The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY: Complete Guide

A player's guide to Morrowind Game of the Year Edition: character creation that will not ruin your run, how the old-school leveling and combat actually work, getting around Vvardenfell, factions, the main quest and expansions, and making it run well today with OpenMW or the original engine plus patches.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the Steam GOTY Edition (Morrowind + Tribunal + Bloodmoon; no official updates) and the OpenMW open-source engine, latest release 0.51.0 from June 2026. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Misses are normal early. Hit chance depends on your weapon skill, Agility, Luck and current Fatigue. Low skill means lots of whiffs. Use weapons in your major skills and keep Fatigue up.
• Pick major skills you will actually use. Leveling comes from raising major and minor skills. A weapon, an armor type and a way to heal should all be in your majors or minors.
• Raise Endurance early. Health gained per level is based on Endurance at the time you level, and it is not retroactive.
• Save often, in multiple slots. Morrowind is a 2002 game; cliff-racers, bugs and your own mistakes will happen.
• Travel by silt strider, boat and Mages Guild guide. Walking everywhere is slow. Learn Mark/Recall and the Intervention spells as soon as you can.
• Read your journal. There are no quest markers. Directions are given in dialogue ("go north along the road past the bridge"). Topics in dialogue are the real quest system.
• Find Caius Cosades in Balmora. That starts the main quest. You can ignore it as long as you like.
• Money early: loot and sell, do early guild quests, and look for Dwemer ruins; Dwemer items sell well but some are contraband to Imperial guards.
• Tribunal's assassins: on PC with Tribunal installed (as in GOTY), Dark Brotherhood assassins can attack you while resting, even the very first time you sleep in a new game. Sleep with decent armor, or be ready to fight.
• Consider OpenMW for a stable, modern way to play on current PCs (details below).

Character Creation

Races

Race | Good for | Notes

Altmer (High Elf) | Mages | Large magicka, weak to magicka, fire, frost and shock

Argonian | Stealth, hybrids | Water breathing, disease and poison resistance

Bosmer (Wood Elf) | Archery, stealth | Can command creatures

Breton | Mages, spellswords | Magic resistance, bonus magicka

Dunmer (Dark Elf) | Battlemages, all-rounders | Fire resistance; locals like you more

Imperial | Talkers, warriors | Social bonuses

Khajiit | Stealth, hand-to-hand | High Agility

Nord | Warriors | Frost resistance, shock resistance

Orc | Heavy armor warriors | Berserk power

Redguard | Weapon fighters | Strong weapon bonuses, Adrenaline Rush

Birthsigns

The Warrior, The Mage, The Thief, The Serpent, The Lady, The Steed, The Lord, The Apprentice, The Atronach, The Ritual, The Lover, The Shadow and The Tower. The Atronach gives a huge magicka pool but no natural regeneration (you absorb spells instead); great for experienced mage players, punishing for beginners. The Lady, The Steed and The Warrior are forgiving choices.

Classes

You can pick a preset, answer the questions, or make a custom class. Custom classes are best: pick exactly the skills you plan to use. Specializations (Combat, Magic, Stealth) give bonus skill progression in that category.

How Leveling Works

• Every 10 increases in major and/or minor skills triggers a level-up when you rest.
• On level-up you pick three attributes to raise. Each attribute gets a multiplier (up to x5) based on how many increases you made that level in skills governed by that attribute.
• Misc skills do not count toward leveling but do count toward attribute multipliers.
• This is why "efficient leveling" exists: players plan misc-skill training to get x5 multipliers. You do not need to min-max, but raise Endurance early for health.

Attributes

Attribute | Governs

Strength | Melee damage, carry weight; Long Blade, Blunt, Axe, Armorer, Acrobatics

Intelligence | Magicka pool; Alchemy, Enchant, Conjuration, Security

Willpower | Spell success, magicka resistance; Destruction, Alteration, Mysticism, Restoration

Agility | Hit chance, dodging; Block, Light Armor, Marksman, Sneak

Speed | Movement speed; Short Blade, Hand-to-hand, Athletics

Endurance | Health gain per level, Fatigue; Heavy Armor, Medium Armor, Spear

Personality | Prices, NPC disposition; Speechcraft, Mercantile, Illusion

Luck | Small bonus to nearly everything

Combat and Magic

• Fatigue matters. Low Fatigue lowers hit chance and spell success. Carry Restore Fatigue potions early.
• Attack type (chop, slash, thrust) depends on how you move while attacking. With "always use best attack" enabled in the options, the game picks the strongest for you. Turn it on.
• Spell success is a percentage. Cheap spells succeed more often. Make custom spells at spellmakers (Mages Guild members often offer this) with lower costs that you can reliably cast.
• Enchanting creates items with Cast When Used, Cast When Strikes, or Constant Effect enchantments. Constant Effect items need big soul gems; they are the most powerful gear in the game.
• Alchemy is famously strong. Fortify Intelligence potions boost Alchemy itself, which loops into ever-stronger potions; it can break the game if you want.

Getting Around Vvardenfell

Method | Where | Tips

Silt Strider | Big towns (Seyda Neen, Balmora, Vivec, Ald'ruhn, Gnisis, Suran, Maar Gan, Khuul, Molag Mar) | Cheap and fast

Boats | Coastal towns | Connects the coast and islands

Mages Guild Guides | Balmora, Ald'ruhn, Caldera, Vivec, Sadrith Mora | Instant teleport between guild halls

Mark / Recall | Spell | Mark a spot, Recall there anytime

Divine Intervention | Spell/scroll | Teleports to the nearest Imperial Cult shrine/fort

Almsivi Intervention | Spell/scroll | Teleports to the nearest Tribunal Temple

Propylon Chambers | Dunmer strongholds | Ancient teleport network; needs Propylon Indexes

Levitation | Spell/potion | Skip roads entirely

Factions

You can join most guilds together, but only one Great House.

Faction | Style

Fighters Guild | Combat contracts

Mages Guild | Magic services, spellmaking, guides

Thieves Guild | Stealth jobs, fences

Imperial Legion | Honorable warrior path

Imperial Cult | Charity and relic quests

Tribunal Temple | Pilgrimages, the Dunmer faith

Morag Tong | Legal assassins

House Hlaalu | Merchants and politics

House Redoran | Warrior code, honor

House Telvanni | Wizard lords; you eventually get your own tower

Vampire clans also exist if you contract vampirism. The main quest eventually needs all three Great Houses to name you Hortator; being a ranked member of one makes that House's part easier, and any of the three works.

Main Quest Outline (Light Spoilers)

• You arrive in Seyda Neen as a prisoner and are sent to Caius Cosades in Balmora.
• You work for the Blades, investigate the Sixth House cult and the Nerevarine prophecies, and deal with the threat of Dagoth Ur inside Red Mountain.
• The middle game has you earning recognition from the Ashlander tribes and the Great Houses.
• The endgame needs three legendary artifacts: Keening, Sunder and Wraithguard.

Warning: killing an essential NPC shows a message that the thread of prophecy is severed. Reload unless you really mean it (there is an alternate path, but it is much harder).

Expansions (Included in GOTY)

Tribunal

• After the assassin attacks begin, talk to Apelles Matius about them, then ask Asciene Rane in the Grand Council Chambers in Ebonheart for "Transport to Mournhold". Effe-Tei in the Royal Palace sends you back.
• Meet the god-kings Almalexia and Sotha Sil; visit the Clockwork City.
• Enemies include goblins, lich lords and Fabricants. Tribunal is tuned for mid-level characters.

Bloodmoon

• Sail to the island of Solstheim from Khuul.
• Defend or build up a mining colony and choose between werewolf hunting and joining the werewolves.
• Home of Nordic gear, ice blades, bears, wolves, frost trolls and spriggans. Better at mid-to-high level.

Playing on a Modern PC

OpenMW (recommended)

OpenMW is a free, open-source reimplementation of the Morrowind engine. You still need the original game data (your Steam copy works); OpenMW replaces the old executable.

• Much more stable and fixes many original bugs.
• Longer view distance, modern resolutions and widescreen out of the box, and better performance on current hardware.
• Supports a large share of existing content mods, plus its own Lua scripting for newer mods.
• TES3MP is a multiplayer project built on OpenMW.
• Some older mods that rely on the original engine's script extender (MWSE) will not work.

Set it up by installing OpenMW from openmw.org, running its installation wizard, and pointing it at your Steam Morrowind folder (Data Files). Check the site for the current release.

Original engine

If you prefer the original executable:

• Morrowind Code Patch fixes many engine bugs and adds options.
• MGE XE adds distant land rendering, shaders and widescreen support.
• Patch for Purists fixes quest and data bugs without changing the design.

Popular content mods

• Tamriel Rebuilt adds large parts of mainland Morrowind.
• Graphics mods and texture packs are plentiful; add one at a time and test.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Picking majors you will not use, which leaves you leveling slowly and weakly.
• Neglecting Endurance in the first levels.
• Fighting with a weapon you have no skill in. You will miss constantly.
• Running out of Fatigue. Walk, drink Restore Fatigue, and do not jump everywhere.
• Carrying Dwemer items past guards. Some are contraband.
• Starting Tribunal or Bloodmoon at level 1. They are tuned higher.
• Killing quest-critical NPCs without reading the warning.
• Only one save slot.

Advanced Tips

• Make cheap custom spells. A low-cost spell you cast reliably beats a big one you fail.
• Constant Effect gear is endgame. Save Grand Soul Gems and filled golden saint souls.
• Train skills with trainers. Trainers cost gold but let you control attribute multipliers.
• Mark your favorite shop. Mark/Recall to a merchant with good gold makes selling easy.
• Use Levitation to reach otherwise hidden areas and skip long walks.
• Talk to everyone about "latest rumors" and "little secret" to find hidden quests and trainers.
• Join a Great House early for a steady quest line and, eventually, a stronghold.

FAQ

Does the Steam GOTY version include the expansions? Yes, Tribunal and Bloodmoon. It does not include the Construction Set.

Should I play with OpenMW or the original engine? OpenMW is the easiest stable option on modern PCs. Use the original engine with Code Patch and MGE XE only if you need MWSE-based mods.

Why do I keep missing enemies? Low weapon skill, Agility, Luck or Fatigue. Train your weapon and rest to recover Fatigue.

Can I join more than one Great House? No, pick one of Hlaalu, Redoran or Telvanni.

How do I start Bloodmoon? Take the boat from Khuul to Fort Frostmoth on Solstheim.

How do I start Tribunal? It begins once the Dark Brotherhood assassins attack you while resting. Discuss the attack with Apelles Matius, then ask Asciene Rane in Ebonheart's Grand Council Chambers for transport to Mournhold.

Sources

• Morrowind GOTY on Steam
• OpenMW official site (0.51.0 release notes)
• UESP: Tribunal Dark Brotherhood Attacks
• UESP: Morrowind