Help configure my fighter/mage

[CyberNinja]

I've had Morrowind for the better part of the last two years, but it seems that every time I start up I can't seem to get too much past Balmora and the intro quests you get there. I feel too intimidated by the free-form nature of the world, and lose interest because I feel that there is so much that I don't know and can't do. However, this time I've determined to grit my teeth and make the most out of what everyone seems to hail as a remarkably rewarding gaming experience. Which leads me to my question. One of the reasons why I get put off with the game is the character creation methodology. I'm used to games where I choose a race and choose a predetermined class, but with Morrowind, I find that there are too many options and too much to take into consideration. The class that I want is basically a fighter/mage class, ala the BG series, however I have no idea what skills to choose and what attributes to specialize in. Not to mention which race to choose. Therefore, I've decided to seek the wisdom and experience of my fellow forum-members in regards to my character-selection query, viz. what is the best mix/match of race, attribute, skills, and sign (I forgot about Sign in earlier rant.) for a fighter/mage character. Also keeping in mind that I'd like to be involved with both fighter and mage guilds, whatever that means for character creation.

[fable]

One of the reasons why I get put off with the game is the character creation methodology. I'm used to games where I choose a race and choose a predetermined class, but with Morrowind, I find that there are too many options and too much to take into consideration.

For most of us, that's one of the joys of Morrowind: the ability to tailor your character's skills anyway you want. But if you prefer having a fighter/mage, who's to stop you?

I'd suggest choosing heavy armor, long blades, and maybe block to simulate the fighter part of things. (You can always learn other weapons types later when the money roles in, by going to trainers.) Put at least a couple of magic-based schools in there, too. Do you want to do magcial damage? If so, add Destruction. If not, concentrate on schools that offer assisting spells, such as Alternation, Conjuration, and Mysticism. I'd leave out Restoration, since that will probably remind you too much of clerics, while Illusion will probably bring thieves to mind.

You might want to seriously consider Alchemy, however. It should make up for Restoration, allowing you to make all sorts of useful battle enhancements.

EDIT: I also changed your thread title. "n00b q3$ti0n" will probably drive away help rather than bring it to you, and l33t is frowned on, even as a joke. Which it is.

[welshmouse]

if you're so worried aobut making a mistake with tailoring your own class i would recomend you go for a pre-determined one. from what your saying i tihnk a spellsword would be best for you.
race though is entirely up to you.

[wing]

a fighter-mage is my usual character, and i usually go with:
major skills: long blade, light armor(you could do different armor or weapon, but i like these best. its just opinion.) destruction, and 2 other magic skills
minor skills: any 5 magic skills that aren't already picked. a few i suggest are alchemy, restoration, and alteration(they could go in major skills too)
sign: apprentice, mage, or atronach. all three are good. i dont use atronach as much, though.
race: breton or dark elf(if you're going with apprentice for sign, i suggest being breton to cancel out the 50% weakness to magicka)
favored atributes: any 2 of intel, will, str, luck, and agility.
specialization: pick between fighting and magic

well there it is. hope it helps.
edit: i got messed up between apprentice and mage. apprentice gets the -50% vs magicka, not mage. sorry about that. its fixed now

[CyberNinja]

@Wing

Thanks a lot. That was the kind of advice/tutorial I had in mind. Are there any benefits to going one armor class over another, i.e is there more/better armor of one type?

@Fable

I apologize for my poor attempt at humor. I guess the new thread name works just as well, despite being a bit bland and unimaginative

[triline beta]

The armor tyoes have different strengths and weaknesses.
heavy armor provides to most protection, but, in my opinion, is way to heavy to be practical. medium armor provides protection that is... medium. it weighs less than heavy and more than light, and would pobably be best for your fighter/mage. light armor provides the least protection (though is still very good) and weighs the least. it is ideal for and archer or thief. Also some exampples of each armor type- heavy i.e.- Daedric
medium i.e.- Indriol (sorry)
light i.e. glass
hope this helps!

[Raven_Song]

Here''s how I would do it...

Major skills:

Destruction (Willpower)
Medium or Heavy Armour (Endurance)
Block (Agility)
Long Blade/Blunt Weapon/Axe (Strength)
Illusion (Personality)

Minor:

Enchant (Intelligence)
Alchemy (Intelligence)
Alteration (Willpower)
Mysticism (Willpower)
Athletics (Speed)

This way you've got all your attributes covered meaning levelling will be a little easier.

Although you won't have any thiefly skills per se, this will be covered by Illusion (covers Sneak, Speechcraft) Mysticism/Alteration (covers Security)

If you don't like athletic you could go Hand-to-Hand or Short Blade, personally I prefer my characters to be a little speedier.

Race: Breton
Sign: Atronach (I really don't see the point of selecting Apprentice and cancelling out your innate magic resistance)

Favored atributes: Strength & Intelligence
Specialization: Magic

However in all honesty the best advice I can give you is experiment with builds yourself and find characters that suit your style of play.

[wing]

[QUOTE=CyberNinja]@Wing

Thanks a lot. That was the kind of advice/tutorial I had in mind. Are there any benefits to going one armor class over another, i.e is there more/better armor of one type?

@Fable

I apologize for my poor attempt at humor. I guess the new thread name works just as well, despite being a bit bland and unimaginative [/QUOTE]
triline beta described the advantages/disadvantages pretty good, i think.

[Darzog]

I think Raven Song is pretty close but I have just a couple of minor changes:

Major skills:
Destruction (Willpower)
Light or Heavy Armour (Agility or Endurance)
Block (Agility)
Long Blade/Blunt Weapon/Axe (Strength)
Enchant (Intelligence)

Minor:
Alchemy (Intelligence)
Alteration (Willpower)
Mysticism (Willpower)
Athletics (Speed)
Speechcraft (Personality)

Race: Breton
Sign: Atronach
Favored atributes: (STR and WIL) or (END and LUC)
Specialization: Magic

For armour I don't recommend Medium as Heavy and Light are better. Heavy gives you the most protection and adds Endurance as a stat but is very heavy. Light armour can also be very good as is much lighter. For light armour you have complete Glass sets and for heavy you have Ebony and Daedric. Heavy armours get massive enchant points also so as long as your Strength is going to be high this is a good option. But since you also need to work on your INT and WIL you may get overloaded in the beginning of the game with Heavy Armour. Just something to think about. The major downside of going with Light Armour is that you wn't have a Major/Minor using Endurance so you would have to pay trainers to get a +5 modifier when you level (which shouldn't be terribly expensive when all the skills are low).

I took out Illusion because that is more focused on thief-like abilities. They are very useful but aren't as close to the fighter/mage focus. To keep a Personality skill I added Speechcraft since it will help you raise dispositions on people (used for quests and to reduce prices of merchants).

When I make a magic user, Breton/Atronach is always my choice. The combination of added magicka and magic absorption is fantastic. The only downside is that you don't heal magicka so you need to carry lots of potions. You can get several potions from the various Mage Guilds around the continent so that helps, plus you can make your own once you can afford the components.

For your favored attributes, there are two schools of thought on this. You could pick them to compliment your character and give him an early boost. If this is the case, pick Strength and Willpower to boost your damage, Long Blade (or Blunt or Axe) skill and to boost your Destruction/Alteration/Mysticism skills. The other thought is to boost some stats that may not get as much help as you level. Luck does not get any modifiers when you level, so you can only increase it by at most 1 every time you level whereas you can raise all other stats by 5 (if you work out the right modifier). So picking Luck at the beginning is equivalent to raising it for 10 levels but all other stats only benefit by 2 levels (assuming you get a modifier of 5). If you choose to go with Luck as one favored attribute you can pick just about anything else, but Endurance and Personality will be the attributes with the lowest modifiers by general gameplay so they both make good options; as a fighter character I suggest Endurance if you go with Light Armour.

For your specialization, either Magic or Combat will work. You will probably have more magic related skills and your combat related skills will go up reasonably quickly just by fighting, so Magic might be the best option.