An Easy guide to combat

Well there are two main reasons. First, is gigantic number of players, complaining that the game is unplayable because you can't hit anything, and that the combat system in this game is completely terrible.
Second Lack of proper guide about that on Steam. As I checked the guides in the evening, there simply is nothing that impatient players would want to read, or would benefit from.

This guide is meant to be an ultimate solution for this problem : Cover EVERYTHING important, with just a tiny bit of the text. That is easy to read AND understand.
If you will have problems understanding something in the guide, please notify me in the comments below. I will make my best to rephrase this sentence to be even easier to understand.

This guide will NOT tell you what battle strategy take against certain enemies, I will also NOT force player to use certain weapon types or builds. Morrowind is a great Sandbox experience and I do not want to ruin it for you, Play the game how YOU feel it's the best to, that way you are sure to have fun in it.

Congratulations on reading the introduction, I am proceeding with the actual guide now. Have fun :)

To be good with Morrowind combat, you just need to understand how the hit chance is calculated.
While there are hitboxes, simply whacking enemy into it does not mean you will hit.

• Most important is your skill with the weapon you use.
  Numerical value of your weapon skill is your chance to hit with it : 30 longblade = 30% to hit with long blade. 100 short blade = 100% to hit with short blade.
  
  
• Secondly You get better hit chance with ANY weapon for every 5 points of Agility.
  So 100 agility = additional 20% to hit, no matter what kind of weapon you use
  
  
• Thirdly You also increase chance for every 10 points of Luck.
  100 luck = 10 % with Any weapon.
  
  
• Now for the hardest part : Stamina
  Stamina will increase or decrease your hit chance, depending on it's level. If it's more than half, you will hit more often than the formula above suggests. If it's less than half you will find it harder to hit.
  Full stamina increases your chances by 1/4 th, empty decreases by as much.
  
  Example :
  Your character has 65 Blunt weapon, 50 Agility, 50 luck. Your base hit chance equals 80%. If you are on full stamina you will have 100% chance to hit. when your stamina is empty, it is only 60%.
  
  
• Lastly, you get increased chance for every point of "Fortify Attack" effect you may have on yourself. 5 = 5 %. 30 = 30% etc. Your current stamina does NOT have any effect on the Fortify attack bonus.

Short formula : (Weapon skill + Agility/5 + Luck/10) * Stamina multiplier + Fortify Attack

So that's all to know about how your hit chance is calculated. I hope to have explained it in easy to understand way. But this is not all that you need to know about combat system.

You should also keep in mind, that your chance to hit, is decreased by enemy evasion chance. And that magic effects can change it in various ways. This however is not really important enough to write in this guide.




: Do NOT mash your attack button quickly!
Check which attack does your weapon deal most damage with, is it chop, slash or thrust?

Then use this attack, and HOLD your mouse button for about half a second. This is very important, because the amount of damage you deal to the enemy is NOT random.

If your weapon deals 3 - 90 damage. This does not mean you will deal random amount between 3 and 90. IT does mean you will deal 3 damage if you just press the button quickly, and you will deal 90 damage if you hold the attack until it's charged.
The longer you wait the more damage. But there is no indicator when you reached the max damage on the hit, like I said holding the button for about half a second should be enough, experiment a bit :)

Congratulations! You are now master of the Morrowind combat system, and you really shouldn't have any problems with missing the attacks.
If you have any questions, please leave them in comments below. Frequently asked questions will be added to the guide under the "Additional Tips" section

• Do not always run! Running all the time in towns is not the problem, you probably will not fight soon, but in the outside world, take it easy, slow down when you think you are getting closer to the dangerous area.
  
• Carry restore Fatigue potions - These will get your hit chances up quickly without the need to walk all the time.
  
• Try to land your hand on long term restore fatigue spells, or constant effect enchantment. 3 points per second is enough for your character to not get tired when running.
  
• Do not jump all the time - Jumping takes huge chunk of stamina.

• That's what you get character creation for. Your Race, specialization, Major and minor skills are meant to be the way you create your start. You really can create a L1 character that will have no missing problem.
  
• If you want to learn a new skill, but you are terrible at it (5 points), do NOT try to increase this skill by combat. Find skill trainers, and train with them for money. From around 30 skill, you can start thinking of getting experience by fighting enemies.
  
  
  How to perform specific attacks like chop, slash or thrust?
• The attack your character performs depends on the direction you move when pressing attack button.
  Standing still - Chop
  Moving to the left or right - Slash
  Moving forward or backwards - Thrust
  
• Moving in different direction after starting charging an attack, does not change the attack direction, so you can stop for a second, prepare a chop and run towards the enemy with an attack ready.
  
  
  How does the blocking work?
• The blocking process is fully automatic, if you have a shield equiped you will always have a chance to block incoming attacks, as long as you are facing the attacker
  
• The chances of blocking depend on one's block skill, agility, luck, stamina and decreased by enemies luck and agility.
  
• You can't block if two handed weapon is equiped.
  
  
  
  More to come, depending on player needs and feedback.