I die instantly when i try to enter the soul cairn

[Matt Horsecock]

i opened the portal to the soul cairn in the dawngaurd DLC, at the point where you are supposed to dip your feet in the portal to demonstrate to serana that you have to be a vampire or soul trapped to enter, i instantly die instead of catching on fire. when I am rolling down the stairs as a ragdoll, i can check the pause menu where the next step of the quest is "speak to serana". speaking with her would normally advance the mission, but at that point im dead so yea...

[Matt Horsecock]

ive tried lots of things like going really slowly then whirlwind sprinting away, the become eatheral shout, even toggling godmode in the console but that still dosent work.

[DragonMaster]

Originally posted by SLYR:

ive tried lots of things like going really slowly then whirlwind sprinting away, the become eatheral shout, even toggling godmode in the console but that still dosent work.

Are you a Vampire or did she take a part of your soul like she said you needed to do before you entered?

[Matt Horsecock]

Originally posted by DragonMaster:

Originally posted by SLYR:

ive tried lots of things like going really slowly then whirlwind sprinting away, the become eatheral shout, even toggling godmode in the console but that still dosent work.

Are you a Vampire or did she take a part of your soul like she said you needed to do before you entered?

niether where i am, she hasnt even told me that i had to be a vampire or soultrapped. from what i understand, im supposed to dip my foot in the portal so i can get hurt, then serana will realize that im supposed to be a vampire or soul trapped. but the problem is, when i dip my toe in, i die instantly, that isnt supposed to happen

[Mephitic]

No, that isn't supposed to happen. If you have enough health you shouldn't die instantly.
If nothing else is working, you can try using the console (save first).

Enter this in the console:
set DLC1VQ04SoulTrapped to 1

[Matt Horsecock]

Originally posted by Mephitic:

No, that isn't supposed to happen. If you have enough health you shouldn't die instantly.
If nothing else is working, you can try using the console (save first).

Enter this in the console:
set DLC1VQ04SoulTrapped to 1

i thought a command like this one would help but i guess not. i still die instantly. perhaps i typed the command in wrong? i put exactly this:

set DLC1VQ04SoulTrapped to 1

but I still couldnt go into the soul cairn without dying. im not sure if the command even did soul trap me, so that could be one of the problems. is there a way i can check to see if it has indeed worked?

maybe another aproach would help as well. i was thinking a setstage command that will make the next step of the quest to talk to serana about needing to be soultrapped/vampire. Im not entirely sure how to use setstage or any commands like that at all so im not sure how i would do this.

its like there is a barrier that will kill you instantly if you brush your armhair up against it. im really looking forward to having that moth priest guy read the dragon scroll so quick help would be apreciated.

[Mephitic]

Originally posted by SLYR:

[...]is there a way i can check to see if it has indeed worked?

Check your Active Effects with the 'P' key - you should see a Partially Soul Trapped effect.

Originally posted by SLYR:

maybe another aproach would help as well. i was thinking a setstage command

Maybe. But before then, try getting into god mode to see if that helps. (h/t cfs111)
Enter "tgm" (no quotes) in the console.

If it works then you can toggle god mode off again after entering the Soul Cairn with the same command.

If that doesn't work then... this could likely break your game but it is a last resort. In the console, enter:
setstage DLC1VQ04 200

That is the completion stage for Chasing Echoes.

I'm beginning to think you may have a mod conflict of some sort - do you have any mods that alter the Soul Cairn or Castle Volkihar?

[Matt Horsecock]

i have not downloaded any mods at all yet though i plan to in the future, also i have already tried doing it in godmode, i still die. how do you know what to type in for the setstage command? maybe if i was granted the knowledge of this shout i can come to understand how to get past my problem.
In the mission log, the steps go as follows:

enter the soul cairn: (not completed)
speak to serana: (completed)
gather ingredients or whatever: (completed)

then when you enter the soul cairn, you take damage, at which point you have to once again, according to the mission log, 'speak to serana'

so im looking for a way to hopefully skip past the 'enter the soul cairn' step because i physically cannot do that one. I do think the setstage command is the way to go here.

[Mephitic]

As I wrote above...

setstage DLC1VQ04 200

That is the completion stage for Chasing Echoes.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Chasing_Echoes

But ... not being a vampire and not being soul trapped? I have no idea what will happen.

[Matt Horsecock]

okay, ill try that, thanks for helping me out

[Matt Horsecock]

i think the portal is off limits... is there a command to teleport me in and back out of the soul cairn so i can salvage as much experience from these missions as possible? also as to break the game as little as possible, i should probably type a command to soul trap myself. do you know what that command is?

sorry if im causing you inconvenience
thanks for the help

[Mephitic]

No apology necessary and it is no inconvenience.
Helping folks is kinda what we do around here.

Dieing while in god mod is odd to say the least.
I suspect the setstage command will fail.

If it does -- and probably even if it doesn't, you should review the pinned threads at the top of this forum and re-install a virgin version of the game, install a mod manager, clean the masters, and at the very least load the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch (USSEP).

Excellent advice regarding modding Skyrim (essay written by PeggleFrank - written for original Skyrim, but basic principles apply to SSE, as well) http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/343787920127409994/#c343787920127583150

Skyrim SE: Guides and Resources by Ilja
http://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/340412122413706606/
VERY IMPORTANT if you wish to successfully mod your game

And an excellent resource for links to guides, tutorials, vids, and other important information is the pinned topic Helpful Links and References, from which the following were taken.

For mod managers, here are tutorial vids for both Vortex and Mod Organizer 2:

Gopher's tutorial series for Vortex (YouTube Playlist):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7DlYarj-DfYgxma5znKGYEqAHDU_WU-

GamerPoets video tutorial series for Mod Organizer 2.
Mod Organizer 2 | Official Series by GamerPoets
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlN8weLk86Xh3ue76x2ibqtmMramwQmHB

(h/t smr1957)

We can help with any and all of the above.

[Matt Horsecock]

i beleive i have fixed it. though im not sure how i will leave but this appears to have worked.

i followed this guide: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=326151069

it helped me naturally complete the quest (kinda) while letting serena follow me with her normal dialogue. all i had to do was teleport into soul cairn, walk to the portal (being in the area of the portal in the soul cairn naturally completes the mision) and finally wait one hour for serana to go through the portal. so far it seems to be working fine, but i guess i will find out at the end of the mission.

thanks for the help

[Matt Horsecock]

a new problem has emerged. when i enter the portal that leads back to tamriel, i am teleported inside of the portal that administers instant death.
what is the command that will take me back to the portal room?

[Kohchu]

Okay, quick question. Did you side with the Dawnguard, or Vampires?

[Matt Horsecock]

ive solved the problem, now i just need to use a command to teleport back to tamriel.
ive sided with dawngaurd if you need to know