Cidhna Mine escape actually requires a specific order and the game never tells you

[DragonbornVet]

I just got stuck on No One Escapes Cidhna Mine for like twenty minutes because I was trying to do everything at once. Turns out you can't just grab the key and run - if you don't talk to the right people in the right sequence, the guards won't let you leave even if you have it. The wiki mentions this but buries it so deep I almost missed it.

Specifically, you need to actually complete the whole "organize the prisoners" thing before the exit trigger works. I was sitting there with the key in my inventory thinking the quest was broken when really I just skipped a step. It's a weird design choice because the game doesn't explicitly tell you that talking to the prisoners is mandatory - it just feels like flavor dialogue.

Anyone else run into this? I feel like this one gets reported as bugged way more than it actually is broken.

 

[RiftenWanderer]

I think you're onto something here. I got stuck on that quest too my first time through, but I remember it differently - I had talked to the prisoners but wasn't sure if I'd actually completed whatever they wanted. Like, the quest marker wasn't super clear about whether just having the conversation was enough or if I needed to do something else.

The frustrating part is that it reads like optional flavor dialogue when it's actually gating the whole escape. Most quests that have mandatory steps make it pretty obvious you need to do them, but this one just... doesn't. You grab the key, you think you're done, and then the door won't open and you're confused.

I bet a ton of people think it's bugged and restart or reload rather than realizing they missed a step. The quest design could definitely be clearer about what's actually required versus what's just color.