Skyrim:Great Lift at Mzinchaleft

Dwarven Ruin: Great Lift at Mzinchaleft (view on map)
Console Location Code(s)
BlackreachElevatorMzinchaleft, BlackreachQuickExitMzinchaleft
Regions
Hjaalmarch, Blackreach
Location
Southwest of Dawnstar

The Great Lift at Mzinchaleft

The Great Lift at Mzinchaleft is a Dwarven lift to Blackreach located south of Mzinchaleft ruins. The Great Lift at Mzinchaleft is a mechanical lift which can only be used and entered after starting the quest, Discerning the Transmundane. Inside the lift is a lever which, when activated, will bring you up or take you down into Blackreach. The top-side of the lift is housed in a building surrounded by metal barriers, one of which is a gate. The gate can only be opened from within, by pulling a lever directly to the right of the gate, after which the lift can be entered from Skyrim anytime you travel there (fast traveling puts you right outside the lift).

The map marker for this location does not appear until the lift is activated inside Blackreach.

The lift is Dwemer in origin and is one of seven ways into Blackreach, which must first be entered by traversing the ruins of Raldbthar, Mzinchaleft, or Alftand and using the Attunement Sphere from Septimus Signus to open a door to Blackreach. The lift will open just downhill of the Mzinchaleft Gatehouse inside Blackreach.

Related Quests

• Discerning the Transmundane: Uncover the secrets of the mysterious Dwemer lockbox.

Walkthrough

Exterior

The lift is housed in a tower located just off of the road that leads from Dawnstar to Morthal, a short distance down the road from the lift that provides a short-cut exit from the ruins of Mzinchaleft itself. A frost troll may typically be found wandering the forest near the entrance. There is a corundum ore vein a few paces northwest of the entrance.

Great Lift at Mzinchaleft

The exit in Blackreach brings you out a short distance south of the entrance from Mzinchaleft, northeast of the Hall of Rumination in the Silent City. Near where you find a giant and just north of an underpass with a Dwarven centurion in a docking station. Before using this lift to enter Blackreach, you must first lower spears blocking access to the lift in Blackreach, by activating a button on a sculpted metal head in front. Then ride the lift up and use a lever to open a gate in Skyrim. Once this has been achieved, the way will remain permanently available. There is also a corundum ore vein a few paces northwest of the entrance inside Blackreach.

Notes

• Southwest of the Lift, along the road to Morthal, the player will come across a battle between a group of Conjurers driving a horse-drawn wagon, and a group of bandits. The wagon contains a pair of crates holding a selection of potions and alchemical ingredients, two satchels containing more ingredients, and a copy of the Speech skill book A Dance in Fire, v6.

Bugs

• There is a bug on the PS3 Legendary version (perhaps on other versions on other consoles as well) which occurs when the great lifts are accessed from Blackreach. When the character reappears in Skyrim on the surface, the screen autosaves and then goes blank/black, reappears a few seconds later and then goes blank again. This continues to occur indefinitely; attempts to move/run/sprint and whirlwind sprint only result in the character reappearing at the original place of arrival after the screen reappears (after going black/blank). Bringing up the menu screen/favorites and letting it stay on the screen for 15 - 30 seconds stops the bug/glitch.