Daggerfall:Bestiary

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This article provides an overview of the creatures in Daggerfall.

• 'Higher levels' generally refers to level 15 (at least) and higher
• The fighting strategies contain recommendations based on Daggerfall gamers' personal experiences. In general, spell reflection/absorption are very useful in fighting any monster which casts spells. If would be worth your while to invest in these spells or items which can cast them.
• If there is a certain material needed to hurt a monster, weapons of lower quality will not do any harm to the monster, even in case they are enchanted. When it comes to weapons, only the material is crucial, not whether it is an enchanted weapon (unlike in Morrowind or Oblivion).
• The sound file contains the monster's characteristic noise. Very often a monster can be heard long before it can be seen, so recognizing the sounds can prepare you for what awaits you in a dark dungeon. It will also make the task of finding your quest target a lot easier.

Contents 1 Animals 2 Monsters 3 Humanoids 4 Orcs 5 Lycanthropes 6 Atronachs 7 Undead 8 Daedra 9 Notes

[edit] Animals

Animals do not carry any treasure, though you may still retrieve arrows from their corpses. No special materials are required to harm animals.

Name	Appearance	Sound	HP	AC	DMG	Abilities	Fighting Strategies
Giant Bat		Sound	12-26	6	2-12	5% chance per hit of catching a disease. Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack can quickly dispatch these beasts although those afraid of catching a disease can use arrows or spells.
Giant Rat ¹ ²		Sound	9-16	6	1-4	5% chance per hit of catching a disease. Can be hit with any weapon. Immune to poison and disease.	Higher levels can quickly dispatch with one swing, but lower levels may wish to use ranged weapons to avoid disease.
Grizzly Bear		Sound	13-34	6	1-10	Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack.
Sabertooth Tiger		Sound	13-34	6	1-15	Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack.
Spider		Sound	13-34	5	5-15	Can paralyze. Can be hit with any material	Without immunity to paralysis, ranged attack is preferable (especially at lower levels). Quickly dispatched at higher levels in a melee attack.
Giant Scorpion		Sound	18-74	0	15-25	Can paralyze. Can be hit with any material.	Without immunity to paralysis, ranged attack is preferable (especially at lower levels). Quickly dispatched at higher levels in a melee attack.
Slaughterfish		Sound	15-50	6	2-12	Only found underwater. Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack. Larger and more eel-like than the slaughterfish found in Morrowind and Oblivion.

[edit] Monsters

Monsters are fantastic creatures with various magical abilities, ranging from magical attacks to various magical resistances, and may require special materials to harm. Some have an associated language skill. Also, unlike animals, you can usually find some treasure on them.

Name	Appearance	Sound	HP	AC	DMG	Abilities	Fighting Strategies
Centaur *		Sound	14-46	6	5-15 or by Weapon	Can be hit with any material	Melee attack
Dragonling *		Sound	14-42	6	5-15	Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack is best, beware the fiery breath for it is not a spell. It is heavily armored and can take a lot of hits, carries no treasure.
Dreugh		Sound	13-34	6	5-15	Only found underwater. Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack is quickest. One will notice this Water Dreugh is "less chitinous" than the one in Morrowind, to say nothing of Oblivion's Land Dreughs. An interesting evolution in the games from "human/octopus" hybrid to "humanoid crab".
Gargoyle		Sound	19-82	0	10-15	Can be hit with mithril and better. Resistance to magic.	Melee attack, carries no treasure.
Giant *		Sound	18-74	3	10-30	Can be hit with any weapon.	Melee attack is quickest.
Harpy *		Sound	16-58	2	2-15	5% chance per hit of catching a disease. Can be hit with dwarven or better.	Melee attack.
Imp * +		Sound	11-18	3	2-15	Casts: Chameleon Wizard's Fire Toxic Cloud Can be hit with steel or better.	Kill as quickly as possible, especially at low levels. Spell reflection/absorption is helpful.
Lamia		Sound	16-58	6	5-15	Only found underwater. Can be hit by any material. Drains fatigue on touch. Immune to paralysis, poison and disease. Resistance to magic. Regenerates HP in darkness. Regenerates HP while immersed in water. Adrenaline rush. Bonus to hit humanoids. Low tolerance to frost. Takes damage in holy places.	Ranged weapons avoid draining of fatigue.
Nymph ¹ ² *		Sound	15-50	0	1-5	Can be hit with silver or better. Drains fatigue on touch.	Nymphs can be easily dispatched with a melee attack.
Spriggan *		Sound	12-26	-4	1-10	Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack. Spriggans in the Bloodmoon expansion to Morrowind and the Spriggans in Oblivion have a different look, closer to traditional dryads.

[edit] Humanoids

Other humans can be encountered throughout the Iliac Bay. They're leveled with the player, and they can be fairly dangerous at higher levels. Like orcs, they carry equipment and fall into three categories:

• Warriors: Heavily armored, use ranged attacks.
• Mages: Cast spells. Spell reflection/absorption advised.
• Thieves: Lightly armored. Often attack rapidly, use ranged attacks.

Since spellcasters are leveled, they can't use all their spells at lower levels because of the lack of available magicka. At higher levels they have a sufficient supply of magical energy.

Name	Appearance	Sound	HP	AC	DMG	Abilities	Fighting Strategies
Acrobat		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Found with other thieves.
Archer		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Found with other warriors. Favors ranged attacks.
Assassin		(none)				Can be hit with any material. Poisoned weapons.	Only encountered during certain quests.
Barbarian		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Found with other warriors.
Bard		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Found with other thieves.
Burglar		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Found with other thieves.
Battlemage		(none)				Casts: Balyna's Antidote Fireball Free Action Lightning Shock Toxic Cloud Wizard Rend Can be hit with any material.	Found with other mages. Usually favors close combat spells. Spell reflection/absorption advised.
Guard		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Appears whenever you're wanted by the law.
Healer		(none)				Casts: Balyna's Antidote Fireball Free Action Lightning Shock Toxic Cloud Wizard Rend Can be hit with any material.	Found with other mages.
Knight		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Found with other warriors.
Mage		(none)				Casts: Balyna's Antidote Fireball Free Action Lightning Shock Toxic Cloud Wizard Rend Can be hit with any material.	Ranged attack avoids annoying damage spells encountered in melee. Spell reflection/absorption advised.
Monk		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Found with other warriors.
Nightblade		(none)				Casts: Balyna's Antidote Fireball Free Action Lightning Shock Toxic Cloud Wizard Rend Can be hit with any material.	Usually found with other thieves. Casts spells. Spell reflection/absorption advised.
Sorcerer		(none)				Can be hit with any material. Spell absorption.	Found with other mages. They don't have initial magicka; thus they act like warriors. Strangely the have no spells although they can absorb magicka.
Spellsword		(none)				Casts: Balyna's Antidote Fireball Free Action Lightning Shock Toxic Cloud Wizard Rend Can be hit with any material.	Found with other mages. Spell reflection/absorption advised.
Warrior		(none)				Can be hit with any material.	Found with other warriors.

[edit] Orcs

Hailing from Orsinium, these warriors can be found across the Iliac Bay. Like humanoids, their spoils include a good deal of equipment.

Name	Appearance	Sound	HP	AC	DMG	Abilities	Fighting Strategies
Orc ¹ *		Sound	13-34	7	1-6 or by Weapon	Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack.
Orc Sergeant ¹ ² *		Sound	15-50	5	5-15 or by Weapon	Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack.
Orc Shaman ¹ ² *		Sound	18-74	7	2-20 or by Weapon	Casts: Fire Storm Invisibility Lightning Spell Shield Wizard's Fire	Ranged attack avoids annoying damage spells encountered in melee. Spell reflection/absorption advised.
Orc Warlord ¹ ² *		Sound	20-90	0	5-50 or by Weapon	Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack at higher levels, ranged at lower.

[edit] Lycanthropes

Lycanthropes seen in the Iliac Bay area consist of simply werewolves and wereboars. At least silver is needed to harm them, though they're not exceptionally dangerous (compared to werewolves in Bloodmoon), and carry no treasure. Be advised that there's a risk of getting lycanthrope disease when combating them.

Name	Appearance	Sound	HP	AC	DMG	Abilities	Fighting Strategies
Wereboar		Sound	17-66	3	2-15	0.6% Chance per hit of contracting Lycanthropy. Can be hit with silver or better. Adrenaline rush	If you don't wish to become a wereboar, ranged weapons are preferable. Higher levels can dispatch quickly with melee attack.
Werewolf		Sound	14-46	5	1-12	0.6% Chance per hit of contracting Lycanthropy. Can be hit with silver or better. Adrenaline rush	If you don't wish to become a werewolf, ranged weapons are preferable. Higher levels can dispatch quickly with melee attack.

[edit] Atronachs

Unlike in Morrowind and Oblivion, the atronachs in Daggerfall are not daedra, but rather constructs created by mages in the Iliac Bay area. Though they can be hit by any material, they're tied to a certain element. Lastly, they carry no treasure.

Name	Appearance	Sound	HP	AC	DMG	Abilities	Fighting Strategies
Air Atronach							This monster doesn't actually exist in the game, although you can find references to its existence (namely Soul Gems). Most likely the names of the four atronachs were changed at some point in the development process and some names were forgotten and left as they were.
Fire Atronach (Golem)		Sound	25-130	6	5-15	Damage Aura (1-6). Fire based spells heal it. Can be hit with any material. Immune to paralysis, poison, fire and disease. Low tolerance to frost. Adrenaline rush. Takes damage in holy places. Regenerates HP in darkness. Bonus to hit humanoids.	Some people may never experience this 'damage aura'[verification needed — Could someone check if this actually works or not?] so you can usually use a melee attack. Lower levels wishing to avoid melee may use cold based spells. These should not be confused with Fire Daedra, nor with Flame Atronachs from Morrowind and Oblivion.
Flesh Atronach (Golem)		Sound	25-130	6	5-15	Damage Aura(1-10) Poison based spells heal it. Can be hit with any material. Immune to paralysis, poison disease. Low tolerance to poison (although it is immune to poison?!) Adrenaline rush. Takes damage in holy places. Regenerates HP in darkness. Bonus to hit humanoids.	Some people may never experience this 'damage aura'[verification needed — Could someone check if this actually works or not?] so you can usually use a melee attack. Lower levels wishing to avoid melee may use electricity based spells. These should not be confused with zombies, nor with a daedra such as the Atronachs in Morrowind and Oblivion.
Ice Atronach (Golem) (aka Water Atronach?)		Sound	25-130	6	5-15	Damage Aura(2-12). Cold based spells heal it. Can be hit with any material. Immune to paralysis, poison, frost and disease. Low tolerance to fire. Adrenaline rush. Takes damage in holy places. Regenerates HP in darkness. Bonus to hit humanoids.	Some people may never experience this 'damage aura'[verification needed — Could someone check if this actually works or not?] so you can usually use a melee attack. Lower levels wishing to avoid melee may use fire based spells. These should not be confused with Frost Daedra nor with Frost Atronachs from Morrowind and Oblivion.
Iron Atronach (Golem) (aka Earth Atronach?)		Sound	25-130	6	5-15	Damage Aura(1-8) Electricity based spells heal. Can be hit with any material. Immune to paralysis, poison, shock and disease. Low tolerance to magic. Adrenaline rush. Takes damage in holy places. Regenerates HP in darkness. Bonus to hit humanoids.	Some people may never experience this 'damage aura'[verification needed — Could someone check if this actually works or not?] so you can usually use a melee attack. Lower levels wishing to avoid melee may use poison based spells. These should not be confused Dwemer Centurions as found in Redguard and Morrowind, nor with Sotha Sil's Fabricants from the Tribunal expansion to Morrowind.

[edit] Undead

Undead creatures consist of spirits, reanimated skeletons, reanimated corpses, and vampires. They're a recurring menace in dungeons, and some can be very dangerous. Ghosts, Skeleton Warriors, Wraiths and Zombies are also often found underwater.

Name	Appearance	Sound	HP	AC	DMG	Abilities	Fighting Strategies
Ancient Lich ¹ ² + (pronounced like 'witch')		Sound	30-170	-12	70-100	Casts: Balyna's Antidote Fireball Free Action Shock Toxic Cloud Wizard Rend Can be hit with mithril or better	One of the tougher monsters in the game where spell reflection/absorption is a definite must. They can easily kill you if you aren't prepared. Probably best attacked with ranged weapons or have plenty of heals although beware ranged attacks. They sometimes uses area affect damage spells too close and harms or and kills itself.
Ghost ¹ ² +		Sound	17-66	0	10-35	Casts: Wizard Rend Can be hit with silver and better.	Best attacked from a distance or melee with spell reflection/absorption.
Lich ¹ ² + (pronounced like 'witch')		Sound	30-170	-10	70-100	Casts: Balyna's Antidote Fireball Free Action Shock Wizard Rend Can be hit with mithril or better.	One of those monsters where spell reflection/absorption is a definite must. They can easily kill you if you aren't prepared. Probably best attacked with ranged weapons or have plenty of healing potions and spells. They sometimes use area affect damage spells too close and harms or kills itself.
Mummy +		Sound	17-66	2	5-15	5% Chance per hit of catching a bad disease. Can be hit with silver or better. Immune to disease.	Best attacked with ranged weapons to avoid disease.
Skeleton Warrior ¹ ² +		Sound	17-66	2	5-15	Edged weapons only do half damage. Can be hit with any material.	Melee attack with blunt weapons (mace, flail, hammer, etc...).
Vampire +		Sound	28-154	-2	20-50	Casts: Sleep 2% Chance per hit of catching a disease. 0.6% Chance per hit of becoming a vampire. Can be hit with silver or better.	Spell reflection/absorption and ranged weapons. Avoid melee except at higher levels.
Vampire Ancient +		Sound	30-170	-5	20-60	Casts: Paralysis Shock 2% Chance per hit of catching a disease. 0.6% Chance per hit of becoming a vampire. Can be hit with mithril or better. Immune to paralysis, poison and disease. Adrenaline rush. Regenerates HP in darkness. Takes damage in holy places. Bonus to hit humanoids.	One of the tougher monsters in the game which can easily take you out if you're not prepared. Spell reflection/absorption are a must, shock resistance greatly helps, and plenty of healing spells. Use ranged weapons and avoid melee except at higher levels.
Wraith ¹ ² +		Sound	30-90	0	20-45	Casts: Far Silence Lightning Can be hit with silver or better. Resistance to magic.	Wraiths can do massive damage in melee, and so it is recommended to use ranged attacks, except at higher levels where they can be easily killed.
Zombie		Sound	52-66	0	15-50	2% Chance per hit of catching a bad disease. Can be hit with any material.	Use ranged weapons to avoid disease. They should not be confused with the Flesh Atronach, nor with the Ash Zombies of Morrowind.

[edit] Daedra

Otherworldly beings from Oblivion. They are fairly challenging adversaries, and can only be harmed by mithril or greater.

Name	Appearance	Sound	HP	AC	DMG	Abilities	Fighting Strategies
Daedra Lord * +		Sound	35-210	-10	15-50	Casts: Balyna's Antidote Energy Leech Fireball Free Action Shock Can be hit with mithril and better. Immune to paralysis, poison and disease. Regenerates HP. Takes damage in holy places.	Close in quickly and finish as quickly as possible. Spell reflection/absorption is a must. Interestingly, the Dremora in Battlespire used the same sound and a similar graphic. A Daedra Lord can thus be considered to be actually a Dremora.
Daedra Seducer * +		Sound	27-146	1	15-50	Casts: Energy Leech Vampiric Touch Can be hit with mithril and better.	Best fought with ranged weapons/spells. Spell reflection/absorption recommended.
Fire Daedra ¹ ² * +		Sound	26-138	1	15-50	Casts: Fireball Fire Storm Can be hit with mithril and better. Immune to fire.	Close in quickly to prevent the casting of a spell. Spell reflection/absorption used with cold based offensive spells. These fire daedra, though slightly different in appearance, may correspond to the Flame Atronach seen in Morrowind and Oblivion. Do not confuse these with fire atronachs.
Frost Daedra ¹ ² * +		Sound	25-130	-5	50-100	Casts: Ice Bolt Ice Storm Can be hit with mithril and better. Immune to frost.	Close in quickly to prevent the casting of a spell. Spell reflection/absorption used with fire based offensive spells. These frost daedra, though slightly different in appearance, may correspond to the Frost Atronach seen in Morrowind and Oblivion. Do not confuse these with ice atronachs.
Lesser Daedra (Daedroth) * +		Sound	27-146	1	15-50	Casts: Lightning Silence Spell Shield Can be hit with mithril and better.	Close in quickly to prevent the casting of a spell. Spell reflection/absorption. It should be noted that these, unlike the Daedra (Daedroths) in Morrowind and Oblivion, wear armor and use weapons.

[edit] Notes

* You can learn the language of these monsters, preventing them from attacking you unless provoked.
+ These creatures are able to detect camouflaged or invisible foes, so these spells provide no protection.
¹ These creatures are encountered in the first demo.
² These creatures are encountered in the second demo.