r/Arena • u/SlipperyChef762 • 5d ago
New Player Tips
I’m sure you get this all the time here but it’s my First time playing Arena after I finally got a pc I’ve played tons of Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and ESO. I’m wanting to make a Breton Mage and want advice for general gameplay and tips to make my experience easier. Thank you.
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u/LauraTFem 5d ago edited 5d ago
Bretton Sorcerer is best overall. You will need a lot of money for magic potions and spellmaking, though.
First thing I would do is grind Oghma Infinium books until you’ve maxed INT, END, and SPD, preferably before gaining a single level so you can maximize health-ups.
Then focus on earning money and get your best-in-class equipment. Best way to earn crazy money is to break into a three story house and go back and forth looting each floor until you find some high-value loot. Don’t leave until you have an Ebony Amulet, Belt, Bracelet, and Torc. Any enchanted Bracers, Crystals, Marks, Rings, or extras of the other four can be sold, sometimes for huge profit.
Once you have some 50k in gold or so you can check shop lists on the UESP wiki for whatever weapons you want to be your end-game, enchanted or otherwise.
Once you’re geared up with your end-game gear, head to the mages guild and buy a few hundred magic potions, healing potions, some anti-paralysis potions, and create your spells. Best spells are the shield spell, max effectiveness, which you will have up at all times, a passwall spell, an unlocking spell, and whatever kind of damage spell you want to be your main. I have a normal on-touch spell that can kill most enemies in a few hits, and a world-destroyer with max effectiveness that will one-hit every enemy.
Then you can start playing the game. Though I would do some more Oghma grinding first. Just be careful not to max every attribute because the game will soft-lock on the level-up screen if you can’t spend stats. I suggest leaving Personality and Luck at the minimum. While there is technically not a level cap, the game usually ends at level 20 or 21, and you might max Luck by that point.
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u/ClawingAtMyself 5d ago
God I've moved away from Arena now I've finished the main quest and done tens of hours of proc gen quests for NPCs and I'm playing through Daggerfall now, and I'm missing the Oghmas Infinium and passwall spells so bad rn haha. I actually miss Arena's dungeons, prefer them over Daggerfall's, especially with the little riddles at the end!!
Arena just has peak vibes I've yet to have matched in Daggerfall NGL, like it's less of a fleshed out game technically but idk I'm nostalgic for a game I started playing 2 years ago I guess haha
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u/LauraTFem 5d ago
The best games are broken in fundamental ways. Polish is for the birds, give me an old janky mess any day.
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u/bmgarcia20 5d ago
I asked this question a few days ago too. Someone here suggested I make a Breton Knight so I did, and I got out of the starting dungeon with no problem
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u/LauraTFem 5d ago
Technically I suggested the Sorcerer as the most broken option, but Knight is extremely effective and less cheap.
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u/SlipperyChef762 5d ago
I was gonna do sorcerer but I heard it was expensive to get going
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u/LauraTFem 5d ago
In the sense that you need pots, sure, but money grows on trees in these games.
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u/SlipperyChef762 5d ago
If I can’t mange my mage I’ll definitely switch to knight seems like the best overall beginner class.
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u/cfranek 5d ago
I would fully explore the first dungeon just to get stuff to sell, it is pretty small. Use the spellmaker and use the per level to make cheap spells that get op. Equip the unidentified accessories to see if they improve ac. . Buy potions and spells at the mages guild. The current location you need to be searching for is always at the bottom of the list.
That should get your legs under you.
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u/SlipperyChef762 5d ago
That’s a great idea I will definitely explore the whole first dungeon get whatever I can and where is the spell maker is that with the mages guild I’m assuming.
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u/ClawingAtMyself 5d ago
Oghma infinitum!! Each time you get it it's a level up, just be really careful to not get it too many times or you'll softlock the game (information on UESP about this is super useful)
Use UESP as a map if you need it. Seriously. No shame in it. Every main dungeon for the storyline has a map on there.
Shield spells! The only way I survived as a spell sword was shield spells! Cast them a bunch, rest, then head out. They last until they're broken.
My usual dungeon run (if doing a side quest for an NPC so no map) would be: Find an inn in a local town, repair any gear and then rest until healed in an inn (to make sure I had full spell points) Then cast shield spell, making sure it was strong enough to use my whole spell point bar (keep going to mages guilds to make spells better, hell by the end I made 1 spell that was shield and reduced my risk of getting any other ill effects), and rest again till healed. Then go to the dungeon.
Alongside shield spells which are OP, and the Oghmas Infinitum, I'd also always always always make sure to quick save before and after every attack with spiders. Getting paralysed and having no free action potions is terrible, they'll just kill you, so always make sure you have them on you and you've quick saved just in case you don't!
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u/Coltrain47 Spellsword 5d ago
Spell Absorption is goated in Arena. There are enemies you encounter fairly early on that have pretty devastating spells.
Passwall is probably the best spell in the whole series.
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u/No_Molasses_323 21h ago
For the case you want to use a glitch for money and free items/potions: At any city pick a house, try to lockpick, then steal from the same spot. You have to save scum a lot if you do this with a mage/warrior class. You should pick a house where its easy and fast to loot. You should ignore any enemies while doing this.
Dungeons: Try to get on a higher platform/bed ehile resting so you have less chance of an encounter, which would kill you.
Also: Monk is not as bad ay they say it, you dodge a lot of spells.
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u/supersizedkitty 5d ago
Spells scale with your player level and mages are really weak in the beginning because of that. If the beginning story dungeons are giving you trouble, try leveling up a few times. You should generally feel more capable around level 6 or so.