Tips for Daggerfall beginner

I've played Daggerfall for the first time years ago when I tried the
Betony demo. Now I've again remembered this game and managed to buy an
used copy in e-bay, but I would like to hear the advice of more
experienced players on how to begin, easier dungeons to enter, best
guilds and best characters. I particularly prefer using brute force
instead of casting spells when fighting, and I don't seem to be a fan
of stealing things except when I'm broke.

On 16 Oct 2006 12:25:55 -0700, "Gamer" <rodrigo.sobota.TakeThisOut@gmail.com>
wrote:

>I've played Daggerfall for the first time years ago when I tried the
>Betony demo. Now I've again remembered this game and managed to buy an
>used copy in e-bay, but I would like to hear the advice of more
>experienced players on how to begin, easier dungeons to enter, best
>guilds and best characters. I particularly prefer using brute force
>instead of casting spells when fighting, and I don't seem to be a fan
>of stealing things except when I'm broke.

I think that the best character to start off with is a Spellsword. You
can use any weapon, though you will not be able to wear any armor
better than chain. This is not a real disadvantage, as I find that
armor in Daggerfall doesn't seem to do a whole lot. I have finished
the game with a character who had no armor at all, except leather
gloves and the regular leather boots (not the ones designated as
armor). The Spellsword is useful, as you will occasionally find it
very helpful to be able to cast spells, such as water breathing,
levitate, slowfalling and recall, which a Warrior or Knight will have
some difficulty doing.

You can tell which dungeons are easier (read smaller) by checking your
map of whichever province you are in. The smallest ones are dark red.
The larger the dungeon, the lighter red the square which marks it. The
really huge dungeons are orange. When you first start out, only the
really easy dungeons (ususally graveyards) will be marked at all. You
have to find maps or be given a quest in a dungeon to make the others
appear.

The best guilds for a character specializing in brute force are the
Fighter's Guild and the various Knights' Guilds. You will probably
want to start out by making your home province (the one you spend the
most time in) Daggerfall, Wayrest or Sentinel. In Daggerfall, join
the Knights of the Dragon, in Wayrest the Knights of the Rose and in
Sentinel, the Order of the Candle. If you decide to be a Spellsword,
you will probably also want to joing the Mages Guild. The Fighter's
Guild offers training in all weapons and the quests are mostly the "go
here and kill this", though I think there is at least one quest for an
artifact, if you are lucky. If you join one of the Knights Guilds,
you can stay at any inn for free and they offer several quests for
artifacts. When you advance, you are given a free piece of armor and
when you reach the top, you are given a house (mostly useless, since
by this time you will have a cart and a ship for storing stuff). If
you join the Mages Guild, the price for identifying magical items and
buying spells goes down as you advance in the Guild.

You should also probably join a Temple. Avoid Kynareth, as it is
mostly useless. The only advantages it offers is the ability to buy
spells and you have to be higher up in the Guild to buy spells than if
you joined the Mages Guild. The only advantage to joining Kynareth is
that you get a bonus on how long you can hold your breath while under
water. It's not much and I don't think it's worth it. Julianos
offers the chance to buy enchanted items or (at a high enough level)
enchant your own items. You can do the same at the Mages Guild, but
you have to be much higher up to do it. The quickest way to advance
in Julianos is to improve your short blade skill. All the other
Temples are pretty much the same. You get training and the
opportunity to buy potions. Once you advance enough, you can make
your own potions, according to the recipes you find. Or you can mix
stuff at random and see what it does.

Under general tips, I would advise you to make your home province
Daggerfall for your first character. There are many dungeons of all
levels and many of the first few quests in the Main Quest take place
there. Once I get out of Pirates Hold, I head for Galloway Gardens,
the nearest town (I hope I spelled that name right), sell whatever I
don't need form the dungeon and buy a cart (you don't ever need to buy
a horse by itself), then join the Fighter's Guild or the Mage's Guild
and go a-questing. When you get enough money together, buy a small
ship. The large ship isn't any better and won't give you any
advantages that I have ever found. If you eventually get a house from
the Knight's of Whatever, don't ever put anything into any container
in the house. It will immediately disappear from the game forever.
Just drop whatever you want to store in the house on the floor.

Personal Tips. I always do the Main Quest quests when they are first
offered. For example, in the very first one, you must go see Lady
Brisienna within a month. If you don't get there in time, then you
can never do the Main Quest. In another quest, you must retrieve some
letters from a castle in northern Daggerfall. If you go there at
level 3 when the quest is first offered, you meet werewolves as your
hardest opponents. If you wait until Level 5 to take on this quest,
you will run into Vampires and Vampire Ancients, which are much harder
to kill. Keep the first silver weapon you find (until you find a
better one) as this will be effective against supernatual enemies.
Once you start finding Dwarven weapons or better, you can sell of the
silver weapon(s).

Be aware that you will not always be prompted to do the next quest on
the Main Quest line. Most of the time you will receive a letter, but
once you reach Level 5, you should go to Daggerfall Castle and speak
to Cyndassa to continue the Main Quest and once you reach Level 10,
you should to see Medora to continue the Main Quest. I think these
are the only two where you are not prompted to continue the Main
Quest. You will recieve hints, but no real prompts.

That is all my advice for now. If you want any more hints or advice,
I will be glad to help you out. I think Daggerfall is my favorite of
the Elder Scrolls games and I still play it quite a lot.
--
Nyctolops