I have reloaded and done this contract 10 times ...perfect every time....I believe there is a bug with Astrid.

I think the fast travel might be what's doing it. I only did this quest once, but I walked out of Solitude before fast traveling back to the DB Sanctuary.

Well, I just tried this again , this time not fast traveling out but waiting for the argonian to arrive and offer a distraction. I walked out just fine. Still no bonus...argh. Ive read a few wikis and they say there is a bug where no matter how you do it..Astird wont give the bonus. Meh...

Try hitting her with an arrow whilst she is on the balcony addressing the crowd. This is what I did and worked fine.

Crap there was a statue to push?! I slaughtered her with daggers popped back down for a sneak and gulped an invis pot and shot out of town.

Same. Never saw this statue everyone talks about, and don't know how to get on the opposite ledge to shoot at her.

Go around to the courtyard to the right as you're facing the stage, then up some stairs and you get a clear line of fire. I never did find the place where Gabriela hid the bow, though.

Hid the bow?? Balcony?? I just stood in behind the seats below and popped her in the head. Really not hard. Just kill her!

I never had a problem killing her. I want Astrid to give me the damn bonus for doing it while she addresses the crowd.


EDIT: haha I finally got the 1250 gold bonus. (after loading and reloading a dozen times.) This time I came out the door, let her start talking, then just ran along the balcony edge and pushed the statue, walked away ( no stealth at all) . Walked right out, and got the bonus. Weird. Maybe just a glitch that sometimes you do not receive it regardless of how you do it.

My rogue had so much stealth that I hid on the balcony itself and killed her and her husband so fast, that I didn't get caught at all. I jumped off the balcony and no one expected a thing. Left town through the doors and fast travelled from there.

I dont know what it is, but there must be a certain point at which you have to kill her, i had to reload 5 times, killing her at different points in the speech before i finally got the bonus. and i didnt find the bow until i looked it up on the wiki.

I'm having the opposite problem. After completing the mission, Astrid gives me both the Summon Spectral Assassin and the bonus, but I can't find Summon Spectral Assassin anywhere in my inventory. Any ideas what the problem may be? I'm playing on an Xbox.

If you're facing away from the stage, and towards the Temple, go through the door on the left. The (unique) bow is right there. However, it's more difficult to escape unseen than on the higher walkway, if that's your thing.

I hit her with Fury while she was giving a speech. Her husband killed her.



... I got the bonus for it, of that I am quite sure. And neither murder stat nor bounty. But the shadwscale appeared to "help" me anyway, by murdering some guards in plain sight of all the guests.

I just ran out stabbed her in the back. Jumped off the balcony and gave the crowd a quick speech they'd never forget "fus ro dah" and ran for it and hid in the Abandoned Shack while the Imperial Guard was looking all over the place. j/k I talked to Babette who told me about the statue, so I just hid and waited up on the walkway until she started talking and pushed it. Killed both of them. Didn't know about the bow. I ran for it, but was seen "in the area" and thus identified as the assassin so made for the hills and left. Whirlwind is a great shout. I got outside the city and a dragon attacked so that occupied the guards allowing me to escape. Fast traveled to Falkreath to do some shopping, and forgot I had a bounty there.... say it. say it. "Dumba**!"