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Hi! So... I decided to come over here and make a quick overview of the Nords, as they exist within the game of Morrowind( Tribunal and Bloodmoon included, mods unincluded. ). I chose to make it because Nords are my favourite race, and the ones I almost always choose to play. Also, to introduce myself a bit. Mostly, I just want to hear what you all think, and whether you would like me to make a overview of any other race later on. Allright.

Pros:

-A male Nord has 50 base Strenght and Endurance. This means they are tied with Orcs and Redguards for the highest starting Endurance in the game and with male Redguards for highest starting Strenght in the game( A female Nord has slightly less Endurance but more Willpower... But they are still tiyng with male Redguards on Strenght, so they are nothing to scoff at either. ). Because both Strenght and Endurance go into the calculation of your starting hitpoints, it also means, they have the highest starting health in the game. So, on the summary: Nords can take a lot of hits, and dish out a lot of damage back. Not much else to say here.

-With complete immunity to Frost magic and high resistance to Shock magic, they can shrug off magical attacks that would be deadly to many other races. In particular, Frost atronachs are basically a zero-effort kill for Nords for obvious reasons.

-Not sure whether to put it on a "pro" or a "cons", but a female Nord is on a intersting position where it comes to becoming a Spellsword( Or a similar, swordmage-styled class or build ). They have the very high starting Willpower of 50, but a Intelligence of just 30. What this means is, they by default have a surprising ease using basic spells compared to most of the more "fight-y" races( As Willpower is the governing attribute of almost every school of magic ), but they, by default, have a quite low cap where it comes to the power of the spells they can cast, due to low Intelligence. It is highly recommended that, if you try to make a Nord into a more mage-like character, you choose a sign that boosts their maximun Mana. However, at either case, even if you choose a class that DOESNT come with magical abilities, if you want to start off your Nord as a purely meele character but transition then into learning a few spells later on, female Nords have more of a ease with it the transition then most similar races. And there are quite a few spells that are usefull even for what would otherwise be a almost completely meele-based character.

Cons.

-Perhaps the Nord greatest weakness, for what is otherwise meant as a close-quarters race, is their low Agility. Offensivelly, it is possible to make up for it and then some by simply plaiyng up to their strenghts: After all, they have a very high Strenght and bonuses with several weapons, meaning that, choose a combat-based class and focus on the weapons your character is good with and you wont even be noticing your supposedly "low accuracy". But defensively, it almost negates the Nord natural bulk against more hard-hitting opponents( Especially for female Nords, as these are, per the game mechanics, somewhat more fragile ) and worse of all, it can get you knocked down too often for confort. It is recommendable that you try to increase a Nord armor rating by equipping then with light armor, at least early on. They are bulky enough on the early game they can afford to have a slightly mediocre defense anyway.

-As any Personality 30 race, expect to waste a lot of money on Bribes early on unless you have Speechcraft as one of your major skills( And sometimes even if then. )

-Also as pointed out above, Intelligence 30 makes plaiyng a Nord spellcaster quite difficult, though still viable.

-No special protection against fire magic( Though this is a weakness easily made up with via enchanted itens later on, and just "Having enough hitpoints to just eat it" early on. )

Recommended race for people who: Just want their character to be able to both dish and take damage, and dont care much about fancy things like "spells" or "stealth"

Recommended classes: The Barbarian class, stereotypically enough, play up to the Nord strenghts almost to a T: Between your massive starting Strenght and your similarly high skill with Axes and Blunt Weapons, just get a axe and there wont be much you wont be able to kill quickly. If you want to play a magical nord, consider the Battlemage class. You will have Axes and Conjuration as major skills, so you should be able to early enough learn Bound Axe for similar or better effect to what happens if you give a axe to Nord Barbarian.

So, what about you? Any thoughts on the Nords?

That was a very detailed and interesting analysis! I'd be interested in reading your analyses of other races. But sticking with Nords for now, have you compared and contrasted Nords in Morrowind with Nords in the other TES games?

I might add that spears are a pretty good starting weapon for Nord characters (though they're a good starting weapon for all characters, to be honest). It lets them hit enemies from farther away without having to eat that first hit or get hit as often in general. This can help compensate for the Nord's initial susceptibility to being staggered (low Agility). Using spears also gives them bonuses to Endurance, allowing you to actually take advantage of the high staring Endurance by maxing it as quickly as possible.