Morrowind Newbie Requests Character Help

[NobleNick]

Hi all,

I acquired Morrowind this weekend by mistake. Yep, that's right: Got an ATI 9800 Pro on a great sale; and while installing everything, behold! found a Morrowind CD. Took another look at the package, and saw that the price sticker had covered up the ad that said Morrowind was inside. Only 1 CD, but doesn't appear to be just a demo. Installed it and then the questions came...

I made a Nord Rogue with the Lover "boost." Did I screw up?

What are some good combos to easier to play, and which kinds of character builds are, um, more challenging. (I am a wimp, tend to go easier).

Thanks!

[Kyrvias]

It all depends on what you want to make. Races have inherit bonuses, such as the nord. The Nord has bonuses that mostly apply to Combat. I will list the races and what classes are usually used with them.

Note: I'm not using premade classes. Just generic Mage, thief, fighter.

Nord: Fighter
Imperial: Fighter, Thief or Mage
Khajiit: Thief
Dark Elf: Pretty much anything
Wood Elf: Thief
High Elf: Mage
Argonian: Fighter or thief
Breton: Fighter or mage. or both
Orc: Fighter
Redgaurd: Fighter

They all have bonuses, special ones that other races might not get. Such as Dark Elves, which get a bonus to Destruction.

If yo uwant to powergame, then you can choose anything.

If you have a manual it would help out ALOT.

But, incase you don't, here are the races bonuses.

Argonian: Alchemy +5, Athletics +15, Illusion +5, Medium Armor +5, Mysticism +5, Spear +5, Unarmored +5
Specials: Resist Desease, Immunity to poison, and water breathing

Breton: Conjuration +10, Mysticism +10, Restoration +10, Alchemy +5, Alteration +5
Specials: Fortified Max Magicka, Dragon Skin, Resist Magicka

Dark Elf: Long Blade +5, Destruction +10, Light Armor +5, Athletics +5, Mysticism +5, Marksman +5, Short Blade +10
Specials: Ancestor Gaurdian, Resistant to Fire

High Elf: Destruciont +10, Enchant +10, Alchemy +10, Alteration +5, Conjuration +5, Illusion +5
Specials: Fortified Max Magicka, Weakness to Magicka, fire, frost and shock, Resistant to Disease

Imperial: Speechcraft +10, Mercentile +10, Long Blade +10, Blunt Weapon +5, Light Armor +5, Hand To Hand +5
Specials: Star of the West, Voice of the Emporor

Khajiit: Acrobatics +15, Athletics +5, Hand to Hand +5, Light Armor +5, Security +5, Short Blade +5, Sneak +5
Specials: Eye of Fear, Eye of Night

Nord: Axe +10, Blunt Weapon +10, Medium Armor +10, Long Blade +5, Spear +5, Heavy Armor +5
Specials: Thunder Fist, Woad, Resist Shock, Immune to frost

Orc: Armorer +10, Axe +5, Heavy Armor +10, Medium Armor +10, Block +10
Specials: Berserk, Resistant to Magicka

Redgaurd: Long Blade +15, Short Blade +5, Heavy Armor +5, Axe +5, Blunt Weapon +5, Medium Armor +5, Athletics +5
Specials: Adrenalin Rush, Resist Poison, Resist Disease

Wood Elf: Marksmen +15, Sneak +10, Light Armor +10, Alchemy +5, Acrobatics +5
Specials: Beast Tongue, Resist Disease

These are the bonuses verbatim from the manual, so I hope this helps out!

[ 11-06-2005, 10:21 PM: Message edited by: Kyrvias ]

[Sever]

That's a nice bonus you've scored there, NN. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] Kyrvias has got the basics covered, but keep in mind that MW isn't as restricted as other rpgs. Any race can excel at any class. The race stats are really just a one-time bonus that will help your character when starting out. And you'll probably forget all about the race and sign special abilities once you're a few levels in.

Originally posted by: NobleNick Did I screw up?

It's pretty hard to screw up a character in a game with as much freedom as MW. And it's impossible to permanently screw it up. Think of it as a bad hair cut: In a week's time, it's a good haircut.

Don't worry too much if you don't have a manual, you're not missing much. And there's no shortage of people to answer your questions here. But you are going to need a map.

http://morrowind.freetime.md/tesmap/ *Edit: The link (as provided in this 3rd party program's "about" section) is redirecting me when i click it. Please let me know if it works for anyone else. It's over two years since i originally downloaded it... This link's good though. http://morrowinds.tripod.com/Utilities.htm

There's a few more out there, but this map's the pick of the bunch IMO.

I hope you enjoy this great game. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 11-07-2005, 07:35 AM: Message edited by: Sever ]

[Stratos]

No, NobleNick, you didn't screw up.

The stat and skill bonuses of the different races matters very little in the long run. What's more important are the various racial traits, mentioned as "Specials" by Kyrvias above. If you want to play a spellcaster major, for example, it's almost a requirement to pick either a Breton or an Altmer and/or any of the Birthsigns (the starsigns) that boost your Magicka. Any other character wont have enough Magicka to cast more than a handful of spells before running out of it.

Birthsigns can also have a big impact on your character, especially the Atronach.

Finally, a Nord Rogue will work fine. Other races have some traits and abilities that favours roguish characters more than what the Nord have, but this doesn't really matter a few hours into the game.

[Sever]

Originally posted by Stratos: If you want to play a spellcaster major, for example, it's almost a requirement to pick either a Breton or an Altmer and/or any of the Birthsigns (the starsigns) that boost your Magicka. Any other character wont have enough Magicka to cast more than a handful of spells before running out of it. Birthsigns can also have a big impact on your character, especially the Atronach.

There are ways around the spell cost/magicka pool ratio that aren't cheesy (so long as you limit yourself), are available at level 1 (as long as you've got some alchemy smarts), and make the marginal magicka gains of the Breton and Altmer races pale by comparison.

When speculating further than a few levels into a character, their advantages are no longer important. It's what they can't do that makes the difference. And in this respect, all races are created equal...

I agree about the Atronach though. A poor choice here will suck like a bad hair cut.

*Edit: spelling.

[ 11-07-2005, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: Sever ]

[Kyrvias]

The atronauch should be reserved for characters who won't use magic, or altmer.

The Atronauch was, is, the birthsign for Altmer. Period.

[NobleNick]

Thanks, everyone! (and a special thanks for the extra effort posts from Kyrvias and Sever.)

~
~ minor early game spoilers below ~
~

No, Kyrvias, I do *NOT* have a manual, and (pardon me, Sever) I am really feeling the pain. I've searched for an in-game manual (of course), perused the main options screen, dug through the CD, and went to the Morrowind.com site hoping to download something useful. (Hmm... maybe that is how they got the game and construction editor to fit onto one CD.)

As Kyrvias knows, I am an Icewind Dale / Heart of Winter veteran; so I feel like I should be able to get along better in an RPG, even without a manual, but everything seems so.. so.. UN-intuitive. Some of my questions to all of you will be cases in point:

(If someone can point me to an online manual (not a FAQ/Walkthrough) then disregard most of the following questions.)

Why is the "T" key the rest key? I would think it would be "R." More generally: where can I find (and change?) the keyboard map.)

How does one figure out how to level and how far along until you level? I haven't a clue. Though I have done all I can think of doing in the starting town and have cleared out the bandits and released slaves in the caves, and have walked to the next town, I am still Level 1, and have no idea where level 2 is.

In the cave, after killing the guard, I took a right after the gate and chopped up a mage. Then down the ladder and took a left, and did in a dagger-throwing bandit. After ransacking the place, took a hairpin left into a semi-hidden passage and picked the old gate lock. Went through, but all I could find was a pool. I did not have a lit torch. Am I missing something? Also, did I do the right thing in releasing the slaves? Spoil me, please, unless they are MAJOR spoilers.

How am I "picking" these low-level locks? All I am doing is looking at the gate and pressing the spacebar. I have lock picks in inventory. Are they automatically getting used? I also have a "probe." Is my character using this to pick locks?

In order to get a little fresh air (and LEVEL!!!), I forsook the siltstrider and walked towards Banora ("Banogga?" "Bartma?" "Banana?" "Bangkok?" whatever that "B" town is that I am supposed to go to next and meet someone). It got dark just before I hit a quaint town about a third of the way into my journey, and fear of the night creatures drove me in for a stay. Is it any more dangerous outside the towns at dark then in the day? Are there any advantages to traveling at night (e.g., stealth)?

I read in a FAQ that Atronaucht was GOOD for a non-magic/low-magic user, since 50% of all spells used against you have no effect, other than to refill your Magica. Because of enemy refills and potions, the "stunted Magica" never really becomes a problem. What think ye?

I've equipped Faroth's healing ring, but can't figure out how to use it. The bigger question is how does one find, equip, and fling magic; and use skills like alchemy and armor repair. Help, please?

Is my "blocking" skill automatically increasing whenever I fight, now that I have a shield equipped; or is there something special I should be doing?

I have more to say, on character rolling; but to keep things neat, will save that for a separate post.

Thank you, again.

[Stratos]

Level Up:
The level-up system is a bit odd. The basic idea is that once you increased some of you Major or Minor skills 10 times you can level up by simply resting. Any combination of the skills count, but is has to be Major or Minor skills.

For example, imagine your character has the following Major skills: Long Blade, Illusion, Alchemy, Destruction and Heavy Armor, and the following Minor Skills: Light Armor, Sneak, Mercantile, Mysticism and Blunt Weapons. Any combination of 10 skill increases between these skills will count towards you level-up. Increasing Long Blade by 4, Blunt Weapon by 5 and Heavy Armor by 1 will grant you a level up, as will Sneak up by 7, Illusion by 1 and Light Amrour by 2 and so on. Skills are increased by successfully using them, paying trainers or, to a lesser extent, reading certain books.

To see how far you got to the next level up, simply drag your mouse pointer over the headline "Level" in yout statistics screen. A red bar should show up indicating how far you've got left.

Bandit Cave - Addamasartus:
This cave is just one among several bandit/smugglers caves. You can freely kill any hostile inhabitants and free any slaves if you like. These caves are good for low to medium level looting, but beware, some of them can have pretty difficult enemies for beginners.

Lockpicking - Disarming traps:
To use a lockpick, equip it as you would a weapon then use it one the lock. Probes are used the same way but they disarm traps instead.

Day - Night
Day and night cycles matters little in this game. There are mods that fix this, though.

Using items (Like Fargoth's ring):
There should be a button that scrolls items/spells and one for weapons. I don't remember what the defaults are but in the Options screen, under Control, you can assign keys as you see fit.

To use an item or spell, select it by readying it (there should be a button for this) and then press whatever button you press to attack. Attacking, using items and casting spells really work the same way; it's all just a matter of what you currently got selected and ready.

Block:
You will automatically try to block any incoming melee attack when you have a shield equipped and, if successful, avoid all damage. If you intend to use shields I recommend you to go and pay a shield trainer and increase the shield skill to at least 25. Otherwise it rarely work and you only increase a skill manually by successfully using it, so...

Edit: Spelling, grammar and assorted layout nasties.

[ 11-07-2005, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Stratos ]

[NobleNick]

Hi again,

First off, a question I forgot to get into last post: How does one run? Is that the "Q" key? Doesn't seem like running to me...

So far, from reading FAQs, I've concluded that Morrowind ES3 is a long, lo-o-ong game for an average player, and I play rather slow; so I intend to roll a character more perfectly fitting my liking, probably a custom. I've gleaned that the 3 main ways to "get your way" are through use of stealth/thieving, combat (melee/magic), and conversation/persuasion. Accordingly, the following skills/attributes are desirable:

skill in a weapon
skill at blocking
skill at armor (lgt, med or hvy) wearing
skill at armor mending
ability to run (away) fast
stealth skills (e.g., chameleon)
thieving skills (e.g., lock picking and pickpocketing)
Alchemy (potion mixing)
Magic skills
social skills

Now, I highly suspect that I can't come close to maxing anywhere close all these in one character; but here are 3 prospective builds with which I'd like some counsel:

1.) Melee oriented: I am thinking of a "Fighter/Ranger" Nord, Red Guard, Orc, or Dark Elf, with Atronaught sign.
-- Excellent with long blade
-- Excellent with bow and arrow
-- Excellent with heavy armor
-- Excellent with shield
-- Mediocre-to-Good social skills
-- Mediocre-to-Good lock-pick skills
-- Mediocre-to-Good at repairing equipment
-- Passable at Alchemy --> able to make and use healing and other basic potions


2.) Magic oriented: Thinking of a "Mage / Ranged attacker" using a Breton or Dark Elf (sign?)
-- Excellent with Destruction magic
-- Excellent with "other magic" (suggestions?)
-- Excellent with bow and arrow
-- Excellent with light armor
-- Excellent at running/evading
-- Mediocre-to-Good social skills
-- Mediocre-to-Good lock-pick skills
-- Mediocre-to-Good Alchemy --> healing/basic & maybe more advanced potions
-- Passable with long Blade

3.) Stealth/Thieving oriented "Social Engineer" (someone who can steal anything he can't con you into handing over) : Thinking of a Wood Elf, Khajiit, Imperial, or Dark Elf (sign?)
-- Excellent lock-pick
-- Excellent stealth skills (e.g., sneak, chameleon)
-- Excellent with bow and arrow (or other ranged weapon. Suggestions?)
-- Excellent with light armor
-- Excellent at running/evading
-- Good-to-excellent pick-pocket
-- Good-to-excellent social skills (Speechcraft/Merchantile)
-- Mediocre-to-Good with close in weapon (what kind?)
-- Passable with a magic (what kind?)
-- Passable at Alchemy --> able to make and use healing and other basic potions

So, are these builds too ambitious? Underambitious? Hopefully I gave you a flavor of what I am thinking. I want characters which have obvious strengths, without being unbalanced. Constructive criticism, advice, and vicious denunciations invited.

[Stratos]

Holding down "Shift" makes you run. Your running speed depends on your Speed attribute and how much stuff you're lugging around.

As for characters, you can max all skills in any character, it just takes some time. Some players like it this way, others don't. Any of the characters above will work fine as it's almost impossible to screw up a character.

Alchemy is a very good skill that allow you to some power from various spell schools, like healing, invisibility and various protective magicks. It does, on the other hand, also mean that you'll be carrying around alot of potions which can slow you down. You also need to find ingredients to make your potions.

[ 11-07-2005, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Stratos ]