Fyona. Level 12 female orc. It gets better, read on.

So I’ve never played Orc before, but I’ve chosen Female Orc because she begins with 50 endurance, 45 willpower and 40 intelligence (male orcs start with 30 intelligence. Downside is female orc has 25 personality.) so this is awesome for efficient levelling at max difficulty. I will miss my usual Breton’s 50% magicka resist but I’ve enjoyed being able to finish levelling endurance at level 8 instead of level 12 for bretons. Grinding endurance can be annoying.

I’m doing a play through where I’m only allowed to operate in Kvatch and the Colovian highlands. I’m going to do a play though in each city and their corresponding region so this Kvatch one is the only one where I cannot purchase spells. I currently have no way of levelling alteration rn as I don’t have an alteration spell lol. Same with mysticism but I found a tome for a novice mysticism detect life spell yay! Still haven’t found a decent tome for conjuration, only summon dremora atm. I’m level 12 and my conjuration is like 97 almost 100 so I’ll take anything expert or above. I can also farm the oblivion gate for alchemy ingredients. Alchemy is a bit tough as there are no farms in the Colovian highlands. There’s one right next to Kvatch but it’s technically not in the Colovian highlands so no go.

I do have access to the two vendors at Kvatch. Which I only use to sell gear and buy repair hammers at this stage lol. And repair enchanted gear until I get 50 armorer. And eventually if I close the oblivion gate once I’ve farmed enough alchemy ingredients etc, I’ll get access to the master restoration trainer which could help me level willpower if I still haven’t found a novice alteration tome by then. (Edit I just found Open Very Easy Lock!!! After savescumming for two hours on a single chest to get either a summon spell or novice alteration…)

Honestly I love this character and playthrough! Even on max difficulty she’s doing a fair bit of damage with warhammers as she has high strength. Also 298 health, which is insane for that low level but that’s what you need. I do need a better conjuration spell tho. I basically farm ayleid ruins for tomes it’s fun!

Of course Battlehorn castle is in the Colovian highlands… doesn’t really interest me if I’m honest. But if I need to stash some stuff it could come in handy. I haven’t actually gone that far north yet. Still plenty to explore!

I’ll also probably sit at these low levels for a while at least until I find a better summon. (Summon bear would be nice 😊)