Skyrim talk:Arvak

Blackreach

Arvak can be summoned in Blackreach. Is this noteworthy? Deadlykris 04:16, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Why would it be? Vos 04:58, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

because there are no horses on Blackreach Shadow 03:43, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

There are a lot of places where horses don't normally exist, but that doesn't mean we should list them all in this article. --Xyzzy^Talk 03:53, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Arvak can't be summoned in the enclosed cities (as far as I know; I only tried once, in one city). I'm thinking that if there are rare exceptions to the "only in Tamriel Wilderness or the Soul Cairn" rule, they should be listed, but if there's an abundance of them then we shouldn't list them. For example, he can't be summoned in the Forgotten Vale. This fact is even listed as a bug, but are we sure that it is? Deadlykris 05:24, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

I'd say it's worth listing, as Blackreach is a significant area so having a mount can be pretty useful there, and in that way it's a unique advantage so seems noteworthy. I mean, sure there are other places, but none quite so vast as Blackreach. It may be worth mentioning any other dungeons with especially large expanses. I'm curious to know if anyone's tried summoning him in Sovngarde or Skuldafn as these may be worth mentioning as well; other places are more minor so I agree aren't significant enough to list as well, but the first time I went to Blackreach I would have killed for a mount! Haravikk (talk) 16:12, 7 November 2012 (GMT)

If he gets noted for being the only horse being able to be used in Blackreach and Soul Cairne, shouldn't it be mentioned he's the only horse you can use on Solstein?--67.185.108.121 02:50, 14 December 2012 (GMT)

Improving Arvak

Is Arvak effected by any of the Conjuration skill tree perks, such as dark souls or elemental potentcy? If so, do they also effect the Boneman, Mistman, and Wrathman summons?--71.246.13.45 01:46, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

I would say no. Dark Souls only affect reanimated creatures. Arvak and Bone- Mist- and Wrathmen are conjured/summoned. As for Elemental Potency, it only enhances Atronachs, and since neither of them are Atronachs, it shouldn't affect any of them. Icko (talk) 12:19, 18 September 2012 (GMT)

Recovering Horses

instead of suggesting spawning a new Shadowmere with placeatme how about suggest using prid 0009CCD8 followed by moveto player to warp the original Shadowmere to you or player.moveto 9ccd8 to warp to Shadowmere instead? It seems weird to me that Skyrim players so often suggest creating new copies of npcs(and all the bugs that is bound to cause) instead of recovering the missing originals. Constantly spawning new copies seems like generally terrible advice when recovering missing npcs is easy. Apepi (talk) 10:47, 17 January 2013 (GMT)

The name Arvak

Is the name Arvak inspired from Norwegian? The Norwegian word "årvåken" signifies "vigilant". Though "årvåk" does not exist, it would, if it did, signify "vigil", a perfectly good name for such a stead. If there is any clue of it being intentional it might be worth a note, I think. —MortenOSlash (talk) 19:04, 9 February 2013 (GMT)

Actually, Árvakr was one of the horses that pulled Sól's chariot across the sky in Norse mythology. According to Wikipedia, the name means "early awake." --TrogdorCronus27 (talk) 20:51, 21 July 2013 (GMT)

Interesting bug/glitch

Been finding Ardvark at random places. Like northwest of lakeview manor, just off the road by the little fisherman's island with the crap ton of bees. Sometimes he'll spawn with me after fast travel then just walk off. My nephew has been playing my game so I haven't had to chance to follow Ardvark. If I see him at random places though, he just stands there. Poor horse finally found a way to run around free after his nightmare ride in the Soul Cairn.Grelaria (talk) 19:55, 10 December 2013 (GMT)

What platform are you playing? If you are playing PC, do you have any mods of unofficial patches installed? —MortenOSlash (talk) 22:40, 10 December 2013 (GMT)

Removed from the page, but could it qualified as an Easter Egg?

I observed the removal of this contribution from the page:

"*Arvak is the name of one of the horses that pull the chariot of the personification of the Sun in Norse Mythology[1]"

I have observed contributions like this is not usually included in the articles, but thinking of it, it seems to me it could qualify as an Easter Egg? —MortenOSlash (talk) 19:48, 30 January 2014 (GMT)

There are a very, very large number of references to Norse mythological figures in Skyrim. There is no way we can include them all without exploding the easter eggs page. I believe we decided that names of various places and or creatures wouldn't be listed because of the vast number of such references. Jeancey (talk) 19:50, 30 January 2014 (GMT)

I believe this is a somewhat more direct reference than most. At least it is much more than just the name. They both are mighty ethereal steeds, though of rather opposite areas of the divine. The one from the Norse mythology is an ethereal horse of daylight. The Dawnguard one is an ethereal horse of a dark realm. —MortenOSlash (talk) 19:59, 30 January 2014 (GMT)

Feel free to bring it up on the easter eggs page then. Jeancey (talk) 20:01, 30 January 2014 (GMT)

I have now read through two discussions archived on the Skyrim Easter Eggs talk page finding lots of opinions but no clear consensus. At this moment I find it a bit energy consuming to reopen the discussions with so many strong opinions pro et contra, so I think I might get back to it at some later point and see if I can build a better consensus before taking on the task, rather than firing off something that will get removed after only minutes by opponents of such additions, due to lack of clear consensus. —MortenOSlash (talk) 05:39, 31 January 2014 (GMT)

Arvak cant be summoned in Eldergleam sanctuary

Is anyone else facing this? — Unsigned comment by 1.39.63.159 (talk) at 18:11 on 5 July 2015 (UTC)

If this is to be added, I think it would be under the spell page. All the exceptions where Arvak can be used where other horses can not be used is mentioned there. In general Arvak can not be summoned in caves, and Eldergleam Sanctuary is a cave, so I would say it is not worth mentioning. —MortenOSlash (talk) 21:24, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Offers As Much Fighting Relief As He Can

Arvak often doesn't just stand there like a bump on a log until he returns to the Soul Cairn. In all my games since Dawnguard was issued, I've used Arvak through the entire game or prior to acquiring Shadowmere. Some of my games have run smoothly, without a single hitch. Others have been crazy-buggy. But Arvak's behavior has been consistent. 1) If you dismount to engage an enemy before Arvak's 60 seconds are up, Arvak will plow into the fray and fight with you for as long as he exists as your summon--he can easily get killed, but he can best a few low-level enemies. 2) Often, when you summon him at the outer-most distance possible for your cast, he will turn around and come to you, as if kindly minimizing the distance you need to cover to mount him. Given you only get 60 seconds a pop with him, I find that interesting.

This seems to me noteworthy--at least the first observation--but I wanted to check. Also, can another confirm either of these experiences? As his former owner might say, "What a great horse. He isn't completely soulless. Take good care of him." Turns out Arvak can do a wee bit to take care of you. ;) FairEmma (talk) 18:21, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Number 1 is definitely normal horse behaviour (well, normal Skyrim horse behaviour anyway); they are semi-famous for their willingness to battle on the player's behalf, even when they have no chance. The second one, I'm not sure about, and I'll have to see if either normal horses or normal summons do the same thing. If not, then yes, we should probably note it somewhere on the page. --MetaCthulhu (talk) 00:03, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Indeed, indeed regarding the "no chance"! For the first time, I'm using Frost, who dies if a troll sneezes on the other side of the mountain. Guess Shadowmere has spoiled me. Arvak, however, is not a "normal horse," even if he usually acts like one (though he doesn't seem the least bit interested in dead bodies). He's not just a spectral-summon ride, and we don't really address that in our description. The first time I played with him, I didn't expect that at all, however much of his behavior mirrors regular horses. I do think, based on comments around the net, that other players are surprised as well. I've never had a normal horse come to me for any reason, but then, I'm not summoning them. It would be neat to discover there's one that did. My conjures follow me--I've played with virtually all of them--and they may come toward me after a battle in the context of following me. But I haven't had one approach me right after being conjured. If they do, that would be neat as well. Thanks. FairEmma (talk) 02:45, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

arvak crash report

For several times now it crashes my game, in diferent saves and diferent version of the game (Special PC and Legendary PC) I also heard people that experienced crashes using arvak on PS3 too. rare but consistent crash for those who experiences it.

Get a decently coded horse or just abuse fast travels, arvak is bugged.

Arvek with Twin Souls Perk with Unofficial Patch

Someone on the unofficial bug tracking site has reported that "Summoning Arvak with the "Twin Souls" perk kills BOTH of my minions, whether they are dead, atronach or familiars. is due to the workaround to prevent Arvak from being summonable more than once (removal of previous "MagicSummonFamiliar" flag from him). I'm posting this here because I couldn't find where to make a bug report." Can someone test the Twin Souls perk with the unofficial patch, with every different summon (both already being present during a new summon, and as the new summon), especially unique ones like Staada, Durnehviir, Odahviing, Daedric Horse, and Flaming Familiar? (the last two are subjective as to whether they are unique and whether it constitutes a bug to summon two). The Summon Staada page seems to confirm this, using the term "dismisses" rather than "kills".