So how was the Main Quest in Daggerfall? *spoilers*

[Mikser]

Anyone who's been playing for more than a few years has games on dozens if not hundreds of CDs and DVDs. There is nothing more infuriating than having to hunt down a CD whenever you get the momentary impulse to try out a game - not to mention it being almost impossible to take them all with your laptop when going traveling. That is why we have high-capacity hard-drives.

To make Daggerfall run straight from the hard-drive, just install the game with the "huge" option (if installing via DosBox, you'll have to use the freesize parameter to make the installer see you have enough space). Manually copy the arena2 directory from the CD over the installation you just made to make sure all the files are there, edit z.cfg and change "path" and "pathcd" to point out to the arena2 directory in whatever path you have the game installed to (c:\games\dagger\arena2\ in my case), and create a .bat file(dag.bat or whatever will do) with the following in it:

@echo off
set dos4gvm=@dagger.vmc
fall.exe z.cfg

And for the love of God, don't forget to install the latest patch and fixsave utility, or your immortal soul will be condemned to oblivion.

 

[Palmer Eldritch]

I've played the game a little, and apart from the obvious flaws, I liked it. I've had some problems with it though, and thought that I might ask you guys for some advice regarding skill selection. I'm familiar with the system from Morrowind, and I realize that this is similar, but my characters always seem to lack something. So my question is: what skills (and advantages/disadvantages etc) would be good for a well rounded custom class? I never seem to be able to open locked doors in dungeons, so I guess lockpicking is a high priority? Actually, any advice for someone new to the game would be appreciated.

Was gonna post a separate thread for this, but since you already had a daggerfall discussion going anyway...

 

[Jasede]

For a well rounded custom class you will want Streetwise, Etiquette and Diplomacy as major skills and all the languages as minor and misc. skills as well as enough advantages to keep your level dagger as beneficial as possible, the the very last pixel.

This way, you will excel at learning every skill you want to learn, in rapid speed, and better still, learning them will not make you level. A level 4 linguist can easily have maximum dodge and maximum hand-to-hand. Get contracted with lycanthropy for some extra fun.

Locked doors can just be bashed open.

 

[Shagnak]

Okay, I know what the King of Worms Oblivion Faggot Version 1.01 looks like. Can anyone point me to a screenie of what the badass Daggerfall version looks like?

 

[Callaxes]

There was a picture of him in the Oblivion review:

 

[Palmer Eldritch]

For a well rounded custom class you will want Streetwise, Etiquette and Diplomacy as major skills and all the languages as minor and misc. skills as well as enough advantages to keep your level dagger as beneficial as possible, the the very last pixel.

This way, you will excel at learning every skill you want to learn, in rapid speed, and better still, learning them will not make you level. A level 4 linguist can easily have maximum dodge and maximum hand-to-hand. Get contracted with lycanthropy for some extra fun.

Locked doors can just be bashed open.

Wow, I feel stupid not having realized that I could just bash the damn doors. Just by attacking them normally?

Your suggestion for the custom class seems perfect! I really needed some motivation for giving the game another shot, as my previous attempts were rather frustrating. So I guess I level up through dialog, and use the faction trainers (and experience, of course) for all the other skills.

Another question: what faction is the most interesting in terms of quests? I've tried some of the factions I could find in clearly marked locations in cities, but they seemed to be quite similar. Are there any particularly fascinating factions that must be sought out? I tried inquiring about the thieves guild, but people weren't really helpful in that regard. I suppose they should be worth the effort for being able to train some skills, but do they differ much in terms of quest content, compared to the more lawful (or whatever) factions?

Lycanthropy? I guess you can be a vampire too? How does it compare to how it was handled in Morrowind/Bloodmoon?

 

[Elwro]

Try Knights of the Dragon. I think you can get an interesting quest involving a witch coven (interesting in itself) fairly early.

 

[Palmer Eldritch]

All right, that seems good enough. Gonna start up a new game now, I think. Will try your suggestions, thanks!

 

[Jormungandr]

It isn't always this easy, VD. With certain CD drives, Doxbox has trouble detecting the CD and will be unable to verify (via the DF .exe) that it is the correct one, and god help you then because a huge hassle ensues. Quite a few people have this problem.

This is why you just rig it to run without the CD entirely.

Jormungandr@ But how is he when you talk to him? Besides being sorrounded by naked acolytes, is there something realy striking about his personality?

Dialog with anyone, however important, outside quest dialog is the same. So the only real KoW talking you'll get to make a judgment of how cool he is is only through the quest dialog. And there are only 3 quests that involve this sort of interaction with him. So although most of the opinions made about him are due to ambiance and presentation, you can glean a little through his letters and dialog. For instance, in the picture I linked to in my previous post, he's very nonchalant about you slaying his minions. He'll just raise them later. You are not a threat to him whatsoever. For the most part, however, it's due to his mysterious nature and just being damn cool.



For anyone who's interested, I wrote a complete Daggerfall FAQ for GameFAQs. Tons of good info on skills, factions, quests, everything, from a guy whose been obsessed with the damn game for over 10 years.

 

[Xi]

The King of Worms

The King of Worms is the leader of the Necromancers, a sworn enemy of Mages Guild and the followers of Arkay; Necromancers are even considered as enemy by the Underking His original name is Mannimarco. Rumors and legends say that he is a lich of tremendous power. From Scourg Barrow in Dragontail Mountain, he cleverly plays all the political games and powers. His influences are even reaching Summerset Isle, the home island of the Altmer. The Sload worships him as well.

In the end of Second Era, he gives Stros M'Kai area to the Sload Necromancer N'Gasta to gather souls, which in turn to be given to Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile.

In 3E414, he helps Hlaalu Morgiah to arrange a way for her to become a queen of Firsthold. Firsthold is a kingdom in Summerset Isle, ruled by King Reman. Morgiah promises the King of Worms her "first". It may be assumedly her first child.

The King of Worms is one of the wielders of the Numidium. He is one of the seven retrievers of the Totem of Tiber Septim, a tool for controlling the Dwemer construct. Originally the Totem of Tiber Septim is only one, but a strange time-warping effect known as Warp in the West makes all seven parties of Iliac Bay retrieve the totem.

In fact he seeks only Mantella, a gem of power that fueled the Numidium. With this gem he seeks to become a god. The use of the gem lets him to leave his mortal frame and joins the ranks of the Gods of Oblivion. Another Daedric Prince? Some speculations arise. From Nu-Hatta of the Sphinxmoth Inquiry Tree, we learn that "The Jills of Aka-tosh have mended this numidition. Mannimarco remains as he was: the high priest of maggots." However from "Arkay The Enemy", he wrote, "Once I was a lowly man such as yourselves. By my will I entered the ranks of the gods." The truth? Only time will tell.

King Of Worms is reported once owned some powerful artifacts. One of the artifacts is the legendary Necromancer's Amulet and the other is Bloodworm Helm. These two artifacts are prized among the Necromancers and Mages alike.

King of Worms is a fairly prominent figure in TES lore. His influence is hard to gauge, but his power is considered godly.

...3E 404...
Gortworg has no idea what the Mantella is; he consults the King of Worms of the Necromancer. The confidential information about Numidium is spread out.

...3E 417...
To whom the Numidium is given, is still a big mystery, but the rumor says that six Numidium are seen in six different places at once, each one carving out a different mortal's destiny. The strange phenomenon later can be seen as the High Rock province is unified no more; the Orcs of Orsinium have been acknowledge by the Septim's Dynasty as Imperial Citizens; some rumor says that the Sloads of the coral kingdoms of Thras, worship a new God of Worms; the Underking gets his long-missing heart, and he dies a mortal death giving him the peace that he desires. The confusing event is known as "Warp in the West". This is the story of TES2: Daggerfall.

...3E 433
The eternal war between Necromancers and Mages Guild finally ended with the death of Necromancer king, the King of Worms Mannimarco as well as the Archmage Hannibal Traven. Hannibal Traven sacrificed himself in order to protect the champion of Mages Guild from the power of Mannimarco, thus the champion eventually manages to destroy the King of Worms. The future of Necromancer Guild is in question....

There's some brief research on him from the imperial library. Wish I was more of a TES lore scholar, but I only dabble in it myself. http://www.imperial-library.info

Also, it's unclear whether Mannimarco is still the King of Worms.(Dead or not, he is an eternal being for the most part) Though I'm unaware of the influence Oblivion has had on his lore(didn't play it much) so I could be wrong about this. In TES lore specific titles such as "King of Worms" may be shared by numerous people throughout history. Figures like the Bandit King "Baan Dar" come to mind where it's not clear who this individual is or whether he's a single person, or the embodiment of many individuals who work toward similar goals. Anyway, hopefully I didn't butcher him too much. I'm sure there are people on the TES lore forum who could take this to an extreme if you really wanted to know. That sub-forum is generally well spoken and the people who lurk there don't tend to lurk the rest of the god-awful place.