Welcome to Daggerfall, a sprawling open-world RPG from 1996 that throws you into the vast and dangerous Daggerfall Kingdom. You'll navigate a world filled with political intrigue, dangerous dungeons, and countless towns, forging your own path through a truly massive fantasy setting. It’s a game where you’re free to explore, take on quests, join factions, and truly live out a life in a rich, emergent world.
This guide is here to help you master Daggerfall's intricate systems. We’ll cover everything from initial setup and combat to the complex quests and factional dealings that define the game. Whether you're trying to understand the Gold Medal system, tackle challenging dungeons, or simply find your way through the political landscape, this guide provides the knowledge you need to forge your legend.
|| Table of Contents Quick Search Code ||
Master The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall with our guide's table of contents. Find quick search codes to jump directly to sections on character creation, guilds, magic, quests, and more!
Hey there! So you've jumped into Daggerfall, huh? It's a massive game, and honestly, finding your way around can be a bit of a puzzle on its own. This section is basically your map to the whole walkthrough. Think of it as a table of contents, but with a cool twist: quick search codes. If you want to jump straight to, say, learning about magic or tackling a specific part of the main story, these codes will get you there in a flash. We'll break down everything from making your character to exploring dungeons and, of course, the epic main questline. Let's get you oriented so you can start your adventure!
Here's what we'll cover:
- Character Creation: From picking your race to rolling your stats and customizing your controls.
- Life in the Illiac Bay: How to get around, deal with towns, shops, and the consequences of your actions.
- Items, Magic, and Guilds: What you can find, how to cast spells, and how to join the various factions.
- Adventure Essentials: Combat tips, navigating dungeons, and dealing with the nastier things like diseases and vampirism.
- The Main Story & More: A breakdown of the epic main questline, plus some optional side quests to keep you busy.
Each section has a little code next to it, like '001' or '043'. If you're reading this online and the site supports it, you can often use these codes to jump right to that part of the guide. Super handy!
|| i - Welcome to Daggerfall! 001 ||
Welcome to Daggerfall! Dive into one of the largest game worlds ever created. Learn about guilds, quests, and the vastness of the Illiac Bay in this essential beginner's guide.
Prepare to experience your new obsession! The box copy for The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall couldn't have been more right. You're about to step into one of the largest game worlds ever created, packed with hundreds of towns and dungeons, dozens of guilds, and an infinite number of quests. Daggerfall will give you a whole new understanding of 'massive' – seriously, there are over 15,000 locations on the game map!
Now, writing a guide for a game like Daggerfall is a bit different from your typical RPG. Like other Elder Scrolls titles, Daggerfall is completely open-ended. You're essentially dropped into a world and left to do as you please. Sure, there's a main quest to follow (which we'll cover), but honestly, it's often more fun to ditch that story and forge your own path. Join guilds, raid dungeons, explore the various kingdoms of the Illiac Bay – there's an almost endless amount to do.
A lot of Daggerfall's content is randomly generated. Monsters, loot, store inventories, and most NPCs are randomized, and even quests are created from templates. However, all the town and dungeon layouts were procedurally generated during development, so they'll always be the same for every playthrough. The precise location of an item you're searching for in a specific dungeon, though, is randomly selected as you play – so I can't pinpoint exact spots for you.
Because of this, apart from the main quest walkthrough, this guide will focus heavily on gameplay hints and strategies. I can't tell you exactly where that one specific object will be in a dungeon, but I can guide you on the best skills to use, which guilds offer what services, how to craft excellent and useful spells, and much more. Everything you read here comes from my extensive playing experience, and any information borrowed from other sources will be credited accordingly. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this FAQ!
|| I - Creating your Character 002 ||
Explore the robust character creation system of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Build unique warriors and battlemages with specific strengths and weaknesses.
The character creation system in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is exceptionally robust, providing more control over your character's identity and capabilities than you might find in other RPGs. You can tailor your character to be a strong, yet unpopular warrior, proficient with axes, skilled in archery, and with a specific phobia of the undead. Alternatively, you can create a battlemage whose magical power is amplified in darkness, who trains in both martial and magical arts, excels when fighting humans, and has an aversion to touching silvered equipment. These are just examples of the extensive customization possibilities available.
- Experiment with different combinations of skills, attributes, and disadvantages to create truly unique characters.
- Consider how your character's strengths and weaknesses will impact gameplay, especially in combat against specific enemy types or when using certain equipment.
- The game allows for highly specialized builds, so don't be afraid to create a character with very specific, even unusual, traits.
|| I.1 - Your Race 003 ||
Choose your race in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Nords get frost resistance, High Elves get paralysis immunity.
There are eight races available in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. While your race choice is largely cosmetic and has minimal impact on starting attributes due to class selection overriding race-based changes, there are two notable exceptions: Nords and High Elves.
Nords receive resistance to frost, which is beneficial. High Elves, however, gain immunity to paralysis, a highly advantageous effect that can prevent you from being incapacitated during combat.
You select your race by first choosing a home province. After selecting your race, you may also choose your gender, which is purely cosmetic.
- For a first character in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, choosing High Elf is strongly recommended due to their immunity to paralysis, which prevents a very frustrating gameplay experience.
- While other races offer minor stat adjustments, these are generally overridden by your chosen class.
- Focus on the race that appeals to you visually if you are not prioritizing the specific resistances or immunities offered by Nords or High Elves.
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