Daggerfall FAQ Version 1.1
FAQ Parameters:
This FAQ assumes that you are playing Daggerfall ver. 1.07.213. The latest
patch is available from Bethesda's official homepage:
(http://www.bethsoft.com). If you choose to play without the latest patch, it
will be very difficult to help you.
Table of Contents
1. General Starting tips
2. Guilds, Reputation and Larceny
3. Ships and Houses
4. Lycanthropy/Vampirism
5. Cheatmode and Magic Item Repair
6. Miscellany
7. Technical Stuff
8. Beyond Daggerfall
9. Websites
0. Credits and Thanks
Section 1: General Starting tips
1.1 Any words of advice for a beginner?
1.2 Help! I'm getting killed in the wimpy starter dungeon!
1.3 I keep hitting the imp in the first dungeon, but nothing is happening.
What's up with that?
1.4 The tutorial doesn't seem to be working after I leave the starter
dungeon. Am I doing something wrong?
1.5 I just got out of the starter dungeon (Privateer's Hold) and nothing is
happening with the story. What should I do?
1.6 How do I exit a dungeon?
1.7 How do I enter a dungeon?
1.8 How do I increase my level?
1.9 I'm stuck in a dungeon and can't find the quest monster/item. Can
anybody help me?
1.10 I don't want to do the main quest right now, but might do it later.
What should I do?
1.11 What is the best class?
1.12 How do I make a really cool custom class?
1.1 Any words of advice for a beginner?
A. Maybe the best advice for Daggerfall is, save early, save often. Many
experienced players save before asking for a quest. It's also a good idea to
keep a couple of the six save game slots as long term retreat saves in case
something goes really wrong, the effects of which aren't immediately
apparent. The judicious use of saved games can save you a lot of grief.
Make sure you have installed the latest patch (213). It is impossible to put
too much emphasis on this point.
If you are not ready to tackle the main story line, do not talk to anybody in
the castles of Daggerfall, Wayrest and Sentinel. Doing so and turning down
quests may result in your never being able to complete the game! This has
happened to more than one poor soul, so beware!
Be careful of your reputation. When your reputation in the eyes of the law in
a province falls to criminal or below, you may experience problems getting
people to talk to you. This will make it difficult if not impossible to
fulfill some quests, since you can't ask for directions. Your reputation in
one province does not affect your reputation in another, so you really must
only guard your rep in spots like Daggerfall, Sentinel and Wayrest. Other
provinces may be plundered at will without having any effect on your ability
to complete the main story line.
1.2 Help! I'm getting killed in the wimpy starter dungeon!
A. Some basic tips:
- Save Often. Sudden death and crashing can quickly end your adventure, so
you need a place to reload. It may be a good idea to save every time you
rest.
- You don't have to fight everything. For certain classes, particularly magic
users, skeletons can be nearly impossible to kill at early levels. Thieves
should avoid them as well, if they don't have the ebony dagger.
- There's a walkthrough for Privateer's Hold in the box your CD came in. It's
on the back of an advertisement for the hint book.
1.3 I keep hitting the imp in the first dungeon, but nothing is happening.
What's up with that?
A. You should be getting the message "the material you are using is
ineffective". To hit certain monsters requires special materials. When you
try and attack such a monster with an inferior metal, such as using iron
against an imp, you will receive the above message. In the case of an imp,
steel will suffice.
1.4 The tutorial doesn't seem to be working after I leave the starter
dungeon. Am I doing something wrong?
A. No. Although the tutorial does state that it continues after you exit the
first dungeon, this is not in fact the case.
1.5 I just got out of the starter dungeon (Privateer's Hold) and nothing is
happening with the story. What should I do?
A. The main quest will come to the player. Join a guild (the mages guild is
the most useful) and run a few quests for them. As you advance in level, the
plot will reveal itself.
1.6 How do I exit a dungeon?
A. Exits are simple stone arches, with a black interior, and a skull at the
base. Just click on it and you're outta there.
1.7 How do I enter a dungeon?
A. This can be tricky at first. Entrances are doors, which you must click on.
The trick is finding the door. The dungeon entrance is more or less in front
of the character after he fast travels. Walking straight forward will usually
will get him there. Most of the time, the entrance is a little green hillock
with a door on one side, although it can also be found in a castle, fort or
ruins.
The direction you are facing when you finish your fast travel is the
direction you should move to find the dungeon entrance. When you arrive, the
entrance should either be straight ahead or inside a 10 degree cone to either
side.
\ ___/
\ . /
You start at the dot. The entrance should lie on the ___ part.
Note that castles have multiple entrances but they all start you at the same
place inside the dungeon.
1.8 How do I increase my level?
A. Your level increases, not by how many monsters you kill, but by how much
you use your skills. The specific skills that apply to leveling are all
Primary skills, the highest two major skills, and the highest minor skill.
To increase skills, just use them. For instance, weapon skills are used in
battle. Magic skills are used when you cast spells of a particular school.
Mercantile is used when you buy or sell, Streetwise and Etiquette each time
you speak using the "blunt" or "polite" tone, respectively; Dodging each time
a monster attempts to hit you, etc. etc. Another way to increase is through
training at guilds or temples.
1.9 I'm stuck in a dungeon and can't find the quest monster/item. Can
anybody help me?
There are many websites with walkthroughs for the main story line dungeons.
As to the random dungeons, it's very difficult to offer advice on random
quests, since the layout of these dungeons varies from install to install. No
one can help you with that. But don't despair. Even if there is no other way,
you can almost always finish the dungeon if you don't mind enabling
cheatmode. (See section 5.)
But let's explore other options first. I assume you have been using some
organized way of exploring the dungeon, like the right wall technique. Even
if you have been, this will not always reveal the quest item. Look on the
automap to see if there are any hidden doors you missed or areas left
unexplored. This will usually prove to be the case. It's hard to say you've
been everywhere in one of these labyrinths. Keep your head up. Sometimes
there are teleporters in the rafters. Sometimes the quest item lies
underwater or in an area that can only be accessed by going through a flooded
area.
If cheatmode isn't your bag, don't worry. Unless this is a main story line
quest or your first quest for the thieves or assassins, it's really not a big
deal to fail. You lose two rep points with the guild that sent you, as
opposed to the 5 you gain every time you successfully complete a quest.
1.10 I don't want to do the main quest right now, but might do it later.
What should I do?
A. Be sure to visit Lady Brisienna when she sends you a letter. This will
usually be the first message you receive in the game. You can safely ignore
the rest of the main quest and do it whenever you wish. Avoid talking to
people in the castles of Daggerfall, Wayrest, and Sentinel.
1.11 What is the best class?
A. IMHO, the best of the standard classes is the healer. Not everyone shares
this opinion, but few disagree that the healer is one of the better standard
class characters.
1.12 How do I make a really cool custom class?
Section 2: Guilds, Reputation, and Larceny
2.1 The BLANK guild won't let me join. Why not?
2.2 How do I join the thieves guild / Dark Brotherhood?
2.3 How do I rob the banks?
2.4 I'm revered but everybody hates me. No one will talk to me. What's going
on?
2.5 How do I raise my legal reputation?
2.6 I am stuck with the initial thieves guild quest. I stole the shirt and
there was a piece of paper in it with three words on it. what do I do with
that?
2.1 The BLANK guild won't let me join. Why not?
A. There are several things the guilds look at when deciding whether to
promote you or not. Each guild has skills that it values. As an example, for
the mages guild, they are, destruction, mysticism, restoration, thaumaturgy,
alteration and illusion. (Do not confuse this set of skills with the skills
the guild offers training in. They are similar but not the same.) You need
minimum scores in two of these skills, the requirements increasing with each
rank. Minimum requirements for joining a guild are a reputation of zero or
higher, one guild valued skill of 22 and a second at four. Practice and
training can remedy the skill problem, and doing quests for them can deal
with the bad rep. For a complete guild chart, follow the link below.
Note that the knightly orders will not allow you to join or keep you as a
member if your reputation with the law in their province is lower than common
citizen.
2.2 How do I join the thieves guild / Dark Brotherhood?
A. According to tradition, thieves tend to contact those that operate on
their turf without guild sanction. This is confirmed in the book,
"Confessions of a Thief." Just pick pockets and shoplift, 10 times to be
exact, and you should be getting a letter from them in a few days.
The Dark Brotherhood are people who kill for both business and pleasure.
Murdering guards will attract their attention. Wanton killing of peasants
will get it even quicker. They'll contact you by letter.
2.3 How do I rob the banks?
A. The best you can do is steal from the bookshelves. The vault has no
physical presence. If you want a quick, illegal chunk of cash, take out a
loan and skip town, though I advise against doing this in a region you'll be
spending a significant amount of time, unless you _like_ being chased by
guards 24 hrs a day.
2.4 I'm revered but everybody hates me. No one will talk to me. What's going
on?
A. There is a display problem in operation here. You are not well liked. Your
reputation is closer to hated than revered.
2.5 How do I raise my legal reputation?
A. The worst spots to have a bad rep are Daggerfall, Sentinel and Wayrest.
There are many backwater provinces (like Ykalon) where your reputation
doesn't affect your ability to finish the game. Try to contain your nefarious
activities to these places.
There are 6 ratings ranging from undependable to hated. The further down the
ladder you are, the harder it is to repair your rep. Pond scum and hated are
the two lowest ratings.
If you have recently started the game, it would probably be easier to start
over than to try to fix a character with a really black reputation. If you
are of middle or high level, it might be worth the effort.
Travelling to burn time definitely works to restore reputation. ("What have
you done to me lately?") Each month, your negative rep will recover by one
point, the same way your good rep will drop one point each month. (Neutral
reps remain the same.) Just remember that while your legal rep is going up,
your positive rep with any guilds is going down. Two or three quests a year
should fix this. By travelling back and forth, cautiously, from Daggerfall to
the far side of Wayrest and back, I managed to get back from scoundrel to
common citizen in three years (game time :-). So I moved up a bit more than
one rung in three years. If you were hated, I estimate it would take
something like 15 years to return to respectability.
If you want to raise your rep, there are a very few quests that may help, and
only one of them is reliable. Even with that, your chance of success is only
1 in 3. The one we recommend is a merchant quest that involves turning the
merchant you're supposed to be guarding over to the guards. The big problem
with this quest is that there are several different groups that might be
after this guy and you can't tell before they show up to take him away which
group it is.
Failing all this, there is a rep editor you can use to erase past mistakes.
Look for it at (http://www.honesty.com/jackel/dagger/files/dagfiles.html).
2.6 I am stuck with the initial thieves guild quest. I stole the shirt and
there was a piece of paper in it with three words on it. what do I do with
that?
A. The three words are a place and the name of the person you need to contact
there. Sometimes there are only two words on the paper. In this case, the
person has a one word name. The place you need to go to is always in the same
province as the town you stole the shirt (or whatever random item of clothing
you were asked to steal).
Section 3: Ships and Houses
3.1 What good is a house?
3.2 What good is a ship?
3.3 I put my things into my cupboard and now they've vanished!
3.1 What good is a house?
A. At the most technical, it's a place to store spare stuff. You can drop it
in the floor, and it'll be there when you get back. Other than that, it
doesn't have much game use. See ships for something more _technically_
useful. For us hardcore fanatics, a house is more than just a place to store
our stuff. A house is where our alternate identity LIVES. It's nice to finish
up a quest, and come home, take off your adamantium boots, and chill for a
bit. It adds to the ambiance of the game.
3.2 What good is a ship?
A. Like a house, a ship is a good place to store stuff. However, it also
allows for zero cost for traveling by ship. It can also be accessed from
anywhere, simply by changing travel mode to "Ship". This makes it much more
useful in a house.
However, in the opinion of many hardcore fanatics, a ship takes away from the
ability to suspend disbelief. The ability to board it with the click of a
button, the fact that you can't go into port and see your ship among others,
etc. takes away from the ambiance, IMHO.
3.3 I put my things into my cupboard and now they've vanished!
A. Things in the cupboard just vanish. The latest patch doesn't fix this, it
just denies access to the cupboard. Advice: just leave stuff on the floor.
Section 4: Vampires and Werewolves
4.1 How do I become a werewolf/vampire?
4.2 Why do I just die instead of becoming undead?
4.3 Where do I find these weres/vamps?
4.4 How do I get Hircine's Ring to work?
4.5 Being a vamp/lycanthrope is too boring/easy. How do I get cured?
4.1 How do I become a werewolf/vampire?
A. Just as the legends state, to become either one, you have to get bit.
Every time one of these successfully hits you, there is a small chance of
contracting the disease. So, just find one, save your game and take the
punishment for as long as you can take it, heal, take it some more, and then
rest. You'll see a video if you've got it. Within days, you'll have all the
advantages and disadvantages of being a were or a vamp. If this fails, just
reload before you took the beating, and do it again.
4.2 Why do I just die instead of becoming undead?
A. Besides bestowing vampirism, vampires can also transmit a fatal disease.
Sometimes you'll get both. This will kill you even if you have successfully
contracted vampirism. You'll have to either reload and try again, or get
cured and try again.
4.3 Where do I find these weres/vamps?
A. The fighters guild has a quest asking you to hunt down a were, though it
could be either a wolf or a boar. There's a main quest in which a maid in
Castle Daggerfall sends you to a dungeon, where there is always at least one
werewolf. There is also a wereboar in the quest for the Hircine Ring.
Scourg Barrow, which you'll be sent to during a quest for Princess Morgiah of
Wayrest, has a few vamps. Other than that, you basically will see these
monsters randomly as befits your level.
4.4 How do I get Hircine's Ring to work?
A. The purpose of Hircine's ring is to remove the disadvantages of being a
were. If you are a were, and you equip it, you'll never feel the need to hunt
the innocent, nor will you change against your will when at the full moon.
You can also change as many times a day as you wish.
If you are not a were, it will do absolutely nothing.
4.5 Being a vamp/lycanthrope is too boring/easy. How do I get cured?
A. There are several ways to go about this. One way is to wait for the letter
from the hunters for directions on how to do this. About a year after you are
infected, hunters of vampires or lycanthropes will contact you. They will
tell you how to get cured. Alternately, there are covens in towns that can
send you on a quest to deliver a potion to a mages guild. Drinking the potion
will cure you of the curses of lycanthropy or vampirism. There is one such
coven in Gothway Gardens, South of Gondyn's Supply Store and one in
Daggerfall just across from the thieves guild. All covens found in towns are
associated with Glenmoril Wyrd.
Section 5: Cheatmode and Magic Item Repair
5.1 How do I enable and employ cheatmode?
5.2 I've got a broken magic item and I'm wondering where could I go to have
it repaired?
5.1 How do I enable and employ cheatmode?
A. First you need to have patch 213 in place. You should be using this latest
(and apparently last) patch even if you never enable any cheats. It will save
you a lot of grief. You can get it as well as a utility called fixsave, which
you will probably need sooner or later, at Bethesda's website
(http://www.bethsoft.com).
Once you have patch 213 in place, you need to create a new variable,
cheatmode and set it to one. To enable cheatmode add the line "cheatmode 1"
to your z.cfg file. Instructions on how to do this are included with the
patch. (Note - be careful to make a copy of your z.cfg file before changing
anything. Also, when changing this file, be sure to save it as an plain text
file ie: using notepad or saving as an ascii file.)
The patch enables some great cheats. There is a list of them somewhere in the
doc, as well as a description of the hot keys that enable them. The one that
cycles you through the spots where the quest monster/item might be is perhaps
the most useful, but I also like the "cheat" that lets you move at superspeed
through towns, something I found rather tedious at normal speed. There
another "cheat" that teleports you out of the void. Sometimes you die upon
return, but casting slowfalling prior to pressing alt-f11 will prevent this.
Frankly, the cheats are essential if you plan to win the game, or at the very
least enjoy it.
Discovered by TM the DM is an alternate use for alt-F11. When not in the
void, and just after restoring a save, alt-F11 will teleport you to the
entrance of any dungeon. Certainly one of the most useful of the "cheats" and
an immense boon to daggerfallers everywhere, particularly those who play
characters without magic or with limited spell points who don't have the
ability to cast a recall spell.
Once you have cheatmode installed, just hit one of the bracket keys, "[" or
"]", to move around in the dungeon. Wherever you need to go, you'll be sent
to that location, as well as several others. Since it's a random choice
between spots, the cheat just sends you to all of them, one at a time of
course.
5.2 I've got a broken magic item and I'm wondering where could I go to have
it repaired?
A. There is nowhere that will repair such items. If you want something done
right, you'll have to do it yourself. First, you need to create a new
variable, magicrepair and set it to one. Add the line "magicrepair 1" to your
z.cfg file.
Now you will need to be 5th rank in either the mages guild or temple
Julianos. (5th rank in the guild, not 5th level as a character.) At this
exalted rank, you will be able to fashion magic items using the guild's item
maker. (Note - this is not cheap.) Create two items with the power 'repairs
objects' and after that any time you rest, your magic items will
automatically be repaired. Note that fast travel does not count in this
regard.
WARNING - the game designers never intended for magic items to be in use all
the time. They were intended only as emergency items to enable the character
to survive fights he otherwise couldn't. So keeping magic items in constant
use may destroy game balance by making the game too easy.
Section 6: Miscellany
6.1 How do I use torches?
6.2 How do you buy things in the stores? When I click on the storekeeper
nothing happens.
6.1 How do I use torches?
A. There are some items that do nothing in the game. These include torches,
bandages, oil, lanterns, parchment, holy daggers, holy tomes, prayer beads,
holy symbols. Most of these items can be sold at pawn shops. Holy tomes and
daggers in particular are worth a lot of gold.
6.2 How do you buy things in the stores? When I click on the storekeeper
nothing happens.
A. To buy items you click on the shelves and not the storekeeper. Remember
that each set of shelves is different. If you only click on one, you might
miss some interesting items.
Section 7: Technical Stuff
7.1 What's the best setting for my Windows Daggerfall shortcut?
7.2 What's the best install size?
7.3 How do I play without the CD?
7.4 Could someone send me a free copy of Daggerfall?
7.1 What's the best setting for my Windows Daggerfall shortcut?
A. You need to turn off write behind Caching:
To turn off write caching, right click on MY COMPUTER, select properties,
then select file performance. From the performance options selection file
system, then the troubleshooting tab. On the Troubleshooting options make
sure you check "disable write behind caching for all drives" (Right-click on
game icon) Select PROPERTIES - Under memory set EMS to NONE, XMS and
CONVENTION to AUTO, SET DPMI to 24MB. Set Initial Environment to 2048.
Also under its "Properties" set:
•- Do not allow screensaver •- Always Suspend in background •- Usage: Full
Screen •- Mouse Exclusive
Make sure that you UNCHECK CLOSE ON EXIT.
Make sure that you UNCHECK SUGGEST DOS MODE IF NECESSARY.
DO NOT attempt to run the game form the AUTORUN.
Have a small 2 line CONFIG.SYS on your C root directory:
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
FILES=90
7.2 What's the best install size?
A. So far as I know, the "Average" install size should be adequate,
particularly if you have a fast CD ROM. Higher sizes will continue to improve
the smoothness of play. A "Huge" install size is necessary to pull off the
playing without the CD trick (which, from what I hear, is as smooth as it
gets).
7.3 How do I play without the CD?
A. First of all, let it be known that the people of the newsgroup do not
appreciate software piracy. This known, I will now explain how this is done,
often because of a slow CD-ROM, the desire to play other music through Win95,
etc...
To run daggerfall without the cd you do the following:-
1. Install daggerfall with the largest install size (about 450Mb).
2. Copy all the files from the arena2 directory on the cd into arena2 on your
hard disk. There should only be a few that aren't already on there.
3. Install the CompUSA patch.
4. Install patch 213.
5. Install the latest version of Fixsave (v1.75).
6. Change the setting in z.cfg that shows where the cd path is to the arena2
directory on hard disk, e.g. pathcd=c:\dagger\arena2
7. Make a batch file that reads as follows:-
@echo off
set dos4gvm=@dagger.vmc
fall.exe z.cfg
Name this something other than dagger.bat if you are running DF from DOS. If
you just key in dagger, it will run dagger.exe instead.
7.4 Could someone send me a free copy of Daggerfall?
A. No. End of discussion.
Section 8: Beyond Daggerfall
8.1 What's the latest news on the sequel to Daggerfall? What about
Battlespire, Redguard, etc...
A. Ok. Let me explain how Bethesda does this. Unlike most companies, Bethesda
doesn't operate a particular world in strictly one genre. The TES series is
the freeform roleplaying Daggerfall is so well known for. This includes
Arena, Daggerfall, and will include Morrowind and Oblivion, when they come
out.
Battlespire also takes place in the same world (Empire of Tamriel), but is
more of a single dungeon crawl, in the tradition of Doom, Hexen, Heretic,
etc. Many complain how it's nowhere near as good as Daggerfall, but it's just
plain not supposed to be. It's an entirely different game.
Redguard will be an adventure game, in the tradition of Final Fantasy, Dragon
Warrior, the Zelda series, and other more rigid "RPG's" which include
cutscenes, cinematics, etc. Like Battlespire, it's not meant as a sequel to
Daggerfall, and should not be compared to it.
The most recent release date I've seen for Morrowind is late 1999, but that
isn't written in stone, so don't get your hopes up. Just search the web for
Morrowind, you should be able to find a little info.
Section 9: Websites
9.1 Where can I get more info about Daggerfall? How about utilities?
A. We heartily recommend:
- Beginner's Guide to Daggerfall:
http://members.aol.com/MarStinson/dagger/DF_Title.html
- The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages:
http://www.m0use.net/~uesp/
BIG site!
-Daggerfall: An Enthusiast's Guide
http://www.jceason.dircon.co.uk/dagger/dfindex.htm
A site I wish had been around when I was just starting out.
Section 0: Credits and Thanks
compiled by Tarvok (tarvok@xoommail.com) and George IV (Georgethe4@AOL.com)
Special thanks to:
Brute Dragon
DBussio
Silent
Jeff Sandmeier
Jeroen Vermeulen
The one and only Magnus Itland