I know that I can get a shield spell or effect to work properly by removing a piece of gear and putting it back on, but is there any actual fix to allow me to just use shield like other spells and not have to go through inventory hoops?

Thanks!

You can buy the spell at any of http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Alteration_Spells#Shield locations. Once you buy it, you should be able to cast it as needed or try creating your own CE item. There are at least 2 artifacts in the game that already have a CE Shield on them. One is Wraithguard which you get as you go thru the MW MQ and the other is the Ebony Mail.

Mods, you may want to move this to MW CH&S forum.

I know how to find and cast it. The problem is that it doesn't work until you remove a piece of gear, which you can then replace. It's a bug I'd like to fix.

Example:

My new wizard has an armor rating of 5. I cast first barrier. My armor rating is still 5, until I remove his shoes (or shirt, or whatever), which I can then replace. Armor rating then shows as 15.

Sounds like something the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=19510 might fix.

It doesn't seem to. I have the two recommended user patches running.

I've noticed lately that picking up *anything* from inventory sets the armor correctly. I'm pretty sure this happens to everybody, so I bet someone has a solution, mod based or otherwise.

I remember reading that your characters armor is actually correct but that the menu simply doesn't update until you access your inventory, meaning there should be no affect on gameplay.

Are you sure? It *feels* very different, though of course that doesn't involve real data.