Daggerfall:Unofficial Newbie FAQ

This FAQ is specifically written for players who are new to Daggerfall. Other available Daggerfall FAQs are:

• The Unofficial Daggerfall FAQ
• The Official FAQ (last updated 1996)

How do I get out of the Privateer's Hold?

The exit is a room with a bat, a rat and an imp in it near the "top" of the dungeon. The exit itself is an archway with a skull at the bottom. Click on the archway to leave the dungeon. If you are completely lost see here.

I got a disease in Privateer's Hold. Why and how do I cure it?

Most animals can transmit diseases, you may catch if you are attacked, but there is a saving roll whenever you are attacked. Be aware that untreated diseases will eventually kill you in time. The best way to avoid catching a disease is not being hit by an animal: you don't have to fight all the monsters in the game. If you are diseased, you can cure it by using a purification or a cure poison potion, if you've found one in the dungeon already. Both work on percentages which are low for beginning characters. (So save just before taking the potion. If it doesn't cure you, reload and try taking it again, if this isn't cheating too much for you.) Lacking a potion that will cure you, leave the dungeon and fast travel (click the box on the overhead map for fast travel) to the nearest town or temple. (Most towns have temples. All temple locations on the map named after one of the major deities have a temple; beware, some locations of them listed under the general category of temples are shrines which are not temples.) All temples have healers whom you can pay to cure your disease.

What are the red brick doors?

There are four types:

1. Teleporters that when you click on them take you somewhere else in the dungeon.
2. Teleporters that when you walk into them take you somewhere else in the dungeon.
3. Red brick walls that do nothing except arouse your curiosity.
4. Death traps that when you touch or click them will take a lot of your health and will eventually kill you.

Therefore, always save before playing with a red brick door just in case.

The manual says...

The manual was printed before the game was finished with alpha and beta testing. Some of its contents are inaccurate.

The hintbook says...

The hintbook was printed before the game was finished with alpha and beta testing. Some of its contents are inaccurate.

How can I repair magic items?

As of patch 191, you cannot. The capability was removed by Bethesda in order to maintain game balance. When a magic item wears out it breaks and is gone. This is true for artifacts as well. However this feature was re-added since patch 200 and later, see here for further informations on this topic.

I cannot find Lady Briessa. The note says to meet her in the xxx pub in Daggerfall, but there is no such pub in Daggerfall.

You get a note from an agent of the Emperor one to two weeks after leaving Privateer's hold. It shows up with a green background in your inventory. By using it, you can read it. The note sends you to a randomly chosen tavern in the Daggerfall Region to meet her. You should do this as it will gain you favor with the court of Daggerfall. It also does not commit you to a timeframe for starting the main quests. Sometimes the tavern may be a regional tavern. In this case you must look among the tavern locations on the overland map to find it.

I'm on a quest and I need to meet person X. How do I find them?

The quests usually tell you what town to look in. Once there, put your weapon away and talk to the locals on the street. Ask under Person or under General to find more info. If you ask someone who says something general like "South of here" again (and again) eventually they will mark the location on the map.

How do I mount my horse?

Click on the legs Icon or hit "T" for transportation and choose the horse entry by clicking on it. To get off, hit the Icon again and choose foot.

How do I enter my ship?

Click on the legs Icon or hit "T" for transportation and choose the ship entry by clicking on it. This is not to travel by it, it is to drop stuff off in it or in effect use it as a bag of holding. To exit this mode, click on the legs Icon again and choose the ship line which is your only choice.

How do I use my ship for travel?

You will do this automatically if you choose to travel by ship on the fast-travel map.

How do I buy a ship?

Ships are for sale in all port cities (a city located near the ocean) which has at least one bank. Just go to the bank, deposit enough gold in your account and buy one from the banking menu.

My gold in inventory is messed up. How do I fix it?

When merchants detect you are near your carrying limit, they will often pay you with a letter of credit. This is as good as gold with other merchants and guilds. Inns do not take letters of credit, only cash. The cash on hand indication includes letters of credit you are carrying as well as hard coin. You may deposit your letters of credit into any bank and then withdraw either cash or another letter of credit as you need. (Summoning a Daedra Lord costs somewhere around 200,000 gold which is more than most PC's can carry. Fortunately guilds and witches take letters of credit which weigh only .25 Kg.)

How do I become a vampire?

You need to be injured by a vampire in battle, and lucky. The chances are 0.6% (6 in 1000) from any hit you take. If you are infected you will have a dream of a maiden being killed the next time you sleep. You then have 3 nights to either get cured at a temple (either use a cure disease or purify potion successfully or cast a cure disease spell) or you will become a vampire. If you also contracted a disease at the same time, you may die before the transformation.is complete.

How do I get cured once I'm a vampire?

You don't have to; it is possible to win the game as a vampire. There are several within game ways of doing this. The most common is to be given a quest by the vampire hunters who will contact you after about a year.

How do I become a werewolf/wereboar?

The formula and theory is the same as for becoming a vampire, except you get hit by a lycanthrope instead. Almost everyone in the Illiac Bay area actually becomes a wereboar, but there is at least one place where you can become a werewolf. As of patch 212 you will become exactly the same type of lycanthrope you have contracted the disease from.

How do I get cured once I'm a were creature?

You can win the game as a were creature, if you want a challenge. Or like for vampires, there are were hunters that will offer you a cure.

I turned into a vampire. What happened to my guild affiliations?

You have lost them since you are considered dead. But you can rejoin any at your old level -- except the Dark Brotherhood or the Thieves Guild.

How do I join the Thieves Guild?

Pick 10 pockets successfully. You can try this in towns, but be careful. It makes the citizens distrust you (and ignore you when you try to talk to them) and may well bring the guards who frown on such practices. It's easier to pick monsters pockets in dungeons. Alternatively you can lockpick a couple of locked doors in towns, but also in dungeons. Then after three days while you are in a city you will get a note telling you the next step. When you succeed at that, you find another note with usually 3 words on it. The first two are the name of a person to meet and the last word is the town to meet them in. This part of the quest falls under the initial time limit (set in the original note).

How do I join the Dark Brotherhood?

Kill 5 innocents or 15 guards. It is possible to do this without damaging your reputation, if you are clever. Then you will be given a note three days later telling you what to do next.

How do I put the poison in the drink?

Pick up the vial. It may be on a table, bed or the floor. The poison will be put in the drink for you. Then use the remove option to put the vial back.

I can see, but cannot pick up the quest object. How do I do it?

You need to look down at it a little and be close enough. For some objects the hotspot is a little below the picture on the screen. Some find it easier to duck and then look down a little. If necessary, move a little and try again.

I want to join the Mages Guild, but they say I need to improve my guild skills. How do I do that?

You need a skill value of 22 or so in one of the guild skills and at least 4 in a second guild skill. The Mages Guild skills are the six schools of magic. If none of yours are 22, you can train them by joining a temple. (As of patch 195 you can train at temples without joining.) Each temple trains at least two of the magic schools. Once you reach 22 go back to the Mages Guild and ask again.

I have done tons of quests for the xxx guild but I don't go up in rank. Why?

Being elevated in a guild requires three things:

1. a high reputation with the guild which is usually secured by successfully completing a number of quests for the guild. Each normal quest completed nets you 5 rep points. Failed quests lose you 2 don't fail your first quest or you'll be barred from the guild. It is always a good idea to save just before asking for a quest; then if something goes woefully wrong and you would like to start over not always the best idea since a number of quests have interesting repercussions after you fail them you easily can. Quests turned down lose you nothing (and gain you nothing). You lose one point of rep every three months naturally. You may also lose rep if you do a quest for a guild that harms another like stealing something for the Thieves Guild from one of the Temples. There are ten ranks with each guild ranging from 0 through 9. The minimum rep for each rank is 10 times the rank.
2. meeting the guild minimums in your highest two guild skills for each rank. For the second highest the formula is 4 + 4 per rank. For the highest the formula is approximately 22 + 7.5 per rank.
3. time. At least 28 days must have passed since your last promotion. You can however skip ranks if you meet the requirements for a higher one when it is

How do I level up?

The formula for determining your level is

        ((current skill total) - (starting skill total) + 28 ) / 15
        

where skill total is the sum of

        your three primary skills + 
        the highest two major skills + 
        the highest minor skill
        

Note: that the actual skills used for the latter two may be different as you go through the game when figuring the current skill total. The starting skill total is always a constant.

How do I raise my skills?

Through use. Most guilds (all except the Knights) will offer training in the guild skills and some others the guild considers useful. Training is priced at 100 gold times your level. You can train any of the skills offered up to and including 51. After that you have to use the skill to increase it.

Each skill has a tally counter. Each time you use the skill the tally counter is increased by 1. When the tally counter exceeds the difficulty factor times the skill value and it has been at least 6 hours since the skill was last increased, the skill value is increased by 1 and the tally is reset to 0. Training adds a random number between 10 and 20 to the tally counter. The difficulty factor for standard classes is 1. For custom classes it's between 0.3 and 3.

Minor and miscellaneous skills seem to have an extra small difficulty factor built into learning them, making them a little harder to increase.

Spell schools tally counters are increased for each spell cast, no matter the casting cost. It is therefore, perhaps advisable to have a number of cheap spells to practice with before sleeping (unless you don't regenerate magic, then it would be before talking to people in the Mages Guild). These tend to be called cantrips. Here are some cheap cantrips four of which "Two Socks" suggested (remember to make the per level number high to cut down on casting cost):

• Alteration Cantrip - slowfall
• Destruction Cantrip - damage fatigue [with 'Target at Range' setting]
• Illusion Cantrip - shadow form
• Thaumaturgy Cantrip - Buoyancy
• Mysticism Cantrip - open [extremely useful for getting into Residences and Shops when you don't feel like picking locks]
• Restoration Cantrip - heal fatigue

Once your skill levels go up so that you are casting these for 5 points each, you may wish to combine them into 2 or 3 multi-spell cantrips. I have one called MIT and a second called DAR. At 28th level both of these cantrips only cost 5 each to cast.

I've gone up three levels but have not gained any spell points. Why?

Spell point max is determined by INT. To increase spell points, increase your INT when you level up. You can find out what the other attributes affect by clicking on the attributes on the character info screen (hit F5 from the main screen or click your character's face). You can also increase your spell point max by enchanting and equipping an item of extra spell points when you reach the Enchanter level in the Mages Guild (or the equivalent level in the Temple of Julianos).

I just bought the xxx spell and it takes more points than I have to cast. Will I ever be able to cast it?

As you increase your skill level in the school(s) of the spell, the casting cost decreases. The minimum casting cost for any spell is 5 points.

How do I open the box for the quest the Mages Guild gave me?

See here.

What level do I need to be to start the main quests?

You choose. At 3rd level they are difficult. You must be at least 10th level to finish the last quest. Most players like to be closer to 20th or more before starting the main quests. But it's up to you.

I turned down a main quest. Will I ever be able to get it again?

No. Back up and reload and don't talk to the person who gave you the quest if you are not ready for it yet. Without completing the main quests you are unlikely to be able to finish the game.

In the spell maker how do I change the values associated with the spell?

Many spells have duration, damage or percentage chances to work. In the spell maker they default to something of the form 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 / 1 level. This means when cast the duration, damage or percent is a base of 1 to 1 with 1 to 1 added for each level of the caster. In the spell maker you can click on the bar above or below these numbers to change them. The first pair determine the base range with the second number always being greater than or equal to the first number. If you click above the second number it will go up to 2. Click again to raise it further. If you click below the number it lowers. The second pair of numbers are the variable portion. Again the second must always be greater than or equal to the first. If you click above the first one, the variable portion goes up, below and it goes down. The last number represents is divided into the number of levels of the caster to determine the variable part. If you increase it to 2 the cost of the spell goes down but the variable portion only goes up with every other level of the caster. So if by clicking you set the numbers to 1 - 10 + 4 - 5 / 1 level and are 3rd level the value is something between 13 and 25 when the spell is cast. If you are 10th level the value of casting the same spell will be between 41 and 60.

How do I add other spells to an item in the item maker?

You need to click on the add spell line rather than hitting return when it is highlighted. That will bring you to another scroll where you can choose the spell. If you hit return, you always get the first spell.

How do I bind a soul to an item in the item maker?

Have the soul gem with the trapped soul in your inventory. Click on Add disadvantages. Click on soul bound. Click on the soul you wish to bind.

How do I capture a creature's soul?

Acquire an empty soul gem. The Mages Guild sells them. So do some temples and the Dark Brotherhood. You have to be a sufficiently ranked member to buy them. Then you need a Soul Trap spell. It's probably best to make your own, with as close to 100% chance of success as possible (or more). Duration may be kept short to keep the cost down. Find the creature. Save. Cast the spell. If it says trap activated proceed otherwise reload and cast again the target gets a chance to save. Then kill the creature before the duration runs out. The soul will be transferred to the gem for later use. Warning: when the magic item breaks the soul is released and will attack you for using it in this fashion.

Where do I find the best weapons and armor?

What you find is based on your LUCK, your level and the level of the shop, dungeon or monster you are dealing with. With sufficiently high luck you may be finding Daedric weapons by 8th level or so. Armor of a given material usually comes along about two levels after weapons. Most find Daedric weapons by about 12th level. There are 5 levels of shop: superb (incense burning), above average (skillfully crafted), average, below average (barely functional), poor (mice scurrying). The better the shop the more likely they will have better merchandise. The better the shop the higher the prices you will be charged. The worse the shop the better price you will get when selling items. Armorers and weapons shops have both armor and weapons, as do pawn shops. General stores sell weapons, but not armor.

Where can I sell my holy tomes and holy daggers?

At Pawn shops.

When I try to attack monster type xxx the game says my weapon is ineffective. What kind of weapon do I need?

All monsters can be attacked with hands as well as with magic (although some have certain immunities e.g., Fire Daedra are immune to or even healed by fire based spells). This can be hazardous to your health against Daedra, Gargoyles, Ancient Vampires, Liches or Ancient Liches all of which otherwise require mithril or better.

Imps require steel or better. Were creatures, Ghosts, Mummies, Wraiths, Vampires require silver or better. Nymphs require elven or better and Harpies require dwarven or better.

The metals in order are iron, steel, silver, elven, dwarven, mithril, adamantium, ebony, orcish and daedric. As you go up the scale, weapons made of the various metals tend to do more damage, have more hit points (last longer) and hold more enchantment points. Both weapons and armor tend to get heavier as the quality improves.

I can't find the dungeons after I fast-traveled to them

Look for a small hill in front of you, in a 20 degree radius left and right. Occasionally this door is in a wall.

My health is 4/4 what happened?

You have Lycanthropy (i.e., you are a wereboar or werewolf). If you are a were-beast and don't kill an innocent person twice every month, your hit-points are reduced to 4/4 and stay that way until you kill someone.

The game crashes 2 or 3 times each time I play it, what is happening?

Eeehhhh....... bug? The fixsave program included in the latest patch may help solve many savegame - crash related problems.

I just started and I'm told to visit the royal families to inform about the ghosts of Lysandrus but when I talk to them they say nothing related to the quest.

You have to gain level and reputation, then after a while you will get notes from the members of the royal families.