Elder Scrolls
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Elder Scrolls

Summon Durnehviir is a Dragon Shout in The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard. It summons the undead Dragon Durnehviir from the Soul Cairn.

Usage

Durnehviir is technically a summoned creature, unlike Odahviing; therefore, the shout can only be completed while pointing at a suitable location for a summoning, such as the ground. The wait time between uses of this shout is five minutes.

Durnehviir can be summoned inside buildings, much like many other creatures from the Conjuration school of magic.

Acquisition

Durnehviir initially teaches the Dragonborn all three words of the shout during the quest Beyond Death. Unlike other shouts, all three Words of Power must be unlocked with dragon souls before the shout can be used. Unlocking the first word, for example, results in the Dragonborn shouting "Dur", but nothing else happens.

The miscellaneous quest "Learn the first word of Durnehviir's shout" is actually referring to Soul Tear, an entirely different shout that Durnehviir will teach to the Dragonborn, one word at a time, during his first three summonings.

Gallery

Trivia

  • Durnehviir differs from the other summonable dragon, Odahviing, in several key ways. Durnehviir's primary shouts are Frost Breath and Drain Vitality, whereas Odahviing uses Fire Breath. Durnehviir can also summon bonemen, mistmen and wrathmen from the Soul Cairn, through an exclusive summoning shout.
  • Unlike Odahviing, Durnehviir cannot be ridden. Durnehviir will also remain with the Dragonborn until he is killed (or sent back to the Soul Cairn) or until the Summon Durnehviir shout has fully recharged, whereas Odahviing will only stay with the Dragonborn while he/she is engaged in active combat. 
  • Durnehviir counts as a summoned creature, using any conjuration summoning spell, or Powers such as Summon Arniel's Shade will banish him back to the Soul Cairn, unless the Twin Souls perk has been unlocked.

Bugs

  • Sometimes if this shout is used near a follower, they may become immediately hostile for no apparent reason.
  • Durnehviir sometimes disappears directly after summoning him. He will not finish his talk, but the Dragonborn will learn a part of his shout, Soul Tear.
    • The partial solution is to quick save before summoning him and try - if he vanishes quick load and try summoning him some place else, even if its only a few steps away.
  • Durnehviir can be found stuck in the ground near the stables of Whiterun, even if he hasn't been summoned there. He tries to fly and makes normal dragon noises. Summoning Durnehviir somewhere else will fix this.
  • To use this shout, aim at the ground right in front of the Dragonborn. This allows the Dragonborn to "shout" the three words instead of just two of them.
  • Sometimes the player may become stuck inside Durnehviir if he is summoned near the player
  •  360   Sometimes after receiving permission to call Durnehviir to Tamriel, prolonging the conversation (asking about his past) will skip learning the word.
  •  360   Sometimes when attempting to unlock the shout with souls, despite having enough souls you will receive the "Not Enough Souls" message. This is a bug with the control scheme, simply use the "a" key instead of the "x" key and you will be able to spend the souls to unlock the shout.
  • If Dragonborn uses the shout on ice Durnehviir will form at the bottom of the lake under the ice.
  • You can spawn Durnehviir in the Soul Cairn using the shout next to Durnehviir after he explains to you about wanting to go to Tamriel, which will result in two identical dragons side-by-side named Durnehviir.
  • It is possible that after summoning Durnehviir he may not appear on the ground but will instead 'fly in' like odahviing and circle endlessly until a fast travel or he is summoned again. Summoning him again will spawn him on the ground but he will die instantly. After doing this the shout may not work at all, not ever summoning the dragon. Reloading the save does not appear to fix this bug.
    • Conjuring a flaming familiar or any creature multiple times then fast travelling anywhere may fix this bug.
  • If you happen to have any spell absorbing effects on your character, using this shout may result in you absorbing it and charging mana, causing the summon to fail and for you to wait for the cooldown to wear off in order to attempt the summoning again.

Appearances


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