Skyrim:Great Lift at Raldbthar

Dwarven Ruin: Great Lift at Raldbthar (view on map)
Clearable	No
Respawn Time	10 days
Console Location Code(s)
BlackreachElevatorRaldbthar, RaldbtharExterior01
Regions
The Pale, Blackreach
Location
West-southwest of Anga's Mill East of Irkngthand

The Raldbthar Lift ready for use

The Great Lift at Raldbthar is a Dwarven lift to Blackreach located west-southwest of Anga's Mill and east of Irkngthand. It is a mechanical lift which can only be entered and used after starting the quest Discerning the Transmundane. Inside the lift building is a lever which, when activated, will bring you up from or take you down into Blackreach. The lift will open a short distance north-northeast of the Derelict Pumphouse inside Blackreach. The topside of the lift is housed in a building surrounded by metal barriers, one of which is a gate. The gate can only be opened from within, by pulling a lever to the right of the gate, after which the lift can be entered from Skyrim whenever you travel there (fast traveling places you right outside the lift). The map marker for this location does not appear until the lift is activated inside Blackreach.

The lift is Dwemer in origin, and is one of seven entrances to Blackreach, which must first be entered by traversing the ruins of Alftand, Mzinchaleft, or Raldbthar and using the Attunement Sphere from Septimus Signus to open a door to Blackreach.

Related Quests

• Discerning the Transmundane: Uncover the secrets of the mysterious Dwemer lockbox.

Walkthrough

Exterior

The lift is the first building passed when following the path that starts near the Pale Stormcloak camp on Lake Yorgrim south up to the main entrance to Raldbthar. It is found above the snowline.

Great Lift at Raldbthar

In Blackreach, the lift is north-northeast of the Derelict Pumphouse, at the same level as the top of the lift in the Pumphouse, on the shore of a large pool. Before using this lift to enter Blackreach, you must first lower spears blocking access to the lift in Blackreach by activating a button on a sculpted metal head in front. You may then ride the lift up and use a lever to open a gate in Skyrim.

Bugs

• Despite not being clearable, and having no associated dungeon, the map may still show this location as "Cleared".
• A bug may occur when the great lifts are accessed to or from Blackreach. When the character reappears in Skyrim or in Blackreach, the game autosaves, then the screen goes blank/black, reappears a few seconds later, and then goes blank/black again. This continues to occur indefinitely; attempts to move/run/sprint or use Whirlwind Sprint only result in the character reappearing at the original place of arrival during intervals when the game screen reappears.
  • Opening the menu or favorites screen and leaving the screen open for 15 - 30 seconds stops the bug.
• Sometimes after activating the lift from Blackreach, you are positioned outside the lift building on the surface, preventing you from opening the door from within the building. This bug may also be triggered if you have too many followers from unfinished quests and/or summoned followers, such that you are pushed outside the lift building on the surface in order to make room for the followers.
  • If this happens, load the previous save, then have your dog and regular follower (if any) wait for you in Blackreach outside the lift area before activating the lift. You may then use the lift and open the gate from within the lift building once you reach the surface.