Walkthrough for Daggerfall

General Information

What is Daggerfall?

The Elder Scrolls Chapter 2: Daggerfall is the sequel to the award-winning role-playing game TES: Arena, released in 1993. Daggerfall is a "free-form" first-person perspective role-playing game — free-form meaning the player has a large, sometimes infinite, choice of what to do, rather than having to complete tasks in a fixed order. See the Features section for a detailed description of what Daggerfall includes.

The Game

The Daggerfall game is available for free on Steam nowadays!

The dungeon is off the Pit of Jagadha and consists of four 8×8×8 3D blocks. Each block loosely has eight "levels" — featuring partial levels, intersecting ramps, stairs, balconies, overhangs, and rooms with different ceiling heights. Be prepared to get lost.

System Requirements

Minimum system requirements:

486DX2/50 MHz IBM PC or compatible running DOS 5.0+
8 MB RAM (16 MB strongly recommended)
512–540 KB Base Memory
2× CD-ROM Drive
VLB or PCI VGA graphics card
Minimum 30 MB Hard Drive Space
Sound card: Aria, Ensoniq, Roland, SoundBlaster, or UltraSound (Bethesda uses the Miles Design sound drivers)
Joystick or Microsoft-compatible mouse

Sequels

Whether add-on mission disks will be released for Daggerfall depends on the volume of requests Bethesda receives. Bethesda does plan a Gold Enhanced Edition of Daggerfall.

The sequel, The Elder Scrolls Chapter 3, may run under SVGA and will probably not be a native Windows 95 application. You will be able to import your character from Daggerfall, including the opinions that various NPC types have formed about your character.

Features

TES: Daggerfall is set in the area of Tamriel surrounding the Iliac Bay, bordered by the provinces of Hammerfell and High Rock. Daggerfall includes many additions and improvements over the Arena gameworld.

Engine & Graphics

Built with Bethesda's new full 3D X(n)gine™ — also used in The Tenth Planet and Terminator: Future Shock. An SGI Machine was used to create the engine. Features unrestricted viewing angles, complete freedom of movement, full 360° rotation with fully textured polygons, multiple shaded light sources, VGA graphics, and specialised video effects.
The X(n)gine can generate weather such as snow, sleet, and fog, as well as realistic shading and a fully contoured fractal terrain. Players can stop by a stream and watch a waterfall while listening to ambient sounds of birds and running water.
3D accelerated graphics board support is planned but will not be included in the initial release. The refresh rate averages 16–20 frames per second with no ceiling.
A fully topographical landscape with elevations marked every 6 metres — an area the size of Turkey.
Thousands of towns, fortresses, and villages to explore.
Texture maps considerably more complex and detailed than Arena's, allowing for larger, even multi-story buildings.
Surface-dependent walking sounds.

Plot & Story

Much improved plot over Arena: your character is asked to undertake a special mission for the Emperor and obtain artifacts before rival factions at the court of Daggerfall can use them to instigate an uprising. The investigation reveals stories of madness, unrequited love, dark sorcery, seduction, betrayal, and a plot to recreate a powerful force from thousands of years past.
The plot is far more active than Arena's, involving many NPC types — for example, you can arrive at a town to find it under siege.
Keeping with the TES open-ended philosophy, it is technically possible to win by working against the Emperor.
Conversation is handled via a menu-driven branching system with the new ability to select your conversational goal.

World & Exploration

Adventure in intricately designed caves, castles, homes, highlands, lowlands, rivers, cliffs, sand dunes, swamps, underwater environments, and different dimensions.
Many objects in the world have mass and can be moved or picked up; they obey normal laws of physics including inertia. Some objects — such as houses and pebbles — cannot be moved.
Buy and use houses, castles, ships, and other crafts. Property can be furnished with furniture and treasure, with an option to protect against burglary.
Travel from town to town by foot, horseback, horse-drawn carriage, or ship. You can be attacked while using any of these transport methods.
Use banks to safely deposit gold, obtain letters of credit, and take out 1- or 3-year loans to finance large purchases.
Join guilds, temples, and knightly orders to enhance your character's reputation with various social groups; trade goods and services, or even smuggle.
Eavesdropping ability.
You can choose an option so that terrain affects your constitution.
Read virtual books graphically covering aspects of Tamriel.
Layout of major dungeons is fixed, as in Arena. Random dungeons will be more variable than those in Arena. Unlike Arena, there are no dungeon riddles.

NPCs & Interaction

Greatly improved player interaction with NPCs, both in dialogue and action. Completing a mini-quest will be remembered positively or negatively by a particular NPC social group, a specific NPC, their family, their allies or enemies, or all of the above.
Daggerfall tracks your character's reputation with each NPC type — this carries over even into later games in the TES series.
Player language skills reflect specific groups and social affiliations and affect NPC interactions. Character clothing, weapons, and armour — all of which can be changed in shops — also affect NPC interactions.
NPC types interact with each other and many have allies and enemies. You may get caught in the crossfire.

Magic & Spells

New spells include Identify, Polymorph, Shadow, Slowfall, Telekinesis, Teleportation, Waterbreathing, and Water Walking — 78 standard spell types in total.
Create more unusual and powerful spells with the Spellmaker.
Customisable spell duration icon that flashes towards the end of the spell period.
Create potions and magical items as an extension of Arena's SpellMaker. Like in character creation, items can be made more powerful if a side effect is included.
Magical items appear with a green background in your inventory.
The imbalance in Arena towards spellcasting classes has been partly addressed: all non-spellcasting classes in Daggerfall receive spell points equal to half their Intelligence.

Character Creation & Advancement

Each created character must take 3 primary skills, 3 major skills, and 6 minor skills. Characters begin naturally better at primary and major skills. Advancement of primary and major skills causes the character to advance in their class level.
Customisable character classes: characters can take up to 7 special advantages/disadvantages, which increase or decrease the experience needed to reach the next level.
A standard character generator similar to Arena is available, including all 18 character types from that game.
Bethesda has reduced the potential power of high-level characters. High-level characters will face high-level monsters. Unlike Arena, an orc remains a weak monster regardless of your level increasing.
Import your old Arena character into Daggerfall, or begin a new one. Most spells can be transferred over.

Other Features

Advanced, multi-channel, digitised sound effects and music. A large variety of song and ballad lyrics written especially for Daggerfall.
A large variety of quests and adventures offered by individuals and guilds.
Random monster encounters largely eliminated; they occur only where they have a direct relationship to the plot, or in a "cleared-out" dungeon after a period of time.
A new ChildGuard feature allows parents to set the amount of violence and sex displayed, with password protection.
CD-ROM only.
Supported Virtual Reality Helmets: Virtual I/O, CyberMaxx, Forte VFX1.

Notable Screenshots & Characters

The following notable characters appear in Daggerfall dialogue portraits:

Lady Northbridge — diplomatic
One of the mysterious Dark Brothers
Baron Shrike of Lainlyn — tyrannical
The indiscreet Queen Mother of Daggerfall
The Acolyte — noble
Shaman Charvek-si
King Gothryd of Daggerfall
Nulfaga — King Gothryd's grandmother; the mad witch
Britsa — a priestess
The UnderKing — horrific; one of the most powerful antagonists in Daggerfall
The Oracle — revered
Queen Aubk-i of Daggerfall — unfortunate
The Lord-General of Daggerfall
Karethys — a dark-elven sorceress
Popudax — the ineffectual mage
Baroness Dh'emka of Lainlyn
Cameron — the late king of Sentinel, preparing for battle at his castle in Hammerfell
A Daedra Seducer welcoming you into her temple
Lady Flyte — featured in a clandestine balcony meeting

Notable locations depicted in screenshots include The Pit of Jagadha, the Dungeon of Citainth, the village of Straclyde (north of the Wayrest city-state), the town of Anticlere, and the village of Abibon-Gora on the south end of the Iliac Bay. A fight with a brood of wereboars was photographed in Bothidori Marsh.

Encounters

Note: The following is compiled from dissecting the demo files and verifying details with Bethesda where practicable, with some educated guesses. Exact details may change at short notice.

Monster Types

There are 43 main monster types, plus approximately 100 subtypes varying by colour and characteristic. An ! indicates you can learn the monster's language, potentially allowing negotiation (the Tongues spell temporarily has the same effect). A # indicates the monster can be encountered in the demo. Special attacks and defences are noted in parentheses, followed by recommended combat strategies in italics.

Ancient Lich # — spellcasting, normal weapon immunity. Get in a straight line of fire, as close as possible without meleeing. Cast Shield, Spell Absorption, and as many Fireballs as required.
Centaur !
Daedra Lord !
Daedra Seducer !
Dragonling !
Dreugh #
Flesh Atronach
Fire Atronach
Fire Daedra !# — fire resistance, spellcasting. Use spell reflection; cast Cold spells.
Frost Daedra !# — cold resistance, spellcasting. Use spell reflection; cast Fire spells.
Gargoyle
Ghost # — silence, paralysation.
Giant !
Giant Bat
Giant Eel
Giant Scorpion
Grizzly Bear
Harpy !
Horse
Ice Atronach
Imp ! — vulnerable to magic.
Iron Atronach
Lamia
Lesser Daedra !# (also known as Daedroth) — normal weapon immunity. Use offensive spells.
Lich # — spellcasting, normal weapon immunity. Get in a straight line of fire, as close as possible without meleeing. Cast Shield, Spell Absorption, and as many Fireballs as required.
Mummy
Nymph !
Orc
Orc Sergeant
Orc Shaman # — spellcasting. At higher character levels, conventional weapons are more effective than spell reflection and offensive spells.
Orc Warlord #
Plesiosaurus
Rat — disease.
Sabertooth Tiger
Skeleton Warrior # (also known as Skeletal Warrior)
Spider #
Spriggan ! — regeneration.
Vampire — normal weapon immunity, spellcasting, vampirism.
Vampire Ancient
Wereboar — normal weapon immunity, lycanthropy.
Werewolf — normal weapon immunity, lycanthropy.
Wraith # — spellcasting, normal weapon immunity. Use spell reflection; cast offensive spells.
Zombie

Additional creatures that exist in Daggerfall but fall outside the 43 main monster types:

Daedra Prince
Dragon ! (also known as Wyrm)
Slaughterfish

Creatures whose status is uncertain or part of Tamriel folklore:

Dwarf
Giant Goblin
Golem
Troll

There are also 12 major antagonist NPC types you will encounter, including the UnderKing, monks, nightblades, and faeries (fey).

NPC Factions & Power Ratings

There are some 295 NPC types in Daggerfall, whether nobility, laymen, humanoids, professions, nations, or one of 20 distinct factions. Their characteristics can be found in the factions.txt document included with the demo. These NPC types will form opinions of your character based on your actions — opinions that carry over even into sequels. NPC types also interact with each other, with allies and enemies; you may get caught in the crossfire.

Top NPC factions by power rating (those most likely to affect your game in the long run):

Name	Power
Daggerfall	8,000
Wayrest	8,000
Sentinel	6,000
Lainlyn	5,000
Oblivion	5,000
Satakalaam	5,000
The Septim Empire	5,000
Abibon-Gora	4,500
Mournoth	4,500
Archmagister	4,000
Dwynnen	4,000
Menevia	4,000

Examples of lower-power NPCs you will also encounter:

Name	Power
Cyndassa	5
Lord Auberon Flyte	5
Lord Plessington	5
The Acolyte	5

Random Events

Tamriel is divided into 65 towns and regions for the purpose of generating random events, which further enrich your Daggerfall experience. Note that some events have multiple stages (e.g. War Beginning → War → War Won/Lost). Types of random events include:

Bad Harvest
Crime
Famine
Mad Wizard Nearby
New Ruler
Plague
Prices Down / Prices Up
War / War Lost / War Won
Witch Burnings

Artifacts

Arena had 16 artifacts. Daggerfall includes 13 of these — all except the Ring of Phynaster, Oghma Infinium, and King Orgnum's Coffin. There are no artifacts in the demo.

How to Obtain Artifacts

While holding one artifact, you cannot receive another artifact quest. To work around this: go to a shop (or bank?) and leave your artifact for repair — it can only be repaired if it is below maximum charge. Then get another artifact quest in your log book, pick up your repaired artifact(s), and proceed on the quest for the new one.

To trigger an artifact quest, ask an NPC 10–20 times. If after 3–4 requests you receive "I know nothing"-type replies, move on to another NPC. Eventually you will be directed to someone like "A is at Inn B trying to sell a map to find artifact C." Go to that person to negotiate a price for the artifact rumour. If you don't want that particular artifact, repeat the process — all artifacts you do not yet have should eventually be mentioned.

When on an artifact quest, the map to the second dungeon will be in a chest on the 4th level of the first dungeon. The artifact itself is on the 4th level of the second dungeon, which is in a different province to the first dungeon.

Usage Notes

Normal class restrictions apply — e.g. mages cannot use the Ebony Blade, as it is a katana.
Artifact rings and amulets can be worn simultaneously with their normal counterparts.
Each artifact disappears after a fixed number of uses (the number increases with your character's level) and then must be obtained again through a quest.
You can extend an artifact's life by not using its artifact properties, or by having it repaired (restoring its original charge count from when first found).
Repairing artifacts in Arena was normally expensive. Whether Daggerfall contains the Arena bug allowing artifact repair for 13 gold by a shopkeeper in under 15 hours is unknown.

Artifact Statistics

Columns: Type / Weight (kg) / Condition When Found / Unhaggled Rumour Price (gold pieces) / Properties

Artifact	Type	Weight (kg)	Condition	Price (gp)	Properties
Auriel's Bow	Elven LongBow	1	New	800	−3 AC overall; damage 2–12; fires a spell (save vs. Magic) that kills; invulnerability to lesser attacks
Auriel's Shield	Kite Ebony Shield	8	?	710	−3 AC overall; fire and magick resistance
Chrysamere	Claymore	14	New	560	Damage 2–18; heals; resist fire; reflect spells
Ebony Blade	Ebony Sword	6	New	?	Damage 3–16; unknown death spell; save vs. magic
Ebony Mail	Ebony Plate Armour	16	?	?	AC −9 overall; resist fire and spells; shielded
Lord's Mail	Plate Armour	16	New	500	Torso −9 AC; resist spells; regenerate; cure poison
Necromancer's Amulet	Robes	N/A	?	680	−9 AC overall; absorb/reflect spells; regenerate; increases Intelligence
Ring of Khajiit	Ring	N/A	?	?	−6 AC overall; invisibility; user becomes non-target; increases Speed
Skeleton Key	Key	N/A	?	830	Once per day: unlocks non-magically locked doors or chests; skilled lockpickers can also open some magically locked doors
Spell Breaker	Tower Shield	?	?	?	Unknown
Staff of Magnus	Staff	3	New	590	Damage 1–8; regenerates hit points and spell points
Volendrung	Dwarven War Hammer	16	New	620	Damage 3–18; gives health to user; paralysis; leaches strength
Warlock's Ring	Ring	N/A	?	770	Reflects spells; increases Speed; heals

Bug Alert!

Bethesda has indicated there may be further bug fixes to the demo, including better code optimisation. The first five bugs listed below are well known to Bethesda and the company has promised to have them fixed for the full game. The remaining bugs may require some lobbying.

Picking up chain boots from a monster's inventory causes the game to crash.
Using the keyboard for movement is slower than the mouse.
There is no monster AI (e.g. dodging your attacks).
Monsters get stuck in walls.
It is occasionally possible to vanish into the void (the area outside the demo).
The character occasionally steers constantly to the left after having moved backwards.
When a monster dies close to a wall, you cannot access its treasure.
If you rest while your weapon is equipped, you often cannot re-equip it afterwards.
Helmet icons often have a black border.
Casting a spell while kneeling on a downward slope makes the spell effects appear to originate from above your head.
It is possible to see the black background behind where two walls meet when viewed from a certain angle.

About Bethesda Softworks

Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, Bethesda Softworks is the fourth largest privately held publisher of PC entertainment software. The company is the entertainment software division of Media Technology Limited, an international engineering research and development firm founded by members of the Architecture Machine Group at MIT.

Bruce Nesmith — Senior Producer

Bruce Nesmith joined Bethesda as Senior Producer in May 1995. Previously Creative Director of TSR for seven years, Nesmith created Ravenloft Campaign Setting, Dragonstrike Board Game, Introduction to AD&D, Gamma World Fourth Edition, and scores of other role-playing games. He is one of the most experienced designers in the role-playing community.

Julian LeFay — Chief Programmer

Julian LeFay is Chief Programmer of Bethesda, having joined shortly after its founding in 1987. He began programming in Europe in the early 1980s and became known as one of the best Amstrad and Amiga programmers of the era. His TES: Arena became the most award-winning role-playing game of 1995. He is currently finishing Daggerfall.

Christopher S. Weaver — President

Christopher Weaver is President of Bethesda and CEO of Media Technology Limited. Formerly Senior Technical Advisor and Chief Engineer to the House Subcommittee on Communications for the US Congress, Vice President of Science & Technology for the National Cable Association, and Director of the Office of Technology Forecasting for the American Broadcasting Company in New York. He holds numerous Masters and dual doctoral degrees from Wesleyan University and MIT. A member of the Directors Guild of America, the IEEE, the Society for Cable Television Engineers, and the American National Standards Committee.

Information Sources

Where to Find Daggerfall Information

The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages: <a href="http://www.newforce.ca/~jackel/esp/esp.html">http://www.newforce.ca/~jackel...</a>
Bethesda Softworks WWW Page: <a href="http://www.bethsoft.com">http://www.bethsoft.com</a>
Games Domain Site (HTML format): <a href="http://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain/faqs/dagerfal.html">http://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/GamesD...</a>
Happy Puppy Site: <a href="http://happypuppy.com/games/faqcht">http://happypuppy.com/games/fa...</a>
Usenet newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc, aus.games

Sources Used for This FAQ

Daggerfall Demo Documentation
Bethesda Softworks WWW Page
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), May 11–13, 1995
Computer Gaming World, January 1995 issue (Daggerfall preview)
Fiona Jenkins — Arena Artifact FAQ Author
Ted Peterson — Chief Designer, Daggerfall
Mosh Teitelbaum (Lonewolf) — Bethesda WWW Page Maintainer
Magazines: Computer Gaming World (1/95, 3/95, 8/95), Strategy Plus (8/95), PC Gamer (8/95), PC Power (8/95), Next Generation (11/95)

Since Daggerfall is the sequel to Arena, the TES: Arena FAQ may also be useful for understanding the type of game Daggerfall will be.

Wrap Up

This FAQ will grow substantially when Daggerfall is released, eventually providing gameplay tips, a walkthrough of the optional plot, and patch information.

The FAQ authors are also updating their website, the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, with further resources on the world of Tamriel.

Walkthrough forDaggerfall