im a noob at the game. HOW do you attack someone. i can get the fists out, but how do you strike?
can you get a decent resolution with the game somehow?

1. you attack by holding down the right mouse button and moving the mouse around.

2. It is possible to change the size in the dosbox config, look for the line:



where **** are the resolution size you want the game at in full screen mode.

That doesn't change the ingame resolution, tho.

HOW do you attack someone. i can get the fists out, but how do you strike?

To strike, hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse around.

BTW, you have a weapon and are much better off using it rather than your fists. Do F1 to go to your inventory, then "N" to see what you have, then double-click on the weapon.

To documentation it is written that ice and iron golems possess aura (a magic field). How it looks and works?

To documentation it is written that ice and iron golems possess aura (a magic field). How it looks and works?

There is in fact no such aura. Perhaps it was intended, but it didn't make it into the game, either graphically or as insofar as it might affect your character.

My avid interest in old DOS-based games has brought me to download Arena. So far I have escaped the Imperial Dungeons and done several tasks in the first town (which may or may not be the same for everyone). It seems like a potentially fun game, but some questions arise that remain unanswered in the FAQ's that I have come across.

1. Armor

On the inventory screen one can see what their character looks like. Next to several of the character's body parts appear certain numbers. I am guessing that this is your character's armor rating. When I started the game as a Burglar, these numbers were all +6.

I have noticed that one can buy armor at the stores in town, but the only armor available to me now is the leather armor. So I bought all of the leather armor pieces and equipped them onto my character. Each +6 went down to +3.

Wait a minute. Does that mean that this armor makes my character's armor rating WORSE? This doesn't make any sense. I also have a magical braclet labled "Elven Braclet". When I equip this, all the numbers become -2. WHAT?!

2. Micellaneous Quests

Whenever I ask a townsfolk about work I am directed to a tavern and given a delivery job (which is given by a lazy arrogant [censored] who is incapable of walking a distance of 30 feet). In the newer Elder Scrolls games these tasks are limited and it is possible to do all of them. But now I am starting to wonder if the tasks in Arena are infinite and should only be done if gold is needed. Am I right?


This brings me to my ultimite question. I am sure that these questions are all answered in the game's user guide. I downloaded this game legaly off of the Elder Scrolls site, so I do not have a paper version of the guide. After extensive searching I have still not been able to find an internet-accessable version of this guide, which is odd because this game has been available as freeware for the past four years. You would think SOMEONE would have done it.

The closest thing I have been able to find is this: http://www.elderscrolls.com/tenth_anniv/Arena106%20Setup.pdf

Maybe I am just terrible at searching. Can anyone help?

Here you go: http://www.svatopluk.com/arena/manual/.
(found it from the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Arena:Arena#Technical_Info)

Hmm. I guess I am terrible at searching.

Thanks for the swift reply.

Disappointing.

The guide did not answer either of my questions. But wasn't the original paper guide eighty-some pages?

If anyone can answer either of my two previous questions it would be greatly appreciated.

Corgan: You got out? Lucky S'wit. All that happens to me is i get blown away by a goblin and Ria sends me on a Incompetence-induced guilt trip. So i die a little, big deal Ria. No need to try to get me all guilty ;_;

TGM Can't save me now...Unless arena has a console....

1. AR is better the lower it is, a bit confusing, but just the way it works

2. The misc town/city quests are similar to your average mmo quest, and are infinate. They are a good way of getting some rep though, and if you have done many try talking to the leader of a small twon, they also can give quests and can pay into the thousands for them. You can get impossible quests though (like being told to kill a lich at lvl 1, a lich being the most powerful creature in the game), but you can also get easy delieve so and so to here.

Thats a relief. I was afraid that my class was an anti-armor class (which it partially is because it can only wear leather). Now that I managed to get an artifact quest, I can stop wasting my time with pointless deliveries.

By the way Poopskin, I have noticed that several people claim that the first dungeon is very difficult, especially if you linger for too long. This was not the case for me. I found the dungeon rather simple, and I took my sweet time while doing it. Maybe this has to do with my version (1.06) or my race (Kajit Bulglar).

By the way Poopskin, I have noticed that several people claim that the first dungeon is very difficult, especially if you linger for too long. This was not the case for me. I found the dungeon rather simple, and I took my sweet time while doing it. Maybe this has to do with my version (1.06) or my race (Kajit Bulglar).

It has 100% to do with the player.

But wasn't the original paper guide eighty-some pages?

It was, but didn't necessarily answer all questions. A lot of the game was for you to figure out.

The AR is based on the old D&D 2nd edition rules. The higher your die roll, the higher your chance to hit your opponent, so lower AR meant you were harder to hit (ie: if you roll a 15 and your opponent has AR of +6, your to-hit roll is 21, an almost guaranteed hit, but if your AR is -5 the to-hit roll becomes 10, a much more likely miss). Morrowind used 3rd edition rules (remember that Oblivion did away with the die roll system altogether), which got rid of the old THAC0 (To Hit Armor Class 0 -- the die roll you need to his someone with an armor class of '0', ie: he/she is wearing enough armor to overcome his/her natural AR of +6) roll with a simple '10' plus your AR, which made higher AR more desirable, and quite frankly confused all of us old D&D 2nd edition players scratching our heads for several years, lol.

If it makes you feel any better, it took me a while to figure it out myself. Then I felt stupid, having grown up on 2nd edition rules!

The first dungeon wasn't entirely difficult for me, though I did die a time or two. An archer without bows and arrows is a sad state to be stuck in until I got into town finally.

My concern at the moment, and the reason I am strolling around the forums today, is whether or not there are ANY encounters outside of the dungeons. I spent an hour and a half walking around in what I assume is 'outside' of town, but all I can seem to find is other NPCs. ???

edit: Let me try to explain that again. In 2nd edition, your AR affected the die roll itself, or how easily you were hit. In 3rd, your AR affected your to-hit roll directly, or how hard you are to hit. Here, let me give an example.

2nd edition:

You are trying to hit a goblin. Your character's assigned THAC0 is 12, the goblin is wearing armor that gives him AR= +2, and you roll an 11 (keep in mind that before Oblivion TES used computer generated die rolls for hits). Your THAC0 is 12, meaning that an 11 is a miss. But, when you add the goblin's AR your roll becomes 13, which means you hit.

3rd edition:

Same scenario, but under 3rd edition there is no THAC0. Every character has a default 'defense' value, which is the default roll that has to be rolled to hit them. The goblin's default defense is 8 and his armor gives him a AR of 2, giving him a total defensive value of 10. Your roll of 11 still hits.

Either system works fine, and I have to admit that even with my bias for 2nd, 3rd is simpler -- but going from one to the other can be a little confusing unless you have a lot of experience in both systems, as us 'older' gamers do.

My concern at the moment, and the reason I am strolling around the forums today, is whether or not there are ANY encounters outside of the dungeons. I spent an hour and a half walking around in what I assume is 'outside' of town, but all I can seem to find is other NPCs. ???

Try resting. You'll get encounters. I don't think you'll get 'em just walkin' around and stuff.

edit: Let me try to explain that again.

no...really...

Well, after reading my post I wasn't wure I was clear enough. And thank you for your answer -- I'll have to try that.