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DAGGERFALL Hintfile by Khatti

TES: DAGGERFALL is the Ultimate non-linear game. You are free to go anywhere
you want and develop your character as you see fit. There is no way to write
a classic step-by-step walkthrough for it. This little helpguide is merely
designed to help get you started and on your way to enjoying the biggest most
comprehensive gaming experience ever!

THE BEGINNING
GENNING YOUR CHARACTER
You will probably want to try DAGGERFALL with several different character races
and classes. Some are much easier than others. If you are new to the world of
TES you may want to start out with one of the easier classes and go on to the
more challenging ones as you gain experience and new strategies.
Listed below are the different races of characters you can choose from:
Argonian from Black Marsh
Khajiit from Elsweyr
Nord from Skyrim
Dark Elf from Marrowind
Redguard from Hammerfell
Breton from High Rock
High Elf from Summerset
Wood Elf from Valenwod

Each race has its own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses,
which are detailed in your Game manual.

I prefer the option where you can choose your character's class
or create a custom chracter.
Classes to choose from are:
Mage Burglar
Spellsword Rogue
Battlemage Thief
Sorcerer Assassin
Healer Archer
Acrobat Ranger
Nightblade Barbarian
Bard Warrior
Custom Knight

Many players enjoy using the Spellsword which is one of the most versatile
classes in TES. Spellswords are excellent fighters and spellcasters and among
the easiest to start out the game with.
Nightblades are more challenging, since they do not get the Ebony Dagger or
Shock Spell in the beginning of the game.

Custom characters are also often excellent since you create them to your own
specifications. When assigning Advantages to your Custom character, keep an eye
on the Arrow that indicates the ease or difficulty of going up levels. If you
overload your hero with Advantages and don't balance things out with
Disadvantages your character will be at Level One for a long time--and Level
Two,and so on. This will get old very soon--even if you did create a super
duper fighter, if he never levels he won't get far. So remember to balance your
Advantages out with Disadvantages and keep the Red level indicator Arrow as
close to the center as possible.
I usually chose only a few basic Advantages, such as skill with a particular
weapon,magic skill and perhaps regeneration or resistance to disease. The least
harmful Disadvantages are No Shields (since the best weapons are two-handed
anyway), and perhaps Forbidding a material such as Iron or Steel. When chosing
Skills (Primary, Major & Minor) remember the system for leveling in Daggerfall
(Determined by raises in any of your Primary Skills, the two top Major Skills
and your Highest Minor Skill--for Level 2 it takes two raises in these, after
that it takes 15 cumulative). With that in mind be sure and choose Skills that
you will be utilizing often. The ones I have found to go up most frequently are:
Your Weapon of Choice,ie "Long Blade",Critical Strike, Destruction--if you cast
spells like Fireball (which you can also practice in your Room during those
long, lonely nights), Stealth,Swimming (After you start exploring dungeons with
the Water Breathing spell),Lockpicking, Mercantile (used when shopping), Medical
(used when resting and healing), Dodging (used when fighting), Alteration (goes
up when using spells like Water Breathing and Invisibilty), Jumping and Climbing
and Running (which are easy to practice when travelling about town--keep your
"Run" button down, climb up walls and buildings and jump everywhere).
For Shifter (my PC)--(the updated version uploaded in Library 8)--I put in the
following Skills:
PRIMARY: Long Blade, Destruction, Critical Strike.
MAJOR: Stealth, Swimming, Lockpicking.
MINOR: Mercantile, Medical, Dodging, Alteration, Jumping and Climbing.
His Advantages are Long Blade, Mage Skill 1.75 x INT, and Regen (General).
Disadvantages are All Shield types, Steel, Blunt Weapons.
Because Short Blade isn't one of his top Skills, he didn't level til I got to
Daggerfall and "Trained" at the Fighter's Guild in Critical Strike. He then
purchased an Elven Dai-Katana (thanks to a bank loan). He will now be regularly
employing all of his top Skills in his Dungeon explorations.


It is ideal to try to balance your character out with decent fighting skills and
adequate magical ability. But you can emphasize one or the other as well. It
is more of a struggle to start out a character with weak fighting skills, but
finishing the game with such a hero gives a true feeling of accomplishment.
Daggerfall has a character and class for every type of player.

I never use the "Fast Start" option, as I prefer to answer the questions to
further customize my character's background and skills. Read the questions and
options carefully and answer with the most advantageous development of your
character in mind. If you are given an opportunity to get the Ebony Dagger, take
it! This is the most important weapon in the early part of the
game and characters who do not receive it are at a definite disadvantage. You
can survive without the Ebony Dagger, but it takes a great deal of strategy--and
probably more "Restores".

The game offers a chance to use tutorial, which is not a bad idea for first time
TES players.

After the Introduction video, you find yourself in the Starter Dungeon:
Privateer's Hold. You have had an accident at sea and ended up in a strange
cave.
For now you are safe in this room, no monsters are roaming yet, so let's take
this opportunity to get to know your character better. Study the icons and
become familiar with them.
Clicking on the character's face will bring up the Character Screen where your
vital statistics are displayed. These are described in the manual, but I will
just touch on them to give you an idea of what they mean and how they affect
your game.
AFFILIATIONS: You won't have any of these at first. To get them you need to
get out of the Starter Dungeon and into town where you can join some Guilds
and Temples. Once you do this, all of the ones you belong to will be listed
here, along with your Rank. Remember, you are only evaluated for Promotion in
Temples and Guilds once a month, so don't expect to go up everytime you
complete a quest!
SKILLS: You need to develop these to go up levels. So make sure you are using
and developing your top Skills in each category: Primary, Major, Minor. To
level you need to advance in any of your Primary, the top two Major and highest
Minor Skill. To go to level 2 requires 2 raises in any of these. After that
you need 15 raises.
LOG: Keeps track of your current quests. Good to refer to when you forget where
you are supposed to go or how to spell it! Quests will vanish from your Log as
you complete them or when time runs out.
SPELLBOOK: Lists your available spells. The Spellbook can also be accessed from
the Adventure Screen.
INVENTORY: Also accessible from Adventure Screen.
HISTORY: Is your personal story correlating with the answers you gave when
genning your PC. If you are using a Custom Character, you will be able to view
his Advantages and Disadvantages here.

Adventure Screen Icons:
STARBURST: Brings up your Spellbook. Double click on the spell you wish to
cast. The spells you start out with vary somewhat according to your character
class.
HAND HOLDING WAND: Brings up any magic items you may have in your inventory so
that you can use them.
ACTION ICON: (Observe, Steal, Grab, Talk)
Pay attention to which icon is visible--it makes a difference, especially when
in towns. If you are out to get info from the townfolk, be sure the Talk icon
is on and not the Steal icon. People get really mad when you try to steal from
them--even if you didn't mean to! Can also land you in jail or in a major fight
with the town guards. The Thieve's Guild may be impressed, though. Another
problem is having the Information Icon (Eye) visible--normally it will not allow
you to talk--will just tell you who you are facing. "You see so and so". But
you will need to use it to identify buildings when you are looking for a
particular residence or store. Simply click on a building and it will
automatically annotate on your map.
If you run into a store that is not opened, bring up the "Eye" icon and click on
the store and it will tell you the store's--Temple's or Guild's--operating hours.
That way you know how long you need to loiter.
You need to use the Grab Icon to climb ladders. Click on a rung and you will be
up to the top in no time.
INVENTORY: (Two tied bags) This option will show a picture of your character
with all of the clothing, armor and weapons he is currently using. The small
numbers are the Armor Class. Across the top of the screen are listed all of
the types of items you may have in your inventory:
Weapons & Armor
Magic Items
Clothing & Miscl
Ingredients (For making potions)
Click on each of them to see what you have.
At first you won't have much to see--a few weapons and maybe a piece of armor,
perhaps a torque and a Spellbook. Your character didn't get out of the
shipwreck with much to aid him in his quest.
Options going Up and Down the Inventory Screen:
Left-Hand Side: Shows equipable accessories: Amulets, Bracelets, Rings,
Bracers, Marks and Crystals.
Right-Hand Side: (Wagon, Info, Equip, Remove, Use, Gold)
These can take a little getting used to--you need to pay attention to which one
is highlighted when you click on items in your inventory, on your character or
on a dead monster.
WAGON: Obviously you don't have one yet, but you will probably want to pick one
up as soon as you can get to a town and buy one. A Wagon gives you the ability
to carry 1,000 kg of loot. A must in some of those HUGE Dungeons.
You cannot carry your wagon inside of a dungeon--but you can park it outside and
access it without actually leaving the dungeon; Which is a great feature, since
dungeons reset when you leave them. To move items to your Wagon, click on
"Wagon" then "Remove" and select the items you wish to put into your wagon.

INFO: Highlight it and click on an item in your inventory, on an item on a dead
monster or on a store shelf. It will tell you all about that item:
What it is; its Condition; its Worth, its Weight; and its Damage range if it is
a weapon, or Armor Class if it is armor.
EQUIP: Highlight it and click on an item--it will then equip it if your
character's class allows it to be used or worn. Clicking on an Item that is
already equipped will take it off of your PC and put it in your inventory.
REMOVE: Will take things off of your character or out of your inventory and
dump them in a pile on the floor. There will then be a pile of loot visible
where you dropped your items.
Items that are not in your inventory are shown in the far-right column. The
image at the top of the column illustrates where the items in it are.
If it shows "dirt", items are on the ground; if guts, it is on a dead
monster; etc.
**Be sure the REMOVE button is highlighted when looting a dead monster.
The game defaults at EQUIP--which you obviously don't want to do with each
item you find on a dead enemy.
USE: Highlight this button and click on notes that you receive in order to read
them, or to perform any action with an item in your inventory. If you "USE"
certain items of clothing (like shirts) they will change in style.
GOLD: Shows you how much gold you have (also shown on Character Screen) and
gives you the option to drop some or all of it. You probably won't do this
very often--a bank is a much better place for your gold. And once dropped, Gold
is gone forever. It does not show up as a pile on the floor.

That is it for the Inventory Screen--now back to the Adventure Screen.

EQUIP WEAPON (Crossed Swords): Does just that.

AUTOMAP: Right Click if you are in a Dungeon or a Town. In a Dungeon there
are two types of maps: The 3-D and the flat one you look down on (but still
need to raise and lower because it will often be several layers thick). Click
on the grid to change map types.
The 3-D map is different than the usual ones you may have seen before and it
takes some getting used to, however it is very informative once you become
expert at using it. After you have explored the Starter Dungeon a little,
practice using the function keys (Top to Bottom, Left to Right, Rotate Left
and Right and Up and Down) until you can make the map give you the information
you desire.
The little Yellow shape on the left hand side of the map shows you your
orientation as to the Dungeon exit. As the dots get closer together you are
closer to the exit--but may be several levels above or below it!

The Town Map: Is color-coded: Guilds and Temples=Blue; Shops=Orange; and
Taverns=Green.
If you walk through the town with your Info icon (Eye) on and Right Click on
Buildings, the Building's identity will be automatically recorded onto your
Automap.
Certain secret Guilds, like the Thieves' Guild and the Dark Brotherhood will
not show up on your map until you have become a member.
Right Clicking on the Map icon brings up the Regional Map.
You can click on the province or town you wish to go to and travel. If you
only know the name and not the location of a place you wish to visit, you
have the option to type it in. You can also select what appears on your map--
Towns, Temples, Dungeons, Homes--by clicking on those buttons.

CAMPFIRE (Rest Icon): This icon gives you the option to rest for a specified
number of hours or until you are fully healed. In a dungeon you will usually
want to rest until you are fully healed; in an Inn you will usually rest for
as many hours as it takes for the next morning to arrive. Or you can Rest until
Healed and spend the remainder of the night practicing your Magic.
There is also an option to "Loiter". This is very handy when you are waiting
for a store or a Guild to open up. You can only Loiter for 3 hours at a time,
but you can Loiter more than once.

Clicking on the Compass will tell you Where you are, what time it is, the Date
and your current Reputation. It also tells you your state of Health. If you