I level up too fast and find the game easy too quick.

[MrHoward]

Hey everyone, I've been playing this game for 5 years and still haven't beaten it. Every single time I get into it, I get to a point where I'm level 15 and every dungeon is a cakewalk, and I'm fully kitted with the best armor that is really easy to acquire, all before I even finish the Corprusarium bit. I usually make a long blade person with light armor (last playthrough had heavy, but then i got full ebony just from a mid-game fighter's guild quest) and a bunch of other magic skills. I find that always, with my specialization in magic and my armor/long blade as major skills, my blade/armor skill is like 50 ahead all my other skills each. At this point, the game gets too easy and I quit.

Now, I want a way to keep this game challenging. Would making an altmer with apprentice birthsign accomplish this? Is there a specific way to build my character that would put off this mid-game slaughter? I find that, as a perfectionist, I often try to get +5s on my characters, but I don't gain character levels though training, just attributes from training misc skills.

Advice?

[Ankou]

Have you tried mods designed to draw out the early game and increase difficulty?
There is a hardcore mod I've never tried:
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/45846

And Morrowind Rebirth does it some too:
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/37795

And there are mods that change how stats are rewarded, this is my personal favorite but there are others:
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/44294


Aside from mods, my advice is to curb your urges to min-max your stats, just take what you can get through normal play. Avoid training except to make a skill you need usable in gameplay and don't be afraid to take some "useless" skills to fill out a character concept.
Create roleplay limits, like your character can only equip weapons based on an arbitrary limit you've placed on their strength.
Your perfectionist tendencies are sabotaging your desire to be engaged and challenged. (I have the exact same problem.)

Start on a higher difficulty and increase it as you level up. I usually start on 15-20 and start bumping it up once I notice things are feeling too easy. I like to take it slow there though, bump it too high too quickly and enemies turn into damage sponges that can 2-shot you.

For a challenge, that sounds like a good risky character versus magic-using enemies. I've never done that combo in Morrowind but it could be fun, lots of magicka to throw around.

I prefer medium or heavy armor for a challenge, light is actually too good. Heavy because early game it will take up a lot of your encumbrance, meaning less loot/less money, and with mods like Rebirth it's pretty hard to get a full set of ebony just through normal gameplay.
Medium armor because you will get stuck in a mediocre set of armor for a very long time and have to earn the best sets from the expansion packs.
I've never played an unarmored character in any TES game, so no advice there.

Same goes for weapons, long and short blades are some of the best and most common in the game. If you don't want to be a pure mage, maybe axe, blunt, or even marksman as your primary weapon skill.

[Arnie Rimsy BSc.SSc.]

Have you actually got the difficulty turned up?

[swahnsoon]

Turn the difficulty up and switch the gear you've been using to another type.

[////]

it's not hard game at all. you only need to know what you are doing. the hard parts supposed to be draining of stats, enemies immune to certain types of damage and no fast travel/gps system.

but since it's a true sandbox, you are free to role-play however you want. for example, pilgrim who's using only staffs...

freedom not to ruin their experience quite often becomes most challenging part for many morrowind players.

[Arnie Rimsy BSc.SSc.]

Originally posted by ////:

it's not hard game at all. you only need to know what you are doing. the hard parts supposed to be draining of stats, enemies immune to certain types of damage and no fast travel/gps system.

but since it's a true sandbox, you are free to role-play however you want. for example, pilgrim who's using only staffs...

freedom not to ruin their experience quite often becomes most challenging part for many morrowind players.

He is saying it is too easy, not hard...

[////]

Originally posted by Unterzee Citizen:

Originally posted by ////:

it's not hard game at all. you only need to know what you are doing. the hard parts supposed to be draining of stats, enemies immune to certain types of damage and no fast travel/gps system.

but since it's a true sandbox, you are free to role-play however you want. for example, pilgrim who's using only staffs...

freedom not to ruin their experience quite often becomes most challenging part for many morrowind players.

He is saying it is too easy, not hard...

and i'm saying that this game wasn't meant to be hard. so?

[psychotron666]

You're not using accurate attack mod are you?

And you're going out of your way to get +5 modifiers, which obviously makes the game easier.

Long blade is the most op weapon skill by far, with all the best weapons.

But yes, game gets easy by level 15. Why not turn up the difficulty and just play the game rather than power build a guy by making sure you get +5 every level up.

Also tribunal and especially blood moon are way harder than the rest of the game.

[Arnie Rimsy BSc.SSc.]

Originally posted by ////:

Originally posted by Unterzee Citizen:

He is saying it is too easy, not hard...

and i'm saying that this game wasn't meant to be hard. so?

He wants it hard, so your comment is irrelevant and unhelpful. Did you even read his post, or do you just want him to submit to your opinion and play it "easy"?

[Arnie Rimsy BSc.SSc.]

Originally posted by psychotron666:

You're not using accurate attack mod are you?

And you're going out of your way to get +5 modifiers, which obviously makes the game easier.

Long blade is the most op weapon skill by far, with all the best weapons.

But yes, game gets easy by level 15. Why not turn up the difficulty and just play the game rather than power build a guy by making sure you get +5 every level up.

Also tribunal and especially blood moon are way harder than the rest of the game.

I am a bit outdated on my knowledge witht he Steam version, but Tribuneral should be done last I do believe, and Bloodmoon needs to be about level 20 or the werewolves will be too strong? Forgive me if I am wrong, it has been a long time.

[MrHoward]

I have turned up the difficulty, but it just feels weird incrementally increasing it, because its like your character increased in power, but the world is levelling with him (like oblivion's problem). It's almost like theres lots of early game content and no mid game.

[Arnie Rimsy BSc.SSc.]

Originally posted by Mr. Howard:

I have turned up the difficulty, but it just feels weird incrementally increasing it, because its like your character increased in power, but the world is levelling with him (like oblivion's problem). It's almost like theres lots of early game content and no mid game.

Honestly I have always passed that off as your character simply becoming a god. You basically reach levels of progression that rival being a Demi-God in these games. I use these games as a time sink walking simulator anyway so I have no idea, but maybe dig around on Nexus website and see if there are any dedicated difficulty mods made?

[Big Poppa Shmee]

Part of the game becoming easier is because, you're letting it. You know where things are. I've played Morrowind since it first came out on PC. I had it on Xbox, and then finally bought it again on steam. I can't remember what I used to, its been some years since I've played it. But, I know enough to where I can make nearly any playthrough much easier.

But that's my choice. Roleplay your character. I loved how crude and cheap the iron armor looked. It made my character feel like a mercenary. Purposely sticking with lower end armor and weapons can help make it more difficult. Just because you know where to get a full set of Daedric or Ebony doesn't mean you need to do that every game.

Morrowind lets you eventually become the most powerful entity in the game. If you want more of a challenge, make a mage. A mage at level 1 is quite difficult. You won't have very much Magicka, and you'll need to make sure you're always prepared with potions, scrolls, and the right items.To make things more difficult yet, make a mage, and only use magic items you make yourself.

If you've played any game enough, there's a way to cheese it. That's the same with every game. Its your decision how far you go. I remember on the Xbox, I had trouble killing Umbra with my level 17 mage. I did kind of cheese him, but it was realistic I suppose. I hit him with a spell then immediately used a ring of hoptoad, which let me quite high, and also slowed my fall quite a bit, so I fell very slowly. This let me cast all my most powerful spells, use my offensive magic items and scrolls. It took me like 6 tries. Umbra 2 shot me, and usually I wasn't quick enough to hit him with my big scroll (had to be up close), and then jump into the air backwards before he could hit me. Don't use the armor and longblade, go magic only.

[////]

Originally posted by Unterzee Citizen:

Originally posted by ////:

and i'm saying that this game wasn't meant to be hard. so?

He wants it hard, so your comment is irrelevant and unhelpful. Did you even read his post, or do you just want him to submit to your opinion and play it "easy"?

you didn't read my post. only first sentence of it.

[MrHoward]

Magic only...theres an idea. Like a monk with only h2h and maybe blunt as a minor for quarterstaves.... throw in some sneak and then rest is magic.... Damn, that actually sounds pretty fun. I'll try it out, see how far I get.

[Arnie Rimsy BSc.SSc.]

Originally posted by Mr. Howard:

Magic only...theres an idea. Like a monk with only h2h and maybe blunt as a minor for quarterstaves.... throw in some sneak and then rest is magic.... Damn, that actually sounds pretty fun. I'll try it out, see how far I get.

The one that always challenged me was projectiles only