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On this page it lists the quest to find the 24 stones of Barenziah under quests one should do as soon as possible. Yet in every single one of my games, I've found it takes almost the entire game to complete this. By the time I get Prowler's Profit, I'm already well into the endgame phase, in that I'm powerful enough to kill the Ebony Warrior and other bosses without breaking a sweat.

Is it really feasible to do this quest in the very early game? The reason I tend to postpone it is that you're required to fight your way through several rather difficult dungeons. You need to clear Wolfskull Cave in order to purchase Proudspire Manor, for which you'll need at least 25,000 gold. You need to at least get through the first part of Nchuand-Zel and kill the spider Nimhe in order to get into the Dwemer Museum, unless you plan on picking the lock and sneaking inside. Sarthaal needs to be completed in order to get the one in the Arch-Mage's quarters, and that dungeon has some very tough fights at low levels. The stone at Dead Crone Rock is always guarded by a Forsworn Briarheart and a hagraven. Ansilvund and Fellglow Keep are long and difficult dungeons to get through at low levels. Sunderstone Gorge, Yngvild, and Hob's Fall Cave are also challenging in their own right.

Is there any way to get through these dungeons early in the game? What's the earliest you've ever been able to clear them? Are there special strategies you use, or certain quests you complete beforehand to make these easier?

To quote the wiki page:

This section is for quests that do not qualify for "to do immediately" because they have a level requirement, or a nontrivial impact on the game (or a prerequisite quest does), or skill usage requirements that will force levelups, but once you reach a certain point, there is a benefit to completing these quickly.

That quest is listed as one you should to "as soon as possible". Obviously the time investment involved, as well as the gold and combat prowess required, means it isn't likely to be completed by a low level character. However, starting it asap is essential if you want to finish it in good time and actually get a discernible benefit from the increased gem drops (which are unlikely to be very helpful in the endgame). Personally I've never even bothered completing that quest, since I put it off for too long even with the mapmarker mod installed.

Marked For Death shout. You have to go the sanctuary anyway to get a stone, so pick up the shout then, and then use it and hang around while it has its effect.

If not, there are ways to win fights like level 1 PC vs Draugr Deathlords - archery sneak attacks will whittle them down eventually, even if it does take a while. I've taken at least 3 level 1-6 characters through Raven Rock Mine - which is guaranteed 2 Deathlords, a large bunch of wrights, a scourge and lesser draugr. Plus potentially a dragon priest even if I always skip him on a new character...

And don't forget the value of illusion spells - casting muffle, which is available from essentially the start of the game, can get you to 100 easily enough, and perk it and you can pretty much do what you like; what can you do to someone who can turn undetectable except by collision at will, and in the event you do detect them, make you unable to fight anyway? (Illusion is cheating in TES games...)

It could be done, I'm sure. In fact, I might try the illusion route...

Given that it's a quest for thievery, resorting to means other than outright fighting would be in character of the challenge.

Lycanthropy, running shoes, and light hands. That should take care of it.

Dark Spark wrote:Given that it's a quest for thievery, resorting to means other than outright fighting would be in character of the challenge.

That's a good point.