They almost never last before I've closed the giant gate at Bruma- I believe because of the late level I attempt this. In the latest game once again I've enjoyed Cyrodil without the gates being around- I did not trigger them and avoided Martin and Kavatch. This has a negative, though- because I can rarely keep Jaufre alive. The great gate is closed in something like 3 minutes, but he still dies. My son reccomended being a master in Alteration and boosting them all up with defense spells before I left, but that isn't to be this game. I'm level 27 and their fate is almost certain.

I miss their being around after the smoke clears. The only games they live are ones where I do the main quest fairly soon, certainly before level 20. It could be too my skills are not as great as most here. Is there a way to close the Great Gate at Bruma faster than approx 3 minutes? Even if I slide the difficulty all the way over to God Eats Pancakes, and run directly to the sigil stone, they die.

I waited so long to do Kavatch that the lead guard, forget his name, was the only one standing after the carnage. We tackled the main hall together, the courtyard being strewn with bodies.
It was one of those unique moments each game has with Oblivion. I got a kick out of it. The imperial soldiers were all dead. The lady guard who just wanted to fight, dead. The last Imperial soldier who fought did so with his bare fists. He'd lost or used up his sword. It was a great thing.


PS, Baurus gives one time free training at Cloud Ruler Temple- was there another Blade who also offered training? If so, I never found him.

You get "free training" by watching the two Blades sparring in the courtyard for a time, provided you're below a certain skill level, and I'd guess you weren't.

Adjusting difficulty doesn't affect the NPC's chances, because they get adjusted in the same directions as their enemies. However, while you're there to defend them, they have a more powerful ally to help them survive. On the other other hand, you have to go get the Great Stone, and that's when they usually get randomly killed off.

According to the UESP (and I have no evidence to the contrary), the combat action actually pauses while you're in the Great Gate. So, if they're alive when you go in, they should be alive when you come out. As soon as you grab the Great Stone, Martin becomes essential again, but the others don't, so they can still be killed after the gate is closed.

I've never quite understood the mechanics of those gates, though. Where do the lesser gates go, after the big one gets closed? Aren't they being held open by their own regular sigil stones? Who closes them?

That's funny, I could have sword I'd read that the three can be killed while you're in the gate looking for the stone. If action does pause, then all I have to do is make sure they're alive when I leave.

by sliding the difficulty, all I hoped to accomplish was my speedy passage through- not help Martin et al.

The trouble with guarding Martin for me is when so many daedra swarm out and the guards defend, it is nearly impossible for me to do any good. I murder people. In my earliest games the cry of "Murder" would sound out, and I'd look around trying to see the murderer. I was he, of course. It used to happen all the time in Kavatch.

So I now stay by the gates and kill as many daedra as I can- which is not a small amount. If I get close to martin in the chaos, I klll guardsmen. They love jumping into my sword strikes and shouting murderer....

They're always alive when i go in,and almost always dead when i get out.Something is seriously wrong there.

I think if they're in combat when you enter the Great Gate, they'll die.

So, if you want them to be alive, make sure they're not fighting anything; stay with them and help them fight off enemies. Then when the Gate appears, make sure they're not fighting anything when you run in.

Well, I'll try that next time. Jaufre is dead, Baurus lived- and lived through the Imperial city Free-for-all as well.
I've a simple way to complete that last bit- I run as fast as I can to the temple and martin materializes next to me and begins the dialogue. We enter temple of one and the end scene. Last time Baurus died here but he made it through with me last night. I hammered away at Merhunes Dagon's ankle and he didnt like it.

Things are harder late in the game. Trying to do the Shivering Isles quest of saving passwell (sic?) and destroying that crystal has always been a challenge for me. Others I know have little trouble.

funny thing is- after I knew the game by heart- mostly- I could relax and do funny things with my time. But lately I've been goofing off so much I don't get much done.

The last two gates closed I got the axe amulet, the perfect ring, and the skimming ring. Can you believe that? This same character has the iron fist ring too. He's a breton. I think the rings are randomly distributed but race determines some of the availability. The Breton kept getting block rings and breathing underwater necklaces for some reason.

There was 9 minutes to spare when I grabbed the sigll stone to close the Great Gate at Bruma.

Let's see- run past Bruma gate, go to tower on the right, enter, climb to top, leave along skyline trail to next tower, drop down to mid level door and find partial ramp. Jump off ramp over burning lava to another larger ramp and off that to side of hill. run up to towers structure and get on roadway/ramp between them. Go to tower on end, run up and open gate, run back down to door you came in and take tower middle of ramp, on right. climb tower and grab stone. There are other ways but this has always been quickest for me. Any moderate acrobatic ability and it can be done. a Skyrim hero in Oblivion could not do it.