What would be a good birthsign for a melee fighter? The Warrior seems like the obvious choice, but I don't really know what Fortify Attack does or how useful it is. I'm also thinking of the Thief or the Lady.

I've always been a fan of the lover. The boost to agility is very nice for a fighter, and the paralyze can come in handy in quite a few situations.

Birthsigns are more about how you intend to play then what one you should have used at cost. Somebody once said that a +10 to attack is not needed, that in Morrowind attack is not a problem. My thoughts about attack is that it improves your ability to hit with a weapon but does not inflict damage, perhaps it is mixed but still warriors hit lots. Hit is important though, since you score nothing for missing. My view of attack being hit is DnD where Morrowind has fame in being new in a DnD world. I should look at the wiki and quote what attack really is. Anyway, the way I've played there is less subtlety in Morrowind hits, while some other games you really need to ask, 'are my misses losing the damage this big weapon gains?' Morrowind is an RPG world, it is more about why I am fighting then how well I need to hit to succeed. That is just my experience. So really what birthsign is best is simply what one you love

Chance to hit = Attack formula - Dodge formula
Attack formula: 1.25*Weapon skill + Agility/5 + Luck/10 + Fortify Attack
Dodge formula: Agility/5 + Luck/10 + Sanctuary

Comments:
1) Increasing your weapon skill by 8 does the same thing as taking The Warrior
1a) Once your weapon skill gets to the 55-60 range, Fortify Attack is essentially useless
2) Percentage wise, The Thief (i.e. Sanctuary) has more effect
3) Increasing your armor skill and wearing some decent armor (thereby decreasing damage taken) does more good than Sanctuary
4) IMO neither one is worth taking

Taking The Lady (which would be my choice) gives you 50 Attribute points which is worth a good many "level ups" (depending on how you handle multipliers)
The Endurance increase is worth an extra 2.5 hit points per level up (until it's maxed out)
The extra 25 points to Personality is probably all you'll ever need as a warrior

The Warrior is my preference. I cannot simply train up and thus fortify my attack, and I'm not big on using spells (or most potions), and even when I do use them, there will still always be those ten extra points fortifying my attack no matter what.

That, and it's a cool birthsign

Can birthsigns put attributes over 100, or do they contribute to the maximum, like in Oblivion?

Contribute to the max, I'm pretty sure

They contribute to the maximum, effectively being like a boost to your starting Attributes.


I'd say the best Birthsign depends on the race, the type of melee fighter and how high a level you expect to reach.

- Low Agility races like the Imperial will do well with the Lover, the Thief or the Warrior to help with hitting or evading. Low Endurance races like Wood Elves will do well with the Lady for the Endurance boost.

- Lightly-armored fighters using spears might well find the Speed bonus from the Steed is very useful, especially early on where it helps killing things tougher than you (Spear fighting = jab and run). Marksman using fighters, even if melee is their main attack, might want an Agility boost from the Lover.

- If you plan on hitting level zillion and powergaming with your character then take something that gives a non-Attribute boost because you'll max out useful Attributes anyway. If you are going for a more casual game then that isn't an issue.

It's going to be a Nord, so its starting Strength and Endurance will already be 60, with class specialization. But high Aqility will eventually make Sanctuary and Fortify Attack obsolete too, so maybe Atronach? Stunted Magicka can't be nearly as bad in Morrowind as in Oblivion.

Fortify Attack, technically, is never obsolete; anything can be fortified over 100. You can still benefit from those ten extra points long after all your skills and attributes are all at 100, which would make birthsigns that only give bonuses to skills/attributes genuinely obsolete.

Though as you level up, you don't need any birthsign - they're all ornamental after a short time.

This may sound strange but I frequently use the Mage for combat chars. There are some Magic skills that are very useful such as Restoration, Alteration, and it doesn't hurt to pump them up a little early in the game.
....Or the health (Endurance) boost from the Lady early in the game moves things along a little faster. The personality boost along with Speechcraft as a major/minor makes your taunts and intimidation more effective too. I've used Speechcraft as a Redoran member more often than as a Hlaalu member.
Whatever...

That would certainly be my choice, in the end the attribute birthsigns don't mean much (save for the bonus health from the lady) Attack and Sancuary are cool but a little underwhelming. Being a warrior you wont need your magicka so having it stunted it of little cost for being able to flip a coin to be immune to magic everytime it's cast upon you. Other interesting signs would be the ritual for a powerful healing effect, the lord for a healing spell, at the cost to weakness to fire, which is easy enough to counteract, or perhaps the serpent, though no one ever likes it, warriors could make decent use of it and it would make your character more interesting to have these powers to use rather than just a passive bonus. That's just my thoughts. Safe bet would definitely be Atronach.

Since magicka doesn't regenerate anyways, it looks like the Atronach would be best even for a pure mage. Is stunted magicka a big problem in Morrowind?

If you're using magic a lot... I'd say so. You have to rely on potions, not just sleeping. As a warrior, it shouldn't be a big deal, and the 50% spell absorption can be useful The ritual's healing spell is quite handy too though.

You probably won't be using your magicka anyway, even if you did, it's easy enough to restore it by simply praying at a shrine and absorbing the effect.

The Lady is always a good sign.

There is no "best" birth sign.

Some of them will boost your natural abilities. Other will supplement them or strengthen your weak points a bit. None of them are completely useless. It depends on how you intend to play.

The Warrior is an obvious choice but not the only one. The Lady also makes a lot of sense. The Thief, too, will supplement melee skills nicely.

Theif is good. Sanctuary is always handy, for any class.

Think im running some mod that makes the signs better (not uber, just more interesting) so ive sort of forgotten what the originals are like. At the end of the day, just sit through and read what effects they have. The spell names are an uncanny way of figuring out what effect they will have. Then think if you would like this effect and/or if it would fit in with your character.

Theres also a few overviews of the birthsigns out there (at ye olde MW wiki).

Which can be accessed through the magical gateway to knowledge that is: Google. bliviongate:

I played M for some weeks in 2002 (...) and I remember very well trying to figure out which sign to choose.

I always wanted to play a more sneaky character that did NOT use magic... I did some research on combat mechs back then and was faced with 3 choices of my preference:

1) Shadow, that grants you invisibility 1x/day. Besides fitting for my rp-preference, this is a lifesaver in tight situations (until you have potions). Remember, that invisibility spell wont work if u r silenced... the Shadow power will.
2) Thief, for the sanctuary, as explained before.
3) Warrior, for the plus-attack skill

Many will think it is odd to have Warrior as a sign, but I was torn between Shadow (rp) and Warriror, and ultimately decided for the latter. IMO, you combat outcome is slightly more decided on ur ability to land those strikes than to defend against attacks (which is also important). Thats all I can remember (obviously did not work, then I dropped the game for several resaons).

Now that I think back, I was fond of The Tower when I first started playing. I liked having the 50 points of Open once a day, when Vvardenfell was new and fresh.

Fortify attack makes you more accurate IIRC. Its likely really helpful really early when you need to swing 20 times to hit, but preforms pretty poorly after even a bit of training in a weapon.

I suggest one of the magicka improvers (which of the 3 is a matter of taste). Buffing yourself is a pretty solid combat option for a warrior (not like raw magic attacks are effective in any way in Morrowind) and all of the other birthsigns are VERY easily replicated with some cheep items or leveling up.

I actually go for the mage just to use certain spells.