01-02-2005 04:30									#61
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quote: Originally posted by Dissident I'm level 31 now, and pretty much invincible . And I don't even do any enchanting or alchemy. I just use what weapons and equipment I find. I should enchant my daedric wakishashi, but I'm not sure how.

See an enchanter; I like the one in the Mage's Guild in Balmora, because it's easy to get his attitude up to 100. What are you going to enchant it with? I'm carrying two enchanted steel sabres I made; one's enchanted with Bound Longsword and Soultrap (15 seconds each) and the other's enchanted with just Bound Longsword (45 seconds).

One tip on enchanting weapons: If you want them to do combat damage, make sure you have them "Cast on Strike" rather than "Cast when Used." Otherwise, you end up with a big, sharp, heavy magic wand.

One of the things that bugs me about Morrowind is the enchanting system. I made those swords myself, but the'yre only 5-point enchantments; even though I have enchant skills of about 50+ and intelligence of 100, that's about all I can do. I'm told this is normal, and can be beaten by gaming the system and drinking endless fortify intelligence potions, but it just seems too tedious; I'd rather loot caves, shrines, and tombs and then pay the outrageous enchanter prices.

quote: For the life of me I can't find a Mark spell!! anyone know where one is? I found a recall spell, but not mark. I have to rely on fast travel to get places. Makes questing take a little longer, oh well.

There are two guys in the basement of the Balmora Temple; one sells Mark, one sells Recall.

quote: One thing about being level 31. I said I'm invincible, but this is not true. When I rest now, I have to face 2 assassins. They seem tougher than the one's earlier. The kill me everytime.

Just curious: have you done the Dark Brotherhood quest yet? I haven't, because it's felt like I have too much going on already. But maybe I should...

	01-02-2005 05:33									#62
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argh. I still don't understand what bound does. I asked this before.

Why would I want to summon a short blade when I already have a kick ass one?

	01-02-2005 05:36									#63
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and I think I'll do the dark brotherhood quest soon. I should be plenty tough enough. If only to get rid of those annoying assassins. Those things are hard when you are lower than level 10. And Now I'm facing these tougher versions (maybe not tougher, they just seem like it because there are 2 of them), I die quite often when resting.

I didn't want to spoil it, but I did look up where the expansion is. I guess it's called Mournhold and you access it through ebonheart. I didn't look up anymore than that. I just was trying to figure out how to get there.

	01-02-2005 06:17									#64
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The only problem I had with the Dark Brotherhood is that they all have good armor that can take hits and thus ruin your weapon.

	01-02-2005 07:21									#65
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quote: Originally posted by Dissident argh. I still don't understand what bound does. I asked this before. Why would I want to summon a short blade when I already have a kick ass one?

Bound weapon/armour summons up a pretty good weapon/piece of armour with zero weight.
Very useful early on.
There isn't much point in enchanting these properties into other swords though ... you'd be better off with inflicting some form of elemental damage on striking (or absorb health perhaps).
If you want bound gear it's better to use a permanent enchantment on a ring or something else light and easy to equip.

quote: and I think I'll do the dark brotherhood quest soon. I should be plenty tough enough. If only to get rid of those annoying assassins. Those things are hard when you are lower than level 10. And Now I'm facing these tougher versions (maybe not tougher, they just seem like it because there are 2 of them), I die quite often when resting. I didn't want to spoil it, but I did look up where the expansion is. I guess it's called Mournhold and you access it through ebonheart. I didn't look up anymore than that. I just was trying to figure out how to get there.

After a certain level you end up facing a second assassin and they generally come equipped with daedric weaponry rather than the glass daggers they have in the beginning.
The attacks stop as soon as you speak to the 'appropriate party' in the starting village. He'll promptly direct you to Ebonheart to begin the Mournhold saga.

	01-02-2005 09:21									#66
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quote: Originally posted by ravagon There isn't much point in enchanting these properties into other swords though ... you'd be better off with inflicting some form of elemental damage on striking (or absorb health perhaps).

Not necessarily. A bound longsword deliver up to 44 points of melee damage, the same as the best swords in the game (ebony, daedric, etc), AND it boosts your longsword skills by 10 points. Before you're at a level to be finding ebony or daedric objects, bound weapons inflict way more damage than anything else. Compared to an enchanted ebony or daedric weapon, sure, there's no elemental damage, but the 10-point skill boost is still very sweet.

Plus, an ebony longsword weighs about 20 lbs., and a daedric one weighs about 60 (iirc), whereas my steel sabre enchanted with bopund-on-strike weighs only 15 lbs. If you're not a bruiser, or if you are a packrat, that makes a difference.

	01-02-2005 10:00									#67
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quote: Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly Not necessarily. A bound longsword deliver up to 44 points of melee damage, the same as the best swords in the game (ebony, daedric, etc), AND it boosts your longsword skills by 10 points. Before you're at a level to be finding ebony or daedric objects, bound weapons inflict way more damage than anything else. Compared to an enchanted ebony or daedric weapon, sure, there's no elemental damage, but the 10-point skill boost is still very sweet. Plus, an ebony longsword weighs about 20 lbs., and a daedric one weighs about 60 (iirc), whereas my steel sabre enchanted with bopund-on-strike weighs only 15 lbs. If you're not a bruiser, or if you are a packrat, that makes a difference.

Er, that was my point though. You don't need to enchant 'bound longsword' into a sword. The effect summons the weapon rather than enhancing your own sword. If you enchant the effect into a ring, put the ring on and then trigger it you'll still get the bound longsword. Ditto for armour, shields etc. And the skill point boost.

I have a number of mods installed and some of them contain items with pretty high enchant ratings - ie: you can use all of the 400 points worth of a grand soul gem holding a golden saint.
I enchanted a couple of rings and a belt (IIRC?) with constant effect bound sword, shield and most of the armour pieces. Instant set of permanent (until I take off the ring) basically full armour, completely weightless, for the few weight points of the belt (I don't think rings weigh anything ... ?).

As you find better items though you can always enchant most of your armour pieces with permanent bound strength effects. You don't have to worry about bulk so these will increase your weight allowance drastically (boosting your damage in the process) letting you carry and use that enchanted daedric dai-katana watchamacallit.

	01-02-2005 10:08									#68
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quote: Originally posted by ravagon Er, that was my point though. You don't need to enchant 'bound longsword' into a sword. The effect summons the weapon rather than enhancing your own sword. If you enchant the effect into a ring, put the ring on and then trigger it you'll still get the bound longsword. Ditto for armour, shields etc. And the skill point boost. I have a number of mods installed and some of them contain items with pretty high enchant ratings - ie: you can use all of the 400 points worth of a grand soul gem holding a golden saint. I enchanted a couple of rings and a belt (IIRC?) with constant effect bound sword, shield and most of the armour pieces. Instant set of permanent (until I take off the ring) basically full armour, completely weightless, for the few weight points of the belt (I don't think rings weigh anything ... ?). As you find better items though you can always enchant most of your armour pieces with permanent bound strength effects. You don't have to worry about bulk so these will increase your weight allowance drastically (boosting your damage in the process) letting you carry and use that enchanted daedric dai-katana watchamacallit.

I see what you're getting at. I've only just begun bumping into golden saints, so I've just started with CE enchantments. The thing is, you can make a very effective bound-on-strike enchantment using really low-level gems on a regular sword; CE bound on a ring (or wherever) is probably cooler, but seems like kind of a waste of money and Golden Saint. I'm with you regarding CE armor, though; that's my next enchanting experiment, I think.

	01-02-2005 19:54									#69
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CE armor is very strong. You can get stuff like 100 points Chameleon by enchanting outfit.

	01-02-2005 21:19									#70
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I couldn't get into Morrowind at all. There was too much information, for starters. The combat system is horrific (WHACK WHACK WHACK). And while the game was beautiful, I found myself more interested in wandering around than actually doing any of the game quests, since those weren't particularly rewarding.

They are supposedly revamping combat for the sequel, and I hope they are working on streamlining the info deluge.

	03-02-2005 01:09									#71
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yeah the combat leaves a lot to be desired.

Yet I have a lot of fun playing this game. I have been playing alot over the past few days. too much actually. I guess I don't play this game for the combat. In fact, sometimes it annoys me. I would like to travel the countrside unmolested. Those flying beasts are annoying. I hate them.

This is why I don't want a challenge mod (how realistic is it to have such tough beasts roaming the countryside?). I don't think outdoor areas should be challenging. And I still find the game challenging anyways. I still die every now and then. So I take back my comment I was invincible. Although one time I made the mistake of turning my back on a dremora lord. I died in seconds . I think they might get a bonus when they are attacking your back, and you can't block when your back is to them.

I can take any single enemy in the game. But I struggle fighting multiple enemies. Even when I'm at near full health, I still cannot defeat those 2 assassins. They kill me every time.

	03-02-2005 01:12									#72
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and some aspects to the game don't interest me. I still have yet to actually use a soulgem. I know my character is weaker because he doesn't enchant anything. But it seems like too much trouble. I never use enchant or alchemy. I keep meaning to, but I never do. I once tried a game as a magic using character. But I find it difficult because of the combat system the way it is. I find it hard to target moving targets anyways (I'm not genius at FPS's after all)

	03-02-2005 01:45									#73
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I had to sell back the game after a few weeks of giving it my best shot. I have to say that I am a long-time fan of the genre, but the price of admission for fun proved too high for me.

	03-02-2005 20:05									#74
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I have tried playing two characters - one a n Imperial Bard, and two a Dark Elf custom character. It is unbelievable the difference. What is different is that it is so much easier to interact and barter with the Imperial than the Dark Elf. How would you experienced players make a Dark Elf character more likeable and skilled at bartering in the early game?

	04-02-2005 07:40									#75
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Simply put - Make sure you select speechcraft as a major skill and it's governing attribute (I forget what this is) as one of your primary attributes.
Having a higher speechcraft really does help early on.

quote: I would like to travel the countrside unmolested. Those flying beasts are annoying. I hate them.

There's a mod that'll help with this - called something like 'Passive healthy wildlife' iirc.
Turn this on and most of the normal wildlife won't attack you. Anything diseased/blighted however, will.

quote: I can take any single enemy in the game. But I struggle fighting multiple enemies. Even when I'm at near full health, I still cannot defeat those 2 assassins. They kill me every time.

If you're outdoors try a levitate spell and then hit one or both of them with a ranged attack, spell or otherwise. If they can't get at you and get hit they'll often run off in different directions. Then you can take them one at a time.

	07-02-2005 15:07									#76
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quote: Originally posted by bfg9000 I have tried playing two characters - one a n Imperial Bard, and two a Dark Elf custom character. It is unbelievable the difference. What is different is that it is so much easier to interact and barter with the Imperial than the Dark Elf. How would you experienced players make a Dark Elf character more likeable and skilled at bartering in the early game?

I actually like this aspect of Morrowind; the races are actually really different at the beginning, and Imperials are just way more charming than Dark Elves.

But if you really need a Dark Elf who's likeable, you probably need to make one governed by Stealth, with Personality as a governing attribute and either speechcraft or merchantile as a major skill. Then choose The Lady as your birthsign. For example, a Dark Elf Pilgrim born under The Lady would have Personality of 65 and Mercantile of 35, which is good enough to get you started.

The other thing you can do is just bribe merchants. I did this with a Nord character I made who had really low personality and mechantile skills, and it was always worth the money. Try it yourself when you want to buy an expensive item. First, see what the seller wants for it; then slip him 10 gold 5-6 times in a row; then check the price again. For a big-ticket item, the price will have gone down much more than the 50-60 gold you paid him, and his disposition will stay high after the sale.

	07-02-2005 20:48									#77
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quote: Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly I actually like this aspect of Morrowind; the races are actually really different at the beginning, and Imperials are just way more charming than Dark Elves. But if you really need a Dark Elf who's likeable, you probably need to make one governed by Stealth, with Personality as a governing attribute and either speechcraft or merchantile as a major skill. Then choose The Lady as your birthsign. For example, a Dark Elf Pilgrim born under The Lady would have Personality of 65 and Mercantile of 35, which is good enough to get you started. The other thing you can do is just bribe merchants. I did this with a Nord character I made who had really low personality and mechantile skills, and it was always worth the money. Try it yourself when you want to buy an expensive item. First, see what the seller wants for it; then slip him 10 gold 5-6 times in a row; then check the price again. For a big-ticket item, the price will have gone down much more than the 50-60 gold you paid him, and his disposition will stay high after the sale.

Bribing merchants can get real expensive - especially early in the game..

I prefer to play under the sign of Atronach, but with a character of less than 40 Personality, I guess it is necessary to choose 'The Lady'.

How does the specialization choice (combat, magic, stealth) affect the character creation?

	08-02-2005 00:00									#78
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I have no idea about the specialization choice. It doesn't seem to impact anything. Unless there are some combat rolls behind the scenes I'm not aware of. It doesn't affect your primary stats.

I chose shadow as my sign. I was a thief type class. The thieves guild quests were pretty fun. I like stealing things. . Mainly because I have never done it before.

That's the thing about this game, I really have no desire to do things I have already done. But luckily the game is so big, there are many quests I have not done. Except the main quest. I'm at a point now I kind of have to finish the main quest, and I don't want to. . Actually instead, I'm going to go into the expansion ares for the first time since I bought the goty edition. I should be plenty strong enough for those areas.

	08-02-2005 01:49									#79
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well that's interesting, soon as I get into mournhold my optical mouse starts messing up. It's a microsoft opitical mouse (not a wireless). It seems like it only messes up in the game, though if I shake it enough, it'll mess up when I exit the game. It's a few years old, so maybe this mouse has had it.

It's easy to tell because it has a red light on the back of it, and it keeps going out, then coming back on a second or two later. then it goes out again.

	08-02-2005 01:56									#80
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strange, it definately seems the game is doing it. I've been surfing poly, and my mouse hasn't went out.

It's strange because I have played many, many hours of regular morrowind, but as soon as I got into Mournhold it started acting up. Though it might have been because I hired a henchman (though I fail to see how that would do it). My henchman is annoying anyways. I have a speed of 100, and he can't keep up. He keeps saying "where are you going".

I'll have to see if I can find some drivers for my mouse.

	08-02-2005 03:15									#81
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I get this sometimes; I usually whack my mouse (firm, not too hard) on the desk and it works again.

	08-02-2005 05:07									#82
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I guess my mouse is dead, I switched mouses, so I'm okay for now (though I don't like the feel of this mouse)

Back to mournhold.

Those brotherhood assassins are impossibly tough. I can maybe take 2 at a time. I don't know what is wrong with my character.

I have a deadrik wakisashi and glass armour. The problem I run into is these guys respawn. I went back into the main area in the manor and there were 7 of them! And they wear down my blade. I'm going to have to come back with some armorers hammers.

What do you guys use for healing? I can't rest everywhere, there are too many enemies to rest. Do you use potions, spells? I only have 98 mana. It goes pretty quick. What kind of tactics can I use? My henchman died pretty quick. And I can't even tell how many hitpoints he has.

My character can easily kill anything in vvardenfall, but I am really struggling with these dark brotherhood assassins.

	08-02-2005 09:54									#83
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quote: Originally posted by bfg9000 Bribing merchants can get real expensive - especially early in the game..

You don't have to bribe that many; maybe one or two in each town. And there's actually a ton of money available very early in the game. You can get up to 700 gold from doing the tax collector quest (even more if you sell off his ring instead of returning it to his girlfriend); another 100 gold from ratting out Fargoth; and another several hundred gold from selling off the spoils of the smuggelr's cave. Plus there's at least two hollow tree trunks in Seyda Neen with nice loot in them (gold and a silver goblet in one, an excellent enchanted ax in the other). It's dead easy to leave Seyda Neen with over 1000 gold and then, once you get to Balmora, you get more gold and expensive gifts from the trainers.

quote: How does the specialization choice (combat, magic, stealth) affect the character creation?

Your specialization adds five points to every skill governed by that specialization. Thus a stealth character gets 5 points added to his speechcraft and merchantile skills, regardless of whether they are major, minor, or miscellaneous, and on top of any added points he may get based on race. That's why an Imperial bard starts with speechcraft of 45: 30 points for having it as a major skill, 10 more for being an Imperial, and 5 more for being a stealth character; an Imperial knight, by contrast, also has speechcraft as a major skill but only starts with speechcraft of 40 because he's a combat character.

	08-02-2005 19:10									#84
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quote: Originally posted by Dissident edit.... What do you guys use for healing? I can't rest everywhere, there are too many enemies to rest. Do you use potions, spells? I only have 98 mana. It goes pretty quick. What kind of tactics can I use? My henchman died pretty quick. And I can't even tell how many hitpoints he has. My character can easily kill anything in vvardenfall, but I am really struggling with these dark brotherhood assassins.

I always play a standard not very magical fighter type, with the only magical abilities being in healing.
I use healing potions for the most part, or things like that magical ring you find near the begining of the game. I try to not use magical armour or weapons though, i find it makes the game much more challanging. Still if something that just looks really nice comes along then i may use it on those 'special' occasions when normal cold steel wont prevail.

	08-02-2005 19:15									#85
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What Major and Minor skills are most important for a well-balanced character?
This is what I have come up with:

Major:
Block
Security
Heavy Armor
Speechcraft
Mysticism

Minor:
Long Blade
Alchemy
Enchant
Marksman
Mercantilism

	08-02-2005 19:35									#86
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Mysticism as a major skill is always a waste. Money is way too easy to get in the game, so I'd say that Mercantile is also not a good choice. Speechcraft also doesn't give you that much of a bonus. Replace Speechcraft and Mysticism with Light Armor and Alteration, and replace Mercantile with Blunt Weapon - there are tons of those that are powerful.

Finally, the security skill is absolutely useless. So it helps you open locks... but you will get tons of lock-opening scrolls and with any Alteration skill, you'll be able to cast never-failing open spells at a low level... I always forget lockpicks and just use magic for that.

	08-02-2005 21:05									#87
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quote: Originally posted by Solver Mysticism as a major skill is always a waste. Money is way too easy to get in the game, so I'd say that Mercantile is also not a good choice. Speechcraft also doesn't give you that much of a bonus. Replace Speechcraft and Mysticism with Light Armor and Alteration, and replace Mercantile with Blunt Weapon - there are tons of those that are powerful. Finally, the security skill is absolutely useless. So it helps you open locks... but you will get tons of lock-opening scrolls and with any Alteration skill, you'll be able to cast never-failing open spells at a low level... I always forget lockpicks and just use magic for that.

Substitute Alteration for Security. Interesting. But Mysticism gives you skill with SoulTrap which you can use to enchant items and create valuable gems with trapped souls for sale. Isnt that very important? Also, wont you use primarily just one type of armor and one type of weapon throughout the game? Is it really in your best interest to use more than one major/minor slot for either of these? Heavy gives the best Armor rating adjustment and Long Sword does more damage, so they are better, right?

	08-02-2005 21:41									#88
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I find i choose the skills that will best fit with the particular character i'm trying to play, i dont mind if they will enable a particular ability or not. Still i always tend to role play these kind of games rather build the strongest character i can.

	08-02-2005 22:15									#89
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quote: Substitute Alteration for Security. Interesting. But Mysticism gives you skill with SoulTrap which you can use to enchant items and create valuable gems with trapped souls for sale. Isnt that very important? Also, wont you use primarily just one type of armor and one type of weapon throughout the game? Is it really in your best interest to use more than one major/minor slot for either of these? Heavy gives the best Armor rating adjustment and Long Sword does more damage, so they are better, right?

The problem with Mysticism is that there are very few spells in that category. Soultrap is an easy spell to cast, and you won't fail it often even with a low skill. Besides, I don't think you need to trap THAT many souls.

Using one type of armor and weapon... no no. Heavy armor is... heavy. For instance, a full suit of Ebony armor weighs a lot, and if you have that plus a good weapon, you'll be barely able to carry anything else at all. Also, long swords aren't always the best damage weapons... there are some hammers (some of them quest items) that do huge damage. And, it's about the enchantments and unique items really. There is quite some light armor and heavy armor with very good enchantments, as well as a number of weapons. For instance, SkullCrusher, Sunder, Keening, Wraithguard, Fists of Randagulfs, Mask of Clavicus Vile, those are items with great enchantmens.

Truth is, with the balance in Morrowind the way it is, if you choose to wear a full suit of heavy armor and wield a huge weapon with that, you won't really need any other skills, except an enchanted ring or a spell to open locked doors. A powerful fighter, you'll beat almost anything in the game at level 10.

	08-02-2005 22:19									#90
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quote: Originally posted by child of Thor I find i choose the skills that will best fit with the particular character i'm trying to play, i dont mind if they will enable a particular ability or not. Still i always tend to role play these kind of games rather build the strongest character i can.

Good point... it's actually easy to power-game in Morrowind. Get your character the best skills, that is, both magic and fighting, go make some money, and you will soon turn into a demigod with great magical and fighting abilities. Although I prefer to play mage characters that rarely use weapons, but are extremely powerful with spells.