Skyrim talk:The Black Star

Item Name

Added The [[Skyrim:Black Star|Black Star]] as it is in essence different from Azura's Star although the name of the star is indeed the same as the quest, i advise something to be done in that respect or precise the black star specifics on Azura's Star page OneWingPhoenix 12:26, 16 November 2011‎ (GMT)

It's already been taken care of. There's a redirect at The Black Star (item), which links to stats specifically for that item on the Artifacts page. --Nephele^Talk 16:35, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

article states that the black star can only be filled with black souls, but the artifacts page states it's possible to fill it with normal souls although the game says otherwise, can anyone confirm this? -- pockpock, 21 November 2011 — Unsigned comment by 178.190.65.7 (talk) at 04:52 on 21 November 2011 (GMT)

Depends. If you choose to go to Areana take care of it it will be completely restored with its former abilities, i. e. using "white" souls. If you go to Nelacar instead he will finish the experiment, resulting in it being able to be filled with black souls instead. Since I picked Areana I have no idea if both work for the Black Star though. -- Nick not Found 00:53, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Ok - I took it to Nelacar and the Black Star is now capable of catching white and black souls - must be a bug. I'll edit the article -- pockpock, 24 November 2011 — Unsigned comment by 178.190.73.206 (talk) at 02:38 on 24 November 2011 (GMT)

You might consider flagging the current Black Star behavior as a potential bug in case it's fixed by an upcoming patch (since it does go against the in-game description). Either way, it's probably the better reward option. Bootstomp 03:39, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

(←) I'm confused by this discussion. Nowhere in this discussion does anyone say definitively that the black star can capture white souls. Nick stated that he didn't choose the black star. Are we really sure that the black star can capture white souls? If not, then why was that added to the article?--Skrutop 14:21, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

It definitely can capture white souls. Bootstomp 06:02, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

As bootstomp said it can take both white/black souls making this the absolute best soulstone in the game.65.0.88.217 07:40, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

Wow, thanks for not giving any new info 'Nick Not Found'.

To Skrutop, directly above you pockpock confirms that the black star does indeed catch white souls as well, so whats still confusing? Any differences in how other characters react to you once you pick one person or the other? Like will going the route and getting the true black star from Nelacar, will that make Azura's priestess (or Azura herself, other followers, or anyone we know of) dislike you or vice versa? --ota — Unsigned comment by 70.126.193.210 (talk) at 18:17 on 10 December 2011 (GMT)

I always use a bound sword with Soul Stealer, and I've more than come back from a dungeon raid with my Black Star filled with a lesser or common soul. - Still happens as of 12 of January on PC — Unsigned comment by 115.166.51.133 (talk) at 11:18 on 12 January 2012 (GMT)

It is possible that it is not a bug, but a developer mistake. Winterhold has a another dialogue mistake, Enthir, the Bosmer mage ans thieves guild fence thinks he's an Altmer. Or Hemming, and that fact that depending with whom you talk, he is either Maven's son or husband. — Unsigned comment by 94.60.42.18 (talk) at 14:41 on 1 February 2013 (GMT)

Looting Malyn Varen

After the fight with Malyn Varen is over, you're transported back fairly quickly. If you want to loot him, you need to do it quickly. Bootstomp 03:41, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Verified: At level 21, the first and only time I had seen a glass dagger was by quickly looting Malyn Varen before I was yanked back to the real world. DpwnShift (talk) 16:19, 5 July 2013 (GMT)

More than one worshiper

Changes "only remaining worshiper" to "only constant worshiper" because there is a traveling Dunmer who prays at the Azura shrine on certain days. Might need a better word than "constant"... only full-time worshiper? Live-in worshiper? Head worshiper? I dunno. — Unsigned comment by 173.169.155.159 (talk) at 06:47 on 26 November 2011 (GMT)

head worshipper. good job. Drakenz 21:46, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

Bugs November 30

This row of bugs are all more or less "if you cannot do this, wait a few days and do that"-type of one-of's, so they look better on the talk. Note that all bugs still has the verification-tag assigned, so they're not forgotten - yet.

• Sometimes you're unable to pick up Azura's Star. It's on the ground in front of Malyn Varen's skeleton, but completely un-clickable. Reloading or re-entering the area should help.
• If you talk to Nelacar about the Star before anyone points you to him, talking to an NPC that would previously point you to him will activate a marker at him that cannot be cleared until retrieving the Star.
• If you go directly to Nelacar instead of talking to people at the College, then the path to the second part of the dungeon will be blocked by a rock. If you go back to talk to one of the people at the College then the rock should disappear.
• If you did this quest before getting "Visit the Shrine of Azura" you will get a bug, to fix that (only on pc) use setstage DA01intro 100.
• Sometimes Aranea Ienith will be hostile when you first approach Azura's shrine. If this is the case, simply leave and return a few days later and you will be able to continue the quest as usual.

--Krusty 15:23, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

This may be due to the fact that she is faction buddies with Winterhold. If you have a bounty on you from Winterhold, she'll be hostile. Clear the bounty and she's nice again. — Unsigned comment by 24.211.186.125 (talk) at 04:43 on 22 April 2012

You are absolutely correct. I'll re-add the bug with the correct explanation. --Krusty 14:58, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

stub?

Is this article still a stub? It.looks finished to me but I might be missig somethingQwertyone 01:19, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

Werewolf

If you're in "Beast Form" while inside the star and complete the quest you'll stay in form upon returning to skyrim, keep that in mind if you have gone for Nelacar's option as people are a little hostile. I would put this in notes myself but not sure how. — Unsigned comment by 86.172.88.39 (talk) at 18:27 on 30 December 2011 (GMT)

Should you choose to utilize "Beast Form" whilst inside the star, do note that when you get transported back, you will remain in "Beast Form", possibly getting attacked by the nearby townsfolk if you had chosen the Black Star route. (Does not apply to the White Star route as the temple is pretty desolate.) — Unsigned comment by 218.186.14.11 (talk) at 01:59 on 12 April 2012 (GMT)

Stuck in the Star

Upon accepting the quest from Azura (For the white star), you get transported inside the star, after killing Malyn Varen there is a chance you will not be transported back to Skyrim...even after killing the 3 Dremora. I'm not sure if this happen is because I killed Malyn Varen before killing the Dremora (Used Whirlwind Sprint to get past them without much damage). In any case, I've read on the Internet of others with similar issues. For PC use console command "coc ShrineOfAzuraExterior01" to get out. This may not bring your follower, fast traveling somewhere should bring them back, otherwise use the command "followerRefID.moveto player". For example, for Lydia the command would be, "a2c94.moveto player"

Not sure if the problem exists for 360 or PS3, but if it does, I imagine the only option would be to restore and retry. — Unsigned comment by 74.214.151.49 (talk) at 17:35 on 10 January 2012 (GMT)

Strategies if you're a stealthy archer type

The section inside the Star can be quite unforgiving if you're not used to close melee combat. It's very likely you'll get pinned down right where you start if you try to sneak around!

Here are two strategies that worked for me:

Sneak and snipe the dremora, they use magic defences which arrows go right through. If they all start to rush you then conjure something - anything! - and run past them as fast as possible until you get to the lowest level. Crouch and hide behind the platform and you should go to "hidden". Rinse and repeat. Runes help enormously if you have them.

If they don't rush you, then you can actually snipe Malyn from up high from near the start, if he's down on the lowest level. He's an indistinct blur but arrows will hit him! — Unsigned comment by 81.99.244.146 (talk) at 10:04 on 22 January 2012 (GMT)

If you dual wield daggers and have no skill in bows. Wait in the nook to the left of where you enter/spawn im the cave. Use the slow time shout once each enemy approaches and power attack. rinse and repeat. wouldnt hurt to down some fire resist potions as well. ~~ — Unsigned comment by 75.75.185.72 (talk) at 04:36 on 4 February 2012 (GMT)

Alternatively use an invisibility potion at the start, go hidden, and then you can take them out one at time quite easily - I'm sure the rush is a bug.--58.160.178.212 10:06, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

There is a group of stalagmites (to the front right) on the starting platform where I was able to jump over the edge from and start sliding down between the first platform and another wall. (Sometimes I could shoot the dremora that were on the second platform while I was sliding down.) Then heal myself and go into sneak mode to hide so that they go away before I reached the bottom. When I reached the bottom I would be transported back up to the first platform. On that first platform I could see the end platform (more clearly when zoomed) and take a shot at the "indistinct blurs." (I was also able to beat it without my cheat on the easiest mode.) cyalknight@gmail.com 205.134.213.30 11:22, 16 March 2014 (GMT)

the two choices section under "a soul to keep", why edit? what is the improvement with the current version?

I think the version 879323 was ok: Two nice, neat and very clear sub sections below the bigger section that mentions that the player have two choices. I have no idea why it got edited to the current version. As it is now it mentions the two options but then the next section mentions both the Nelacar and Aranea together without any separation. It clutters the two choices and makes separating them for the reader much harder. I am pretty hesitant to just "undo" things I personally dont like without debating it first. My opinion is that the last edits has certainly not improved the design of this section. Any thoughts..? --Middleofsweden 17:49, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Oops, not nearly as hesitant with the ‘undo’ thing as you, but my edit summary basically says the same as you. I’m a bit worried that the hiddentable looks odd for some users (this is the second time it’s been carefully corrected), so let’s get some opinions. The hiddentable is not terribly important - but it is important to clarify that there's two separate paths available. --Krusty 09:10, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

For now, thank you Krusty. My eyes is not bleeding anymore :-) Nah, seriously.. I hope this format stays. As long as the hidden table doesn't goes against some design guidelines as to keep this wiki uniform I am 100% "thumb up" for the current version. My opinion is (and will always be) that if someone have display problems with this format they should mention it here, on the articles talk page, take a screenshot, note the browser with the current version, screen resolution and possibly graphics card. Then adress someone with more editing experience rather than just make a complete mess and then split out. I mean, those edits wasn't even close to having a satisfactory editing note attached to them, adressing the reason for the edits. At best, this is a minimum for major edits. If that had been added the "undo" made by you, could possibly have been followed by an edit correcting the underlying problem by you or someone else. --Middleofsweden 16:19, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Dremora Markynaz Wizard Thrall

It turns out that it is possible to thrall the dremoras who you fight inside the Star. I thralled them, killed Malyn, and Nelacar teleported me back, no thralls nearby, then I didn't finish the quest, exit the inn and fast travel to Winterhold itself. Both thralled dremoras appeared next to me, then I finished the quest, and finally having two caster's type Dremora Markynaz. Actually it is the only way to get those caster's type dremoras because the one spawned inside Mehrunes Dagon shrine is of very low level (Churl or Caittiff) even in high levels. I believe that you can thrall Malyn himself but I've heard he isn't impressive as its max level only 25.--89.23.179.43 02:48, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Canon Choice?

Is there any indication of what the canon choice for this quest is intended to be? I'd presume the maintenance of status quo would indicate that siding with Azura would be the canon option, but then artifacts have been destroyed or otherwise permanently changed in the past (e.g. Umbra)... so I'm not sure. Anyone hazard a guess? ~ SotiCoto 16:37, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

There's no way of telling what the Canon choice will be at this point. If it's ever revealed, it won't be until the next game in the series, like with the Clavicus Vile quest in Oblivion. ThuumofReason 17:38, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

Azura comments that the star will return to her in a hundred years or so, so assuming any future titles are set some time in the future again then the star will have likely been restored to its normal (white) state. If it isn't set that far ahead then it seems likely they'd just go with the black star, as someone else could have tampered with it after the events of Skyrim. -- Haravikk 19:58, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

One method for thieves

My character is an illusionist thief. I have no perks in archery nor in smithing. My combat is based upon Frenzy casting on enemies to weaken them enough to mace their face. Because the three dremora resist my current Illusion level (and I didn't want to wait until end game), I completed the daedric quest A Night To Remember. Spamming the Rose to summon my own Kynval made short work of the three dremora. Cmdr haggis 22:12, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

Azura's Black Star > Azuras star?

Is this line, from the "bugs" section really true?

"Despite the Black Star's supposed inability to collect white souls, it can actually collect any soul."

If so, wouldn't it be worth mentioning that the Black star is the better choice to pick, as the (white) Azuras star would be missing out on the ability to trap black souls? Since the Black star traps both black and white?

(The Lost (talk) 01:13, 27 September 2012 (GMT)

When strictly comparing the stars, that is apparently true. However, choosing Azura's Star also gives you the option of taking Aranea as a follower, while the Black Star does not.

67.176.95.1 00:58, 5 November 2012 (GMT)

Oblivion Walker

I am still unable to find verification of whether one choice or other (Aranea vs. Nelacar) has an effect on whether this artifact counts toward the Oblivion Walker achievement. My concern is that if choosing to go with Nelacar, and The Black Star, the quest might not give you Daedric Artifact collection credit. Crayolamanic (talk) 22:14, 2 February 2013 (GMT)

It has no effect on the achievement; both objects can count towards it. Vely^►t►e 23:31, 2 February 2013 (GMT)

Black Star not bugged, Nelacar just mistaken?

While there's a lot of debate on whether the Black Star is bugged or not, i'm suggesting that Nelacar may simply be mistaken about the Black Star. While i have no definitive proof, (hence my "may" instead of "is"), no one has offered definitive proof that the Black Star IS bugged. No patch (as of this posting) has fixed it, and in fact, i have been unable to even find mods that fix it, even Unofficial Skyrim Patch hasn't made this fix.

I typed up this possibility (making sure it reads as a possibility, not a definitive answer) in the Notes section. If you want it taken down, take it down, i have no issue with it. I just think it should be at least considered a possibility until either/or has been definitively proven. VycDarkshadow (talk) 23:39, 24 February 2013 (GMT)

Black Star Bug: Black Souls

I've seen it mentioned on this and other pages that while the Black Star is said to only be able to hold black souls, it can in fact hold Black and White souls. However, I am finding that it does in fact only hold Black souls. I'm running both the latest Skyrim patch and the latest Unofficial Skyrim, Dawnguard and Dragonborn patches as of May 9th 2013. It's possible that one of these has fixed it. If it was the unofficial patch and somebody can be bothered to search through the list of fixes it'd be good if someone could add the "this was fixed in the unofficial skyrim patch 1.x" that I often see listed underneath other bugs. 58.7.196.220 14:11, 9 May 2013 (GMT)

If anything "fixed" it, it was definitely not any of the Official patches. I'm playing on Xbox, but am current with all the updates as of this posting date, and as others have confirmed, the Black Star does hold normal and black souls. DpwnShift (talk) 16:31, 5 July 2013 (GMT)

As of 8 August 2014 I can confirm as well that it is only holding black souls. I get a "no soul gem large enough" message when killing animals and such if I don't have the right standard gems equipped. Perhaps it is a difference between PC and Xbox? — Unsigned comment by 75.85.133.24 (talk) at 18:12 on 1 August 2014

The Unofficial Skyrim Patch fixed this bug a while back. That's probably why you're seeing it as fixed. I can confirm that prior to the USKP fix, the Black Star would accept any soul at all. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 19:35, 1 August 2014 (GMT)

Minor update to Notes to be considered

The current note: Some people will comment if you have Azura's star in your possession. Nelacar will say: "I don't like doing business with Azura's faithful... make it quick." Town guards will occasionally comment, saying "By Shor, is that... is that Azura's Star? How did you come to possess such a rare treasure?"

I did a little playing with the quest where I originally got the black star, but wanted Skyrim:Aranea Ienith as a follower. I couldn't get relationship console commands to keep her form the 'blasphemer' dialogue and couldn’t do a setstage command. I ended up resetting the quest and skipped through the stages until I got to the ‘good’ end (100). She still wasn’t hostile at that point and offered to be a follower dialogue, but ‘Follow me’ wasn’t an option. This was fixed with the standard make-follower procedure. (So, yeah – all of this is a sidenote)

What I’m saying: Even if you have the black star in your inventory and not the ‘white’ one, if you’ve done the ‘good’ end Nelacar will give you the hostile greeting. This is independent of what’s in your inventory. A petty correction, really.

Also, I understand I could have just done the ‘good’ quest line and swapped out the stars in my inventory. (I played through both via a quick-save, doing the ‘bad’ second but had overridden the save - derp) --Is404 (talk) 21:28, 24 August 2013 (GMT)

Both stars?

Is it possible to get both stars? I don't any way listed to get both, outside of a console command. If it is possible, is there a write up on it somewhere? FMPhoenixHawk (talk) 04:58, 10 December 2013 (GMT)

AFAIK, it is not possible to obtain both without using the console or a mod, and I checked the relevant articles and talk pages and didn't see where anybody else had succeeded. --Xyzzy ^Talk 07:11, 11 December 2013 (GMT)

There is a way to get both stars, but it requires a lot of luck. You can't have had the random encounter with the traveling dunmer yet. You need to go to Azura's shrine and get the quest as usual. Get the broken star, go to Nelecar or Arenea(possible sic), enter the star, kill Malyn, but then die as you're being sucked back out of the star. You'll get both the broken star, and the star you went for. Now, if you had been lucky enough not to have found the dunmer, you can now wander around until you find him, then you'll get the quest again. There are probably glitches with finishing it a second time, but finish it for the other person, and you'll have both stars. Since you can only get the quest from the dunmer once, you can't exploit this indefinitely. --153.90.122.88 14:22, 11 April 2014 (GMT)

Nelacar's AI Changed

After despatching Malyn inside the star, Nelacar somehow wandered into the main room of the Frozen Hearth in crouched /ready pose and was not available for any interaction. The follower and innkeeper were also adopting a hostile stance to Nelacar. As soon as he returned to his room, the quest continued, and everything returned to as it should.--Lmstearn (talk) 12:56, 20 January 2014 (GMT)

Strategy tip: Fire resistance is the key

The Dremora summoned Malyn Varen only seem to use fire spells (fireball, firebolt etc), after failing a couple of times with my Battlemage I went away and made a couple of fire resist enchanted items, these plus a strong fire resistance potion got me up to 93% fire resist. This made the fight much easier. --Drbob (talk) 02:08, 18 February 2014 (GMT)

Specific strategies are usually not added to the pages, but an explaining note with observations on how specific NPCs fighting styles manifest could possibly be added, so please go ahead. —MortenOSlash (talk) 05:37, 18 February 2014 (GMT)

Even that is probably unnecessary here, since following the link to the Dremora article provides information that makes it clear that Dremora rely heavily on fire magic. We generally let readers of the wiki draw their own conclusions and develop their own fighting strategies based on the info we provide, without resorting to blunt "kill it this way' advice. I think exceptions have been made for particularly difficult opponents, but I really wouldn't consider this encounter one of these circumstances. This may be because I almost always play Breton characters however, due to their inherent magic resistance, so I will defer to consensus if others don't agree. --Xyzzy ^Talk 07:06, 18 February 2014 (GMT)

Azura's Dialogue?

Anyone know where would be the best place to put Azura's dialogue? They're not listed anywhere else on the wiki. I was going to add them here, but they seem very out of place as this page largely summarises what the characters say during the quest. —<({QT>> 00:02, 13 August 2014 (GMT)

Is Nelacar's speech check really in the 'easy' category?

Because my speech is 27 and I failed (unless I'm misunderstanding how a speech check works... If I have a sufficient level in the skill, I should pass, correct?). I also found this on the talk page for the speech skill http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim_talk:Speech#The_Black_Star_-_Persuading_Nelacar_as_Easy.3F (I dunno how to make a link, sorry). Obax (talk) 03:06, 5 January 2015 (GMT)

Yup, it's bugged. I'll reply in the topic you just linked to. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 03:30, 5 January 2015 (GMT)

Oh, and to make a link, you'd use [[Skyrim talk:Speech#The Black Star - Persuading Nelacar as Easy?]] or [[Skyrim talk:Speech#The Black Star - Persuading Nelacar as Easy?|your text here]] if you wanted specific text for the link. See our Quick Editing Guide for more formatting commands. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 03:39, 5 January 2015 (GMT)

Ilinalta's Deep walkthrough unnecessary here?

I was wondering if it's necessary to include a walkthrough for Ilinalta's Deep here? There's already a separate page for it, and the walkthrough there is more complete and accurate and (I found) less confusing. I'm new here, though, so I don't know what's typical. Is it possible to instead have the text from the Ilinalta's Deep page display here, or if not, to simply link to that page? Medouneu (talk) 05:24, 29 May 2015 (UTC)

This was something that was discussed at great, great length back when Skyrim came out. The ultimate decision, I believe, was that full dungeon walkthroughs should occur on their pages, but that when a quest involved a specific, unalterable dungeon, that a mini-walkthrough should appear on the quest page as well, so that one didn't have to click back and forth. The mini-walkthrough, though, should only include the basics needed to complete a quest, and optionally, quick mentions of anything else that you're almost certain to come across along the way. Given that this is a featured article, the community appears to have approved the content, but if you find significant amounts of detail that are clearly unrelated to the quest, bring them up here for discussion and then they can be removed or altered as long as there's a general consensus to do so. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 07:36, 29 May 2015 (UTC)

Stolen Items

The following note was recently added to the page, but I suspect it's a one-off for this person, as I've never experienced this before, nor do I see any reason she would normally do so: If you're carrying stolen items, Aranea will be hostile to you. If you drop the items you can proceed as normal. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 04:49, 26 November 2016 (UTC)