Morrowind - Explain Magic to me

[Eli]

Thanks.

What exactly is this alchemy set? What does it contain?

Also, I decided to go as an Atronach but wasted all my magicka points on the three people in the cave near Seyda Neen... I tried fighting them at first, but by big Axe(Blunt) hits once every 20 tries.
Where do I restore my magicka points? Are there any quick ways to do this in the middle of nowhere?

How do you increase all your magic skills?
All I had now is two increases to light armor and that's pretty much it. My destruction is about to rise, but all the rest is at zero or almost zero. Do you simply cast spells one after another and then restore the magicka somewhere?

Another little problem is the plugins. I get a warning when firing up the game. I attached the warning.txt here.

[Eli]

Oops, here's the file.

[loinburger]

I just ignore the warnings I get with plugins. They'll always give you a warning when you load a game that was saved sans plugin when you've just added a new plugin.

There are four pieces of alchemical equipment -- the mortar-and-pestle (the only piece of equipment you actually need to make potions), and then there's the Retort, the Calcinator, and the Alembic, which are optional pieces of equipment that increase the potency of your potions or else reduce the negative effects of your potions. I forget which piece of equipment does what.

If you're born under the sign of the Atronach then the only way to regenerate spell points is to either have somebody cast a spell at you (you've got a chance of absorbing the spell points) or to drink a potion that restores spell points. I forget what potion recipe I used, but my primary use of alchemical equipment was to brew up potions to restore my spell points -- they're a must-have for people born under the Atronach.

You increase magic skills by casting spells that employ those particular skills. For example, to increase your Illusino skill you'll need to case Invisibility spells and Chameleon spells and whatnot. It's not necessary that the spell actually accomplish anything useful -- f'rinstance, you can cast a Restore Hitpoints spell and increase your Restoration skill, even if you're already at full HP. It's difficult for somebody born under the Atronach to just sit around casting spells to increase their skills, though, since they don't naturally regenerate magicka. I didn't cast spurious spells until my alchemy skill was high enough to have several dozen Restore Magic Points spells on hand at all time.

IIRC you can buy a spell that increases your attack skill. Go for it, you'll need it early on -- it's more efficient in the early game to enhance your attack skill and bludgeon people to death than to kill them with direct-damage spells.

[loinburger]

You may want to restart under an easier sign, like the Mage or the Apprentice. I was used to playing a Sorceror in Arena and Daggerfall (in those games you weren't born under Signs, but your class carried a lot more features to it, specifically the Sorcerors had 300% magicka, did not regenerate magicka, and could absorb enemy spells, i.e. they were equivalent to mages born under the Atronach in Morrowind) so I was prepared for the difficulties of not being able to regenerate spellpoints, but as a starting mage you might want to use an easier character.

[Eli]

I'll handle. After all, I already passed the majority of the quests once.

[loinburger]

Atronach becomes the best magical star sign, IMO, in the middle-to-late stages of the game, when money and/or alchemical skill no longer becomes a factor, particularly in the late game after you've acquired the Necromancer's Amulet (which regenerates spellpoints). It'll be a bit problematic in the early stages, that's all. I hardly used magic at all until I was around 12th level -- 'course, I had an easier time of it, since I had decent strength and had skill in long blade, block, and armor.

[Eli]

Errr, problem.

I stood in the Balmora temple casting spells and then spending 35 gold on getting my mana back up when using the monolith thingie. But it stopped working. Now instead of getting the restore mana spell I get some silly fortify intelligence one...

Bah. Anyway, i'm off to soultrap rats and sell them to people.

[Eli]

And the Necromancer's Amulet doesnt restore spellpoints... It fortifies intelligence, and gives 25% absorb and couple more stuff, but no restore spellpoints.

[loinburger]

Really? I could've sworn that it did. I must be thinking of another artifact.

They've really scaled down the power of magic-users from Arena and especially from Daggerfall. It used to be that you could create spells that increased in power per level, e.g. a Cure Paralysis spell that had a "5% chance at success, plus 5% per level," or a Fireball spell that did "5 points of damage, plus 5 points per level." So, at level 20, not only are your spells cheaper to cast (since the cost to cast a spell went down as your level went up), but you could also create spells that had a cheaper base price, since a 100% Cure Paralysis spell always cost more than a 5% Per Level Cure Paralysis spell. So every five or ten levels I'd get a whole new batch of spells, e.g. at 10th level I'd have "10% Per Level Cure Paralysis" spells while at 25th level I'd have "4% Per Level Cure Paralysis" spells. By the time you hit 20th level or so you were essentially invincible, since all of your spells were uber-powerful yet were still dirt cheap to cast.

IIRC you can still absorb spellpoints from your own spells, though. If you're born under the Atronach then you can cast an area-effect damage spell at your feet, and you'll absorb the spellpoints that you used to cast it. They may have finally removed this with one of the newer patches, though.

[loinburger]

Whoops, the artifact I was thinking of was the Mace of Molag Bal.

[Eli]

Your alchemy skill increases by eating ingredients, and some ingredients (like saltrice) are cheap and plentiful. I'd usually collect saltrice until I had several pounds of it, and then I'd eat it all in a marathon gluttony session.

Is there a way to do this except consuming them one by one by one by one...?

[loinburger]

You can also pay somebody to train your skill up, of course, or you could create potions out of your ingredients one by one by one (I just found it easier to eat them raw one by one by one).

[Eli]

How can I get spells that make more damage than the 2-20 fireball?

[loinburger]

The spellmaker's the easiest way -- go to a Mage's Guild and talk to several of the members, one of them is going to have a dialogue option of "Spellmaking" which will allow you to create your own spells. You may have to be a member of the Guild, I forget the exact details. IIRC you may also be able to get Spellmaking through House Telvanni and/or the Tribunal Temple and/or the Imperial Cult.

I never bought spells that did more damage than the Fireball, as it was easier to just make my own. I do know that more powerful prebuilt spells are available, though, e.g. Greater Fireball. Shop around at the various Mage's Guilds, they're your best bet for buying spells until you become a member of House Telvanni or the Temple or the Cult etc.

[Eli]

Boots of Blinding Speed + Breton race = Vrrroooom!