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Daggerfall, fucking Daggerfall

Grimwulf

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About usefulness of mapping dungeons. If you play in a small province, such as Koegria, you'll have a small set of possible dungeons. Koegria has only 17 (without graveyards). Antiphyllos has three dungeons, as well as two big cities and temples of five deities and a knight order.

So, you can map them all and/or know which dungeon to avoid.
More so, those dungeons not only respawn mobs and loot every time you enter them, but also nullify your in-game map. The layout stays the same, but you have to "rediscover" it from the start if you don't map it on paper.

Just remembered another small magic trick: if you make weak and cheap area dmg spell while having spell absorption ability, you can cast it at point blank range. This way you'll absorb your own spell, regaining most of mana points you've spent. And while it won't do a motheroad of dmg per cast, you may cast it very fast, bashing "recast" and "interact" buttons. Worked for me on previous char, very effective for training destruction.
 
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Sounds like a good option for early game combat for destruction mages (I'm picturing explosive fists, or maybe :flamesaw:), but if you sit on a hallway and spam that for training then it'll likely become one of the "shortcuts that ruin the fun" that you mentioned earlier.
 

baturinsky

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More so, those dungeons not only respawn mobs and loot every time you enter them, but also nullify your in-game map. The layout stays the same, but you have to "rediscover" it from the start if you don't map it on paper.
I consider it a plus, actually. It makes easier to tell where have you been this time.

Just remembered another small magic trick: if you make weak and cheap area dmg spell while having spell absorption ability, you can cast it at point blank range. This way you'll absorb your own spell, regaining most of mana points you've spent. And while it won't do a motheroad of dmg per cast, you may cast it very fast, bashing "recast" and "interact" buttons. Worked for me on previous char, very effective for training destruction.
I prefer to avoid such things. It's barely different from wall-casting.

Sounds like a good option for early game combat for destruction mages (I'm picturing explosive fists, or maybe), but if you sit on a hallway and spam that for training then it'll likely become one of the "shortcuts that ruin the fun" that you mentioned earlier.
Chance of absorption scales off wis+int, so if you plan to do it early game, invest in those stats during chargen.
 

Grimwulf

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Sounds like a good option for early game combat for destruction mages (I'm picturing explosive fists, or maybe :flamesaw:), but if you sit on a hallway and spam that for training then it'll likely become one of the "shortcuts that ruin the fun" that you mentioned earlier.
Right, that's why I started new char and only use my essential magic. Makes me wonder tho, if I played a pure mage, I would certainly need smth low-cost in destruction school. So I guess I would go for that cheap areal spell rather than dmg-on-touch or dmg-over-period.

Chance of absorption scales off wis+int, so if you plan to do it early game, invest in those stats during chargen.
I'm not sure, but it felt like magic items with "magic absorption" ability actually stack. Meaning, if ring of absorption failed the check, then helmet of absorption makes his check, and after that some bracer of absorption or whatever. I had 3 items of absorption on my previous char, 100 int + 80 wil and he absorbed every fucking glimpse of magic. Maybe someone will be willing to experiment. Personally I'm in a melee mood.
 

Wyrmlord

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Am I doing something very wrong here?
Yes.

You were supposed to take Spell Absorption as a trait in the character creation screen. This way, any AoE spell you use bounces back on to you, and recharges your mana.
 

Xul Tyveriate

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I'm currently trying to finish my first complete play through of Daggerfall. It's a game I've always enjoyed but my biggest gripe would have to be the bugs.

With that being said, I am cringing in thought of trying Arena next.
 

Grimwulf

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Am I doing something very wrong here?
Yes.

You were supposed to take Spell Absorption as a trait in the character creation screen. This way, any AoE spell you use bounces back on to you, and recharges your mana.
I was aware of that, but it seemed improperly gamish.
Well, you could try playing without it and just pop mana potions. The problem is, there are only two recipies for mana potions and both of them require severely rare ingridients. You need nectar, silver, werewolf's blood and one more component on your choice: either saint's hair or daedric lodestone. These aren't exactly what you find in alchemy shops. You could also try buying potions instead of making them, but once again - you'll have to look through countless guild merchants to stock up at least 5-6 potions for your next dungeon raid.

So you either:
- go through all that pain with potions - which is too much even for me;
- sleep after every single encounter and roleplay Sleeping Beauty;
- pick the spell absorption trait, coz there is no other option.

That is, if we speak of pure-mage-type of playthrough.
 

Eyeball

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I picked the 3rd option: stop mage playthough, reroll as spellsword.

Worked wonders for me.
 

Darth Roxor

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n1lplG.jpg


Meet Ayatollah Roxorowski, the hero of the Empire :terrorist:

I played Daggerfall for the first time sometime around '96 when its demo found its way into my computor. Since that time, I think I've started it a bazillion times, but I never managed to finish it. Fuck, I don't think I've even ever touched the main quest much further than meeting with Brisienna and slaying the werewolf for the Daggerfall castle maid.

And today I finished it. The feeling is sort of strange.

Looking back at this playthrough, I think it's kind of funny that people keep whining about the game's random dunjins being terrible to navigate, confusing, bugged and with points of no return. Because honestly, I never had any trouble finding my way through the random quest dungeons, and for the most part, I even thought they were kind of... logical? It gets especially easier once you play for a bit and start recognising patterns from the building blocks that form the dungeons.

The same, however, can't be said for the MOTHERFUCKING MAIN QUEST DUNGEONS, WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE FUCKING THINGS.

Some of them certainly aren't bad. In fact, they are rather regular. Like the ones with the lich dust and the werewolf, Shedungent, Orsinium and Woodborne Hall. But then you have Castles fucking Daggerfall, Sentinel and Wayrest or Direnni Tower, which are not only molochean deathtraps, but they also have all those motherfucking completely random levers and switches that you have absolutely no idea what they do, and pulling many of them means getting fucked in the ass one way or another. Also, once you hit level ~14, the game takes a serious turn into the non-fun territory. I guess it doesn't matter if you munchkin'd from the start and your dude has spell reflection up the ass, but fuck me, playing a regular archer with only the bare minimum of magic (+ a fuckton of all kinds of potions) just turned into a huge drag once every dungeon's population was composed 50% of liches. Fuck, even the vampire ancients weren't all that bad because I could kite and shoot them, but the liches? That's a giant lottery. Either it hits a wall with the fireball and explodes itself, or it explodes you (unless you luck out and save vs spell). Same with some of the superpowered lategame human mages and spellswords.

Some of the main quest dunjins were so infuriating that at one moment I just said 'fuck it' and just walkthrough'd through all of them (and I also just kind of wanted to be done with the game already). This includes all three capital castles (I have a hard time choosing which one of those monstrosities was the worst, but it might have been sentinel), Direnni Tower and THAT MOTHERFUCKING ENDGAME DUNJIN.

SERIOUSLY, WHO THE FUCK DESIGNED THE AETHERIUS AND THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO MAKE IT LIKE THAT.

Oh yeah, I was also really fucking pissed when I learnt that I'll have to go find Lysandus's Tomb ON FOOT because I told the Underking to go fuck himself, and Elysana's ambush quest didn't give me the location, even though apparently it should have. Hnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg.

I did like the plot, however. The political intrigue runs pretty deep, and it takes a loooong time to decipher everyone's motivations and agendas. I also like how the 'best' endings are arguably the ones where you give the totem to the 'bad' guys, that is, the Underking or Mannimarco.




Daggerfall, fucking Daggerfall.
 
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Darth Roxor

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no shit, I fucked up at chargen (mostly because I forgot to set the magicka limit properly) and by the time I noticed I was too lazy to restart.
 
Self-Ejected

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I never menaged to finish this game, now I'm tempted to waste my precious time on trying (and failing) again.
 

taxalot

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Daggerfall almost made me fail one year at school and I did not even complete it. I wonder what I'll fail in my life if I bother to resintall it.
 

Wyrmlord

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Daggerfall almost made me fail one year at school and I did not even complete it. I wonder what I'll fail in my life if I bother to resintall it.
Rome: Total War was one of the reasons I did miserably in 9th grade.
 

TripJack

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one npc in morrowind gave shit directions so quest compass is a great improvement! its not for casuals! im not a casual!! its like the quicksave button~!!!! honestly im not a casual im elder scrolls fanatic ive played since 2004!


:0/5:
 

Grimwulf

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The guy in the video is funny. In a bad way. Is it strange that he stresses the "I'm badass TES hardcore fan! Yeaah! Fan to the core! I play it since MORROWIND". Wow, that's really hardcore. Gods, I would never call myself a fan just coz I never played Arena and Battlespire. Another pearl is "This isn't about appealing to casual gamers, it's about making the life of ALL gamers easier!" Damn right! That's EXACTLY the point, you dumb fuck! That by adding quest markers they're not just sucking casul's cock, they are making ALL other gamers feel like casuls. Including those who does not want that! AFAIK, vanilla Skyrim didn't even have an option to turn that damn compass off.

What is wrong with those people? He complains about some woman in Morrowind who gave him broken quest directions. He complains about uncomfy quest journals. He complains about navigation hardships. Some people ITT complain about Dagerfall dungeon structure. Are games even supposed to be PLAYED nowadays or are they part of movie industry? Ffuck.

 
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You can turn the floating arrows in Skyrim on the options screen. To disable the compass itself, you have to flip a switch on the INI. I turn both off and use the Clairvoyance spell to avoid checking the map all the time. Sometimes the spell acts stupif but using it alongside Better Quest Objectives (edits journal entries to actually give proper directions) is p. painless.

Also, I the Morrowind woman gives you wrong directions on purpose. :M

Here's the video that inspired the one above, for record.

 

Grimwulf

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You can turn the floating arrows in Skyrim on the options screen. To disable the compass itself, you have to flip a switch on the INI. I turn both off and use the Clairvoyance spell to avoid checking the map all the time. Sometimes the spell acts stupif but using it alongside Better Quest Objectives (edits journal entries to actually give proper directions) is p. painless.

Also, I think the Morrowind woman gives you wrong directions on purpose. :M
I turned it all off in Skyrim with mods, among other things. I just don't like vanilla customization options.

Why do you do such an astonishing, beautiful game world and then suggest players to watch compas markers / compas itself instead of feeling the nature? It is just so fucking FUN to explore and orient yourself in Skyrim wilderness without knowing where North and South is. It's not like you can orient yourself by sun or stars - TES universe has a completely different planet structure. In fact, you can, but you'll have to dive into some in-game books. Which is also damn fun! But why would I do that when the fucking compas is always there, implanted in the fucking eye?

Didn't know about .ini customization tho, or maybe just forgot. I wonder why didn't they include it in the options.

Of course, Skyrim isn't actually as big as it looks like at first and the exploration magic only lasts so long. But whatever.
 
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Another nice INI tweak makes grass and foliage super tall. Got jumped by a spider family yesterday, despite the mommy being gigantic I didn't see her until it was too late because I was chasing an elk and didn't bother perching up on a rock to scout the path. It's like I'm really playing pokemon!

( except it's not turn-based ;( )
 

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