Oblivion: Character Build Advice

Remove all ads!

Didn't know about that one, need to try it some time.
However, from what I just read about it, it seems that only the multiplier is taken from the weapon you've got equipped currently, which indicates that it will still count towards your experience for marksman:

You could check for yourself by using the console commands 'tdt' and 'sdt 10', see also this bit about further usage.

For reference, the Skills page on the UESP.

 

I hate that skill and it's really not that useful since there is so much loot to be had. I train for that one early in the game if I need a bump in personality. But the illusion skill is more useful, since you can raise the disposition of NPC's using spells to get more info and buy things like houses. Rather than trekking a lot of loot around when selling, you can sell batches of arrows one at at time to get the increase, but only do that early in the game, because at the higher levels it's way too tedious and BORING. Combat skills are the most useful, but being able to cast expert (and higher) level spells is a lot of fun, IMO.

 

I agree completely. At the moment, I mostly sell the Restore Fatigue potions that were created as a by-product of Alchemy training, but there's no way I can be bothered to sell each potion, from a stack of several hundreds, individually. If there was some shortcut key to sell just one from a stack, like holding Ctrl in Morrowind, it would be doable, but the way it is in Oblivion it's just too of an annoyance.

 

That was one of the major things I missed from Morrowind. It's the little things that make a game good really.

 

Apparently there's a mod that lets you do just that. Odd that they took the feature out in the first place.

 

The strongest character in Oblivion is a Breton Mage. I take major skills: Blade and all the magic skills except alchemy. alchemy is so easy to level up in Oblivion that I consider it a waste of a slot to take it as a major skill.

There is mod for training on TES Nexus: Idle Training V1-2-something. I have used for training minor skills. I have mixed feelings about. It is very easy to get all your minor skills up to master by using it.

I really don't worry about getting +5 bonus. Be sure to get your endurance up because that governs what you get in health increases. I think it is 10% of endurance is added to your health when you level up.

When it comes to cheats the best cheat is God Mode. Console ~ tgm and nothing can hurt you. Can't even become a vampire, your armor doesn't even get scratched. Really is godlike. Also spoils the fun of gaming IMO. Handy if you want to carry all that loot you got and don't have Bag of Holding installed and gotten.

The hardest character for me was one born under the sign of the Antronach (sp?). But once I got alchemy up and could make decent potions I loaded up with Magicka fortifiers and restorers. Ayleid Wells come in handy there too.

 

Okay, after a long absence from the game, I'm back. I just recently started a new character based on the advice I've gotten here and elsewhere. He is:

Breton
Specialy: Stealth
Attributes: Strength, Endurance
Skills: Alchemy, Blade, Block, Illusion, Sneak, Light Armor, Marksman
Sign: The Thief

Playing very well so far. The magicka boost is nice, and noticeable. Great it combat so far. My goal is to play as balanced as possible. I will ALWAYS start off combat with a sneak attack (ranged usually, up close if I can). I pick the enemy off with arrows as they run towards me. Then I get in there with a sword to finish the job. I'm using Restoration spells a lot, and plan to take advantage of Illusion (hence the skill selection). Basically, I'm a sniping, backstabbing spellsword. A solo fighter/mage/thief, to use a BG2 comparison.

I'm still level 1, and I've made it a point to increase my skills before my "level nap." I'm hopping around like an idiot to boost acrobatics, letting weak enemies hit me to increase Light Armor, the same for Block, repairing the damage with hammers for Armorer, following dudes around for Sneak, running and swimming for Athletics, making tons of potions for Alchemy, casting Illusion and Restoration spells over and over (this doesn't work with Destruction unless I hit an enemy, I've noticed), fighting whenever I can for Blade...basically racking up what should be a respectable amount of skills, and feeling like I'm "grinding" to do it (which I kind of hate).

And yet, when I try to level up, I only get +2 and +3 for stat bumps. Am I going to have to walk around and do this stuff for every level just to get the best benefit? What are the best ways to maximize? I'm I doing something wrong?

 

A tip for your level grinding (it isnt fun but I cant stop myself from doing it either in Oblivion, not fun but addictive) is conjuration. Summon a lowbie monster, kill it with whatever you want to level. Will increase your conjuration and whatever skill you use to kill the thing with.

 

Hrm...okies. I think I've heard that somewhere.

I guess, technically, it makes realistic sense, and isn't totally powergamy. In the real world, one needs to train; and since you get no experience from practice dummies (blade or blunt) or range targets (marksman), it only makes sense to summon your own training partners. I'll swing over to the Discount Spells store and learn me a zombie spell.

 

If the multiplier system works the same as in Morrowind (I'm pretty sure it does) then the problem is that you're raising your Major skills only without paying attention to which attribute they're linked to. You need to increase Major skills by 10 points, in any combination, to gain a level. To get the maximum multiplier (+5 to an attribute) you need to increase the skills linked to this attribute by a total of 10, in any combination. Here's the breakdown of multipliers from Morrowind (again check if it's the same; I think they didn't change it):
0 (no skill increase): +1 (no multiplier)
1-4: +2
5-7: +3
8-9: +4
10: +5

Example: let's assume Mercantile, Speechcraft and Illusion are all governed by Personality (they are in Morrowind; check if it's the same in Oblivion). You raise Illusion by 4, Marksman by 4, and Block by 2 (with no raise in any other skill). They're all Major skills so you've gained a level. However when you level-up you'll only see +2 for Personality, Agility and Endurance (no multiplier for any of the others), because you haven't raised any skill combination linked to one attribute by more than 5. Now let's say you also raise Speechcraft by 4 and Mercantile by 2. You still have only 10 skill increases that count for level-up (because Speechcraft and Mercantile are not Class skills) but they are both governed by Personality, and if you add all the skill increases for the attribute they're a total of 10, so now you'll get the +5 increase for Personality.

It's an odd system and I find it tedious because I hate grinding. The solution for me in Morrowind was to play naturally, then at level-up go and train non-Class skills that I never use in order to max out the multipliers for the attributes I want increase on this level. Luck has no associated skill so you can never raise it by more than 1, and since I always put a point in Luck I only need to train skills for 2 attributes at each level-up. If my main weapon is Long Blade and I want to increase Strength then I'll train Blunt.

 

My current character is also a Breton Spellsword, with The Lady for sign. I always get all 5s, especially at the beginning.

1. You don't have to take hits, just block a whole bunch (with a shield works better).

2. Repair every piece of armour, even that you are about to sell.

3. Wear some heavy armour (at least 2 pieces).

With all this it should be easy to get the +5 for Endurance.

For strength, don't do blade so much. Instead, do some hand-to-hand and some blunt. If you are in Anvil, it will be easy to train for these at the Fighters Guild as well.

This should give you a +5 for Strength.

Like Joac says: Stay in one place and keep conjuring low level creatures. 10 bumps on the conjuration will give you a +5 for Intelligence.

These I think are the most important for a Breton spellsword.

I like to raise my acrobatics skill as well, just so I can jump onto things that other creatures can't and then rain down destruction spells onto them. You can raise this easily by just jumping off of high bridges or buidings over and over.

 

Ok, so here's my new problem.

As I said earlier, I have enough points for a level up. But I don't take it. I run around and try to up my minor skills, keeping an emphasis on the stat points I know are currently only at a +2 bump, so that I have enough for a +5 bump.

I raise them all like crazy (careful not to go past 10 in any stat-connected skill), save my game, try to sleep. I see only +2's and +3's. Frustrated, I say what the hell, time to just level up already - I can shoot for a +5 next level. I choose +2 in Strength, and +3 Speed and Endurance. Fine. But then I notice...

...the little level-up icon in the lower right! So I figure I got more level ups than I bargained for (which I assumed wasn't possible, since I figured skill points were wasted after a while). So I level up again. After which I get the icon yet again.

So evidently I'd been sitting on 4 WHOLE LEVELS. Each time, I only had +2 and +3 to choose from for stat bumps.

I feel like a blithering idiot here. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm tempted to just say hell with it, download a trainer, bump up my skills a modest amount and just get busy enjoying the damn game already. Unless you guys can set me straight for the umpteenth time.

Why me dumbest? Helpy.

PS - I can't find a low-level summon spell anywhere. I've found some scrolls, but those are one-timers. Everyone seems to have "summon scamp", which I don't have the skill for yet, but no zombies.

 

I think I've figured out your problem.

The way you're trying to accumulate skill increases works in Morrowind. There, any skill increase before you level up, even after being eligible for a level up, still counts towards the attribute modifier.

However Oblivion works a little differently. From what I can tell from reading various sources on the internet, your attribute multipliers become fixed the moment you get your 10th raise in Major skills, in other words when you become eligible for a level up, rather than when you actually gain the level. So what probably happened is that you were thinking you were saving all these Minor skill increases for the same level up, but in fact they were being spread over these 4 levels that you accumulated. With this system, the only way I can think of to get +5 multipliers is to keep track of your skill increases and make sure you have 10 increases for the attributes you want to raise before you raise your 10th Major skill and become eligible to level up.

 

That's right, as soon as you get the level-up message, your minor skill increases no longer count towards your additional points (but the skill itself will still increase). Even worse, they won't count to the next level increase either. You need the increases in minor skills before you finish leveling up. In essence, you just lose the additional bonus points once you complete the level.

You can get the addtional skill at the Mage's Guild in Chorrl from the short, bald-headed guy (iirc).

Actually, it's this guy:

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Alberic_Litte

 

Ok. I think I may start over then. I do LOVE my character, though. I'm using magic a lot more than I did. Bretons rule.

Any advice for taking on Clanfear Runts? You know, those little dinosaur things? I always have problems with them and never seem to be able to do much damage.

 

Clannfear runts have a weakness to shock damage. They are a little tough, because they reflect damage, I think (be sure to use a protection spell, like defend or guard).

 

Ok, I think I have the hang of this now. I just started over (from the exit of the sewers). Took me 5 levels to do it, but I finally got +5 in INT and AGIL, but only a +3 in STR. Still, I'm finally getting the flow of things.

One thing that's helping me is writing stuff down. Whenever I get a skill point, I make a tally on a notepad. After every 5 or 6 points, I examine the tally to see what stat point I'm building this turn, so know what to go for next, and when to chill out so I don't waste skills for level up.

I've also been building up my Conjuration with the Bound Helmet spell. It only takes 2-3 castings for a skill point bump. Awesome. The other magic skills I'm finding easy to bump, with the exception of Restoration. The only spell I use is the lowest-level heal spell. So maybe that's the problem.

Thanks for the advice on the scamps - that definitely helped. I start off with a bow sniper-shot (as usual) and then while they're running towards me I shoot a Spark spell at them. By the time they get to me they're still tough, but manageable now.

 

Unfortunately, if you want to make the most out of your level ups, that is the way to go in Oblivion (Morrowind too). I generally write this down too, and decide which attributes I want to increase beforehand.

It's not the level of the spell that you cast that determines how fast you increase your skill level in that school of spells. Restoration is simply slower because it's coded that way, not because of the which type of spell you use. Therefore, restoration will generally increase gradually over the course of the game, unless you start to specifically train it. I never really bother to train it - if I want a +5 for Willpower, I'll train destruction or Alteration - but it does increase a lot whenever I decide to train acrobatics. I usually jump down a mountain to do that, using a low level healing spell to heal me along the way (occasionally I'll need to stop to heal properly, though).

Another thing to do when training your spellcasting skills, is to create a spell yourself with minimum effect, e.g. Waterbreathing for 1 sec on Self, and cast that continuously. You'll not run out of magicka quickly like that, and can usually even just weigh down the cast button, make yourself a sandwich a you'll have your point increases by the time you're done (on higher skill levels you may be able to prepare dinner in the mean time).