Tenshi (this post)
MarisaSakuya
Guess what, I'm not tired of dungeon crawling, after all! The same character can get stale with time, but my newfound dungeon structure knowledge makes exploring them even more fun for me than before. So I decided not to drop playing Daggerfall, but as promised, I'll share the fun and interesting stuff I can come across.
So, for those who don't know, Daggerfall is the second game in Elder Scrolls series.
It was released as freeware, but it's a DOS game, and you need to jump through a few hoops to make it work in DOSBox. Thankfully, the official download comes with an instruction how to make it work (even though it lacks a few points you might want to know). The game's known for having a lot of bugs even with latest patches, but there's so much content that bugs tend to be pretty rare, and the bugs you do encounter usually have some way to avoid them.
Oh, and this won't be any usual Let's Play. There are enough of them out there if you wonder how to run through the main questline. Instead, I will show you the random stuff - different factions, different character builds, different regions and so on. But bare-bones runs wouldn't be interesting, would they? Instead, we will be accompanied by...
: HELLO!
...our beloved and not-so-beloved girls.
: Hey, who are you hinting at?
Nobody in particular, it's just everyone has different tastes, that's all, really.
: Hmph. All right, let's leave it at that. Get started already!
Good idea, actually. So, Tenshi, how would you be adventuring in this new land?
: Well, I'm a competent swordfighter and can take a beating, you know. I'll push through everyone on my way to glory!
All right, so you'll be a very tough High Elf immune to all the sneaky stuff like poison or paralysis. No magic, though, but we won't need it.
: I'll be unstoppable!
Let's see if having as much health as possible will save us from being fried by magic users on higher levels. Probably not.
: WHAT?!
Don't worry, we'll sort it out when we get there, I promise.
: Ugh. If you say so.
Anyway, the story so far: Tenshi got bored and came to the capital of Wayrest. End of story.
: Ah, even though it's true, couldn't you have put it in a better way?
So, Tenshi, you want to get the love of people of this land by your great deeds?
: Uh... yeah.
Then your path lies to the local Knightly Order.
: Oh my! I just can't refuse when I'm asked like that, now can I?
Free rest in towns. Small change, but one headache less.
: So, do we start adventuring here?
Not yet.
: Huh? Why?
We need to join a temple as well.
: Do I really have to?
Yes. Always, ALWAYS join a temple. It's the only way to restore lowered attributes. It shouldn't happen to you, Tenshi, but better be safe than sorry. Besides, the local temple in Wayrest is...
Akatosh Chantry. Its god is a dragon. You like dragons, don't you?
: Well, yeah, I even saw a few small ones back in Heaven.
: I'm fine with it.
Don't worry, we won't need to even remember it exists for the most part. Let's get back to the Order now.
: I can't wait to go do my first deed!
: W... WHAAAAAT?!
: Oh, this is just GREAT! I come all the way here, and they tell me my help isn't needed! That's it, I'm leaving!
Hey hey hey, wait up! Just because they don't have a job now doesn't mean there's nothing else to do!
: Well, and what do you suggest for me to do, then?
Actually...
Let's ask the temple questgiver. We need to do a few quests for them to get at least one promotion before we are free to ignore them.
: Geez, I'll probably have to run some dull errand.
Dungeon crawling. You won't be bored.
: Oh. Fine then.
...Uh oh.
: W-what?
Time limits usually reflect the difficulty. Last time I was given a quest with over 30 days of time, I was sent to a dungeon full of enemies I couldn't even scratch while they could devour me in a matter of seconds.
: My goodness! What do we do, then?
Well, it won't hurt to visit it, at least. If things are too hot to handle, we're hightailing it right out.
: Should we? We have to find someone there, after all.
Don't worry, it won't actually matter much. Neither for her, nor for us.
: I'll trust you on this one.
Well, we have things to do. Travel time.
: H-h-h-how am I even supposed to find anything on a map like this?!
There's a "FIND" button in lower left corner.
But first, we need to gear up. The capital of Wayrest has a pretty poor selection of weapon and armor shops, but a city right next to it called Merwark Hollow is a real heaven for that. Just look at what I could assemble.
Full plate, iron and steel.
: Not bad!
Had to choose between a steel daikatana and that silver claymore. The former has more damage, but silver is a better material, and some enemies need a weapon made from a sufficiently good material to be damaged. Until some point, you'd better grab the best material you possibly can. Learned it the hard way.
Anyway, the trip is uneventful and we enter what looks like a pretty unremarkable dungeon. After some exploring, we meet our first enemy.
: Hello!
: You have no place here! Die!
: Just great! Time to test that blade!
Human enemies scale to your level, so Tenshi, being a competent fighter, will have no problem defeating them.
That fighter came from some sort of a hall. Let's go there.
: Ooh, what a cozy-looking place!
And it has three more fighters in it.
: Get her!
*a horribly one-sided carnage later*
: Sorry, did you people say something?
Yes, Tenshi is that good with the blade.
: Anyway, who are these? And why do they attack without a reason?
Well, this is a "hermitage", they probably worship something and it isn't something nice, so feel no qualms about killing any of them.
: You won't have to tell me something like that twice!
Now, this dungeon is full of humans, eh? This is awesome.
: Really? Why?
Human enemies means lots of loot, usually with a lot of good stuff. So remember to gather whatever you can, we're in need of money for now.
: Oh, alright!
Take any armor that isn't a cuirass. Those weigh too much for too little cost, unless the material is good. Also take any weapon better than silver. Except katanas - take all of those, they cost much more than any other weapon but weigh less. So, let's see what good stuff can we find this time.
Tenshi, remember what I said about magic users earlier?
: Um, yeah.
Grab these like your life depends on them. It just might.
Better armor to wear. Always a good thing.
...Elven material is better than silver. Way to make me wish I just stuck with a cheap steel claymore instead of choosing between those two back then.
: Hey, we got better stuff to use, that's all that matters.
Well, let's stick to our silver blade and keep this one around for when it's needed.
Anyway, some more exploring later, we meet a different kind of an enemy.
: Ew, a dead guy.
: *HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL*
: I already hate these!
This one turns out pretty tough and brings down most of our remaining health while we deal with it.
: What the hell?! I can't hit it properly, it needs too much damage and it hits too hard! It's already dead, for pity's sake!
Being stupidly overpowered is a running theme with undead in this game. Pray you won't see any other examples. Anyway, we need to rest to heal the damage.
: What, right here?! Can we at least get back to the cozy room?
...Just this once.
Anyway, more exploring and fighting follows with nothing too interesting. Until we reach...
: Looks like a broken bridge.
The missing part is to the right.
: Oh, hey, it is!
: Wait, what?! It floats in midair?! How?!
Daggerfall logic. Don't question it.
*WHOOSH*
: AH?! An arrow?!
No, it's a mosquito. OF COURSE IT'S AN ARROW! RUN BACK BEHIND THE CORNER ALREADY!
: Ah, s-sorry, I was too surprised.
There's an enemy on that floating block. Human enemies use bows when too far. We can't do anything at this bridge yet, so let's keep exploring.
And in one of the random loot piles, we find something really good.
Holy dagger and holy tome. Only good for selling, but they're very valuable - about as much as all the armor we're wearing right now each.
: Wow! I'll keep an eye out for these!
More adventuring later, we finally enter...
: Whoa, looks like an important place.
Look up.
: Ah!
Yep, we were up there earlier. And the block really floats.
: Never thought I'd see something like that outside of Heaven. You sure it won't fall down?
Relax. This room has other things for you to worry about.
: You're not allowed in here! Leave now!
: Make me.
: Men! Attack!
Four of them. Good thing we rested before entering.
: Not like it will be any trouble for me.
Nope. Anyway, do they have any good loot?
Honestly, why did I bother buying that silver one?
: It's fine, we have two awesome blades now!
Well, out of two weapons of the same material that we have, let's make a weaker one our workhorse and save the stronger just in case.
Steel armor is nothing too rare or special, but it still feels nice to gather an almost full set.
Anyway, Tenshi, let's take a look at that raised platform.
: Ooh, a throne! Can I sit on it?
Geez, stop being such a child. But the look from up there feels nice.
Anyway, back to dungeon's narrow corridors, and eventually we come to...
: Oh, we were in that room earlier.
Go on and push that lever.
: Whoa, that block moved and formed the bridge! Just how does it all work?
Daggerfall logic. Don't question it. Or you'll get an arrow to the face.
: Speaking of which, let's get back up there.
I don't see why not.
: Huh? I think there was someone here before. Where is she?
Don't know, don't care.
Well, we explore the other side of the bridge, get into a few fights (including another skeleton), and eventually come to...
: Hey, we were here before.
Yep, same ledge with the lever.
: Ah, I guess that means we explored everywhere.
Actually, we missed a door. Let's head back there.
: Whoa! Caves?
Yep. New part of the dungeon, sure to be just as big. But that's enough for this time.
Well, it took just as long to make this first post as it took for me to play through what I described, but writing it up was just as fun, so it's fine. Updates probably won't be all that frequent, but there's probably a lot of fun stuff to come. This first dungeon block was a pretty interesting one, so the start is good. It's one of my favourite ones too, and that "cozy room" is usually underwater, so we're all in luck.
See ya next time!
: Bye-bye!
