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Dead Loading

Dead Loading is a bug in all versions of Skyrim that allows you to duplicate items, load warp through doors, and more generally activate objects from far away.

Performing the Bug

Dead Loading is enabled by having a Ravage Health effect that is greater than your base health value, and having a Fortify Health effect that keeps you alive. For example, a character at level 2 that used their level-up to increase their base health would need a Ravage Health effect of at least 110 strength. In other words, the Ravage Health effect would have to be enough to kill you without Fortify Health, but not enough to kill you with your Fortify Health enchantment/potion effect.

Unlike most alchemy effects, Ravage Health can stack with itself additively if multiple potions are consumed. This means that you can reach the required level of Ravage Health by drinking many weaker potions, or simply by eating many Scathecraw or Congealed Putrescence since they have Ravage Health as their first effect. Other magic effects that reduce health such as Neloth's Health Boost and the Cursed Lord's Mail can contribute to the Ravage Health threshold.

The Fortify Health effect used can be of any strength as long as you still have health remaining after applying the Ravage Health effects. The Fortify Health effect must be applied before the Ravage Health effects. Once both effects are applied, you should not die. At this point, you can look at an object so that the Activate prompt appears, then load any other save. The save you load, or the "destination save," will be the one that activates what you are looking at. During the loading screen, the UI will disappear and the death music will play. Once this happens, press the activate button or mash it until the load ends. If done correctly, the object will be activated once the load completes.

Here's a simple way to perform this bug at level 1:

  • Get Andurs' Amulet of Arkay from his quest in the Whiterun Hall of the Dead
  • Collect 50 Scathecraw or 34 Congealed Putrescence
  • Look at the item/door/object you wish to interact with in the destination save
  • Equip the Amulet and eat the ingredients
  • Load the destination save and mash Activate during the loading screen

Applications

Remote Interaction

Many objects such as chairs, levers, and even NPCs can be interacted with from far away by dead loading as long as both saves are in the same cell. This can be used for sequence breaks or other unintended behavior.

For more information, see the remote interaction article.

Load Warping

By interacting with a door using dead loading, you can activate the door in any other save as long as it isn't disabled in the destination save. This allows you to reach certain areas before/after you're supposed to, such as Skuldafn or Sovngarde. You can also use it to quickly escape a dungeon or combat situation.

On the Nintendo Switch version, mashing Activate while attempting to load warp may crash the game. Make sure you wait until you die in the loading screen, then press Activate only once to avoid this.

For other ways to traverse Skyrim quickly, see the traversal article.

Item Duplication

This duplication method works because you can pick up the same item multiple times in the loading screen, though this can have varying results depending on the item's ID number. Generally, only items that start out as part of the world can be dead loaded, and items that are dropped by the player or spawn in random loot cannot. However, certain artifacts or unique items can be dead loaded even after being picked up, such as Auriel's Bow or the Aetherial Crown.

For more duplication methods, see the duplication article.

Notes

  • Quitting to the main menu while dead loading is active will cause the player to die in the main menu, causing a crash or infinite loading screen.
  • If affected by a very large Fortify Health enchantment (such as one attained with the use of an alchemy loop), being damaged by a sufficient amount may also activate dead loading.
  • In Legendary Edition, the black background of the loading screen will disappear when the player dies, allowing you to see the Activate prompt. The black background does not disappear in Special Edition, though you can still dead load.