O.K. Hi All. I hope some of you are still monitoring this section.
I've had Arena for nearly 10 years now,but was never able to play it
until now. So I am a Very,Very Noob here. The Arena version I originally got came in the combined box of Daggerfall and Arena together;hows That for Old!
My Arena is the one that Bethesda released on CD.
Unfortunately;I never could get Arena to install on my computer;not
even back when I was using windows 95 on an old proprietary 486.
Now I'm running the Free Downloaded version Bethesda Released for
their 10th Anniversary with the Dos Box they recommended.
Are there any patches , or game fixes I need to get?
I've made it out of the First dungeon;just barely mind you. I'm playing
a Khajiit Bard on one game and a Dark Elf Spell Sword on another.
My question is what do you recommend I should do next? I know it's open-ended like Daggerfall and Morrowind;but from what I can see,there are No Guilds to join to get training and Other Essential Supplies.
In Dagger and Morrowind I joined several Guilds to gain Their Support
and Benefits Early on.
Is there such a possiblity in Arena. I Need to do Something to Build
my skills,Badly in fact,as the rats & goblins nearly did me in in the first
dungeon,but what?
Is their a way to join one of the Guilds in Arena as I did in Daggerfall?
The Book Doesn't say,and Apparently Nobody released a Strategy Guide for this game to help you get started. Also what spells do you
recommend as being the Most Absolute Neccesary Ones.
Sheyanne The Wondering Half Elf

Are there any patches , or game fixes I need to get?

No.

My question is what do you recommend I should do next?

Exit the city gates and do some wandering outside of town. Look for a dungeon; they're identified by orange dots on the map. You can also ask folks out there where the nearest dungeon is. Most such dungeons have lots of places to rest and lots of treasure.

Is their a way to join one of the Guilds in Arena as I did in Daggerfall? The Book Doesn't say...

Nope, no guilds to join. (And why would the book bother to list all the things you can't do?)

Nobody released a Strategy Guide for this game to help you get started.

There was a strategy guide. You could maybe find it on eBay.

Also what spells do you recommend as being the Most Absolute Neccesary Ones.

Light Heal, which you already have. In Fire Dart you already have an offensive spell as well. Levitate is very handy. Shield is good one to get, as is Passwall. Open is also nice. However, until you get your Intelligence up, you won't be able to do much effective spell-casting unless you can afford Potions of Restore Power. There are magic items (marks, crystals, bracers, and rings) that can do all of these things.

In addition to the above potions ALWAYS carry plenty of Cure Disease with you. In Arena you can die from disease in the time it takes you to travel back to town from a dungeon. Restore magic potions are also very handy for hybrids and casters.

Regarding the racial stats given above: the AVERAGES and ranges for males and females differ by quite a bit in Arena, with some stats averaging higher rolls than males, some lower. Dark elf males are very much a super race here.

Mara

In addition to the above potions ALWAYS carry plenty of Cure Disease with you. In Arena you can die from disease in the time it takes you to travel back to town from a dungeon.

Very true; make a sure-cure disease spell to save an inventory slot.

Regarding the racial stats given above: the AVERAGES and ranges for males and females differ by quite a bit in Arena, with some stats averaging higher rolls than males, some lower. Dark elf males are very much a super race here.

Yup, they're pretty strong to start, and even though they have a weakened Willpower score, it doesn't even come in to play in the starting dungeon (unless you are so foolish as to rest on the floor and unluckily draw an m-u as a random encounter).

Hey this whole thing NEEDS to be stickied, Please Moderators, sticky this for all those new players out there, this would help everyone in Arena.

Help indeed. I didn't even know you could jump till I read it...

Theres a levitate spell in Arena? :/

How would this be implemented?

EDIT: Oh! Also, what level would you suggest starting the main quest? I'm level five, mainly from doing city jobs and killing the monsters that show up at night.

Theres a levitate spell in Arena? :/ How would this be implemented?

Keeps you from falling in pits and water.

This is a great post! Allot of very usefull information.

But I have a few questions:

1) Am i right when I am thinking that shields is just extra armor? - You cant block with them.

2) On my Character screen I have several numbers next to the body. Is lower numbers better?

3) I am a breton battlemage, but I have to rest in order for the magica to go up. Is that normal?

4) In the starter dungeon there is a door-marker (red dot) to the North-east. But there isnt a door there. Am I reading the map wrong?

1) Am i right when I am thinking that shields is just extra armor? - You cant block with them.
Yeah, just extra armour

2) On my Character screen I have several numbers next to the body. Is lower numbers better?
Yep, old D&D rules. The lower the better

3) I am a breton battlemage, but I have to rest in order for the magica to go up. Is that normal?
I think so . . . . I'm not sure, tho

4) In the starter dungeon there is a door-marker (red dot) to the North-east. But there isnt a door there. Am I reading the map wrong?
Try clicking on it, it's probably a hidden door

3) I am a breton battlemage, but I have to rest in order for the magica to go up. Is that normal?
I think so . . . . I'm not sure, tho

Yes, that is normal for any magic-user except for sorcerers.

4) In the starter dungeon there is a door-marker (red dot) to the North-east. But there isnt a door there. Am I reading the map wrong?
Try clicking on it, it's probably a hidden door

This is 100% of the time a hidden door. They are never hidden on your map, though.

Just a couple of questions, this thread is really good by the way:

Is there fast travel to get to other provinces?

How does an atronach sign restore magicka?

Is an Ebony Belt any good?

What do the green numbers near my body in the equipment screen mean?

Is there fast travel to get to other provinces?
Yep. Press Shift+M or right click on the map icon

What do the green numbers near my body in the equipment screen mean?
Those numbers represent the Armour Rating of the various parts of your body. The lower the number, the better.

So the numbers would represent how vulnerable the body is. The higher the number, the more vulnerable?

How does an atronach sign restore magicka?

There are neither atronachs nor signs in Arena.

Is an Ebony Belt any good?

An ebony belt is great. Wear it and watch your armor rating go down by five in every area. It's magical that way. They also sell for hella cash.

So the numbers would represent how vulnerable the body is. The higher the number, the more vulnerable?

Ezzackly. Melee adjustments are additive, not ratio-based.

a. If you click the "fingers picking gold" icon (or press the P key), you go into "pilfer" mode. Ofttimes you would like to take that back. To do so, right-click. Did not know that.

b. If you are in front of a guild, shop, inn, or temple, you needn't type the name on your map if you should want to note it. Once outside, you need merely put your cursor over the door and right-click. The name is then printed on your city map. You don't want to go wild with this, however, as there is a limit to how much notation the map will accept. Knew that. It was in the rulebook.

c. Right-click often acts as the Enter key. If you are saving, after you select the slot in which you want to save and have a name you can accept, right-clicking finishes the job. If you are bartering, after you type in your offer, right-click and you get your response. As it happens, right-click also works on the buttons, so you can in fact confine yourself to right-clicking when you are bartering. It doesn't help you get full price in the game, but you can get through the bartering process more quickly if you use one hand for typing numbers and the other for the mouse. Didn't know that.

2. Shift-C immediately casts the most recent spell you cast. For instance, if you are in a fight, you can re-cast "Light Heal" whenever you get low on health without mousing around and losing your fighting rhythm. Kill monsters faster! Didn't know that. Cool!

3. If you find yourself outside a city and are completely lost and can't find your way back to the city, fast travel to it. Knew that, obvious.

4. Outside a city, you can ask folks where the nearest dungeon is. "Dungeon" is defined as any place you can adventure in, so that includes crypts, deserted towers, and whatnot. They are identified on your map with a reddish-orange dot. "Dungeon" does not, however, include any place on your province map (e.g., Stonekeep). Knew that.

5. Locks need not be picked. You can use a weapon to bash doors and treasure chests open. You do however supposedly run the risk of damaging your treasure. Knew that.

6. If your one and only weapon breaks, you at least have recourse to trying to beat your enemies to death. Using your fists counts as a weapon and does real damage to your enemies. Also, the better the gauntlets you have on, the more damage you can do. However, I don't recommend it as a usual thing because it was poorly implemented; it often causes Arena to crash even if you have the recommended amount of conventional memory under (genuine) DOS. I knew h2h did damage, but I didn't know about the other stuff. Cool.

7. All menus are both mouse-usable and keyboard-usable. The highlighted letters on the primary menus indicate the keyboard option for selecting the menu option. In a list box, you can use the up/down arrow keys. Knew that. Obvious.

8. You can use the mouse to move your character. If you move the cursor to the edges of the screen, you will note it changes from an "X" to an arrow. If you click while the arrow is showing, your character will move accordingly. E.g., if you place your cursor at the top middle of the screen, you will go forward. You can move in every possible direction using these cursors. Supposedly Julian LeFay swore by this system. It never grew on me, but it has its moments. For instance, you can more easily make fine adjustments to your compass heading using these cursors; the keyboard is too touchy to do it with any accuracy (at least, mine is).
Note also that the rate of speed you move is governed by how far the arrow is from the middle of the screen. If you have the up arrow showing (i.e., it's in the top middle of the screen), the closer to the very top it is, the faster you will go.[/b] Knew that. Obvious.

9. When you are in a treasure list (from a pile of treasure found in a dungeon or from a dead monster), you don't have to click on the individual items to take them. Use the Enter key. Didn't know that.


That's normal. That's how it is in all TES games other than Oblivion.

Sheesh. I'm going to nominate the previous post for "Most Pointless and Self-Absorbed".

Ok now it's time for a random Arena tip:

Enter a random dungeon(this works best with castles or other buildings) and clear the first floor, but DO NOT LOOT any treasure, yet. Remember where the piles of treasure are and head to the stairs. Go up to the next floor turn around and head back to the first floor; repeat this serveral times(five to six times should be enough but you can do any amount of times). When you are done hopping between levels return to the treasure piles on the first floor(don't forgot about the ones on the second floor) and enjoy the fruits of your "labor". :goodjob:

Ok now it's time for a random Arena tip:

Yup, that's all correct.

However, this technique is difficult to reap the benefits of if you have to search around for the treasure. There is one particular dungeon layout, however, in which this is an easy technique. Its one where if you have your back to the stairway, to the right is a large open area with a rectangular sort-of "arena" reachable by going up on a very low platform. There are two treasure spots at either end of that arena. The other beauty of this particular layout is you can sleep on those platforms without incurring random monsters, or you can choose to sleep on the floor, and when the monsters come, go on the other side of the platform and shoot arrows at them (Arena monsters never climb platforms).

Just curious but is there any way of getting around the melee crash bug? Even in Dosbox, no matter WHAT my conventional memory is, it seems to happen.

Just curious but is there any way of getting around the melee crash bug? Even in Dosbox, no matter WHAT my conventional memory is, it seems to happen.

The only melee crash bug I know of is the one where you are using your fists as weapons. This is not avoidable AFAIK, i.e., it happens under the best of circumstances. Any other bug I've ever had is fixed by having 614400 bytes memory below the line.

Ooooooh... This has been a VERY interesting topic indeed So much so, I put it all into a text file for safekeeping. If anyone wants the file, PM meh.

Since your spell-cast list is listed alphabetically you can rename your spells (in your spellbook) to 'organize' and set 'active spells'. This way, your first 4-5 spells will be ones that you actually want to use.

(ex.

1 Light Heal
2 Shalidor's Mirror
3 Levitate
4 Passwall
5 Forcebolt
)

Good call, E*. Another thing to do would be to put a space in front of every spell you use a lot. This doesn't do exactly what you describe, but it does put the most-used ones at the top.

Edit: