Nightmare minotaurs

[Chicken Slayer]

I just spent a groundhog day in a Nightmare Darkly trying to get past the minotaurs.

Breton female Mage w/ Apprentice sign, level 4, Maximum difficulty. Buck nekid since the heavy armor was too heavy and I had even less skill with light armor than heavy.

I jumped up on one of the butresses with the help of a nasty war hammer blow to the back (I couldn't get all the way up on my own jumping ability.) I used the staff without missing a shot and then had to get down, take the steel war hammer from the dead cow and somehow hit the last one about twelve times to finish it off. It took a milion reloads to figure out that the strategy would work and then a half million to make it work after saving on top of the butress. I believe that the game makes it possible to succeed in any circumstance, but I have to wonder if there wasn't an easier way. Hopefully they put in a stronger staff at level five.

What is the trick to surviving that part at higher levels without pulling the slider back?

[Venger]

Console commands are your friend.

[Akatosh's Pug]

I know what you mean, I played it ladt time as a squishy mage and it was close even on default difficulty.

[Chicken Slayer]

I did give up and pull the difficulty slider down to normal to get out, but the final minotaur died in two hits, so I knew I only needed twelve hits at max difficulty and went back to trying. I felt like such a failure for giving up.

The only time I have used the console is when I caught vampirism and didn't want to mess with the quest, and when the Skingrad castle orc comitted suicide. My game is on an off-line machine so I have to look up the code in one room and take it upstairs to another.

[ParanoidAndroid]

I've done a high elf + apprentice run on max difficulty once, I quit that char at level 30-ish. An apprentice means all magic damage doubles, times 6 for the max difficulty.

Even above level 30 I could be one hit killed by a spell, the reason I managed to play for quite long was to summon an atronach and hide behind them for most of the time. So, if you want to survive against two minotaurs, I would advise to use a conjured creature.

[Chicken Slayer]

Major problem with that idea. You can't do that in a Nightmare Darkly because you are silenced the whole time.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Major problem with that idea. You can't do that in a Nightmare Darkly because you are silenced the whole time.

Oops, didn't know that. In that case, two minotaurs on the highest difficulty will be almost impossible.

[lauragibs]

i know the same happened to me too

[FrozenWolf150]

Cross posted from the max difficulty thread, with updates after further testing. There are a couple of ways I've found to beat this.

The legit way: Save the game in Henatier's dream house before entering the Test of Resolve. Check the cask for items, and if you don't like what you get, reload and try again. This rerolls the random loot you get. Try to get a weapon with Disintegrate Weapon. Use hit-and-run attacks on the minotaurs until their weapons break, then jump on top of the buttresses and use your larger weapon to hit them in the head with power attacks. This will take a very long time, especially if you're low level, but they'll eventually fall. It helps to wait until you have disarming / paralyzing power attacks before starting this quest.

The exploitative way: Dash back under the arena gate before it closes. Normally, there's a non-functional door that blocks you from reentering Henatier's dream house, but if you find the right spot, you can activate the door behind it and escape to the house. This lures the two minotaurs back in with you. Run upstairs so that Henatier senses the intruders and attacks them. They won't harm him, since they're chasing after you, and he kills them a lot more quickly than you can.

UPDATE: I strongly recommend against using this method, because I've found there's no way to reopen the arena gate from the entry side after it slams shut. This prevents you from ever finishing the quest unless you use console cheats.

Also, do NOT lure the minotaurs into the Test of Perception in order to get them killed, as you will be unable to finish the quest. Henatier will still be in attack mode, and will follow the minotaurs into the test with you. Once you grab the orb, the test is locked down, leaving Henatier stuck there, so you'll be unable to talk to him once you have all four orbs.

The legit way 2: Wait until either your Acrobatics or Athletics (or both) is Expert level before starting this quest. Do not pick up the armor and weapons, as you'll want to minimize your encumbrance. First, jump on the nearest buttress to your left, on the west side, after entering the arena. From there, turn east and jump to the square top of the column that's next to the unrisen stairs. Now jump over the fence to reach the Element of Resolve. It might seem like a long shot, but I tested this with Acrobatics of 40 and Athletics 75.

[Chicken Slayer]

Nice! Thanks for the update.

I think a high Speed attribute number would be more important than Athletics skill, since Speed boosts jumping ability. I'm not sure what Athletics does other than running speed, something about fatigue that I have never experienced. Do you know?

What happens with the Boots of Springheel Jack (and the fortification) when your clothes get removed?

[Fabio95]

Athletics should determine how fast your stamina regenerates when running.
The game has a lot of trouble when removing a boosting item (when they're equipped). For example, sometimes when giving Martin the Skeleton Key your Security has the same stats as when you had the Key. Or the Vipereye ring, the one you get after the quest for the Akaviri artifact.

[FrozenWolf150]

Both your speed stat and your Athletics ability contribute to your running speed, so having either one at a high level will help you make the jumps.

I'm using the latest patch and the Unofficial Oblivion Patch, so the effects of equipped items do not linger when they're removed for quests like this, or when you're jailed. Besides, I would consider that an exploit, so it wouldn't really be helpful for most players.

Edit: I did test this quest at various stat / skill levels using the console command player.setav. For all tests, I set my speed back to 50, which was the default for my Argonian character. First, I tested it with 75 Athletics and 50 Acrobatics and was able to make both jumps. Next, I tried 50 Athletics and 75 Acrobatics, but I could only make the first jump to the pillar, not the second jump from the pillar to the platform with the element. So then I bumped Athletics up to 55, keeping Acrobatics at 75, and was able to make both jumps. It seems therefore that having a high Athletics is more important here than a high Acrobatics, since you need to cover distance more than height. Ideally though, both should be pretty high before you start this quest on max difficulty.

[Red Guardian]

That quest was a nightmare indeed.
When I first played through the game I was using a Breton Rogue, full of light armour and was at the early levels. I believe I had iron weaponry, too. I don't have to say that I got my ass handed to the minotaurs over and over and over, do I?

The minotaurs are really, really hard even on normal so it's better to save that quest for when you are beyond level 20. With plenty of restoration, destruction and alteration spells available. Or full heavy armour. Or better athletics and acrobats, like some above me said.