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About this mod
Balances the weapons in Morrowind based on personal preference and some realism. Aims to make all weapons viable while also filling more unique roles in battle.
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As a longtime Elder Scrolls player starting with Oblivion and Skyrim, I wanted to go back to Morrowind. The increased role-playing potential and amount of weaponry are part of what made me want to play. However, after playing a bit and looking at the damage stats, I felt that some balance changes were needed. Besides some artifacts, maces were near worthless. The blade weapons were overall superior to everything. They were stronger, faster, lighter, and more plentiful. In the expansions, there are also pretty glaring issues. Goblin weapons outclass Daedric weaponry? And why does a dagger have the same reach as a claymore?
Other balance mods do a decent job, but don’t quite capture what I want in my own playthrough, so I decided to make my own and share it.
This mod aims to make every weapon similar in power at each level while also giving each weapon a certain niche role.
Features
This mod features many changes to nearly every weapon type. From reach to speed to damage and weight and value, everything is touched upon, which I detail below.
General Changes
All weapons that use another weapon as their base are now equal in physical power. The only exceptions are weapons that were used by deities. Weapons with visual spikes also deal a bit more thrust damage. An example is the Daedric warhammer.
Reach
I changed every weapon’s length based on its literal length compared to each other. The only exceptions were spears, halberds, and staves. They were the same length as two-handed swords, but I still kept their length the same as vanilla to preserve their gimmick.
IMPORTANT NOTE: For weapons with a reach shorter than 1, the vanilla game WILL NOT treat the length as such. It will treat it as if it is still 1.
You NEED either Morrowind Code Patch or OpenMW for the game to properly utilize the shorter reaches. I use OpenMW, which properly uses shorter reaches.
Claymores and dai-katanas are now the third longest weapons in the game with a reach of 1.5, equal to that of vanilla warhammers. Longswords and sabers have a reach of 1.1, broadswords and katanas a reach of 1.0, shortswords 0.85, wakizashis 0.8, tantos 0.5, and daggers 0.4. Unfortunately, changing the reach of fists bugs out certain enemies, so I kept it the same for now.
Axes and maces are shorter now with a reach between tantos and wakizashis at 0.65. Battleaxes I took slight liberty to set them to 1.0 reach, and warhammers 1.1
Now shorter weapons actually require you to close the distance. Users of long weapons will have an easier time dealing with a short weapon user in fair combat.
Spears/Halberds
Spears were untouched, but halberds were changed. I swapped the thrust and slashing stats on the halberds, and bumped the chop damage a small bit. Now halberds are better for sweeping around your target rather than backing up and poking them like a spear. The halberds still thrust, but how well depends on how pointy they are. For example, the dwemer and steel halberds poke better than the glass or iron halberds.
Maces
Maces are now the strongest single-handed weapons in terms of pure damage, but with drawbacks. They are now the slowest one-handed weapon with a speed of 0.9, making misses more punishing. Their overhead chop is the strongest attack. Slashes are 1/3 as effective since you won’t have gravity to assist. Quick attacks are worthless. Since maces are often seen as cleric or paladin weapons, I also buffed their enchantability, with the Ebony mace being the highest, similar to the staff. Their weights are now changed to slightly more than their longsword counterparts. Maces in real life are similarly weighted to a sword, just balanced differently. This means all maces are heavier than in vanilla to match the longswords.
They should fill the role of the brutal crushing weapon I feel they should be. Just don't miss.
Warhammers
Warhammers I balanced on a similar concept to maces, minus the enchantment values. They’re now the slowest weapon in the game with a speed value of 0.7, but hit very hard. Should only be utilized by those very skilled in blunt weaponry, or who are very accurate. Misses will be very punishing. Their chop is their strongest attack, but the slash is half as effective, due to the leverage of the longer handle. I left their weights alone since they’re pretty large.
Miss, and you'll have a bad time, but get one hit in, and your enemies likely won't have a chance.
Staves
Staves I bumped up the base damage by 4 points to make them somewhat more viable for monk type characters, while still keeping them on the weaker end to highlight their more unique features. They should be at the very least serviceable for a pure melee character. I also increased the overall enchantment level of all of them, so that the earlier staves are useful for mage and enchanting players.
Clubs
Clubs were intentionally left the same, due to their crude nature.
Long Blade/Short Blades.
Other than the previously changed reach, most stats of the blade weapons are unchanged to have a point of reference for balancing the other weapons. I did make the wakizashis lighter than their counterparts, to fit more in line with the katanas and their more slender blades. Tantos were untouched in weight since they’re longer than daggers. Daedric daggers were also buffed in damage.
Axes
Axes are similar to maces. They are slower than vanilla, but a bit quicker than maces. They deal the most with chops, and 1/2 of this for slashes. Quick chops or slashes do 1/4 of their respective max. For pure damage, they’ll barely outclass long blades, but the slower speed will make misses more punishing, and the lower reach means you have to be closer to your enemy. Weight is made to be only slightly more than the equivalent longsword. Axes can now be seen as the short sword equivalent to maces with the ability to spam a few quick attacks that aren't just 1 damage.
Battleaxes
Battleaxes were left alone as they turned out to already be rather balanced. They’re faster and overall weaker than warhammers, but slower and mostly stronger than two-handed blades. The only exceptions being I buffed the Dwemer Battleaxe to 44 max damage, the Daedric one to 85, and the Nordic one to 33.
Tribunal Changes
Adamantium weapons were made to follow my formula, while also making the quality just below ebony. I also priced them to be just below the value of the ebony equivalent where applicable. Adamantium weapons are now slightly weaker than ebony, but lighter, making them an appealing option.
I nerfed the thrust damage of the Ebony Scimitar slightly.
To keep goblin weapons strong for those maybe nostalgic for them, they were nerfed to be around the power of glass. In a maybe controversial change, the goblin sword was changed to be a long blade, since the blade is as long and thick as a broadsword. They’re still useful but not overpowered. They also do not bypass normal resistance.
The only artifact weapons I changed were the Mace of Slurring to make it follow my mace formulas, the Bipolar Blade to make it a bit better than ebony, and the Hammer of Stendarr to make it stupid powerful for those who can properly use it.
Bloodmoon Changes
Stalhrim weapons received the same balance changes, but are now only slightly better than ebony. Their prices and weights are changed to reflect this.
Nordic Silver weapons were fitted to my formulas and nerfed slightly to glass power since some were stronger than glass, others weaker. Their prices reflect this. Good weapons for a holy warrior.
Huntsman weapons look like they’re just stone weapons, so they are nerfed to iron quality. Prices are kept the same. Maybe you can see them as culturally valuable? The crossbow is only nerfed to steel quality.
Perhaps another controversial change, the Riekling blades are balanced as short blades, and the lance as a long blade due to their respective lengths. The normal blade is nerfed to just above steel quality, while the rusted one is nerfed to iron quality.
The Spear of the Hunter is also only given buffed slashing and chop damage, due to its shape.
Installation
Just drag the .esp to your Data Files folder, or use your favorite mod manager. Order shouldn't matter since they each edit different parts. Remember that you need either Morrowind Code Patch or OpenMW for the shorter reach to work properly. I use OpenMW, which seems to work fine.
Conflicts
Since this mod just edits the stats of weapons and nothing else, this mod should be compatible with anything that doesn’t edit weapons as well. Any mod that adds new weapons will likely be imbalanced if you’re using this mod in tandem. If there’s a popular one you want balanced similar to mine, let me know and I’ll take a look. If I like the mod to use it myself, I’ll probably make a patch for it.
Future Plans
I don’t have much more I want to do. I may make optional .esps that make most of the weapons lighter. In reality, a 60lb sword is not very practical. Might make an armor mod sometime, but I don’t really see the need for it right now
End Note
That about wraps up the mod. This is the first mod I've made, so any constructive feedback on my changes is welcome. After playing around a bit, the changes seem pretty balanced, though I'd have to try every single weapon type to know for sure. If you have any issues with how I balanced things or ideas on different ways to balance weapons, let me know and I may change things up.
But overall, I hope you enjoy the mod.
Other balance mods do a decent job, but don’t quite capture what I want in my own playthrough, so I decided to make my own and share it.
This mod aims to make every weapon similar in power at each level while also giving each weapon a certain niche role.
Features
This mod features many changes to nearly every weapon type. From reach to speed to damage and weight and value, everything is touched upon, which I detail below.
General Changes
All weapons that use another weapon as their base are now equal in physical power. The only exceptions are weapons that were used by deities. Weapons with visual spikes also deal a bit more thrust damage. An example is the Daedric warhammer.
Reach
I changed every weapon’s length based on its literal length compared to each other. The only exceptions were spears, halberds, and staves. They were the same length as two-handed swords, but I still kept their length the same as vanilla to preserve their gimmick.
IMPORTANT NOTE: For weapons with a reach shorter than 1, the vanilla game WILL NOT treat the length as such. It will treat it as if it is still 1.
You NEED either Morrowind Code Patch or OpenMW for the game to properly utilize the shorter reaches. I use OpenMW, which properly uses shorter reaches.
Claymores and dai-katanas are now the third longest weapons in the game with a reach of 1.5, equal to that of vanilla warhammers. Longswords and sabers have a reach of 1.1, broadswords and katanas a reach of 1.0, shortswords 0.85, wakizashis 0.8, tantos 0.5, and daggers 0.4. Unfortunately, changing the reach of fists bugs out certain enemies, so I kept it the same for now.
Axes and maces are shorter now with a reach between tantos and wakizashis at 0.65. Battleaxes I took slight liberty to set them to 1.0 reach, and warhammers 1.1
Now shorter weapons actually require you to close the distance. Users of long weapons will have an easier time dealing with a short weapon user in fair combat.
Spears/Halberds
Spears were untouched, but halberds were changed. I swapped the thrust and slashing stats on the halberds, and bumped the chop damage a small bit. Now halberds are better for sweeping around your target rather than backing up and poking them like a spear. The halberds still thrust, but how well depends on how pointy they are. For example, the dwemer and steel halberds poke better than the glass or iron halberds.
Maces
Maces are now the strongest single-handed weapons in terms of pure damage, but with drawbacks. They are now the slowest one-handed weapon with a speed of 0.9, making misses more punishing. Their overhead chop is the strongest attack. Slashes are 1/3 as effective since you won’t have gravity to assist. Quick attacks are worthless. Since maces are often seen as cleric or paladin weapons, I also buffed their enchantability, with the Ebony mace being the highest, similar to the staff. Their weights are now changed to slightly more than their longsword counterparts. Maces in real life are similarly weighted to a sword, just balanced differently. This means all maces are heavier than in vanilla to match the longswords.
They should fill the role of the brutal crushing weapon I feel they should be. Just don't miss.
Warhammers
Warhammers I balanced on a similar concept to maces, minus the enchantment values. They’re now the slowest weapon in the game with a speed value of 0.7, but hit very hard. Should only be utilized by those very skilled in blunt weaponry, or who are very accurate. Misses will be very punishing. Their chop is their strongest attack, but the slash is half as effective, due to the leverage of the longer handle. I left their weights alone since they’re pretty large.
Miss, and you'll have a bad time, but get one hit in, and your enemies likely won't have a chance.
Staves
Staves I bumped up the base damage by 4 points to make them somewhat more viable for monk type characters, while still keeping them on the weaker end to highlight their more unique features. They should be at the very least serviceable for a pure melee character. I also increased the overall enchantment level of all of them, so that the earlier staves are useful for mage and enchanting players.
Clubs
Clubs were intentionally left the same, due to their crude nature.
Long Blade/Short Blades.
Other than the previously changed reach, most stats of the blade weapons are unchanged to have a point of reference for balancing the other weapons. I did make the wakizashis lighter than their counterparts, to fit more in line with the katanas and their more slender blades. Tantos were untouched in weight since they’re longer than daggers. Daedric daggers were also buffed in damage.
Axes
Axes are similar to maces. They are slower than vanilla, but a bit quicker than maces. They deal the most with chops, and 1/2 of this for slashes. Quick chops or slashes do 1/4 of their respective max. For pure damage, they’ll barely outclass long blades, but the slower speed will make misses more punishing, and the lower reach means you have to be closer to your enemy. Weight is made to be only slightly more than the equivalent longsword. Axes can now be seen as the short sword equivalent to maces with the ability to spam a few quick attacks that aren't just 1 damage.
Battleaxes
Battleaxes were left alone as they turned out to already be rather balanced. They’re faster and overall weaker than warhammers, but slower and mostly stronger than two-handed blades. The only exceptions being I buffed the Dwemer Battleaxe to 44 max damage, the Daedric one to 85, and the Nordic one to 33.
Tribunal Changes
Adamantium weapons were made to follow my formula, while also making the quality just below ebony. I also priced them to be just below the value of the ebony equivalent where applicable. Adamantium weapons are now slightly weaker than ebony, but lighter, making them an appealing option.
I nerfed the thrust damage of the Ebony Scimitar slightly.
To keep goblin weapons strong for those maybe nostalgic for them, they were nerfed to be around the power of glass. In a maybe controversial change, the goblin sword was changed to be a long blade, since the blade is as long and thick as a broadsword. They’re still useful but not overpowered. They also do not bypass normal resistance.
The only artifact weapons I changed were the Mace of Slurring to make it follow my mace formulas, the Bipolar Blade to make it a bit better than ebony, and the Hammer of Stendarr to make it stupid powerful for those who can properly use it.
Bloodmoon Changes
Stalhrim weapons received the same balance changes, but are now only slightly better than ebony. Their prices and weights are changed to reflect this.
Nordic Silver weapons were fitted to my formulas and nerfed slightly to glass power since some were stronger than glass, others weaker. Their prices reflect this. Good weapons for a holy warrior.
Huntsman weapons look like they’re just stone weapons, so they are nerfed to iron quality. Prices are kept the same. Maybe you can see them as culturally valuable? The crossbow is only nerfed to steel quality.
Perhaps another controversial change, the Riekling blades are balanced as short blades, and the lance as a long blade due to their respective lengths. The normal blade is nerfed to just above steel quality, while the rusted one is nerfed to iron quality.
The Spear of the Hunter is also only given buffed slashing and chop damage, due to its shape.
Installation
Just drag the .esp to your Data Files folder, or use your favorite mod manager. Order shouldn't matter since they each edit different parts. Remember that you need either Morrowind Code Patch or OpenMW for the shorter reach to work properly. I use OpenMW, which seems to work fine.
Conflicts
Since this mod just edits the stats of weapons and nothing else, this mod should be compatible with anything that doesn’t edit weapons as well. Any mod that adds new weapons will likely be imbalanced if you’re using this mod in tandem. If there’s a popular one you want balanced similar to mine, let me know and I’ll take a look. If I like the mod to use it myself, I’ll probably make a patch for it.
Future Plans
I don’t have much more I want to do. I may make optional .esps that make most of the weapons lighter. In reality, a 60lb sword is not very practical. Might make an armor mod sometime, but I don’t really see the need for it right now
End Note
That about wraps up the mod. This is the first mod I've made, so any constructive feedback on my changes is welcome. After playing around a bit, the changes seem pretty balanced, though I'd have to try every single weapon type to know for sure. If you have any issues with how I balanced things or ideas on different ways to balance weapons, let me know and I may change things up.
But overall, I hope you enjoy the mod.