A question for you dirty Morrowind fans

[LetalisK]

You're not actually dirty, I just wanted to get the attention of the more hardcore Morrowind fans.

Anyway, I'm going to attempt to play and complete Morrowind again(plus the expansions). I've tried a few times already but ended up quitting for one reason or another. I'm going to try to join as many factions as possible, sans vampires. I also understand there are some quest conflicts, and I can't seem to find a place on the internet where all these conflicts are consolidated and discussed, so I figured I'd ask a few questions here.

1. I'm already a member of both the Theives Guild and Fighters Guild. I understand there is a conflict, but I've seen two different solutions to it. The first was actually rather complex and involved going back and forth, more or less advancing in both guilds at the same time. The second was simply to finish Theives Guild first and then do Fighters Guild, though you'd be out some Fighter's Guild quests. Any insight on how to best resolve this conflict?

2. Morag Tong. How much do their quests conflict with the other factions', particularly those last few hits, and how do I properly address those quests so that I don't get screwed?

3. Besides those mentioned and the automatic ones(Blades/Ashlanders), Mage's Guild(actually fairly deep into their quests already), East Empire Company, the Cult, the Legion, the Temple, and all three Houses*. So, sans the vampire clans, am I missing any? How badly do they conflict with each other and how should I handle said conflicts?

*BONUS Question: I intend to use a mod that allows me to join all three Great Houses. I also understand you end up killing people from the rival houses. For people that have used a similar kind of mod, how do you do this without being screwed? Don't get caught?

 

[Kahunaburger]

My advice re: Morrowind is to play a mage, (magic is far better than Oblivion/Skyrim, melee/stealth is far worse) explore a lot, and don't get hung up on the faction questing - non-house faction quests are generally not super-interesting, and the questlines usually open up with lots of delivery/fetching. 1x great house + main quests + sidequests is more than enough for giving you stuff to do IMO.

 

[Launcelot111]

My advice re: Morrowind is to play a mage, (magic is far better than Oblivion/Skyrim, melee/stealth is far worse) explore a lot, and don't get hung up on the faction questing - non-house faction quests are generally not super-interesting, and the questlines usually open up with lots of delivery/fetching. 1x great house + main quests + sidequests is more than enough for giving you stuff to do IMO.

Magic is best? I do know that spellcrafting is super powerful in Morrowind, but my issue (as far as I can recall) is that in the late game, it seems like everything and their mother has some reflect armor or spell or something and I inevitably end up killing myself. Am I remembering this right, and is there some way to get around the reflecting?

 

[Kahunaburger]

My advice re: Morrowind is to play a mage, (magic is far better than Oblivion/Skyrim, melee/stealth is far worse) explore a lot, and don't get hung up on the faction questing - non-house faction quests are generally not super-interesting, and the questlines usually open up with lots of delivery/fetching. 1x great house + main quests + sidequests is more than enough for giving you stuff to do IMO.

Magic is best? I do know that spellcrafting is super powerful in Morrowind, but my issue (as far as I can recall) is that in the late game, it seems like everything and their mother has some reflect armor or spell or something and I inevitably end up killing myself. Am I remembering this right, and is there some way to get around the reflecting?

The basic way to get around reflection in Morrowind is to hit them with something that won't hurt you if it gets reflected. So Calm spells are ideal, as is Absorb Health and elemental damage you have immunity to (a big reason why Nords, Bretons, Argonians, and Dunmer make awesome mages/artificers in Morrowind).

You can also drop absurd buffs on yourself and beat them down with a big axe

 

[Vern5]

My advice would be to just play the game. Start doing the little quests with either guild and see which ones pay off. More importantly, see how far each Guild is willing to promote you. One of the bigger differences between Morrowind and those other TES games is that the guilds check your stats to see if your abilities are qualified to achieve a higher rank, not just on how many jobs you've done. So, just start playing the game and see which guild stops your promotions first. That should clue you in as to who to betray.

Yes, I said betray. What I mean by that is you shouldn't worry about holding onto loyalties. Eventually you will be as to a God walking upon the earth. At a certain point, the guilds will be but little concerns.

Yes, the Morag Tong assassinations are specifically designed to test your loyalties once you get to the top-ranking writs. Again, just think about whose company you prefer. A bunch of honor-bound thugs, a bunch of charming thieves, or a bunch of cold-blooded killers; your choice.

Final word: All of the factions (except for the Main-Quest related ones) have conflicts. The Fighters guild has you murdering Telvanni and Thieves Guild agents (however, you can kill Telvanni independents without consequence as well as Thieves Guild operatives UNLESS they are in the middle of a Guild Job). House Hlaalu has you intercepting Redoran intel. I'm pretty sure the Telvanni ask you to kill rival house members as well. It's all crazy. Just play the game and let things progress as naturally as possible. In fact, don't plan ahead. Make every decision on the spot.

 

[Vern5]

My advice re: Morrowind is to play a mage, (magic is far better than Oblivion/Skyrim, melee/stealth is far worse) explore a lot, and don't get hung up on the faction questing - non-house faction quests are generally not super-interesting, and the questlines usually open up with lots of delivery/fetching. 1x great house + main quests + sidequests is more than enough for giving you stuff to do IMO.

Magic is best? I do know that spellcrafting is super powerful in Morrowind, but my issue (as far as I can recall) is that in the late game, it seems like everything and their mother has some reflect armor or spell or something and I inevitably end up killing myself. Am I remembering this right, and is there some way to get around the reflecting?

The basic way to get around reflection in Morrowind is to hit them with something that won't hurt you if it gets reflected. So Calm spells are ideal, as is Absorb Health and elemental damage you have immunity to (a big reason why Nords, Bretons, Argonians, and Dunmer make awesome mages/artificers in Morrowind).

You can also drop absurd buffs on yourself and beat them down with a big axe

If you hit an enemy with Reflect on them with a Dispel, is there a chance the Dispel will reflect?

 

[Launcelot111]

My advice re: Morrowind is to play a mage, (magic is far better than Oblivion/Skyrim, melee/stealth is far worse) explore a lot, and don't get hung up on the faction questing - non-house faction quests are generally not super-interesting, and the questlines usually open up with lots of delivery/fetching. 1x great house + main quests + sidequests is more than enough for giving you stuff to do IMO.

Magic is best? I do know that spellcrafting is super powerful in Morrowind, but my issue (as far as I can recall) is that in the late game, it seems like everything and their mother has some reflect armor or spell or something and I inevitably end up killing myself. Am I remembering this right, and is there some way to get around the reflecting?

The basic way to get around reflection in Morrowind is to hit them with something that won't hurt you if it gets reflected. So Calm spells are ideal, as is Absorb Health and elemental damage you have immunity to (a big reason why Nords, Bretons, Argonians, and Dunmer make awesome mages/artificers in Morrowind).

You can also drop absurd buffs on yourself and beat them down with a big axe

Yeah, that's how I inevitably started building my characters- to use magic entirely as support for the big pointy stick...until I eventually forget I'm using an enchanted sword and get killed by the reflect again. Also fun fact- reflected spells can kill you in god mode. Younger me was just delighted by that fact

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I would recommend not trying to join as many factions as possible. Even ignoring the conflicts, by the time you get anywhere near finishing all of them, you're so stupidly powerful that it would be more fun to just create a new character anyway.

On a slightly different note, damn, this thread makes me want to play Morrowind again.

 

[LetalisK]

Don't do more than one line in one playthough. It's not Oblivion, you actually have to be good at an aspect to advance in its associated guild, and that means you either have to grind or make more than one character. The latter is FAR more enjoyable.

I've found that there are a lot of overlapping factions when it comes to skill requirements. A high Mysticism and Long Blade fulfill the major requirement to rank up in the vast majority of factions and Marksman takes care of the rest. I already use Long Blade and Marksman for all my combat needs and Mysticism, besides being really easy to grind out, actually has a lot of support tools I use a lot.

I probably would hold off on doing as many factions as possible if I thought I was going to do more than one character, but seeing as how its been difficult just to finish one playthrough, I doubt I'm going to be doing another. I'm actually moving on to Oblivion and then Skyrim after this.

 

[Kahunaburger]

But yeah, using a pure destruction mage is a bad idea anyway - doesn't do much when a crazed Orc is caving your skull in with a Daedric Warhammer. Much more fun (and effective) to use Conjuration as well.

Yeah, I tried that once, too. Sadly, my would-be pyromancer got his ass kicked back to Cyrodill. Then like 10 characters later I figured out about Damage Attribute, which is IMO Destruction's big saving grace. That savefile includes immobile, over-encumbered berserkers with 0 Strength standing and yelling all over Bloodmoon.