Hey everyone.

I wanted to ask for some advice about the game difficulty, but at the same time I thought why not make it a thread where people can discuss what their favorite difficulty is and why.

So, what is your preferred difficulty and why?

I have recently started a new Morrowind character, and it just so happens to be my very first Nord playthrough in any TES game. I just couldn't help myself after seeing all the speculation going on about TESV and that it might be in Skyrim! I've also downloaded and downloaded lots of Graphics enhancement mods and now I'm very happy with the new look of the game. Besides that I haven't installed any mods that effect the overall Morrowind experience, because IMO it's already perfect. (here is the modding guide I used for this playthrough and I installed all the mods from step 1 to 12). http://morrowind2009.wordpress.com/

One of the mods in particular added companions who can join you - I'm not sure which mod did this, but being the big Baldurs Gate and Fallout fan that I am I couldn't help but convince 2 characters to travel along with me :hugs:

When I was level 1-3 battles were still kinda hard. But now that I am level 7, and no doubt my companions have leveled up a bit... or maybe not. Do NPC's level? Battles are getting really easy. So my main 2 questions are;

Do NPC's level?

and

What difficulty should I play at if I have 2 companions, and I don't want fights to be too easy?

Thanks! And I'm sorry that I've made my post longer than It has to be. But I had a strong cup of coffee not long ago and how I love to talk :rock:

EDIT: Just took a quick screen shot of my adventurers: http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x118/drakortha/Morrowind2010-09-1011-59-10-42.jpg

Enough for challenge, which really depends on my mod setup. At the moment I have it at the default setting - no companions yet - I'll pick them up when I find them. Trying out a really challenging mod at the moment; deadly so far, even on center difficulty (the Kwama Foragers have a ranged attack, the cliff racers can summon help, etc).


Depends on the NPC, really. Usually, if it's modded, they have a level either based on your own or through a system designed by the modder. It's good to check out each one's readme to see how the modder(s) decided to handle it.


Whatever is enough to be challenging, to your taste. Some people like a very high amount of difficulty, while some prefer a more relaxed gameplay style. I'd suggest you just experiment with the difficulty slider and see what suits you. With 2 companions, it'd probably be somewhere around +50 or so in my game, but it really depends on which companions I'm bringing along and what level I am.

Thanks! :goodjob:

The mod your using with the Foragers and Cliff Racers seems pretty interesting. The mods that I have makes those creatures a little more placid, and don't normally attack unless provoked. It's a little easier, but more realistic.

Yep I appreciate natural wildlife, realism (eat & sleep), NPC scheduling, LGNPC, and similar as much as anyone else. They're great mods, very atmospheric, and enhance the game while keeping lore intact and adding more roleplayability. After so many years, though, I thought I'd take a chance with a completely different style of gameplay (for better or for worse). It may not be realistic, but it's definitely keeping me on my toes!

But I'm getting off-topic

So in closing.... have fun!

On my current character I have the difficulty maxed out. BRING EM ON! :toughninja:
And not a single septum in the pocket. Now that's playing tough.

I don't play Morrowind for combat. I leave my difficulty at default.

Always turn it up for 'bosses'. :ahhh:

Dagoth Ur is a walk in the park without some difficulty ramp-up..

Interesting statement...but, you still have to face the combat at some point unless you RPG stealthy characters. :shrug:

Makes me wonder by your statement if the difficulty slider targets just the game combat. Interesting. And if so,
and you have no interest in combat, then slide it to easy. Correct assumption?

Thanks for provoking though on this.

Difficulty only changes damage dealt and received, and only for you, not for any other entity in the game world.

i alter my difficulty depending on how difficult im finding things. eg quest is very hard on highest difficulty=decrease difficulty, quest too easy=raise difficulty

As a general rule I do not touch the difficulty slider, because in my opinion foes take too many hits to take down as it is. I like my fights ending in a few (significant) hits. This is partly why I'm not crazy about Tribunal or Bloodmoon: the devs went on a HP frenzy there.

I play unmodded GOTY edition Morrowind on my 360, so I don't have any companions. I play on max difficulty, however. My character is so completely overpowered at level 67 as a Warrior. He one shots just about everything even at 100 difficulty.

You know, I didn't even know about the difficulty setting until reading about it here. The only time I am ever in the "Options" area is to shut off the music sometimes, when the only sounds I want are the leaves in the trees, the birds chirping, and those terrible sounds of buzzing flies when I know something is dead around the corner.

Default, I guess. Never thought about it, really.

The difficulty slider is only in the GOTY edition, so if you have vanilla Morrowind, it's not in there. Same with enemy health bars.

Oh, I have both, the first Morrowind in its own box, and the GOTY editions that were put out. I just read the book, studied the maps, and then made a character. I was never one for "tweaking" and looking at all my physical options until I wanted to turn off the music for a while. Thought now knowing it is there, I may indeed "amp" it ip once or twice to see the difference in adversaries.

Wrong on both counts. The difficulty slider and the enemy health bars were added with patch v1.1.0605.

I'm not talking about the PC version with patches. I'm talking about the xbox version, Vanilla Morrowind did not have either, and neither did the Platinum addition, and GOTY edition did.
So, I'm quite right.

Technically, only half-right since the game comes on two platforms. You didn't specify which one you were talking about.


EDIT: A new signature! Yay!

If I'm specifically talking about one thing when I make the post, I don't have to specify. I don't have to make myself clear, because I knew what I was talking about.
So, yeah, I was right. :goodjob: I'm not going to argue semantics about a difficulty slider.

Cant help but love those self riotous types.

;)

My first time through the MQ, I used the default difficulty. For some quirky reason, I've set my difficulty slide at 95.
...Whatever...

i feel smug for getting GOTY for 2 pounds now

Generally I start out at the default difficulty setting and increase or decrease it to a level I'm comfortable with if the game starts to get too easy or too difficult. Usually, I try to keep it at a level where I can face a degree of challenge but things don't get too unreasonable, with my previous character, I had it raised somewhat due to being at a high level and the default difficulty level just not offering any challenge at all. But since I started a new character, I've had it at the center, things can be difficult at times, but since I haven't left the area around Seyda-Neen yet, things haven't been more than I can handle, and I have to say I like that feeling of being in a large world where any wrong move could get you killed Morrowind offers in the early game.

As far as companions leveling, it really depends on how the modder designed it. Many companion mods have leveling in some form so your companions don't become too weak later on, but how this is set up depends on how the modder designed the mod. As to what difficulty you should use when playing with two companions, you'll have to try out different settings until you find what you're comfortable with, not everyone wants the same level of difficulty in the game, after all, not to mention that I don't know how powerful your character or the companions are.

Never touch the slider. Its always on default.