Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Elder Scrolls Pure Mage Morrowind playthrough

Shadowfang

Arcane
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
2,002
Location
Road to Arnika
Shadorwun: Hong Kong BattleTech
I am retrying Daggerfall for the second time and it made me also play Morrowind.

I am revisiting the idea of doing a pure Mage playthrough. I always read that melee is a must and that both magic and ranged were complementary. This made me want to try beating the game only using mage skills. There are so many tools available that I think I can manage all challenges with the right spell.

If the challenge wasn't hard (I am assuming it is) enough I am also using the Atronach's sign. I did it mostly for the boost in mana but the 50% spell absorb has made me a mage killer. At least at the early levels.

The lack of mana regen can be crippling since it is the only source of damage that I have but I have been managing through the restore magika potions from the mage guild supply chests.

I am focusing on summons where openmw has been helpful since I can pick the option for followers to attack on sight.

Is there a limit to the number of summons I can have at a single time?
I know that I can have more than one through the same spell.

So far its going slow but good. I am still level 2 and squishy as hell. Each fight makes me go through my spellbook. Frost bite instead of fire to get Dunmers, sanctuary against Nordic Barbarians to avoid getting one shoted. I want to get some calm humanoid spells but my spell wishlist is huge and I have little money.

I don't need tips to get rich or exploit the game. I just want to know if any of you did the same and how hard can it get.
 
Last edited:

Delterius

Arcane
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
15,956
Location
Entre a serra e o mar.
The lack of mana regen can be crippling since it is the only source of damage that I have but I have been managing through the restore magika potions from the mage guild supply chests.
I don't need tips to get rich or exploit the game. I just want to know if any of you did the same and how hard can it get.
Personally I just
conjured a phantom, attacked it and absorbed his magic attacks in the early game to become an instant atronach battery mage feeder
pure mage is the way of fun even if you don't break the game, although its not quite up there with daggerfall pure linguist
 

anvi

Prophet
Village Idiot
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
7,530
Location
Kelethin
I only played Morrowind once, I completed it as a pure mage. I am not a fan of the game though, largely because of how boring and untuned the magic combat is. One minute you are helpless in paper armor, and the next minute you can paralyze an enemy all day while zapping it to death. But it was better than the other Elder Scrolls games for sure.
 

Funposter

Arcane
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
1,773
Location
Australia
it's not that bad because Morrowind is actually a really easy game, but it certainly is more tedious than just stabbing things.
 

lukaszek

the determinator
Patron
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
12,617
deterministic system > RNG
 
Last edited:

MWaser

Arbiter
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
607
Location
Where you won't find me
The most agitating part of doing pure mage is fighting enemies with reflect, in my experience. I guess if you're not limiting yourself to using summons (I personally hated doing that in vanilla Morrowind because of how helpless the AI is), I guess that'll be a way around it, but otherwise it's really easy to kill yourself by getting a spell reflected unless you specifically guarantee you have complete resistance to the element you're currently casting.
 

ManaJunkie

Arbiter
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
Messages
281
Yup, done it. Burden, Paralyze, Chameleon are very useful. Actually it is easy...if you act like a mage. Act like a master of knowledge, way beyond direct damage.
Combine effects: burden+damage attribute, disintegrate+weakness, fear+fortify skill..
 

Funposter

Arcane
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
1,773
Location
Australia
Personally I just
id advise against such cheese. Do it like intended with potions. Main issue is not being able to lvlup by running around and casting spells
It's hardly cheese. Free potions are available from every Mages Guild guildhall. Exclusive level Restore Magicka potions (40pts for 5 seconds, so 200pts) can be bought en masse in Balmora for super cheap, since Nalcyra's Mercantile skill is really low, and the economy is totally broken. If anything, letting an Ancestor Ghost wail on you for a bit is just slower.
 

thesheeep

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Messages
9,939
Location
Tampere, Finland
Codex 2012 Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Personally I just
id advise against such cheese. Do it like intended with potions. Main issue is not being able to lvlup by running around and casting spells
It's hardly cheese. Free potions are available from every Mages Guild guildhall. Exclusive level Restore Magicka potions (40pts for 5 seconds, so 200pts) can be bought en masse in Balmora for super cheap, since Nalcyra's Mercantile skill is really low, and the economy is totally broken. If anything, letting an Ancestor Ghost wail on you for a bit is just slower.
It's definitely not cheese. It's super slow and tedious - but at the beginning you don't have that many potions, at least if you haven't played the game much yet and know where the freebies are.
And later on, with alchemy Magicka Potions become extremely frequent.

Morrowind is really one of those great games where mages start weak as a fart in the wind, but become masters of death later on.
 

Shadenuat

Arcane
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
11,955
Location
Russia
first of all u need alternative leveling mod, which rewards specialization and makes unused skills degrade over time. also makes training with cheaters, sorry, I mean teachers, more expensive. I believe they even come with nerfed alchemy which is needed, usually some pack with improved economy and such. that means not playing Atronach is a lot more viable and better.
then you need Rise of House Telvanni mod.
not using any weapons and armor except maybe summoned ones is mandatory.

the rest is just a best Morrowind playthrough you can get.
 

Delterius

Arcane
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
15,956
Location
Entre a serra e o mar.
Personally I just
id advise against such cheese. Do it like intended with potions. Main issue is not being able to lvlup by running around and casting spells
i get what you're saying but

i feed off the energies of oblivion

also feeding off the ghost you can always summon is more deterministic than relying on luck to buy potions
 
Last edited:

luj1

You're all shills
Vatnik
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
12,869
Location
Eastern block
You should never play Morrowind without the essentials - MGE XE, MCP and PfP. They fix so many bugs and offer improved functionality and QoL.

But yeah, Altmer + Atronach is the way to go.
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,324
Location
Flowery Land
Exploiting spell absorb (shrines and summons being the better ways) or Mana Regen mods are pretty much mandatory for pure mage in Morrowind. The big problem is that MP max is only your intelligence score, which means it barely scales linearly (especially without birthsigns) while spell costs increase exponentially and even high level mages will fail moderately complex spells a lot.
 

Shadenuat

Arcane
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
11,955
Location
Russia
fake news. pick a race and sign with high mana, regen by sleeping, invest in alchemy. done.

mana regen, of course you can easy play wizord with skyrim mana, lol.
 

undecaf

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
3,517
Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2
Always had a mind to play a sneaky summoner in Morrowind, but never got around actually doing it...reading here makes me want to try again.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom