***THIS GUIDE CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK***
{***I DO NOT LIKE GETTING E-MAIL, EXCEPT FOR CORRECTIONS OR
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GUIDE ITSELF. IF YOU SEND SOME, DO NOT BE
SURPRISED IF I DO NOT REPLY. I APOLOGIZE IF THIS CAUSES ANY
INCONVIENCE, BUT I SIMPLY DON'T GIVE OUT HELP OUTSIDE THE GUIDE***}
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Copyright Notice: This file is copyrighted by John Bowens as of May
17, 2002. It may be distributed and reproduced via any medium, as
long as the contents of this file remain unchanged, there is no price
charged in association with this file, and proper credits are given to
all that deserve them. (In other words; Bethesda Softworks Inc.,
ZeniMax Media, any contributors mentioned, and me)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Distribution Notice: Due to several e-mails asking me permission
about whether they can distribute this guide to other sites, I have
added this section to the FAQ. This file may be distributed to any
site, it is effectively public domain as far as I am concerned. The
copyright notice is only there to deter those who seek to make a
profit from this work, change it, or pass it off as their own. If you
don't fall into any of those categories, do whatever you want with
this file. (By the way, I would appreciate it if you are a web-master
posting this guide that you keep it fairly current. I make mistakes,
and I don't want others to suffer for it.)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
E-mail Notice: As my namesake suggests, I am not one for socializing.
I rarely check my e-mail, and when I do it is only for important
information such as my account status. Any contributions or
corrections to the FAQ are welcome, but they may not make it into the
guide, depending on my mood. If I do accept a contribution or
correction, full credit will be given to the best of my ability. This
means that if someone sends me information without his or her
name/handle/e-mail address, I can't properly credit that person. So
include that information! ALL OTHER E-MAILS WILL BE DELETED.
______________________________________________________________________
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Version History
May 17, 2002
0.1 = First version
May 22, 2002
0.2 = Small update concerning some errors I made, a few formatting
changes, and a distribution notice. (Which I should have added
earlier) I also added a contributor's section as well. From now on
any significant information that has been changed, added, or clarified
on will be enclosed in these symbols {}. This information will remain
marked until one revision has been made from the first version the
information appeared in, at which point the symbols will be dropped.
Any outdated or erroneous information from a previous version will not
be marked as such; it will simply be deleted. If you are reading this
to see what changes have been made, use the find command, under the
edit button near the top of your browser window, and type in this {.
(Without the period of course.)
May 28, 2002
0.3 = Pretty big update, corrected a few more errors and added the
HUGE monster section. This guide is really starting to come along in
my oh so humble opinion. Considering this is my first guide, or
written work submitted online for that matter, I think its pretty
good. :)
June 2, 2002
0.4 = Added a bug section where I point out some known bugs that might
mess with your game. This section of course is subject to change in a
patch; so don't take all the information as gospel. I also added some
more to the ranged attacks section, and the thievery section, as well
as a completely new section called general hints and tips. This
section deals with stuff I couldn't fit in anywhere else, but remains
useful nevertheless. If you are planning on training, I highly
recommend you look at it.
June 7, 2002
0.5 = Added the skills section where I go over each skill, its
relative speed to level, and overall usefulness.
June 16, 2002
0.6 = Medium update, concerning the general tips section. Added one
particularly cool trick concerning unlimited high quality weapons and
shields. Read the section for the juicy details. I also added a lot
about Creeper, enjoy.
June 19, 2002
0.7 = Made a few little errors here and there that needed fixing. I
also made some mistakes in the leveling section, according to the
"leveling mechanics guide" by SThakur. I will put in a note
concerning the discrepancies between my information and his. I am
unlikely to confirm his information, but it is probably correct, as I
never did any detailed investigation of the leveling system. Finally,
I added another large section dealing with spells and their effects.
I decided I wouldn't give a rating to each one, like I did with the
skills, and instead simply discuss the advantages of each one. I will
however point out whether one effect is obviously superior to another,
similar one.
June 21, 2002
0.8 = Ok, I relented; I addressed a few of the questions I get in the
e-mails. I added in some information that isn't covered or done
poorly in the manual, a sort of how to guide, as per the suggestion of
David Warner. I also made it a bit more clear about my dislike for e-
mail in general so no more individuals will be disappointed by my lack
of action in that regard. I added some corrections and contributions
as well, check the contributions section for details.
______________________________________________________________________
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Table of Contents:
1) Introduction
2) {How to... (A section for the less obvious commands)}
3) Creating your character
a) Race
b) Class
c) Birth Sign
d) Other
4) Travel
a) Ways of getting from A to B
a) Places to see, and loot to plunder
b) Things to watch out for
5) Combat
a) Melee, or the Art of Sticking Pointy Objects into Bad Things
b) Magic, or the Art of Turning Bad Things into Crispy Strips
c) Ranged, or the Art of Changing Bad Things into Pincushions
6) Monsters
a) How to prevent the loss of one's internal organs
b) Types of monsters
7) Leveling
8) Skills
9) Spell Effects
a) Conjuration
b) Illusion
c) Destruction
d) Restoration
e) Mysticism
f) Alteration
10) Guilds
a) Why being a member is a good idea
b) Guild services
I) Spells and spell making
II) Enchanting
III) Guild Guides
IV) Training
V) A place to call home
11) Property acquisition without really trying
12) General tips and hints
13) Bugs! (not in the bunny sense either)
14) {Contributor's section}
15) {Credits and closing thoughts}
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1) Introduction
Morrowind is a vast place. It is difficult to make it through in
one piece, much less as an adventurer of power, prestige, and wealth.
This guide is designed to provide the traveler with general
information about the world and its inhabitants. This guide is NOT
designed to provide quest details, nor is it a primer for those
unfamiliar with the world of fantasy or the manual that came with the
game. If you don't know what strength/combat arts/magicka/etc. is,
look it up in the manual, as I won't explain what it is. In addition,
I will not give out directions to specific places, as that information
is beyond the scope of this guide. As much as I can, I will try to
ensure the following information is accurate. However I may make
mistakes, and Bethesda may change the information with a patch, so be
careful. Any information that I got from a specific person I will put
a star like this * by said information. Read the credits section
though for complete information regarding the sources of my
information. At times I can also be extremely long-winded, so if you
feel the need to flee from this file, I understand. With all that
said, let's get on with the show!
2) {How to guide}
Before you begin as an adventurer, you need to know a few things
that are not so obvious about the interface and the game. I will
cover these things under this section...
How do I delete spells?
Open up the panel containing the list of all your spells by left
clicking on the icon that shows your active magic. Now hold down
shift and left click on the spell you want to delete. A confirmation
box should pop up, click ok to delete the spell.
I lost my inventory\map\spell\stats panel! How do I get it back?
Make sure you are in the mode that allows you to look at such things
in the first place and brings up the movable cursor. Now click on the
corresponding icons to bring up the panels. For example, click on the
mini-map in the bottom right corner will bring up the map panel,
clicking on the icon that identifies your current weapon will bring up
your inventory, and so on.
I move so slowly, how do I move faster?
Press the key that corresponds with the run toggle. This key is by
default the caps lock key. Remember you will have to press it every
time you load your game. If that doesn't fix your problem, make sure
you are not very close to your encumbrance limit or under the effects
of a damage speed spell. If you still move too slowly, more likely
then not you are suffering from a lack of patience, try making a mod
that increases the walk/run speed. Don't ask me how to do this; it
shouldn't be that hard if you tinker with the editor a bit.
Some of my attributes are red! How do I fix this problem?
Attributes turn red when a disease or a spell effect has damaged them.
For drain type effects, this damage is temporary, for damage attribute
or disease effects, this is permanent until you get it fixed. To
restore your attributes, you need to get the disease cured, have your
attributes restored, or both if you should be so unlucky as to have a
disease and be hit by a damage attribute spell. You can restore your
attributes by buying the appropriate spell or potion, or you can visit
a shrine in either the Imperial Cult or the Temple, though the Cult is
probably easier as their shrines always have restore attributes as an
option. The same goes for disease, but spells and potions for curing
them are a little harder to come by, try either the Temple or the Cult
as they do good jobs in curing them.
How do I enchant by myself/use alchemy equipment/equip stuff/etc.
Most of the interactive objects in the game that have some purpose
outside of looking pretty can be dragged onto your character to
perform various actions. A filled soul gem that is dropped on your
character for example will open up the enchantment menu, a mortar and
pestle that is dropped on your character will open the alchemy menu,
and so on. If you can't drop it on your character and get some useful
effect, or you can't sell it for gold, then it is more likely then not
worthless to your character. One exception is keys, they weigh
nothing and can open their corresponding locks with a 100% success
rate, so be sure not to drop them.
3) Creating your character
The first action that any adventurer will make is the creation of
his or her character. This event is critical in how much enjoyment
you will derive from the game. Think about what you want to do in the
game. Do you want a thief character, which steals everything he sees?
Or perhaps a mage, with the ability to conjure undead to do his
bidding? Whatever you want to do, within reason, it can be done in
Morrowind. Note however that some things are more difficult then
others to do, I will note these throughout the guide.
After choosing a name for yourself, you must choose a race that
your character belongs to. Here are the various races and their
benefits and disadvantages. Note that M is shorthand for males and F
is shorthand for females.
a) Race
Argonian
Attributes
-Strength (STR) M = 40 F = 40
-Intelligence (INT) M = 40 F = 50
-Willpower (WIL) M = 30 F = 40
-Agility (AGI) M = 50 F = 40
-Speed (SPD) M = 50 F = 40
-Endurance (END) M = 30 F = 30
-Personality (PER) M = 30 F = 30
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
Specials (all duration numbers are in seconds, DUR stands for
duration, MAG stand for magnitude, and CONST stands for constant
duration. The first number of the magnitude stands for the minimum,
and the last number the maximum. Cost stands for the casting cost in
magicka. If a special has more then one effect, the casting cost and
type are the same for each effect.)
Name Effect Cost Type Range Area DUR MAG
Argonian Water Breathing 5 Spell Self 0 120 1 to 1
Breathing
Immune to Resist Poison 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 100 to 100
Poison
Resist Resist Common 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 75 to 75
Disease Disease
Other
-Beast Race
Breton
Attributes
-Strength (STR) M = 40 F = 30
-Intelligence (INT) M = 50 F = 50
-Willpower (WIL) M = 50 F = 50
-Agility (AGI) M = 30 F = 30
-Speed (SPD) M = 30 F = 40
-Endurance (END) M = 30 F = 30
-Personality (PER) M = 40 F = 40
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
-Strength (STR) M = 40 F = 30
-Intelligence (INT) M = 50 F = 50
-Willpower (WIL) M = 50 F = 50
-Agility (AGI) M = 30 F = 30
-Speed (SPD) M = 30 F = 40
-Endurance (END) M = 30 F = 30
-Personality (PER) M = 40 F = 40
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
Resist Fire Resist Fire 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 75 to 75
Ancestor Sanctuary 0 Power Self 0 60 50 to 50
Guardian
High Elf
Attributes
-Strength (STR) M = 30 F = 30
-Intelligence (INT) M = 50 F = 50
-Willpower (WIL) M = 40 F = 40
-Agility (AGI) M = 40 F = 40
-Speed (SPD) M = 30 F = 40
-Endurance (END) M = 40 F = 30
-Personality (PER) M = 40 F = 40
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
Resist Resist Common 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 75 to 75
Disease Disease
Weakness to Weakness to 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 25 to 25
Shock Shock
Weakness to Weakness to 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 25 to 25
Frost Frost
Weakness to Weakness to 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 50 to 50
Fire Fire
Weakness to Weakness to 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 50 to 50
Magicka Magicka
Magicka Fortify Maximum 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 15 to 15
Bonus Magicka
Imperial
Attributes
-Strength (STR) M = 40 F = 40
-Intelligence (INT) M = 40 F = 40
-Willpower (WIL) M = 30 F = 40
-Agility (AGI) M = 30 F = 30
-Speed (SPD) M = 40 F = 30
-Endurance (END) M = 40 F = 40
-Personality (PER) M = 50 F = 50
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
Voice of the Charm 0 Power Target 0 15 25 to 50
Emperor
Star of the Absorb Fatigue 0 Power Target 0 1 200 to 200
West
Khajiit
Attributes
-Strength (STR) M = 40 F = 30
-Intelligence (INT) M = 40 F = 40
-Willpower (WIL) M = 30 F = 30
-Agility (AGI) M = 50 F = 50
-Speed (SPD) M = 40 F = 40
-Endurance (END) M = 30 F = 40
-Personality (PER) M = 40 F = 40
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
Eye of Fear Demoralize 0 Power Target 0 30 100 to 100
Humanoid
Eye of Night Night Eye 0 Spell Self 0 30 50 to 50
Other
-Beast Race
Nord
Attributes
-Strength (STR) M = 50 F = 50
-Intelligence (INT) M = 30 F = 30
-Willpower (WIL) M = 40 F = 50
-Agility (AGI) M = 30 F = 30
-Speed (SPD) M = 40 F = 40
-Endurance (END) M = 50 F = 40
-Personality (PER) M = 30 F = 30
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
Immune to Resist Frost 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 100 to 100
Frost
Orc
Attributes
-Strength (STR) M = 45 F = 45
-Intelligence (INT) M = 30 F = 40
-Willpower (WIL) M = 50 F = 45
-Agility (AGI) M = 35 F = 35
-Speed (SPD) M = 30 F = 30
-Endurance (END) M = 50 F = 50
-Personality (PER) M = 30 F = 25
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
-Strength (STR) M = 50 F = 40
-Intelligence (INT) M = 30 F = 30
-Willpower (WIL) M = 30 F = 30
-Agility (AGI) M = 40 F = 40
-Speed (SPD) M = 40 F = 40
-Endurance (END) M = 50 F = 50
-Personality (PER) M = 30 F = 40
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
Resist Resist Common 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 75 to 75
Disease Disease
Wood Elf
Attributes
-Strength (STR) M = 30 F = 30
-Intelligence (INT) M = 40 F = 40
-Willpower (WIL) M = 30 F = 30
-Agility (AGI) M = 50 F = 50
-Speed (SPD) M = 50 F = 50
-Endurance (END) M = 30 F = 30
-Personality (PER) M = 40 F = 40
-Luck (LUC) M = 40 F = 40
Beast Tongue Command 0 Power Target 0 600 5 to 5
Creature
Resist Resist Common 0 Ability Self 0 CONST 75 to 75
Disease Disease
b) Class
The second step is choosing either a pre-made class or making your
own. I won't go into the pre-made classes, as the information about
each one can be found simply by selecting it. Instead I will focus on
custom made classes and some hints I have for them. I HIGHLY
recommend you look at the leveling section first before choosing your
class, as I include information in that section that is critical to
making wise choices for your class. In fact, that section is so
critical that I will make assumptions about what you know in regards
to modifiers and what-not; if you haven't read the section, you won't
understand what I am talking about. Anyways, after picking your race
and talking the excise agent inside the building, you will be
presented with some options for the custom class...
Primary Attributes
This option allows you the choice of two attributes to give a +10
bonus to. Since Luck is an attribute that has no corresponding skills
to get the x5 modifier, I would choose it for one of primary
attributes. The other choice is up to you but note that Endurance is
a fairly good choice if you get stuck. Endurance modifies your
starting hit points, how many hit points you get per level, and
fatigue. All of these are important in the day to day life of the
adventurer.
Specialization
This choice is fairly important, as it gives a +5 bonus to all
skills that of that type, (Combat, Magic, Stealth), and also makes it
easier to advance in that field. Note that the +5 bonus will also be
a limitation on the max level you can attain. Personally I don't
believe that having a very high maximum level is important, as certain
attributes like willpower and personality have a relatively minor role
in the game and as such don't need to be maxed, but if you are going
for the highest level possible, choose to specialize in an art that
has few if any skills you will place in the major and minor slots.
Major Skills and Minor Skills
Speaking of major and minor skills, this option allows you to
choose the skills you will use the most throughout the game. At
least, in theory that is what is supposed to happen. In reality, you
might use these skills rarely, often, or never; depending on where you
are at, what your goals are, and how you are playing. Note too that
these skills will rise the fastest and start off at the highest
levels. I recommend you choose a balanced skill set that contains as
many different attribute associations as possible. I also recommend
against choosing Athletics as a major skill, or minor skill for that
matter. It goes up fairly quickly to begin with, even as a
miscellaneous skill. There is also little control over when to raise
it, and gaining levels too soon because of it can be an annoyance.
Your character will be a lot easier for you to level if you choose
skills that can be "cheesed". Certain skills can be raised fairly
quickly simply by repeating the same actions over and over. Magic
casting skills such as alteration and illusion, the sneak skill, and
acrobatics are examples of skills that can be raised simply through a
lot of repetitive clicking. (Or in the case of sneak, can be raised
by simply holding a button down in certain spots) However be aware
that you should place at least one weapon skill as a primary, as
combat is a large part of the game for most, and one armor skill as a
major or minor. Also, every cheese skill you add to the primary and
minor slots is one less skill you can use to get x5 modifiers without
leveling. Remember that before you act, as those modifiers can be a
source of great frustration if you don't plan your character
correctly. Also remember that levels are not always beneficial to
your character, you will know why if you have read the leveling
section.
c) Birth Sign
This aspect is totally up to you. I would personally choose the
lady for the whopping 50 total attribute points, but the other choices
are pretty good. Note however that the tower, shadow, and the lord
signs are fairly limited, especially the lord, but there are instances
where they come in handy.
There is only one choice I would recommend against totally and
that is the Serpent. I don't know what Bethesda was smoking when they
came up with this sign, but the disadvantages alone outweigh the
advantages. The loss of 30 hit points over 30 seconds per cast is
pretty serious, and in return all you get is a spell that costs 5
magicka and does a total of 90 damage over 30 seconds. Sure that
creature will probably die from the poison if given enough time, but
you will be hurting from the blows it will be inflicting on you before
it does plus the drain from the spell. If your target resists then
they won't even feel the effects of the poison, while you suffer with
the consequences. Thankfully it can be cast without "fizzles", or
when the spell doesn't get cast at all because of a lack of skill on
the part of the caster, but there are a lot better choices available
in comparison. Also be careful of the Atronach, it will totally
change the way you play the game. If you are prepared to put up with
the hassle of magicka that cannot be restored by resting, or you are
not going to cast spells at all, then by all means choose the sign.
Otherwise choose something a little more conventional.
d) Other
Now that you have created your character, you should be aware of
what is in store for him or her. For many people, ugly occurrences of
crashes, bugs, and failed character plans do occur. Crashes and bugs
are not really too much of an issue if you save often and in multiple
slots at important junctures in the game. Failed character plans are
a totally different matter. Whether it is a misplaced primary skill
or a bad choice in birth sign, if you rush the creation process you
will probably be displeased with the way your character is turning
out. There are console cheats to fix this problem, but such actions
take away from the game in my opinion. The best option is to simply
take a lot of time in creating the character, to try and ensure that
it will be enjoyable to play. You will be investing a lot of time
with this character and it is best to make it what you want it to be
rather then let the game force you to turn him or her into something
else. If this is your first time creating a character in Morrowind,
especially if it is your first in a fantasy game, then more likely
then not you will fail. If so, then I recommend starting over early
on, rather then waiting and becoming increasingly dissatisfied. Try
not to get discouraged, as the rewards of a fully developed character
are great, and if you are like me, you will feel a sense of pride in
the amount of effort you have put into your character. Above all have
fun with the game, even if it means totally ignoring the stats of the
game and just goofing off.
4) Travel
At some point in the game you are going to want to get out of the
first town and explore the world. There are a variety of ways to go
about doing just that, and a variety of ways to get killed while doing
so. This section will deal with the various travel options available
to you and what to be aware of while traveling.
a) Ways of getting from A to B
The first method most travelers will undertake to get around in
the world of Morrowind is by silt strider. A silt strider is a giant
tick-like creature that is handled by a driver, who, if spoken to,
will take you where you want to go. However silt striders don't go
everywhere, they only travel to towns that have other silt striders.
Almost all major towns have silt striders, and some minor ones do.
You must pay a small fine to travel by one, but after the beginning of
the game the amount is nothing.
The second method is the use of guild guides, which will be
covered in detail in the guild section.
The third method is via boat. The choice of destinations is
limited when traveling by boat, and only a few towns have them. This
option also costs money. However, for small towns with seaports, it
is often the only fast travel option available.
The fourth method is travel by foot. This method costs nothing,
and offers much in the way of excitement, but offers much in the way
of danger as well.
The fifth method is a combination of foot travel and spell casting
abilities. After some time in the game, your character will have
access to levitate potions (called rising force potions) and spells.
Imposing mountains and dizzying towers will no longer present an
obstacle once you have some of these. Note however the potions cost a
fair bit of money and the spells are rather expensive in terms of
magicka cost.
Finally, some locations require that you swim to get around. The
character handles it a lot like traveling over land, only you can move
in three dimensions instead of two.
b) Places to see, and loot to plunder
If you are traveling by foot, you will come across some
interesting places. Bandit caves, egg mines, and Daedric ruins are
just some of the various places you will find in your adventures.
Most are dangerous, but then again most have booty for you to take as
well. In particular, Daedric ruins, ebony mines, and raw glass mines
can solve your money problems quickly. These places however are not
open to the public, and if you are caught stealing by the inhabitants,
they WILL punish you for your transgression. Some might kill you
anyways, just because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. If
in doubt, run for the exit as none can pass through the magical portal
of cell transition. If you don't know what a cell is, just remember
they generally can't follow you to another area that requires a
loading bar, except outdoors, and take advantage of that fact.
c) Things to watch out for
Despite your beautiful face and suave manner, the monsters of
Morrowind you will find on your travels would like nothing more then
to eat you alive. Even other sentient creatures might take offense to
your continued existence. Either run or engage these creatures to the
death, as they don't care about the 50+ hours you have committed to
raising your Personality to 100. In addition, if you are going to
fight them, be wary of fighting with a low fatigue meter, worn armor,
or dull weapons. All of these factors will lower your combat
effectiveness, sometimes dramatically, and ensure your death. Repair
your stuff often, and try to fight with the fatigue bar at least 1/4
full. (Note that your effectiveness falls gradually as your stamina
drops, so you would really want a full bar of stamina at all times.
However you may not want to fool with such things, so keeping fatigue
at least 1/4 full or more is a good rule of thumb instead.)
The other thing you need to be aware of is that despite what the
Discovery channel and PETA contends, Mother Nature is...a not nice
female dog. If you are underwater for long periods of time,(excluding
water breathing spells or effects) falling from any significant
height, or touching lava, you WILL be hurt, and possibly killed.
5) Combat
Conflict is the spice of life, and Morrowind adopts this principle
readily. The combat system is fairly simple, but engaging enough to
remain interesting for the entire game, provided you are not ultra-
powerful or god-like. This section will deal with how to get the most
out of the three methods of doing combat: melee, magic, and ranged.
a) Melee, or the Art of Sticking Pointy Objects into Bad Things
By far the most popular activity in Morrowind, melee fighting is
the bread and butter of most characters. Even the arch mage needs to
occasionally fight something up close when he is out of magicka. In
order to be effective, you will need a melee weapon of some sort or
your fists if your hand-to-hand is good, some decent armor of the type
you are most prolific in, and preferably some healing potions or
spells. As pointed out in the traveling section, you need to make
sure your equipment is repaired, and you are not fatigued. Since you
want to fight in an opponent's face, make sure that you close with
spell casters and ranged attackers. Your sword doesn't do you any
good if you can't reach your opponent with it. To aid you in this
regard, keep autorun on in battle, usually toggled by the caps key.
Also if you need to run autorun will help you get away. Remember that
even if you have completely depleted your fatigue meter, you can still
run and jump at the same effectiveness. Remember as well that you
must FACE your opponent, so that the crosshair is in close proximity
to a part of your opponent. You can't attack specific parts of a
creature's body, so just whack away in your opponent's general
direction.
Generally speaking, if your opponent is flying, running is not an
option. Also if you are in the water, swimming faster then the
critter in the water is also generally not an option. Certain land
monsters are naturally quick, they will also make escape difficult.
If you venture outside, be prepared to fight, that way if you do
encounter a monster you can't run away from you have a good chance of
killing it.
If you are fighting a spell slinger, you don't have to absorb the
spells like a sponge. Monsters have magicka reserves just like you do
and can run out. So make them run out. Get them to start casting
their spell, stand still, and wait until the monster actually throws
the spell at you. When he does this, move out of the way. Why don't
you just constantly move left and right you ask? Well critters that
can do any sort of ranged attack can also lead their target, so if you
are moving in a constant direction at a constant speed they can
predict where you will be when the spell hits. However they don't
take obstacles into account, so if you have a pillar or other such
object nearby, move in the direction of the pillar until the spell has
been cast, then move away again.
One final tip, keep the best attack option on in the options
menus. While you can fight using a variety of thrusts, chops, and
overhead blows, there is rarely an occasion where the best attack
option is not the best option for combat. You will always deal the
most damage with your weapon and you don't have to deal with so much
moving around, which, if you are running, drains your fatigue.
b) Magic, or the Art of Turning Bad Things into Crispy Strips
Another option available to the combatant is the use of spells to
kill or incapacitate foes. Obviously you will need to keep a high
magicka reserve before engaging any enemies with this method. In
addition, you need to actually purchase or make spells that can kill,
charm, incapacitate, or summon things to slay for you. This method is
the most destructive, but also the most risky. If your opponent has
resistances to your attacks, spell absorption, or spell reflection,
life can suddenly become very difficult for the mage. Conjuring a
creature is the safest method, but the creature will not automatically
attack. You must either attack first or be hit for the creature to
step in to fight. Of course, if you are stepping in to fight in the
first place, you might as well be good at fighting in melee. This,
the possible resistances, and the constant resting required to
recharge magicka, are the reasons why this method is really not as
great as it first appears. It is certainly a viable approach to
combat, but it is far better to simply apply magic to melee, rather
then use magic itself directly. I will explain how to do just that in
the enchanting section under guild services.
c) Ranged, or the Art of Changing Bad Things into Pincushions
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I am not very familiar with this method. I will tell you what
little I know, and hope that you are wise enough to decide whether
this path is for you. If you are using a bow or crossbow, arrows and
bolts respectively are required to use them. Copies of handheld items
are another option that needs no items to use. For those that are
seeking to enchant your bow, note that you can't enchant bows and
crossbows with cast on strike enchantments.* My overall impression of
this way of doing combat is that melee and magic have much better
results. If I get any more information I will update this section to
reflect my enlightenment...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, I got some more information. This method is a lot better then
I initially thought, and certainly an option to combat. I prefer
melee or spells, but at later marksman levels you can start dishing
some significant damage consistently. Note I said at later marksman
levels, early on you will miss all the time, and die very easily if
you rely on ranged alone. Melee attacks hit a lot more often, or they
seem to, then ranged, at least early on. This might have something to
do with the relatively low speed of the bow. I recommend you train
the skill up to about 50, then practice the rest of the way up if you
are going for agility modifiers.
Also note that most guys that sell arrows and bolts refresh their
supply at least every day, so you can amass quite a collection in a
relatively short amount of time if you visit several merchants. Just
make sure you can carry them all, as they get quite heavy in bulk.
Finally, if you do use a bow, make sure you hold it back all the
way before you fire! The damage from a weak bow attack is pathetic at
best, so make sure you hold the fire button until the animation is
complete.
6) Monsters
I've mentioned them enough, I might as well explain them in a
little more depth. Everywhere you go in Morrowind, with the exception
of towns for the most part, you will find beasts, supernatural
creatures, and other nasties that want to kill you. They usually
engage you in melee combat, however as you level you will encounter a
lot more spell casting creatures. These can kill you VERY quickly;
even my uber character with 100's in all stats, and high combat
skills, can fall quite easily to these jokers. So how do you prevent
yourself from getting killed by both types? Well you can try this...
a) How to prevent the loss of one's internal organs
Hit points. You can't die if your hit points don't reach 0. So
how do you keep your hit points up then? Well the expensive method is
getting a constant effect restore health item. This method isn't very
practical to the novice adventurer, not to mention you will have to
get a grand soul gem and kill a Golden Saint to get this item. (With
the exception of the UNGODLY Robe of St. Roris. Don't ask, I won't
tell you how to get it, as the game is effectively over in terms of
challenge when you get this.)
A far more cheaper, and practical, method is the use of restore
health potions. While you can use spells to recover health, they
require that you switch out of the use of the weapon you currently
have, cast the spell, and switch back all the while being beat up by
the monster. Healing items that cast on use operate on the same
principle. Potions however don't require any time, simply open your
inventory, which pauses the game, and gulp one. The higher the
quality, the better the effect. Note that all healing potions operate
on a healing over time basis, so the effects are not instant. Also
note that use of potions outside of combat, in areas where you can
rest easily, is almost always INCREDIBLY STUPID. Simply press the R
button, or whatever button you have configured rest to be, and select
rest until healed. Magically your wounds will disappear, your fatigue
will be restored, and your magicka reserves will fill up. There is a
chance that a creature will attack you in your sleep, but more likely
then not this creature will not be a problem to fight, even in your
weakened state.
If the potions don't help, and the critter is still tearing you
apart, then you need to prepare with spells and items that protect you
from the creature's weapon. For example, if the creature is using a
melee attack, the sanctuary effect improves your odds of dodging
blows. The higher the level of the effect, the higher chance you have
of dodging. If you should ever reach 100%, you will become invincible
to their attacks.* If they are using spells, figure out what spell
effect they are using and employ the appropriate countermeasure. For
example, if they are using spells that deal fire damage, buy a resist
fire potion or spell, and use it during or preferably right before
battle.
Finally, if you must flee like the coward you are, and you can't
outrun the creature, you can cast a spell or use an item that produces
the "divine intervention" or "almsivi intervention" effect. These
effects will instantly teleport you to the closest temple or shrine.
They are also quite useful outside of combat as time savers.
b) Types of Monsters
First thing, be aware that this list is not exhaustive, I have
tried to be as complete as possible but some things about the critters
might have slipped by me. I will also avoid listing boss creatures,
as the Dagoth types alone have more then 20 different varieties. Note
that by the various parts of each listing, I will add some comments to
relieve the boredom. Note also that much of this information may not
make sense to you, much less me, but I want to be complete so I am
adding it anyways.
Health = 300
Spell Points = 300
Fatigue = 400 (hand-to-hand might work well on this guy)
Soul = 400 (only soul besides Golden Saint that grants constant effect)
Skills
Combat = 80
Magic = 80
Stealth = 20
Attacks and Damage Dealt
Attack 1 = 25 to 75
Attack 2 = 25 to 75
Attack 3 = 25 to 75
Other
Creature Type: Humanoid (under those rags lies a ravishing beauty queen)
Loot: Ash Salts
Disease: Able to inflict ALL blight diseases
Ash Ghoul
Level 15
Attributes (these ash critters have some easy to type stats...)
If you have read through the guide to this point, without looking
at this section first, I feel for you. Leveling is a major part of
the game that on the surface seems under whelming. Morrowind
implements a somewhat confusing leveling system, different from just
about every game out there, that can take some time getting used to.
The basic premise is simple, 10 levels in either a major or minor
skill will ensure that you level, provided you rest. For example, if
I have long blade and armorer as my major skills, and acrobatics as a
minor, and I gain three levels in long blade, three levels in armorer,
and four levels in acrobatics, I can then gain a level. All I need to
do at this point is rest for an hour or more, and I can get my level.
Training also counts towards this count, so if I did the same thing
through having someone train me as opposed to going up through
constant use, the same effect would occur.
After you level, the obvious effect is you gain hit points (equal
to one/tenth of your END), and you gain three points to distribute to
your attributes, with the exception that you can add only one of these
points to any particular attribute. For example I can raise STR, END,
and LCK by one point, but I can't raise LCK by three points.
Here is where things get tricky though; you can have modifiers
next to the various stats. These modifiers multiply the point by
their base, so if you have a x5 multiplier by STR, and you put a point
in STR, then you will gain 5 total points in STR. You get these
modifiers by raising the skill with the associated attribute you want
a certain number of times. The highest multiplier is x5, and you need
to raise a skill by 10 levels or a combination of skills that share
that attribute association to 10 levels. For example, if I wanted to
get a x5 multiplier to STR, I could raise my long blade skill whose
associated attribute is STR to 10 levels, or I could raise long blade
6 levels and armorer which also has STR associated with it to 4 levels
to achieve the same effect.
All skills, whether they are major, minor, or miscellaneous, will
contribute to modifiers. However, misc. skills cannot be trained if
you want the modifiers. Major and minors, on the other hand, will
still add multipliers if they are trained.
(Ok, the information about misc. skills not being able to be
trained to get the modifiers is only partly correct according to the
"Leveling Mechanics Guide" written by SThakur on Gamefaqs. Apparently
you need to raise a misc. skill once naturally and you can then train
that skill to get the modifier in its associated attribute. For
example if you have axe as a misc. skill, and you raise it naturally
by whacking someone enough to gain a skill point, you can then train
it nine times to get the strength multiplier. Also pointed out in the
guide is that you can get modifiers after you reach the leveling
point. I got an e-mail saying the same thing, so this is most likely
true. As for the info on the misc. skills, I really don't know, as I
haven't confirmed it. Take this information at your own risk.)
So that's it to leveling right? Well not quite, as Bethesda added
a few little quirks to the effects of leveling that they don't reveal
in the manual. Monster types found both outdoors and indoors, with
exceptions, get a LOT harder as you level. Whether you encounter a
mud crab or a blighted cliff racer is also dependant in part on where
you are. Even at high levels there are examples of fixed monsters
that don't change. Either that or the game implements a range of
monsters that include very low level ones, but I'm leaning towards the
former. Perhaps both exist, so I might be partially right. Anyways,
if I'm right, then these monsters don't necessarily have to be
anywhere important, they could simply be somewhere in the countryside.
So the mud crabs you encountered early on could still be near the same
location 30 levels later. However this scenario is unlikely, as such
locations are rather hard to find and keep track of since the
creatures move around. Of course, almost all NPC's like Fargoth will
still be where they always were, and they will have the same stats.
Only the common monsters that inhabit the various dungeons of the
world and the outdoors regions grow stronger, not any of the "named"
group.
Another aspect that changes is the loot in certain chests. These
chests will contain better items at later levels. However it is my
experience that these chests are not fantastically common, nor are
they generally worth waiting 20 something levels to finally loot. I
have heard of people finding great things in them though, so be on the
lookout for these kind of things later on.
You might be asking yourself what this all means, and why leveling
is so important. Simply put, you will find it difficult to survive if
you have not properly equipped yourself before gaining a lot of
levels. Getting to level 20 by cheesing skills to 100 before you even
leave Seyda Neen might sound like a good idea, but IT IS NOT! When
you leave town, you will encounter a LOT of blighted creatures that
will give you nasty diseases, provided you are strong enough to kill
them in the first place. My advice is to level cautiously and slowly;
planning on what modifiers you need and raising the appropriate skills
until you get what you want. Remember there is no time limit to this
game, so take your time and plan carefully what you want to do.
Morrowind rewards those who plan their character and punishes the
stupid, so don't fall into that trap.
8) Skills
Your skills are what keep you alive and prosperous in Morrowind.
From the combat arts like heavy armor and long sword, to the ancient
magic schools of Destruction, Alteration, and Illusion, to the simple
art of running itself, nearly everything you do will be affected in
some way by a skill. I will try to go over the various skills, their
relative worth, and how easy it is to level them on a 1 to 10 scale,
with 1 being easiest and 10 being hardest. (This scale does not take
into account trainers). I also put usefulness on a scale, with 1
being useless to 10 being critical. Please be aware that for the most
part on skills that have a success/fail chance armorer, failures do
not count towards raising the skill. Also note throughout this
section I will include information related to the skill that falls
more under the classification general information. You might want to
look over this section even if you are not interested in my opinions
on the skills, as it contains some helpful information.
Acrobatics
Difficulty Scale - 2 (simply pressing a button is easy, but the skill
does take a long time, thus the two.)
Usefulness - 9 (You can actually move faster while jumping then you
can while running at later levels. Definitely work on this skill)
Affects how long you can stay in the air while jumping, and how high
and far you can go. Raise by jumping around a lot.
Alchemy
Difficulty Scale - 7 (Eating ingredients is somewhat risky, and its
time consuming as well. Making potions is faster, but again it takes
time to raise, as failed attempts don't count.)
Usefulness - 2 (You can make some helpful potions and drink them, or
sell them for a profit in certain instances, but for the most part
this skill is more trouble then its worth.)
Affects the quality and success rate of mixing ingredients to make
potions, using a mortar and pestle. Raise by making potions and
eating ingredients.
Alteration
Difficulty Scale - 2 (Easy to raise with a cantrip, otherwise known as
a low cost practice spell, but time consuming. Since you can cast the
cantrip on the run though, this value remains low.)
Usefulness - 8 (one of the more versatile schools, the spells it
contains will be used quite a bit if you are any kind of mage.)
Affects the success rate of casting spells in the Alteration school.
Raise by casting Alteration spells.
Armorer
Difficulty Scale - 9 (very easy to raise, just keep clicking when you
bring up the repair menu, but since it takes a while before you can
repair a lot of times in a row, and you can't exactly damage your own
stuff on purpose, this skill ends up rising VERY slowly.)
Usefulness - 7 (being able to repair your own stuff is very handy in
this game, and you don't have to have a high skill in it either to do
good repairs. Note however the various repair tools weigh quite a bit
as a whole, so its not that useful to characters with low STR.)
Affects the success rate of a repair attempt, and its effectiveness.
Raise by repairing stuff.
Athletics
Difficulty Scale - 7 (While this skill is easy to raise, as all you
have to do is run around, it takes FOREVER to level up naturally at
the later levels.)
Usefulness - 9 (Getting this high is a definitely not a bad idea. You
will run faster and take less time doing things in the game, which
will give you more time to have a life outside the game. I would make
it a 10, but it is not absolutely essential to survive, so it gets a 9
instead.)
Affects how fast you run. Raise by running around.
Axe
Difficulty Scale - 5 (I rate this a five because it really depends on
what the player is doing as to whether this skill gets raised quickly
or not. If you do a lot of fighting, this skill will go up on its own
quite quickly, if you don't, then it will creep along. Note that many
weapon skills are the same way, so my comments for the most part will
be sparse on this category.)
Usefulness - 6 (Since you are really better off using a weapon in
melee, the usefulness rating in this case reflects these types of
weapons in comparison to others. A five means this skill is not good
or bad in contrast to the other weapon skills, just different.
Anything else, as in this case, means the weapon type is better or
worse then others in some way. The axe itself is big, powerful, and
slow. The weapon types are pretty balanced from a straight fighting
perspective, but there are some differences in the enchantment
department.
If you enchant something with paralyze, the most useful cast on
strike enchantment IMNSHO, you probably want to make it an axe if it
is over or at two seconds. If you are going for damage or some other
effect, you probably want a weapon that can strike many times as
quickly as possible, like the short bladed weapons. The reason for
the axe being a good candidate for paralyze is that it will take fewer
charges each battle. The dagger for example will quickly use the
paralyze charges because of its speed, and will kill the monster in
about the same time as the axe. The axe on the other hand will take
less, because it does more damage per swing and needs less swings to
kill a foe, thus fewer total charges used and more for the next
monster. Damage effects you will want to use as quickly as possible
to kill the monster before it hurts you too bad, thus the reason for
enchanting a dagger with fire damage or some other harmful effect
besides paralyze. Keep in mind that paralysis strikes do not stack.)
Affects the chance of hitting with an axe. Raise by hitting things
with an axe.
Block
Difficulty Scale - 6 (goes up very slowly in normal combat, but if you
stand there in front of a weak enemy, and get beat on for a long time,
then it will go up quite quickly.)
Usefulness - 7 (completely nullifying the damage done by a melee
attack is pretty cool, but since you require a shield, and even at
high levels the block often doesn't work, this skill gets a seven.)
Affects whether you block attacks in combat with a shield. Raise by
successfully blocking an attack.
Blunt Weapon
Difficulty Scale - 4 (The reason for the four is that blunt includes
fast swing weapons like spiked clubs, but the modifier to blunt
weapons is the standard 1.0, not 0.75 as in the case of the quick
short-blades. Since you can swing as fast or nearly so as the quick
daggers, and with a normal modifier, this skill will rise faster then
other weapons in comparison.)
Usefulness - 5 (the only thing of note here is that the ebony staff
has an insanely high number of enchantment points on it. I could put
a cast on strike enchantment with 100 points of frost damage, two
seconds of duration, and an area of 50 feet on the staff, and I still
had 9 points left over. Clearly you might want to train this skill to
at least decent proficiency for this weapon alone. I didn't bump up
the usefulness though because as a whole blunt weapons are nothing
special.)
Conjuration
Difficulty Scale - 4 (While this skill is similar to the other spell
skills, there are a few notable differences that make this school
harder to raise. Any summoning done in town will call attention to
yourself from the guards, thus requiring you to either go outside or a
place in town with no guards in the area. In addition, there are
several bugs with bound items that make using spell effects from that
line hazardous. Finally, when you use a bound weapon effect, the new
weapon will automatically equip when you cast the spell, forcing you
to bring up your "hands" again to recast the spell. I'm not too sure
about bound armor, so if there is a spell line to practice with, it
would be the bound armor line. All the others are quite annoying and
make raising the skill a pain.)
Usefulness - 5 (For the most part I don't use this school. The
monster you summon has a rather low level of AI; it is a bit limited
without some pet commands. The bound items are nice, but my weapons
and armor tend to be adequate anyways. This school is good for
beginners, but after a while its usefulness wanes. Note however that
players with the Atronach birthsign should have some competency with
this school, as ancestor ghosts are a good way of refreshing your
mana.)
Affects the success rate of casting spells in the Conjuration school.
Raise by casting Conjuration spells.
Destruction
Difficulty Scale - 2 (Same as other schools besides Conjuration.)
Usefulness - 5 (If you are even remotely interested in frying your
enemy with spells, then this school is your only option. For some,
this school will be used more often then any other school, for others,
this school might never be used.
Affects the success rate of casting spells in the Destruction school.
Raise by casting Destruction spells.
Enchant
Difficulty Scale - 10 (By far the hardest skill in the game to raise
naturally, as every single time you want to raise it you will need to
use magic items ALL THE TIME, or use up souls in enchanting something.
Training is the only practical way of raising this skill.)
Usefulness - 6 (Creating your own enchanted items without worrying
about the cost is definitely cool, but the failure rate is very high
as a whole and therefore you will lose a lot of soul gems in the
process. This skill really is more useful for being able to recharge
your magic items more quickly as the level of the skill increases)
Affects the success rate of custom enchantments and the rate at which
charges replenish themselves. Raise by using magic items, recharging
magic items with soul gems, or creating enchanted items by yourself.
Hand-to-Hand
Difficulty Scale - 4 (A little easier then normal weapons to raise
because hand-to-hand takes longer to deal the death blow. Monsters
and NPC's regenerate fatigue, making the fights last longer and thus
more improvement to this skill.)
Usefulness - 6 (If you knock an NPC down, you can take most of their
stuff without actually killing them. In addition, hand-to-hand is
your only backup weapon in case your prime weapon reaches 0 in
condition and you don't have any other weapons with you. Note that
this situation doesn't happen much, but it is nice to know you can
fight back.)
Affects the chance of hitting an opponent with hand-to-hand and
possibly increases the damage done with each blow. Raise by punching
things successfully.
Heavy Armor
Difficulty Scale - 5 (In normal combat, this skill goes up quite
slowly. However, in a similar way to block, you can stand in front of
an enemy for a long time and get pummeled while wearing armor and your
skill will go up quickly.)
Usefulness - 7 (Out of all the armors, this one will offer the most
rewards. You get more enchantment points with heavy armors, and at
the high-end scale like Daedric you get higher AR values. The
tradeoff is heavy armor is REALLY heavy, leaving you little room for
other things. However, since enchantment points are high for armor
types like Daedric, you can enchant your stuff with fortify strength
and make up the difference somewhat with a higher total weight limit.
DO NOT ENCHANT WITH FEATHER, IT TAKES UP THE SAME AMOUNT OF
ENCHANTMENT POINTS BUT WITH A SIXTH OF THE EFFECTIVENESS AS FORTIFY
STRENGTH.)
Affects the armor rating (AR) of all heavy armors. Raise by wearing
heavy armor and getting hit by enemies.
Illusion
Difficulty Scale - 2 (Same as other spell schools besides Conjuration)
Usefulness - 7 (Being able to turn invisible or cast a paralysis spell
are nice abilities. You won't necessarily be using this school all
the time, unless you are a thief, but it is nice to be proficient in
it as the spells are definitely useful.)
Affects the success rate of casting spells in the Illusion school.
Raise by casting Illusion spells.
Light Armor
Difficulty Scale - 5 (Same as other armor skills)
Usefulness - 6 (Only a little behind heavy armor, as the high end
armors of this type have some nice characteristics. Glass armor for
example has a nice AR as well as a very low weight, and relatively
easy to find at a certain location. This location is where the
undead, or I should say undead spirits, have a hole in their ranks.)
Affects the AR rating of all light armors. Raise by getting hit while
wearing light armor.
Long Blade
Difficulty Scale - 5 (Comparable to other weapon skills)
Usefulness - 5 (Comparable to other weapon skills, though it is my
personal favorite. Seems like the most abundant weapon type in
Morrowind.)
Affects the chance to hit with long bladed weapons. Raise by hitting
things with long blades.
Marksman
Difficulty Scale - 6 (Comparable to other weapon skills, only you have
to carry around arrows, bolts, or handheld copies around with you.
This makes it a little harder to raise this skill.)
Usefulness - 5 (Ultimately comparable to other weapon skills, however
with some nice arrows this skill can do more damage then melee
weapons, and at a longer range. Since you can't enchant the actual
weapon like a bow with a cast on strike enchantment, nor the ammo,
this characteristic is balanced with the melee aspect.)
Affects the chance to hit with ranged weapons. Raise by hitting
opponents with ranged weapons.
Medium Armor
Difficulty Scale - 5 (Same as other armor skills)
Usefulness - 5 (The choice in between heavy and light. However, the
armor is a little too heavy to be truly better then light armor, and
doesn't have the AR rating to match heavy armor or even glass armor
itself. My suggestion is to make a choice between light or heavy, and
stick with that instead of this watered down armor choice.)
Affects the AR rating of all medium armor. Raise by getting hit while
in medium armor.
Mercantile
Difficulty Scale - 8 (This skill is simply hard to raise. You need to
either sell many times in individual pieces, or bribe many times. Not
nearly as hard as enchant though, so it can be raised naturally.)
Usefulness - 9 (Getting better deals on just about everything that
costs money is really nice. This skill really comes in handy when you
are enchanting, as the price drops dramatically with a high skill.
The only drawback is the low selling price, but this can be remedied
for the most part by using Creeper as your merchant.)
Affects the price of goods you sell or buy. Also affects the price of
other services. Raise by successfully bribing or bargaining with
merchants by raising or decreasing the initial price when selling or
buying something.
Mysticism
Difficulty Scale - 2 (Comparable to the other spell schools besides
Conjuration.)
Usefulness - 7 (Some useful spells are in this school. I personally
use the intervention spells and recall all the time. In addition this
school includes soul trap, for trapping souls into soul gems.)
Affects the success rate of casting spells in the Mysticism school.
Raise by casting Mysticism spells.
Restoration
Difficulty Scale - 2 (Comparable to the other spell schools besides
Conjuration.)
Usefulness - 8 (Being able to restore health, fatigue, and attributes;
as well as curing disease, are nice abilities. Definitely practice
this skill if you don't have the patience to travel back to a temple
or rest in the wilderness.)
Affects the success rate of casting spells in the Restoration school.
Raise by casting Restoration spells.
Security
Difficulty Scale - 7 (Takes a fair number of locked and/or trapped
stuff to raise this skill, and locked and/or trapped stuff is limited
in quantity.)
Usefulness - 6 (Most traps are not that deadly, and all locks can be
opened with a sufficiently powerful open spell. Nice skill though for
those without the spell or fortitude for a trap spell. Also note that
it helps you with pick pocketing.)
Affects the chance of successfully disarming a trap or opening a
locked door. Also affects how much you see on a mark when pick
pocketing. Raise by disarming traps and opening locked doors with
picks and probes respectively.
Short Blade
Difficulty Scale - 5 (Comparable to other weapon skills)
Usefulness - 5 (Comparable to other weapon skills, see note about this
type under Axe.)
Affects the chance of successfully hitting something with short bladed
weapons. Raise by hitting things with short blades.
Sneak
Difficulty Scale - 5 (Normal use of the skill will cause it to rise
very slowly, certain locations behind NPC's however will cause to rise
quite quickly on its own over time.)
Usefulness - 7 (Being able to steal stuff is always useful. This
skill helps quite a bit but its not full proof even at the highest
levels.)
Affects the chance of the being undetected when stealing something, or
moving unnoticed around the area. Also affects the ability to
pickpocket. Raise by successfully pick-pocketing or remaining
undetected in certain cases.)
Spear
Difficulty Scale - 5 (Comparable to other weapon skills)
Usefulness - 5 (Comparable to other weapon skills)
Affects the chance to hit with spear-like weapons. Raise by hitting
things with spear-like weapons.
Speechcraft
Difficulty Scale - 6 (Takes a while to raise, but if you use
persuasion a lot it shouldn't be too hard.)
Usefulness - 7 (Useful for taunting and raising your influence with a
person. Definitely a skill that you will want to train up to at least
50.)
Affects the chance of a successful persuasion technique. Raise by
using persuasion techniques including bribes.
Unarmored
Difficulty Scale - 4 (Comparable to other armor skills, but a little
easier since you don't have to worry about the condition of the armor
nor carrying it with you. {Roger Clarke pointed out that the beast
races always seem to be training this skill up, making it a bit easier
for them to raise it naturally. Read the contributions section for
complete details.})
Usefulness - 4 (Nice to have an AR rating without armor, but since the
AR rating is so low this skill turns out to be pretty weak.)
Affects the AR rating while not wearing any armor. Raise by getting
hit while not wearing any armor.
9) Spell Effects
The various spells, enchanted items, and potions in the game all
have one or more spell effects to them that define what they do. Some
of these effects are of very limited use; while others are so useful
you should have a spell, item, or potion with you at all times even if
you are not much of a magic-oriented character. Under this section I
will list the various spell effects and their advantages, as well as
pointing out the really good ones and the crappy ones. All the
effects here are simply the ones listed in the manual, so if there is
a mistake in the existence of a particular effect it's the manual's
fault not mine.
a) Conjuration
Turn Undead - I suppose there are uses for this, but my opinion is
that its better to cast a spell that can kill the undead rather then
simply make them run away.
Summon Creature - This is really more of a category then a specific
spell effect. Summon Golden Saint, Summon Ancestral Ghost, Summon
Scamp, etc. are all examples of this category. Summons can definitely
be useful, but the cost in magicka to summon a strong monster is high,
not to mention difficult to do skill-wise. The Ancestral Ghost summon
on the other hand can help those with the Atronach as their birthsign,
and the Golden Saint summon can be useful for filling soul gems and
doing the unlimited weapons and shields trick.
Command - Unfortunately I don't know much about this effect. It
sounds useful, being able to make creatures fight for you could come
in handy for sure, but from what I remember it is another high magicka
cost spell.
Bound Item - Another category for a number of spell effects. This
effect summons a daedric item for a certain length of time, which has
a skill or attribute bonus as an additional plus. The item has no
weight as well, so it won't interfere with weight limits. This is a
nice spell line; I would recommend it heartily if it wasn't for a
number of bugs that are associated with this line. Don't make a spell
with a duration of 0 in this category, nor should you unequip the item
you get and drop it on the ground.
b) Illusion
Invisibility - Quite nice for sneaking by enemies, as no monster in
the game can see through invisibility. Only problem is that you can't
do anything or you will lose the invisibility. However there is
another spell effect that will solve that problem...
Chameleon - The same effect as invisibility, only you can do anything
you want without breaking the effect. The only problem is that it is
extremely expensive magicka wise and difficult to cast. If you ever
attain 100% though, your abilities will make the ring of Sauron look
like a children's toy.
Light - A projectile that gives off light. What more can I say?
Sanctuary - Another expensive effect but one that can become extremely
useful. At 100% you are invincible to any kind of physical attack,
including ranged weapons. Even at lesser values, you still
dramatically improve your chances of avoiding damage. I recommend
this effect if you can afford the costs.
Night Eye - A generally useful ability, but of limited practical
application. The problem is that it works regardless of the light
level of your surroundings, so if you are outside then it might be far
too bright. Still if you are having trouble seeing in the dark areas
of the game this is your best bet.
Charm - Don't confuse this spell effect with command, as it doesn't
make the target fight for you. This effect simply raises the
disposition of the target by the magnitude for a limited amount of
time. Since it is pretty easy to make friends in this game, this
spell is of limited usefulness.
Paralyze - This effect is probably one of the most useful combat
effects in the game. What it does is simple, freezes your enemy so
they can't do anything, but the practical applications of the effect
are numerous. A monster is much easier to hit if he can't move, he
also can't chase after you if you decide to run away. In addition, if
you make a fairly low duration version of this spell it doesn't cost
that much to cast, and you can take advantage of your opponent's
weakness. Definitely get this effect, if just for enchanting weapons
with it.
Silence - I suppose this is useful, but it costs a lot to cast for any
appreciable duration, not to mention it takes quite a bit of skill.
If you can cast a high duration version of this effect easily, then by
all means get it.
Blind - Well...it's a cheap version of sanctuary, only you apply it to
the enemies. I don't have much information on this spell, but I'm
willing to bet 100% blindness costs a bit too much to cast on a
regular basis. Not only that, but you have to worry about resist
rates and you have to cast the spell on each monster you don't want to
hit you with physical attacks. I recommend sanctuary instead; it will
do more for you then this.
Sound - A cheap version of Silence, but at 100% where it matches
silence in terms of effectiveness, it costs more then silence itself.
Don't get this unless you simply can't cast silence because of a low
skill level.
Calm Humanoid or Creature - This effect is much better then the
impression you get from reading the description in the manual. Even a
relatively low magnitude version of this spell will make the enemy
stop attacking, and what's better is that you can attack this enemy
and not get attacked back for at least as long as the duration lasts.
While I haven't confirmed this concretely, it appears that the effect
lasts even after the duration is over, so that enemies will remain
friendly towards you. I don't believe you can whack them after the
duration is over though and not have them attack you, but you might
even be able to do that. I definitely recommend keeping this spell
handy, as it will prove its worth sometime in your adventure.
Frenzy Humanoid or Creature - Piss people off in other words. The
duration doesn't seem to matter, so if you want to make someone mad
forever use this spell. I don't think this effect counts as a crime
against the person, so it's especially useful if you can't taunt.
Demoralize Humanoid or Creature - Makes critters and people run away.
Usefulness is similar to turn undead, i.e. not much.
Rally Humanoid or Creature - Makes critters and people stop running
away...ummm...yeah this is cool.
c) Destruction
Damage - Category for spell effects that damage an attribute or
secondary attribute like health or fatigue permanently and are magicka
based. Depending on what is being damaged, these effects are
fantastic or they are some of the worst you can possibly use. Damage
luck or personality for example does absolutely nothing, while damage
strength of a sufficient magnitude will prevent your enemies from even
moving. Damage health works much like the elemental damage spells
only its magicka based, so if your opponent has a low resistance to it
but high resistances to the elements use it instead.
Fire, Frost, and Shock Damage - Deals damage relating to the
corresponding element. Pretty straight forward, and the bread and
butter of the offensive mage. I can't really say which is the best
because the monsters have such a wide variety of resistances. I'd go
with shock though if I had to choose, as the only monster I know that
resists it 100% is the Storm Atronach.
Drain - Another category for spell effects, drain simply lowers
attributes or secondary attributes for the duration. Don't see how
this is all that useful but it is cheaper then damage, so you might
want to use this instead if you plan on killing the critter quickly.
Poison - What I call the fourth elemental effect, but less useful then
the others. The problem is that it costs more, and more monsters
resist it then the other elemental spells. Some critters of course
have a lower resistance to poison and a high resistance to the other
elements, but its pretty rare to encounter such a critter. Note that
the game treats poison as separate from the elemental forces, despite
a lot of similarities, so keep that in mind when you see spells that
talk about the elements.
Weakness - Yet another category, this dealing with effects that lower
resistances to just about everything you can think of, including
diseases. I'd say this is a pretty useful line overall, as you can
pretty much guarantee the next spell after casting this will connect
provided you lowered the resistance enough. Note however that I have
no idea how to inflict disease upon an opponent, so no clue as to the
use of that line under this category.
Disintegrate Weapon or Armor - Damages the condition of armor or
weapons. Disintegrate weapon doesn't seem to work, or at least it
doesn't if you cast it on yourself. Disintegrate armor does but it
only seems to affect one piece of armor until that armor is destroyed,
(reaches 0 condition), then it moves on to the next. In other words
this is the armorer's cantrip, as you can damage your own armor then
repair it to gain skill in armorer. However this is still a REALLY
slow method of gaining points to armorer, but better then the
alternative of natural fighting and repairing. As for use
offensively, why bother?
d) Restoration
Cure - Category for any effect that removes disease or a state like
poison or paralysis. Useful only if you are diseased or have that
state.
Restore - Category for any effect that will restore attributes,
secondary attributes, or skills that have been damaged. Pretty useful
as there are a number of attribute damaging spells in the game that
are INCREDIBLY ANNOYING, in particular strength damaging spells.
Diseases however have a permanent duration until they are cured, so
don't try to use restore strength if a disease is the cause of the
drain. Note that restore skill X does not exist in the game, so don't
bother looking for it.
Fortify Attribute - Category for any effect that adds to or fortifies
a particular primary or secondary attribute. These spells only last
for the duration, but are pretty useful nevertheless. Note that
fortify strength is much more useful then feather, as it costs the
same in magicka and skill terms but gives a lot more benefits,
including how much additional weight you can carry. The only reason
to use feather instead is because it's in the school of alteration,
which you might be better at casting in. The other fortify effects
are not really necessary, unless you are visiting a trainer and want
to go over the attribute cap.
Fortify Attack - Raises the chance of hitting an opponent with a
weapon. Frankly this effect is only useful if you are still a newbie,
because at later levels you almost never miss with a weapon you are
proficient in.
Resist - Category for any spell effect that increases resistances to
the following: fire, frost, shock, and poison damage, magicka-based
spell effects, normal weapons, any of the diseases, and paralysis.
Remove Curse - Uhhh...last time I checked I have never been affected
by a curse. I know ghosts and what not cast something called grave
curse, but I don't think that counts, as the effects are temporary.
Come to think of it I haven't even seen this effect for sale. This is
possibly a mistake on the part of the manual.
e) Mysticism
Dispel - Remove magicka based effects from a target. Not bad, but
usually if an enemy casts something on you that is magicka-based it
won't last that long anyways. Still the theory behind it is sound
enough that you should probably carry a spell that recreates the
effect just in case.
Soul Trap - This is a utility effect; that is it is only useful when
you need to do something very specific, such as capture souls into a
soul gem. As this effect is the only means of doing that, then you
should get this effect in some form. Soul gems with critters inside
them are the only way of creating custom made enchanted equipment, and
such equipment can be quite powerful.
Telekinesis - Allows you to take and open things from a distance. I
don't know if this applies to picking locks, but I do know it's a
safer way to steal then just out and out taking things from the front
of a chest. Unless you are stealing though, it's generally not worth
keeping with you.
Mark - Ideally, this spell will only be used once. It is designed in
association with recall to provide you faster travel. This effect
places a beacon on the area you are currently at that you will warp
back to using recall. Pretty useful effect if you ask me.
Recall - Warps you back to the beacon set by Mark, used often by me
and definitely an effect you want to have in some form or another.
Divine and Almsivi Intervention - Warps you to the nearest Imperial
Shrine or Temple respectively. Pretty useful, especially in
combination with recall as you can set a beacon somewhere without any
temple or shrine nearby, then uses this spell to get to a town with
one. I personally use a beacon at Ghostgate, and then when I arrive
using Recall, I cast Almsivi Intervention. This gets me to Ald'ruhn
which is a hub for travel to just about anywhere. Definitely keep
these two, as they will come in handy on a regular basis.
Detect - places critters, enchanted items, or keys on the mini map. I
am a bit skeptical about the practical value of this effect, but I
suppose it is useful in certain cases.
Spell Absorption - Absorb an attacking spell so that you get more mana
in your pool of magicka. Definitely an effect worth having, but very
expensive skill wise and in terms of magicka. If you can afford the
costs then by all means get the spell, otherwise avoid it.
Reflect - Similar in cost to Spell Absorption and has an effect
related to it, stopping enemy spells from affecting you. However it
doesn't add anything to your magicka pool, it simply reflects the
spell back at the sender. I'd choose this over spell absorption
myself, but that's my personal preference.
Absorb - A category of spell effects that are essentially a
combination of the drain, damage, and fortify effects. Essentially
you get whatever attribute you target, whether it be primary
attributes such as strength and luck or secondary ones like health and
fatigue. The increase in primary attributes can go over the limit,
but they only last for the duration. The changes in the secondary
attributes remain. Cool effect, especially if you use it in
combination with cast on strike weapons.
f) Alteration
Water Breathing - Breathe underwater for the duration. What more can
I say?
Swift Swim - Swim faster then normal for the duration. Nice to have
as there is a lot of water in this game, but I don't know if it's
worth magicka to go a little faster in the water. Maybe an enchanted
item would be better and more suited for this type of enchantment.
Water Walking - Walk on the water for the duration. Pretty nice as
water monsters won't attack you while you are on the surface. (At
least, I don't think they will.) If you need to get somewhere and it
requires crossing water but not entering the water, then this spell is
a better choice then water breathing or swift swim.
Shield - This category includes the elemental shields and the regular
shield spell. The only difference is that the elemental shields give
a bonus to resistances against that particular element, in addition to
the AC bonus. Not a bad spell to have, but not all that great either.
Burden - Stupid effect: causes more weight to be added to the target,
but most creatures can carry more then the maximum allowed on this
effect. It is far better to use Damage Strength and stop them
altogether.
Feather - Another stupid effect: decreases the weight that you are
currently carrying by the magnitude. However a simple fortify
strength effect is more effective and it has more benefits then this
effect does.
Jump - Pretty useful effect that increases jump height and distance.
Get this to 100 and its like a mini scroll of icarian flight. I
recommend this to anyone who would like to spend less time traveling
and more time doing stuff.
Slowfall - Slows you down while falling. Not particularly useful when
compared to levitate, which stops you from hitting the ground as soon
as you cast it.
Levitate - Otherwise known as the fly spell. Very useful ability that
you will want, regardless of what type of character you have.
Magnitude plays a pretty big part in how fast you move, so a spell
with a low magnitude might actually be slower then walking. However
the effect is too useful to pass up even at a low magnitude, so get
it.
Lock - This effect is the Security cantrip, as it locks doors and
containers so you can pick them. It also prevents monsters from
getting out of a room. Not that useful overall but the effect is
worth having in the later levels when you are bored.
Open - Opens a locked door or container, where the magnitude is the
level of the lock. Definitely get a 100-magnitude version of this
spell, as there are quite a number of high-level chests that are
difficult to open without the spell.
10) Guilds
What's a guild? Well a guild is a collection of individuals who
specialize in a particular trade and offer services to their members.
The Mage's Guild, for example, is a group of mages that offer spell
making, guild guides, enchanting, and other services to their members,
depending on rank. So what? Well...
a) Why being a member is a good idea
The services that guilds offer are bordering on the essential to
survive type. They offer training, which can save DAYS (As in 24
hours, plural, no joke) of real-life effort, a bed to sleep in most of
the time, and various other services, with enchanting in the mages
guild being so important that you should join simply for that benefit
alone. Note that you can use most of the various services of the
guilds without actually being a member, but they tend to charge quite
a bit more, and you miss out on the quests they offer, so my advice is
to join as many guilds as you can. The only warning I have to give is
to be careful of guild-to-guild conflicts. If you don't rise too high
in a guild, then you shouldn't have much of a problem with this
however.
The Fighters guild and the Mages guild, maybe others though I
haven't checked, also give some nice goodies to members for free in an
equipment chest. These chests are definitely refreshed, but I'm not
sure how long you will have to wait till they do. My estimate is
about two weeks. Still not convinced about joining? You will be,
after you see the enchanting section and what it can do for you after
a little effort, even if you are not a mage.
b) Guild services
The reason you join and you keep coming back. Remember that being
kicked out of the guild for stealing from and killing fellow guild
members can be a painful experience, so if you want these services, be
a good little boy and keep your nose clean.
I) Spell making
A service of the Mages guild, this option allows you to create
your own custom made spells. Unfortunately you need to actually know
the effect of the spell you are going to create. Buying spells on the
other hand, and thereby buying the knowledge of the effects of those
spells, is pretty easy in the mages guild as many of the members
themselves sell them. Remember that cheap spells count just as much
as expensive ones in terms of knowledge, so if you want to use the
levitate effect in the spell maker, buying the 6gp spell with the same
effect is the way to go. After you have the effect, you set the
duration, magnitude, area, and range. (self, touch, or target) You
will notice that as you tweak the settings, the cost of the spell in
terms of septims (drakes) and in terms of magicka will increase and
decrease. My suggestion early on is to create a practice spell from
each school that costs one magic point to cast, called cantrips, and
use those to raise your magic-casting skills. Any effect will do, but
be careful with conjuration magic. If you create a bound item effect
with a duration of 0, the bonus you get with the item will stay with
you. This might sound cool, but if you create bound boots for
example, and are not watching what you are doing you can have a speed
attribute of over 1000. Essentially you will teleport everywhere you
go, with little control over how fast you move. Also be careful with
conjuring creatures. If you conjure some in town the guards get mad
at you. Anyways try not to spend too much money on spell making, as
the next option is even better...
II) Enchanting
One of the first things I looked forward to in Daggerfall, a game
that was Morrowind's predecessor, was the spell making component.
Creating custom spells of destruction was just so...cool. I still
enjoy that component immensely as it is presented in Morrowind today,
but I love one component more then any other now, that of the
wonderous art known as enchanting...
Essentially enchanting is the practical application of spell
making to creating items of mystical power. You can choose the
effect(s) to place on the item, the duration, the magnitude, and just
about anything else you can edit with the spell maker. However there
are some exceptions not present in the spell maker...
First, and most importantly, you need souls. As in the spiritual
parts of all living creatures. In order to get these souls, you must
have a soul gem, a spell, item, or weapon of some sort that can
produce the effect of soul trap on another creature, and a weak sense
of ethics. You must kill the creature after soul trap has been cast,
thereby trapping the soul of the creature, and use it to power the
item you enchant. The soul gem you have must be empty, and it must be
large enough for the creature to "fit" in. There are varying sizes of
soul gems, from petty to grand, and small creatures can fit easily in
the large ones. Once you enchant an item using a soul gem it is used
up. (except Azura's Star, which is a special grand soul gem that is
reusable and can be found at Azura's Shrine. Talk to the statue and
get the quest, complete it, and you will have a reusable soul gem.)
Secondly, you need an item to enchant. Any clothing type item
that is of the quality "exquisite" is a good choice. High quality
weapons are also good; even if they don't have as much room for
enchantment as clothes they can still hold some fairly potent
enchantments, namely cast on strike paralysis and damage effects.
Thirdly, you need to know that magic items don't require magicka
from you, but instead rely on an internal power supply called charges.
These charges regenerate over time, but the time to recharge is fairly
significant, so you don't want to go overboard with the power of the
enchantment. The higher the level of the soul, the more charges you
get with it.
Fourthly, you can't simply add a unlimited amount of powerful
effects to an object. A certain number of enchantment points are
present in each item, and as the quality of the item goes up so does
the number of enchantment points. Exquisite rings and amulets have
some of the highest, so use those if you want a powerful enchantment.
Each time you increase the power of the effect or add new ones, some
enchantment points are used up. Again just be reasonable with the
amount of power you place in an enchantment.
Finally, you can either do the enchanting yourself, or have
someone do it for you, which is the recommended method. If you screw
up while enchanting an item by yourself, you will destroy the soul
gem. If you pay someone to do it, then the enchantment will always
succeed. Note however that enchanting by yourself is free, so if your
skill is high enough then you might want to do that instead. Also
note that there are other people then Mages Guild members that can
enchant, but they are somewhat hard to find.
One more thing, there are different types of enchantments. Cast
on strike is one, which drains a certain number of charges and casts
the effect every time your weapon hits an enemy. The most common type
though is cast on use, where you switch to it like a spell and use the
item for its effect. The final type is constant, which as its name
implies remains in effect constantly and doesn't need charges to work.
Only Golden Saint and Ascended Sleeper souls can give you this type
though, so you won't be seeing these until you have grown in power.
Once you do though, constant effects are what will give you the edge
in combat. This type is incredibly powerful, and well worth the
effort to get. Restore health rings, amulets, or other items, with a
constant type enchantment, can single-handedly allow you take on any
monster in the game. Even some bosses can be taken down with crappy
equipment and skills with one of these items.
III) Guild guides
In the Mages guild you will have the option of using guild guides
to get around. They will teleport you to any other Mages guild for a
very small fee. Since they are teleporting you, no time transpires,
so if you need to get to a town with a Mages guild in a certain time,
use the guild guide. (Note that they teleport any friends you have
with you as well)
IV) Training
At one point or another you will get tired or impatient about
raising skills on your own. This is where guilds really shine, as
they offer training in a wide variety of skills, depending on which
guild you join. If you join the Mages guild for example, you can
expect to receive training in the magic-related skills like alchemy,
enchant, destruction, and others. The Fighters guild would offer
training in skills like spear and block, and so on and so fourth.
Keep in mind though that they can't train you to 100 in skills, only
certain experts scattered around Morrowind can do that. Usually they
will train you to around 50 in any particular skill, but when you
start with 5 in a misc. skill, that's pretty good.
V) A place to call home
One of the more minor benefits to joining a guild is a place to
sleep in town. Most guilds have beds that you can sleep on, so you
can rest inside town legally. Remember to save first though before
you sleep on a bed for the first time, especially if someone else is
nearby, as they might take offense.
11) Property acquisition without really trying
In other words, stealing stuff. This is probably one of the
easiest ways to get good items. As long as no one is around, you can
take whatever you want from a place. Just remember if you steal from
a merchant, don't try to sell his own stuff back to him, as he will
know it was stolen. Enchanters in particular are very suspicious if
you have stolen from them, if you try to enchant something while you
have a gem of theirs on your possession, even if you are not using
that gem in the enchantment, they will go bananas.
If you want something that is within eyesight of someone else, you
will have a more difficult time. The sneak skill will allow you to
take stuff without being seen, but you have to practice the skill.
Note that taking something from behind someone's back is MUCH easier
then taking it from where they can see it. I suggest walking up to
them so they start talking, wait till they finish, then back away a
bit, and go around them so their back is turned. You can also try the
chameleon effect, which will also help you avoid being seen. (If you
do use chameleon, SNEAK AT THE SAME TIME! You are not undetectable
even at 100% chameleon apparently.) The invisibility effect,
according to my many and varied secret intelligence agents, doesn't
work.* (Well ok, some say it does, and some don't. According to
Bruno, there are instances where it does, read the contributor's
section for details.)
12) General hints and tips
1] Sooner or later you are going to get the urge to see a master
trainer. If you do, keep these things in mind...
- Master trainers charge more then normal, or they sure seem to from
my experience with them, so keep a lot of cash on hand.
- Master trainers offer some pretty good training in other skills then
the master one. Herc-something or the other, the guy in Balmora that
trains security to 100, can train the other skills he teaches to about
65. I haven't confirmed that the other trainers can do the same
thing, but considering the cost of training I'd say yes.
- You can only train a skill up to the corresponding attribute level.
If you have an INT of 67 for example, you can only train security to
67. HOWEVER, there is a way around this limit. Get any fortify
attribute spell, then either make a spell or create an enchanted item
that can bring the desired attribute up to 100. (buying one fortify
attribute spell buys the ability the create any fortify attribute
spell.) Make the duration of the effect extremely short, like two
seconds, because you only need to have the effect active when you talk
to the trainer. You will have to recast it every time you want to
train, so keep a stock of mana potions handy. If you create an
enchantment, this doesn't apply of course, and the charge will refresh
because every training session takes two hours.
2] Being a bookworm might help you in this game...
3] Some of the quests that you do will give you a reputation point.
These points help make persuasion have more of an impact. They might
also affect the likelihood of such tactics succeeding.
4] Want a way of getting unlimited high-quality weapons and shields?
You will need a Golden Saint summoning spell, which can be learned in
Tel Branora. You will also need to be fast with the interact button,
a bit of luck, good enough combat skills to kill a Golden Saint,
enough skill to cast a low duration version of the spell, and a place
to rest to refresh mana.
Once you get the spell, go to the local spell-maker, either in the
mage's guild or somewhere else, and create a lower duration Golden
Saint summoning spell that you think you can kill before it unsummons.
Now, go outside into the wilderness, or if you are in town go inside a
place that you have access to a bed, and cast the spell. Kill the
Golden Saint, and QUICKLY activate the corpse when it hits the ground.
If you do it right you should see an inventory menu pop up. If you
can't see the Golden Saint during this part, then don't take anything
and hit cancel. If you can, then take each weapon and shield
individually from the corpse. If you dispose of the corpse, or you
take something from the corpse after it has disappeared, then the game
will crash. This trick should work with a Dremora as well, or any
monster that carries loot with them for that matter.
If you have trouble with this trick, you are not alone. It is
hard to do but the rewards are pretty good in my not so humble
opinion. Do keep in mind that many would consider this an exploit.
Personally though, the trick is difficult to pull off in the first
place, and requires enough combat skill to kill one of the toughest
monsters in the game. I consider it saving time roaming the
wilderness for Golden Saints to slay. By the way, you should be able
to get the soul while you are doing this trick, but I haven't done it
yet so I don't know if it will cause any crashes.
5] Are you tired of carrying around sixty something spells just so you
can use the effects in spell making or enchanting? Well there is a
way of reducing the clutter of these spells; all you need is access to
the spell-maker. Make a new spell, and add the effects you want to
memorize into the new spell. You can have up to eight effects in one
spell, and you don't need any kind of minimum duration or magnitude to
be able to use the effect with a service. Give it an appropriate and
fantastic sounding name like Zen's 1st Grimore. Once done, purchase
the new spell and you can now delete all the individual spells that
gave you the effects. While this trick doesn't eliminate the clutter
completely, it does make it manageable even for a large number of
effects.
6] If you have high valued items, but no idea where to sell them, then
you need to visit Creeper. Go to Caldera, and find Ghorak Manor. In
order to sell your stuff, you are going to have lower valued junk in
great abundance. The higher the value of the item, the more junk
Creeper has to be carrying. I will give you a simple example using
Dwemer coins, the ideal means of trading with Creeper. Let's assume
you have the following items in your inventory.
100 Dwemer coins (base value 50 gold pieces per coin) = 5000 gold
Ebony Shortsword (base value 10000) = 10000 gold
0 gold
So how do I get the maximum amount of gold without waste? Sell the
coins first for 5000, and then you have...
Ebony Shortsword
5000 gold
Now rest 24 hours...
Talk to Creeper and sell the Shortsword, then buy the coins back.
When you do this you should now have...
100 Dwemer coins
10000 gold
Now rest 24 hours...
Talk to Creeper again, and sell the coins again. Now you should have
this in your inventory.
15000 gold
No waste, no problem. Remember to pick up items that are
plentiful but are worth significant amounts of money in nice even
amounts. A helm for example worth 236 gold would be rather hard to
use as a bartering tool. However skooma, which is worth 500, would be
very easy to calculate when trading with Creeper. Also keep in mind
weight, which will be a big factor in your trading. The sixth house
bell hammer for example is worth a nice 5000 gold, seemingly perfect
for trading. However it weighs in excess of 65 pounds, far more then
you can lug around comfortably. Keep in mind that you can increase
the price a little over what he offers you if you want to sell
something. However we are talking about maybe 50 coins max for this
type of thing, so don't rely on getting 5000 gold from an item worth
4500. If you have sold 4976 coins worth of stuff on the other hand,
and want an even 5000, you can probably get it without selling crap
merchandise worth 30 gold. Keep in mind that Creeper DOES NOT BUY
ALCHEMY INGREDIENTS OR APPARTUSES. He also doesn't buy a few other
miscellaneous items, which I have forgotten. Having said that, you
might be surprised at just how much other stuff he will buy. One
final thing, Creeper keeps what you sell him FOREVER, provided you
don't buy it back. You can always come back and get the stuff if you
change your mind, though of course he will charge the full value of
the item. So you can use him as a means of storing items provided the
item isn't worth too much and you know you can get some goodies fairly
easily to barter with him over it.
7] Sooner rather then later you are going to need some storage space.
Now you could just throw it on the floor, like an animal, and come
back later and pick it up. That is the barbaric way, not to mention
it's a bit hard to separate the junk when you want it again. Instead,
do what I, the hugely successful Morrowind adventurer, does and put it
in a crate. "But where can I find a good crate?" You might ask; well
Balmora is just such a place. Right in front of the entrance to the
Mage's Guild is some crates with a few things in them. Go right ahead
and take the stuff in them, no one cares. Now place the junk you
picked up in some other crate in the area, as there are lots, or just
keep it and sell it. Now that you have an empty crate, start sticking
your things in it. Eventually you will reach the weight limit of the
crate, and you then move on to the next crate. Repeat the same
procedure of taking the junk out, and placing your own stuff in there.
If you wish, you can even place the stuff in the various urns and
other containers, the only problem is I'm not sure whether the guards
will dislike you taking things out of them or whether stuff will
disappear in them. I know the crates work, so stick with them if you
are timid.
13) Bugs!
Unfortunately, Morrowind is not flawless. There are problems that
will crop up from time to time, and they can be extremely annoying.
This section deals with bugs I have personally experienced, and my
workarounds to them. Note that to open the console you must press the
` key; it usually has a ~ as a symbol above it as well.
The Blue Void Trap of DEATH
- Essentially, you enter the area outside the area so to speak, so
that you are trapped in a blue nothingness. That is, you are trapped
until you mysteriously hit some kind of invisible floor and instantly
die. I HATE THIS BUG!
- Almost always a result from jumping around in the wrong spots.
- Particularly bad in Balmora's Mages Guild on the lower level.
- Try using Almsivi or Divine intervention before you hit the
"ground". Fly or slowfall might also work to keep you from being
killed before you reach the bottom. If you want to stop yourself and
you don't have the time to cast spells, use the console and type
fixme.
- SAVE OFTEN
NPCs and the Amazing Disappearing Trick
- NPCs are GONE, and they don't look like they are coming back anytime
soon.
- Again, bad on the bottom floor of the Balmora's Mages Guild, with
Sharn Gra-Muzgob.
- Only solution if ra doesn't work is a placeatpc command, the syntax
is as follows:
placeatpc "some guy" 1,1,1
remember the quotes, unless it is a name without a space in it, then
you can simply type:
placeatpc Fargoth 1,1,1
- This bug happened in my game, and I lost Sharn Muzgob. However,
after entering the command she showed back up at a much later time in
the game. I had two copies of the same NPC running around, so
naturally I killed one and disposed of the corpse. If you have
already done the main quest part dealing with Sharn Muzgob, then you
can safely put the clone out of her misery without worrying about that
message that will pop up.
The so-called mercantile bug
- As you raise your mercantile skill, the price you get for selling
items goes down, so those fire salts that sold for 80 at 30 mercantile
might sell for 50 at 60 mercantile.
- Others have called this a bug, but personally I think this was
intentional. If you notice, you can buy items at a much lower value
then the base value if your mercantile is really high. If you could
then sell items back at the base price or above, then it doesn't take
a rocket scientist to figure out you could make a profit. Note
however that Creeper in Caldera doesn't care what your mercantile
skill is, as he always buys at the full base price of the item. :)
Stationary NPC's moving around
- If you enter and exit the same area many times, you will begin to
notice a gradual rearrangement of the NPC's in the area. This is
especially true in places like guilds. Sometimes these NPC's will
even block doors or hinder your progress in some other way with their
bulk. There is a very simple fix to this bug...
ra
yes that's it...type it in the console in case you didn't recognize
that it is a console command.
14) {Contributor's section}
This section is a bit unorganized, my apologies if it is hard to
read. If you have survived to this point though, you can make it
through this. :) This information is unconfirmed by me as well, so
take the advice contained within at your own risk.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruno de Vries
I just read your FAQ on gamefaqs.com and saw you wrote that invisibilty
doesn't help you steal items. Since I see this written more in forums on the
Net I wanted to react to your FAQ. My experience is, that it does help, only
with the following restrictions:
- When activating invisibility you shouldn't be in the line of sight of
anyone.
- You have to press the sneak button while stealing something.
- The moment you have stolen something you become visible. So, you have to do
this routine for every separate item. When stealing stuff out of a crate you
can pickup multiple items though.
The character I'm playing with isn't a Thief and has virtually no points in
Sneak but still I got some really great items right under the nose of
salesmen using my Ring of Aversion.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You said you didnt know where to find much arrows, well if you need much, go
to the 1st city, and pick door of the cencus office warehouse thingy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Two tips and a lengthy opinion for your Morrowind FAQ.
Acrobatics can be raised MUCH more quickly by falling from a height and
taking damage than by jumping. I particularly like Sadith Mora as a training
ground - lots of stairs and harsh falls.
Athletics goes up much more quickly by swimming than by running. Can be very
helpful.
Enchantment is perhaps the single more useful skill in the game. The trader
in Tel Brannora has unlimited petty through common soul gems, and with a
bound weapon, soul trap, and summon ancestor ghost spell you can make both a
TON of money and a lot of powerful artifacts. Early on, they are hard to
make powerful, but soul trap everything into petty or lesser gems and
recharge with them to train up easy. Enchant has the following advantages
over regular spells -
1) One skill instead of six - use any spell under the same skill.
2) Rapid casting - normal spellcasting has a lot of handwaving, while
enchantment spells go off as quick as you pull the trigger. This makes
weaker Destruction items much more useful (Shock is particularly cheap), able
to fire at pseudo-machine gun speed.
3) Once an item is made, you never fail to use the item correctly. Granted,
making an item is difficult at the beginning, but it gets a lot easier later
on.
4) Portable spellmaker. Every time you make an item, you get to set new
parameters. As long as you have spare items to enchant (rings and amulets
are very light) and spare soul gems to fill, you can essentially make up new
spells on the spot. For regular spells you need to visit a mages
guild. Also, once the effects are known (generally by buying the worst
spells possible with these effects), the cost of making an item (raw
materials) remains the same regardless of the power of the spell, unlike
normal spellmakers which become prohibitively expensive for very powerful
spells.
5) Enchanted items have their own magicka pools for each item, and they
recover these pools without resting.
Finally, summoning and irritating spellcasting monsters for short durations
(Ancestor Ghost 16 seconds) allows those born under the Atronach to bypass
their primary weakness. If you have a Ghost summoning item you never need to
worry about overspending your magicka. However, Enchantment is probably at
its best when you don't use other magic skills, or at least don't spend a lot
of effort on them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
David Haacke
In your FAQ, which is a very useful document IMHO, you stated:
"Difficulty Scale - 10 (By far the hardest skill in the game to raise
naturally, as every single time you want to raise it you will need to
use magic items ALL THE TIME, or use up souls in enchanting something.
Training is the only practical way of raising this skill.)"
I made a ring with a 300 charge soul gem from the enchanter in the Balmora
mage guild. It had a wimpy two point water walking spell which could be cast
150 times on a full charge. It is easier to practice with an item than a
cantrip because you don't have to wait through the animation and sound
effects. Of course you only practice enchanting, not the school of the
effect.
I got about half a point of enchanting a day by running down the ring before
resting. It also gave me a means of crossing water by repeated uses. No doubt
it would be possible to double the advancement with a one point effect, but I
have not tried that. The water walking ring is fine so far.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Billy Ray
Have you considered using telekineses for opening
trapped doors and chests? I found it to be by far the
most useful mystic spell available, considering my
usual stragedies are summon atronach, shoot fireball,
let it npc and summon creature duke it out, and
occasionally shield self and paralyse whats left and
use poison. You didn't give great ratings to
destruction either, I can understand that if you want
to be less direct as a magic user, but it does have a
great amount of usefullness to me at least. At around
60 skill, you can successfully cast a spell using less
than half mana that can wipeout the entire Balmora
mage guild in a single cast ( cept for maybe a half
Ranys). Spells like that are quite useful for taking
out a smuggler den.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Roger Clarke
I hope I'm not telling you something you've heard far
too often already, but I've been playing a Khajiit
character. (No, that isn't what I'm worried you've
heard before, though I'm sure it's in my FBI file.) As
the Khajiit is a beast race, my character can't wear
shoes (including boots) or full helmets (so far
including everything except that silly hat in the
Balmora Fighters Guild equipment chest--but I haven't
been playing this character very long), and this, I
think, explains why my unarmored skill seems to be
practicing itself. Since some parts of my Khajiit's
body are unarmored, my unarmored skill must be
affecting my AR, even though I'm wearing light armor
over everything else.
Anyway, maybe you knew this, maybe you don't care,
maybe the moon is made of green cheese, but maybe in
the next version of your FAQ, you'll put an asterisk
beside this skill's usefulness score for those of us
with beastly characters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
15) {Credits and closing thoughts}
Mochan's cheap ass guide pointed out a few things that I acquired.
The information that you can't enchant bows and crossbows with cast on
strike is pulled from his guide. Also the information about sanctuary
and invisibility is also used in this guide. I appreciate the info...
Shantanu Thakur has an explicit leveling mechanics guide on
Gamefaqs.com that I used to correct some information regarding
modifiers after getting enough points to level and raising attribute
modifiers through training misc. skills. See the note in the leveling
section for more information.
Since Gamefaqs wants me to add everyone that had a part in this
guide, I have to say thanks to every person I ever met for shaping me
into the person I am today, every writer for their inspiration, and
all the people on the Gamefaqs Morrowind Board for the wealth of
information about the game. I can't properly credit these
individuals, as it is hard for me to remember the names and what not,
not to mention this section would take up twenty pages, but rest
assured that much of my information is a direct result of their
contributions to the boards. Thanks also goes to Gamefaqs for posting
this guide, I appreciate the assistance in getting my work out to the
public.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who sent me e-mail,
despite my repeated attempts to warn them not to send it except for
contributions or corrections. I do appreciate the time and effort it
takes to write out those things, though I'm sorry I couldn't help.
Rest assured, they were deleted as per my message in the e-mail
notice, but your efforts are duly noted. :)
