Safe dungeons to crawl?

Peter Knutsen <peter.RemoveThis@sagatafl.invalid> wrote in
news:479a8e20$0$99018$157c6196@dreader2.cybercity.dk:

> My mage-swordsman is now at level 10, almost 11, and has shown no
> interest whatsoever in the main quest. He also spent the last few
> levels in the Balmora Mage's Guild, doing semi-autistic things
> (levelling up). This has resulted in wondrously high INT, and very
> good WIL and STR, but his equipment is no longer on par with
> random encounters.

As you are discovering, you really should concentrate on improving
your equipment while you're leveling up. Your opponents become worse
as you level, and your need for better arms and armor increases
correspondingly. In my current game encountered my first Golden
Saint at Level 20, fortunately moments after finding my first Grand
Soul Gem.


If you are playing the Tribunal add-on you'll be attacked by the Dark
Brotherhood. Early in the game their light armor is among the best
you'll find easily, but by level 10 you should be thinking about
glass armor if you are specializing in light. If your character's
moral stance allows him to "borrow", the armorer in the Ghostgate
Tower of Dusk has a nice set of glass armor if your sneak ability is
high enough.

A table of comparative armor abilities is here:

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Base_Armor

If your specialty is heavy armor, then it's hard to beat (pun
intended) the ebony armor of Umbra, the orc located in a cul-de-sac
immediately east across the mountains from the center of Suran. His
two-handed ebony sword is one of the top five weapons in the game.
He wants to die honorably, but he's one tough little bugger to help
do that. The best way to take him out is to park yourself on the
rocks above him, along with a bow and MANY arrows (steel, not iron,
and preferably magic ones, such as those available from the armorer
across from the Vivec Mages' Guild) and pepper him until he dies.
Even with a high marksmanship level, it won't be quick and easy, but
it's worth it.

If your strength isn't enough to allow you to wear everything and
carry the weapon, strip the body and make a stack of the items you
can't use at the time for later use. That way they won't disappear
when the corpse eventually does.

Dwemer armor is generally next below ebony, while the very heavy
daedric is above it.

You'll find some good armor in unguarded crates in the guard towers
in Caldera.

Whatever armor class you choose (light, medium, or heavy), try to
stay within that class as much as possible. And never pass up an
attempt to upgrade within that class to something with higher
protection.

My last game was with a Breton nightblade who specialized in
Unarmored. She wore nothing except the Boots of Blinding Speed, an
enchanted shield, a couple of enchanted gloves, two enchanted rings,
and an enchanted amulet. (She looked REALLY good with the Better
Bodies mod.) I went through a lot of home-made health potions early
in the game, which helped boost my alchemy skill points, but by the
end she was taking surprisingly little damage.

Unarmored Advantage: No weight capacity wasted carrying hammers or
tongs. I was using repair hammers primarily to raise the selling
price of the weapons and armor I sold to Creeper. I piled them in
the floor at my recall point in front of him so that I didn't have to
carry them around. I'd repair my sword, bow, shield, boots, and
sellable items, then drop the hammers again.

I almost forgot: another good early game weapon is the Sword of
White Woe which is lying atop the wardrobe next to the guard on the
top floor of the guard tower west of Caius Cosades' house. It's
difficult to see unless you're standing next to the guard, and you'll
need a chameleon spell and sneak to get it.


> He has tended to just butt into dungeons when he finds them, after
> saving. If he can handle the denizens, then he handles them and
> loots everything (and adds a note, "clear" on the map, next to the
> dungeon entrance). If he can't handle the denizens then he dies,
> re-loads and leaves, his mind (vaguely) set on returning later for
> a second go.
>
> A few days ago I did my first Dwemer ruin, Aleft on the west side
> of the Bitter Coast. I killed some mecha, and barely managed to
> kill some kind of nasty, scary super-mecha. I also killed and
> soultrapped some kind of spectra (Dwarven Spectre?) which has made
> for quite a valuable soulstone.
>
> I believe I know that it is best to leave some dungeons alone,
> because they contain quest-important items, NPCs and/or
> information, that you do not want to mess with prematurely for
> fear of mucking up the game.

For that reason I don't kill any friendly NPCs in any ruins,
strongholds, caves, mines, etc. To simplify finding quest items that
I've inadvertantly sold, I keep my buyers to a minimum: Creeper for
all arms, armor, and magic items. Dorisa Darvel in Balmora for all
books. Verrick Gemain in Caldera or one of the general merchandise
traders in Balmora for all clothing, jewelry, etc. The latter two
plus Ajira and Nalcaria in Balmora for all potion ingredients and
alchemy equipment.

If you kill someone key to the game, you will be notified that you
have "severed the thread of prophecy" and should restart from your
last save (I save before any battle). If you kill someone you are
later tasked to eliminate, you can get credit for completing the task
without leaving the room, though you may have to end your
conversation with the task giver and then immediately speak with him
again.

If your task is to kill the Orc Betta gro-Someballz and bring back
the magic ring Around-the-Collar but you've already killed him and
sold the ring, knowing where you sold it allows you to buy it back
quickly, and that means a visit to Creeper for me because I don't
sell magic rings to anyone else.

If I know that I'm going to need an item such as the books "ABCs for
Barbarians" and "Vampires of Vvardenfell II" or a Dwemer coherer or
whatever later, then instead of selling it I stash it in one of the
crates outside the Balmora Fighters' Guild for safekeeping until that
quest arises.


> So which dungeons are "safe" to enter? Especially ones where I can
> trap some good souls. Is there a list? I like Dwemer ruins. I
> remember my very first change to play, many years ago, I got into
> a Dwemer ruin (not Aleft - I think the one near the bridge, with
> the homocidal human/humanoid NPC that summons a helper to fight
> you) and couldn't get out, so I wasted a bunch of precious time in
> there, before reloading a previously saved game.

A list of all dwemer ruins is at

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Dwemer_Ruins

I prefer daedric ruins for soul-shopping. They usually have high-
value daedra and atronachs hanging around outside, so you don't have
to enter to trap some, though I prefer going in to look for more
Dremora, Dremora Lords, and Golden Saints because they frequently
carry expensive weapons and shields. Ranis Athrys will give you
Souldrinker when you complete the quest to locate the Mages' Guild
spy for her. It casts Soultrap on strike. When I want to trap a
soul, I swing it until it strikes, then switch to my primary weapon.
If I have an adequate soul gem, then the soul is trapped when the
creature dies.





> So I kinda like the idea of exploring more Dwemer ruins, now that
> I have the know-how and tools (magic items with Night Eye, a
> plug-in with slowly regenrating magicka, and so forth - and of
> course the Mark and Recall spells) to do so. Which Dwemer ruins
> are safe? Alternatively, could I have some very vague, very
> general pointers towards NPCs, groups, guilds or buildings wherein
> I might get Dwemer-related quests?

Edwinna Albert at the Ald-Ruhn Mages' Guild is nuts about Dwemer
artifacts. She will send you to several ruins. Arkngthunch-Sturdumz
(above the pool where you're asked to retrieve the missing ring and
are attacked by the thug wearing the Amulet of Shadows) has one
enchanted weapon located outside the ruins. South of the door is a
roof extending out at ground level. Walk or fly to the end, drop to
the ledge below, and you'll find an enchanted weapon and some Dwemer
coins lying next to the wall.

Hrundi at the Sadrith Mora Fighters' Guild will send you to
Nchurdamz, which shouldn't be confused with nearby Nchurdumz (as I
learned the hard way).

There may be other quests that I don't remember or haven't
encountered yet.

I hope this helped.


--
Raven
_________________________

Chaos, panic and disorder.
My work here is done.
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