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More info?)
<user0> wrote in message
news:3glbj0llitk4st5ik01hha4h0lqcn3nk4h@4ax.com...
> Hey all,
>
> After losing the Bonebiter Bow, I've started over, and doing fairly
> well - but at the moment, I'm doing more exploring than worrying about
> the main quest. I've still got around 90% of the map to uncover, and
> with the main quest, all I've done is given Caius his package at the
> start. My question is, are there any thing I *really* shouldn't do,
> and/or any places I *really* shouldn't go, to avoid disturbing the
> main quest? I've heard a lot of people say "I've gone here and done
> this..." or "I've gone here and killed this person...", and as a
> result, have messed up their game.
Don't enter the Corprusarium under Tel Fyr and kill any of the monsters
there - EVEN IF THEY ATTACK YOU, which they will. In fact, if you enter
Tel Fyr, stay to the upper floors.
In fact, generally, don't start a fight against ANYONE who doesn't start
a fight against you, unless you've actually been sent to kill that
person in a quest (which might be any quest - Fighters, Mages, Thieves,
any of the Great Houses, Imperial Legion, Morag Tong, Imperial Cult, or
non-faction side-quest.) BUT, improve your Speechcraft at every
available opportunity. This is not so much to improve your standing in
another person's eyes - which you can do by means of Bribery rather than
Persuasion - as to be able to Taunt them successfully, and therefore
make THEM start a fight which you didn't want to start (e.g. if you are
sent on a quest to kill somebody in a public place and don't want their
friends, and possibly random innocent strangers in the bar, joining in:
just in case the random innocent strangers include someone you might
later want to talk to, either as part of the Main Quest or some
side-quest, whether faction-related or not.)
(In fact, in many cases, quests where you might be sent to kill, rob,
extort or intimidate somebody may actually have an alternative
resolution. In particular, Fighters' Guild quests given by Lorbumol
gro-Aglakh and Sjoring Hard-Heart in Vivec City may have alternative
resolutions if you consult Percius Mercius of Ald-ruhn, and House Hlaalu
quests given by the corrupt Odral Helvi of Caldera may have alternative
resolutions if you consult Crassius Curio of Vivec City.)
There is also one non-hostile NPC under there who, if you kill him, you
ruin even the "back" path to completing the Quest: as he is the only
person, other than Vivec the God himself, who can activate the Unique
Dwemer Artifact that allows you to wield the only weapons capable of
destroying the "thing" that you have to destroy to finish the Main
Quest, without being seriously (and possibly mortally) wounded by your
own weapons.
While there is actually no Main Quest penalty for angering, fighting and
killing the Ordinators of Vivec, *it is advisable not to* unless you
really, really like very hard fights. There is an early quest in which
you may have the option of receiving either Ordinator Helmet or Cuirass.
If you do this quest, and receive this reward, YOU WILL BE WARNED that
if you wish to wear these weapons you must do so exclusively OUTSIDE the
city of Vivec. They are not joking: if you are seen by ANY Ordinator
while wearing Ordinator armour or helmet INSIDE Vivec, then ALL of the
Ordinators - not just the one who saw you - will go hostile immediately.
Without exception. That's over 100 extra enemies that you don't have to
make.
Areas to avoid if you don't want to risk messsing up the Main Quest
before you are sent there are:
- Arkngthand, Hall of Centrifuge (Dwemer ruin, northeast of Fort
Moonmoth over the bridge). There's an item there that you need, and
don't want to sell before you know you need it.
- Andrano Ancestral Tomb (just off the path between Pelagiad and
Vivec). There's an item there that you need, and don't want to sell
before you know you need it.
- Ilunibi, Carcass of the Saint (cave, north and west of Gnaar Mok).
There's a monster here that you have to fight, and a disease to catch,
and you don't want to do either before the "correct" part of the Main
Quest in which you are sent here.
- The Corprusarium, Tel Fyr. NEVER fight anything there, even the stuff
that attacks you. You're faster than them, run away. If you talk to the
non-hostiles in the building of Tel Fyr, they will tell you this. The
master of the tower, Divayth Fyr, is one of the most vital NPCs in the
game as far as the proper path of the Main Quest is concerned, and he is
VERY protective of his patients even though they are totally insane. He
is also VERY protective of his servants and family - if you harm any of
them, you're hosed. So don't even *steal* anything until you're certain
you don't need him any more.
- No fighting in The Ald Skar Inn, Ald-ruhn. There's never a need to,
anyway, unless you're into motiveless murder (and what sort of behaviour
is that for a Hero?) Likewise, no fighting anything that doesn't start
off by fighting you unprovoked in Vivec City. There are people here that
you need to negotiate with.
- Urshilaku Burial Caverns (south of Urshilaku Camp), until you are
sent there. You already found that you need an item from here, that you
don't want to either sell or leave on a corpse that might disappear.
- ANY fighting against any Dunmer in any of the Four Great Ashlander
Camps, unless you have to do so as part of the Main Quest (which will
leave you with a couple of fights in the Erabenimsun Camp). You need
their support later on.
- No fighting in the headquarters of the nobles of the Great Houses,
unless it's killing the people that you HAVE to kill (i.e. that there is
no peaceful alternative to killing), and in the "right way", to rise to
the top of the House in question if you wish to do so before the
relevant part of the Main Quest. Don't even steal.
(Getting to the top of Hlaalu doesn't actually demand killing
anyone at all, although it is safe to kill off one member of the Council
and one person who is NOT a member of the Council but controls two of
them. Getting to the top of Redoran demands an honourable duel, killing
this person outside of the Vivec Arena will ruin your game. Getting to
the top of Telvanni is safer, there is only one Telvanni lord who has to
remain alive - Master Aryon of Tel Vos. However, there is only one that
HAS to be killed - Archmagister Gothren: all the others can be
negotiated with, most usually by bribery. In any case, you will have to
do all of the above during the Main Quest anyway to win the support of
ALL the remaining leaders of ALL the Great houses.)
- The Dwemer ruins of Odrosal, Endusal, Tureynulal, Vemynal, all inside
the Ghostfence. Two of these - unfortunately I forget which two -
contain artifacts you will need, and you don't want to get the artifact
and sell it before you know you need it. In fact, it's probably safest
to say "don't go inside the Ghostfence for anything you're not
specifically sent there by a quest to get".
- Don't start a fight in the Mages Guild headquarters in Balmora until
you've gotten an early quest from Caius Cosades out of the way, or the
Fighters Guild headquarters likewise.
- No matter how much you may hate slavery, don't fight and kill the
slave-trader Savile Imayn of Tel Aruhn until you've gotten past the
point in the game where you have to negotiate with her.
- Again: don't fight unless you are forced to, and you won't kill
anybody whose presence is necessary to complete the Main Quest.
Jonathan.
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