Recommend mods/advice for a Morrowind/NWN newbie

[thegrimfandango]

So, I've just installed Morrowind GOTY edition on my PC since I got hold of a cheap copy and had only ever played if for 15 minutes about 8 years ago on a friends PC. I'm an RPG fan, and have dabbled in PC gaming on my laptop the past few years, but this is the first time I've ever owned a gaming PC of my own, and I hear Morrowind is not the softest on noobs, especially the combat. This worries me a little - I don't want to give up on the game because I suck, but frankly despite gaming for close to 2 decades, I'm not actually very good at games, especially at anything that involves timing and reflexes. I'm more of a wanderer and talker than an efficient powergamer.

So fellow escapists, I'm looking for any good starter newbie tips on getting into this beast of a game.
I'd also like to hear your most recommended mods for prettying up or making Morrowind function better, it'd be nice to get some hi-res textures etc. I know of Planet Elder Scrolls, but the sheer number can be overwhelming.

Also, if anyone's played NWN2, I got that for free. Have installed some graphical tweaks, but I hear the base game isn't the best and really the addons are what makes NWN2 worth it?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Mask of the Betrayer is what makes NWN2 worth it. The mechanics are the same shoddy NWN2 mechanics that make that entire series hard to love, but the storytelling is second to none. Along with Planescape Torment it's really amongst the best CRPG narratives out there.

 

[Weaver]

You can make morrowind look incredible with the morrowind overhaul:
http://morrowindoverhaul.net/blog/

However, this thing is a pain in the ass to install. It took me like 1.5 hours to get it going. It also requires bloodmoon and tribunal (the expansions).

My favorite gameplay wise mod is Talrivian's State-Based HP Mod
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=8626

If you're unfamiliar with Morrowind's leveling system, allow me to explain. Additional HP is granted to you when you level up. How much you get is based on your Endurance. You can see the problem with this, if you decided to level up endurance first, each level you'll be getting a bigger HP bonus. If you level it up later, all those levels your endurance was low will not be retroactively added. This mod makes it so health is retroactive. Hence if you're level 16 with 70 endurance you will have the same amount of health as someone who pumped endurance from the get go.

 

[thegrimfandango]

Modding guide for Morrowind:

http://knotstheinane.blogspot.com/p/morrowind-modding-guide.html

Fair warning though, it takes fucking ages to install everything and it's not always very straightforward - not for the faint of heart, but the results are astounding.


As for NWN2, I never modified that game so I can't comment. MotB is indeed brilliant, though.

Nice, I like that that guide stays updated, I'll give that a lash for a graphical overhaul.
Looks like I'll have to obtain Mask of the Betrayer at some point too.

 

[Tragedy's Rebellion]

MotB is indeed awesome, although the base game isn't THAT bad, it IS glitchy as fuck and you should update it asap. As for mods, I don't really know many, I know Path of Evil is nice, but that's about it. You should get Less Obtrusive Buffs though, it is really annoying when your buffs fill the whole screen with random lights and bubbles.

As for Storm of Zehir (if you are interested), I wouldn't recommend it. It's kinda cool to make your own party and explore the world, but in reality it isn't as mind blowing as it sounds.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

MotB is indeed awesome, although the base game isn't THAT bad, it IS glitchy as fuck and you should update it asap. As for mods, I don't really know many, I know Path of Evil is nice, but that's about it. You should get Less Obtrusive Buffs though, it is really annoying when your buffs fill the whole screen with random lights and bubbles.

As for Storm of Zehir (if you are interested), I wouldn't recommend it. It's kinda cool to make your own party and explore the world, but in reality it isn't as mind blowing as it sounds.

Yeah, Zehir is very reminiscent of those old gold box games. A little too reminiscent, if you ask me. Yeah they were classics, but they were classics a loooooong time ago.

 

[karamazovnew]

I've never used mods for Morrowind. While Oblivion did need a lot of modding to play just right, Morrowind is good to go out of the box. There are a few graphic mods that do a fine job but I like the looks of the original. Anyway, here's a few tips, they might be spoilers and might change the way you play the game. The thing is that you can cheat legally in this game and get to a very very high level even before your first battle.

There is a small town just north of Balmora where you will find an imp that buys everything at the 100% price. He has around 5000 gold and restocks his money periodically (can't remember how many hours or days, but it's less than 72 hours). There's also a crab somewhere that has 10000 gold but I never got the chance to find him and I hear he's pretty far from the main roads. You can even sell more expensive items, by first selling cheaper items, then buying them back, thus temporarily giving him enough to buy your daedric stuff. With this huge amount of money, you can then train your skills up to a lot, you will need to find particular trainers that can train you to 100%. I used to spend a lot of time in the fighter's guild in Balmora, training particular skills so that I could then level up +5 in 3 attributes. You can thus gain 100% of attributes very fast and then forget about planned leveling. To give you an idea, I used to steal everything I could find in cities, then sell them to the imp (or skamp, or whatever he's called) and then train. At around level 15 (quite fast) you can google for "Eidolon's Ward" and go to that dungeon. The item is only guarded by a Golden Saint, easy to beat. It's the best shield in the game and it can heal you completely. There's also an easy tomb to raid near Vivec city, you'll find a Nord that will give you the key. In this tomb you'll find a ship filled with goodies, but the main loot is just near the entrance, high above (learn levitate or get a levitate item before going there). You'll find some daedric pieces, including 2 awesome helms. There's also an orc on the main road in the south of Morrowind that you can fight and get full Orcish armor and a really really awesome sword. He's very hard to beat, but you can cheat by getting on a rock and pounding him with around 100 iron arrows. I beat him at around level 10.

I played this game almost 10 years ago, and the fact that I remember these particular items, might show you just how important they are in the game. In the end you can became all-powerful, I even beat Vivec himself, and just focus on exploring and doing quests.

 

[LordRoyal]

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=mods.detail&id=732

This

Gives you a brand new faction and a really long quest line that takes you all across Vvardenfell, to brand new dungeons and strongholds coded into the game. It also toward the end of it allows you to become an immortal lich.

Personally it's a must have mod in my opinion. The quests are wickedly entertaining (You get to meet Maiq the Liar in a quest for once) and you get to see cut enemies from the vanilla game.

 

[thegrimfandango]

This is all good stuff, thanks guys. I'm installing a load of graphical/dialogue fixes as I type