Morrowind:Starting out

The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995

Jump to: navigation, search


Contents

This is a list of hints to help you start your adventures in Vvardenfell on a good note. For more tips, see Hints.

[edit] Starting out

[edit] Tips

Make good use of the difficulty slider; it is recommended that you start out low and increase it every few levels, maxing out at +100 around level 35. You can find your own comfort zone where the game is still challenging, but not frustrating. The slider affects every action in the game, a little bit like Luck.

[edit] Easily Obtainable Items

[edit] Census and Excise Office

Once you finish talking to Socucius Ergalla, but before you give your release papers to Sellus Gravius, there are a few opportunities to make extra money before you officially begin. You can steal anything you wish with no repercussions from the rooms that are unguarded. However, it is also possible to steal items in the guarded portions. To accomplish this, pick an item—the Limeware platter on the shelf next to Socucius Ergalla is recommended—and immediately drop it on the floor. The guard will rush over, reprimand you, but will not issue you a bounty. After saying goodbye, simply pick the item back up.

In the adjacent room, there are a number of items worth taking. These include most of the silverware on the dining table, the dagger, the bottle of Flin, and the lockpick. You can use the lockpick on the small chest situated on the bottom of the shelf for a small amount of gold; you may also want to consider taking the bottles of Mazte and the book, The Firmament, from the other shelves, as well.

Back in the first room, you can use the lockpick on the chest near Socucius Ergalla to receive some gold. Characters with a high sneak level can also try to pickpocket Socucius Ergalla for money. The guard will rush over to you—whether you were picking locks or pockets—and again let you go free, neglecting to seize the stolen money.

As you travel to the next building there will be a barrel to the left of the door. Take the ring that is inside, it's used in the "Fargoth's ring" quest.

In the room with Sellus Gravius, make sure to walk behind him and take the key from the shelf before handing him your papers. Remember to once again immediately drop it on the floor, lest he retrieve the key from your possession. The key accesses the warehouse across the street, which is filled with pieces of armor, weapons, and ingredients for potions.

[edit] Around the Lighthouse

Scattered in and around the Lighthouse of Seyda Neen are numerous items that can be taken and sold to increase the amount of money your character has early on in the game.

[edit] Stash in Tree Trunks

There are two rotting tree trunks around the Lighthouse. The one close to the Lighthouse entryway contains 25 gold pieces and a silverware cup worth 13 gold. The second trunk contains an Iron Shardaxe worth 100 gold. The first trunk can be reached by jumping down from the wooden walkway leading up to the entrance; getting the Shardaxe is more of a challenge. One way to get to them is to climb onto the stones touching the Lighthouse and jumping off toward the trunk.

[edit] In the Lighthouse

If you go into the Lighthouse and climb all the way up the stairs you will find, next to the roof access, a bench. Under the bench is the Unarmored skill book The Wraith's Wedding Dowry, worth 300 gold. Nobody will see you if you take this book.

[edit] Exploiting the Early Quests

Three quests starting in Seyda Neen can all be exploited for a little extra cash early in the game.

  • First and most obvious is the Fargoth's Ring quest. You could keep the ring, but it's much more profitable to give it to him, as you'll get it back later (see below), and giving it to him gives you an instant Disposition boost with Arrille, the only trader in town. Perfect for selling the stuff you stole from the Census and Excise office above.
  • Next, you can exploit the Death of a Taxman quest. If you find the body just outside the town, he'll have 200 gold on him. When you report it to Socucius Ergalla, he'll ask if there was any cash on the body. You can just lie and keep the money. If you figure out who killed him and take care of it on your own, you can still get the reward money on top of the stolen taxes. Finally, when you find Processus Vitellius' Ring during this quest, instead of returning it to Thavere Vedrano, keep it - it's an Exquisite Ring, the best you can find. Either Enchant it, or sell it for profit, it's worth far more than the healing potions you'll get for returning it. (If you remember who you sold it to, you can always buy it back later when cash isn't a problem if you want to complete the quest).
  • The third exploitable quest is Fargoth's Hiding Place. Not only do you get back his ring during this quest, but you get a nice pile of gold. While you were told to return two thirds of this gold to Hrisskar Flat-Foot, there are no negative consequences if you just keep it. Again, you can always give it back to him later when you've got more money than you know what to do with.

[edit] The Road to Balmora

Most likely, your character's first destination after leaving the Chargen area and exploring Seyda Neen will be Balmora. There are several ways to get there. The easiest way is certainly to take the Siltstrider. A more lucrative and satisfying way is to walk. There is one path in particular on which the new adventurer can find many stashes of loot along the way.

As you exit Seyda Neen, you will see a road ahead that splits - you can go to the right and follow the path up to the Siltstrider, or you can go straight ahead and pass over a little bridge. The second swamp-like pond on your right hand side contains a rotting tree trunk with three stumps - one of them contains two piles of 25 gold pieces and a Firebite dagger worth 7 gold.

Continue following the path and an unfortunate Bosmer will fall out of the sky to land just in front of you. The corpse can be looted for three Scrolls of Icarian Flight worth 117 gold each; for details and safety tips, see this page.

Continue on the road until you see a sign. Leave the road at the sign and head out left towards the water. Follow the narrow coastline between the mountains and the water in a north-westerly direction.

Pass the dungeon entrance and continue along the narrow coast. You will find a remarkable tree on which you can find all four of the mushroom types you will need for the mushroom quest from the Balmora Mages Guild. While you're there, you can just as soon pick the samples. Just ahead you will see another tree trunk. (The fourth tree trunk you'll find if you looted the Seyda Neen Lighthouse previously.) This trunk contains a sack of gold.

Continue along the coast and you will find the Unexplored Shipwreck, within which you can find Diamonds and ash statues. There is also a Silver Longsword in a chest on the shoreline near to the shipwreck.

The next landmark is the Odai River, turn inland and cross it, so you are on its west side. Follow the river upwards until you find its second bridge near the miners, and cross going east. You shouldn't have to explore the area too much to find Vassir-Didanat Cave along the pathway, to the right side cliffs. Enter and leave immediately, there are strong creatures in the vicinity, although your journal will not update, you have gained a new dialog option. There are several Hlaalu councilors interested in this mine, if you later speak to Dram Bero in Vivec, this quest will net you a Daedric weapon of your choice early on. Note that Daedric weapons can be somewhat heavy...

Return to the Odai and follow it northeast until you reach Balmora.

[edit] Sword of White Woe

In Balmora's Eastern Guard tower, you can find a Sword of White Woe on top of a closet, on the top floor. You don't have to fight the guard there to get the items as there is a blind spot. If you are by the foot of the bunk beds, you can take the sword and not be noticed, although you might need to jump/levitate to see the sword.

There is a second Sword of White Woe in Suran. This one is under the bunk bed at the top of the guard tower, and is much harder to obtain, as you cannot put anything between the guard and yourself and still have the sword in sight. If you cannot frenzy or taunt the guard then you have several options. You could just steal the pillow, resist arrest, and kill him. That way you'll only get a 1 gold fine instead of a 17,000 gold fine for stealing the sword. Alternatively, you can steal one of the weapons hanging on the racks, run to the basement and trap the guard behind a door, pay the fine, and run back up and take the sword without having to kill the guard. Finally, if you have a decent Sneak skill, or can find a potion, scroll, or enchanted item providing either Invisibility or Chameleon, you should be able to stand in view of the guard and grab the sword.

[edit] Making Easy Gold

[edit] Balmora Mages Guild

This hint can net you about 80,000 gold* quite easily with no fighting/haggling/anything difficult involved. Basically, when you go to Balmora, go to the Mages Guild and join. Then, head downstairs to Ajira, the Khajiit alchemist. She will give you a quest to find four mushrooms. Do it, then report back, its the next quest you want. Now, she will ask you to put a fake soul gem in Galbedir's (the wood elf enchanter upstairs) desk. As you're going up the stairs, you will pass her going down. Run up to her desk and swipe everything on it. There is a Grand Soul gem with a Winged Twilight's soul in it, worth 60,000 gold along with some other filled Soul gems and a limeware platter. Once you have it all, you can put the Soul gem in the desk if you want, there's no real need to now, unless you want to complete the Mages Guild quests. Be aware not to use her enchanting services for soul gems of the same types as you stole from her. Stealing her Grand Soul Gem will mark all Grand Soul Gems as stolen from her.

* Note that there are no traders that can pay more than 10,000 gold for an item, unless you have the item's equivalent in value over other items worth less than 10,000 gold, and then you can use the sell-buyback method (a lengthy process) to get its full value.

[edit] Glass Daggers

There are three badly damaged glass daggers you can buy dirt cheap (about 30 gold) and either repair yourself or have repaired for about 300 gold. The first is in Suran, at the pawnbroker's shop. The other two are in Vivec, one sold by Audenian Valius (the Enchanter with a rat problem in Telvanni Canton Waistworks) and the other by Lucretinaus Olcinius, a trader on the St. Delyn Plaza.

[edit] Creeper

If you can help it, never sell anything to anyone except Creeper. Especially early on when your mercantile skill isn't very good, being able to sell your items at their base cost is extremely helpful. He will not buy books, ingredients or unenchanted clothing. After exhausting his 5000 gold supply, wait for 24 hours and it will have come back.

The first time you reach Creeper, you'll find a crate in the corner on the top floor that contains an orcish cuirass, pauldrons and greaves, which can be stolen with no consequences and sold to Creeper for around 5,000 gold.

[edit] Pearl Diving

In Seyda Neen, once you have a weapon, you can get some easy money by going diving. Walk round the back of Arrille's tradehouse and past the little houses until you reach water. There is a narrow stretch of water dividing you from the beginnings of the Bitter Coast region (you should be facing roughly northwest). Cross this stretch of water and continue forward until you see a mini lake with some Slaughterfish swimming about. That hump of rock in the middle of it is Nimawia Grotto. Kill the fish and enter the cave. There's ample breathing opportunity in the grotto. Inside, deal with any more Slaughterfish lying about then start checking the clams for pearls. There can be quite a few of them in the cave.

[edit] Soul Hunter

It is also possible to get much gold with hunting. Selling skin and meat is not very lucrative, but just start with some Mysticism skill, buy the Soul Trap spell and, with a petty soul gem, a rat soul can be sold for 100 gold, an alit will even get you 200 gold. Lesser soul gem or gems of similar size don't cost much and are easily found in dungeons. Selling souls will give you a lasting, very profitable source of gold.

[edit] Free Master's Alchemy Set

You can get a free set of Master's Alchemy Apparatus in the Caldera Mage's Guild without getting caught or expelled. You can also steal some ingredients. Use a Mage's Guild Guide to travel to Caldera. Head downstairs and look for the Wooden Door. If you go through it there will be a spiral staircase. Make sure you shut the door or someone might come in. Go up the spiral staircase, steal what you want, you're done.

[edit] Alchemy

If Alchemy is one of your major skills, and/or you happen to have any racial skill bonuses, you can make quite a bit of money from potions. Go to any Alchemist, buy 10 or so of any ingredients, such as Violet Coprinus, then buy that many of an ingredient with a corresponding effect, such as Ampoule Pod. As for making potions for yourself, combining Scuttles with Scrib Jerky makes a Restore Fatigue/Fortify Fatigue potion. The common food staples Bread and Small Kwama Eggs can be combined to make Restore Fatigue potions. Marshmerrow can be combined with Resin to make a Restore Health potion. Saltrice is also incredibly common, and has both Restore Health and Restore Fatigue effects.

A particularly good source of income involves buying ingredients in Sadrith Mora and selling potions to Creeper. Set up a Mark at Creeper's in Caldera then buy the Amulet of Recall from the trader Verick Gemain opposite Creeper's house. Use the Guild Guide in the Mage's Guild to teleport to the Wolverine Hall Mage's Guild. Buy all the Hound Meat, Crab Meat and Small Kwama Eggs from Tusamircil (he has 10 of each). These ingredients immediately restock, so keep buying until you are out of cash. Combine them to make Restore Fatigue potions - hundreds of them. Teleport back to Creeper and sell them. Return to Mage's Guild and repeat. Once your Alchemy skill reaches 30, you can start buying Racer Plumes and Trama Root from him in order to make Levitation potions. At skill level 45, start buying Corkbulb Root and combine it with the Crab Meat to make Resist Lightning potions. Lastly, Spore Pods and Ampoule Pods can be combined with Kwama Cuttle to make Drain Fatigue and Water Walking potions respectively. In all, only the Bungler's Bane cannot be used to make money.

[edit] Beginner's Adventuring

[edit] Addamasartus

A good beginner quest involves clearing out a nearby cave of smugglers. From Seyda Neen, turn right and approach the Silt Strider. As you get closer, there will be a path going left and downhill. Take that path to the door covering the Addamasartus entrance.

The smugglers here aren't especially tough, but it will be a challenge for a new character. Free the slaves to get a quest later on. You can also pick up their slave bracers and sell them to a merchant. Don't forget to loot the smugglers' bodies and all the boxes. There is a thief ring down the path near the caged slave area. There are also a few pieces of Armour lying around, and there is a good sword in a pool of water next to a skeleton.

[edit] Melee Combat Hints

[edit] Tips

  • If you're facing a group or a powerful enemy beyond your level, a few swigs of Sujamma will raise your strength and the damage you deal. Other drinks are helpful as well, but nothing offers the bang-for-the-buck of Sujamma.
  • Try to isolate enemies when dealing with groups, use the terrain to your advantage, and any superior reach or speed your weapon might have.
  • Your Fatigue and encumbrance levels affect your ability to successfully hit an opponent. Drop any unneeded, heavy objects in combat, you can pick them up later. If you see an enemy approaching, try to rest your fatigue for a few seconds, there is no need to rush in, unless they are mages or ranged attackers.
  • When facing ranged foes, try to weave and dodge. They are much easier after they expend their Magicka or projectiles.

[edit] Spears to Improve Your Endurance

Since Heavy Armor is, well, heavy and Medium Armor has limited uses in later levels, Spears are the best way to increase your mage's Endurance. Also, it might be a good idea to make endurance one of your favored attributes to max out your endurance as quickly as possible. Also note that spear has a longer reach, helping you to keep critters at bay. Arrille has two Iron Spears for sale. The Conjuration spell Bound Spear is helpful, cheap and weightless. The trader Ra'Virr in Balmora also has a cheap Devil Spear for sale, if you don't want to solely rely on spells.

[edit] Early Quests with Great Rewards

This is a section of quests that have fantastic rewards, and can be done by any player.

Auriel's Bow - Reward of an enchanted Daedric Cuirass and Daedric Greaves (Note that while this is a House Telvanni quest, anyone can do it).

Pilgrimages of the Seven Graces - Easily obtainable Dreugh Cuirass, which can be received over and over again.

Vassir-Didanat Ebony Mine - Great Daedric weapon for free.

[edit] Early Useful Items

[edit] Useful Spells

Retrieved from "http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Starting_out"
Sponsored Links
Personal tools