Combat and Tips for starters in Morrowind

[Heir Etan]

I was a custom class, and I got my butt beaten many times by a skeleton archer. An archer without his bow. I had left the place and waited till I healed. I came back with a fury, AND GOT MY BUTT BEAT DOWN BY A STUPID SKELETON! I was all up in his face with my silver staff and then my sword and shield. And I just kept missing and got beaten by a stupid skeleton. I had to use magic to defeat him. Also, I tried healing myself and failed 5 times in a row. I really wanted to like this game, and it has so many cools thing about it. But it may have been ruined for me by the combat system.

Now this shalt be a place for noobs in Morrowind who want to know how it works, or want to learn some tips for starting out.

[owman1]

This really annoys me as well, the key is that the game uses a chance system like a raditional RPG, so really clicking to attack is just rolling a dice. You really have to use a weapon you have a decent skill with or you'll never hit - It's for this reason i regret specialising in axes :P. The Morrowind system takes some getting used to but the more you develop your character the better it gets. On my save i rarely miss because of my high axes skill, but with a sword i'm useless!

Hope this helps.

[Heir Etan]

Originally posted by owman1:

This really annoys me as well, the key is that the game uses a chance system like a raditional RPG, so really clicking to attack is just rolling a dice. You really have to use a weapon you have a decent skill with or you'll never hit - It's for this reason i regret specialising in axes :P. The Morrowind system takes some getting used to but the more you develop your character the better it gets. On my save i rarely miss because of my high axes skill, but with a sword i'm useless!

Hope this helps.

Okay, which that makes a lot of sense. Besides when the only combat specialization I have is in Blunt Weapons, and I hit more with a sword than I do with my staff. But I do understand what you are saying, I should just use more magic and get more magic potions.

[Logorouge]

Don't forget that an empty fatigue/stamina bar really drops your chances to hit and cast spells successfully. Depending on the situation, it might be better to stop swinging for a moment and let your stamina recover a bit. You'll get much better results in everything that way.

As a guideline: If you're missing more than half the time, you're doing something wrong.

Also, although it's nice to keep a silver weapon handy, you should really buy yourself a better weapon than that silver staff. Even a cheap iron mace would hit harder.

[Heir Etan]

Originally posted by logorouge:

Don't forget that an empty fatigue/stamina bar really drops your chances to hit and cast spells successfully. Depending on the situation, it might be better to stop swinging for a moment and let your stamina recover a bit. You'll get much better results in everything that way.

As a guideline: If you're missing more than half the time, you're doing something wrong.

Also, although it's nice to keep a silver weapon handy, you should really buy yourself a better weapon than that silver staff. Even a cheap iron mace would hit harder.

*gasp* Besides the obvious, how did you know I used the Silver Staff? Besides the obvious of me recently starting out in the game. So I suppose I will get a Mace or something as fast as I can.

[Logorouge]

Originally posted by TheEtanMan:

*gasp* Besides the obvious, how did you know I used the Silver Staff? Besides the obvious of me recently starting out in the game. So I suppose I will get a Mace or something as fast as I can.

Well, you actually mentioned it in your original post. :P

[Heir Etan]

Originally posted by logorouge:

Originally posted by TheEtanMan:

*gasp* Besides the obvious, how did you know I used the Silver Staff? Besides the obvious of me recently starting out in the game. So I suppose I will get a Mace or something as fast as I can.

Well, you actually mentioned it in your original post. :P

Oh, good point. Hehe

[ForevaNoob Wonemorturn]

It's boring, quite a good idea but poorly executed, but it gets quickly better after a few levels up...

[Toha]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=472931211
Here's an introduction to how hit chances are calculated in combat.

Seriously, guys, stop complaining about this combat. It actually IS perfectly reasonable.
Delivering a proper cut with a sword (for instance) even to an immobile object requires practise. Generating enough force for the strike is one thing, but for strike to actually count you need to hit your mark (takes some time to adjust to weight and balance) and keep a perfect edge alignment - otherwise you'll club your target, not cut it. And fighting another person (or humanoid) is a whole another story. Not only do you need to be able to strike with the sword correctly, but deal with opponent's dodging, side(back)stepping, parrying, blocking, grapples and so on. Fighting beast/other creatures will demand from you an ability to pierce their hides or hit vulnerable spots of creatures with shells. Not to mention keeping your own defenses up.

In Morrowind having a weapon skill below 40 basically means a character is just untrained with the weapon type. And as the skills improve, so does your character's combat prowess. So I see no reasons to complain. Training to wield a sword/axe/spear/mace/whatever yourself properly would take a lot of more time then it does in Morrowind. That said, blunt weaponry and spears have the least demand in terms of skill and training IRL to be effective in user's hands.

[Ottfried]

I have a little tip for you if your hit chances keep beeing bad. after you arive in the first big city (balmora) search all the shops for a khajiit with "daedra weapons". he sells you ♥♥♥♥♥♥ weapons with awesome enchantments! That way you can use a daedra weapon from the beginning and the enchantment boosts your skill too ;)

[Heir Etan]

Originally posted by Zypzilon:

I have a little tip for you if your hit chances keep beeing bad. after you arive in the first big city (balmora) search all the shops for a khajiit with "daedra weapons". he sells you ♥♥♥♥♥♥ weapons with awesome enchantments! That way you can use a daedra weapon from the beginning and the enchantment boosts your skill too ;)

How Expensive are they?

[Toha]

Frankly speaking, their price is irrelevant as you can make gobs of money right in Balmora's temple. Only finding traders with sufficient amounts of money to sell your product is somewhat problematic.

[Heir Etan]

Originally posted by Toha:

Frankly speaking, their price is irrelevant as you can make gobs of money right in Balmora's temple. Only finding traders with sufficient amounts of money to sell your product is somewhat problematic.

Well thank you kindly sir. Learning all this stuff about how Morrowwind works will definitely make me hate it less, thank all who posted.

[Toha]

Alright, you stated a problem, you were given a solution to it. And now you just brush people's good intentions toward you aside.
Let me guess, then - you started a topic just to whine about your dislike to this game? That kind of behaviour makes zero sense to me.

[Heir Etan]

Originally posted by Toha:

Alright, you stated a problem, you were given a solution to it. And now you just brush people's good intentions toward you aside.
Let me guess, then - you started a topic just to whine about your dislike to this game? That kind of behaviour makes zero sense to me.

Wait, that is the way I made it seem? I am sorry, I really didn't mean it like that. I'm still learning how to say things on the internet without insulting someone. I really am not trying to be sarcastic at all. I really do appreciate the tips that you guys have given me; I really, truly do.

[Heir Etan]

It is just hard to say certain things without making them seem sarcastic. There is not many ways to tell for certain the tone of voice of a person through typed words, you know what I mean?