i picked up Might and Magic 1 through 9 courtesy of GoG. Since i've never really played a blobber before, where do I start? any recommended mods for modern QoL?
1-2 are more Wizardry styled than the real-time/turn-based blobbers with combat taking place entirely in the game world.
3-5 are grid-based, but despite this, they're still very fun. Other people might know of mods that improve things, but I found it playable out of the box 10-15 years ago. Just remember, running away isn't cowardly, it might ensure you live another day. World adds in some QoL features that I don't remember, but I think they were of the variety that if you've used them, you'll notice them, but if you haven't, you won't.
6-8 are not grid-based, more like a FPS of the time, but as a RPG. Early on, you still want to be ready to flee a dangerous area if need be, but as time goes on, you quickly snowball into something killing dozens of enemies at a time. 6 is the hardest, and has some very tricky dungeons, 7 is middle of the pack, you need to kite enemies early on, and 8 is the easiest, and that's even without exploiting certain mechanics in the game.
9 is weird, its 6-8, but in true 3D, but its also quite broken, since the companies were running out of money and they rushed it out the door. AFAIK, nobody's fixed the issues, so its only of value to a MM fan.
