Why can't I absorb a dragon soul?

Question

I recently started a new game, including all official DLC, the unofficial skyrim patch, deadly dragons and a couple more mods.

Everything went well until I beat Mirmulnir, I didn't get to absorb his soul, he just lies there, busy being dead. All the guards around were hiding/crouching as if I was absorbing the soul, but nothing happened. A reload from an earlier save didn't help. This resulted in the mainquest being effectively stuck.

If I play in another game and kill a dragon there, I still can't absorb his soul.

Answer 1

Do you also have the Unofficial Dragonborn Patch installed (separate from the Unofficial Skyrim Patch)?

If not, install it. One of its fixes is:

Dragonborn's changes to DragonActorScript.psc have now been properly merged with the fixes done in the USKP. Dragon soul absorbtion is now working 100% correctly.

According to the Unofficial Dragonborn Patch's mod description, the load order should be like this:

Skyrim.esm
Update.esm
Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp
Dawnguard.esm
Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp
Hearthfires.esm
Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp
Dragonborn.esm
Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp
HighResTexturePack01.esp
HighResTexturePack02.esp
HighResTexturePack03.esp
Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp

Also as a reply to this answer, you shouldn't load Dragonborn after USKP, as it could undo the fixes of USKP. If unsure, just let LOOT take care of the load order.

Install the other Unofficial Patches if you have their DLCs too: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, High Resolution DLC.

Also, see the troubleshooting steps for the 'cannot absorb dragon souls' issue listed at the Unofficial Dragonborn Patch Nexus forums sticky post by Arthmoor, one of the UDGP developers:

Check for: dragonactorscript.pex and/or mqkilldragonscript.pex. Remove them if present. They are from dragon mods that came as loose files.

DSAMG - Dragon Soul Absorb More Glorious, and Diversified Dragons are known to cause this. Those mods need to be updated with a Dragonborn patch that incorporates the fixes from the UDBP.

Skyrim Unbound will cause this as well due to the script being unaware of the changes for Dragonborn.

Others may be a factor as well.

Note too that the offending mod may have the script packaged inside a BSA. That will need to be handled by that mod's author.

If you are using Mod Organizer and are here to report issues with dragon souls, sorry, but you're on your own as we do not support issues caused by incorrectly letting that program modify the BSA load order system the game has. Your post is likely to just be ignored. We don't have time to keep fending off false bug reports caused by people who insist on unpacking their BSA files using the program and thus subverting the entire system the game relies on for proper behavior.

Answer 2

It seems that there is a conflict between the unofficial skyrim patch and the dragonborn expansion.

After I placed dragonborn after the USKP in the load order I could absorb dragon souls again.

Answer 3

try this fix http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/31685/?tab=4&navtag=%2Fajax%2Fcomments%2F%3Fmod_id%3D31685%26page%3D1%26sort%3DDESC%26pid%3D0%26thread_id%3D915803&pUp=1

"Dragon Soul Absorb Fix". ALSO DELETE MQKillDragonScript.pex I also have looked for a fix everywhere. I have all the unofficial patches, also all the dlc's. After I installed this mod DSAMG : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13850//? the soul absorbtion did not work anymore, now after installing this fix, it works again. I'm at the first dragon at Western Watchtower, the dragon's name is Mirmulnir.

Answer 4

before i start, i need to say that this program is in beta. "experimental" even. i personally have never had a problem with it, but that is not to say it could not happen. using this program, i have been able to play past many bugs which previously haunted me, and allowed me to complete missions i could not previously complete.

also, you might want to have a look at this TESV Edit video.

It is way too long and drawn out. To simplify,

1) Download TESV Edit. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25859/?

2) Unzip the file anywhere, open the folder, then open TESV Edit.

3) Right click and choose "Select None" at the list which pops up, then check the mod, or master file that needs cleaning. (Dragonborn.esm, Dawnguard.esm, Hearthfires.esm, and Update.esm all need to be cleaned. Skyrim.esm DOES NOT NEED CLEANING, DON'T DO IT.) To simplify this, only do one mod or master file at one time.

4) Wait for the mod or master file to finish loading, then right click that file, and select "Apply filter for cleaning." (At the top of the program, it says "yes, this takes a while, just wait!) so wait. lol

5) after the filter has been applied for cleaning, right click the file again, then select "remove identical to master records." This will probably go very quickly.

6) right click the file yet again, but this time select "undelete and disable references.

7) close TESV edit. if everything went right, you will see one of two things. First, you might see the selection window load up again with only your file checked. this means you successfully cleaned a dirty file. Second, TESV edit might just close. This means your file did not nead cleaning.

8) in closing, the author of the video does not recommend blanket cleaning all your mods. i have a different attitude. if a mod shows up dirty, i clean it. if that means the mod doesn't work anymore (that hasn't happened yet, but i have seen at least one mod which specified it could not be cleaned in TESV edit.) then i ditch that mod. be really careful about which mods you install. for instance, the latest CBBE version already has remodeled female feet, and does not need a mod called "femfeet." Using these two mods together results in broken texture seams at the hips, and or feet. Another mod "NPC Hair Overhaul" is known to create the grey face bug, yet it still exists in its unfinished/unfixed form at Skyrim Nexus. don't try to make known troublemaker mods work for you.

Also, the previous question mentioned BOSS. BOSS automatically sorts your files, and gives a report, which includes some of the files need cleaning in TESV edit. If the mod is in the unrecognized area, it may still need cleaning, even though BOSS did not report it.