Hi everyone!

I've played Morrowind and Oblivion, loved both, and while waiting for ES5 decided to take another crack at Arena. I've tried to play it before but I have found it immensely difficult to get through. It isn't necessarily the bad graphics that make it difficult for me to play, but rather the general gameplay. I really want to play cause the story sounds very interesting so are there any tips for playing arena to make it easier to get through? A couple of things I don't understand:

At the end of the Sewer dungeon in the very beginning, there is a gate that asks for spell powers? i alway have to look those up. What is that there for?
The dungeons are completely random? So they are hard to get through and make finding anything that I'm looking for difficult? is there any way of simplifying the process? I don't want a quest arrow, but for example I went on one quest to find a ring and I was in the dungeon for 3 hours and could not find that ring. I dunno if i was missing it or what.
Can I finish the main quest without doing side quests? Not that I really want to, but just in case I start to lose interest.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Hi lordharrison,

1) "a gate that asks for spell powers" - I assume it is the shimmering gate that takes you outside the initial dungeon... There is nothing to answer, just go thru it and you will be (i think) in a city according to ur race.
2) In general, each dungeon has FOUR levels. . For example, if you are searching for an artifact, ask about Rumours / General, till the artifact info pops up - .
3) Yo can finish the main quest, ie finding the 8 pieces of the Staff of Chaos, which are located in 8 different places (each accessible by a specific map which you will have to quest for). After completing the MQ, you're free to do as you will (quest for kings, arties, random dungeons, kill innocents...).
4) you can also postpone the MQ as much as you want.

I usually do this:


By the way, here are some things that I found cool about Arena that were beter than ANY TES game:
- Race matters. A Redguard does add his level/3 to hit and damage with any melee weapon (as do Wood Elves for ranged weapons only, while Dark Elves add level/4 to both melee and ranged)
- Assassins have the greatest chance for critical stirke (3% x level) with melee; Archers for ranged weapons (also, avoid hand to hand, as it is written there r problems).
- Rangers add their class level to damage with any weapon (though I never played them).
- Only Rangers, Knights and Warriors can wear Plate armour - the strongest of all.

More info, check also the site:

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Arena:Arena

Have fun!

EDIT: btw, when you quest for whatever a mapor artie the item will ALWAYS be inside a special red-golden chest. Other quest items, such as parchments, books, rings, jewels, will be visible on the floor.
EDIT 2: Not all classes have mana! Assassins, e.g, can never cast spells though they use can any magic item. You may want to try a class that can cast spells, and my recommendation to you is a Dark Elf BATTLEMAGE, as they cast offensive spells more proficiently than any other (even than Sorcerors, despite that 3x Itn they have...)

Yeah, when I try to go through the Shift Gate, it says, Look in Ye Olde Spell book and Answer "What is the cost of Fireball?" and I got it wrong and asked for Gods fire and I got that wrong and it just exited the game. Like, sent me back to DOS.

Your information was very helpful though! I appreciate it.

Yeah, that's one of those old copy-protection things. There's a printed list of spell costs in the manual; so it's checking to make sure you have a physical copy of the game and manual.

If you download Arena from the official site, http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/downloads_games.htm , then that list is included in the docs folder somewhere.

oh, now i get it... i rememner the old manual that came with the game to prevent piracy.

like the above post said, u have to read (easy, 1 minute) to find the answer, and that is the only time it ever happens in game (unless u start another character, at that point a question like this will always be asked).

Wow that's really clever okay thanks guys!

You should be aware too, that some 'nasty things' may happen without a specific reason, though it is unusual. Notice that u have ten save slots. USE them! Have one always for BEFORE enterring a dungeon / quest-place; keep in mind (or write down if u will) ur character's level, attributes, stats... It so happens that ur character is suscpetible to a variety of stat-decreasing events - curses, diseases, poisons, spells... And ofetn u can cure with a potion, spell or temple service, BUT sometimes not!

Thanx to my tip above, a character that was leaving the dungeon with willpower of 58 (instead of 60 with which he started) I was able to find a previous save wheer he was not many play-minutes behind. You may use the other NINE spell slots for development in dungeon or as you want, but always keep one for before enterring dungeons.

Oh: As you probably noticed, when u level up you see an attribute distribution bonus, varying from 3 - 6 points. It is possible to know when u r *about to level up*, save before, and check if u got the +6 or +3, and reload if u feel like. Check the xp advance table for ur character.

I actually have one slight doubt: I am not sure whether Speed makes you cast spells faster - I know it makes you swing weapons and use bows faster. Can anyone pls confirm this?

Also, does Luck affect fighting / magic abilities in any way?

Speed doesn't make you cast spells any faster. At least, I don't think so.

Luck slightly increases the chances of a successful weapon strike or spell-cast. I

Really? Coz my High Elf Battlemage is the first one to have Luck at 93 (I got it from Oghma Infinium, after having reached Int and Wil 100).

I was kinda guessing Speed would not affect spell rate... But if Luck improves your odds somehow in battle, I'm going for it!

mmhmm, it's said to affect the results of every skill roll. I don't know the formulas for determining the results of spell-casts and weapon strikes, but luck would certainly play into them.

Doublepost, sorry.