|| VI.5 - Diseases 039 ||

Learn about diseases in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, how they affect you, and the best ways to cure them before they become fatal.

Diseases in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall are serious threats that can lead to death if not promptly addressed. Unlike less impactful ailments in other games, these can be fatal.

Upon contracting a disease, you won't be aware immediately. After several hours or even days, you will receive the message "You feel somewhat bad..." This is your cue to check your health status by pressing 'I' on your (Heads-Up Display) HUD (heads-up display — the on-screen icons showing health, ammo and the minimap). It will indicate if you are poisoned or diseased, and if diseased, it will specify the type of disease and its effects.

Most diseases progressively damage one or more of your attributes or your health, gradually draining your life until death occurs. If any attribute reaches zero, you will die. Often, death doesn't happen during your adventures but on the journey home, as travel exacerbates your weakened state and can prove fatal, especially on longer trips.

To cure a disease, you can use a Cure Disease spell or potion, or visit a temple to pay for a cure. While spells and potions are convenient, they are not always 100% effective. The most reliable method is to go to a temple. It is advisable to save your game before fast traveling. Travel to the nearest location with a temple; any standard temple will suffice. Traveling cautiously is safer, but if it takes too long and you perish, reload your saved game and attempt a faster pace. Remember that death is a possibility, not a certainty, so persistence may be necessary.

If reaching a temple proves too difficult to survive, your only recourse is to travel overland through the wilderness. You must walk manually instead of using the fast travel system. Use the "I'm at" button on the world map to track your location. Navigating the wilderness manually can be challenging because even if the map indicates you are in the same pixel as a town, these pixels represent a large area. You can also try saving and attempting to fast travel after moving a short distance toward your destination to see if a shorter trip is survivable.