Hey guys. I've played both Oblivion and Skyrim to.. well oblivion. I've tried Morrowind about 4 or 5 times now and I just can't seem to get the hang of it. Without spoiling anything, it's usually around the time I get to Vivec that I give up either because of the difficulty, or because of the lack of quest markers. Which I don't mind at all! But it makes the game a bit harder than what I'm used to.

So Morrowind buffs, is there any advice you can give a noob who enjoys roleplaying? How can I immerse myself into what many consider the best TES game in the series? I'm playing on Xbox and if I can get some good advice I plan on starting a new playthrough.

What is it about Morrowind that makes it so well loved? Apart from the province of Morrowind itself which is strikingly beautiful.

It is easy to get lost in Vivec. Take some time and wander around getting used to the place. As long as you stay out of the sewers it's pretty safe to wander all over Vivec. Don't worry about completing quests there until you get used to canton structure and know your away around a bit.

Remember to use your journal. On Xbox you can't sort by quest like you can in PC but you can sort by topic. Faction quests are usually under the topic of business, jobs, duties or orders. Paying attention to your journal and to what NPCs say (not everything gets written in the journal) will help with completing quests.

Don't be afraid to run away. Get a scroll of Devine Intervention or Almsivi Intervention and don't be afraid to use it I you get in trouble.

For combat, make sure you have one major skill that is a weapon skill (unless playing a pure mage) and use your major weapon skill, rather than a weapon that you are unskilled in. Also make sure to keep your fatigue bar full. If that is empty you won't hit much.

Good luck and welcome to Vardenfell Outlander.

Oblivion hates you. Everything about it wants you dead. Skyrim seems almost set up to help you.

Morrowind doesn't care about you or what you do or what you want. Its less solid than one of the other games. It is alarmingly real in that manner. And then... You make it mad. Who you are and why you're there becomes undeniable. You find yourself alone. Abandoned. Persecuted. You may not hop into sovngarde or a giant black tower, its never that easy. Instead, you can go wherever you want, and yet n matter where you go, you're just as alone.

You're left with an infinite number of roads that all lead t the same place, and theres nothing to do but go there, and see it out to the end.

...or you can skip all that and just kill absolutely everyone in the world except one person and leave it an empty husk, and still come out on top. Sort of.

I've actually used those Intervention scrolls before and I really like them. I didn't know you could sort out of your journal on the xbox, how do you do that? I find that in Morrowind your weapon skills go up so much faster than any other skill in the game. My last character was an orc, his Axe skill was over 70 by the time he got to Vivec and his next highest skill was only around 35. Any tips on how to raise non-combat skills?

Yes Vivec is overwhelming, it has to be the biggest city in an ES game. Perhaps excluding Arena and Daggerfall.

Pick the skills you are going to focus on, then make sure you do. If you are going to use bows go slow and make sure you see enemies at range so you can get at least one shot before they close to melee. If you are going to use spells get a few really low level ones that won't eat up your magica and use them regularly. A five point shield spell is useful in a fight even if only marginally useful...but making sure you cast it before every fight is good for you and great for building alteration skill...etc, etc.

Magic skills are super easy to earn up once you learn the lame trick. Basically, go to a spell trainer, and make a spell from a school that affects you, and has the lowest possible stats. Like, a spell that redces your stamina by 1 for 1 second. it will cost 1 magicka to use. For the first 50 ranks, this is an incredibly efficient way to earn up the skills. You'll be walking from place to place a lot, and you can just rest to regain your magicka on the road.

Oh, and save before you rest. Always. Always save before you rest. When it happens, you'll know why.

One big thing I wish I'd realized sooner, is the "Dispose of Corpse" option. Be careful. If you dispose of a corpse, go into a dungeon, rest, and then come back outside, it will probably have respawned. simply loot it and leave its corpse to stop this for a bit.

This is an unfortunate reality of Morrowind. There is a way to 'grind up' just about every skill there is if you think that you want to. Cast useless spells on yourself. Get an enchanted weapon that heals you and your target on strike and beat on something endlessly. Position yourself around the corner from someone and start sneaking, then go get a sandwich.

Before you do any of these things though consider this other unfortunate reality of Morrowind. It is very easy for a character to become so overpowered that the game loses all challenge and most of the fun. I would rather struggle early.

To bring up topics in your journal on Xbox, just open your journal and then press the "A" button. You may need the GOTY version for this to work.

It's normal for a melee fighter to have their main weapon skill higher than the rest. When it hits 100 it will stop going up and your other skills will catch up. Just remember to use your other skills when you can. Grinding isn't that much fun and can lead to an OP character. So it's up to you. I wouldn't do it too much myself. You can also pay for training if you have the coin. There are no limits on how often you can train other than cost.

FYI, if you summon an Ancestral Ghost, trap its soul and incinerate it, you'll fill a common soul gem while practicing conjuration, mysticism and destruction. Then you can use the gems to improve enchant skill. I summon Golden Saints to improve my weapon skills and Bonelords to tear at me to improve armor and block skills while they are trying to kill me. If you're smart, you use smart tricks to level up. If you use lame tricks...

Whether they're "smart tricks" or "lame tricks", you'll soon end up with an overpowered character. I prefer to simply play and do what the character would do under the circumstances, knowing what the character knows and NOT what I know about how to game the system. You'll end up with the same result eventually, but I find it far more interesting along the way, rather than concentrating on how to boost numbers and stats.

Of course, if you have a couple of simple but USEFUL custom spells made, like a healing spell that restores 1 point for 3 seconds duration (since duration is cheaper than magnitude), it will take 1 point of magicka to cast, take care of the minor cuts and scratches you get from dealing with the weak wildlife, and you get just as much training from casting it as from one that heals more health than your character actually has. I often have a simple custom Waterwalk spell made for 10 seconds, a weak 5 point Nighteye or Light spell for as much duration as I can get out of a single point of magicka, etc. They're good enough to actually help you, and almost free to cast, as you learn the ability. Best part is, if you already know one standard version of the spell, a low-power custom variation will only cost a handful of Septims or so (like 5-10). Custom Enchantment prices are a whole different animal.

Jumping up and down all the way from Seyda Neen to Balmora will gain you a couple of points of Acrobatics, but is silly. Hopping up onto a rock to get a better view now and then, or jumping down a couple of stairs to save time, makes some sense under the circumstances. The difference is that the first is a way to grind stats, the second is something that the character might actually want to do on occasion, but not frequently.

Listen to these folks! Grinding to raise your stats is one of the quickest ways to weaken the Morrowind experience. It took me a while to get my head wrapped around this, especially coming from Oblivion and Skyrim. But honestly, I enjoy the game sooooo much more now that I don't stress about stats and multipliers. Even then, I have found that I need to make the game more difficult than it is out-of-the-box... but that's for later! For now, listen to the excellent advice given above, and you'll have yourself a great time!

Dont do the main quest right away if you dont want to, the first quests can be a bit boring, look for a faction to join that fits your play style, something you know that you'll enjoy. you got the fighters guild, mages guild, theives guild, morag tong. etc.. to choose from.