Reddit mentions of The Morrowind Prophecies: Game of the Year Edition Official Strategy Guide

It's worth noting that this includes a digital scan of the Morrowind Prophecies strategy guide, which the Steam version does not include. It also contains all the minor DLC.

This actually seems to be a pretty common occurrence. I have two friends who both have tried playing Morrowind after I gushed about it and both of them went five yards north of Seyda Neen and were killed by a kwama forager because they didn't know that they could look down. Both of them, separately, did this. They gave up after that, which is especially unfortunate because if they went 10 yards north of Seyda Neen, then they would have found the Scrolls of Icarian Flight, which are awesome, but I digress.

Morrowind has a bit of a learning curve, with most of it caused by it's poorly aged gameplay. I understand if you couldn't get into it. On six separate occasions I've tried to play Daggerfall, the game before Morrowind, because my brother loved it, but six separate times I can't even get out of the first dungeon. I completely sympathize. However, this is literally my favorite game ever, so much so that after I finish typing this, I'm going to go play it a bit. I want other people to enjoy it. So, if you ever feel like picking the game up again, allow me to share some advice that may make playing the game more enjoyable.

1) Getting your mini-map.

A surprising number of people don't know this. In Oblivion and Skyrim, there is usually a compass in the HUD, and finding out where you are and where you are supposed to go is quite easy. In the beginning of Morrowind, the map is this weird brown blob that you have to pause the game every time to check which direction you're going in. Well, good news for you, if you look at the top right hand corner of the map box while paused you'll see a small square. If you click that square, then the map will stay up on the menu, even when not paused. That way you have a clear GPS telling you exactly which way you're going and where you are. Pretty handy, and you can even adjust the size of the menu while paused the same way you'd adjust the size of a picture in a word document. In fact, you can do this for every menu, though I don't know why you would. Anyway, now you have your mini map and can easily tell where the Vehk you are.

2) Listen to what everyone is saying.

In Oblivion and Skyrim, quest markers would tell you where to go. Morrowind doesn't have this. If you recall from #1, the map is just a weird brown blob. In order to know where you're going you have to talk and listen. "Talk is cheap," go to every npc and ask about stuff. They're basically walking info kiosks. They'll give you tips and, most importantly, directions and objectives. They'll give you detailed directions of where to go and it's up to the player to apply his knowledge. If you don't remember what they said, it's most likely recorded in your journal (press "J" to bring it up) and you can refer to that. Morrowind is a much slower game than its sequels; reading what everyone is saying and exploring every nook and cranny is a big part of it. Read all of the dialogue, paying particular attention to what they say about directions and geography. Most of it's written by this guy, who's pretty awesome. Just be prepared for a very slow paced game that expects you to figure everything out for yourself. However, sometimes the dialogue can be pretty unclear, obtuse even. "Go to Blamora" is the first thing you're told. Okay, where's that? It get's even worse when you're told to "take a left at the third guar-shaped rock and run down the foyada until you go past the cluster of three ash pillars." So this brings me to #3.

3) Get the guide.

You can get it here.I don't usually recommend this, but the difficulty of directions and the lack of map markers make it particularly useful. Plus, it's very well written and may be one of the best guides I've ever used. I'm sure that GameFAQS will be suitable as well, but really, this game guide is extensive and entertaining to read. I'd recommend it.

4) Mods!

If you're coming from Oblivion and Skyrim, there are two mods that I recommend you getting. One is called Accurate Attack, which will make all of your hits land. Vanilla Morrowind uses dice rolls to see if your hit landed, which makes absolutely no sense in a real time action RPG and the feature was removed form its two sequels, which was a very good decision. This mod fixes that and the game plays more like Oblivion and Skyrim. The second is Magicka Regeneration, which will allow your magic to regenerate like in Oblivion/Skyrim. Previously, you had to rest to regenerate mana, which, like the dice roll system, was just a terrible idea.

Anyway, so that's my advice to someone looking to get into Morrowind but has trouble. Sorry if you've tried all this and still didn't like it or if you have no interest in playing the game at all. I'm also sorry I ended up writing a PhD dissertation on the topic. This post was way longer than I expected it to be. The gameplay has aged poorly and can confuse people who aren't like me and didn't play it when they were in fifth grade and never stopped. Hopefully you'll replay it someday and enjoy it as much as I do. While the gameplay is lackluster by today's standard, the writing and world building are the best I've ever seen. I mean, fucking this happened! That's a golden hermaphrodite fighting a monster with a city for a face! Shit's trippy as balls, dude. I'd say that justifies giving it another chance.

You should really never leave Seyda Neen and the surrounding countryside until you have at least two or three levels under your belt. There are plenty of level appropriate enemies and quests in the area and even running into a cliff racer before you're ready can get you killed.

Least, that's my opinion.

I also assume you're playing a mage character? I would always recommend your spell casters be proficient with at least one kind of weapon, because even more than in skyrim or oblivion, in morrowind running out of magicka is a huge, huge problem.

Edit: Also if ever there was a game where a guide book was called for, Morrowind is it. I highly recommend trying to get your hands on a copy of this full of tons of useful info on creatures and enemies, maps, and walkthroughs of most of the games quests, which I promise you will want from time to time.

I'll have to get the steam version eventually because one day I won't have a cd player. Even now I had to hook one up to install these.

Also just to show OG street cred I have the Morrowind Prophecies strategy guide that was released by Bethesda themselves.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Morrowind-Prophecies-Official-Strategy/dp/0929843320

I was young when I first played Morrowind. I had it on the Xbox, I picked it up on a whim from a used game store because the back looked cool. Was 13 or 14 at the time.

Best Elder Scrolls to-date. Nothing compares yet, better than the Fallouts too.

Morrowind > Skyrim > Oblivion

The fact that the story is open is one of the game's strongest features. You can literally do whatever you want. You get off the prison barge, make your character, are given a letter and some vague instructions to head to Balmora and talk to some guy but there's no pressure, just go have fun. Hell, you can even drop the letter, head off in a random direction, and just go pearl diving or hunting for Daedra shrines if you want.

I'd never seen anything like it at the time, that kind of openness was brand new to me, and I loved it. You still don't see that in games, now there's fast travel and arrows marking where to go, Morrowind had some forms of fast travel in cities and spells but otherwise you had to walk and explore, following real directions that were sometimes inaccurate. It made the world feel rich and full without artificial constraints or boundaries.

Basically, Morrowind is about making your own story, in a way Oblivion and Skyrim don't do anymore. You're the Nerevarine, whatever you decide to do is the story, even if you murder an essential character and "sever the thread of prophecy," (no unkillable NPCs in Morrowind - not even the deities) you can still find a "back-door" to complete the game's main story by immersing yourself in the lore, reading books, and finding your own way. Same idea for curing vamparism.

There's no hand-holding, you can do whatever strikes your fancy. The game is forgiving and relatively easy, but wants you to make your own fun. If you get stuck on a quest, fuck it, do something else. Or, buy the strategy guide .

The UESP Wiki is very helpful as well, but the guide has detailed maps and a well-written narrative that guides you through the quest lines in the game with a good sense of humor.

When I was a kid I enjoyed just reading this guide by itself (and still do).

The Morrowind Prophecies was my Bible. I used to read it cover to cover in school and leave it in my locker and then try to play through at home recalling as much as I could. In this way, my childhood self was convinced this wasn't "cheating"

For real though it was insanely helpful if only for the maps. Some of the directions NPCs give you are just flat out wrong.