So I am playing Morrowind but I can't decide on my guy. He is this:
Nord Male (Northern Mystic)
Strength, Luck, Sign of the Lover
Major Skills: Blunt, Medium Armour, Alteration, Mysticism, Mercantile
Minor Skills: Marksman, Heavy Armour, ???, ???, ???
I use the console to hack my skills and levels all the time, since the game is ... how it is. Regarding how you gain levels. Where the NPCs level up with you. But I need three more skills. One possibility is to go Stealth Specialization with Stealth, Speechcraft and maybe even Security. I can also take Hand-to-hand, Long Blade, Acrobatics or Athletics.
I could move Heavy Armour into Major Skills and take 5 Stealth as Minor Skills.
Thing is Stealth Specialization is getting into "too much screwing around," but I want to do the extra quests and things. Think of my guy as being like an Emissary type guy.
The character I ran last time I installed Morrowind was a Wood Elf, Marksman/Stealth based with lots of magic skills tagged too. Gives you a modicum of control over when levelling occurs, unlike most other concepts
You're right, though. Stealth in Morrowind is a LOT of screwing around.
Nord Male (Northern Mystic)
Strength, Luck, Sign of the Lover
Major Skills: Blunt, Medium Armour, Heavy Armour, Alteration, Mysticism
Minor Skills: Mercantile, Speechcraft, Stealth, Marksman, ???
Probably Hand-to-hand, Short Blade or Long Blade. Or I could just feth everything and take magic. If I want different weapons, Combat. Otherwise Stealth and I do not have to cheat so much.
What skill do you intend to push for 90 then? Any character can do both of these guilds fairly easily, it's just the prerequisite skills for advancement can get in your way.
Probably Sneak. I can also, for lack of a better expression, hack Acrobatics. Builds Strength. I can use Mysticism to detect keys, and Alteration to open locks. Get me around Security, which is too close to "screwing around" on the ... 4th or 5th time.
My other character, which I suppose I am still playing, is a Speed character. Unarmoured, Enchant, Short Blade, Athletics, Security, Illusion. Cool character but too much screwing around + the ol' Axe to the head does you in. I did most of the House Telvanni with her, I may come back to it.
Being fragile is just one of those things. Levitate + any ranged attack is a nice compensation though.
It will take you a long time to get Sneak that high, unless you pull the trick, which hurts if you've tagged it. Or you could just hack. Don't bother hacking acro - just jump ALL THE TIME. Especially down staircases. Don't tag it either.
but yeah I just use the console instead of screwing around with Trainers. Every once in a while I dump 10k gold as "punishment" 'haha'. The other thing I do is power level characters, I have a level 15 something Sneak-Marksman in Oblivion. No need to screw around when you can go straight to the quality A.I. and loot. Same as Diablo trainers I suppose. When I start getting bored I just dump another five or so levels into it.
Did I mention trainers? I'm fairly sure I didn't. Or do you mean charhacking again, not the in-game skill trainers? I rarely bother with training that way. Gold is rare enough on Morrowind, with the spell-making costs.
I like to set my characters up so I can 'naturally' level up, but I prioritise investment in primary stat bonuses. That's why I don't tag easily uppable skills unless you can toatally just choose not to use them (sneak, magic schools). So I'll just eat junk to make sure I'm always getting a +4/5 to intelligence, practice heavy armour/armourer at the same time as restoration/destruct/alter to up Endurance and willpower...
Discussing Morrowind levelling strategy at 4:06am is surreal.
Well I am going to start by boosting Strength, Endurance and probably Luck although maybe Speed, too if I get the boosts from Athletics. I will do this by "hacking" aka "using the console" on Acrobatics, Armorer and ... Spear? Is that the only third Endurance one. While I raise Blunt, Medium and Heavy the natural way. Once I get that up I will look at Intelligence, Willpower and Personality. My Sign gives me a bonus to Agility so I do not have to worry about it as much.
All in all I start the game wacking with the hammer (with my two powers and a bit of Marksman) and when it gets good I start using my spells. Once I start using my spells I start boosting Willpower and Intelligence. My mana is there to "burn," I just use it because I have it.
personally i hate using magick in morrowind, esp. with nords, they can be good but with not real initial boost it's a lot harder than with the other races but the again, i am lazy. imho medium armours are the best in the game, daedric it just too heavy for late game looting, though you dont need to after a certain point i guess... if you have bloodmoon then i would put a lof of time into spear, the sprear of the hunter and the frost prince spear are really really really good. since they have a farther reach that long blades and hammers all you have to do is keep backing up and swinging and the enemy drops like flies. long blade is worthwile i think solely because of goldbrand. but that's just me. morrowind owned my life for 400+ hours... it's sad, but it makes me happy.
Oh. Brotherhood armour is really nice early game; I'm sure you know that already... I don't see the point in tagging medium even with the expansion... Are you after anything in particular?
I've just loaded my Woof Elf... first fight with a bunch of Cliff Racers made me feel sort of nauseous. If I ever meet the person responsible for designing them I'm going to have a few words.
Nah I just want to use Medium. All Heavy is too ... heavy. There has to be at least one cool Medium relic I can use.
I am still level ... 1. Done screwing around in Balmora I am now doing the first couple quests where you leave the city, hot damn. My encumbrance is up to 150/ 300 somehow.
yeah. i would really suggest getting the expansions, they fix sooooooooooooooooooooo many of the bugs. the ebony mail is the best medium curiass in the game.
its AR is 333 when medium armour is 100. other than that i would see if you cant drop an ordinator in vivec, indrol is really good medium armour. there are places in the game where you can find a set, but it's in the ashlands lvl 1 one make it too long where it is if i recall.
a really good guild to join is the morag tong in the basement of the arena in vivec, good money, good items and legal kills! doesnt get much better than that!
Plus one of the best ways to get gold is to kill ordinators down in the tunnels and sell their armour.
I've been a spell/enchantment junkie the last few times I've played. My very first character was actually a medium armoured Nord, axe fighter, but that was the crappy, crashy Xbox version. I really should try a good combat char.
Anyway that was fun, I am looking forward to finally beating this thing. I always get bored of it. The infamous screwing around. I have not tried my Power yet, the 60s Target Paralyze, but I have used the Nord Thunder Punch or whatever it is called. Also, I might find a 1-handed mace for rats and things but I will probably just stick with "the ol' two-hander".
I could use a decent silver mace ... also I got lost searching for the "dwarven puzzle box," although it is just sitting on a shelf someplace, if I remember. I also ran around and got a big pile of spells. Borderline screwing-around but still on track.
ha. that first one kinda sucks, just wait until you get to get lost in the mountains looking for a mountain coloured door! what a hoot!
if you're skilled in long blad go to the top of the gaurd tower near silt strider in Suran. if i remeber correctly there is an ebony broad sword that does health damage. if its not there, its in one of the ones in Balmora.
nice. When I left the Dwarf cave I Divine Interventioned, and it took me to the nearby Fort. I talked to the guy there, shopped around the mages guilds and I will finish the Dwarf cave tonight. I have a Silver Dagger, it will have to do me; I should find a Silver mace or staff soon. In fact maybe I will try stealing one ...
i would skip staffs all together unless you find/make a really good one yourself, the damage they do really sucks unless they have an enchantment.
silver maces do alright, i might suggest a two handed warhammer if you arent skilled in block, you'll kill more early on and then use a shield when your armour skill is higher for the bonus.
There is a silver staff around Balmora someplace, I can probably Stealth + Telekinesis it, Northern Mystic style. True regarding the damage, though. I will find a Silver Mace eventually.
you might be just as well purcahse one. although, i cant remeber, but if there is one in the store with the dark elf in bonemold in Suran you can just take it. i dont think that they ever fixed the AI so the NPC will not call the gaurds.
an easy-ish (you need to fight a lot of slaughterfish/hold your breath a long time) quest is the one for goldband. basically just involves getting a book, talking to an orc and waiting like two weeks. its a long blade tho.
another alternative is to break into the Redoran in Vivec and loot the place i know there is atleast one ebony mace there. then teleport out and pay the bounty at the theives guild, or just keep running. XD
plusARGON wrote:another alternative is to break into the Redoran in Vivec and loot the place i know there is atleast one ebony mace there. then teleport out and pay the bounty at the theives guild, or just keep running. XD
there's one on a shelf in Seda Neen in the high elfs store. there are a lot of guards but once you get far enough they go back or get stuck on something.
drowning gaurds is also a GREAT way to get the armours and stuff. get them to attack you with speechcraft or by hitting them and then go for a long swim! get some waterbreathing going and wait it out. in maybe two minutes the gaurd will drown and well at that points he's dead so he doesnt have a say it what you do with his stuff!
also, fast money from the super jumpy scrolls, do/did you have those?
I do but I like to keep them. Came in handy once already. Jumped across a broken bridge in a cave. Killing those assassins and selling their gear keeps you flush.
I don't think I will play again tonight. I fooled around a bit trying to steal the staff with no luck, did some modelling (Orks) and am going to do some work before bed. yay. Speaking of working and sleeping I might wait until the weekend (that would be SUNDAY!!!) to really get into it and do some hard core questing. Also, I would like to get it installed on my main desktop and get mods going etc etc.
yes but I do not program them myself. Last time I played I used ... maybe 15 mods. Two or three graphics ones, maybe five or six to work with Marksman and the rest were clothing/ body mods for an unarmoured char. Something like that, anyway. I am going to want the improved textures at least. I am playing on the PC, by the way.
i figured you were. i assumes you know the standard cheats for that? personally i like the kill NPC and reset NPC codes just to decimate town and then respawn everyone like nothing happend. XD
i love the constuction set. make yourself a big ass house-castle-eyesore. UBER weapons and armour, more uber than you can even think of.... aw man. good stuff.
haha. it's soo much fun. i made mine a floaty one in the middle of the grazelands. nice view. hehe. it takes a long time to get it perfect/right. there was one door that i had for the longest time that kept spawning me in Tel Branora. i realized later i had somehow selected one of the doors to the outside of one of the houses. it was very frustrating. i think my favourite part of the castle i made was the basement in which i put 20 respawning NPC, naked of course, with war axes. good killing, gooooood killing. took FOREVER to load tho, the room was too small and i never fixed it. heh.
First real question to ask about Morrowind is which mod packs you use.
For me the must take list is:
Better Bodies (includes Rheds heads)
Expanded Horizons Mod (cant remember the name, makes the distance graphics like Oblivion, this mod requires an Oblivion ready PC)
Better Signposts (ones you can read)
Animal Realism (non blighted creatures tend to leave you alone, non blighted razors are peaceful, all kagoutis are much tougher)
Glow effects off mod (so magic items lose the wierd shine)
Abandoned flat - nice little add on
Twin Lamps - good quest pack for the slave liberators
Suran Underworld - evil faction questpack, generally to give me the option to turn evil
I keep my mod list small for maximum compatibility and to minimise clashes. the following mods I add one per game as they are big, some very big and completely change the game.
The Underground
Wizard Isles
Major mods that I include one per game
Better Bodies (includes Rheds heads)
Expanded Horizons Mod (cant remember the name, makes the distance graphics like Oblivion, this mod requires an Oblivion ready PC)
Better Signposts (ones you can read)
Animal Realism (non blighted creatures tend to leave you alone, non blighted razors are peaceful, all kagoutis are much tougher)
Glow effects off mod (so magic items lose the wierd shine)
Abandoned flat - nice little add on
Twin Lamps - good quest pack for the slave liberators
Suran Underworld - evil faction questpack, generally to give me the option to turn evil
ha. i use most of the same! i have a few of the creature pack too, where they make baby animals and things. i also have a few ambiant noise which make it sound more naturey. the other one that i really like is the seasons one. it makes the trees change in the correct months and makes the weather more specific to certain parts of the year.
please post and name your mods. i would like your recommendations.
So many are not worth downloading.
Does your season mod put snow on the ground, thaw parts of Bloodmoon island etc?
I tried various ambient sounds mods, they actually sdlowed thre game down for little benefit, lighting mods had potential but the lighting and shadows would abruptly end witrh the tiles and spoil the effect.
I went with a less is more approach and only kept some mods. A lot of the 'better' mods just improved thre architecture quantity rather than the graphic quality. Better lighthouse was a good mod, but Seyda Neen needs its crude little lighthouse not the Pharos.
ill see if i can find them. my computer broke last week and i have yet to get the hard drive out to fix/recover.
there are SO many that suck. SO MANY. it's often hard to comprehend.
it does not sadly, in either case. it would have been nice but the patch that i had was made wiht out using bloodmoon. so it did not have the snow part to it.
the sound mods slow it down a hair but i like the idea that im in NATURE not an OPERA HALL.
So in celebration of the completion of the ROOM CLEANING OF THE UNIVERSE I played some Morrowind tonight, the Morrowind I did not play on the weekend. I went to Vivec, did not get lost and did some screwing around. I did some random screwing around and talking to people and I am settling in to complete quests. I could really use a decent weapon I think but I will settle for what I can find. Using a Steel Warhammer atm and doing pretty good with it.
I do not think I am going to use any mods, mostly because I just don't care. So I am ready to churn, churn, churn my way through the basic plot. I am doing House Redoran. Appearances, I am an envoy type guy.
So I played for a bit more, I gained another level. On my way back to the Dwarven mine I wandered up to Caldera, and up to Ghostwall which the townsfolk had been talking about. I figured make my way up there now in the early game before the hills get too dangerous. After exploring the buildings there I found a temple and joined it. I am starting a pilgrimage into the Ghostlands.
I also explored a tomb and got a couple cool items. Go Silver Staff, which I actually ended up buying. A whopping 50 coins.
The Northern Mystic thing seems to be working out. I can Stealth + Telekinesis (at least I think I can) and I can already cast Open 50 and levitate. I can detect keys, too. Acrobatics and Athletics are building solidly. Restoration is negligible, which is a shame. I will probably just play it the normal way for now. Looking to keep building Strength, Endurance, Speed and Luck. Agility is buffed, Personality and Intelligence can wait for now. Speaking of which my Lover's Kiss ability is useless but maybe I can use it on NPCs.
i forget the order of doing this thingy, but you can join both house redoran and house hlaalu if you kill orvas dren on the dren plantation at a certain point. more quests taht way. ill try and remeber how to do it. plus the hlaalu house you get when you get to the highest rank is the best. even tho it's on te odi plateau, which is not that pretty...
yeees I was reading about that on the Morrowind Wiki. That is pretty much what I had in mind. My other character is supposed to be a Ninja, she is doing House Telvanni.
I think I will play for a bit before bed but I have to finish something.
I can use the console to give myself House Hlaalu down the road should I choose.
hmm, nice. I think I will concentrate on the main quest and the guilds. House Hlaalu does not really fit my skill progression but that might be different at level 25/ 30. Unless I want to artificially inflate Light Armour or something.
I have been playing some more, getting into it pretty good. When I have my uber set up ready I will be screen shotting. I stand at:
Level 5
Nord
Northern Mystic
Health 78/78
Magicka 30/30
Fatigue 240/240
Strength 80 (level ups)
Intelligence 30 (no level ups)
Willpower 40 (no level ups)
Agility 55 (buffed with no level ups)
Speed 55 (level ups + a bit of cheating)
Endurance 65 (level ups + a bit of cheating)
Personality 30 (no level ups)
Luck 55 (level ups + a bit of cheating)
I may have given myself something like 10 points too many. Save me the trouble of running around to trainers for Endurance/ etc.
Major Skills (all building nicely, even the magic)
Blunt Weapon 61
Medium Armour 50
Heavy Armour 38
Alteration 31
Mysticism 31
In Alteration I use Open and Shield spells quite often as well as Water Walking. Lockjam is nice too. In Mysticism I use ... there is a spell I use. Oh, Telekinesis is quite handy, good for dealing with traps. I also use Jump and am looking for Slowfall. Levitate when I have the mana. Recall is very handy, it is a spell I have available even if it is a standard sort of utility spell. All in all things are going as planned. Mysticism has Soul Trap, of course.
Minor Skills
Marksman 20 (I found a bow and some magic arrows which is handy)
Mercantile 22
Speechcraft 24
Sneak 20
Hand-to-hand 21
Mercantile and Speechcraft are building solidly. I think Hand-to-hand might be a waste but it might be good later.
Misc Skills
Armorer 10 (I added 5 I think to build Strength. Have not used it yet but I might.)
Spear 20 (Endurance + I will use)
Athletics 20
Restoration 15 (solid, really. I think I added 5)
Alchemy 5 (still hoarding reagents)
Enchant 5 (not sure what to do here)
Acrobatics 29 (solid)
I will not use these
Block 5 (I use Warhammers, Staffs and Spears)
Destruction, Illusion, Conjuration 5
Unarmored 14 (I am missing a piece somewhere)
Security 11 (telekinesis for traps)
Light Armor, Short Blade 10 (will not use)
I am wearing all medium at the moment. Orcish (I got lucky) and "Armun-Ar Bonemeld". I look pretty awesome, actually. I have a Steel Warhammer and a Glass Staff. Magic Arrows with a decent bow and Steel Throwing Stars. I hoard potions of levitate and invisibility and I like using scrolls, too. I have a ring of healing (not the one from starter town) and a ring of Shock Damage at Target, which is ... better than nothing.
I am already farther than I have ever been in the game. I am done 5/7 or maybe 4/7 of the Temple Pilgrimage. I ended up stuck in Vivec doing a number of quests. I just killed the "Dwemer in a Skirt" and need to figure out what to do about finishing the quest. I sacked what I think was a Daedra shrine but did not get anything from it. I finally found the fourth mushroom for a Mage's Guild quest. After finishing some things in Vivec next I play I will be raiding a couple tombs, which includes a main quest near Pelagiad. I might visit Ebonheart, Caldera and Hla Oad at some point, too but I want to finish the Pilgrimage.
That's it I guess. At level 6 I will probably have Blunt Weapon ... 65 or so. At that point I will have Strength 85 and will power level Intelligence, Willpower and Personality. Maybe Agility a bit too, with the skills that are tied to it. Marksman and Sneak.
All in all this is a fun character. Once I add the levels I will start getting better loot. Magic weapons and armour.
That and I am going to try Sneak + Marksman at some point (an NPC said something) but I think Sneak only works with Short Blades in this game. That, and I stole the Glass Staff from Ghostwall. I think I bought the Steel Warhammer.
My Lover's touch thing worked well on "Ash Slaves," from the Ghostlands. Woad and Thunder Fist are still nice freebies.
even if you arent going to use block it is a good idea to have a shield on. the armour rating for it comes from the armour skill. shields are A LOT of armour, it will help.
sneak works with everything. mhm, yup.
also, when you get your marksman higher, or if you just want to shoot things, go around the back of suran and find umbra. you'll do a talky thing, then jump up on a rock and shoot away! full set (well, no shield) of orkish and a sweet awesome claymore. not so good for you, but if take it to the museum in mournhold you can get A LOT of golds, A LOT.
I just played for a bit tonight, I think I am commited to doing all the Vivec running around quests. At least I am learning the shops and things. And House Hlaalu.
So what did I do. I did a couple small quests in Vivec. I went to Gnisis and finished the Pilgrimage. I finished the basic Mage's Guild quests in Balmora. I need a casting skill at 40 to get the next rank so I will put that one on hold for a bit I think, but I might also do a quest along the way back to the Ghostwall to turn the pilgrimage in. I kind of want to screw around Gnisis, I was told about a Daedra shrine nearby but I am about ready for my level build I think I want to get better loot. That, and I am stocked up on crappy magic items. Healing, uh ... I have a summon thing. I bought a Steel Shield with a healing spell, 'neato'.
That, and I really want to get the main quest path going. There are previously mentioned tombs that need sacking, although better to wait until I am higher level I think. I also picked up ... 10 or so scrolls relatively cheap for just-in-case moments. High AOE burst damage, to borrow lingo from MMOs.
So I think I will do the mage's guild thing, and head up to the Ghostwall, and then do the level build. It is my Garland moment.
*doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo*
I am all excited, I am actually playing the game. That, and I only have about 20 crappy quests that need to get finished.
My previous game I mostly did Mage's guild and House Telvanni. And Fighter's Guild I think. I did a great bit of House Telvanni but lost interest in the build. Hitting things with the big hammah is much more soothing.
I am doing a lot of bribing/ generally talking, I am happy about how Speechcraft is working out although I am going to have to level Personality.
An amulet to heal Fatigue and a ring that casts Chameleon, those are my other items. My Armor is up to 46. Orcish, Bonemold and a Heavy Shield Armor Rating 24. Steel Greaves. What I am missing is gauntlets, grr. I will have to see what I can find. Maybe I will do the Umbra/ Suran thing as mentioned. If I keep the second set of Orcish I can always enchant it.
Level 6 will be Strength, Endurance and Personality, I think.
I am going to need gold for a decent Alchemy set. I have Journeyman, I think. And maybe a Master's Mortar and Pestle.
He thinks he's cool because he's playing City of Heroes, now. Edit: Company of Heroes, my bad
I gained level 6. Advanced a bit in the Temple and the Legion and am pretty much looking at the whole world to explore. My game just crashed on me, I Sneak + Telekinesis-ed the Master's Alchemy shop in Balmora and when I tried to sell the stuff back to her it froze.
So I now ... reload. I was thinking of doing the bloodbath quest. Let me check the wiki for a possibly bugged quest.
I started my power level. I trained/ hacked alchemy up 10 points to 15 and trained Enchant. That gives me an int boost for my next level. So I keep mucking around until I am level 12 or so. Or I run out of ingredients. I got a nice pile of gold running around mage's guilds and selling their alchemy equipment to each other. I can't seem to hawk Master's Mortar and Pestles for some reason. I have a Grandmaster one for myself and Master's of the others. I'm going to bed.
This game runs on my laptop, by the way maybe I should not finish it in one sitting.
that, and feth the Alchemy thing. I am just going to use the console, I can always use up the ingredients after. That, and I guess there is ownership on stolen goods. Interesting. You can find out who owns what by going ... ~ToggleFullHelp
So I have some "moneys," I am doing my level binge and I will do the bloodbath quest later tonight. I have gotten hooked on using the uber levitate from the Vivec shrine but I can use the console for that, too. I'm such a cheater. Speechcraft is working out better than I thought it would. Go bribes.
S 85 -> 90 ( 1 )
I 30 -> 50 ( 4 )
W 40 -> 55 ( 3 )
A 55 -> 60 ( 1 )
S 55 -> 65 ( 2 )
E 69 -> 74 ( 1 )
P 33 -> 53 ( 4 )
L 55 -> ???
So I need ... 16, or eight levels worth if I add to Luck, too, which is probably worthwhile considering I already have + 15 points in it.
So that takes me up to level 14, yikes. Thankfully I am good on weapons and armour. I have ... a decent Ice Mace, one-hander and a Staff of Paralyze I carry around embarrassed. Also I have to stop getting arrested for misdemeanors, I lose my soul gems every time.
I think the Personality boost better reflects how I actually play/ have played, I think. That and I was looking to not use Illusion this time but a few points and I can cast low level spells. I have been hoarding invisibility potions and my power thing is Paralyze, so. It may even be tied to Illusion, I expect it is tied to Personality. He _is_ Stealth Specialization.
So after this I should be able to just play the damn game, which includes looting tombs etc. No need to waste a tomb although they may reset for all I know. I will be looking to boost Int deliberately every few levels by using up reagents and paying to train Enchant.
I may have to tweak it, take into account Major, Minor and Misc skills etc. I will probably come back to it on the weekend, that would be SUNDAY!!! when I can do the BLOODBATH. And steal their stuff.
Level 14
Nord Male
Northern Mystic
Sign of the Lover
Health 144/ 144
Magicka 45/ 45
Fatigue 279/ 279
*phew* Mercantile and Speech are a bit high but that should be OK. They will be more effective, too. He is supposed to be an envoy. Sort of a trusted advisor/ seasoned adventurer.
I would say he is probably about ... level 11/ 12 in terms of actual fighting ability but he is fairly well equipped. Unfortunately the world just got much more dangerous. Much more. The blight is spreading from Red Mountain. Assassins from the Dark Brotherhood are behind every corner. The Mage Guild and Aristocracy are infested with Vampires, as is the surrounding countryside. Age old emnities behind ancient houses and criminal syndicates stir beneath the surface. Racism, intollerance and greed fester hate and mistrust amongst the country-men.
I have seven factions, four more in addition to those two. Thieves Guild and Blades need Personality, too. Fighters Guild and Mages Guild of course are more nuts and bolts.
I just joined the Morag Tung, I do not need Personality, it is based on Speed and Agility. They say I cannot steal I hope they do not mean that ... I cannot steal.
I have played through so much Morrowind that I could probably beat it with my eyes closed. I have clocked in over 400 hours, and that's just on my two main characters, not counting all the time I've spent on experiment characters and speed running through the game with me on the xbox and my friend on the PC. I know nearly all of the NPCs by name. I've beaten literally all of the quests in the game (by using the Strategy Guide, and that includes all of the Houses and Vampire quests, plus the two different runs through Bloodmoon), collected all of the suits of armor, weapons, books, etc. I have all my skills at 100 on two characters, and must commit a crime and go to jail in order to level up.
That's kind of sad, isn't it?
Anyway, there are a few things I definetly recommend (although you're pretty far into your game already). First of all, don't console hack the game. At all. It really upsets the balance of your entire character, and it will make the game very boring, very fast. Trust me, you will feel much more proud of yourself when you've gotten to a godlike status on your own.
Secondly, always focus on magic as much as you can stand to when you create your character. At the very least, the Atronach is the best star sign you can choose, as it gives the highest multiplier to your magicka. If you don't want to be a High Elf, I can understand that, but it helps. Take as many Intelligence modifiers as you can. Why? At the end of leveling your character, focusing on combat or stealth really hampers your character. A character that starts as a mage can always level his combat or stealth skills as he pleases. But it doesn't work the other way around. Why? 100 Magicka at 100 Intelligence is just sad. Sad, because self-made spells are more powerful than anything else in the game, by a ridiculous amount. The absolute maximum of 400 magicka is much more beneficial to any character, as you can then have the option of creating a single target spell that will down even vivec (with his ridiculous amount of hit points) in just about two casts. With that 400 magicka, you can still easily have 100 in Strength and endurance, and any weapon and armor skills of your choice at 100. Also, Magicka is by far the easiest skillset to level up without going to a trainer? How? Create a spell of any school of magick that has 0 effectiveness, and run around casting it over and over again.
Always put one point in luck every time you level up. Not only is luck the most beneficial stat in the game by far (just wait until it hits 100), but that also frees up time between levels you would spend leveling misc. skills to get multipliers, as you only need to focus on two skills at a time as opposed to three.
The easiest way to make money in the game is to go into the armor shop in tribunal. See that High Ordinator? Well, if you started the game as a mage, and have gotten your destruction skill all the way to 100 (It's not hard at all with the 0 effectiveness spell thing I told you about) you should have a single target damage spell that spends all of your Magicka points (just do a touch fire spell that maxes out on damage, and split it into...say...3 seconds). Taunt the Ordinator into attacking you, then Cast it on the ordinator (I think the armorer will come after you if you just kill him outright, so I wouldn't try it.). He'll pretty much die right on the spot. His armor is some of the most valuable armor in the game. You should be able to make a good 40-50k gold at just the armorer alone off that one suit of armor. And that's nowhere near full price, though it's a little heavy to be carrying it all the way to creeper or especially the talking mudcrab. Rinse, repeat. You'll soon be in the millions, and won't really ever have to worry about gold ever again.
The two most important things in the game are Azura's Star and Summon Golden Saint. Why? Azura's Star is a Grand Soul Gem that is infinitely reuseable. Golden Saints have the highest value in a Soul Gem. And Enchantment of armor and clothing will turn you into an absolute god. You get Azura's quest from her statue in the Southeast of Vvardenfell, and for it, you get Azura's Star. I forget exactly where to buy Summon Golden Saint, but you can probably look it up somewhere. Once you have that? There are infinite possibilities. Since Daedric Armor has the highest Enchantment point value, I'd suggest going with Heavy Armor just to get the benefits from that (and trust me, the weight will never be a problem once you get into enchantment). Also, pick up a full set of exquisite clothing (including the skirt and robe). From here, you can do some pretty incredible things. Worried about how much that daedric armor weighs, and looking for a way to break every weapon you touch in about ten hits? You can max out a suit of daedric armor and clothes with just over 200 extra points of strength added to your character. Want an in-game god mode without cheating? Enchant your clothes with 100 sanctuary, and you will never be hit again (except by magic). Want to instantly regenerate any damage you take? Enchant your clothes all with as many points in healing as they can take, and you won't have to heal yourself ever again. You get the idea. My favorite combination is putting 100 strength on my daedric armor (upping the encumbrance to 1000 and making your attacks do twice as much) and using the clothing to restore my health. Enchanting at an NPC can get expensive, but it's definetly worth it (enchanting armor yourself is too risky to be worth it). Besides, you should have tons of septims from killing all those high ordinators.
Also, I wouldn't recommend any mods to the game (besides graphical, but even then, some of them just suck and turn the game into something else entirely, such as the better textures for the environment) until you're absolutely bored and have nothing else to do. Some of them just drain the spirit right out of the game that morrowind was supposed to be. You'll get what I mean by that eventually. Though some of the higher-level options are nice, especially when you've reached the godlike status I've outlined for you.
What you say regarding the sign of the Astronach is sound. Very sound. As is running around training your magic. Thing is, instead of spending hours training magic I can go ~Player->setalteration nn. In fact, back in the day, and I am not trying to epeen, but back in the day I did just that, playing Daggerfall. Which I have always wanted to beat but mr. no directional sense I get lost in the massive dungeons. That, and if I want I can always make a cool spell casting character. But I like hitting things with a hammer.
yeesss, luck is awesome, especially when you commit to it. 40 Luck is crap but when you can have 60 Luck at Level 10, 70 at Level 20, etc ... why not. And yes, it makes levelling easier especially when you are paying to train.
as far as cheap gold tricks like that, I would just ~ myself some gold, un-fun though that may be. But back in the day, I tell you. That, and I am not using the mudcrab or the other thing but I will sell relics to the Tribunal museum. I keep flush from those Dark Brotherhood assassins. I was bored the other night and ran around the mage's guild stealing their alchemy equipment.
I like your enchanting ideas. I did not you could use Azura's Star for enchanting.
yeess I am not using mods just yet, although I like a number of the graphics mods other users have posted up top. I might mod myself a cool house thing at some point. The Northern Mystic's Lair. Depends how much I get into playing Bloodmoon, which I never have. Or maybe a number of houses here and there. Like Sim City for nerds.
yes, but thanks for the comment. I am actually going to head up to Bloodmoon Island and see if I can cause some trouble away from prying eyes. I was going to the Imperial Legion and Marog Tong quest chains.
Face it. 100 Magicka is sad at any rate, considering the RIDICULOUS amount of damage you can deal with your own spells when you have 300 magicka. The point I was trying to make about magic is that you can STILL go around bashing in stuff with a hammer all you please, just start with as many int modifiers as you can stand. That way you won't be gimped by the endgame.
Consoling skills is a bad idea. Especially setting them all the way to 100. Unless they're misc skills, but even then you'll miss out on the skill modifiers you get from leveling them up naturally. You won't be able to level nearly as far, unless you want to Console that too (Which is absolutely pointless without also Consoling your stats). I just personally couldn't play through a whole game if I've cheated the crap out of it. It gets very boring. The gold I can understand, as my method is taking advantage of the game anyway, but still. It feels good to get somewhere without typing something in. Know what I mean?
Bloodmoon is very awesome. I suggest taking the werewolf form the first time through. A very interesting twist on the game. There is always a lycanthropy reversal quest after you finish the main Bloodmoon Arc if you don't like it. Also, you'll be able to take part in building a mining colony, in which you'll get your own house (not including the one you can already get from any of the House Arcs). And if you're into medium armor, Bloodmoon has the best set in the game, which you actually have to find pieces for and (kind of) build. It's called Stalhrim, and it's made of...basically, Ice that never melts. Very fitting for a nord. Though the enchantment points aren't as high, you could always fix that with the Construction Set. Bloodmoon is substantially harder than anything you'll find in Vvardenfell, though, so be sure you're ready for it.
Speaking of enchantment, here are a few more ideas. You can enchant yourself a suit of armor that gives you an army of daemons at your disposal. Just enchant every piece of armor you wear with a Summon [Insert Daemon Here] spell and set it to constant. You can make a helm with constant water breathing, giving you a very viable option for pearl diving . Boots with a constant walk on water enchant are nice. Boots of blinding speed? Pfft. Why not daedric armor of blinding speed, giving you a good 200 extra points in athletics? That's ridiculously fun, by the way. Smack every guard you see in the face with a hammer and watch them try to chase you. Or armor of Icarian Flight? Enchant your armor with acrobatics and watch yourself leap like the friggin incredible hulk. Also, if you don't want to deal with the weight of daedric armor, you can enchant yourself a pair of clothes to give you a constant full suit of the stuff that weighs zero pounds.
Again...that's just a few examples of the wonders of enchanting armor in Morrowind. Anything you can think, you can pretty much do.
I might have maybe 10 or so stats points too many.
No, my guy is a regular guy with a regular sort of hammer. I use his ... 45 magicka to cast:
Open 50 (although I can upgrade this)
The elemental shield spells, which are helpful.
Telekinesis and Levitate.
etc etc. I am awesome.
I am a long way away from enchanting, although I might do a couple enchants. I will be hitting the Spellmaker soon, I need a new Open spell for example.
I am not saying Chrysoar686 is 'wrong' and hopefully he will be wise enough not to say he is 'right'.
I recommend almost a completely different path.
Morrowind is way too easy, it gets tougher later but still too easy.
My way, I repeat my way of playing this game is:
1. First choose your mods, if you want to play the game 'pure' you can still profit by inluding better bodies, far horizons and better signposts. They only improve grpahics and do not of themselves change gameplay.
2. If you do want gameplay change mods choose only a few at most, many are contradictory. If you add scenario mods choose a handful of small ones and or one big one like Wizard Isles.
Now onto the game iself.
3. Play the character that fits how you want to play, not because of their stats. Play at least once through as 'yourself' give 'you' a human origin of your choice but averaging stats. Then let your style of play develop by answering every situation with 'what would I do', allowing for who the new you is. #Your world view and morality in the Nerevarines body.
Replay how you like with different characters.
For a Nerevarine that makes best sense it is a good idea to play once through as a Dunmer.
4. Here is the real kicker: Play HARDCORE. Tell yourself that if you die that is it, game over. Morrowind is an easy enough game it is quite possible to play through hardcore without cheating, especially if you play cautiously.
My only recommended exception to hardcore is the 'Second Life' mod. With this mod if you die your reappear as a ghost in a random daedra ruin able to roam at will and able to interact only with doors until you get to your corpse. Then you are automatically resurrected at full hit points.
Also Vampirism related "death" doesn't break hardcore.
As it is made part of the game I like to include that one as it makes one death part of the game. And only one death - the second time you die Second Life doesnt work. As a major hero a single second chance within the game enhances the story, in all likelihood you will not need it. Cautious play Morrowind is completable, just get a decent magic resistance up before handling tough opponents.
5. No Alchemy bug abuse. Console cheats, levelling cheats or any such rubbish.
6. Avoid trying to max out a quest score, your Nerevarine need not do everything, or succeed in all his quests. When you play hardcore you play more as a person and so failure naturally becomes more acceptable. Also save some for the next guy. I try to join only two or three factions per character.
7. Avoid doing senseless things just because the game engine allows you to. Would you kill a policeman then sell his armour the the store owner, then repeat as police are brought in? Ignoring some advantages like the large carry capacity and quick item changes. I even dont allow non-weapon switch item changes in combat.
Of course, I'm not going to say you're wrong. My standpoint is that of a Power-player, and your standpoint is of someone that has played entirely too much Diablo II in their lifetime.
Seriously, though, I just hate being so much weaker than a mage by the end of the game (not even the end of the game) just because I chose to do a class that I actually had interest in.
Really, the idea of creating "Yourself" in the game is a very interesting one. It's just....very hard for me to ignore exploits. Especially when I've been through this game so much. I've played through as something I wanted to be, had a set of morals and everything. Now I just want to be the best at everything.
It's funny, because I don't play any other game like that. Ever.
One of the best parts of Morrowind is that game becomes what you want it to be. Especially with the TES generator toolkit.
It looks to me that if there ever was a form of multiplayer arena we could export our character into your Nerevarine would wipe the floor with mine then deepfry and cut him into handy chunks for tinning, assuming you wanted to play evil (or just wanted my stuff).
Diablo 2 hardcore is fun, I only play that game that way. I even borrowed a completed savegame from someone eolse to load into my character save folder, so that I could play Hardcore from the start.
My favourite is hardcore Gothic though, because it can be done but you have to be very careful. The fights are tough. Gothic 3 is harder still, and I decided to play it hardcore from the start, RPG though it was. I play Gothic 3 get so far and die, so I wait a little while to refresh the game and try again. I still have not completed it or know the storyline, so my hero is fresh and every new place to explore is a mortal danger. I have only ever visited approx 30% of the map.
Neverwinter Nights and Baldurs Gate hardcore are impossible because of the weakness in the D&D game engines. Particularly Baldurs Gate and old D&D, however I like to mark how far I gfet before first reload, its usually not far.
Race: Redguard Sign: Lady (or Warrior) Class: Knight (or Barbarian) -This guy's yer run-of-the-mill Warrior. Can deal plenty of good hits. High on health, high on fatigue, but low on Magicka.
Race: Altmer (High Elf) Sign: Mage (or Atronarch, whichever suits your purposes) Class: Mage -This guy is low on health, high on Magicka, and has lotsa spells. Use him if you're a range-type. Keep away from close combat, if you can.
Race: Nord Sign: Mage Class: Battlemage -This guy is super-tough. Can be up front, while dealing out Destruction spells and Area of Affect spells. Moderate Health, so-so fatigue, and high Magicka.
If you want to be a Nord like you described, don't go Lover. Stick to Warrior or Lady, maybe Mage or Lord. Pick one armor type, and try to balance your guy out with the amount of magic you use. If you want to be along the lines of "mediator" or all-around-guy, you'll want this:
Race: Imperial Sign: Lady Major Attributes: Strength, Intelligence Major Skills: Blunt, Heavy Armor, Armorer, Destruction, Speechcraft Minor Skills: Long Blade, Athletics, Acrobatics, Marksman, Restoration
If you go with this guy, he's definitely a "mediator". He can do most of what you want. If you would prefer fatigue over Magicka, however, go with this:
Race: Imperial Sign: Lady Major Attributes: Strength, Endurance (or Strength, Willpower; Endurance, Willpower) Major Skills: Athletics, Acrobatics, Blunt, Heavy Armor, Speechcraft Minor Skills: Destruction, Marksman, Restoration, Mercantile, Long Blade
That's all I can think of... I don't really have all of the classes or attributes memorized, so... You know. I'd reccomend the fatigue guy if you want to sustain fighting performance, or the Magicka guy if you want to kill them off quickly.
In terms of hints, give Fargoth his ring. After giving Fargoth the ring, his disposition raises and so does Arrille's. Accept the Nord-Imperial Guard (from Arrille's upstairs) dude's quest. Steal Fargoth's stuff from the Hollowed Stump. Don't give the money back to the Nord. Walk down the trail heading towards the Northwest. Grab the scrolls of Icarian Flight from the one Bosmer dude. Sell them, or use them and hop around, just for fun. You will die in the process of the fun-having, though. Head kinda to the Southwest, find the body of the dead Tax-Collector. Either talk to the Breton that had you fill out your info at the start for a quest, or keep the money. You also might want to talk to the Scout at Arrille's for locations and directions. She's the Redguard that is standing behind the bar. If you really want money at the start, steal the decorated plate and drop ASAP. The guard will talk to you, but you can pick the plate back up. From now on, you own it. Next, steal all of the Silverware from the dining room area of the starting house. Another hint: try to sneak behind the one Templar-dressed guy in the second building and steal the warehouse key. Unlock the warehouse, and steal all of the moon sugar and armor you find in the tower. These will be useful. Sell the moon sugar to somebody- Arrille won't buy it. You'll pretty much be set for a while with this stuff. Spend your gold to benefit your guy... Maybe haggle Arrille, buy stuff cheap, and sell it for more in Balmora. Your mercantile and speechcraft will come in handy here. If you want to be more of a "Banker", or whatever you call 'em... Merchant, do this:
Race: Imperial (or race with high speechcraft/ mercantile) Sign: Lady, Lord, Lover, Thief Major Attributes: Personality, Willpower (or Personality, Agility/Speed) Major Skills: Short Blade, Mercantile, Speechcraft, Illusion, Alteration Minor Skills: Sneak, Security, Acrobatics, Athletics, Destruction (or Marksman, maybe Conjuration)
Remember: ask a lot of questions. You could get more information, locations, or storyline if you do. It will help a lot. Personality and Speechcraft will be helpful here.
. Boots with a constant walk on water enchant are nice. Boots of blinding speed? Pfft. Why not daedric armor of blinding speed, giving you a good 200 extra points in athletics? That's ridiculously fun, by the way. Smack every guard you see in the face with a hammer and watch them try to chase you. Or armor of Icarian Flight? Enchant your armor with acrobatics and watch yourself leap like the friggin incredible hulk. Also, if you don't want to deal with the weight of daedric armor, you can enchant yourself a pair of clothes to give you a constant full suit of the stuff that weighs zero pounds.