted the house.

Anyone got screenshots of what it looks like completed? I never looked at my son's game, I was too upset. LOL

[George PUluse]

I got the house on my first playthrough without a glitch. It just worked.

2nd playthrough, it didn't trigger at all. my son plays 2 characters on my computer, both got the house and the quest without a problem.

I decided after trying to do everything honestly I just used the console. Got the quest to progress to the end.. well what should have been the end.

STILL can't get the house. and now it's not in the options, tho I have been congratulated on finding the "real" killer.

It's just bugged. House is empty and even though I HATE windhelm, but love Ulrich (that's another topic), I really wanted the house.

Anyone got screenshots of what it looks like completed? I never looked at my son's game, I was too upset. LOL

Heres a video of before and after decorations; skip ahead a tiny bit since you probably know what it looks like empty lol Really worth the long quest, unfortunately there are too many variables in the quest compared to most and different completion methods so getting bugged is quite easy to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT2lE14a5yI

[Samantha Jane Adams]

If you are on the console you can use the say command in console and force the steward to offer the options again.

The hell are you talking about?

yes, I am on PS3.

[emily grieve]

Even though you have the option to purchase the "cleanup" house upgrade as well as the normal ones, you should not purchase ANYTHING until you have completed the entire quest line. I purchased the house and started the quest successfully. Then I went and purchased all of the upgrades (cleanup first). When the killer fled, he became unkillable, though he is still aggressive. So, every time I enter my fully upgraded house, there is an immortal maniac waiting there to stab me.

[Britta Gronkowski]

I completed this quest last night as I have avoided going to Windhelm so far. I followed the Wiki instructions so that I didn't screw up anything. I can now complete some quests for the citizenry and in order to acquire the house and furnishings to go with it.

[Dean Brown]

I had trouble getting this quest to trigger, and wrote about it in a previous thread on this forum, it can be found here: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1304168-blood-on-the-ice-quest/page__p__19637465__fromsearch__1#entry19637465

Sphere's suggestions on how to get the house worked like a charm - however, all "old" furniture was still there. In the end, I ended up using console command "markfordelete" on each and every bit of old furniture stuck there, only things I can't remove are the spiderwebs on the ceilings (I end up removing parts of ceiling instead when I try), and also the lighting upstairs is bugged. I don't use the house after all, it simply doesn't work right.

All in all, a very annoying and tiresome bug... that I sincerely wish for a fix for.

[Samantha Jane Adams]

On the PS3 this quest line has been my bane.

-Aligned myself with the Stormcloaks and finished out the civil war questline.

-I have been to Windhelm countless times. I have used a combination of fast traveling and entering from the stables.

-Suzanna the Wicked has become paranoid about traveling the city and simply stays inside Candlehearth Hall 24 hours everyday.
ired
-The crazy old geezer will leave his house every night at 2am and walk to a corner and wait for something...or someone.

-Pickpocketed the key and entered the house. The Investigation prompts show up but nothing happens when I press X.

-I have looted both journals and a stack of fliers (21 in total I believe) along with the strange amulet. I had also stolen old dudes journal from his shop.

-In a fit of manic desperation, I have tried initiating the quest by setting up a nighttime meeting between Suzanna and her potential killer. To do this I would shoot Suzanna with an arrow and wait for her to attack me. Run outside to where the Butcher is waiting and hit him with an arrow as well. With their attention on me - and while taking a beating from the city guards - I would take the whole gang into the nearby alley and sheath my weapon. I bribe the guards to forgive my little transgression and then watch the Butcher simply stand around while Suzanna goes back to work at Candlehearth Hall.

I have probably done more harm than good by doing all of this. While my girlfriend was playing and her level 39 character had no problem getting Blood on the Ice quest to start. I started a level one experimental character and it too had no issues getting the quest to open. I am honestly sick to death hearing the "There is a home available but..." speech from the steward. I probably should just let it go at this point. Afterall, both my houses in Whiterun and Riften are riddled with problems (weapon racks and plaques do not work, bookshelves have eaten some very cool first editions, mannequins travel to alternate dimensions when I dress them, no housecarl in Riften).

Just writing this makes me want to start up my toon and try...one...more...time....sigh

[Katie Louise Ingram]

I had trouble getting this quest to trigger, and wrote about it in a previous thread on this forum, it can be found here: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1304168-blood-on-the-ice-quest/page__p__19637465__fromsearch__1#entry19637465

Sphere's suggestions on how to get the house worked like a charm - however, all "old" furniture was still there. In the end, I ended up using console command "markfordelete" on each and every bit of old furniture stuck there, only things I can't remove are the spiderwebs on the ceilings (I end up removing parts of ceiling instead when I try), and also the lighting upstairs is bugged. I don't use the house after all, it simply doesn't work right.

All in all, a very annoying and tiresome bug... that I sincerely wish for a fix for.

Yeah the spider webs are a hassle however they can be removed.....they have a letter 'd' in the reference number so thats how I avoided deleting walls and other objects in my first game. I consoled every part of that house on the first one, from making the steward offer me decorations to deleting every piece of garbage in the house. Like I said in an earlier post, the lighting issue will still be there if you have not investigated or cleaned up the murderers mess, but its relatively a minor bug if you arent able to cleanly get the house and finish the murder investigation.

EDIT: Spiderwebs when clicked will only show their ID number from one side....so if you can't get nothing but a wall or beam ID then try the other side of the cobweb, until you see the reference ID with 'd' in it

[gemma]

On the PS3 this quest line has been my bane.

-Aligned myself with the Stormcloaks and finished out the civil war questline.

-I have been to Windhelm countless times. I have used a combination of fast traveling and entering from the stables.

-Suzanna the Wicked has become paranoid about traveling the city and simply stays inside Candlehearth Hall 24 hours everyday.
ired
-The crazy old geezer will leave his house every night at 2am and walk to a corner and wait for something...or someone.

-Pickpocketed the key and entered the house. The Investigation prompts show up but nothing happens when I press X.

-I have looted both journals and a stack of fliers (21 in total I believe) along with the strange amulet. I had also stolen old dudes journal from his shop.

-In a fit of manic desperation, I have tried initiating the quest by setting up a nighttime meeting between Suzanna and her potential killer. To do this I would shoot Suzanna with an arrow and wait for her to attack me. Run outside to where the Butcher is waiting and hit him with an arrow as well. With their attention on me - and while taking a beating from the city guards - I would take the whole gang into the nearby alley and sheath my weapon. I bribe the guards to forgive my little transgression and then watch the Butcher simply stand around while Suzanna goes back to work at Candlehearth Hall.

I have probably done more harm than good by doing all of this. While my girlfriend was playing and her level 39 character had no problem getting Blood on the Ice quest to start. I started a level one experimental character and it too had no issues getting the quest to open. I am honestly sick to death hearing the "There is a home available but..." speech from the steward. I probably should just let it go at this point. Afterall, both my houses in Whiterun and Riften are riddled with problems (weapon racks and plaques do not work, bookshelves have eaten some very cool first editions, mannequins travel to alternate dimensions when I dress them, no housecarl in Riften).

Just writing this makes me want to start up my toon and try...one...more...time....sigh

I think the biggest bane of this quest is the optional methods for completing it. If you go and confront the "alleged" killer from the start the mission will be over that same night in windhelm. If you decide to talk to the jarl after speaking with viola on the butcher journals, then you will have a 3 day wait, and more running around to do.

[Hilm Music]

bump

[Dalley hussain]

I think the only options right now are to take preemptive measures to avoid the bugs and limit the questline by taking the fastest route (confronting court wizard). Its a shame since this questline had alot of potential and when done the long way is actually quite interesting and enjoyable. For those on PC who bugged the house, it is at least able to be fixed to a point but those on the console will probably have to restart or wait for a patch if they want the house that bad.

[Lucie H]

Am I the only person that did this without problem?

[Brittany Abner]

do u think anyone knows a real solution for this bug? But keep up the good work, were making more progress than anticipated...

[Roy Harris]

On PC using console I've troubleshooting and seeing what was going on

meh I've worked on debugging a little but I haven't been able to find anything to solve the issue of this quest starting/triggering what I've found though, with an earlier save (@ lvl 27) I was able to start the quest without any issues. If you type in console( help ms11 3 ) it shows global variables for this quest. MS11EnteringWindHelmCount =x.00 and MS11FollowUpStartDay = 0.00. There are also 2 important console portions of this quest: MS11PreEssentializing (which always runs before the quest is triggered) and MS11

For the quest to trigger like normal you need MS11EnteringWindHelmCount = 3.00 before going to Windhelm to start the quest, keep in mind that areas like Windhelm Stables count as Windhelm. I walked from Kynsgrove and noticed that the quest MS11PreEssentializing quest stopped/disabled before the bridge next to the stables and MS11 started, which lead to the trigger of events of Blood on the Ice. Keep in mind you need to do this ~9:30pm, which is what worked for the level 27 save.

Now for the Level 47 save where I've completed the war in favor of the stormcloaks, joined the thieves guild in addition to the mages guild, and so on. I've manually set these variables and I can't get the quest to trigger the same as the older save. Something is wrong with the MS11PreEssentializing crossing over to MS11, which is the major issue a lot of people are having.

So far the only fix is preventative – to do this early on before whatever is causing it to conflict the scripting happens

[He got the]

How is this official? its only official if its created by a moderator or staff member

[Tai Scott]

do any know if the ms11 problem was ever patch would that let me be able to start the quest.

[michael flanigan]

Even using console StopQuest MS11PreEssentializing and StartQuest MS11 does not work. Any other console commands that can be used to start quests?

[Ross]

bump

[Jacob Phillips]

In the quest

With Friends Like These...


DO NOT KILL

Alea Quintus




If you do, the blood on the ice quest will never start. The guy will just keep telling you the house isn't available yet due to an incident. There is no fix for this. How the scripters have this character tied to the characters in the Blood on the Ice quest, I don't know. I just know I saw somebody post this and since I was having the trouble, I started a new character and checked it my self. It's a problem.


My first (main) char who'm I plat'd the game with just had to do without that house. With over 150 hours in that char, I have been to windhelm hundreds of times and all times of day and night. It will not trigger. I stole the key and it will not trigger. The people that keep saying it will... just don't realize that for some, the quest is dead and can't be fixed.

[Curveballs On Phoenix]

who is Alea Quintus, and where should this person be?

[Dragonz Dancer]

who is Alea Quintus, and where should this person be?

The quest I noted up there.. it's the brotherhood starting quest where astrid comes to your room after you sleep and forces you to kill one of three bound people in the abandoned shack.


The person in question is by far the most annoying of the three and probably the one most people will choose to kill. Unfortunately.




The most annoying thing for me on this was that this Brotherhood quest came really early in the game for me.. like 10 hours or so and I didn't realize the windhelm quest wasn't going right till I got passed the stormcloak/imperial storyline and that was more than 50 hours in for me. Quite a huge back haul if you have to go back to a save. I just chose to forget that house.