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.



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.



Recommended Mods:
Scarcity
Immersive Creatures + Revenge of the Enemies
Alternate Start - Live Another Life
Better Fast Travel (use the MCM to disable Fast Travel) or Complete Fast Travel Overhaul + iNeed
Combat Evoled and/or DUEL and/or Ultimate Combat
Deadly Dragons + Dragon Combat Overhaul
Immersive Armors + Lore Weapon Expansion + Lost Longswords
or Lore Weapon Expansion + Lost Longswords  + Warmonger Amory + aMidianBorn Content Addon
Complete Crafting Overhaul Remade
Trade and Barter
Legacy of the Dragonborn
Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim
or SPERG (be sure to raise Armor Skill by running rate from 6 to 12 in MCM if using my Uncapper settings)
Complete Alchemy and Crafting Overhaul with compatibility 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.

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.



CREDITS
First one goes to Matthiaswagg for her help with a custom quest. I called myself a noob (still am) and asked for help because I was stuck - and this boss delivered. She completely authored that part of the mod and has a fantastic collection of uploads herself.

In addition:
Trainwiz for the original Morrowloot
Fuma for Morrowloot 4E Edition (built off his version)
3JIou for Deadly Dragons Armory (his dragon ingredients and script included by permission)
gorey666 for No Leveled Item Rewards (copied his method)
Nastakanoth for Immersive Potions (copied and expanded his method)
Elys for Skyrim -Community- Uncapper (custom Uncapper settings included)
T3nd0 for Skyrim Redone (copied and tweaked his Encounter Zones)
Rusey for always being willing to point out what I'm doing wrong :P

And to the users, if not for whom the mod would serve no purpose.