Morrowind Advice

[JC175]

So, I've recently bought the GOTY edition of Morrowind over Steam - gotta love those holiday sale prices. Anyway, the point of this thread is that I booted up the game and was instantly overwhelmed with the sheer amount of choice and information the game presents to you from the very beginning - even the character creation confused the shit out of me as it referenced concepts that I couldn't yet comprehend.

After using a beginner's guide for advice, I'm a short way into the game and its already start to impose its ridiculous size upon me for the worse - I'm being bombarded with names of races, people, places and spells without knowing what they are or their purpose, and I'm slightly afraid that if I don't sort this out soon I could fuck up my game from the beginning.

So in TL;DR summary - have any tips for a noob who is basically looking to comprehend the game and how it all operates?

 

[Mr. Grey]

Jump a lot. Till your Acrobatics is at thirty or so. Otherwise, your jumps are pathetic.

Get hit a lot with your choice of armor by Mudcrabs. That'll boost up your armor of choice.

Pick not a fight without fatigue at half to full, or else you won't have much of chance to hit anything.

I'll have more as soon as my memory is jogged up.

 

[Fappy]

Check your journal every time you get an update until you know what's going on. It provides useful information on (usually) relevant things pertaining to quests. This game doesn't hold your hand... in fact it neglects you like a dumpster baby on prom night. Your first stop should be to visit Cassius (SP?) in Balmora. You don't have to walk all the way there btw, there is a fast travel system in the form of giant walking bug things called Silt Striders, I suggest you use them. Cassius will give you money and suggestions on what you should do. If you find yourself getting really lost I suggest investing in the strategy guide (unless you are cool with internet walkthroughs): http://www.amazon.com/Morrowind-Prophecies-Official-Strategy-Guide/dp/0929843320/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262684793&sr=8-1

That book is the bible of RPGs... its the only strategy guide I have ever found truly useful.

 

[Mozza444]

Just play it, if you fuck up then you will know what to do a second time around..

its worth playing through with a few different races

 

[magicmonkeybars]

SAVE often and not just in one slot, lots of different slots.

 

[Kajt]

Just play it, if you fuck up then you will know what to do a second time around..

its worth playing through with a few different races

Do this. It's a lot more fun to figure things out yourself.

 

[the_maestro_sartori]

SAVE often and not just in one slot, lots of different slots.

No-one can stress just how important this is- then if you do fuck up you've got everal points to return to. God knows I screwed up a few times my first time through. Once you get to Balmora, just hit the side-quests and follow the same side quest-line before deviating, until you get to one you're not a high enough level for.

eg: you can do most if not all the thieves guild quests right at the start, quite a few of the fighters and mages ones too, then when you do hit the main quest you know how to fight, steal, use magic etc

 

[JC175]

Just play it, if you fuck up then you will know what to do a second time around..

its worth playing through with a few different races

Do this. It's a lot more fun to figure things out yourself.

See, its not so much me looking for hints and tips so that I can have the game laid out in front of me, its more that I'm a little overwhelmed with all the information and things available to me from the start - call it indecision, if you will. Rather than starting simple and working through it seems as if the whole game is in front of me at once, and its rather hard to comprehend, if that makes sense. I feel as if I need to read a novel full of backstory and context just to understand the world I'm within.

 

[Kajt]

Just play it, if you fuck up then you will know what to do a second time around..

its worth playing through with a few different races

Do this. It's a lot more fun to figure things out yourself.

See, its not so much me looking for hints and tips so that I can have the game laid out in front of me, its more that I'm a little overwhelmed with all the information and things available to me from the start - call it indecision, if you will. Rather than starting simple and working through it seems as if the whole game is in front of me at once, and its rather hard to comprehend, if that makes sense. I feel as if I need to read a novel full of backstory and context just to understand the world I'm within.

Ah, I see. Join a guild and do some quests for that guild before you start with the main quest.

 

[TheBlackKnight]

My list of suggestions::
Ignore archery.

yeah jump around like and idiot, talents are improved by using them.

The game does *not* check if you have the skills necessary to complete sidequests, I had that issue once, where I needed to insult people over and over again, so they would pick a fight with me and my "insult" skill was rather meagre....

About the guilds, I didn't really liked the guild quests, most of them were: "Oi dude, I'm lazy and need some herbs, go fetch 'em for me please"

The start town also has some nice sidequests, that help you get started.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

I had a natural tendency to powergame like crazy in Morrowind so if you want any tips in that respect, please let me know.

Otherwise, some simple tips:

Get the game patched, or get the two expansion packs that include the patches. If you're playing 1.00 (which I doubt steam will have given you), there's no enemy health bar and the journal is far inferior.

Make your own priorities. Yes, the game tells you to go find that dude in Balmora, but once you meet up with him the first thing he tells you to do is go do some side-quests. That's some good advice right there. There are the three guilds (Fighters', Mages', and Thieves'), the three Great Houses (Hlaalu, Redoran, and Telvaani), the two religions (Tribunal and Imperial), and some extras like the Morag Tong (Assassin's Guild). You can only choose one Great House to join, so this calls for some extra playthroughs, but in general they're all quite rewarding. Also, a lot of the side-quests will require a specific level and specific skill-levels before they are given to you, so you will probably have to do multiple guilds in parallel, some exploring on your own, or exploit some mad levelling scheme in order to get the experience needed.

As far as the lore goes, travel around, talk to NPCs and read the books. Pay attention to the scenery and the architecture, as well as the way people talk, dress, and greet you. That was the best part about Morrowind for me, that everything made sense as an extremely complex society with readily apparent as well as hidden tensions and struggles.

One more thing. Some areas are just too difficult to tackle at a low level, and these tombs/dungeons/ruins are not labeled in any way. Morrowind only levels about half of the enemies that you meet, the other half are dangerous right from the start. Get used to running away from Atronachs and various Daedra - an invisibility spell or enchanted amulet comes in handy sometimes.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I tried very hard to get into Morrowind but I ended up just getting pissed off.

The walking speed was so, so painfully slow, and running saps your fatigue which makes any fights you stumble into a complete shambles.

Stab stab stab stab stab stab HIT stab stab...

And those damn cliff racers...

I think I was too spoiled by playing Oblivion first, which is more contemporar, moves along quicker and is and less punishing.

 

[outcast_within]

is the levelling system like oblvion?
Cos that just plain sucked. Having to sleep to get stat bonusses and you couldn't decide how many points you could get as bonus unless you were very mathmetic about it.

 

[Fappy]

is the levelling system like oblvion?
Cos that just plain sucked. Having to sleep to get stat bonusses and you couldn't decide how many points you could get as bonus unless you were very mathmetic about it.

Morrowind has minor skills making it easier and faster to level if that helps.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

is the levelling system like oblvion?
Cos that just plain sucked. Having to sleep to get stat bonusses and you couldn't decide how many points you could get as bonus unless you were very mathmetic about it.

Morrowind has minor skills making it easier and faster to level if that helps.

Plus there were some pretty epic exploits out there to help you level up faster/better.

 

[Lemeza]

I recommend this page [www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Starting_out] and that site generally. It's really useful if you don't know what to do in a quest. It also shows bugs with quests and other things.

 

[JC175]

So, I've recently bought the GOTY edition of Morrowind over Steam - gotta love those holiday sale prices. Anyway, the point of this thread is that I booted up the game and was instantly overwhelmed with the sheer amount of choice and information the game presents to you from the very beginning - even the character creation confused the shit out of me as it referenced concepts that I couldn't yet comprehend.

After using a beginner's guide for advice, I'm a short way into the game and its already start to impose its ridiculous size upon me for the worse - I'm being bombarded with names of races, people, places and spells without knowing what they are or their purpose, and I'm slightly afraid that if I don't sort this out soon I could fuck up my game from the beginning.

So in TL;DR summary - have any tips for a noob who is basically looking to comprehend the game and how it all operates?

First of all, don't play a mage. Magic can get good, but it's a very bad way to start.

Also, hit the Tilde(~) key and type "player->setspeed 200" and "player->setacrobatics 100" (without any quotes of course). Now you can move and jump.

How far is "a short way into the game"? What is it that would you like to know? You can really ask me pretty much anything; I used to love that game (I ask because I don't want to spout off tips assuming you know what I mean nor do I want to treat you like a retard and tell you stuff you already know)

A "short way" in is that I've just delivered the package I was given at the beginning of the game, and done some things on the way. Like try out the ridiculous jumping spell you find on the man that falls out of the sky just north of the first town.

To be honest I think I'll eventually get the hang of the game, I'm just in a state of information overload at the moment. The sheer number of places I can go and do things and the amount of information I am supposed to take in is just a little bit too much at the moment, I'm sure with time it'll get better though.

 

[Sebenko]

Morrowind is awesome.

Tips: Guilds suck, join Telvanni house. You get your own mushroom to live in.

Actually, all this talk of Telvanni confused me at first
Factions:
Imperial- Imperial Legion, Imperial Cult, Mages Guild, Fighters Guild, Thieves Guild
Native equivalent (or thereabouts)- Great house guards, Tribunal Temple, Telvanni House, Redoran House, Thieves Guild.

There are a lot of competing factions, but joining one doesn't close off others (unless it's a great house), so although Mages guild hates Telvanni, you can still join both.

Spoiler: Faction Map

There are also a lot of skills. Armourer is crap, as it takes ages to level up. Alchemy is a game breaker. Medium armour is crap- even the best medium armour has lower defense than light armour or heavy armour at the same skill level. It also makes all the guards in Vivec city hate you on sight. The best heavy armour is a bastard to get, as you only get one piece at a time and is spread across the entire game. Go with light armour. Pick up some hobo robes to cover your ugly ass mess of armour types.

Don't use magic for anything combat related.

Also, the best thing to do when you get used to the game is go explore. There are about a billion different shrines and ruins to find.

And get the Tamriel Rebuilt mod. It's massive. Though you might want to wait, otherwise the sheer size of the game will make you insane.

 

[GeekFury]

Don't use magic. Thats the biggest bit of advice you'll ever get.