Some tricks...

[Opalescence]

I have no clue if these tricks have been posted before, but I haven't seen them, so I thought I might add to some of the general knowledge. Please note, these are primarily for new-ish players (though perhaps not pure noobies), so if you've played through the game 23845 times with every possible combination of character, you needn't read this.

Trick #1:
Most of you know about the Limeware Platter sitting there just waiting to be stolen at the very beginning of the game in Seyda Neen. Most of you also know about the Creeper in Caldera. What most people don't seem to do is take advantage of these two placed together. What most people do is sell the platter at a horrible price reduction at the Seyda Neen tradehouse. Now, when the game starts you're given somewhere around 70ish gold to get you started. Technically speaking, you need not spend ANY mulah, you could walk to Caldera from Seyda Neen and back, but apart from the fact that this is extremely slow and boring, but for a lvl 1 character that hasn't raised any of his/her skills at all, plus with a rusty dagger for a weapon and no armor to speak of, it might even be dangerous. A far safer method will cost you somewhere around 40-60 gold, but it will GUARANTEE that you'll get there quickly and safely. That's right, Siltstrider and Mage teleporter. So, spend the dough to take the fast, safe siltstrider to Balmora, then the mage guild guide to Caldera. Go to creeper, sell the platter for the full 650 (instead of the 200-300something you'd get from most vendors). If you want, go back to Seyda Neen the way you came, 650 gold richer.

Trick #2:
This isn't really a trick, just a warning. First of all, I HIGHLY discourage you to use medium armor. As far as I am aware there are NO decent medium armors in the game. So, the choice is between light and heavy armor. I thought I should just put my 2 cents into what I think are the pros and cons of the both of them:

Light Armor:
You'll probably end up using Glass armor. The light armor with a constant effect 60% magic resistance, available at Tel Fyr, is an excellent choice with incredible armor class bonus, too (it's called Skin of the Something, I forget what). Also, it's light (duh), so you can carry ALOT more loot. The downside? Well, there really isn't any, that I can see. Slightly less Armor Class than heavy armor, so A full set of Glass vs a full set of Ebony at Light and Heavy armor rank 100 would mean that the glass would have somewhere around 20ish % less AC.

Oh yes, and if you've got the expansion packs, light armor's got the added advantage that VERY early on, you can get the Dark Brotherhood armor, which is EXCELLENT since you can get 30ish AC at lvl 1.

Other notes on Glass Armor: If you ask me, it's slightly easier to get Glass armor than it is to get Ebony (and DEFNIATELY easier than Daedric!). Why?

1: Almost half of it can be stolen from the fighter's guild in Ald'ruhn.
2: Golden Saints often carry glass weaponry/shields.
3: Much of the rest of it can be found in Vivec, stolen from the Redoran, Hlaalu, and/or Telvanni vaults.
4: Some guy (forgot his name), SELLS the FULL glass armor set in the Tower of Dusk in Ghostgate, so whatever pieces you didn't get, you can buy.

Heavy Armor:
AC. Massive amounts of it, especially if your heavy armor skill is high and you're wearing stuff like Deadric. Oh yes, and Daedric armor and shields have absolutely MASSIVE amounts of enchant points; the Daedric Tower Shield has around 300ish, I think (!). Oh yeah, and the Lord's Armor and the Ebony Mail are both Heavy, I think.

More advantages:
1: Convenient to get the full set
- There is a daedric ruin to the southwest of Khuul and to the northeast of Ald Velothi, huge and unmistakeable. If I'm not wrong about this, at the bottom of this ruin is a vampire who carries the ENTIRE Ebony armor set except for the Helm and the Shield. (NOTE: I found out recently that he's the leader, or something, of a vampire clan. Killing him for his armor may disrupt the game if you're a vampire of that guy's "strain", or whatever they call it).
- In the Serano Ancestral Tomb, just north of the shrine in the Fields of Kummu, there's a Hunger that has a Serano Ebony Helm. Technically, killing that Hunger is part of a Fighter's Guild quest but you can kill him anyway.

Presto! You've got full Ebony armor.

Trick #3:
aka "never worry about lvl 80-100 locks AGAIN!"
or "Security is useless now."
Even an extremely powerful 100-100 Open on Touch costs only around 30 enchant points. This means that you don't even need an exquisite ring to pull off a ring of Open Everything. As long as you can pull off around 50 grand to pay for the creation of this ring, you'll never need to level Security, and you won't even need to know ANY magic. My suggestion: go on a round of the mage's guilds until you find the spell of Open (sorry, can't remember who's got it), get it, and you won't be sorry!

Trick #4:
aka "free stuff's always nice"
In Caldera (that town's great isn't it?) Mage's Guild, in the tower, is a full set of Master Alchemy Equipment (Mortar/Pestal, Calcinator, ...) and nobody around to see you loot everything. Isn't that nice? But the tip is this: you can (and should!) do this as your selling that platter to Creeper. In one round-trip, you've got excellent equipment to brew your own potions AND you're 650 gold richer. Isn't that wonderful?

[unregisturd]

Even an extremely powerful 100-100 Open on Touch costs only around 30 enchant points. This means that you don't even need an exquisite ring to pull off a ring of Open Everything. As long as you can pull off around 50 grand to pay for the creation of this ring, you'll never need to level Security, and you won't even need to know ANY magic. My suggestion: go on a round of the mage's guilds until you find the spell of Open (sorry, can't remember who's got it), get it, and you won't be sorry!

I believe it would be easier to make a spell, 100-100 open. Even if you aren't a mage, it doesn't take up much Magicka, and it costs far less. Only 412 septims, for me. I think newbs would find it easier to do that then come up with 50k just for an enchantment.

[Opalescence]

Yes, but some people (and I can't say I agree with them, but hey...) like to play grunt, as in Big, Stupid dude that Hits Very Hard. A character like that couldn't cast Open 100-100 because he has an Alteration skill level of maybe 5, which would give him, what, a -273% chance of casting the spell? The advantage of shelling out the mulah is that ANYBODY, from a Telvanni master of magic to the most gruntish Redoran warrior can use the ring/belt/whatever of Open Everything.

[fable]

I think everything you've posted has been written and rewritten here several times, Opalescence, but it's good to have it all in one place.

One note: I wouldn't discourage anybody from using medium armor. Why? Because the game's so easy to beat as it stands. It's incredibly simple to train up and become a master of all disciplines, so that even a fighter can wield mighty magics, and even a stringy mage can handle a daedric two-hander with aplomb. Trying everything and just having fun is a lot of what Morrowind is about for me, at least, and powergaming isn't necessary to win. Just my two drakes.