The Acrobat Aesthetic - Daggerfall Unity Thief Gameplay

For years now, I've been drawn to playing character classes that resemble the default class called the Acrobat. In this video, I'm trying to deconstruct what makes this archetype so appealing to me while demonstrating some aspects of the Acrobat's gameplay loop in my modded version of Daggerfall Unity.
Let me know in the comments section which character archetypes you keep coming back to in these games. If you'd like this kind of video regarding a different archetype, I'm open to suggestions. c:
Here are some mods that I recommend to enhance your enjoyment of the thief archetypes:
Skullduggery, a thief overhaul
Realistic Wagon, which prevents you from putting your horse in your "pocket" when climbing over the city gates.
Quest Pack 1, which adds more quests to the Thieves Guild (I think)
Kleptomania, which adds nifty shiny things to pilfer.
Jewelry Additions
Darker Dungeons
Climates & Calories
Lively Cities
Beautiful Cities of Daggerfall
Beautiful Villages of Daggerfall

[@connorlittle9548]

Thoroughly enjoy your videos! Thank you!

[@micah_raygun_]

Thanks so much for the support! I'm glad you enjoy the content c:

[@DKC_Returns]

Glad you’re back, amigo. Shoutout to you for taking a break.

[@micah_raygun_]

@@DKC_Returns thanks for the support! Feels good to be back c:

[@cmndchny]

a daggerfall channel with a trs pfp? this is the best taste ive seen on youtube

[@Max-xp1wo]

samson's pretty cool

[@pizzadesushi0000]

what is trs?

[@Max-xp1wo]

@@pizzadesushi0000 Tear Ring Saga

[@TheRealMycanthrope]

The thing that always gets me is when I see him comment on Mekkah videos

[@brickch4pel]

I honestly love playing 'weak' characters who are really specialized in particular and kind of strong things. Lately I've been playing a dunmer girl who calls herself "The Glass Cannon", a custom class that is specialized in magic and can absorb spells--including her own-- but has a tiny health pool and really has to act fast if she wants to survive.

[@2plus2isfive]

Amazing video friend! The format was spot on. I don't know how much more labour intensive this was, but I would love more deep dives like this. Really, really fantastic! Thank you so much!

[@micah_raygun_]

It was more effort than my usual "no effort at all" style, but I was pleased with the outcome. Thank you for the feedback about the format, it's very helpful! c:

[@evansheets2719]

dude ive always mourned the loss of the acrobat archetype in fiction. I am so glad I share a favorite class with you.

[@micah_raygun_]

We're birds of a feather! We should flock together sometime

[@neoagustus]

Yeah, just starting the day and saw your upload. Now I have something to listen to while I cook. Thanks man.

[@scoutingspartin]

Man I love how you upload right when I take my lunch! Gives me something fun to watch

[@pixelizednofiltery.t.6584]

Love your build videos. Please make more. Since Adventure Art is mia, it's all you. No pressure tho😂

[@micah_raygun_]

Those are some big shoes to fill! His Mad Genius playthrough is top notch Daggerfall content.

[@tomdoell811]

8:04 Love the Morrowind spear fan shoutout! 😆

[@seagilix]

What an absolute treat after the end of the busy holidays! As a spear wielding Morrowind argonian enjoyer, I’m extra delighted. Also love all the cool new mods you’ve got!

[@boogthebear6723]

Always great to see a new upload 👏👏👍👍

[@bluething3D]

Acrobat khajit was my first ever elderscrolls character in morrowind

[@bu5589]

Excellent as always.

[@luhbell]

loved this. would be cool to explore the same character in daggerfall, morrowind. & oblivion in one video

[@mdogg094]

I tend to actually try and use the default classes in Daggerfall and Morrowind, especially because they are so suboptimal. They always lead to interesting ways I have to work to overcome challenges. Just beat the game as a Bard, who has Eitiqutte and Streetwise as primary skills. I had to really work to get some other skills up to offset this. It was pretty fun.

[@micah_raygun_]

Nice! The default Bard class is rough, but like you said, that's part of the fun. I'm thinking of digging a bit deeper into the utility of the default classes. They are clowned on all the time, and with good reason in most cases, but there are a lot of great aspects about them as well. Especially if you've been making optimized or creative characters for 10+ years and want a change of pace.

[@doctorarden5741]

Love your content!

[@Diskhate]

Thank you very much for the ideas in this video, i may actually give them a go since i was considering to do another Daggerfall playthrough. People always meme about Skyrim's "stealth archer" but personally, since the time of TES1: Arena, i've never seen any reason to play anything that isn't a battlemage/spellblade, other than to just mess around...having a character that relies 75% on magic and 25% on melee, in these games, is always absurdly better not just in a "meta" sense (which i don't really care about in a single player RPG) but from an enjoyability and quality of life point of view too... I love playing thieves in RPGs, but if thieves in your game are just bad melee fighters with stealth mechanics that don't work, and a world where the "thieving skills" have barely any use...it's just pointless.

[@KnightAarant]

I agree with you in enjoyment, but the problem with the Skyrim Stealth Archer in the meta sense is in that it takes no resources to make immediately effective. All you need is a bow, and to crouch. And with the continuing nerfs and adjustments to make magic less powerful as of Oblivion and Skyrim Battlemages/Spellblades aren't the kind of powerhouses they used to be in Morrowind and before. Morrowind/Daggerfall/Arena all you needed was the right set of innate traits. Largely magicka multipliers and you were set to start becoming a Spellblade. But now with spells costing so damn much in the later games, less options to none at all for spellcrafting, and the loss of on-use enchants (Which lets be real, enchanting isn't something that's exclusive to Mages/Battlemages/Spellblades) the Stealth Archer made such an impact because it requires no time to invest into becoming incredibly strong. And poisons only made it stronger, on top of benefiting from enchantments. Again, two systems that you can't exclusively tie to just the archetype. It benefits universally, while requiring little upkeep compared to our Mage contemporary. Who needs: Magicka/Fatigue/Health, a competent spellbook, good equipment, supporting enchantments, a lot of perks. A Stealth Archer only needs: A good bow, less perks in comparison. Enchantments and poisons are frankly just cherry on top because modifiers is where your damage largely comes from. Sorry for this rant, I'm just a bitter old Wizard player.

[@micah_raygun_]

I thoroughly enjoyed your rant. Putting it in the perspective of the amount of resources/investment needed for success demonstrates how the stealth archer playstyle really took over in Skyrim. It's honestly hard to not be a bit of a stealth archer if you're not a mage since that's the most efficient ranged option you have. It's a lot of fun but it gets old

[@KnightAarant]

@@micah_raygun_ The thing is too, it's not like Stealth Archers can't be strong in Daggerfall/Morrowind. They definitely are, but we had to build the skills to make it that way. That's where I find it more interesting versus the necessity of magical traits and resources for Spellblades/Battlemages. Instead of their being instant gratification in the way of sneak modifiers in the games where the sneak skill is considerably more forgiving in the early game. I really feel like I grew into this Spinter Cell tier shadow in the darkness that'll put your lights out before you even knew that they were out to begin with. Beginning as a opportunistic marksman who only knew the basics of cover and guerilla tactics.

[@David_Alvarez77]

Excellent video, Micah! Hope you had a very merry Christmas. I like what you did to show how suboptimal classes allow you to explore completely different aspects of rpgs that the more optimized classes do not. I wonder if the presence of these suboptimal classes are not also a decent part of what inspired some of the modders who have done cool things such as the language overhaul and whatnot. As for character archetypes that I return to in rpgs, I tend to either favor holy warriors, hunters or wilderness outdoorsmen, or elementalist mages. More recently, I have begun to enjoy using items and consumables in rpgs and thus I've begun to take an interest in playing characters who employ resources that will not simply replenish without work or cost. Also, I think that Zebulun is the name of one of Jacob's children in the book of Genesis, right?

[@micah_raygun_]

@@David_Alvarez77 hey David, glad you liked the video! It is very fitting that someone with your name would be drawn to the holy warrior archetype. I have a similar affinity but I think I'm more drawn to the Pilgrim class. And yes you're totally right about Zebulun being a son of Jacob. Very impressive if you knew that off the top of your head. I had to google it because it was bothering me lol.

[@danielb.7224]

Please make a video about dungeons. I would love to hear what you think makes a great dungeon.

[@Davizera1]

he actually did, it was one of the first videos

[@SkyBlueFox1]

This was really fun to watch, but honestly, I'd totally love a series of these for the mod recommendations alone. Do you have any other general recommendations? It's been quite a while since I last dipped into DGU, eheh. :U ----- As for TES archetypes I lean towards: one particular idea that I've always really, really enjoyed is the concept of a Scoundrel. Back when I built them in Morrowind last year, I basically designed them as a thief with a penchant for fistfights, crossbows, and shady dealings. They knew Sneak and Security, but they were less interested in the usual thief-y activities like breaking-and-entering. Instead, they were more about "treasure-hunting", or smuggling in illicit goods and substances (represented by Enchant and Alchemy, respectively!). Granted, that was a lot more "headcanon"-ish, since nobody complains about you selling Dwemer coins and junk, but you get the idea. :p To me, it really struck a good balance between being rogue-ish and being more adventure-ready - you have a reason to get out and go hunting for things like Dwemer goodies, but it also fulfills that fantasy of being this fast-talking, quick-witted scrapper. Someone who could win in a bar fight, but could also slip out the back or just shoot their way out. I did try making one in DGU as well, but I think if I tried it again, I'd probably lean a little more into thievery (especially after seeing this vid!).

[@micah_raygun_]

I also love the scoundrel/scalawag archetype! There's something special about playing your typical thief character who has some points in Strength and who isn't afraid to kick some teeth in when the going gets tough. I'll keep in mind your comment about future videos in this style and the mod recommendations that go along with them. You can check out my full modlist in one of my Let's Play videos, but those don't demonstrate the mods in action as consistently

[@SkyBlueFox1]

@@micah_raygun_ I actually ended up doing just that shortly after watching this, hah! It’s nice to be back on a DGU kick. …though ironically instead of making a scoundrel I ended up making a Bard variant similar to your ironman chara, lmao. But it’s been a refreshing change of pace to play, so :U

[@02Machiavelli]

dude come back

[@ivorysoda]

Bro has a wife and a baby

[@boredomaster]

I’m playing an ironman character now (inspired by your vids, it’s very fun!). Unfortunately the game bugged out on a quest and I would get ambushed no matter where I was; it was the Fighter’s Guild quest where you get teleported to the middle of a dungeon (I verified that I shouldn’t have been getting ambushed in the dungeon by assassins). I had 1 character death during that quest that I ultimately rejected as legitimate, since I did escape the dungeon and did travel by inn for several days (during which no healing occurred), it made no sense that my dude was jumped within 1 hour of resting at an inn inside a walled city. Annoying since I remained injured from the opening fight in the quest the entire time. Unfortunately, I do think an Ironman playthrough of Daggerfall requires some ground rules on the part of the player. Mine is that if there is a bug, then the death wasn’t legit.

[@micah_raygun_]

Yeah use your best judgement with stuff like this. One of my characters got in a fight with a bounty hunter at a tavern. I killed him, proceeded to eat some food, then died. As it turns out, the bounty hunter poisoned me, but I hadn't started getting the "You feel somewhat bad" message. Eating food caused time to pass which caused the poison to kill me. I'm not losing my character over something like that lol.

[@boredomaster]

@micah_raygun_ for real, your dude would have felt bad, but obviously YOU didn’t. With my guy, I had fought off like 7 waves of assassins + the initial fight and fled to several cities. They always appeared within 1 hour. Otherwise playing this way is awesome. My longest lived character drowned to death in a risky corridor while hunting a vampire that kidnapped a little girl. If it was any other quest I would have taken the rep hit, but I decided to play a heroic character and there wasn’t enough time left to look for a water breathing potion. My most despairing death was my guy jumping down into a pit in the dungeon and realizing there was no way to return to the exit without a levitation potion. I searched and climbed through every nook and cranny, but eventually ran out of rations and starved to death. Brutal.

[@micah_raygun_]

@boredomaster stories like that are what making playing ironman so thrilling. By the way, I think the Penwick Papers mod adds a grappling hook that can bail you out of that bit softlock situation. I meant to mention it in this video. I recommend disabling every feature in Penwick Papers except for the items, those can be handy

[@boredomaster]

@ oooh good to know. Thanks for the tip.

[@Coypop]

As one's tastes in RPGs mature, stat optimization takes a back seat to stat themeing - to otherwise min max or play a meta build can be seen as removing grain, smoothing a surface where it'd be more interesting with the abrasion in place. That's where wierdos like ES monks (pugilist priests) & acrobats come in.

[@camlongfellow]

love this video as someone who has always been drawn to these classes :) the burglar has always been a particular fascination of mine, with its inexplicable restriction to plate armor. What mod is giving the alterative starting dungeon to privateers hold? I'd love to give it a try!

[@micah_raygun_]

That would be Random Starting Dungeon by Magicono43. Highly recommend this mod for those who want to shake things up. Check out this mod author's profile while you're there, they have so many great mods

[@camlongfellow]

@@micah_raygun_ Thanks!

[@sandstorm8010]

Just by chance have you tried the Daggerfall mod (struggle for the iliac bay) in mount and blade warband?

[@micah_raygun_]

I did not know this existed, it sounds awesome! I love Warband

[@justsomedude5727]

I think thief/rogue have gotten better in more modern games as you have more vertical 3d environments, physics, and in general more non-combat alternatives. On the other hand mages imo have gotten worse as newer games seem to not want to have more complicated magic.

[@qwopiretyu]

When a olayer at my table takes stealth as a fighter or melee abilities as a rogue I generally have to remind them there is no commando class. Either go sneakily or face your foes, you can't sort of sneak and then fight your way out when you fail. What stakes are there if breaking stealth isn't certain doom?

[@TheRealMycanthrope]

So you're a bad DM, noted.

[@empo2085]

I enjoy your content as a new Daggerfall fan. I have question, how to have multiple characters saved ? Because I always lose all my saves when I start a new one.

[@micah_raygun_]

I bet you do have multiple characters still, but they're hard to locate in the Load Game interface. Try clicking Load Game and looking for a button (I think in the top right corner) that says Switch Char to get a list of characters to switch between

[@empo2085]

@@micah_raygun_ found it. thanks

[@ham8426]

One of the things im still waiting on is an improvement to the legal rep system.

[@ChilledOutYaoi]

Do you have a full modlist you recommend? (any aside from the ones linked in the description)

[@micah_raygun_]

If you check out my DFU Ironman Let's Play Series, you'll find my full modlist in the description there. The latest episode will have most recent mods. The mods that suit my taste may not suit yours, but hopefully the list will give you a starting point

[@Davizera1]

i tried the premade classes in my first playthroughs and it really sucked

[@micah_raygun_]

They often do suck. Ironically, I think they're better suited for experienced players who need a challenge.

[@cosmisora3219]

WHAT

[@micah_raygun_]

uwu

[@Vekren]

I tried the game michah and I can say it really sucks. Like the game it is a bad game, too outdated mechanics, same shopkeepers, can't kill npcs in buildings? I think I rather watch you play it. Just not my cup of tea, but now I will get a cup of tea and watch you play.

[@rainbowsorceress2082]

Use mods to make it better suited for your tastes. The game isn't bad just because it's old, and whatever bothers you is easily fixable. Modding daggerfall is as dragging and dropping a file intona folder. If even after trying to tailor it better you still don't like it, then oh well, life keeps moving on, at least you tried.

[@idontwanttotalktoyou]

happy new year!