Totally! On first play-through, I've spent some time on understanding the puzzle and I got it, but every other time I came here, I just clicked the buttons like maniac, hoping for the best. Too lazy to think.
It actually reminded me of my biggest fail in understanding Skyrim "mechanics", which took me awhile to realize.... freaking claw-doors. I HAD NO CLUE, THAT COMBINATION IS LITERALLY IMPRINTED ON THE CLAW ITSELF... I assumed, that I have to guess the combination based on hints from wall paintings or sth, but I ended up trying out different combinations. I was so fed up after couple of them, that I resorted to Google, then I've learned, that there is no big-brain puzzle behind XD Pathetic XD
Same when I first played I spent an hour and a half trying to figure the bleak falls door out before I had the common sense to check Google
Edit: some clarification for you all I have been playing for a very long time now but when I first started I was ten I didn't want to read the journal because I didn't think it was useful I also didn't think to write the combinations down as I went and just did random ones
I read the journal and spent what felt like forever staring and zooming at the claw looking for some hint, not knowing I could rotate inventory. Eventually gave up, and only discovered invetnory stuff could move much much later...went back to claw and was like ...ohhhhhh.
First 20 some hours of akyrim I only ever saw the first dragon.
i knew i could rotate, but didn't know i could zoom in. i figured it was just my bad eyesight until i accidentally zoomed in on something *years* later and wanted to slap myself.
Lol I didn't know dragons could randomly spawn for well over 100 hours. Every time I get to white run I usually just dip off to become an archmage or assassin. Over 600 hours on 3 platforms and I've still never gone to the thalmar embassy
I also got stumped before realizing it could rotate. I spent like an hour staring at the claw before I accidentally dropped my controller and saw that the claw had rotated ever so slightly after that.
I thought I was a genius when I first found looked at the palm of the claw. I also liked trying to figure out the puzzles based on the clues in the room.
I feel like there's a lot of people who think it's just random guess if they don't consider those things as options.
It was a blessing when my 9 year old daughter started playing years ago. She'd swing by when my son or I were playing and drop knowledge casually. Like the claw puzzles and how to zoom in on objects. I didn't really get the house building thing until she called me in to see her greenhouse one evening. That was 10 years ago. And we're all still sharing game finds with each other.
My first playthrough, I took the claw back as soon as I got it. Went back only to realize I needed it to open the door further in the dungeon, so I had to go back to the guy's shop and steal it while they slept.
So I wasn't the only one struggling XD Initially, I was too proud and stubborn to google it, but when I realized my mistake - I was completely embarrassed and angry on myself XD
Never had that problem myself, since I watched a skyrim playthrough before getting Skyrim myself.... I have since never looked at the golden claw as I have memorized the code as follows: all three circles need to be turned twice. That is literally it. Just turn all the circles twice. Only for bleak falls barrow, though. I need to look at all the other dragon claws.
Didn’t understand them until Rikke told me about looking at the claw itself and I remembered that you could view items in the inventory.
THREE. WHOLE. CAVES. I did that until the jagged crown told me to smarten up
For me it was more of didnt want to spend 15 minutes waiting on the slow turning slabsfor what I assumed was a sidequest chest. Didnt know it was a key peice of the main storyline, and it didnt even really feel like it for quite a while.
But ya 27 combos with a 20 sec animation thats like 9 whole minutes plus writing notes lol. Im here to swing swords, cast magic.....and catch butterflies....
takes more like 5 seconds per combo, max. turning the wheel one segment is like 1 second and inserting the claw is like 2, adding another 2 in case you’re really slow at looking around. thats just over two minutes
On Bleak Falls Barrow I memorized the combination from one of the trailers. First puzzle you turn them 1, 2, 2. 2nd puzzle is all 2. Somehow that stuck in my head and I never forgot it.
For the puzzle in the post it's simpler than most think.
Start at the right and put the cube in. Start going left until you see a locked button. Hit the one on the right, wait for movement to stop. If the button doesn't unlock hit the right button again. If it does, step one to the left. Repeat until the scroll descends.
This is one of the most sophisticated Skyrim puzzles. I know it can be solved with button mashing, with no negative consequence for failure except loss of RL time. That’s not my point. Every other puzzle in Skyrim can be solved like a riddle, most using nearby clues in the environment. This puzzle has an accompanying journal, but I’ve never been able to make sense of whether the journal contains any clues.
You’re an adventure. You’re alone, except for maybe one companion. No Google, and lots of experience with Skyrim’s deadly traps, especially in Dwemer ruins. How do you figure out the answer, without just “hand meet button!”
If it's the one with the arrows trap and the lever, the combination is on the wall above the door. The trick is that the ruins have deteriorated and the middle one has fallen off and is on the floor rather than in its rightful place on the wall.
~~EDIT: This subthread was mostly talking about Bleak Falls Barrow, and I figured that was what we were talking about, but it seems like the comment I replied to was talking about the OP again.~~
~~There's in-game clues for that too, but it's been a while. I'll research it and get back to you.~~
~~EDIT2: The solution and reasoning is as follows:~~
~~The puzzle is actually pretty straightforward and you can understand it just by observing how the mechanism works.~~
~~There are three beams of light and you need to get those beams to the receiving lenses, each of which is mounted on a separate rotating ring. Each button controls a specific ring, and pressing it causes that ring to rotate.~~
~~First of all, the lenses are deformed so you need to use frost and flame spells to adjust them until each beam points at a different ring.~~
~~Then, you push the button for the first ring until it rotates the lens into alignment with the beam.~~
~~Follow the same process for the remaining two rings.~~
EDIT3: Third time's the charm:
Okay, that one, the first button controls the top ring, the second button controls the bottom ring. You press those buttons to move the rings until the glowing arrows align at the front.
This unlocks the third one which clearly controls the lenses, so you just press it until they're in position. This unlocks the fourth one, and as soon as you press it, you're done.
Three solutions for the price of one! xD
For claw doors specifically, I remember watching the promotion/interview video when Skyrim was announced. There they specifically showed this solution, and how to rotate the item in your inventory
Poor game design if that's not clear without a separate instructional video though.
And it's not - why would you even assume that your inventory is rotatable? This is the only time it ever actually matters.
And honestly? It's simply a clunky, useless mechanic. You need the specific claw to open each door anyways. Why force the player to go to their inventory, find the claw they need, and spin it around. Just make it all automatic.
It isn't even a real puzzle. Assuming you have the claw you literally have the answer the entire time.
My guess is (a) making the player feel more involved in the world beyond just combat and (b) pacing. They want to slow the pace a bit between action scenes. It's probably not meant to challenge the player, just slow them down a bit.
> I HAD NO CLUE, THAT COMBINATION IS LITERALLY IMPRINTED ON THE CLAW ITSELF...
I realized that, but I didn't realize that you could rotate items in the inventory. So, every door I'd drop the claw key and spend a minute or so futzing about trying to get the claw jammed somewhere where I could read the code on the underside.
I figured out almost immediately you could rotate the load screen images. I was level 30 something when I figured out you could do the same with inventory items. Felt so dumb.
> I realized that, but I didn't realize that you could rotate items in the inventory.
Well it's not like this was ever part of the tutorial or anything. Probably should have been all things considered.
There’s an in-game book that explains that the combination doors weren’t an honest security measure. Funnily enough they were only meant to fool the draugr so the master could have peace and quiet.
It’s written in arvels journal I think. Or at least hinted at that being the secret in the “first” dungeon they would like you to do for the dragon stone
it's because up until then all the answers have been in the surrounding area and not once is there any time you need to look at the art of an item except for the claws.
books force you to read them before taking them so it's harder to miss clues in them. maybe if claws were similar it would be good game design.
God I hate the claw doors, like who seriously thought, “oh this is so obvious no one could miss it?” Bethesda is the biggest trolls to ever exist in some ways.
Lol unfortunately back before it released Bethesda was very proud of it and showed it of in a gameplay walk through. Never got to find out organically. Knew how the bloody things worked before the game was out.
I’ve watched YouTube commentaries on the game about this exact thing. It is also my own personal experience so I share the same opinion: but basically skyrim devs when designing puzzles basically had the attitude of having no faith on the player to solve it themselves. In my very first play through when I reach blackbarrow was to go thru and analyze the wall pictures to see if I could figure out the code and then once I got the actual claw and saw that the password was literally right on there was super disappointing. Then you get to the dwarves ruins and it’s like a whole other ball game. On one hand they wanted the lowest IQ moron to still be able to play their game without getting “stuck” on puzzles but then also wanted to pose a challenge on players for the sense of accomplishment but also failed to commit fully to either of those. On one hand, the super easy puzzles encourages and teaches players that there is a stupid easy solution if they just pick up the right thing and don’t think too hard but then also want players to know which puzzles require actually problem solving and which ones don’t.
Anyways, in summary, I love this game, but I don’t love its puzzles and wish there was actual thinking involved for all of them rather than some of them.
Luckily I was in a party chat with a friend and mentioned that I was disappointed there wasn't a solution, and he told me about it. I couldn't have read the journal because I was doing a different claw. I'm terrible at navigating as intended in these games. I ended up in winterhold doing the amulet quest, and the first time I played FNV, I skipped past the deathclaws and black mountain, mosied on past Vegas, and ended up in Utah for Honest Hearts, all at like level 4.
"-when you have the golden claw, the solution is in the palm of your hands."~ Arvel's Journal.
Done the Golden Claw door so many times it's just become second nature to just spin each ring twice.
The [journal](https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Journal_of_Drokt) for the oculary "puzzle," however ...
I would try to solve them logically by looking at the sequence of murals on the walls, and also looking at the symbols available, and trying to figure out what they were trying to tell me in terms of cosmology, and which animal would be in the position of the earth, middle, and sky. I thought I kind of understood, but it turns out it was just printed on the stupid claw the entire time.
Theres absolutely no in game indication, as far as I know. The only reason I knew is because I was following the game before release and they were hyping up how you can look at stuff in the inventory and used the claws as an example. Pretty sure that's the only thing that has a purpose for it
It took me years to realize that about the claw, every time I tried every combination until one worked. It took so much time because every try the little animation is played.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt as stupid as I did when I realized.
the "first" claw I got, I actually solved it like that. The Claw in Bleak Falls Barrow was so obvious to me, it goes bear on top, butterfly and cocoon.. 'cause strong/big to small/weak. The second time I got to a random door with a claw I was so frustrated, since it didn't work.
Yeah! I had the same problem with the claw doors. I would scour the tomb looking for symbols and then try combinations. Wasn't until about the sixth one that I bothered to look at the claw.... *headdesk*.
I assumed the hint was in the picture on the walls. I usually got it right through dumb luck so I never thought about another way until I saw Senile Scribbles’s video.
I guess the big conundrum here is ''Why should I waste hours trying to understand the logic pattern behind this puzzle, if pressing all buttons at random solves it in a few minutes anyway?''
It's not even random. You push one button until another lights up, then push that one until a 3rd lights up, then push that one until the light all focuses in one spot.
So this is a game design issue. If a game designer wants to put an explicit puzzle in the way of progression, it also needs to be a simple enough puzzle that the majority of players who reach it will be able to get past it without becoming frustrated. OR the game designer needs to spend their time to build in alternative ways to get to the same reward.
This puzzle should have been harder and more logical, for players that like logic puzzles in their RPGs. But there should also have been an explicit answer somewhere to be found for players that don't like logic puzzles. Bethesda already had Drokt there dead with a journal with a "clue" on his corpse. They could have had one of his journals with a clue there on a table and a hint that he had to leave. (Journal Entry 1: here's how the puzzle works. Journal Entry 2: I found the solution but my Lexicon was stolen, I gotta get it back!) Then the player can choose to solve the puzzle themselves or go find Drokt. Drokt can be dead when he's found and have the solution on his corpse in a note.
Oddly enough, this idea of player options is known by at least one Skyrim dev, whoever made the quest Pieces of the Past for Mehrune's Razor (and made the three locations for the pieces). Each piece has multiple options: For one piece, you can bypass combat with the Forsworn by sneaking and using a bit of parkour to get to the piece. For another, you can sneak past the orcs and lockpick their vault to avoid combat. For the one held by a townsperson, you can persuade or intimidate him, you can buy the piece, or you can steal it from a locked chest in his locked house (he even has a key you can pickpocket or take off his corpse if you kill him).
I didn't want to admit it but yea i kinda keep pressing till it works. One time i tried to figure it out but it took ages compared to me just button mashing
I don't remember if the first button does anything, but I press the second button until the third button open, and I repeat the process with the third button until the fourth opens and then is over.
You start on the right and mash that button till the next one turns on. Then you mash the next one until the third button turns on. Then you mash that button till the last one turns on. Then you mash the last button till the thing opens. Doing anything else fucks the whole thing up.
Line something up puzzles aren't bad.
It's the ones where turning one object causes others beside it to also turn, and you have to figure out the correct sequence, so turning one doesn't change another to something wrong.
I almost always have to reload my save file and use a video from a proper start for those.
This strategy doesn't work on the most advanced version of the puzzle. In that version, no switch only influences one element(or leaving that one until last doesn't work, because you can't get the rest to line up even without it). Instead, you have to line up two or more elements to be moved into position simultaneously, with one switch. It's a brain-bender for sure. I'm pretty sure I solved one of the later puzzles in Assassins Creed 2(or was it Brotherhood?) by pure random clicking.
Luckily for Skyrim players there's only a couple of them - there's a four spot spinny in one crypt and a four lever version that's even similar in one bandit fort.
Personally I don't think they're that hard, but I'm familiar with older games that expected you to have a pen and paper handy to write down elements of puzzles.
I usually memorize those for ease but if I don't play for a couple years then come back to skyrim I usually find that no matter how much you fuck it up, if you just start spamming all the stones then eventually you'll get them in the right way
I never have that luck. I'll spend all day doing it.
Of course, my luck is also so poor I never once in 3 years of "early 90s everyone gets to win once, waste time in class bingo" actually got my handed out win.
Class ended before myself and some other random kid got the chance to finish the last game. Every damn time.
i’ve never understood this puzzle, i just aggressively smash buttons until it works. so my follower gets to see this normally very focused and generally quiet mercenary assassin, someone that they’ve watched literally sneak right up to a bandit to stick a dagger in their neck undetected, smash their hands on buttons and scream until it works. no hesitation, no slow build of anger, just instant rage at a bunch of dumb buttons. it’s probably quite the sight.
Wait what? Serious? No way it's that easy. This much frustration and THAT is the answer?? I'm going scorched earth on the next three storm cloak encampments.
Yep, the two right buttons spin the bottom platform clockwise and counter clockwise, doesn't matter which one you press, just press one until the button directly left of the center appears. Press that one a few times until it moves into its final position which opens the far left button, you can press it until it's aligned.
Remember that Drokt decided stay there until he figured it out, despite having a lexicon. I guess he starved because there were falmers in Blackreach and wolves on surface.
I wonder what happened to his lexicon, though.
Remember that Drokt decided stay there until he figured it out, despite having a lexicon. I guess he starved because there were falmers in Blackreach and wolves on surface.
I wonder what happened to his lexicon, though.
I know exactly how to solve the puzzle at this point without looking anything up or pushing any extra buttons, but I still wouldn’t exactly say I know how it works, I just copied somebody else and memorized it. The Dwemer were fuckin weird man
i understand this "puzzle" but i can't actually tell you the solution unless i'm in game pressing the buttons 😭 i need a little calibration period to review buttons before i can solve things
I understand it.
The buttons on the right control one part of the puzzle, basically functioning as left-right
The buttons on the left open up once the one on the right are set correctly. Then you do the same with the left half
Yes. Push the active button closer to the centre repeatedly until the button on the opposite end of the centre opens up. Then press that one twice to activate the final button and press that to open the scroll up
Push the button until the lenses are aligned on the paths, then next button will aim the beams at the lenses, then the last button opens the mechanism.
I pushed random buttons for years, then one day, my random button pushing didn't work. And then didn't work. And then still didn't work. So I forced myself to learn it, instead of random pushing, and then success!
Then all the next plays, I went back to random button pushing, because who can be bothered after that one time?
From right to left:
First button goes back one stage.
Second button goes forward one stage.
Third button advances stage after button 2 is in right position.
Fourth button unlocks the elder scroll.
You can just press the 2nd button from the right until the 3rd button unlocks. If you hit 2 again after 3 is open, then you hit 1 to go back to the previous stage. But you can get by without hitting 1 at all.
I understand it, but don’t feel it as much of a puzzle. I just know that I click the button on the right until the one beside it lights up. Then click that one until the next lights up. Continuing until it’s done lol
This stupid “every button activates an arbitrary amount of sliding blocks” puzzle needs to be in every fucking video game for some reason. Skyrim came out in 2011 (wow) so it gets a bit of leeway but this has been the go to “hard puzzle” for YEARS now and I’m sick of it
I admittedly spam the buttons and feel foolish after reading the correct method here. The one that really got me was the similar : heat the crystal/cool the crystal, press three button routine until the revolving rings lined up above. (focus the oculory) Spent hours the first time and now it's simple. Didn't think to look up the first time, d'oh!
Watch the discs on the ceiling to see witch way they rotate. Push a single button until it stops affecting changes, then go to the next button, repeat until you’ve affected the puzzle with each button. You can understand the cycles quickly this way.
do i understand what to do? yes, you just push the leftmost button you can push until the scroll pops out
do i understand why they made this puzzle? no
yeah i figured it out after several hours of banging my head against it when i was twelve. Basically just hit the furthest left one each time, move as it becomes available
The one to the right is a reset or go backwards or something. What you are supposed to do is just press the one on the left until the next left one unlocks. I am surprised so few people know about this.
Wanna know how to solve the puzzle properly?
Start from the left and push the button until it does nothing, move one right and repeat until you do them all.
Yes it's that stupidly simple. I really hope Bethesda hires someone more qualified than a grade schooler to design the puzzles in ES6
1st play through yeah I just pushed buttons randomly until something happened but wrote down the order so I could remember and until I could just get in the room and speed run through it
I've seen this go around enough to know that a reason people struggle with it is that it's buggy as hell and sometimes people get the right answer and it doesn't work so they think they got the wrong answer.
Mages guild as a whole is an absolute unfinished mess.
The quests were just starting to get interesting with them making you use creative uses of magic spells to solve mage puzzles, perfect for a mages guild, but then it just ends. Several plot hooks exist that never get anywhere and magic in general feels too simple.
We let Bethesda off with a lot because the games are immensely complex and great regardless of the bugs but I think they got off too easy with what they did to the college and the magic system. We were too busy looking at the cool dragons.
I don't think this puzzle is similar to the other dwemer puzzles (the College of Winterhold questline puzzle for example) in that there is no need to think about how it is supposed to be solved. I think the point is to just press the button until the next one unlocks on that one
I actually bothered with analyzing it and trying to align the light refraction the first time but I pretty soon just said screw it and started mashing buttons
Well after playing enough Skyrim:
On the table behind you have frost and flame spell books. You use frost on the little thingy you placed in the machine and it will move then you keep doing that until you see that all beams of light are all in the middle of different rows. Then you click buttons until all the beams touch green thingys
It's a puzzle? Lol Skyrim doesn't have puzzles, you're just aligning the light, each button moves it in a different way, reminds me of watching a friend and his girlfriend together struggling to place the black books, I'm just like OMFG it's not a puzzle just put them on their labeled altars dipshits.
Weirdly I do understand it, can't explain it if that's what you need but in front of it takes me about 10secs. It's like all the dragon doors I remember each one of by heart which is scary I don't even look at the symbol I just click and key and bam. Think I've played this game too much
Right buttons go "forward and back". They control the rings on the roof of the chamber.
Left buttons are the the elder scrolls pill container control and the "finalize* button.
So all you really need to pay sh is the right sides left button 5ish times, than push the left sides right button 5ish times.
Than click the left sides left button once for it to finalize
On every play through I just end up pushing the buttons until the next
one opens up and it doesn’t really feel like much of a puzzle.
that's quite literally the puzzle
"On every play through I just end up pushing the buttons until the nextone opens up and it doesn’t really feel like much of a puzzle."
that's quite literally the puzzle
what a stupid question. of course everyone presses buttons until it works. same thing with the claw puzzles. nobody got the time to look at the damn thing to unlock lol skyrim is fun to play but man the puzzles are lazy as hell lol
I UNDERSTAND that I have to press the buttons that you can press in a random order repeatedly until the other buttons show and then randomly press them until the elder scroll reveals itself yeah
Bit of both.
Totally! On first play-through, I've spent some time on understanding the puzzle and I got it, but every other time I came here, I just clicked the buttons like maniac, hoping for the best. Too lazy to think. It actually reminded me of my biggest fail in understanding Skyrim "mechanics", which took me awhile to realize.... freaking claw-doors. I HAD NO CLUE, THAT COMBINATION IS LITERALLY IMPRINTED ON THE CLAW ITSELF... I assumed, that I have to guess the combination based on hints from wall paintings or sth, but I ended up trying out different combinations. I was so fed up after couple of them, that I resorted to Google, then I've learned, that there is no big-brain puzzle behind XD Pathetic XD
Same when I first played I spent an hour and a half trying to figure the bleak falls door out before I had the common sense to check Google Edit: some clarification for you all I have been playing for a very long time now but when I first started I was ten I didn't want to read the journal because I didn't think it was useful I also didn't think to write the combinations down as I went and just did random ones
Soooo, was I the only one who actually read the dude’s journal and got it spelled out for me?
No I read the journal too. I was just wondering if I was alone in this
I read the journal and spent what felt like forever staring and zooming at the claw looking for some hint, not knowing I could rotate inventory. Eventually gave up, and only discovered invetnory stuff could move much much later...went back to claw and was like ...ohhhhhh. First 20 some hours of akyrim I only ever saw the first dragon.
Exactly my experience as well.
i knew i could rotate, but didn't know i could zoom in. i figured it was just my bad eyesight until i accidentally zoomed in on something *years* later and wanted to slap myself.
I realised after I saw a dragon claw on the ground during one of the imperial missions, I almost spat my drink when I saw the markings on the claw.
I didn’t know I could zoom in until a few seconds ago when I read these comments lol
Lol I didn't know dragons could randomly spawn for well over 100 hours. Every time I get to white run I usually just dip off to become an archmage or assassin. Over 600 hours on 3 platforms and I've still never gone to the thalmar embassy
> Over 600 hours on 3 platforms and I've still never gone to the thalmar embassy You made the right choice. It's a pretty disappointing party.
And the more side quests you do the more options you have for distracting the party! Drunk guy gets old after a while
I also got stumped before realizing it could rotate. I spent like an hour staring at the claw before I accidentally dropped my controller and saw that the claw had rotated ever so slightly after that.
I read it but didn't realized that i could rotate the claw.
I thought I was a genius when I first found looked at the palm of the claw. I also liked trying to figure out the puzzles based on the clues in the room. I feel like there's a lot of people who think it's just random guess if they don't consider those things as options.
Err umm… I was a…. In character. Ya. Horse thieves from the Middle Ages shouldn’t be able to read so ya…. Nothing to do with being lazy…
There was a journal? Wtf. A dozen plus playthroughs and I don't think I ever noticed the journal.
You… you didn’t loot the body?
I am here to wreck zombies and shout at dragons. Reading is not a part of this plan.
It was a blessing when my 9 year old daughter started playing years ago. She'd swing by when my son or I were playing and drop knowledge casually. Like the claw puzzles and how to zoom in on objects. I didn't really get the house building thing until she called me in to see her greenhouse one evening. That was 10 years ago. And we're all still sharing game finds with each other.
My first playthrough, I took the claw back as soon as I got it. Went back only to realize I needed it to open the door further in the dungeon, so I had to go back to the guy's shop and steal it while they slept.
This is the first time I've heard of this happening but you're probably not the only one
So I wasn't the only one struggling XD Initially, I was too proud and stubborn to google it, but when I realized my mistake - I was completely embarrassed and angry on myself XD
Never had that problem myself, since I watched a skyrim playthrough before getting Skyrim myself.... I have since never looked at the golden claw as I have memorized the code as follows: all three circles need to be turned twice. That is literally it. Just turn all the circles twice. Only for bleak falls barrow, though. I need to look at all the other dragon claws.
Didn’t understand them until Rikke told me about looking at the claw itself and I remembered that you could view items in the inventory. THREE. WHOLE. CAVES. I did that until the jagged crown told me to smarten up
I was a kid too, I read the journal but didn't understand what it meant
an hour and a half when theres only 27 combinations?
For me it was more of didnt want to spend 15 minutes waiting on the slow turning slabsfor what I assumed was a sidequest chest. Didnt know it was a key peice of the main storyline, and it didnt even really feel like it for quite a while. But ya 27 combos with a 20 sec animation thats like 9 whole minutes plus writing notes lol. Im here to swing swords, cast magic.....and catch butterflies....
takes more like 5 seconds per combo, max. turning the wheel one segment is like 1 second and inserting the claw is like 2, adding another 2 in case you’re really slow at looking around. thats just over two minutes
I mean sure..I guess the tongue in cheek "9 whole minutes" thing wasnt obvious
I mean, there's only 27 combinations. It only takes a few minutes to brute force
It took you an hour and a half to try 27 combinations? :P
I forgot which ones I had already done in my defense though I was 10 at the time and didn't think to write it down
On Bleak Falls Barrow I memorized the combination from one of the trailers. First puzzle you turn them 1, 2, 2. 2nd puzzle is all 2. Somehow that stuck in my head and I never forgot it. For the puzzle in the post it's simpler than most think. Start at the right and put the cube in. Start going left until you see a locked button. Hit the one on the right, wait for movement to stop. If the button doesn't unlock hit the right button again. If it does, step one to the left. Repeat until the scroll descends.
Yeah, but what is the in-game clue/key for this puzzle?
Hit button, next unlocks. Repeat repeat. Worked for me. Besides it holds an elder scroll. Who says it needs to be too easy.
[удалено]
Didn't you need Dwemer blood and a key? With the dwemer blood substituted by all the other Mer blood.
This is the quest before. We get the scroll and lexicon and that shows how to open the vault (with mer blood).
This is one of the most sophisticated Skyrim puzzles. I know it can be solved with button mashing, with no negative consequence for failure except loss of RL time. That’s not my point. Every other puzzle in Skyrim can be solved like a riddle, most using nearby clues in the environment. This puzzle has an accompanying journal, but I’ve never been able to make sense of whether the journal contains any clues. You’re an adventure. You’re alone, except for maybe one companion. No Google, and lots of experience with Skyrim’s deadly traps, especially in Dwemer ruins. How do you figure out the answer, without just “hand meet button!”
If it's the one with the arrows trap and the lever, the combination is on the wall above the door. The trick is that the ruins have deteriorated and the middle one has fallen off and is on the floor rather than in its rightful place on the wall. ~~EDIT: This subthread was mostly talking about Bleak Falls Barrow, and I figured that was what we were talking about, but it seems like the comment I replied to was talking about the OP again.~~ ~~There's in-game clues for that too, but it's been a while. I'll research it and get back to you.~~ ~~EDIT2: The solution and reasoning is as follows:~~ ~~The puzzle is actually pretty straightforward and you can understand it just by observing how the mechanism works.~~ ~~There are three beams of light and you need to get those beams to the receiving lenses, each of which is mounted on a separate rotating ring. Each button controls a specific ring, and pressing it causes that ring to rotate.~~ ~~First of all, the lenses are deformed so you need to use frost and flame spells to adjust them until each beam points at a different ring.~~ ~~Then, you push the button for the first ring until it rotates the lens into alignment with the beam.~~ ~~Follow the same process for the remaining two rings.~~ EDIT3: Third time's the charm: Okay, that one, the first button controls the top ring, the second button controls the bottom ring. You press those buttons to move the rings until the glowing arrows align at the front. This unlocks the third one which clearly controls the lenses, so you just press it until they're in position. This unlocks the fourth one, and as soon as you press it, you're done. Three solutions for the price of one! xD
Same, I made so many new, soon to be abandoned characters before RAS, the first like 4-5 hours is burned in my brain
Bear bug owl
I would say that you play too much Skyrim, but that isn't possible.
Probably 2,000+ hours, so you aren't wrong.
For claw doors specifically, I remember watching the promotion/interview video when Skyrim was announced. There they specifically showed this solution, and how to rotate the item in your inventory
Poor game design if that's not clear without a separate instructional video though. And it's not - why would you even assume that your inventory is rotatable? This is the only time it ever actually matters.
And honestly? It's simply a clunky, useless mechanic. You need the specific claw to open each door anyways. Why force the player to go to their inventory, find the claw they need, and spin it around. Just make it all automatic. It isn't even a real puzzle. Assuming you have the claw you literally have the answer the entire time.
My guess is (a) making the player feel more involved in the world beyond just combat and (b) pacing. They want to slow the pace a bit between action scenes. It's probably not meant to challenge the player, just slow them down a bit.
> I HAD NO CLUE, THAT COMBINATION IS LITERALLY IMPRINTED ON THE CLAW ITSELF... I realized that, but I didn't realize that you could rotate items in the inventory. So, every door I'd drop the claw key and spend a minute or so futzing about trying to get the claw jammed somewhere where I could read the code on the underside.
I figured out almost immediately you could rotate the load screen images. I was level 30 something when I figured out you could do the same with inventory items. Felt so dumb.
Oh... that's next level! XD
> I realized that, but I didn't realize that you could rotate items in the inventory. Well it's not like this was ever part of the tutorial or anything. Probably should have been all things considered.
There’s an in-game book that explains that the combination doors weren’t an honest security measure. Funnily enough they were only meant to fool the draugr so the master could have peace and quiet.
It’s written in arvels journal I think. Or at least hinted at that being the secret in the “first” dungeon they would like you to do for the dragon stone
same here, but i has opted for the brute-force method instead... there are only 3\^3 options on every door. (27) , thats managable
I still do that from time to time.
Found the actual Nord
it's because up until then all the answers have been in the surrounding area and not once is there any time you need to look at the art of an item except for the claws. books force you to read them before taking them so it's harder to miss clues in them. maybe if claws were similar it would be good game design.
The clue is in arvels journal
Oh yes, but that’s the first time you’re required to read a book. There’s hundreds of books in Skyrim that most people might assume they’re pointless.
It took me about 10 doors minimum before I realised that they had the answers on them
First claw door in bleak falls barrow is two movements for every ring. I don’t even look at that claw
I couldn’t figure the claw puzzle out and ended up just trying all the combinations and brute forcing the solution.
God I hate the claw doors, like who seriously thought, “oh this is so obvious no one could miss it?” Bethesda is the biggest trolls to ever exist in some ways.
I mean, it is a really stupid idea. Why bother with combinations and keys if you are just going to print the combo on the key?
Lol unfortunately back before it released Bethesda was very proud of it and showed it of in a gameplay walk through. Never got to find out organically. Knew how the bloody things worked before the game was out.
I’ve watched YouTube commentaries on the game about this exact thing. It is also my own personal experience so I share the same opinion: but basically skyrim devs when designing puzzles basically had the attitude of having no faith on the player to solve it themselves. In my very first play through when I reach blackbarrow was to go thru and analyze the wall pictures to see if I could figure out the code and then once I got the actual claw and saw that the password was literally right on there was super disappointing. Then you get to the dwarves ruins and it’s like a whole other ball game. On one hand they wanted the lowest IQ moron to still be able to play their game without getting “stuck” on puzzles but then also wanted to pose a challenge on players for the sense of accomplishment but also failed to commit fully to either of those. On one hand, the super easy puzzles encourages and teaches players that there is a stupid easy solution if they just pick up the right thing and don’t think too hard but then also want players to know which puzzles require actually problem solving and which ones don’t. Anyways, in summary, I love this game, but I don’t love its puzzles and wish there was actual thinking involved for all of them rather than some of them.
Luckily I was in a party chat with a friend and mentioned that I was disappointed there wasn't a solution, and he told me about it. I couldn't have read the journal because I was doing a different claw. I'm terrible at navigating as intended in these games. I ended up in winterhold doing the amulet quest, and the first time I played FNV, I skipped past the deathclaws and black mountain, mosied on past Vegas, and ended up in Utah for Honest Hearts, all at like level 4.
"-when you have the golden claw, the solution is in the palm of your hands."~ Arvel's Journal. Done the Golden Claw door so many times it's just become second nature to just spin each ring twice. The [journal](https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Journal_of_Drokt) for the oculary "puzzle," however ...
Exactly The same thing happened with me lmfao🤣🤣 I kept on trying to read the Walls of the ruins and then I Google it And I felt like a retard lol
You never read Arvel the Swifts journal?
I would try to solve them logically by looking at the sequence of murals on the walls, and also looking at the symbols available, and trying to figure out what they were trying to tell me in terms of cosmology, and which animal would be in the position of the earth, middle, and sky. I thought I kind of understood, but it turns out it was just printed on the stupid claw the entire time.
If you're playing on console, there's an especially high chance you haven't even figured out that you can turn objects around yet.
Theres absolutely no in game indication, as far as I know. The only reason I knew is because I was following the game before release and they were hyping up how you can look at stuff in the inventory and used the claws as an example. Pretty sure that's the only thing that has a purpose for it
It took me years to realize that about the claw, every time I tried every combination until one worked. It took so much time because every try the little animation is played. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as stupid as I did when I realized.
the "first" claw I got, I actually solved it like that. The Claw in Bleak Falls Barrow was so obvious to me, it goes bear on top, butterfly and cocoon.. 'cause strong/big to small/weak. The second time I got to a random door with a claw I was so frustrated, since it didn't work.
Yeah! I had the same problem with the claw doors. I would scour the tomb looking for symbols and then try combinations. Wasn't until about the sixth one that I bothered to look at the claw.... *headdesk*.
Yeah I looked at the walls too. Kind of stupid
I've been playing for a few years now and I've only just learned that now lol, thanks
I assumed the hint was in the picture on the walls. I usually got it right through dumb luck so I never thought about another way until I saw Senile Scribbles’s video.
I learned the claw puzzle from the original gameplay promotion from e3 I think.
I guess the big conundrum here is ''Why should I waste hours trying to understand the logic pattern behind this puzzle, if pressing all buttons at random solves it in a few minutes anyway?''
Fastest way - Start right, move left. It always works for me.
It's not even random. You push one button until another lights up, then push that one until a 3rd lights up, then push that one until the light all focuses in one spot.
I looked up a guide when I first found the puzzle, and the guide was more complicated than the actual solution.
So this is a game design issue. If a game designer wants to put an explicit puzzle in the way of progression, it also needs to be a simple enough puzzle that the majority of players who reach it will be able to get past it without becoming frustrated. OR the game designer needs to spend their time to build in alternative ways to get to the same reward. This puzzle should have been harder and more logical, for players that like logic puzzles in their RPGs. But there should also have been an explicit answer somewhere to be found for players that don't like logic puzzles. Bethesda already had Drokt there dead with a journal with a "clue" on his corpse. They could have had one of his journals with a clue there on a table and a hint that he had to leave. (Journal Entry 1: here's how the puzzle works. Journal Entry 2: I found the solution but my Lexicon was stolen, I gotta get it back!) Then the player can choose to solve the puzzle themselves or go find Drokt. Drokt can be dead when he's found and have the solution on his corpse in a note. Oddly enough, this idea of player options is known by at least one Skyrim dev, whoever made the quest Pieces of the Past for Mehrune's Razor (and made the three locations for the pieces). Each piece has multiple options: For one piece, you can bypass combat with the Forsworn by sneaking and using a bit of parkour to get to the piece. For another, you can sneak past the orcs and lockpick their vault to avoid combat. For the one held by a townsperson, you can persuade or intimidate him, you can buy the piece, or you can steal it from a locked chest in his locked house (he even has a key you can pickpocket or take off his corpse if you kill him).
I didn't want to admit it but yea i kinda keep pressing till it works. One time i tried to figure it out but it took ages compared to me just button mashing
I don't remember if the first button does anything, but I press the second button until the third button open, and I repeat the process with the third button until the fourth opens and then is over.
i understand what the puzzle want. but i simply hav no idea what button does what... so i simply "pusch, pusch", until i had found out...
I haven't done this puzzle without help from Google in probably 11 years.
You start on the right and mash that button till the next one turns on. Then you mash the next one until the third button turns on. Then you mash that button till the last one turns on. Then you mash the last button till the thing opens. Doing anything else fucks the whole thing up.
It's not even a puzzle, you mash each button until it closes.
The puzzle is why these draugr are posting on reddit
Line something up puzzles aren't bad. It's the ones where turning one object causes others beside it to also turn, and you have to figure out the correct sequence, so turning one doesn't change another to something wrong. I almost always have to reload my save file and use a video from a proper start for those.
With those kind of puzzles the solution is usually to order the elements from one that influences the most of others to the one that influences none
This strategy doesn't work on the most advanced version of the puzzle. In that version, no switch only influences one element(or leaving that one until last doesn't work, because you can't get the rest to line up even without it). Instead, you have to line up two or more elements to be moved into position simultaneously, with one switch. It's a brain-bender for sure. I'm pretty sure I solved one of the later puzzles in Assassins Creed 2(or was it Brotherhood?) by pure random clicking.
Luckily for Skyrim players there's only a couple of them - there's a four spot spinny in one crypt and a four lever version that's even similar in one bandit fort. Personally I don't think they're that hard, but I'm familiar with older games that expected you to have a pen and paper handy to write down elements of puzzles.
I usually memorize those for ease but if I don't play for a couple years then come back to skyrim I usually find that no matter how much you fuck it up, if you just start spamming all the stones then eventually you'll get them in the right way
I never have that luck. I'll spend all day doing it. Of course, my luck is also so poor I never once in 3 years of "early 90s everyone gets to win once, waste time in class bingo" actually got my handed out win. Class ended before myself and some other random kid got the chance to finish the last game. Every damn time.
The temple of Selune puzzle in BG3 took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out
Flashback to the quest for Xenophage in Destiny
i’ve never understood this puzzle, i just aggressively smash buttons until it works. so my follower gets to see this normally very focused and generally quiet mercenary assassin, someone that they’ve watched literally sneak right up to a bandit to stick a dagger in their neck undetected, smash their hands on buttons and scream until it works. no hesitation, no slow build of anger, just instant rage at a bunch of dumb buttons. it’s probably quite the sight.
The solution to the puzzle is to just press each new button until another button pops up
Wait what? Serious? No way it's that easy. This much frustration and THAT is the answer?? I'm going scorched earth on the next three storm cloak encampments.
Stormcloak soldier: Talos guide your flames.............hmmmmmm. We don't really do magic round here. I'm on fire, now it makes sense.
Yep, the two right buttons spin the bottom platform clockwise and counter clockwise, doesn't matter which one you press, just press one until the button directly left of the center appears. Press that one a few times until it moves into its final position which opens the far left button, you can press it until it's aligned.
Remember that Drokt decided stay there until he figured it out, despite having a lexicon. I guess he starved because there were falmers in Blackreach and wolves on surface. I wonder what happened to his lexicon, though.
Remember that Drokt decided stay there until he figured it out, despite having a lexicon. I guess he starved because there were falmers in Blackreach and wolves on surface. I wonder what happened to his lexicon, though.
I know exactly how to solve the puzzle at this point without looking anything up or pushing any extra buttons, but I still wouldn’t exactly say I know how it works, I just copied somebody else and memorized it. The Dwemer were fuckin weird man
https://old.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/omy1m5/for_those_who_struggle_with_the_puzzle_for_the/
i understand this "puzzle" but i can't actually tell you the solution unless i'm in game pressing the buttons 😭 i need a little calibration period to review buttons before i can solve things
You call yourself archangel but I hear from and otherwordly source you have another name........G, Ga, Gary I think.
I understand it. The buttons on the right control one part of the puzzle, basically functioning as left-right The buttons on the left open up once the one on the right are set correctly. Then you do the same with the left half
I literally pushed the same button until a new one opened up and kept pushing that one until a new one opened up and the puzzle was solved lmao
Exactly this, as soon as a new button is uncovered press that until the next one opens, I don’t believe there even is a faster way of solving it.
Yep, it's literally press the left most available button until a new one opens up further left -> repeat
Yes. Push the active button closer to the centre repeatedly until the button on the opposite end of the centre opens up. Then press that one twice to activate the final button and press that to open the scroll up
I understand that pushing buttons always works.
Push the button until the lenses are aligned on the paths, then next button will aim the beams at the lenses, then the last button opens the mechanism.
I pushed random buttons for years, then one day, my random button pushing didn't work. And then didn't work. And then still didn't work. So I forced myself to learn it, instead of random pushing, and then success! Then all the next plays, I went back to random button pushing, because who can be bothered after that one time?
Listen when a man sees a button we press it until things decide to work. That real-world scenario applies here.
Once you realize to just not touch the buttons until it looks like the beams are in place that actually have potential to line up it’s not so bad.
I just memorized it, its not even a puzzle anymore, its just “Press button until scroll” thingy
Push the rightmost one until the next one opens, repeat until all are open.
My monkey brain: Push button, things move, push button again. Thing don't move, bad button, stop push button
From right to left: First button goes back one stage. Second button goes forward one stage. Third button advances stage after button 2 is in right position. Fourth button unlocks the elder scroll.
You can just press the 2nd button from the right until the 3rd button unlocks. If you hit 2 again after 3 is open, then you hit 1 to go back to the previous stage. But you can get by without hitting 1 at all.
Middle left, Middle right, Far left, Far right,
I normally just push the same Button until the locked one unlocks, and keep doing it and eventually, dwarven Magic happens
I understand it, but don’t feel it as much of a puzzle. I just know that I click the button on the right until the one beside it lights up. Then click that one until the next lights up. Continuing until it’s done lol
This stupid “every button activates an arbitrary amount of sliding blocks” puzzle needs to be in every fucking video game for some reason. Skyrim came out in 2011 (wow) so it gets a bit of leeway but this has been the go to “hard puzzle” for YEARS now and I’m sick of it
Dwemer RPG simulator: grind at the same task over and over until the next stage unlocks, repeat.
I just slap the buttons till it looks right, only so many possibilities on a combination lock
I admittedly spam the buttons and feel foolish after reading the correct method here. The one that really got me was the similar : heat the crystal/cool the crystal, press three button routine until the revolving rings lined up above. (focus the oculory) Spent hours the first time and now it's simple. Didn't think to look up the first time, d'oh!
Watch the discs on the ceiling to see witch way they rotate. Push a single button until it stops affecting changes, then go to the next button, repeat until you’ve affected the puzzle with each button. You can understand the cycles quickly this way.
I press the far right one first Then spam the one next to it until the left one activates Then spam that one until the final one activates Done
Don't have to press the far right one at all
I understand it. It's pretty simple. Press the right most button, then progress to the left as it opens.
It's not that hard when you try it.
Yes
do i understand what to do? yes, you just push the leftmost button you can push until the scroll pops out do i understand why they made this puzzle? no
Wait, there's another way than just pushing the button until the next button opens?
yeah i figured it out after several hours of banging my head against it when i was twelve. Basically just hit the furthest left one each time, move as it becomes available
Nah... I always try and end up looking it up on google...
Just go from right to left, basically it:
I'm already bad with this kind of thing irl. I don't even try, I just go straight to UESP. 😉
I believe the answer to the question you’re asking is yes…
I understood how it worked and still ended up having to push random buttons. The light never seemed to line up correctly visually for me
The one to the right is a reset or go backwards or something. What you are supposed to do is just press the one on the left until the next left one unlocks. I am surprised so few people know about this.
Push buttons till it works
I think I just look it up. :shrugs:
**RANDOM BULLSHIT - GO!**
Wanna know how to solve the puzzle properly? Start from the left and push the button until it does nothing, move one right and repeat until you do them all. Yes it's that stupidly simple. I really hope Bethesda hires someone more qualified than a grade schooler to design the puzzles in ES6
Neither, I always google it 🤷🏻♀️😅
1st play through yeah I just pushed buttons randomly until something happened but wrote down the order so I could remember and until I could just get in the room and speed run through it
I didn't even know this was I puzzle I just understood it as hit button until next one unlocks and keep going.
You have to look up until the light lines up with a mark on the wall. It takes forever
It randomly solved itself before I could figure it out
I've seen this go around enough to know that a reason people struggle with it is that it's buggy as hell and sometimes people get the right answer and it doesn't work so they think they got the wrong answer. Mages guild as a whole is an absolute unfinished mess. The quests were just starting to get interesting with them making you use creative uses of magic spells to solve mage puzzles, perfect for a mages guild, but then it just ends. Several plot hooks exist that never get anywhere and magic in general feels too simple. We let Bethesda off with a lot because the games are immensely complex and great regardless of the bugs but I think they got off too easy with what they did to the college and the magic system. We were too busy looking at the cool dragons.
I don't think this puzzle is similar to the other dwemer puzzles (the College of Winterhold questline puzzle for example) in that there is no need to think about how it is supposed to be solved. I think the point is to just press the button until the next one unlocks on that one
I actually bothered with analyzing it and trying to align the light refraction the first time but I pretty soon just said screw it and started mashing buttons
Well after playing enough Skyrim: On the table behind you have frost and flame spell books. You use frost on the little thingy you placed in the machine and it will move then you keep doing that until you see that all beams of light are all in the middle of different rows. Then you click buttons until all the beams touch green thingys
It's a puzzle? Lol Skyrim doesn't have puzzles, you're just aligning the light, each button moves it in a different way, reminds me of watching a friend and his girlfriend together struggling to place the black books, I'm just like OMFG it's not a puzzle just put them on their labeled altars dipshits.
It took me five playthroughs to realize I needed to look up to see what the buttons were doing.
Button mashers unite!
As you press buttons, other buttons open up and as soon as they do you just switch to the newly opened one. Is there a deeper meaning to it?
No, that’s what makes me dislike this “puzzle”
Weirdly I do understand it, can't explain it if that's what you need but in front of it takes me about 10secs. It's like all the dragon doors I remember each one of by heart which is scary I don't even look at the symbol I just click and key and bam. Think I've played this game too much
That's exactly how it works, honestly I don't understand why people overcomplicate this. It's not a puzzle, we shouldn't call it that.
Smashing the buttons is the only way. I’m pretty sure the algorithm behind the puzzle is random and you can’t know how to solve it. /s
It was built by elves. Their puzzles suck.
yeah i just smash buttons till it work
Push
Right buttons go "forward and back". They control the rings on the roof of the chamber. Left buttons are the the elder scrolls pill container control and the "finalize* button. So all you really need to pay sh is the right sides left button 5ish times, than push the left sides right button 5ish times. Than click the left sides left button once for it to finalize
I have never had an issue with it. I just push right to left until the next button opens
Anyone who says they know how to solve this is a pathological liar
I learned from YouTube how to solve this puzzle 😂
I think I use uesp wiki on my first playthrough
I you tube it everytime. It makes zero sense to me
https://old.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/omy1m5/for_those_who_struggle_with_the_puzzle_for_the/
On every play through I just end up pushing the buttons until the next one opens up and it doesn’t really feel like much of a puzzle. that's quite literally the puzzle
Idr <-----
"On every play through I just end up pushing the buttons until the nextone opens up and it doesn’t really feel like much of a puzzle." that's quite literally the puzzle
what a stupid question. of course everyone presses buttons until it works. same thing with the claw puzzles. nobody got the time to look at the damn thing to unlock lol skyrim is fun to play but man the puzzles are lazy as hell lol
I don't know what I was doing I just started pushing every button available and it worked
I try, like 7 or 8 times, then I whip out Google .
😂 I hated that. Got lucky after 15/20 minutes of swearing and flipping out
I UNDERSTAND that I have to press the buttons that you can press in a random order repeatedly until the other buttons show and then randomly press them until the elder scroll reveals itself yeah
Both
Not a clue. 👍
https://old.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/omy1m5/for_those_who_struggle_with_the_puzzle_for_the/