Skyrim talk:Kindred Judgment

Quest Stages

Stage 40 is really stage 30. --Shadowviper 19:09, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Vampire Lord transformation bug

Added the bug that I myself have experienced with the Vampire Lord transformation powers not working after entering the Volkihar Cathedral. I don't know if it is just me or if other people have this bug too. Because of it's seriousnous I thought I would add it to this page. Does anyone else have this bug? What causes it? Can it be fixed? 93.107.18.18 05:59, 7 August 2012 (UTC) Mannimagnus

EDIT: Found a fix. Opening up the console, selecting your character and entering "resurrect" corrects the bug. I edited the bug section again to include this fix.109.78.124.71 03:46, 17 August 2012 (UTC) Mannimagnus

Quest won't start bug

After getting Auriel's bow the quest Kindred Judgement fails to start even after talking to Serena. I went back and completed the previous quest a second time and still get the same result. Serena can make the blood soaked arrows and I can shoot and block the sun but I cannot move on and fight Lord Harkanon.

Must be a glitch. Anyone else have this problem? Any work around for it? Thanks for any help you can provide.

"So, I´ve been breaking my mind to solve this. I followed a lot of tips, and even ressurrect one of hounds because Grmr miss and I fixed it but did´t work.

With console command I just type "DLC1VQ08 00" . I guess 0 is the initial quest, and 10 is one first thing at the quest. When I type it and press enter .. I teleport to that place with was the Auriel bow and finished conversation with the Elf. Serana ran to me and the quest starts.

And now I have two auriel´s bow at my inventory. Playing with Anniversary edition I´ll put one at the wall at my mansion. "

By the way I have been playing on the vampire side. — Unsigned comment by 108.69.249.72 (talk) at 07:26 on 10 August 2012

Some problem here on dawnguard side, I start the dialog with Isran and he will gather his crew but then nothing happens they stand there and I cannot do any quest related stuff with him only teach Heavy Armor. Snskiller 20:27, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Update:

I tried going back to previous saves and I still could not get Kindred Judgement to start. I tried having Fallion cure me of Vampirism...this did not work either to trigger the correct dialogue option with Serena.

I tried attacking Lord Harkanon. All the vampires attack and cannot be killed. They endlessly regenerate their health. I really hope Besthesda comes up for a patch for this problem. It's really a bummer to pay for the DLC, work through all the prerequisite quests and then not be able to finish. — Unsigned comment by 108.69.249.72 (talk) at 07:09 on 20 August 2012

I have a solution to this problem, but it involves using the console (I hope no 360 players are having this problem):

In the console, type completequest DLC1VQ08 (This is the ID for Kindred Judgement)

Before Serana gets the chance to talk to you, type resetquest DLC1VQ08

Finally, setstage DLC1VQ08 10. These three togteher will start the quest. Hope this helped. Schiffy (talk) 01:53, 6 October 2012 (GMT)

I tried the method above, and it didn't help me. Nothing happens. After i type completequest ... it appears a message that the quest is finished, and that's it. Resetquest and setstage doesn't do anything. And no quest appears in the quest list. Is that suppose to happen? — Unsigned comment by Lord1027 (talk • contribs) at 18:56 on 8 November 2012‎

(←) Possible solution: Dismiss all Dawnguard followers before obtaining Auriel's Bow and wait for them in Fort Dawnguard before talking to Isran so that they can gather around him for the rallying. — Unsigned comment by 91.157.102.76 (talk) at 14:23 on 12 November 2012‎

I am doing the quest on the vampires side. What do I do now? — Unsigned comment by Lord1027 (talk • contribs) at 12:55 on 13 November 2012‎

I find it odd that the console method didn't work. My only possible thought as to why it worked for me and not you is because I turned off Serana's AI before using those three stage commands. Try selecting Serana, typing tai, using those three commands, and using tai on Serana a second time. And obviously, make sure you have a backup save, Schiffy (talk) 05:53, 20 November 2012 (GMT)

No, it doesn't work. I have a question? When exactly should i use the three commands above? Right after I finish Auriel's Bow quest (Touching the Sky), or at any time after that? — Unsigned comment by Lord1027 (talk • contribs) at 13:08 on 20 November 2012‎

I did it well after I obtained Auriel's Bow, so anything done inbetween shouldn't hinder it. Are you sure you're using the questID DLC1VQ08 and not DLC1VQ07? Schiffy (talk) 15:40, 20 November 2012 (GMT)

I'm sure. After I type completequest DLC1VQ08 a message appears (confirming i finished the quest). Then, after i type resetquest DLC1VQ08, nothing happens. And setstage DLC1VQ08 10 doesn't do anything for me, as well. I'm not quite sure where I go wrong. Is there a specific place where I should be while typing the 3 commands above? One more question: if it works, what should happen? A new chat line with Serana, or I should just go and beat the s**t out of Harkon? — Unsigned comment by Lord1027 (talk • contribs) at 19:31 on 20 November 2012

Place shouldn't matter, and from my experience, you should get the objective "Speak to Serana," which is exactly what you should do. My only other suggestion would be to try and install the Unofficial Dawnguard Patch, though I don't know how much that will do. I never even experienced the bug on my second playthrough, which had the patch (my console fix in my first was done without the patch even installed). Schiffy (talk) 19:46, 20 November 2012 (GMT)

(←) Could it be influenced by the fact that Serana is carrying a lot of items? Or because I'm wanted in Markarth (because of that quest with Forsworn)? Or, here's an idea :D Can I send you my savegame, and you could try to fix it, please? I'm really running out of ideas. — Unsigned comment by Lord1027 (talk • contribs) at 20:08 on 20 November 2012‎

Unfortunately, I have no other ideas, and I doubt I would be able to have much more luck than you. Sorry. Schiffy (talk) 20:20, 20 November 2012 (GMT)

Ok :(. Maybe it is because I have other quests started. Could you please just take a look? Or is there anyone else willing to give a try to fix it from my save file? Please — Unsigned comment by Lord1027 (talk • contribs) at 20:32 on 20 November 2012‎‎

I'll give it a shot. Just tell me where you want me to leave my email address. Schiffy (talk) 21:02, 20 November 2012 (GMT)

I have no idea, but I'll post my e-mail adress here, and you can send me an email so I can recognize you. ********@yahoo.com I hope it's no problem with me posting my adress. — Unsigned comment by Lord1027 (talk • contribs) at 21:20 on 20 November 2012‎

(←) I am playing on Xbox 360 same problem The quest will not start I've tried as non vampire and as vampire no matter how many times i reload same crap who do i contact at bethesda this is ridiculous to play through the whole thing and not finish Help Plz — Unsigned comment by 69.183.168.240 (talk) at 04:38 on 29 November 2012‎

Please tell us what was/will be the reponse from Bethesda — Unsigned comment by 109.99.27.191 (talk) at 17:19 on 4 December 2012

MOST PROBABLE FIX for Isran gathering the troops and not talking:

Fact is he is actually waiting for everybody to show up. If Isran gathers everyone around and does not talk, walk around and list down the names of those who are present, then compare it to the full list of .... Alright... I will save your time. Most likely, you will NOT see Florentius around, the guy that has hallucinations about Arkay.

Therefore after touching the sky, travel to Fort Dawnguard, enter the main lobby where Isran will be waiting but dont talk to him. In the console type "prid xx003476", then "moveto player". Florentius would pop up. Then talk to Isran. Problem should be fixed. Modify if the missing person is not Florentius. ````Koschei with help from corey0424 — Unsigned comment by 210.195.177.242 (talk) at 18:37 on 23 December 2012

Same problem for me, playing as a vampire I cannot get the dialogue from Serana to start this last quest. I have tried the above console commands and they didnt help me either. I reloaded a previous save (2 levels earlier) and the 2nd time through same problem Serana gives no advancing dialogue. Anyone have any further suggestions about this BUG — Unsigned comment by 71.46.77.210 (talk) at 06:00 on 6 January 2013 (GMT)

After having this bug for weeks, I was able to fix it with a combination of the creation kit and setstage. Apparently its some dialogue condition for Serena that is preventing the quest from starting. So I enabled this quest in creation kit to 'Start Game Enabled'. This made it so after getting the bow, I would start Kindred Judgement. Serena still wouldn't have the dialogue option at this point. But I was able to setstage DLC1VQ08 20 to skip that part and move things ahead so I could showdown with Harkon. I have the .esp file if people want it. 68.55.127.101 08:49, 8 February 2013

I'm having this issue too and have already tried everything described by other users on this page. I'd be grateful if I could have this mentioned .esp file. AshenKitty (talk) 14:43, 6 March 2013 (GMT)

(←) FIX: If you have trouble with Kindred Judgement not starting after getting Auriels bow, It is a mod conflict. I have proven this out today. Disable all mods. If that doesn't work (as it didnt for me) Uninstall ALL mods, do a complete re-install of skyrim by right clicking on skyrim in steam > Properties > delete local files (through steam), then when that is done delete EVERYTHING in your Steamapps > Common > "skyrim" folder. It will be like 10 gigs. Then re-download skyrim from scratch. Even my saves all work now. And usually they are corrupted from something like this. Some mod is a poison pill. I'll post which one if I ever figure out which one it was(I had over 100 mods installed). I can tell you it was NOT my mod Castle Volkihar a Player home because I just tested it. Hannibalektr (talk) 12:23, 18 March 2013 (GMT) — Unsigned comment by Hannibalektr (talk • contribs) at 20:11 on 18 March 2013 (GMT)

The fix that worked for me was waiting 24 hours in the lobby. I had taken Durak and Ingjard as house stewards and they needed to march across Skyrim to get back for the gathering. 24 hours (plus a few more seconds since Ingjard came in the back door) was enough to finally get the quest to proceed. — Unsigned comment by 67.84.66.118 (talk) at 04:17 on 3 May 2013 (GMT)

Finally got someone to provide a save game for testing, but would like to draw out some more confirmation. Has anyone who has failed to get this quest to start done anything to cause Garmr and/or CuSith (the two hireable deathhounds) to get killed before this point? Hopefully the page will ping me if anyone responds but it would go a long way to confirming a potential fix for this in the UDGP. Arthmoor (talk) 08:45, 18 August 2013 (GMT)

This bug is now addressed by the USKP v. 2.0. --Blackpete (talk) 00:28, 19 October 2013 (GMT)

No, not all of the possible reasons for this bug are adressed by the USKP. The one concerning the hell-hounds for example seems to be fixed, but I can tell that there have to be different reasons, because I can not start the quest at all. I am using the newest version of USKP, without any other mods, in a newly installed Skyrim and savegame. Using the console still does not seem to fix the problem. — Unsigned comment by 5.147.205.63 (talk) at 02:32 on 21 November 2013 (GMT)

Update 1/03/14: I play on xbox 360. I tried all the methods above and below. I had actually given up when I discovered a solution. I had no game save that existed before getting Auriel's bow. The problem is that not all of the Dawnguard are present for Isran to give his speech. I had a Dawnguard member as a companion when I went to Castle Volkihar and became a vampire in order to enter the Soul Cairn. When I did this, my Dawnguard companion got stuck in the Castle and would not leave. Once I had given up, I decided to kill him and then return to the Dawnguard to kill everyone else. After killing the "companion" I went to Isran to have him gather the others. Then I realized he would not gather the others while I was a vampire. After curing my vampirism I returned to find Isran continued his speech and the quest Kindred Judgment continued. So here is the order...

1. Go back to a save where you are still a vampire.

2. Find your Dawnguard companion at Castle Volkihar. Kill them.

3. Cure your vampirism.

4. Talk to Iran.

Hopefully this helps. Peace.

-James — Unsigned comment by 206.29.182.223 (talk) at 21:06 on 3 February 2014 (GMT)

(←) I hope this helps, but here's what happened with me. I play on the 360, and so console commands weren't really an option. In addition, after reading the above post about Garmr or CuSith being dead, I decided to check that out. My Garmr was indeed dead, and I have a friend that helped me out. To my surprise after reviving him everything went smoothly. If it helps I was stuck right after the fight with Vyrthur and before talking to Vyrthur's brother (due to not having any more previous saves). That being said this is what worked for me. You will need the ID's of whichever furry red-eyed friend is dead.

1. If you use a program such as Modio to convert the save file for pc usage (.ess) you can then use console commands.

---Console Commands---

2. prid <refID> (press enter)

3. enable (press enter)

4. player.placeatme <baseID> (press enter)

--- ---

5. Proceed to quest acquisition conversation

6. save game

7. transfer the file back

— Unsigned comment by 68.184.92.4 (talk) at 23:35 on 13 February 2014 (GMT)

(←) FIX: I'm on the Xbox 360, playing the Dawnguard side. I am not, not have I ever been, a vampire. I have never had any of the Dawnguard for companions. I don't think I'm doing anything odd at all in the game. Nevertheless, after I spoke to Isran, he called for everyone to come, people gathered around, but nothing happened. Despite what others had said, Florentius was there with all the rest. Taking a hint from someone else's comment, I pressed the wait button and selected one hour. Sure enough, Isran gave part of his speech. Everyone applauded. Then they froze again. So I waited another hour. And another. Each time he had a bit more to say, and after three or four, everyone marched off and the quest advanced to the next stage. Greg Hullender (talk) 23:43, 29 April 2015 (GMT)

Dawnguard

If you side with them, do kill all the unique named vampires in the castle, or do they conveniently disappear? And is the castle proper permanently accesible and respawning after this quest? It would be nice if the unique vampires reappear later after 'hiding' during this quest, and if you had the option to help Serana and Valerica rebuild the clan by taking their side quests (whether you have to give up being a Dawnguard or not). Still, it would be nice to know ahead of time if you actually kill the vampire leaders or not.--Playerseekingbugs 20:24, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

You kill them all. Garan, Fura, Vingalmo, Orthjolf, Feran, Ronthil, the two named Death Hounds and all the vampires who don't give you quests if you side with them. They're all dead by the end of the quest, the Vampire Cattle are suspiciously missing, and taking anything is considered "stealing," but you don't receive a bounty. Schiffy (talk) 02:56, 21 November 2012 (GMT)

I found out for myself after reaching that point a day or two after my question, and I kind of wish it were otherwise. Perhaps if I could warn the court to make themselves scarce (they obviously have little love for Harkon if you end up killing him for them too). That would be an interesting option. But, this is how the game is and that's not going to change (at least for a copy on Xbox 360). Still, the Human Flesh samples and such respawn right?--Playerseekingbugs (talk) 07:13, 2 December 2012 (GMT)

Yes, the items lying about in Volkihar Keep respawns after ten days, including the Human Flesh samples. — ABCface^◥ 07:23, 2 December 2012 (GMT)

Back to normal?

After I left Volhikar Cathedral I turned lost my vampiric powers. Is this normal? I still have the vampire powers and active effects available to me. When I use them, however, everyone in Volhikar besides Serana turn aggressive. 173.69.57.154 00:54, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

I just tried to turn myself into a werewolf to see if it'd clease me of the vampirism leftovers but now it seems I'm both a vampire and a werewolf. I'm stuck with both Vampire Lord and Beast Form abilities at my disposal. How to fix? 173.69.57.154 00:59, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Frankly, I see this as a boon, mainly because I've used the console to do it. You get both skill trees, and NPC's treat you as whatever you last transformed into (i.e. guard dialogue). Also, if you sided with the Vampires, they will only give you quests if the last time you transformed, it was into a Vampire Lord, and the Dawnguard will only give you quests if you last transformed into a Werewolf (to easily check, look at your character's eyes). You also get all the abilities and powers from both forms (including the Vampire weaknesses). If you really want to remove one or both of them, you can use player.removespell spellID. The ID's you would need to enter are on this page. Schiffy (talk) 03:08, 21 November 2012 (GMT)

Spelling

Is the correct spelling of this quest Kindred Judgment or Kindred Judgement? I don't know.68.42.176.58 01:48, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Judgment. Vely^►t►e 01:54, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Invulnerable

I can't seem to kill him despite getting him down to zero health. What causes this? How can I avoid this problem? How far back do I have to load my save to avoid this problem? Here's the deal. I am a sneaky rogue archer. Illusion, Archery, and Sneak are my primary abilities. Sneaking is impossible, and he's too high of a level for my Illusion spells to work. Vampire Form is my go to for forced/melee/dragon, or otherwise un-sneakable, battles. Do I have to make the killing blow in non-vampire form? That would be near impossible for me, simply because it takes way too long to transfer between forms (something I've always felt to be a major failure on Bethesda's part). Even if I was near death, I can't revert form to use potions or my level up because I would die from the way it re-calibrates your health during transformation. Can't heal with drain because stupid Serana is following me. I never use her as an ally just for that reason. Still, what is the work-around? --DgTexan (talk) 05:02, 8 September 2012 (EDT) (logged in to take out my IP address)

I had this same issue, and all I had to do was load a save before entering the door to the Volkihar Cathedral. It worked just fine after that. — ABCface^◥

I've been testing this 8 ways from Sunday. As best I can tell there is a script conflict between your character and Harkon. What is actually going on, I have no clue. However, Serana, who is quite capable of killing Harkon, can't kill him when this conflicting script thing arises. Looks like reloading is the only option. I do note that when not in vampire mode or non vampire, your character is quite capable of stealth and moving about the battle unseen. I've killed Harkon a couple dozen times with the triple damage bow multiplier.— Unsigned comment by Sniffles (talk • contribs) at 14:05 on 9 September 2012‎

Worse than invulnerable I played this for the first time recently (as Dawnguard on PC, Skyrim Special Edition) and didn't look at the bugs or the walkthrough first, because, y'know, spoilers. After 3 or 4 tries, I got Harkon to nearly die, then he hung there in the air and I shot him full of arrows. With every arrow his health improved. Reloaded 3 or 4 or 6 more times, lowered the gameplay level to 'Novice' and eventually was able to kill him. No idea why it finally worked. I did realise later that I had been shooting him with the wrong arrows (the 'blood' arrows made from Serana's blood, not the sunhallowed ones that came with Auriel's bow) but they were long gone when his health was improved by being shot. This whole Dawnguard quest seems riddled with bugs. 178.62.50.42 17:49, 10 June 2019 (UTC)

Best bow and fastest kill

Providing Harkon doesn't do the invulnerable shell spell and using Sunhallowed arrows and adjunct damage from Serana:

Auriel's Bow, legendary, 310 damage, kills in 4 to 6 shots.

An Ebony bow with 30 fire damage, legendary, 338 damage, kills in 3 to 5 shots.

Zephyr, legendary, 308 damage, kills in 2 shots.

Ebony bow of Malediction, legendary, 310 damage, 1 shot. No monsters spawn and Serana finishes him off in a few seconds. (Tested 20 times)

Test repeated 10 to 15 times with each bow. Why???? Sniffles (talk) 08:53, 8 September 2012 (EDT)

Are you asking why The Ebony Bow of Malediction kills him in one shot, or why you repeated your testing 15 to 20 times? If the first, it may be due to the "adjunct damage from Serana". You would need to remove all other variables from your experiment to get an accurate test.

If you are asking why you tested it 15 to 20 times, I would ask your therapist ;) --Xyzzy ^Talk 12:31, 9 September 2012 (EDT)

I'm officially appointing you my therapist. I did figure out part of what is going on but not completely. First, Auriel's bow beefed up to near max doesn't do any more damage than any other beefed up bow. I guess the 30 sun damage is added after multipliers. Second, something happens when Harkon gets zapped by Soul Trap. His summonings don't work and the gargoyles don't explode to life, they just explode. (Weird and fun to watch. Uhh, guy, did you really mean to blow up your gargoyles?). Then, without distractions from other monsters, Serana really lets loose on Harkon with Ice and Electricity blasts and those, combined with a triple damage backstab shot, (just 1 shot), lay him to whale poop in a few seconds. As for why I went psycho and did the scene so many times, I'm trying to break, and unbreak, the game of course. I always replay major events several times and I often play them on different computers so I can tell if something really glitches or bugs or it's my computer screwing up.— Unsigned comment by Sniffles (talk • contribs) at 08:29 on 10 September 2012‎

Having just done this, this is way off, not sure what you consider beefed up, maybe bow level at max and along with legendary bow? But 3-5 shots with bow using the same arrows caused maybe a dent of about 0.5cm in his health. Unless you were maybe playing in novice? Then i can imagine 3 hits. Considering you are fact checking and testing your own info you give little to no detail about anything else which considering the stats and skill playing an important factor, actually the most important factor, then this info is actually entirely useless to anyone. Difficulty, skill levels, bow dmg stated in game, arrow dmg stated in game etc... oh lets not forget char level, being just under the cap for the npc to go up to the next level yet OP on other stats would make this insanely easier. DETAILS ARE REQUIRED SO OTHERS CAN ALSO FACT CHECK... - Killerchronic (talk) 02:08, 7 May 2013 (GMT)

Combat strategies - moved from article

*If you are in stealth mode while Harkon speaks to Serana and shoot or hit him with a soul trap weapon, he cannot summon the gargoyles or undead. Without them keeping Serana distracted she usually kills Harkon in a few seconds. The soul trap spell will not work.

*If in stealth mode as you enter the chapel, Harkon won't see you. After his dialogue with Serana, instead of speaking to you he will simply pause. You can unstealth and he will continue his script, or let him have the triple damage plus Auriel's Bow plus Sunhallowed Arrows and it will be a very quick fight. This is somewhere between a bug and a glitch.

I am moving these from the article because they seem more like combat strategies than notes or bugs, and we normally don't include these in articles. Should they be left in the article? --Xyzzy ^Talk 10:38, 8 September 2012 (EDT)

I put the stealth part back in, reworded. It is definitely a bug. The game is stuck until Harkon is triggered. This seems to be an oversight on the part of the developers. In all other similar situations the stealth/unseen is negated so the game will continue. You know; your character isn't detected but gets addressed or noted just the same.Sniffles (talk) 09:41, 9 September 2012 (EDT)

That looks better. Your wording this time makes it more obvious that this is a bug.--Xyzzy ^Talk 12:20, 9 September 2012 (EDT)

Vampire side - Hostile vampire NPCs in Volkihar Keep

All the essential vampire NPC's turn imediately hostile when I enter with Serana to confront her father. The only solution I've come up with is disabling the AI ("tai" in console) outside the castle and once inside the Volkihar Cathedral (Serana will be there even with her AI disabled) enabling it back on ("tai" again) so that Harkon can end the dialogue with you. Mogribus (talk) 19:27, 16 September 2012 (GMT)

Found out that the bloodstarved vampire state (4th stage?) causes the NPC's to turn aggressive, even if they are vampires themselves. I'll reinstall Skyrim to see if this is a bug or caused by my modlist. Mogribus (talk) 21:33, 21 September 2012 (GMT)

I had the same problem stage 4 and everyone wanted to kill me, I had to feed, that at least let me walk in town without agro, i got my vampirism cured, then completed the quest as a mortal. — Unsigned comment by 108.226.224.164 (talk) at 03:57 on 26 September 2012‎

No one should be hostile at stage 4 with Dawnguard installed, unless if you just waltz right into Fort Dawnguard after siding with the Vampires. They'll attack you. Schiffy (talk) 21:22, 20 November 2012 (GMT)

Dawnguard side: forced to cure yourself if you became a vampire

If you sided with the Dawnguard but then became a vampire to enter the Soul Cairn and decided you wanted to stay that way, too bad - you're forced to cure yourself to begin the final assault in Kindred Judgment once you have Auriel's Bow. Isran won't talk to you if you're a vampire, so you can never get him to start the assault. Likewise, if you go to Castle Volkihar without the Dawnguard, you won't even be able to get into the main hall. You can get around this with cheats or mods, but still - it's a huge plothole in the core DLC. They should've at least allowed you to try the assault without the Dawnguard. — Unsigned comment by 107.192.244.24 (talk) at 01:10 on 19 October 2012‎

I'm not sure if you were asking a question, but I decided that the note in the article wasn't adequately describing this limitation. I removed the note and added a bit to the walkthrough based on this. --Xyzzy ^Talk 05:35, 19 October 2012 (GMT)

Auriel's bow

You don't need to use sunhallowed arrows any kind of arrows will work. — Unsigned comment by 82.73.72.148 (talk) at 20:46 on 5 January 2013

Correct except for the dmg done and bonus's applied. Not sure what you are stating other than all arrows can be used. All arrows have different damage when shot, this is a fairly obvious. What you have said is the same unless you are commenting against someone elses statement. - Killerchronic (talk) 02:15, 7 May 2013 (GMT)

Door can not be opened

I'm doing the Dawnguard side of the quest and when I try to storm the castle there are no vampires spawning in front of the castle. I can only fight the gargoyles. Therefore the castle door is not unlocked and I'm stuck at this quest stage. Setting the quest stage does not help much because I cannot see or fight the boss from there. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. 149.172.202.115 20:14, 21 February 2013 (GMT)

I'm playing on Xbox 360 and I've started the "Kindred Judgement" and once I go to storm castle Volkahir the gorgyles come to life and attack but once they're felt with the castle gates are still down with atleast 5 vampires behind it. No matter what I do the gates won't thus not allowing me to enter the castle and finish the quest. I know people have had this problem on both consoles & PC and just wondering anyone(on Xbox 360) has found a way to fix this. — Unsigned comment by 71.60.224.13 (talk) at 10:00 on 2 April 2013

This is the wiki, forums are for questions like this, also google would actually show you in an instant. - Killerchronic (talk) 02:10, 7 May 2013 (GMT)

This is happening to me too, and no, Killerchronic, Google doesn't show you in an instant (I haven't been able to find any solution), and yes, it's good to add it here so that someone can add a solution in the Bugs section. 201.231.92.106 01:40, 26 June 2017 (UTC)

Data from the Strategy Guide [Untested]

I have the Skyrim Strategy Guide [not the Ultimate Edition one that covers all the DLC, but the one that covers Dawnguard and Hearthfire], and I found some interesting notes in it regarding the Harkon battle. As I have not tested them yet, I have not added them to the page.

They are the following:

1: Shooting Harkon's Shadow Shield with Auriel's Bow and any arrow [or just bashing it with Auriel's Bow] will cancel it out. Using Sunhallowed Arrows, however, should do bonus damage to Harkon.

2: Harkon will only use his Shadow Shield 3 times in battle.

As such, giving Harkon Auriel's Bow should make the fight substantially tougher, as Harkon should be able to regenerate near-fully 3 times in that scenario.

216.189.204.200 14:49, 5 August 2013 (GMT)

Incorrect Bug Listed?

From the article:

This quest will not start on the vampire side if either of the two hireable Deathhounds have been killed and their bodies have been removed from the game.

I'm adding the verification needed tag to get more input because this was not the case in my game. I took the death hounds out questing weeks ago, where they both died, yet this quest started just fine. --DpwnShift (talk) 08:15, 12 November 2013 (GMT)

Just to double-check, you're not using the unofficial patch, are you? Also, dead in itself isn't sufficient; they have to have been dead for long enough that the game has removed them entirely. As I understand it, that means they have to have been dead and you have to not visit the castle for at least 10 days. The bug appears to have been verified by two players, plus Arthmoor himself, in the original bug report. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 21:09, 12 November 2013 (GMT)

I think this may be a bug already listed and this person thought that the hounds bodys getting disabled caused it, the hounds have nothing to do with the quest and its not like they are important to it. Its just my opinion, keep the verification flag, I was just sharing my thought on this. Dunehelm (talk) 04:50, 18 February 2014 (GMT)

I listed that bug after extensive testing of the conditions. If you go and look at DLC1VQ08 in the CK, without the UDGP loaded, you'll find that the two aliases Deathhound1Alias and Deathhound2Alias are marked as non-optional. If either of these dogs is dead, AND has been dead long enough for their bodies to have been removed from the game by cell cleanup code, then the quest cannot start due to alias fill failure. UDGP marked both dogs as optional and thus allows the quest to start even if those dogs have been dead for months. I've verified this myself using 2 different saved games provided by players before we closed the issue on our tracker and included the fix. Arthmoor (talk) 22:22, 9 March 2014 (GMT)

Harkon moves ... through the wall?

While fighting Harkon, he sometimes seems to leave the room after one or two shots. The quest marker that points towards him becomes smaller and he is not any longer in the cathedral (I'm quite certain about it as the detect dead spell does not reveal his location). He eventually comes back, but of course he has full health again. I've tried to force him back into the cathedral via console, but once his health is down to zero (and of course the mentioned bug about sudden invincibility appears, too), the scene does not play properly (only the cathedral would be shaken) and his ashes don't appear, making him unlootable. Reloading didn't seem to fix this. Does anyone of you have any idea what else I could do about this? I don't really want to "loot" Harkon via console, if I can avoid this. — Unsigned comment by 92.72.182.79 (talk) at 20:31 on 30 January 2014 (GMT)

So what the hell do I do if it happened to me on the PS3 without any previous saves?! — Unsigned comment by 24.214.48.43 (talk) at 20:58 on 15 June 2014

Aftermath

In the "Aftermath" section is the line: "Certain Volkihar Clan or Dawnguard side quests will become available."

Exactly which quests does this refer to? From what I can see from looking at the Dawnguard Quests page, there aren't any quests, for either faction, that require Kindred Judgment to be completed before you can start them. 75.34.46.8 10:50, 14 March 2015 (GMT)

For the Vampire side, the quest Skyrim: Destroying the Dawnguard doesn't show up until after Kindred Judgement. 67.142.182.20 23:01, 22 April 2015 (GMT)

Body clean-up

In my most recent playthrough, I found that while most of the vampire bodies do not vanish, those of Modhna & Namasur do. After completing the quest, I used the Ritual Stone power to bring the four "outside" vamps (Namasur, Modhna, Stalf, & Rargal Thrallmaster) into the castle, then left to sell/store my loot (I did not loot any of the bodies, fwiw). Upon returning maybe two days later (not long enough for anything to respawn), Modhna & Namasur's bodies had disappeared--they were neither in the castle where I left them (I let the RS power expire before I left the keep & fast traveled)--they were neither inside the keep or outside, where they originally died (I didn't kill them--I ran inside to fight Harkon as quick as I could & they were all dead at quest's end, as scripted). All the other vamp bodies, as well as that of the armored troll casualty, where where I left them.--Anyone else missing these bodies?--149.160.118.113 23:35, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

Slow Time exploit

Using Slow Timw when you attack him without waiting for him to finish talking allows you to hit him with arrows while he's above the altar and before the shield is up. He died rather quickly. — Unsigned comment by 82.74.41.139 (talk) at 17:13 on 24 September 2017 (UTC)