The Elder Scrolls: Arena/Gameplay

Combat

Combat in Arena is the act of being in an armed conflict with at least one hostile opponent. There are three types of weapons and each have their own behavior and controls: melee weapons (such as fists and swords), ranged weapons (such as bows), and magic items and magic spells.

Attacking Techniques

Melee

Draw Weapon icon

Melee combat in Arena, and Daggerfall, is significantly different than other titles in the series. In addition to melee combat being accomplished by simply clicking and relying heavily on random chance for the damage and chance to hit to occur, combat in Arena has modifiers that occur based on which direction you swipe the mouse. This process is meant to create some realism to the combat.

Drawing your weapon

In order for the Eternal Champion to draw their weapon, they must click on the crossed swords icon, their weapon will then rise on the right side of the screen. When the Champion wants to sheathe their weapon again, they will have to click the crossed swords icon again. Swinging the weapon is linked to the right mouse button, if the Eternal Champion moves the mouse while holding down the right mouse button, the weapon will "mimic" their mouse movement. The following are possible melee attack moves in Arena:

Combat with Melee Weapons

Description of movement	Controls	Bonus to Hit	Bonus to Damage
Vertical chop	Hold , then pull mouse straight down	-10%	+4
Horizontal slice	Hold , then pull mouse left or right	No bonus.	No bonus.
Diagonal downward slash to the left	Hold , pull mouse down and to the left	-5%	+2
Diagonal downward slash to the right	Hold , pull mouse down and to the right	-5%	+2
Thrust forward	Hold , pull mouse straight up	+10%	-4

Bows

"Use Magic Item" icon in Arena

Combat with bows is a bit different, the Eternal Champion pulls out their bow by clicking on the crossed swords icon again. However, the Champion does not need arrows in order to fire their bow, instead bows are worn out by continued use and need to be repaired. The Eternal Champion can fire their bow by aiming their cursor at an opponent and then right clicking where they want the arrow to go. Damage and fire rate is dependent on the quality of the bow. A high quality bow can do high damage while shooting rapidly while lower quality bows shoot slower and do less damage.

Magic

"Cast Spell" icon in Arena

The Eternal Champion can also use spells to fight opponents. Spells can either be offensive spells or defensive spells. In order to cast spells, the Champion must first click on the cast spell icon. After that, the Eternal Champion can then click on the spell they wish to use from the list. If the same spell wants to be cast again, the Champion may right click the spell icon or do Shift + C to save time. Using a magic item works the same way, except they click on the "Use Magic Item" icon instead.

Trivia

• Some creatures require a weapon of certain quality to kill them (like the Ice Golem).
• Certain classes and races give bonuses to melee/magic damage (ex: Redguard).