This game is harder than dark souls

[BoBas]

This game is harder than dark souls. i cant pass the tutorial dungeon.
only killed the first rat. The second enemy the bat kills me every time because i cant hit it.
After i died 3 times i rushed forward and have seen skeletons bears and bandits...
Have you any tips for combat?

[Gaunt's Ghost]

I'm just starting out too. Something that helped me make progress, after just not dealing with the Thief in one room, was to find a place to rest. Rest heals you and gives you spell points. I also used a spell on the Imp, the green bat thing, because my weapons were ineffective.

[klay369]

I found a bow helped a lot.

[ti1]

I always pass by that imp, pick up a steel weapon later on, then come back to kill it. And yes, finding a place to rest is imperative

[lonetrav]

Daggerfall or DF Unity? I ask because DFU has a setting which makes fighting easier ("weapon swing mode click").
[Edit (to avoid misunderstandings): "Easier" means less manual mouse operation: To attack you click instead of moving the mouse. The fights themselves are unchanged. And not all players may find clicking really easier than holding the right mouse button and moving the mouse across the pad (which might be perceived as more "natural" or immersive). ]

Whatever kills a rat can also kill a bat. You may have to look a little upward to hit it (just like you have to look down to hit the rat - apart from that the fighting technique is the same for rats and bats). The imp is a different story - iron weapons will not work (and when a beginner spell is enough you're lucky). Two solutions: Ignore the imps (or run away) in the beginning, you're likely to get a steel weapon in the starter dungeon, then fight against the imp(s) with that new weapon - it will work. Or get an ebony dagger during character generation - it will work, too.

I don't want to frustrate you, but the starter dungeon is not among the most difficult dungeons of the game. It's there to let you learn and practise the game mechanics, including fighting. This is why I don't think it makes sense to just run to the exit without fighting (you can do that) - the next dungeon you get into is likely to be "worse". And you can level up and get loot in the starter dungeon, good for getting better equipment or for shopping (including spells) later.
Of course, once you're familiar with the game and don't want to loot or to level up, you can simply leave it without fighting (or use a starter dungeon randomiser mod for a change, if you play DFU).
The good news is that the game becomes a lot easier (never really easy though), if you use the opportunity to get familiar with the starter dungeon and its challenges.

[BoBas]

thx for the tips.
i used DF Unity

[Zsrai]

The first dungeon, and most of them honestly, don't need to be fully cleared to succeed. You can just run straight through Privateer's Hold without fighting anything if you learn the paths through to the exit, and with some builds that's a better idea than slamming your head into the Skeletons. You can always come back later and fight your way back down to where you start if you want.

[Jay_square]

ya the first dungeon is not worth spending time. just speedrun to the exit. if you have a mage build, look for humanoids that you can shock for some equipment which you can sell once you get to town.

[lonetrav]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

The first dungeon, and most of them honestly, don't need to be fully cleared to succeed. You can just run straight through Privateer's Hold without fighting anything if you learn the paths through to the exit, and with some builds that's a better idea than slamming your head into the Skeletons. You can always come back later and fight your way back down to where you start if you want.

Originally posted by Jay_square:

ya the first dungeon is not worth spending time. just speedrun to the exit. if you have a mage build, look for humanoids that you can shock for some equipment which you can sell once you get to town.

You're right (and I said the same in the second-last paragraph of my last post) - but this thread is about how to start the game as a beginner. You don't know the game mechanics, and you don't know anything about the starter dungeon. Do you seriously suggest that beginners play in the way you describe? Reading walkthroughs and uesp (or other) articles, use maps, follow youtube videos from the beginning? Some players may enjoy playing in this way, but I guess most beginners are curious, want to explore (both the dungeon and the game mechanics), and, more generally, to role-play (in whatever sense).
This second category of new players may not want to "clear" the starter dungeon completely (and they don't have to), but I think they'll want to find the way to the exit themselves and to learn how to survive the challenges of the dungeon. They can always run away from enemies they can't defeat (and possibly try again later - it's one of the things the starter dungeon can teach you, if you're willing to learn). And if they find that they can't defeat most or all enemies, then they know they have to improve the way they play - bearing in mind that most other dungeons will not be easier (and character development will be difficult), unless they learn how to play better.
My recommendation for new players is to find the way to the exit themselves, to try to survive the "obstacles" as good as they can, and then to decide whether to leave the dungeon, or to continue exploring it, practising, getting more experience and loot. And to save regularly.

[Zsrai]

My post said that they don't have to fight anything if they can't kill them. You can keep suicide running until you find the exit, I specifically didn't say to go find a map. The first time I ever ran it that Skeleton was a hard block (I think I was a stock Nightblade, they don't get the Ebony Dagger option). I had to figure out the map and reload a few times, until I managed to find the exit.

No where did I say look up guides, I just suggested, functionally, moving on past the first dungeon if it's too hard. It's far, FAR harder than the cemeteries you can find as soon as you leave if you want to get a feel for combat and (very minor) dungeon exploration; some cemetery maps even have hidden doors and switches, IIRC.

[lonetrav]

@zsrai: I replied summarily to two posts, not to yours specifically. And, yes, there are several ways to find the exit, including the "suicide runs" you mention (to be honest, I never thought of playing Daggerfall in this way).
Seems like I was over-interpreting. For example, your sentence" You can just run straight through Privateer's Hold without fighting anything if you learn the paths through to the exit" sounded to me like suggesting beginners should avoid fighting in Privateer's Hold and leave it as quickly as possible, based on map information they obtain from whatever sources.

Thanks for your clarifications - although I still wouldn't suggest to do "suicide runs" to beginners, and rather focus on learning whatever they can learn in the starter dungeon.
With the possible exception of certain builds? I don't know. I never tried to survive this dungeon as a pure mage (I switched to the role of a pure mage after a few level-ups, but not at level 1). And if someone wants to play as a character which avoids melee-fighting, searching for the exit without fighting monsters would even make sense - but I suppose playing in this way would be quite difficult, and may be not the best start for a beginner (perhaps I simply haven't tried it seriously yet).
At any rate, sorry for misinterpreting your post. With that said, I still think to follow my advice is not a bad idea for beginners.

[Zsrai]

I wouldn't suggest it either, but it's an option if trying to fight the Skeleton with a mage type class is too much of a nightmare. I'd rather someone realize that the first dungeon is, honestly, overtuned for most play styles (and certainly for newbies) and just save scum a run out, where they can find combat that is MUCH easier and allows them to learn instead of slamming their head into a wall and just quitting in disgust.

[Msooby]

You can use console commands for god mode etc, it is one of the very early videogames so its naturally hard

Actually you can even skip everything and go straight to the final dungeon/quest by typing in the console "startquest S0000016", but you will also need god mode "tgm" to go through there, and maybe noclip too "tcl" which will let you pass through walls etc

[lonetrav]

Daggerfall doesn't have console commands, Daggerfall Unity has. New players beware - you risk not only to kill all fun ("beat Daggerfall in 5 minutes by using tgm - great!), but also to make your game unplayable (unless you know what you do). Players little helper! For younger players: I'm alluding to a Rolling Stones song ("help to minimise your plight"). :-)

Edit: I forgot to mention that Daggerfall has cheat keys, somewhat comparable with console commands (including an Invulnerable mode). Activation via a cfg file.

[lonetrav]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

I wouldn't suggest it either, but it's an option if trying to fight the Skeleton with a mage type class is too much of a nightmare. I'd rather someone realize that the first dungeon is, honestly, overtuned for most play styles (and certainly for newbies) and just save scum a run out, where they can find combat that is MUCH easier and allows them to learn instead of slamming their head into a wall and just quitting in disgust.

I understand (and the starter dungeon isn't really designed to be survived by non-melee-fighters).
What choices does a new player have when he's left the starter dungeon without a fight, without experience, without loot? Is doing chores in Daggerfall for guilds attractive? I tried it once, and gave up soon, because I found it too boring and time-consuming. I know there are small crypts where you can practise fighting somewhat and get some loot. The dungeons you get sent to when you do non-trivial quests (for guilds, say) are unpredictable, and very likely not easier than Privateer's Hold (nor with respect to enemies, nor to size or structure). Is there anything else?
By the way, I never found the skeletons so hard - hit-and-run works well. For me the bears were more difficult. And my first really tough enemy was the very first thief, because I couldn't fight down the stairs well. Took me three or four attempts at least in my first game.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by lonetrav:

I understand (and the starter dungeon isn't really designed to be survived by non-melee-fighters).
What choices does a new player have when he's left the starter dungeon without a fight, without experience, without loot? Is doing chores in Daggerfall for guilds attractive? I tried it once, and gave up soon, because I found it too boring and time-consuming. I know there are small crypts where you can practise fighting somewhat and get some loot. The dungeons you get sent to when you do non-trivial quests (for guilds, say) are unpredictable, and very likely not easier than Privateer's Hold (nor with respect to enemies, nor to size or structure). Is there anything else?
By the way, I never found the skeletons so hard - hit-and-run works well. For me the bears were more difficult. And my first really tough enemy was the very first thief, because I couldn't fight down the stairs well. Took me three or four attempts at least in my first game.

You can go to any of the cemeteries around the area, they usually have a couple of treasure piles and a few enemies (usually less than 5). They aren't really deeply engaging but they work to get some combat skills up and a little loot (and are a decent break from running errands for guilds). They are certainly for low level characters since they are so simple and empty.

Sometimes the other dungeons you get sent to are actually easier than Privateer's Hold because they don't have Skeletons; the reason they are tough is they take 50% damage from most weapons and hit fairly hard (they are level 9, the bears are only level 4 and bats are 3). They can have double the HP of a grizzly bear (17-66 vs 13-34) and do about 50% more damage (5-15 vs 1-10). If you're unlucky with rolls (high HP) they can take an absolute beating, which gives them more chances to hit you.