lots of questions... - by jay
jay on 6/5/2003 at 00:30
Alright, I just started playing Morrowind and have a bunch of questions...mostly advice type stuff...
1. I keep restarting the game after an hour or two of play to re-tweak my character and wouldn't mind a little advice...I am thinking of a character kinda modeled after the "Arcane Trickster" prestige class in Dungeons and Dragons...Kind of a sneaky thief with a little magic thrown in...here is what I am thinking
Major skills: sneak, security, marksman, short blade, illusion
Minor skills: light armor (or unarmored), acrobatics, athletics, alteration, hand to hand
(or another magic school...pos. destruction or restoration)
Race: either Dark Elf (coolest looking) or Khajiit (best thief bonuses)...see next question
Sign: undecided...thoughts?...leaning toward thief or tower
how would other folks modify/change this?
2. If I toy with the races with the editor (thinking of replacing the dark elf bonuses with the Khajiit ones...kinda cheesy, but gives me the best of both worlds) will it affect all of the dark elf NPCs or just my character?
3. Does that build seem too generalized? Will I have a hard time keeping everything at a useful level? I have heard that it isn't worth having magic in the periphery...that you don't get good enough to make it worth it...true?
4. any reason not to join the thieves guild and the mages guild?
5. any tips on how to most effectively/enjoyably play stealthy characters?
thanks for helping out a newbie,
jay
Exile on 6/5/2003 at 01:19
Answering your questions in 1337 reverse order...
1) Well, it would help to join the Imperial Thieves Guild, since they can remove the price on your head, regardless of wether or not you've recieved the death sentence...
2) See above. As for mage's guild, services would be the primary reason. Also, you'll be very thankful of the disposition increase you get if you ever turn vampire.
3) I don't really get what you mean by this, so I'll just give a general answer and hope it helps... Many creatures in the game are levelled, and the places in the game all vary with diffuculty, so there's always something that will give you a challenge, but if you stay in the right places, you'll always get something level-appropriate. And magic is diffucult because your mana level is usually so low. If you want a larger mana level so that you can cast spells more often, you'll have to get a race with a magicka multiplier and a sign that also has one (e.g., the Atronach).
4) Yes, race changes are global. If you want to do that, I'd suggest creating a new playable race.
5) I'd suggest nightblade under sign of the atronach. As I said earlier, if you want a better mana pool, you'll have to get a mana multiplier on your race... Just remember this: Your race's bonuses and powers won't matter after level 10 or so, but your race's abilities will almost always have a lasting effect on you.
If you're just starting out, I'd suggest you stick with a warrior, maybe a knight. It will allow you to get the mechanics of the game down.
kfort on 6/5/2003 at 07:37
My first character was an unarmoured, hand-to-hand khajit monk. It didn't work out very well:p Hand-to-hand is almost worthless, as you don't do damage until your opponent collapses, and even then, they get back up after a few blows. Very annoying. Unarmored is also not that great, as even with light armor you can get much better protection.
My next character was a redguard warrior with a little thief and a little mage thrown in. This character was significantly easier to play. With a good bit of strength and endurance, you soon become a very dangerous individual. I would recommend a warrior-focused character for anyone who is just starting out, simply because they are so easy to use and die a lot less.
My current character is a dunmer dark priestess. She is predominately thief with a dash of warrior and a little mage. She is one tough cookie :cheeky: and you wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley.:ebil: Playing as a thief is a challenge. You arn't as strong or as hardy as a warrior and you lack the devastating arsenal of the mage. On the plus side, you are fast, sneaky, and can deliver critical strikes by sneaking up on your opponents!
As far as advice for a new thief character:
I would chose longblade over shortblade because I like some of the special longblades in the game. However, there is also a good selection of shortblades available, so pick what you want. I also had speechcraft as a major skill, because I like to butter people up (it makes them less wary and that makes my job so much easier! :devil: ) I would stick with light armor instead of going for unarmored. Light armor gives more protection and I like the appearance of the glass armor. Personally, I don't find myself using marksmanship that much, but other people swear by it. I guess it is a personal preference thing, so go with what you feel you'll use. As I mentioned above, hand-to-hand is a nearly worthless skill. If it was karate choping deathblows, that would be really cool, but it is just boxing and very wimpy. Having magic as a minor skill is not a problem. You aren't too generalized at all. If you start falling behind in any skill, you just spend some money training and quickly level up.
As far as race - If you like the look of the dunmer, be a dunmer. In the end, your character will be really nifty regardless of race, so chose the one you want to look at/role-play, not the one with the best stats. I don't know enough about the editor to say how to make a new race, so I can't help you there. To my mind, Dunmer make rather nice thief/mage characters. Sure they have some unneccesary skills, but they have nice bonuses and such overall.
For the sign, I hear a lot of people like the Atronach. I find it a little annoying to have to refill your magicka from other sources, but otherwise a nice sign. My favorite sign is the Lady. It gives a wonderful boost to your stats. The Thief and the Tower are both nice, but they quickly become obsolete, as you gain levels.
You can join as many guilds as you want in almost any order (be sure to join the theives' guild before joining the fighters' guild, though. At some point while doing Fighters' guild quests you can end up alienating the Thieves' guild, making it impossible to join them). However, you can only join one of the three great houses - so chose wisely. All guilds have a book that describes their requirements and goals. Find that book to get an idea of which guilds/factions are right for you (often you can find these books right in the faction headquarters). Don't be afraid to join a faction just because you don't have all their desired skills as majors/minors. You only need to be really good at ONE of those skills and kind of good at TWO of those skills. Even if you suck at all of them, they will often let you in to the lower end of their ranks until you get your skills higher.
My tip for enjoying a stealthy character:
Try to avoid getting killed!;)
Okay, seriously - practice your sneak skill A LOT. This can be done in the safety of town, just by sneaking around near townfolk. Also buy some lockpicks at the local cornerclub and work on your security skill. During your first few levels, I would suggest working on your short sword and light armor skill by fighting before the enemies get too hard (as you level up, so do the monsters). When you get tired of fighting, head to the nearest town, and clean it out:cheeky: Use the opportunity to work on your security and sneak skills. Sell your ill-gotten goods and buy some nice armor. Then head around to various magic dealers and get a few spells (like invisiblity, mark, recall, healing, etc). Then look for some more adventure or go on some theives' guild quests. As a thief, it is important to be careful. A careless thief is a dead thief! So, don't go into a new area at a dead run. Sneak everywhere and try to get critical hits. Carry a lot of healing potions and some divine intervention scrolls. Have fun!:thumb:
Hope that helps and good luck in Morrowind!
Kfort
Thiefs_Pawn on 6/5/2003 at 08:44
Quote:
Originally posted by jay Major skills: sneak, security, marksman, short blade, illusion
Minor skills: light armor (or unarmored), acrobatics, athletics, alteration, hand to hand
(or another magic school...pos. destruction or restoration)
Race: either Dark Elf (coolest looking) or Khajiit (best thief bonuses)...see next question
Sign: undecided...thoughts?...leaning toward thief or tower
As Kfort said the thief and tower signs don't do much after you've gone up a few levels. The Lady is probably the best sign in the game as it gives you 50 extra attribute points and a lot of people think that it makes the game too easy because of that (plus half of them are on endurance which means your health will go more quickly as you level too)
My first character was very similar to yours and I found that I never really used illusion that much, but I did use alchemy a heck of a lot (mainly because I enjoyed it) plus if you're a thief you steal some very good alchemy gear very early on.
I'd go for light armour over unarmoured, and find something else to replace hand to hand.
Personally I really liked marksman type weapons, I find them more fun than standing next to something hammering a mouse button.
Finally have you considered a wood elf? They get a very large marksman bonus at the start and high agility which means that you can start sniping quite effectively right from the beginning.
As you've got alteration you might want to swap it with security as alteration allows you to open locks anyway, plus it allows water walking and water breathing spells. Security does help with pickpocketing but I've not found it that useful myself.
Quote:
Originally posted by jay 4. any reason not to join the thieves guild and the mages guild?
Not that I know of, in fact they're both very useful guilds to belong to. Thiefs for the bounty removal and mages for the transportation.
Quote:
Originally posted by jay 5. any tips on how to most effectively/enjoyably play stealthy characters?
Make sneak a major skill and have a stealth based character. If you start with your sneak skill too low then it is very hard to sneak, which makes it very hard to improve your sneak skill.
If you do stick with Illusion then learn some invisibility and chameleon spells.
jay on 7/5/2003 at 13:39
thanks for the feedback guys.
