The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

So, I just downloaded Daggerfall using the 'Daggerfall Setup' thing, and I have no idea where to get started.

this is a game i'd recommend following a guide for. you can very easily get locked out of the main questline by taking too long searching for where you need to go.

dungeon-wise...well, other people who enjoyed that feature should probably give you advice rather than me.

Beats me. Find Talara?

It took me awhile to really "get" the game. Think of it as a dungeon crawler first, and remember to save your dungeon progression in a separate file just in case you get into an unwinnable situation. Also, you're going to hate the skeletons. They screem an kill you an doesnt afraid anything.

edited 2nd Sep '14 10:16:37 AM by Alichains

I would personally start the game by joining the mages guild first. Just go to a random town and ask someone where a mages guild is and they'll tell you. Mages guild buildings usually have moats around them and vines growing down the sides, IIRC. It's recommended you do this because of the spellmaker. You should make a teleportation spell asap so you can go to the Rusty Ogre Lodge and loot the daedric weapons on the second floor without consequence.

Get used to someone calling you a Filthy S'wit!

This thread is from a year ago, I don't think he's still looking for starting advice. Maybe it could be useful to someone else, at least.

Incidentally, I played this game for the first time about two weeks ago, after finishing Arena. I used a walkthrough to make sure that I wouldn't ruin the main quest forever, and I got to the point where I was supposed to go to Lysandus' tomb. But I couldn't get the map because Akorithi and Elysana inexplicably wouldn't give me their quests. So that's how my Daggerfall adventure abruptly ended.

And then I ordered The Elder Scrolls Anthology from Amazon so I could play the rest of the series.

edited 18th Sep '15 10:49:08 AM by DinoTurtle

Yeah, that was just general advice.

You might be thinking of Morrowind. Generic enemies in Daggerfall don't have voices unless you count screaming to be a voice.

edited 12th Nov '15 7:58:03 AM by SunajHguh

So I've been playing this a lot lately and found it very convenient that one can skip ranks in factions. For example I went from "Conjurer" (rank 3) to "Master Wizard" (rank 10) in the Mages' Guild. I think that it makes sense and find myself wondering why the devs didn't implement that in Morrowind or Oblivion seeing how tedious it was to have to advance one rank at a time in a faction. Now something that doesn't make sense is the dungeon design. Seriously, Orsinium is ridiculous...

If you want to play this, I strongly recommend you get DFend, a GUI for Dosbox. You can pre-save a game profile that does all the cd-mounting stuff for you automatically so you can just boot it like any other program.

Orcs like mazes ?

Anyway, I recently beat this game and wanted to get something off my chest, despite the fact that our page says their's no Big Bad, I think that King Gothryd and lord Woodborne count pretty easily as the Big Bad Duumvirate. It was their idea to kill Lysandus, and for the purpose of getting the mantela, tying in both plot threads.

Thoughts?

edited 12th Nov '15 9:24:49 AM by Novis

Apparently they do. Orsinium got so confusing, I just warped out and took another path on the main quest. Am I missing something? I usually travel through a whole dungeon before finding something in plain sight near the entrance. I agree with the stance on the Big Bad Duumvirate. I would have to analyze the plot more to give any extended thoughts, though.

edited 12th Nov '15 7:13:59 PM by SunajHguh

Most likely it's a path you didn't take that then got buried under a mess of hallways in your map. I might be remembering from a different dungeon, but I think what led me to the letter was a hallway with a "furrow" on one side a a split path on the other. I went straight the first time but iirc I was supposed to go on the split path.

Funny story from Orzinium: my character had a dismal personality stat (you are considered anonymous) and no social or language skills, but a pretty large amoung of orcs didn't attack me. It was mostly the warlords, so I guess the most experienced ones knew why the shouldn't mess with my character. I wonder if it was a bug though, a few of the creatures without any language skill (humanoids can be pacified with etiquette) were passive, like some giant rats or scorpions. It was perhaps helped that I rarely have my weapon out when not fighting (I don't like the way it looks on screen when running around, they have nice sprites but the angle just feels wrong).

Those two are more subtle about it than the villains of the other ES games, seeing how Daggerfall has a lot of mystery/conspiracy elements. Gothryd's involvement may be more balent or subtle depending on how you deal with Woodborne.

I figured as much... I just didn't feel like scanning every inch of my map for minutes on end. Again. Thanks for the tip. I didn't get as lucky as you with the orcs. I even custom enchanted a helmet that enhances orcish skill because I would feel kinda bad if I went to a wrongfully persecuted race's country without even trying to understand them (I think the helmet was orcish as well). Although I did have my weapon out the whole time and since I killed a hostile one they might have all considered me an enemy.

Speaking of the Daggerfall page, why is a random Dunmer's existence a headscratcher? I think a Dark Elf could go to Iliac Bay if they please.

EDIT: NVM, but I would still think that we could have a normal court sorceress.

edited 25th Mar '16 9:42:30 PM by SunajHguh

Sorry for double posting, but...

It seems Mannimarco really is worthy of being the Big Bad along with Woodborne and Gothryd. He essentially knows everything there is to know about the conspiracy, yet he demands a price for information. So Woodborne, Gortwog, Gothryd, and Abuk-i started the conspiracy and Mannimarco keeps it going by not revealing vital information which could prevent the whole debacle. Makes him just as bad in my book.

I see your point about Mannimarco, but I'm confused about Gortwog. Didn't he try to warn Lysandus of the plan to kill him?

I'll concede though that the question of who's responsible is a lot murkier than in most games.

Abuk-i sent the emperor's letter to Gortwog, a sympathizer of Woodborne at the time, in order for it to be destroyed. Gortwog didn't destroy it in the end but he did hide it. Woodborne was in the Orcs' good books, so Gortwog was an ally of his to start with and thus covered up for him. I'm not saying that Gortwog is a Big Bad, but he did have a hand in the conspiracy.

edited 13th Nov '15 4:22:37 AM by SunajHguh

I'm look at the taxts next time I'm on UESP. I know I remeber someone telling you that a group of orcs tried to warn Lusandus but didn't get there in time, but if it was Aubk-i I know not to trust her.

Apparently Gortwog bought the letter from Abuki when she was looking to get rid of it. He wanted more independence for Orsinium by using the letter as a bargaining tool. I dunno where I was going with this, but those are Gortwog's motivations if that subject was a bit murky. Info taken from http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Gortwog

edited 15th Nov '15 12:24:41 PM by SunajHguh

Daggerfall's main plot always strikes me as weird and odd. Like there's so much shit that happens, a lot of it useless. It being a Bethesda main plot though, it's not anything but okay. Morrowind's main plot may their only decent main plot ever, and that's streching it.

And oddly, although I know Daggerfall has more to do is a more "tasteful" game, I really can't care for it over Morrowind or Skyrim. I know it's wrong to do so, but that's just me. I do acknowledge though that it's better than I think it is and I think I prefer it (with god mode of course) to Arena or Oblivion. It's hard to say though because the only Beth games I really care for are Morrowind and Skyrim.

Yeah, Morrowind is my favorite with Skyrim in second, but I still have a lot of fun with this game and prefer it to Oblivion (Haven't played Arena yet, but it looks kind of fun). Elder Scrolls plots aren't usually anything special which kinda makes them worse than okay IMO. I think Morrowind is the exception to this. The loads of stuff going on has meaning as opposed to anything not having to do with a giant robot being ultimately pointless. It's just interesting to me how Bethesda probably wouldn't do something like this nowadays since they have to appeal to a larger audience that probably thinks something along the lines of "politics are boring".

Which one I'm in the mood for depends mostly on what kind of character I want to play. Other than that I rank Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Skyrim over Arena and Oblivion; but between them it's tough to pick between them because each appeals to a different set of stuff I like.

I tend to play them depending on what I feel like doing. If I want to explore, then Daggerfall. If I want to explore, go on a treasure hunt, and figure out how to do things most efficiently, then Morrowind. If I want to have some fun doing whatever and optimizing equipment, then Skyrim. I'm down for any of them really, but it usually depends on its availability. For example, I'm having technical issues with Skyrim since my computer isn't the best, I can only play Morrowind on an older OS, and I would have set up Daggerfall again if I wanted it on more than one device. I don't really play any of them for plot or roleplay.

edited 16th Nov '15 7:10:39 AM by SunajHguh

I got this game about a week ago, but I haven't really advanced anywhere because I can't seem to continue with the Main Quest because I'm not levelling up. Is there an Etiquette trainer I could use anywhere? I made the mistake of picking a Knight character.

Also, where can I find healing potions and the like?

Trainers are located in factions and they train the skills that are required for advancement in that faction. Etiquette is trained in the temples of Dibella, Mara, and Zenithar.

EDIT: As for healing potions, you can buy them from temples, but you have to be a certain rank in that faction. You can get free healing from them as soon as you join, though.

edited 25th Jan '16 5:27:39 AM by SunajHguh