i never got into being a thief. there simply wasn't anything fun to do as a thief, unless you only get kicks robbing stores. pickpocketing was amusing though, but hardly much a reason to master the skill.

languages was possibly the most disappointing aspect when i did manage to get orcish into the 60's to find out it only rarely stopped orcs from attacking, and had no bearing with orsinium. after that, i never bothered with any other language again.

there's a few providences i've never stepped foot in.

i've never tried getting to the crux swimming from the boats. though i wish i did.

never did the high elf/paralysis exploit, even then i knew that was cheap and just cheese. actually never took advantage of any of the exploits of the character generation.

i never used health regeneration as an ability.

never did care enough to unravel all the mysteries of a dungeon. i hated the brick door teleporters.

Find me a pure-mage who doesn't have to resort to this exploit and I'll eat Dr Memory's hat. I don't play pure-mages because you have to 'cheat' to get it done.

if you use x3 spellpoints and spell absorption, you aren't a mage, you're a sorceror. and it's cheese using the explosion exploit.

pure mage is difficult at first, since you have to rely on magic heavily and rest to restore it, but once you learn to make potions that restore magic, it's just a matter of making sure to have a decent a supply of ingredients. the mages guild won't help you here, you gotta join a temple or be a murderer. i think i've always been a follower of arkay, quick access to potions and the potion maker, they deal in souls, and curing diseases is extremely affordable. potions are vastly underrated in daggerfall since everyone always takes x3 spellpoints it seems. once you're comfortable with potions, maintaining magic is hardly a chore anymore.

the biggest part of being a pure mage is you must "re-create" your main spells in the spellmaker to make better use of cost effiecency per level gain. saving a few points of magic adds up in the end, and utilizing magic items for mundane casting like levetation or open becomes common sense when saving your real magicka for more important matters. also carry a magic item of a cheap spell to kill rats and such, no sense wasting magic on them, unless you're phobic.

race plays a big part in survival too. breton mages don't have to worry about disintegration, silence, drain fatigue, or spell drain as much (and are basically immune if you pick resist magic as an ability (immune to magic on a breton is a waste), and high elves don't need to worry about paralyse, which for other races can mean a spider or scorpion could kill you easy when caught offguard. the other races are more or less cosmetic for a mage, offering little.

i am a barbarian and i agree i need recall sometimes but my spell points are never enough

One-dimensional characters have limitations that the player chooses. If you feel gimped by a class choice, try playing another class. The char-gen process of DF makes this both easy and fun. B)

i think i never made a character that had axe or blunt as a primary skill.

I've done blunt because I think flails look awesome. But I've never done axes because their swing animation just looks kinda dumb. Same reason I don't use maces. You have to not look like a dork or the monsters will eat you.

Yeah, nothing's more embarrassing than going after an ancient lich with a mace. They just look at you like you're not even trying. Most would rather blow themselves up than face a "hero" who's not even cool enough to bring a real weapon to a fight.

NEVER:

1. Joined the Dark Brotherhood
2. Completed the questline a second time. I wanted to go my own way
3. Never did assassinate the Wayrest family.... Creepy, creepy people.
4. Joined the thieves' guild. It simply wasn't my thing.
5. Played a Khajiit.
6. Stayed as a vampire. I hated it.
7. Read the books. Which I regret.

Speaking of all this pure mage talk, has anyone ever had the distance damage spells (wizard's fire, etc) actually work? Whenever I try and use them they go right through the enemy, and since they aren't area effect I can't shoot it at the ground around them to do any damage either.

Nope, I've never actually hit someone with a single-target range spell either. They always go right through them. Touch spells, sure; area spells, sure; but not ranged. Disappointing.


This is why being an offensive mage wasn't much fun for me until Morrowind :shrug:

i could've swore single target ranged spells worked, though i honestly don't remember now. could it be that those spells are dodgable like arrows? could make sense. as a mage i almost exclusively used touch and aura spells, since there wasn't much reason to fling spells from a distance in the cramped corridors ( it was extremely easy to close any gaps, and not many enemies had any worthwhile range attacks), and the aura spells were basically an explosion with the caster at the epicenter with a decent range(minus the ability to absorb or kill yourself).

Okay, okay. I'll admit I use magic more for buffs, and prefer melee to combat spells. That's not a pure mage as you describe. Funny you mention Morrowind, though. The school of destruction isn't any better in that game either; you have to throw your whole mana pool at one creature in order to take it down.

I have never

- made/bought a potion (but I use them sometimes)
- been able to get and solve the merchant quest related to the main quest
- played an High Elf without using the "Critical Weakness to Paralysis" exploit.
- used the following skills: Etiquette, Streetwise and the languages.
- played a pure mage
- become a werewolf
- been able to get Tipton's werefall mod to work properly (if anyone does, please tell me how!)
- been able not to freak out whenever I heard VENGEAAAANCE!
- joined a temple
- bought a decent house

I never:

Finished the Main Quest

Played without summoning at least one prince eventually

Figured out how skeletons can scream when they have no vocal cords, how Centaurs get into dungeons, and how bears and sabretooth tigers can fit inside closets

understood why the guy with the crappy shop could afford to pay so much for your stuff

I've never:

* Played either a thief or an assassin very extensively.

Hmm... I think that about covers it. I'm playing a standard mage right now. ("Pure" mages are rather difficult, but shortblade mages can be fun, with all the slashing and shoving.) I finally beat the game no more than a month ago (gave it to Gortwog, and unfortunately, I hadn't yet installed the unofficial patch, and didn't get the artifact he offers). I recall getting to the top of a knightly order many, many years ago. Same with all the other guilds, except for Thieves and the Dark Brotherhood. Maybe I'll build my next character with that in mind.

Never:

- Traveled anywhere overland
- Spelled the name of the place to which I'm trying to fast-travel correctly on the first attempt
- Played a non-custom class beyond level 5-ish
- Played a female character
- Played a dark elf
- Played a dedicated magic user. Soul Trap and Recall are all you really need
- Joined the Mages Guild for any reason other than access to the Item Maker
- Actually bothered to go through with the initiation quest for the Dark Brotherhood
- Actually bothered to get missions from the Thieves Guild after doing their initiation
- Found a witches coven
- Finished the main quest
- Reached 100% in any skill without "tweaking" the biography questionnaires, hex editing a save game, or using cheat mode
- Been a Wereboar. Werewolf, absolutely
- Been the type of Vampire that gains the intelligence bonus, I don't even know where to find them
- Turned down an easy quest from any guild, temple, order...
- Not been annoyed when my pauldrons don't match. Not just material type, but the style of it too.

I think it's fun to end on a double negative, so that'll do for my "never" list.

I still remember pledging my heretofore unbelieving character to one of the Nine (I think it was Mara, but it was many years ago) when that happened to me. I gave them all my money. Then sold all my possessions and gave them more money. And lived my days helping them. It is nice that money works to help promote you . . .

In the spirit of the thread, I've never put the L's ghost to rest, much less completed the main quest!