MorrowLoot Ultimate
The Overhaul Morrowloot Deserves
In the land of Skyrim, mighty heroes and dangerous evildoers rule the common folk…
equipment of Elven, Orcish, and Dwarven make are rare and superior,
but Glass, Ebony, Dragon, and the elusive Daedric are rarer still and unrivaled in quality…
Until the Dragonborn turns level 20.
The gods have decided everyone gets formerly treasured weapons and armor
when that one guy gets a bit tougher. Before he came around, it was almost like…
you had to explore to find something valuable.
Behold, Morrowloot. Trainwiz started it, Fuma expanded it, and now MorrowLoot Ultimate rebalances the game for it in a way that’s highly vanilla-friendly. Not only have items that are supposed to be rare and exciting been removed from common leveled lists, the greatest of them have been hand-placed in static locations as rewards for the brave adventurer. But beware – your enemies will not be weak simply because you are. Only with great risk comes great reward.
All of my new work on this mod has been done over on the Special Edition page. If you’re considering switching over, check it out because there’s a lot of good updates. The Oldrim version is still fully functional, but I just don’t have the time to maintain both.
Features
MLU is an overhaul built to “complete” Morrowloot. Skyrim rejects Morrowind-style loot on many
levels – rare weapons and armor are only a slight upgrade, weapon/armor tempering is far more
important than base stats, and Fortify Crafting loops enable creations that render legendary
artifacts obsolete. Enemy level scaling guarantees you’re never outmatched, even in the pursuit
of powerful relics, and hasted PC leveling is too fast to appreciate your early achievements.
MorrowLoot Ultimate fixes that.
Rare is Better
Tempering is nerfed by about 40%. Glass, Ebony, Stalhrim, Dragon, and Daedric equipments are buffed. The buffs are roughly equal to what a master-level smith would lose in tempering bonuses – your max-level power is about the same. There is now a noticeable power jump from common to rare. Common gear will be less useful and non-smithing characters will enjoy a buff when they find powerful items. Unique/artifact weapons and armor have been buffed the same, making your first rare item an upgrade on the spot.
Enemy Level Scaling: Beware Monsters
Short explanation: many enemies will significantly outlevel you in the beginning. Skyrim’s enemy scaling is governed by Encounter Zones, which control the minimum and maximum level spawns within. If a dungeon’s Encounter Zone has a minimum of 20, and you walk in at 10, it will treat you like you’re 20. Skyrim hardly uses this mechanic, but MLU sets new minimums that endanger the ill-prepared. Don’t expect every dungeon to cater to your level – 20 is far from the highest.
Use optional plug-in Static PermaZONES for almost entirely deleveled enemies and loot
Alternatively, if you’d rather use another mod’s EZs, like the original PermaZONES, simply load it after MLU
Quest Rewards always best quality:
Credit to gorey666 for first doing this in his mod No Leveled Item Rewards. MLU includes the same changes. Many of the weapons and armors have been buffed in the Rare is Better component.
Slower Leveling and 125 Max Skills:
What good is a mod that revolves around enhancing low level gameplay with Skyrim’s crazy-fast leveling?? The game world is huge and you can easily find yourself level 50 before completing hardly any of the content. Custom uncapper settings included with variants for SPERG and Ordinator. Elys’ Community Uncapper required. Skills up to 125 means you don’t need to bother with the janky “Legendary Skills” mechanic. Using a skill after hitting 100 is still rewarding. Half-speed leveling means you have twice as much time to do or find something cool while you’re a lowbie.
Note: Skill experience is cut in half, so if you use your own Uncapper settings then try to keep everything around 0.5. The custom SPERG and Ordinator files are designed with those mods in mind and the same slower leveling.
Extended UI is recommended, use the MCM to disable “Legendary UI Elements” (because resetting your skills is stupid) (Extended UI is also awesome on its own)
Alchemy Overhaul and “Fortify Crafting” changes:
Why does Morrowloot need an Alchemy overhaul, you ask? Because Fortify Smithing and Enchanting potions ruin treasure hunting. You have to choose to not exploit. MLU reverses the exploit into a game feature.
All repeatable sources of Fortify Crafting have been removed – ingredients, enchanted items, and potions. Ingredients had their effects replaced.
Unique items that Fortify Crafting have been made undisenchantable. Muiri’s Ring and The Forgemaster’s Fingers are examples. Other sources like Ahzidal’s Genius remain.
The result is a new source of unique rewards for the player. Become the best you can be at your craft without cheating.
Another result is that MLU is now incompatible with Alchemy mods, unless patched, including my old favorite Immersive Potions. But since Skyrim’s Alchemy still needs an overhaul:
Restore Health/Magicka/Stamina Potions now cannot be spammed and heal the same amount over 5 seconds. You chug two Restore Health Potions at once, only one works.
Crafted Restore potions will be about 50% stronger. All 60-second potions now last 120 seconds. Ravage effects last longer with greater magnitudes. These changes are well-tested and balanced, making Alchemy useful without any Fortify Alchemy effects.
Rare ingredients have more powerful effects. Nirnroot’s actually good now – pick every one you see.
Dragons now drop body parts – potent ingredients with the most powerful effects in the game.
Alchemy feels like vanilla, but with smarter choices and now compliments Morrowloot instead of rejecting it.
Dragons drop body parts goes great with: Bloody Dragon Bones
MorrowLoot Updated:
Even after 4E Edition, Morrowloot still needed updates. There are a lot of holes in the leveled lists and no perfect companion mods yet exist to fix everything Skyrim does to reject it. I’ve combed through the leveled lists from Skyrim and all DLC and sealed every last leak. If you see anything Dwarven, Evlen, Orcish, Glass, Stalhrim, Ebony, Dragon, or Daedric somewhere – it was supposed to be there. Congrats.
Like 4E Edition, MLU also restricts the crafting of powerful equipment:
Elven, Orcish, Nordic, and Glass armors require an addition 10 Smithing skill to craft if you’re not the right race. Altmer for Elven and Glass, Orcs for Orcish and Nords for Nordic. These armors will be superior to other equipment crafted with the same perk. Use patched mods like Immersive Armors and aMidianBorn Content Addon for an even more intricate and rewarding Smithing system.
Dwarven equipment cannot be crafted without the Ancient Knowledge, which now also improves Dwarven weapon damage by 25% (except Crossbows).
Ebony equipment, and any recipe that involves Ebony, can only be crafted at the Skyforge or Gloombound Forge.
Daedric equipment can only be crafted by a master smith who discovers the otherworldly secrets to its creation…
Rare materials, such as Ebony and Malachite, will be much less common at vendors and more expensive.
MLU loosens up on finding Elven, Dwarven, and Orcish equipment. You can still find these items uncommonly in “boss” leveled lists. For example, at a bandit camp only the Chief may have better equipment.
Another goody: new unique Thane weapons.
MLU also comes with built-in compatibility with The Unofficial Patches, WAF, CCF, and CCOR. Every user is expected to have these in their load order.
Or, I can let The NoobSader King give you an overview:
Requirements
All of the Bethesda DLC – Dawnguard, Dragonborn, and Hearthfire
Not directly required, but expected of you:
The Unofficial Patches for Dawnguard, Dragonborn, and Hearthfire
or USLEEP (some mods might need updated for you to switch)
Weapons and Armor Fixes Remade (full version, all options)
Clothing and Clutter Fixes
Skyrim -Community- Uncapper
Complete Crafting Overhaul Remade
MorrowLoot Ultimate was designed as though the
above are a part of the original game
(so install them!)
INSTALLATION
Just install the main file normally with Mod Organizer, NMM, or otherwise.
Download MLU Patches and install the patches you need. Refer to the stickied
comment in the comments section for a list of patched mods.
Be sure to read the Compatibility section below. Making
a Bashed Patch with Wrye Bash will probably be important.
START A NEW GAME
Obviously, MLU is designed for a new playthrough, but if you load this ESP
in an existing save it will create chaos. In fact, you should try it once
cuz it’s kinda funny.
If you must install on an existing save, first use SkyTweak’s MCM
to lower “Weapon Tempering” and “Armor Tempering”
(under Services tab) to exactly 6.0 and then save the game.
If you don’t, aforementioned chaos.
COMPATIBILITY
MorrowLoot Ultimate changes leveled lists, crafting recipes,
weapons & armor, Encounter Zones, some NPCs, Ingredients & Potions,
and the perk “Benefactor”.
If a mod changes any of the same, it will usually require a patch.
If you run a huge modlist (you battle with the 255-limit), you
will need to take time to set yourself up for MLU before playing.
Mod Organizer is heavily recommended for its profiles feature.
Check the sticky in the comments for list of patches
27 mods are currently patched for compatibility and balance
Use Wrye Bash. If you don’t, it’ll be a graveyard smash.
Load MLU and patches last before Scarcity and Bashed.
If a mod you love is incompatible, let me know in the comments and I may patch for it.
I’ve covered all the biggest bases and more are to come.
To see for yourself if there are conflicts,
open both mods in TES5Edit and look through its records – overwritten records will be dark red.
KEEP MLU.esp AND ITS PATCHES RIGHT ABOVE SCARCITY AND YOUR BASHED PATCH
If MLU does too much for you, check out Asator’s simplified version (separate author):
MUS – Morrowloot Ultimate Simplified
Also check out my other mod, Subtle but Classless – a tiny .esp that reworks your starting stats and racial skill bonuses.
A note about extra armor/weapons mods:
MLU rebalances vanilla equipment, and new equipment mods are made expecting vanilla equipment. As a result these mods are often incoherent in your game without a patch to rebalance them for MLU. More problems if the mod adds the new equipment to leveled lists.
If you love frequently installing new armor/weapons mods and want them to work with MLU, your best option is to learn how to use TES5Edit and edit/patch it yourself. If you feel like you’re good with computers, it shouldn’t be hard for you and will help you better understand the mods you use. I’ll be writing an article guide for doing this soon.
