This article includes a few starter tips for The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind. The game may be twenty years old now, but that hasn’t made it any less worth playing. I hope to help you keep immersed in this beautiful game without feeling discouraged because of the aged mechanics. If you truly get used to the systems of Morrowind, there’s a chance that you may even consider it the best game of the franchise. I even wrote an article about why you should still play Morrowind.
A quick note before we go any further: I will not include glitches, exploits, or anything of the sort that will break immersion. So without further ado, here are some useful starter tips for Morrowind.
Determine a build path
There’s a high chance that you’ve already played Skyrim before (doesn’t really matter if you have). If you’ve played it, you are familiar with the skill progression system of the Elder Scrolls games. All your skills improve as you use them. In Morrowind, this unique progression system is even deeper. There are the usual build paths like the Thief, the Warrior or the Mage. Because earning skill experience is a little tricky at first, you must be intelligent and invest the points in the right skill trees.
Of course, an easier way to do this is to answer the questions of a story character at the beginning. You can’t miss him because he’s essential. Answering his questions will determine the best build path suited for you. This is very easy to do, and you won’t have to worry about assigning the skill points in just the right trees. But of course, doing this the more complex way is the best way to make a more refined character.
Skills
This is a subcategory of the above section. When you invest in skills, not investing them in Agility or Speed-related skill trees are preferable. That’s because as you walk, jump and travel on foot, those stats will increase. You must spend your points on other skills that are useful to your build, like combat or archery.
The Census Office
This is where you’ll meet the person who will help you with the build path, as mentioned above. If you’re okay with being a thief, steal the Limeware platter in the first room. To do this without getting caught, you need to drop the platter as soon as you pick it up. Then a guard will rush towards you and advise you not to do such a thing again. But after that, you can just pick the platter up without any consequences. This item sells for a lot of gold and you will need the money.
After exiting the first room, there will be no guards or other characters. You can now sneak around and take as many valuable items as you can. Keep in mind to not sell items to the person who you stole them from. If you sell them back to the person you stole them from, you will be hunted down by guardsmen. That’s obviously because the merchant realises that the thief was you after all. So, sell your stolen items to other merchants that are not associated with the one you robbed blind.
Talk with people
Talking with others is essential in Morrowind. They won’t have voiced dialogue but instead, text boxes. Read these text boxes carefully and learn as much as you can about the game’s world and lore. There will be no map markers or quest markers to help you in Morrowind. And you must keep track of where you need to go and who you need to meet by speaking with others and obtaining information. This information will then be saved in your journal, which you must refer to often.
As some other characters will also tell you in the game, talking with people costs nothing, and information and knowledge is the most valuable thing in the game, just like in real life. Be sure to speak with any person you find interesting at the starting village of Seyda Neen to learn as much as you can. They will also give good advice.
Read Books
There are a lot of books in Morrowind, and some of them grant you skill levels. But even if a book does not give you any bonus, reading them will educate you on the world and lore of Morrowind. The more you know, the better. And it’s a great way to be immersed in this masterful world.
Quicksave Often
This is very self-explanatory. Press the key to quicksave as often as you think is right. You will die often in this unforgiving world, and you do not want to start somewhere far from the place you were when you died. Be sure to keep an eye out for trouble as you quicksave. If you quicksave as an enemy attacks you, you will be stuck and you don’t want that.
Manage Stamina/Fatigue
Fatigue is the green bar in your UI. This will run out as you walk, jump and fight. If this is empty when you are in combat, your attacks won’t hit where you’re aiming. And this is very, very frustrating. Because of this, be patient with your actions and maintain at least half of the available Stamina. Your movement speed and jumping will also be significantly weaker when you have no stamina.
Enchanted Items
As in all other Elder Scrolls games, there are enchanted items in Morrowind as well. These are especially powerful in this game because they don’t need other items to replenish their charges. Instead, they will automatically regenerate charges when you don’t use them. A good example of an enchanted item is the Ring of Healing you will find at the beginning of the game. This ring will heal you and essentially, it will never run out of charge if you let it regenerate every so often.
Also, I must advise you to keep the ring for yourself. You will find its owner in Seyda Neen but don’t give it to him in the beginning. Keep hold of it just until you’re able to fend for yourself better.
Read the Manual of the game
On your Steam library page (if you’re on PC) you will find the game’s manual. This is an official heads-up guide for you to survive and enjoy playing Morrowind. Give this a read. If you don’t have it, you can find a PDF on the internet.
Try to complete quests without using online guides
Now, this is a completely optional tip. You are free to refer to the countless marvelous quest guides on the internet if you want to. But if you really want to be immersed and explore the island of Vvardenfell to the fullest, try your absolute best to do the quests yourself.
Do you have any starter tips for Morrowind beginners? Let us know!
