Solid build for first time Daggerfall player

[orangesandwich]

Hello all! This is my first post on the UESP forums and first and foremost I would like to say hello to everyone here and all that good stuff I've been an avid fan of the Elder scrolls series since around 2006 and have just now got around to joining an online community of other fans. Anyways down to business, I've just started playing Daggerfall a few days ago and I've been wondering what some of the best character builds are according to the veterans of this game. I've just started Daggerfall a few days ago but I am already in love with this game, and I am wondering what some good character builds are for long term success. The Nord character I have now is primarily warrior/melee based. I would like to develop a battlemage type character that is a maybe a 60/40 melee/magic build, if that is possible. I would like to know what you all recommend and would love to hear what has worked best for you whether it has anything to do with what I just specified or not hahah. Thanks in advance, I shall be checking in these forums at least once a day so I think I'm gonna be a regular around here from this point onward

[Gilarius]

Welcome, although you'll find that this board isn't very active

There are a few peeps checking in every now and then, so give any questions a few days to be answered before getting impatient!

Ok, a new character, for a new player. You'll find that most of us who've played a lot tend to go for...odd...characters. Eg I favour a character who doesn't level up much, but has magic and a few other skills very high. If you read some of the other threads, you'll see why and how I do this.

However, here goes: None of the pre-made classes are much good, you'll find. But feel free to try them anyway.

1) pick a race - paralysis (spiders, magic weapons) gets you killed very quickly, so choose High Elf to be immune. Or be ready to re-start/re-load a lot until you get the hang of not being paralysed.
2) as a High Elf, choose custom character class creation and pick 'critical weakness to paralysis' - since you're immune, this gives you some 'free' advantages to pick without making the advancement dagger too high.
3) if you enjoy spending ages trying to get each and every skill high, allow the dagger to go high;if not, make it as low as possible. The game allows you to pick the same disadvantages repeatedly, moving the dagger down each time. Abuse this as much or as little as you wish. You go up levels according to the levelling up formula on this website.
4) to go up levels quicker a) have the dagger low, so your skills improve quickly; and b) put skills you will use a lot in your favoured slots. To stay low level, but still have eg magical skills high, put them into miscellaneous and practice them a lot. There are mimimum skill levels required for joining each guild, so you might want one skill from the mages guild in your major section just to be able to join and therefore be able to make custom practice spells.
5) don't put running or jumping into anything other than miscellaneous unless you enjoy facing high level opponents when your only decent skills are running and/or jumping!
6) to get any reasonable level of magicka, choose one of the 'increased magicka' advantages; otherwise you'll never be able to cast many powerful spells, even with scores of 100 in the relevant skill and stat.
7) make a character, play it through the starting dungeon (if it survives...) and expect to re-start and make several new characters until you're happy with the outcome. Then get to a town and do stuff. Expect to re-create your character about 10 times.

Have fun!

[Snake]

Yeah, I saw this topic when it was first posted but I don't really know much about characters generation. About making solid builds.

So I didn't post anything because I knew I wasn't going to be of any help.

Sorry.

I'm done now.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

He's right about those scorpions and spiders. Paralysis is a real nuisance. Beware the randomly generated dungeons, too. The best plan is to hug a wall - right or left, and stick to that course. Once you have your dungeon goal - be it an item or person - reverse course until you get back to the entrance. This is a general tip and not a character generation tip, but it can be one of the most useful Daggerfall tips you'll learn.

[Adda]

Must have:
Spell Absorption
Increased magery 3x int in spell points
Expertise in your favorite weapon (long blade deals most damage for a weapon, hand-to-hand deals more damage with higher skill, so has the potential to deal MUCH more dmg then any weapon, like 50-100 when using a bunch of magic items)

Optional:
Acute Hearing (helps find things in dungeons)
Athleticism
Damage from Holy Places
Forbidden material Silver (so rare doesn't matter)

Now decide, more HP pr. level or easy leveling.

Start with high int, will and spd.
If you plan on becoming a vamp, only int should be above 80, since all other stats receive a +20 bonus, you don't want to waste stat points.
If you don't plan on becoming a vamp, then spd should be as high as possible, 95 or more, speed kills!

As soon as you leave the starter dungeon, go to the Mages Guild, become a member and go to the spell maker to make an "area at range" damage spell.
Just plain damage, or maybe transfer health or fatigue, one of each element is handy.
It doesn't have to do a lot of dmg as you can shoot it as much as you like, just shoot in to the ground right in front of you, you'll reabsorb the spell, so in effect, casting costs no spell points.
Just remember, if you don't have enough free magicka to absorb the spell, you'll take damage in stead.

Need gear? slay the guards in castle Sentinel, they count as enemies so it legal and all.

Gain ranks in Mages Guild to gain access to the magic item maker, remember hand-to-hand? more damage with higher skill, what if you made a complete set of items that improve your hand-to-hand skill? and critical strike when you are at it, oh yeah, you'll be quite the slayer, and a most powerful mage too!
Also, casting spells cost fewer spell points with higher skill, what if I made magic items that improve my casting skills? well, that would just be too crazy wouldn't it

How about becoming a Haarvenu vampire? they have a special Ice Storm spell that costs less spell points to cast, then you absorb from it by casting it in to the ground in front of you.
What you say? yes you can use it to replenish your magicka.

Also, using a "cast when used" magic item, and cancelling the spell, add the spell cost to your magicka pool, so you can use certain magic items to replenish magicka.

And don't forget your plate mail, tower shield and strengthens armor enchantment.

A running skill of 400 or more, makes dungeon crawling a breeze.

Feeling high level? not until you have made a spell that has a 100% chance of reflecting spells you cant absorb, and 100% chance of resisting spells that are reflected back at you, while restoring all your HP every second, all in a single spell that lasts all day.