How to Fix the Molag Bal Quest Bug in Oblivion Remastered
If you’ve been exploring the Daedric quests in Oblivion Remastered, chances are you’ve stumbled upon Molag Bal’s twisted task—and just as likely, you’ve found yourself stuck in a bugged quest loop. You’re not alone.
Several players have reported issues during the Molag Bal Daedric quest, specifically at the point where Melus Petilius is supposed to “kill” you, triggering your teleportation back to the Daedric shrine and completing the quest. But for many, that teleportation never happens, and Molag Bal simply stops responding, leaving you stranded with no way to finish the quest.
Don’t worry—we’ve got a fix, and it’s simpler than you think.
Understanding the Molag Bal Quest Bug
Let’s break down the bug. The quest, as intended, works like this:
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Molag Bal instructs you to tempt a noble man (Melus Petilius) into attacking you with his Mace.
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You’re supposed to provoke Melus by attacking him, causing him to retaliate with the cursed weapon.
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Once he damages you enough to bring you near death, the game teleports you back to Molag Bal’s shrine, where the Daedric Prince rewards you.
Here’s the issue: the game occasionally misinterprets your death, either because Melus kills you outright or your health doesn’t reach the intended threshold. As a result, Molag Bal’s event trigger fails, and you’re returned to the shrine with no quest update, no dialogue, and no reward.
This bug was present in the original Oblivion release and seems to have resurfaced in Oblivion Remastered, much to players’ dismay.
How to Fix the Molag Bal Quest Bug
Here’s the method that has worked for most players:
Step 1: Lower the Game Difficulty
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Open your pause menu.
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Go to Settings → Gameplay.
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Move the difficulty slider all the way to the left (Novice).
This ensures that Melus deals less damage, giving the game more time to properly detect the quest condition.
Step 2: Let Melus Wound You—Don’t Fight Back
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Equip no weapons or armor.
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Walk up to Melus Petilius and attack him once to provoke him.
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He will pick up the cursed mace and begin attacking you.
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Do nothing—just let him hit you.
Step 3: Wait for Health to Drop to Near Zero
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The goal is to let your health fall to around 5% without actually dying.
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At this point, if it works correctly, the screen will fade out, and you’ll automatically teleport back to the Shrine of Molag Bal.
If the quest behaves correctly:
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Molag Bal will speak to you immediately.
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The quest will update, and you’ll receive your reward.
Still Not Working? Try This Backup Method
If the above doesn’t work on your first try:
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Load a previous save from before the quest started.
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Ensure you have no healing effects active, such as enchantments or potions that may prolong combat.
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Try to approach the quest from a new angle, possibly visiting the shrine at a different time of day, as the AI behavior can occasionally bug out based on pathing and environment.
You may also want to disable any active mods or overlays temporarily, especially if you’re playing with community-created enhancement packs, as some can interfere with scripted quest triggers.
Why Does This Bug Occur?
The root cause of the issue seems to be in how Oblivion handles scripted damage thresholds and event triggers. Rather than a clear “on damage taken” condition, the quest appears to rely on very specific health percentages and timing conditions.
If your character dies too quickly or has healing effects that override the damage tick, the event trigger may fail silently.
This problem existed in vanilla Oblivion and was never fully patched. Unfortunately, Oblivion Remastered retains some of those older scripting quirks, which means we have to manually work around them.
Will This Be Patched in Oblivion Remastered?
At the time of writing, there’s no official statement from Bethesda regarding a fix for the Molag Bal quest bug in Oblivion Remastered. However, given the visibility of this issue in the community, there’s a decent chance we may see a patch or community fix mod in the near future.
Until then, lowering your difficulty and letting Melus reduce your health without killing you remains the most reliable workaround.
Final Thoughts
The Molag Bal Daedric quest is one of the more memorable (and sinister) missions in Oblivion, but this long-standing bug has turned a compelling narrative moment into a source of player frustration.
Still, thanks to the community and some good old-fashioned trial-and-error, we now know how to bypass the issue and complete the quest as intended. If you’re stuck in this bugged state, try adjusting your settings, managing your health carefully, and letting the scripted event unfold.
And of course—always make manual saves before starting any Daedric quest. The gods may be immortal, but your game progress isn’t.
FAQs – Fixing Molag Bal Quest Bug in Oblivion Remastered
Why isn’t Molag Bal talking to me after I’m teleported back to the shrine?
This usually means the quest script failed to register your near-death state correctly. You likely died too fast or had healing effects interfering.
How do I make Melus Petilius attack me?
Attack him first. He will grab the cursed mace and retaliate.
What difficulty should I use for this quest?
Set the difficulty to Novice to ensure Melus deals manageable damage and the script has time to trigger properly.
Can I still complete the quest if it bugged out?
Yes, reload a previous save, lower the difficulty, and follow the steps outlined to avoid death and trigger the event correctly.
Will Bethesda patch the quest?
There is no confirmed fix yet, but community feedback may lead to an update in the future.