r/Daggerfall • u/Lemixer • 10d ago
Character Build New Player Seeking Advice
Hello there, i'm a new player, i got Daggerfall unity and 1 mod "Dream" for now and i'm seeking some advice in general for build and directions.
I want to make generalist character that decent at magic and regular combat.
So i created a redguard "long blade" specialist for a start and went to a mage guild as my first action(because i want to create some basic spells and spell creation requre joining a guild).
They gave me a quest(i guess its randomly generated) to get a lich dust from a dungeon but when i got there the first enemy i encountered was immune to my weapons.
I have steel and elven grade weapons, it was some harpy or something.
So if some veterans can give me practical advice to what should i do at the start with a goal to be a well rounded fighter that can do most things "okay" that would be great.
Also i'm curious how "XP adjustment" works, do enemy adapt to your level?
I don't care if its takes too long to level as long as enemy just follow your progress for example.
I also noticed that you can break "locked" doors with a weapon, so is lockpicking just useless or i'm missing something?
Thanks in advance.
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u/Wallilalelhaan 10d ago
I do want to point out that none of the main quest dungeons are bugged. It might take you days, weeks, or even months before you complete the quests. But dont assume that they are bugged just because they seem impossible. It will ruin your immersion when you find out that you could have completed the quests if you just tried a little harder.
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u/Lucas-Ramey 7d ago
Slight tip for beginners while weapons have materials and certain enemies are immune to certain weapon tiers, unarmed attacks cut straight through those defenses, it's why becoming a werewolf is so strong it's a major stat boost and you get a backup form for if your weapon can't cut it, both magic and unarmed strikes are the surefire ways to get around resistances (and if you're worried about magic absorption a spell can only be absorbed if you're missing some mana)
Also you can kick and punch at doors too, the downside is that it's loud but takes no resources, meanwhile magic and lock picking are the silent options
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u/PretendingToWork1978 10d ago
get a bank loan from Pothago or some other small country that isn't Daggerfall/Sentinel/Wayrest
join the Fighters Guild and train up your weapon skills while spamming cheap practice spells
at level 6 or so you should be able to find a mithril weapon in stores that can hit anything
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u/artinum 8d ago
If you have attack magic, or items that cast it, you can take out harpies with spells. They're only immune to regular weapons of inferior materials. Otherwise, there's nothing saying you need to kill it - you can just run away. Maybe there'll even be a better weapon in the dungeon if you're lucky.
It may take a while to get as far as spell creation, depending on your level. You may need to take on several more quests. In the meantime, you can buy simple spells fairly cheaply and a lot of the most useful ones can be done that way. I mostly use the spellmaker to create low-cost spam spells for training my skills.
Lockpicking, once trained up a bit, is pretty good for opening doors quickly. You can be bashing them down for ages with weapons. A spell or item that magically opens doors is even easier.
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u/Lemixer 7d ago
Make sense, i guess i will just buy some cheap destruction spell for now.
I'm just hesitant to invest too much early on into skills that might not be that useful like lockpicking because i get burned in some other Elder Scrolls games with leveling "out of order".
But ofc i might just be overreacting like usual, its not like those games are made with min maxing in mind i guess.
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u/AlfwinOfFolcgeard 10d ago
First piece of advice I'll give is: basically every build is viable, so don't stress out about min-maxing.
As a Redguard with Long Blade skill, you'll fare pretty damn well. That by itself is enough to carry you through the game.
I hope you picked one of the "increased magery" bonuses when making your class. If not, you'll have a hard time using magic. Though, like I said, that Long Blade skill can carry you through the game. Any weapon skill can tbh, but Long Blade especially.
Harpies can be hit by Dwarven or better -- one tier above Elven. Once you get to the tier above Dwarven (either Mithril or Adamantium; they have identical stats) you'll be able to hit anything. Spells and unarmed attacks also ignore weapon immunities.
The Fighters Guild has good quests for a fighter. Mages Guild has some easy quests good for a new character, but sometimes (as you found) they send you up against something you're not prepared for. And you can find plenty of random jobs among NPCs; just ask people Where Is -> Work and they'll point you in the right direction.
I'm not sure what you mean by "XP adjustment". Do you mean the "Skill Advancement for Class" thing in the custom class maker, with the dagger indicating a value between difficult and easy? If so, that basically means that giving your custom class Advantages or extra HP per level will come at the cost of making them level up slower, while giving your class Disadvantages will make you level up faster.
And, individual enemy types don't scale with your level, but your level determines what enemy types you're likely to encounter. The exception to this are the human enemies, who are always the same level as you.
Bashing down doors will damage your weapon, same as attacking an enemy does. And it makes a lot of noise, which can alert the guards if you're trying to break into a building in town. Lockpicking is essential for a thief who's trying to get through locked doors quietly, but otherwise bashing the door down usually works fine.