Those "fish-bird-snake" puzzles in Skyrim

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Does anyone think these were a good idea?

You know the ones I'm talking about. You're in a dungeon and you come across a locked gate, and a few stone pillars with symbols on them that you have to rotate to get the right combination.

The first time I came across this I was searching for hours in the dungeon and through books for the solution to what I thought was a puzzle, but it turns out it wasn't - you just look around the cave for the correct sequence of symbols.

Then I came across it in another dungeon for a second time, and third! I couldn't believe they would use the same puzzle multiple times. How many times is this puzzle used? Copy and pasting these symbols around the game just seems lazy and cheap on Bethesda's part.

I would have liked some challenge at least, maybe a more complicated puzzle with the answer found in an obscure book. Especially when you can solve these puzzles by trial and error, trying every combination until you get it. It seems doubtful that a highly secretive sect would display the entry code for anyone to gain access, using symbols identical to the ones used halfway across the other side of Skyrim.

What do you think?

 

[Hisshiss]

I hate to be the type to believe puzzles just get in the way of the killing, but in this case they really, really do. I mean on the plus side atleast they are rarely riddles and are usually as simple as find code, insert code, but they are still very flow breaking.

Especially the ones where turning one stone sometimes turn another, those are agonizing x.x.


Honestly It wouldn't be nearly as big of a deal if every single generic draugh filled crypt in the game wasnt damn near garanteed to have one. the draugh are atleast fun to kill, but those puzzles are repetition with no silver lining.

Edit: As for the frequency? I would say there is atleast one in every other grave style dungeon, not counting fortresses, mines, dwarven ruins (Course those have even worse puzzles), as a general rule, if it has Draugh, your looking at a 50/50 chance of a bird snake fish puzzle. Hell, sometimes they even throw in the dragon bear and owl, just to really piss you off ;P. Those gemmed claws your gonna keep finding even have the combinations to some of those puzzles inscribed on them.

oh, also about the book thing, there is one dungeon somewhere, I cant remember what it was by this point, where you actually have to read a book with a riddle about animals in it to figure out the pattern, it was the best animal stone puzzle I ever had to do xD. Havn't found one like it since.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

You know the quest where you find the first Gauldir fragment? Does anyone know what the combination for the symbols is in the first room? The Snake Bird Whale combo?

Its in Folgunthur, near the entrance. On the right hand side of the room there's a lever that reveals a secret room. I just want to know the combination for the rotating pillars in that particular room.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

I hate to be the type to believe puzzles just get in the way of the killing, but in this case they really, really do. I mean on the plus side atleast they are rarely riddles and are usually as simple as find code, insert code, but they are still very flow breaking.

Especially the ones where turning one stone sometimes turn another, those are agonizing x.x.


Honestly It wouldn't be nearly as big of a deal if every single generic draugh filled crypt in the game wasnt damn near garanteed to have one. the draugh are atleast fun to kill, but those puzzles are repetition with no silver lining.

I disagree. It's the lack of puzzles (or serious puzzles - the fish-bird-snake ones don't count) that ruin the immersion.

Seriously, if you ran a business or a bank with lots of money inside, would you plaster up the vault access codes on posters all around the building so everyone could see them?

 

[Agayek]

I had no issue with the pillar puzzle things. It wasn't a great puzzle mechanic, nor was it terrible. It worked for what it was.

That said, there was one instance that actually had a pretty good solution thing. Specifically, there was a book with a riddle you had to solve to figure out what each thing was and then you had to activate marked switches in the correct order. The riddle is as follows:

The first fears all, the second fears none.

The third eats what it can, preferably number one.

The fourth fears the second, but only when alone.

All must be activated in order, if you wish to go home.

And your options are Wolf, Snake, Fox, Bear.

I enjoyed solving it at least.

 

[Hisshiss]

You know the quest where you find the first Gauldir fragment? Does anyone know what the combination for the symbols is in the first room? The Snake Bird Whale combo?

What's the name of the dungeon your in? The answer is almost always on a wall somewhere nearby, but everyone once and a while its more complicated. I can wiki that shit if I get a dungeon name though xD. Just finished that chain a few hours ago actually.

 

[Hisshiss]

I hate to be the type to believe puzzles just get in the way of the killing, but in this case they really, really do. I mean on the plus side atleast they are rarely riddles and are usually as simple as find code, insert code, but they are still very flow breaking.

Especially the ones where turning one stone sometimes turn another, those are agonizing x.x.


Honestly It wouldn't be nearly as big of a deal if every single generic draugh filled crypt in the game wasnt damn near garanteed to have one. the draugh are atleast fun to kill, but those puzzles are repetition with no silver lining.

I disagree. It's the lack of puzzles (or serious puzzles - the fish-bird-snake ones don't count) that ruin the immersion.

Seriously, if you ran a business or a bank with lots of money inside, would you plaster up the vault access codes on posters all around the building so everyone could see them?

True. But they did need a simple formula in order to be able to make enough puzzles to fill the ungodly amount of dungeons in the game. Atleast they puzzles are all different in SOME way, however extremely small.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

You know the quest where you find the first Gauldir fragment? Does anyone know what the combination for the symbols is in the first room? The Snake Bird Whale combo?

What's the name of the dungeon your in? The answer is almost always on a wall somewhere nearby, but everyone once and a while its more complicated. I can wiki that shit if I get a dungeon name though xD. Just finished that chain a few hours ago actually.

It's Folgunthur, south of Solitude. I looked it up on the wiki, but it only has the combinations for the Gauldur Amulet Fragment puzzles further into the crypt.

Four symbols can't be rotated: One Whale, One Bird, and Two Snakes. There are four other pillars you can interact with, but any combination I try on the altar results in poison arrow spam.

 

[jthwilliams]

Does anyone think these were a good idea?

You know the ones I'm talking about. You're in a dungeon and you come across a locked gate, and a few stone pillars with symbols on them that you have to rotate to get the right combination.

The first time I came across this I was searching for hours in the dungeon and through books for the solution to what I thought was a puzzle, but it turns out it wasn't - you just look around the cave for the correct sequence of symbols.

Then I came across it in another dungeon for a second time, and third! I couldn't believe they would use the same puzzle multiple times. How many times is this puzzle used? Copy and pasting these symbols around the game just seems lazy and cheap on Bethesda's part.

I would have liked some challenge at least, maybe a more complicated puzzle with the answer found in an obscure book. Especially when you can solve these puzzles by trial and error, trying every combination until you get it. It seems doubtful that a highly secretive sect would display the entry code for anyone to gain access, using symbols identical to the ones used halfway across the other side of Skyrim.

What do you think?

The Nords are and were very simple people. I puzzel that envolved looking for a patern in the next room and remembering it long enough to duplicate it is more than enough to stop most would be intruders.

 

[TailorTF]

I personally didn't enjoy how the solutions to the puzzles were usually behind the pillars.However,I did like the one puzzle in the place where you get Ice Form,with the book and sitting in the throne.It was a pretty neat variation,though it still gets less points for just being a variation (seriously,Bethesda.Some friggin' lever puzzles would be nice at least).

 

[Lawnmooer]

I like them...

Sure they stop me killing but finding out the code is something that I like to do instead of just walking through Draugr for the 10 billionth time (Seriously? How many draugr dungeons do they need to be? I want more ghosts and shades damnit)

So far I haven't encountered that many of them but the only one that made me take more than a minute to find and imput the code was one where the code was written above the pillars but it was really dark and not so easy to spot.

You know the quest where you find the first Gauldir fragment? Does anyone know what the combination for the symbols is in the first room? The Snake Bird Whale combo?

Its in Folgunthur, near the entrance. On the right hand side of the room there's a lever that reveals a secret room. I just want to know the combination for the rotating pillars in that particular room.

Edit: It's not the one I'm thinking of, will quickly check the dungeon on a character...

 

[Knusper]

I don't think they're in that many dungeons. I quite like the riddle ones. Maybe because I'm a thief so it would be natural if my guy liked them.

I don't like it when they tell you the answer on those claws, though, once you saw taht gameplay trailer, you kind of knew where it was hiding.

 

[MintyNinja]

I had no issue with the pillar puzzle things. It wasn't a great puzzle mechanic, nor was it terrible. It worked for what it was.

That said, there was one instance that actually had a pretty good solution thing. Specifically, there was a book with a riddle you had to solve to figure out what each thing was and then you had to activate marked switches in the correct order. The riddle is as follows:

The first fears all, the second fears none.

The third eats what it can, preferably number one.

The fourth fears the second, but only when alone.

All must be activated in order, if you wish to go home.

And your options are Wolf, Snake, Fox, Bear.

I enjoyed solving it at least.

Just a random guess, was it Snake, Bear, Fox, Wolf?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

...aren't the solutions imprinted on the dragon claw you use to open the door? Or am I thinking or something else?

They are, but there are some other puzzles that involve rotating pillars that are based off of stuff you find in the environment as clues.

 

[ultrachicken]

The puzzles need to be harder, but they do a decent enough job of pacing the dungeon crawls. I wish there would be more like the one where the solution meant solving a riddle, or where each pillar had a surrounding environment that you had to match the symbol to (for example, snake is the solution to the grassy pillar).

 

[Hisshiss]

You know the quest where you find the first Gauldir fragment? Does anyone know what the combination for the symbols is in the first room? The Snake Bird Whale combo?

What's the name of the dungeon your in? The answer is almost always on a wall somewhere nearby, but everyone once and a while its more complicated. I can wiki that shit if I get a dungeon name though xD. Just finished that chain a few hours ago actually.

It's Folgunthur, south of Solitude. I looked it up on the wiki, but it only has the combinations for the Gauldur Amulet Fragment puzzles further into the crypt.

Four symbols can't be rotated: One Whale, One Bird, and Two Snakes. There are four other pillars you can interact with, but any combination I try on the altar results in poison arrow spam.

Does it have some spiral stairs in the center of the room? That one has two secret rooms opened by levers next to their entrances, near a little throne, each room has 3 stones in it, one of those stone sets is the answer, the other ones you have to turn to open the gate.

Again though, there are only 3 there. So I must not be thinking of the right room. This is after you got the ivory claw right?

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

I had no issue with the pillar puzzle things. It wasn't a great puzzle mechanic, nor was it terrible. It worked for what it was.

That said, there was one instance that actually had a pretty good solution thing. Specifically, there was a book with a riddle you had to solve to figure out what each thing was and then you had to activate marked switches in the correct order. The riddle is as follows:

The first fears all, the second fears none.

The third eats what it can, preferably number one.

The fourth fears the second, but only when alone.

All must be activated in order, if you wish to go home.

And your options are Wolf, Snake, Fox, Bear.

I enjoyed solving it at least.

Just a random guess, was it Snake, Bear, Fox, Wolf?

I would say Fox, Bear, Snake, Wolf. But I agree, it is a good puzzle. Much better than the other ones.

 

[Cowabungaa]

They don't really bother me, as they allow me to prepare a bit for the next bit, as after a puzzle like that shit usually hits the fan. But on their own they don't really offer much either.

It's Folgunthur, south of Solitude. I looked it up on the wiki, but it only has the combinations for the Gauldur Amulet Fragment puzzles further into the crypt.

Four symbols can't be rotated: One Whale, One Bird, and Two Snakes. There are four other pillars you can interact with, but any combination I try on the altar results in poison arrow spam.

Those 4 immovable ones are the solution, as always. The movable ones are set up in some sort of bend, yes, but there are still two right ones and two left ones. Rotate them to the corresponding left/right images that can't be moved. Y'know, like always.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

You know the quest where you find the first Gauldir fragment? Does anyone know what the combination for the symbols is in the first room? The Snake Bird Whale combo?

What's the name of the dungeon your in? The answer is almost always on a wall somewhere nearby, but everyone once and a while its more complicated. I can wiki that shit if I get a dungeon name though xD. Just finished that chain a few hours ago actually.

It's Folgunthur, south of Solitude. I looked it up on the wiki, but it only has the combinations for the Gauldur Amulet Fragment puzzles further into the crypt.

Four symbols can't be rotated: One Whale, One Bird, and Two Snakes. There are four other pillars you can interact with, but any combination I try on the altar results in poison arrow spam.

Does it have some spiral stairs in the center of the room? That one has two secret rooms opened by levers next to their entrances, near a little throne, each room has 3 stones in it, one of those stone sets is the answer, the other ones you have to turn to open the gate.

Again though, there are only 3 there. So I must not be thinking of the right room. This is after you got the ivory claw right?

Not that one. The one I'm talking about is near the beginning. Before you reach Dynas' body and get the ivory dragon claw to lower the bridge, there is one room that has a snake bird whale puzzle that appears to be optional. It's bugging me like crazy trying to figure it out.