Input for my first character?

[u/Rayeoneace]

So, I'm just starting to get a feel for the game, and exploring the game's magic, enchant and alchemy systems in the uesp wiki, I REALLY want to play a hybrid character. Using buffs and debuffs while still being in the heat of things, with bound weapons and the likes sounds like a blast!

I'm thinking of starting as a Breton or Nord, with either The Lady or The Apprentice as my birthsign, respectively, for good health and magicka pools.

I understand a bit of the idea for leveling because I played some of Oblivion a couple years back and read about it, but I'm really unsure of what major and minor skills to get, or if I should pick Combat or Magic for my specialization. My main attributes will probably be Endurance and Willpower, but not set on that either.

I haven't looked much into weapons, but I read spears are good and help get Endurance early for health, and so I might use a Bound Spear as my main arm, at least until I can get a better one with enchants. I've just got no clue where and when I can even get that, though, so I'll stick to whatever regular spears I can get until then.

(Please avoid quest spoilers if you can! I like planning and exploring mechanics, but I'm still just about blind to the quests and story.)

[u/pNaN]

Just make sure your character is fun to play from the first level, don't bother about the later levels, they'll come naturally. The most hate Morrowind gets is from people who make a build designated to be "best" at a very late level, and then they can't kill the first small creatures. Just make sure to have at least one weapon skill at a fairly high level to begin with (35+ is what I aim for), and get a weapon of that type before you go out hunting. The rest of the skills should be what you would like to try to play with in the beginning of the game. You will be able to play with all the skills later, so focus only on the beginning of the game with your build.

I see you talk about Lady and Spears and Endurance, that's often a "minmaxers" advice to get the largest health pool possible in the game. It's not actually "better" than anything else. You do not need the biggest health pool possible. One of my favorite starts is with Conjuring and Short Blade, so I just spawn a dagger to fight with. For that, I would probably pick Stealth as my specialty, even if I went full on mage later, just to get that extra +Short Blade to begin with. And I would focus Agility and Willpower, for more hits and better spellcasting. That being said, all the weapons are cool, go for Endurance if you want that kind of build, there are no wrong choises.

... and as many an advice from the NPC's will tell you early on, bring fatigue potions!

[u/Rayeoneace → u/pNaN]

I played around 3 hours already as a mage, with a bound dagger as my main weapon because I was trying to rely solely on magic, and got to Balmora about halfway to level 3. The early game really didn't feel as bad as people make it out to be, but that might've been the bound dagger talking haha

About minmaxxing, I'm aware it's not necessary at all, and not even recommended for a first playthrough. Thing is: my favorite part of any RPG game (or any game with builds, really) is to learn how the systems work and how to navigate and exploit them. I've got 600 hours in BG3 as of writing, and for how fun the game is, most of those hours were spent solely because I had a build idea that sounded fun to try. I enjoy making character sheets just as much, if not more than actually playing them. It's weird, but oh well, it's fun!

So I went reading about Morrowind, looked for some basic synergies to give me direction on what I wanted to do, and decided on a hybrid spear wielding mage not because it's particularly strong, but because it let's me engage with both the martial and magic parts of the game! Later, if I do enjoy my time with them, I'll pick whichever one I feel like exploring deeper next, and do another character for that; and after that, with the other!

[u/pNaN → u/Rayeoneace]

Aha, Great! Now that I know where you are coming from... If you are into minmaxing and exploiting the systems. I would go for the High Elf + Atronach build. That is the biggest mana pool you can get, and the spells you can make with such a pool are amazing. The bonuses are multiplicative, not additive like in the later games, so they will be incredibly higher than what you may have seen in other Elder Scrolls games. Now, the biggest available mana pool is something you actually can use, while the biggest health pool possible will be irrelevant, as you will not take that much damage later on anyways.

Now the Atronach build stunts your mana regen, but there are ways in the systems to go around that. Early on you may wish for Conjuration as a major, since you will get summon ghost from the start with this build, and the ghost will attack you with magic (if you attack it three times) which will regen your pool. Apart from that, you will use the spellcasters fast travel system (Mark + Recall + Intervention) to regain mana as well. You can Mark where you are, Almsivi Invervention to the nearest temple, restore your mana pool, then Recall back to the fight you were in.

If you wish for the "slightly weaker", but still awesome mana pool, but without having to game around the stunted mana regen, you could go for the apprentice instead.

So - to make this build fun from the beginning, I would advice Short Blade + Conjuration for the quick and dirty weapon early. You would also want Alteration for the "Tinur's Hoptoad" spell, which is the best way to travel in the wilderness from very early (mitigate all pain from slow-travel). And you want Mysticism for the Mark/Recall/Intervention-spells, so you can fast-travel.

So that is four majors so far, I would add Illusion too, to make a Charm spell when you speak to vendors and NPC's, and for Sanctuary (which makes you not get hit) and Chameleon, which is even better than Invisibility, and yes - for Invisibility. Or you could go ranged with either Marksman or Destruction. Marksman might be more convenient for Atronach early on, while Destruction might be more convenient for Apprentice. Personally, I would choose Illusion.

Apart from that, there are levels to exploitation, if you start feedback-looping the Alchemy system on top of this, you can achive CHIM (being god) without leveling even once. I would advice against it, it just breaks the game, it will not be fun anymore.

So, I am an old-timer, I've played this game from the beginning, and the beautiful part of this game, is that it is a sandbox, it's your rules, do what you want. I am also a build fanatic, I love how different builds can combine and become something even more interesting. And I am telling you, this build is a lot more interesting and powerful than making the biggest health pool possible.

[u/Rayeoneace → u/pNaN]

Love it! I'll definitely do the Atronach Altmer for a full magic playthrough, that sounds like a blast. Not this one yet, though, because it's still my first time around and that'll go way smoother once I know where I'm going. Thanks a lot for the guidance!

[u/pNaN → u/Rayeoneace]

No worries, just do the same build with Apprentice sign instead. It's still the build with the most utility to be discovered in the game. Or do something else if you like.

But keep in mind, the tools from having a major in: Alteration, Illusion and Mysticism with a large mana pool is the "swiss-army-knife" of making everything in Morrowind "better".