The Elder Scrolls IV ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______ ______ _ _________ _________ _______ _ ( ___ )( ___ \ ( \ \__ __/|\ /|\__ __/( ___ )( ( /| | ( ) || ( ) )| ( ) ( | ) ( | ) ( | ( ) || \ ( | | | | || (__/ / | | | | | | | | | | | | | || \ | | | | | || __ ( | | | | ( ( ) ) | | | | | || (\ \) | | | | || ( \ \ | | | | \ \_/ / | | | | | || | \ | | (___) || )___) )| (____/\___) (___ \ / ___) (___| (___) || ) \ | (_______)|/ \___/ (_______/\_______/ \_/ \_______/(_______)|/ )_) #################################### ##################################### ################################## ############## ########### ########### ########## ########## ######### ########### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### # ######## ######## ###### ######## ######## ######## ######## ######## ####### ####### ####### ##### ####### ###### ## ####### ####### ####### ###### ####### ###### ####### ##### ###### ##### ###### ##### ###### #### ###### #### ##### ### ##### ## #### ### ## CHARACTER GUIDE v1.30 2006-04-17 Copyright 2006 Barry Scott "PapaGamer" Will The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was developed by Bethesda Game Studios, published by Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games and is copyright 2006 Bethesda Softworks. This guide is not endorsed by, nor is the author associated with, Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks or 2K Games. --The Elder Scrolls IV------------------------------------------------------- CONTACT INFORMATION -------------------------------------------------------------------OBLIVION-- To contact me about the guide, send email to: barry@papagamer.com **PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE EMAILING ME** A lot of people have written in about the "perfect" build. I've updated a lot of information in this guide with all the math. That's the most I'm going to do. I'm not a power-gamer myself, and I'm not going to turn the entire guide into a power-gamer's guide to character building. Thanks. Please include "Oblivion Character Guide" in your subject line so I don't auto-discard the message. Also, please read the FAQ carefully prior to asking for help on any part of the game. If you send me additional suggestions or hints for the game and I find them useful, you will be acknowledged in the Credits. If you found this guide useful and would like to contribute a small token for my efforts, you may send money through PayPal by using the Donate link found on my Web site: http://www.papagamer.com/ Thank you, and enjoy the guide! ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ Front Matter Contact Information Table of Contents Skills...............................................................CG00 Attributes...........................................................CG01 Races................................................................CG02 Birthsigns...........................................................CG03 The Leveling System..................................................CG04 Classes..............................................................CG05 Class Templates......................................................CG06 The Math: How Skills Increase........................................CG07 Version History & Credits To quickly jump to a section, copy the section code, press CTRL-F and paste the section code in the search box. [CG00] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SKILLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ <~~~~~~ HOW SKILLS WORK ~~~~~~> Everything in the game is based on skills. What race (and therefore what starting attributes) you choose, what class you choose (pre-generated or custom), how you fight, how you interact with people, what quests you pick up...it should all be founded on the skills you want. Oblivion features 21 different skills. Each skill is governed by an attribute score, has different Mastery Levels--Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master--and affects how well you are able to do certain things. Each skill is also related to a class specialization (combat, mage or stealth). The Mastery Levels are: Rank Level ------- ---------- 0 - 24 Novice 25 - 49 Apprentice 50 - 74 Journeyman 75 - 99 Expert 100 Master Your base rank in all skills is five (5), which is Novice level. At that rank, you will receive limited benefit when using the skill and may even receive penalties. For example, Novice Marksmen lose Fatigue whenever they draw a bow. The highest rank for any skill is 100. When you select a class, seven skills are identified as "major skills". All the rest of the skills are "minor skills". Major skills immediately receive a +20 bonus and begin at rank 25, or Apprentice level. Any major skills that come from your class' specialization receive an additional +5, for a starting rank of 30*. You'll also receive a bonus of +5 or +10 in several skills based on your racial selection. Thus, you can start the game with some skills as high as rank 40 (major skill from class specialization +10 racial bonus). * Correction provided by yaox0024 and McArminius. Various printed material about the game lists a +10 bonus from specialized skills, but the game actually only provides a +5 bonus. Example: a Breton Battlemage would begin the game with the following major skills and scores: * Alchemy.......35 * Alteration....35 * Blade.........25 * Blunt.........25 * Conjuration...40 * Destruction...30 * Mysticism.....40 Additionally, the character would have the following minor skill scores: * Illusion......10 * Restoration...15 All other skills would be rank 5. This doesn't mean this character could not use the other skills, but they will be at Novice level and it will take a long time to increase them to Apprentice level. On the other hand, the character should quickly reach Journeyman level (and the associated perks) in Conjuration and Mysticism. All skills increase in rank as you use them. The lower your rank in a skill, the faster it will increase as you use it. Major skills increase slightly faster than minor skills of the same rank. You must increase your major skills in order to increase your class level. (See the secion on Leveling.) <~~~~~~ COMBAT SKILLS ~~~~~~> -> Armorer Governing attribute: Endurance Journeyman Perk: Can repair magic items Expert Perk: Can repair items to 125%, weapons do more damage, armor provides more protection. Master Perk: Never break a repair hammer As you use weapons and armor, they deteriorate. You can buy (or find) repair hammers and use them to repair your items based on your Armorer skill. Repair hammers also wear out with use. At Novice level, hammers last a very short time and you cannot repair magic items. At Apprentice level, hammers begin lasting twice as long. Armorer is a good skill to leave as a minor skill. It is easy to rank up the skill, and, since it's based on Endurance, is a good choice to help you get your +5 modifier for Endurance. Melee combatants, especially, will not want this as a major skill as they are likely to use it a lot, thus causing them to level their class too often. -> Athletics Governing attribute: Speed Journeyman Perk: Regenerate Fatigue 50% faster while running Expert Perk: Regenerate Fatigue 75% faster while running Master Perk: No reduction in rate of Fatigue regeneration while running Your ability to run and swim is controlled by your Athletics skill. You normally regenerate Fatigue whenever you are not running or swimming; performing one of those activities reduces the regeneration rate of your Fatigue. As your ranks in Athletics increase, your ability to regenerate Fatigue while exerting yourself increases. Athletics should almost always be a minor skill. Unless you're going to play with Always Run off (which most players do not, preferring to move faster), you'll rank up in this skill too quickly to leave as a major skill. Leaving it as a minor skill will also help you easily get those +5 modifiers to Speed. -> Blade Governing attribute: Strength Journeyman Perk: Left/Right Power Attacks with chance to disarm. Expert Perk: Backwards Power Attack with a chance to knockdown. Master Perk: Forward Power Attack with a chance to paralyze. This skill determines how much damage you can inflict with a bladed weapon--swords, daggers, etc. Higher Mastery Levels allow you to disarm or knock down your opponent. The Master perk of paralyzation is almost equivalent to an instant win. Of the three melee combat skills (Blade, Blunt and Hand To Hand), you really only need one as a major skill. Fighters will want to have one of the three as a major skill for quick access to Power Attacks. By mixing up some spellcasting and ranged attacks, you can keep from ranking up your major skill too quickly. * Hint: When you reach Cloud City Temple, you can watch two Blades sparring. Watch for a few minutes and your Blade skill will increase by two. -> Block Governing attribute: Endurance Journeyman Perk: Shield or weapon takes no damage when used to block, opponents may recoil when blocking hand to hand. Expert Perk: Blocking with a shield gives a chance of a counterattack. Master Perk: Blocking with a shield gives a chance to disarm when a successful blocking counterattack is made. Blocking is a key ingredient in Oblivion combat. The amount of damage you can deflect is governed by your Block skill. At Novice level, blocking costs Fatigue and lets a lot of damage through anyway. Melee fighters will want Block as a major skill since their lives will depend upon it. Other classes can leave this as a minor skill and use Blocking to get modifiers to Endurance. * Hint: When you reach Cloud City Temple, you can watch two Blades sparring. Watch for a few minutes and your Block skill will increase by two. -> Blunt Governing attribute: Strength Journeyman Perk: Left/Right Power Attacks with chance to disarm. Expert Perk: Backwards Power Attack with a chance to knockdown. Master Perk: Forward Power Attack with a chance to paralyze. Same as Blade, but you fight with weapons classified as blunt (clubs, maces, axes, hammers, etc.) -> Hand To Hand Governing attribute: Strength Journeyman Perk: Left/Right Power Attacks with chance to disarm. Expert Perk: Backwards Power Attack with a chance to knockdown. Master Perk: Forward Power Attack with a chance to paralyze. Same as Blade, but you fight with your fists. * Hint: Outside the Arena in the Imperial City, you can find two NPCs sparring with each other. Watch them for a couple of minutes and you will receive 5 bonus ranks to your HTH skill. -> Heavy Armor Governing attribute: Endurance Journeyman Perk: Heavy armor degrades at a 50% lower rate. Expert Perk: Equipped heavy armor items only count 50% of their normal encumbrance value. Master Perk: Equipped heavy armor items cause no encumbrance. Heavy armor (iron, steel, dwarven, orcish, ebony and daedric) is the protection of choice for high-Strength melee combatants. (Low Strength characters will find heavy armor to be too...well, heavy.) The only way to increase this skill is to wear heavy armor pieces--as many as you can buy or scrounge. Heavy Armor ranks up slowly, so having it as a major skill should not be a liability. Unless you have a very high STR character, you'll want to reach the Expert perk sooner rather than later, to reduce the encumbrance of all that metal. <~~~~~~ MAGE SKILLS ~~~~~~> -> Alchemy Governing attribute: Intelligence Journeyman Perk: Can identify three of four effects of an ingredient. Expert Perk: Can identify all four effects of an ingredient. Master Perk: Can make potions with just one ingredient. There are many alchemical substances in Tamriel: food, plants, bits and pieces of the creatures you kill...Each of these substances has up to four effects--some beneficial and some harmful. By mixing two or more ingredients that have the same effect, you can create potions or poisons. Your Alchemy skill determines how many of the four effects of a substance you can identify. At Novice level you can only identify one effect. Apprentices can identify two effects, and so on. At Master level, you can create a potion with just one ingredient. You need an alchemical apparatus to mix ingredients. The mortar and pestle is the basic apparatus, and you should find one during the starter dungeon. The better the apparatus, the greater the magnitude of the effect produced by your potion or poison: * Mortar and Pestle: basic apparatus allowing potions to be created * Retort: increases magnitude and duration of beneficial effects of potions (but not poisons) * Alembic: decreases the magnitude and duration of negative effects of potions (but not poisons) * Calcinator: increases the magnitude and durations of all effects of potions and poisons There are different quality "grades" for each type of apparatus. The higher quality apparatuses have the same effect on your potions and poisons, but to a higher degree. To mix a potion or poison, select your apparatus in Inventory to bring up the Alchemy menu. Select the apparatus you want to use from the top row. Select at least two ingredients with the same effect and click Create. The higher your Alchemy skill, the greater the magnitude of your new potion or poison. Alchemy is a good skill to leave as a minor skill. You can mix potions all day long--there are always plenty of ingredients lying around. This will give you important +5 modifiers to INT (increasing your Magicka), and you'll be able to mix all these potions without increasing your class level. What you don't use, you can sell for money, making Alchemy a profit- able skill. The following spell school skills do not have skill perks, per se. Spells are rated at a particular Mastery Level and you must have achieved that Level in the skill in order to cast the spell. For combat effectiveness, you'll want to start with some spell schools as major skills, thus getting Apprentice-level spells. If you're planning to be a magic-wielding class and all you have are Novice spells...well, good luck. On the other hand, you'll want to vary spell-casting between major and minor skills, so you don't level up your class too quickly. For example, you could throw some high-level Destruction spells at the start of combat, then switch to lower-level Alteration or Restoration spells close-up. Or, you could use a high-level Conjuration to summon some help, and then switch to low-level Destruction spells. Of the six schools, Illusion is the easiest to rank up. You can cast Light spells on yourself all day long--even if it's not dark out. Conjuration is good for summoning creatures that you can then attack--ranking up both Conjuration and whatever other skills you want ad infinitum. -> Alteration Governing attribute: Willpower Alteration spells are primarily used in a defensive or adaptive way, with a focus on buffs. Alteration spells can shield you from damage, enable you to breathe underwater, reduce your encumbrance, etc. This school may be of most use to a combat-oriented character with some magical ability (i.e. a "Spellsword" or "Battlemage"). -> Conjuration Governing attribute: Intelligence This school of magic is primarily concerned with three things: summoning creatures to fight for the caster, summoning "bound" armor and weapons-- i.e. creating armor and weapons out of Magicka--and repulsing (turning) undead. Pure casters will definitely want this school, and battlemages with low Strength may like the bound armor and weapons, since they have no weight. -> Destruction Governing attribute: Willpower Your basic offensive spells. Pure mages need this school for raw firepower. (Literally.) However, Destruction spells go beyond simple damage-dealing; they can weaken attributes and skills, corrode armor and weapons and other nasty things. There are also a number of good long-range Destruction spells, making this an excellent choice for battlemages who don't want to lug around bow and arrows. -> Illusion Governing attribute: Personality Illusions run the gamut from charm spells to invisibility to controlling creatures. There are a wide variety of spells in this school, many of them of most value to a Stealth character rather than a pure mage or battlemage. -> Mysticism Governing attribute: Intelligence Mysticism has two major uses: protect against magic and detect enemies. This is the school where you find your dispelling magic as well as detection magic. A good school for pure casters and for "bounty hunter" builds--warriors who specialize in tracking down targets. -> Restoration Governing attribute: Willpower Resoration spells include basic healing magic, as well as many more types that can be used for offense as well as defense. Some Restoration spells allow you to increase your own attributes and skills by absorbing them from your foes. You'll also find a number of buffing spells in addition to restoritive magic. A great all-around school that fits well into any character build that needs a little magic boost. <~~~~~~ STEALTH SKILLS ~~~~~~> -> Acrobatics Governing attribute: Speed Journeyman Perk: Gains the Dodge ability--hold Block and jump in a direction to evade attacks Expert Perk: Fatigue loss for jumping is cut in half Master Perk: Water Jump--time your jumps just right and you can jump across water surfaces Acrobatics provides some benefit in combat, the Dodge ability tends to be terribly underrated. However, Acrobatics works best as a major skill that is left unused until you're ready to level up your class. Then you just start hopping everywhere and, just like that, you'll be ready to level up. -> Light Armor Governing attribute: Speed Journeyman Perk: Armor degrades more slowly. Expert Perk: Equipped Light Armor does not encumber the wearer. Master Perk: Gains a 50% bonus to armor rating if wearing only Light Armor pieces. Light armor (fur, leather, chainmail, mithril, elven and glass) is for those characters that rely more on stealth and speed to keep themselves alive. While these armors provide some protection, they are not meant to keep you alive if you consistently go toe-to-toe with the bad guys. Light armor is sort of the back-up plan for ranged characters who get caught in melee or Stealth characters who are spotted before they can deliver a critical blow. Light Armor works best as a minor skill. You can use Armorer skill to keep your armor in good condition, and you don't need to get the mastery level perks quite as quickly as you do with heavy armor. -> Marksman Governing attribute: Agility Journeyman Perk: Zoom--hold Block while your bow is drawn to zoom in on the target. Expert Perk: Gives a chance of knocking down the target with arrows. Master Perk: Gives a chance of paralyzing the target with arrows. The only ranged weapon in Oblivion is the bow, and characters who depend upon it must have Marksman. Generally, one should choose a single combat skill and stick with it; however, Marksman may be mixed with a melee skill that you can fall back on should you get caught by a rush. If you decide to go the archer route, make sure you always have plenty of arrows before leaving town and also be careful to recover arrows you have used. Since archers will want the Journeyman perk as quickly as possible, you should start with Marksman as a major skill if you plan on being a ranged fighter. Mix it up with some spells to keep from ranking it up too quickly, and getting your class levels too quickly. -> Mercantile Governing attribute: Personality Journeyman Perk: Buy and sell any item with any merchant. Expert Perk: You can invest in a shop, giving that shop a bonus to the amount of gold on hand. Master Perk: All shops have an increase in the amount of gold on hand. Mercantile may well be the most useless skill in Oblivion. Sure you can get better deals at merchants, but after you've cleared a few dungeons/ finished a few quests, you're not going to be hurting for Septims. In addition to the perks listed, Mercantile affects your ability to haggle with a merchant. While the merchant's barter screen (the shop inventory) is open, click the Haggle button. You'll get a slider from Easy (far left) to Hard (far right). Underneath you'll see the percentage of base cost for items you buy from the merchant (e.g. 185%) and the percentage of base cost for items you sell to the merchant (e.g. 35%). Moving the slider from left to right decreases the buy cost and increases the sell cost. Once you've chosen a buy/sell combination you like, close the Haggle win- dow and try to buy or sell an item. If the merchant refuses, open the Haggle window and move the slider to the left. The higher your Mercantile skill, the more likely the merchant is to accept deals on the right side of the slider. It should be pointed out the Journeyman perk does not mean honest merchants will buy stolen items. It simply means you can sell weapons to clothiers, or buy alchemical ingredients from armorers. Mercantile ranks up whenever you barter with a shopkeeper, so keep this as a minor skill to avoid unwanted class levels. -> Security Governing attribute: Agility Journeyman Perk: If you fail to set a tumbler, two set tumblers will fall. Expert Perk: If you fail to set a tumbler, only one set tumbler will fall. Master Perk: No set tumblers fall if you fail to set a tumbler. Security controls the lockpicking mini-game in three ways: * Higher Security provides a more likely chance of success if you use the Auto Attempt button to try to pick the lock. * Higher Security keeps set tumblers in place when you break a pick by failing to properly set a tumbler. * Higher Security causes tumblers to drop back down more slowly. The lockpicking mini-game pops up whenever you try to open a locked object. You'll see a stylized rendition of the internal workings of a lock. Through the middle runs a hollow bolt into which your pick is inserted. This bolt is held in place by from one (very easy locks) to five (very hard locks) tumblers. You may attempt to automatically open the lock using the Auto Attempt but- ton, or you may pick the lock manually. Move the pick under a tumbler and push up to push the tumbler out of the bolt. The tumblers are spring- loaded and will pop back down either immediately or after a one- or two- second delay. While the tumbler is still seated in the up position, LEFT-CLICK or press the right trigger to set the tumbler. If you click at the wrong time, the tumbler falls back into place and breaks your pick. Depending on your Security skill, other tumblers you have already set will also fall and you'll have to set them all over again. You can figure out when to set a tumbler into place in one of two ways: * Keep pushing it up and letting it fall and watch the pattern. On more complex locks the tumbler's patter can be quite long. For example, an easy lock might have a tumbler with a pattern of short-long-short-short. A more complex lock might have patterns like short-long-long-short-short- short-long-short-long. Once you've got the pattern, click to set on a long segment of the pattern. * Listen to the sound of the tumbler moving up. There is an extra, very quiet click when the tumbler is going to stay seated for a second or two. That's when you can set the tumbler. Once you learn how to recognize that little extra click, you can pick locks very easily. Whether you take Security as a minor or major skill depends on how much you intend to use it. While you'll occastionally need Security for quests, it only becomes important in Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests. If you don't plan on performing those quests, make Security a major skill. You won't use it often enough to class level unexpectedly. If you do plan on a bit of skullduggery, leave Security as a minor skill. You can successfully complete the lockpicking mini-game regardless of your Security rank, and you don't want to gain unneccessary class levels from all the locks you pick. -> Sneak Governing attribute: Agility Journeyman Perk: Weight of your boots does not affect chance of detection. Expert Perk: Moving while Sneaking does not affect chance of detection. Master Perk: Undetected attacks ignore armor rating of opponents. Sneaking is the bread and butter of the thief-type character, whether you are a basic sneak-thief or a stealth-oriented fighter. Attacks made while undetected do more damage: * Novice level: 4x damage from one-handed weapons and hand-to-hand, 2x from bows * Apprentice level and above: 6x from one-handed weapons and hand-to-hand, 3x from bows Sneak also allows you to pick pockets, avoid detection while you burglar a house, etc. When in Sneak mode, an eye replaces your standard crosshair. If the eye is grayed out, you are undetected. If the eye starts to glow, another creature hears or sees something suspicious. Remaining undetected while Sneaking is not just a matter of your skill rank. It also takes gameplay skill. You have to move slowly, stay in shadows, avoid being in another creature's sight (i.e. only move when their back is turned), etc. The only clothing item that makes a difference when sneaking is your boots, and at Journeyman level you can Sneak in steel boots if you're so inclined. To pick someone's pocket, approach in Sneak mode. While remaining undetected, Activate the NPC. You'll get a pick-pocket inventory rather than a conversation. The higher in value or weight of the items you try to remove, the more likely your attempt will be noticed. Sneak is best left as a minor skill. You can rank it up quickly in a number of ways. Perhaps the best way is to Sneak behind an innkeeper, and then run into a wall. You can level up Sneak pretty quickly that way. This is a good way to get +5 modifiers to your Agility. -> Speechcraft Governing attribute: Personality Journeyman Perk: In the Persuasion mini-game, Disposition decreases at a slower rate. Expert Perk: Lower reduction in Disposition from the hated response. Master Perk: Bribes are 50% lower. Each NPC has a Disposition score that indicates how likely they are to give you important information or Haggle with you (if a merchant). You can increase an NPC's Disposition using a Persuasion mini-game. In some cases, getting or continuing a quest requires you to get a high Disposition score with the target. *NOTE* You can also increase Disposition by using Charm spells or the Imperial ability, "Voice of the Emporer". To play the Persuasion mini-game, click the Persuade button (face icon on the left of the conversation menu) during conversation. A segmented wheel opens next to the NPC. There are four segments: Admire, Boast, Joke and Coerce. During each round of play, you must perform each action once. To perform an action, select it and LEFT-CLICK or Right Trigger. Of the four actions, the NPC will love one, like one, dislike one and hate one. You can tell the NPC's reaction by examing his or her face when you select the action. Inside each action's segment of the wheel is a wedge. After each selection, the wedges "rotate", changing their position. There are four wedges: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. They always rotate clock- wise and their order will differ from round to round. The actions the NPC loves, likes, dislikes and hates will always be the same, so you only need to test them at the beginning of the mini-game. Basic gameplay involves choosing liked or loved responses when they are filled with a medium or large wedge and choosing disliked and hated actions when they have only a small wedge in them. All the while you're deciding which action to pick, the NPC's Disposition is falling. First, get a blank sheet of paper and sketch four large X's on it: \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \/ \/ \/ \/ /\ /\ /\ /\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ Start the Persuasion mini-game and quickly examine the NPC's reactions to each action. Pause the game and note these reactions in the appropriate section of your diagrams. In this example, the NPC (a city guard) loves Admire, likes Boast, dislikes Joke and hates Coerce: LV LV LV LV \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / LK \/ D LK \/ D LK \/ D LK \/ D /\ /\ /\ /\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ H H H H Next, quickly examine the current position of the wedges, pause the game and note these in your first X: LV \ 25 / \ / LK \/ D 75 /\ 50 / \ /100 \ H You can now extrapolate where each wedge will be for each selection: LV LV LV LV \ 25 / \ 75 / \100 / \ 50 / \ / \ / \ / \ / LK \/ D LK \/ D LK \/ D LK \/ D 75 /\ 50 100 /\ 25 50 /\ 75 25 /\100 / \ / \ / \ / \ /100 \ / 50 \ / 25 \ / 75 \ H H H H The strategy is simple: First determine in which turn you get the 25% wedge in Hate and take that--in this example, it is the third turn. Then you want the 100% wedge in Love, or, if that's unavailable (because it occurs in the same turn as 25% in Hate), then take 75% in Love (second turn in this example). Then Dislike when it is lower--of the remaining turns (first and fourth), Dislike is lower in the first. So, the correct strategy for this round is: Dislike (50%), Love (75%), Hate (25%), Like (25%). You then start the next round and your opening looks like this: LV \100 / \ / LK \/ D 25 /\ 75 / \ / 50 \ H Planning ahead yields: Love (100%), Like (50%), Dislike (25%), Hate (25%). You'll get a greater increase in Disposition this round than the previous round. Continue until you've maxed the NPC's Disposition. In addition to playing a role in the Persuasion mini-game, Speechcraft also determines the maximum Disposition score you can have for an NPC. This score can be exceeded with magic or bribes, but not with the Persuasion mini-game. Speechcraft is a good choice as a major skill, since ranking up in it is entirely controllable. [CG01] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ATTRIBUTES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ -> Strength Related skills: Blade, Blunt, Hand To Hand Determines how much you can carry, contributes to your Fatigue score and helps you do more damage with melee weapons. -> Intelligence Related skills: Alchemy, Conjuration, Mysticism Determines how much total Magicka you have and the effectiveness of your spells. -> Willpower Related skills: Alteration, Destruction, Restoration Contributes to your Fatigue score, gives resistance to Magicka and determines how quickly you regenerate Magicka. -> Agility Related skills: Security, Stealth, Marksman Determines the damage from bows and contributes to your Fatigue score. -> Speed Related skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Light Armor Determines how fast you move. -> Endurance Related skills: Armorer, Block, Heavy Armor Contributes to your Fatigue score and determines your Health. -> Personality Related skills: Illusion, Mercantile, Speechcraft Affects NPC reactions to you. -> Luck Related skills: None. Has some effect on everything. -> Health Measures how much damage you can take before dying. Starting Health is equal to 2x your Endurance. Each time you level up, you receive 10% of your Endurance added to your maximum Health. -> Magicka Your power pool for casting spells. Each spell costs a certain amount of Magicka to cast. Magicka regenerates over time at a speed determined by your Willpower. Magicka is equal to 2x your Intelligence. -> Fatigue A sort of catch-all stat that shows how tired you are. The less full your Fatigue meter, the less effective you will be at any action. Fatigue is equal to STR + END + AGL + WILL Your Fatigue and Magicka regenerate gradually at all times. All three derived stats (Health, Fatigue and Magicka) can also be restored using potions, spells, raw ingredients, resting or worshiping at an alter (as long as you have no outstanding bounty). Your base ability scores are determined by your race and gender, as listed in the next section. In addition, you receive a +5 bonus to each of the two favored attributes for your chosen class. You can then also receive ability score bonuses from your birthsign. For example, a female Nord begins with: STR 50, INT 30, WILL 40, AGL 40, SPD 40, END 40, PER 30, LUCK 50 If you choose the Warrior class, you would receive +5 to STR and END. If you further chose the Warrior birthsign, you would receive another +10 to STR and END, giving you starting attributes of: STR 65, INT 30, WILL 40, AGL 40, SPD 40, END 55, PER 30, LUCK 50 [CG02] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RACES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ *NOTES* Special abilities not listed as "constant effect" or "unlimited use" can only be used once per 24 hour period. I.e. you have to wait 24 hours after using the ability before you can use it again. These are base attributes. Your actual starting attributes will also be affected by your class and birthsign. Race descriptions are from the Oblivion game manual. -> Argonian +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 40 | 40 | | Intelligence | 40 | 50 | | Willpower | 30 | 40 | | Agility | 50 | 40 | | Speed | 50 | 40 | | Endurance | 30 | 30 | | Personality | 30 | 30 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Alchemy +5, Athletics +10, Blade +5, Hand To Hand +5, Illusion +5, Mysticism +5, Security +10 Special: Resist Disease, magnitude 75, constant effect Immune to Poison, magnitude 100, constant effect Can breathe underwater This reptilian race, well-suited for the treacherous swamps of its homeland, has developed natural immunites to diseases and poisons. They can breathe water and are good at picking locks. Argonians make good Stealth characters, and females can do well as spell- casters. They are not suited for a heavy armored combat role. Resistance to disease is helpful when fighting undead, and there are several quests that involve underwater work. A very fast race for those that like to travel quickly (without using a horse or Fast Travel). -> Breton +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 40 | 30 | | Intelligence | 50 | 50 | | Willpower | 50 | 50 | | Agility | 30 | 30 | | Speed | 30 | 40 | | Endurance | 30 | 30 | | Personality | 40 | 40 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Alchemy +5, Alteration +5, Conjuration +10, Illusion +5, Mysticism +10, Restoration +10 Special: Fortified Magicka, +50 max Magicka, constant effect Dragon Skin, 50 magnitude shield, 60 sec duration Resist Magicka, magnitude 50, constant effect In addition to their quick and perceptive grasp of spellcraft, even the humblest of Bretons can boast a resistance to magical energies. They are particularly skilled at summoning and heal- ing magic. With their skill bonuses, high starting Intelligence and Willpower and special abilities, Bretons are a natural choice for any Magic-specialized class. Beyond that, they don't have much to offer as they will be weak in a Combat or Stealth role. Their skill bonuses affect mostly defensive rather than offensive magic schools. -> Dark Elf +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 40 | 40 | | Intelligence | 40 | 40 | | Willpower | 30 | 30 | | Agility | 40 | 40 | | Speed | 50 | 50 | | Endurance | 40 | 30 | | Personality | 30 | 40 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Athletics +5, Blade +10, Blunt +5, Destruction +10, Light Armor +5, Marksman +5, Mysticism +5 Special: Ancestor Guardian, summons a Ghost, 60 sec duration Resist Fire, magnitude 75, constant effect Also known as "Dunmer" in their homeland of Morrowind, the Dark Elves are noted for their skilled integration of the sword, the bow and destruction magic. They are resistant to fire, and can summon an ancestral ghost for aid. Dark Elves are designed to be fleet warriors, with a little offensive magic thrown in for good measure. They can also work well as a thief or assassin, though they get no racial bonus to the more theifly skills (Security, Sneak). Next to the Wood Elf, they are the most natural choice for an archer, and may actually be the best archer race since they can combine ranged attacks with both bow and spell with devastating melee ability. -> High Elf +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 30 | 30 | | Intelligence | 50 | 50 | | Willpower | 40 | 40 | | Agility | 40 | 40 | | Speed | 30 | 40 | | Endurance | 40 | 30 | | Personality | 40 | 40 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Alchemy +5, Alteration +10, Conjuration +5, Destruction +10, Illusion +5, Myticism +10 Special: Weakness to Fire, Frost & Shock, magnitude 25, constant effect Resist Disease, magnitude 75, constant effect Fortified Magicka, +100 max Magicka, constant effect Also known as "Altmer" in their homeland of Summerset Isle, the High Elves are the most strongly gifted in the arcane arts of all the races. However, they are also somewhat vulnerable to fire, frost and shock. Along with Bretons, Altmer are almost stereotypical mages. Their skill bonuses are tilted more toward offensive magic rather than defensive, but they will be sufficiently capable in any magicka school. Weakness to elemental damage is a warning that High Elf is not an easy race to play. You'll want to have a good selection of shielding spells available, and then keep the bad guys off you. -> Imperial +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 40 | 40 | | Intelligence | 40 | 40 | | Willpower | 30 | 40 | | Agility | 30 | 30 | | Speed | 40 | 30 | | Endurance | 40 | 40 | | Personality | 50 | 50 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Blade +5, Blunt +5, Hand To Hand +5, Heavy Armor +10, Mercantile +10, Speechcraft +10 Special: Star of the West, absorb Fatigue, magnitude 100 Voice of the Emporer, +30 to target's Disposition, 30 sec duration Natives of the civilized, cosmopolitan province of Cyrodiil, they have proved to be shrewd diplomats and traders. They are skilled with heavy armor and in the social skills and tend to favor the warrior classes. Imperials are a very average race. Their two big skill bonuses come in skills that are of little real value in the game. They get bonuses to all three melee combat skills when, in practice, most players will only use one. Their ability scores, outside of Personality, are distinctly average. On the other hand, the high Personality, large bonus to Speechcraft and Voice of the Emporer ability mean there will be precious few quests that cause you any difficulty--since many quests involve persuading people to talk. -> Khajiit +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 40 | 30 | | Intelligence | 40 | 40 | | Willpower | 30 | 30 | | Agility | 50 | 50 | | Speed | 40 | 40 | | Endurance | 30 | 40 | | Personality | 40 | 40 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Acrobatics +10, Athletics +5, Blade +5, Hand To Hand +10, Light Armor +5, Security +5, Sneak +5 Special: Eye of Fear, Demoralize up to level 25, 30 sec duration Eye of the Night, Night Eye, duraction 30 sec, unlimited use Hailing from the province of Elsweyr, they are intelligent, quick, and agile. They make excellent thieves due to their natural agility and unmatched acrobatics skill. All Khajiit can see in the dark. Khajiit are natural sneak thieves and "martial artists". Low Health (for males) and low Strength (for females) means they don't work well in any kind of melee combat role and they have neither the attributes nor skill bonuses to be more than average mages. Play Khajiit if you are going full-on Stealth; otherwise, avoid this race. -> Nord +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 50 | 50 | | Intelligence | 30 | 30 | | Willpower | 30 | 40 | | Agility | 40 | 40 | | Speed | 40 | 40 | | Endurance | 50 | 40 | | Personality | 30 | 30 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Armorer +5, Blade +10, Block +5, Blunt +10, Heavy Armor +10, Restoration +5 Special: Nordic Frost, touch attack, 50 frost damage Woad, Shield, magnitude 30, 60 sec duration Resist Frost, magnitude 50, constant effect Citizens of Skyrim, they are a tall and fair-haired people. Strong and hardy, Nords are famous for their resistance to cold. They are highly talented warriors. At first blush, Nord seem ready-made to be straight-up warriors. But, a little examination shows a propensity for defensive magic (especially for females) that give the Nord more of a melee/caster feel. If you really want just a plain hack-n-slasher, Orc or Redguard is probably the better choice. Nord give you just a touch of the mage look to put a little spice in your me-smash tank. -> Orc +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 45 | 45 | | Intelligence | 30 | 40 | | Willpower | 50 | 45 | | Agility | 35 | 35 | | Speed | 30 | 30 | | Endurance | 50 | 50 | | Personality | 30 | 25 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Armorer +10, Block +10, Blunt +10, Hand To Hand +5, Heavy Armor +10 Special: Berserk--Health +20, Fatigue +200, STR +50, AGL -100, 60 sec dur Resist Magicka, magnitude 25, constant effect The people of the Wrothgarian and Dragontail Mountains, Orcish armorers are prized for their craftsmanship. Orc troops in heavy armor are among the finest in the Empire, and are fearsome when using their berserker rage. There are two races in Oblivion that are almost uniquely suited for pure combat roles. Orc is the more defensive of the two. (Redguard is the offensive melee race of choice.) Their high Endurace (equals high Health), heavy skill bonuses on defensive skills and their innate resistance to Magicka all spell defensive powerhouse. They have plenty of Strength to do serious damage, and can also wield defensive magic (such as Alteration or Restoration) well due to high Willpower. A good choice if you want your tank to be a real tank. -> Redguard +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 50 | 40 | | Intelligence | 30 | 30 | | Willpower | 30 | 30 | | Agility | 40 | 40 | | Speed | 40 | 40 | | Endurance | 50 | 50 | | Personality | 30 | 40 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Athletics +10, Blade +10, Blunt +10, Light Armor +5, Heavy Armor +5, Mercantile +5 Special: Adrenaline Rush, +50 to STR, SPD, AGL & END, +25 Health, 60s dur Resist Poison, magnitude 75, constant effect Resist Disease, magnitude 75, constant effect The most naturally talented warriors in Tamriel. In addition to their cultural affinities for many weapon and armor styles, they also have a hardy constitution and a natural resistance to disease and poison. There are two races in Oblivion that are almost uniquely suited for pure combat roles. Redguard is the more offensive of the two. (Orc is the deffensive melee race of choice.) Redguards are designed for dodge-and- slash melee tactics, without much thought given to blocking incoming attacks. Decent Agility and Speed makes a stealthy fighter an option as well. You could even get by putting them in heavy armor and tanking. Just don't try to turn one into a mage...of any sort. -> Wood Elf +------------------------------+ | | Male | Female | |--------------+------+--------| | Strength | 30 | 30 | | Intelligence | 40 | 40 | | Willpower | 30 | 30 | | Agility | 50 | 50 | | Speed | 50 | 50 | | Endurance | 40 | 30 | | Personality | 30 | 40 | | Luck | 50 | 50 | +------------------------------+ Bonuses: Acrobatics +5, Alchemy +10, Alteration +5, Light Armor +5, Marksman +10, Sneak +10 Special: Beast Tongue, Command Creature, up to level 5, 60 sec duration Resist Disease, magnitude 75, constant effect The clanfolk of the Western Valenwood forests, also known as "Bosmer." Wood Elves are nimble and quick, making them good scouts and thieves, and there are no finer archers in all of Tamriel. Their ability to command simple creatures is well- known. Wood Elves are natural archers. Beyond that, they can get by as a mage, though not nearly so well as their cousins (Dunmer and Altmer). Low Endurance (especially for females) tilts this race towards a stealthy profession. If sniping is your play-style of choice, this is the race for you. You definitely don't want to tank with a Bosmer. <~~~~~~ QUICK REFERENCE TABLES ~~~~~~> Stats are male/female. Skill key: ACR (Acrobatics), ALC (Alchemy), ALT (Alteration), ARM (Armorer), ATH (Athletics), BLA (Blade), BLO (Block), BLU (Blunt), CON (Conjuration), DES (Destruction), HTH (Hand To Hand), HVA (Heavy Armor), ILL (Illusion), LTA (Light Armor), MAR (Marksman), MER (Mercantile), MYS (Mysticism), RES (Restoration), SEC (Security), SNE (Sneak), SPE (Speechcraft). *NOTE* These tables will print on one page if you don't print the above key information. Argonian | Breton | Dark Elf | High Elf | Imperial ------+-----------+----------+----------+-----------------+---------- STR | 40/40 | 40/30 | 40/40 | 30/30 | 40/40 INT | 40/50 | 50/50 | 40/40 | 50/50 | 40/40 WILL | 30/40 | 50/50 | 30/30 | 40/40 | 30/40 AGL | 50/40 | 30/30 | 40/40 | 40/40 | 30/30 SPD | 50/40 | 30/40 | 50/50 | 30/40 | 40/30 END | 30/30 | 30/30 | 40/30 | 40/30 | 40/40 PER | 30/30 | 40/40 | 30/40 | 40/40 | 50/50 LUCK | 50/50 | 50/50 | 50/50 | 50/50 | 50/50 ------+-----------+----------+----------+-----------------+---------- SKILL | ALC +5 | ALC +5 | ATH +5 | ALC +5 | BLA +5 | ATH +10 | ALT +5 | BLA +10 | ALT +10 | BLU +5 | BLA +5 | CON +10 | BLU +5 | CON +5 | HTH +5 | HTH +5 | ILL +5 | DES +10 | DES +10 | HVA +10 | ILL +5 | MYS +10 | LTA +5 | ILL +5 | MER +10 | MYS +5 | RES +10 | MAR +5 | MYS +10 | SPE +10 | SEC +10 | | MYS +5 | | ------+-----------+----------+----------+-----------------+---------- SPEC | Resist | +50 | Summon | Weakness to | Absorb | disease | Magicka, | Ghost, | fire, frost | Fatigue, | & poison, | Shield, | Resist | & shock, | Charm | Water | Resist | fire | Resist disease, | | Breathing | Magicka | | +100 Magicka | Khajiit | Nord | Orc | Redguard | Wood Elf ------+----------+----------+----------+------------+---------- STR | 40/30 | 50/50 | 45/45 | 50/40 | 30/30 INT | 40/40 | 30/30 | 30/40 | 30/30 | 40/40 WILL | 30/30 | 30/40 | 50/45 | 30/30 | 30/30 AGL | 50/50 | 40/40 | 35/35 | 40/40 | 50/50 SPD | 40/40 | 40/40 | 30/30 | 40/40 | 50/50 END | 30/40 | 50/40 | 50/50 | 50/50 | 40/30 PER | 40/40 | 30/30 | 30/25 | 30/40 | 30/40 LUCK | 50/50 | 50/50 | 50/50 | 50/50 | 50/50 ------+----------+----------+----------+------------+---------- SKILL | ACR +10 | ARM +5 | ARM +10 | ATH +10 | ACR +5 | ATH +5 | BLA +10 | BLO +10 | BLA +10 | ALC +10 | BLA +5 | BLO +5 | BLU +10 | BLU +10 | ALT +5 | HTH +10 | BLU +10 | HTH +5 | LTA +5 | LTA +5 | LTA +5 | HVA +10 | HVA +10 | HVA +5 | MAR +10 | SEC +5 | RES +5 | | MER +5 | SNE +10 | SNE +5 | | | | ------+----------+----------+----------+------------+---------- SPEC | Fear, | Frost | Berserk, | Adrenaline | Command | Nighteye | touch, | Resist | Rush, | creature, | | Shield, | Magicka | Resist | Resist | | Resist | | disease | disease | | frost | | & poison | [CG03] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BIRTHSIGNS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ Special abilities can only be used once per 24 hour period. I.e. you must wait 24 hours after using the ability in order to use it again. -> Apprentice: Maximum Magicka +100, Weakness to Magicka 100% Risky sign for mages. Extra Magicka is always helpful, but enemy spell- casters will kill you quick. Useful primarily for pure mage classes with plenty of offensive and defensive spells. -> Atronach: Maximum Magicka +150, Spell Absorbtion 50%, no Magicka regen Lots of extra Magicka a great bonus for pure casters, but you'll drink potions like water. Expensive (to your wallet) sign. -> Lady: Willpower +10, Endurance +10 Good stat boosts for characters that mix a little heavy melee with defensive spellcasting. -> Lord: Restore Health (magnitude 6, 15 sec duration), Weakness to fire 25% (constant effect) Bonus ability is weak at higher levels and weakness to fire when the main point of the game is to travel in hell? Yeah, right... -> Lover: Paralyze (10 sec duration) touch attack cost 120 Fatigue Great special ability if you're getting your rear handed to you on a platter; but, good tactics and careful selection of equipment should help you avoid those situations. -> Mage: Maximum Magicka +50 Safe bet for casters. Not as much extra Magicka as the Apprentice or Atronach, but no weaknesses to go along with the bonus. -> Ritual: Restore 100 Health, Turn Undead magnitude 100, 30 sec duration Really helps with undead, useful if Restoration is not one of your major skills. -> Serpent: Single ability with four effects-- Damage Health (touch attack, magnitude 3, 20 sec duration) Dispel (magnitude 90) Cure Poison Damage Fatigue (self, magnitude 100) Questionable ability that damages you almost more than your opponent. Plenty of potions can cover the Cure Poison ability. -> Shadow: Invisibility 60 sec duration Great for Stealth characters, especially in quests involving theft or assassination. -> Steed: Speed +20 Only useful if your character concept is built around Speed, which not many are. -> Thief: Agility +10, Speed +10, Luck +10 Good all-around selection for Stealth characters. Helps other classes as well. Good sign for novice players. -> Tower: Open Average lock, Reflect Damage magnitude 5 120 sec duration Good for non-Stealth characters to help them get through quests that involve lock-picking. Damage reflection good for casters who don't wear armor. -> Warrior: Strength +10, Endurance +10 Basic fighter setup. Good sign for novice players. [CG04] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE LEVELING SYSTEM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ Levels, levels everywhere! There are skill levels, skill Mastery levels, class levels, equipment levels...Like any good RPG, you can quickly bog down in the concept of levels in Oblivion. -> Skill Ranks (Levels) Each skill has a rank (or level) indicated by a numerical score from 0 to 100. The higher your rank in a skill, the more benefit it provides. You block more damage with higher Block ranks. You more easily Haggle with merchants with higher Mercantile ranks. Etc. Skill ranks increase as you use the skill. The lower the skill rank, the less use is required to raise the skill. Major skills increase slightly faster than minor skills of the same rank. Skill ranks can also be gained by purchasing them from a trainer. You may only purchase a total of 5 ranks during any one class level. You can also gain skill points by reading special books. -> Skill Mastery Levels Each skill has a Mastery level that indicates what types of bonuses or penalties come with the skill. The Mastery Levels are: Rank Level ------- ---------- 0 - 24 Novice 25 - 49 Apprentice 50 - 74 Journeyman 75 - 99 Expert 100 Master At Novice level, most skills have a penalty. For example, Novice Armorers break their repair hammers much more quickly. Novices in Acrobatics can- not attack while jumping. Any skill can be increased all the way to Master level, it will just take longer for minor skills. -> Class Level As your skills increase, you will gain levels in your class. Each time you increase your class level, you have the opportunity to increase three of your attributes. When you gain a total of 10 (ten) ranks in major skills, you gain one class level. The 10 ranks can all be in one major skill, or spread through all seven major skills. Once you have gained 10 ranks in major skills, you will receive a message telling you to meditate on what you have learned. You then need to find a bed and rest for a minimum of one hour. (Any bed will do, but you have to rest in a bed, you can't just use the Wait command.) "Leveling up" consists of increasing three of your attributes. You will see a list of your attributes followed by a +# indicating how many points that attribute will increase. Select three attributes and click Exit. *NOTE* There may not be three attributes that can be raised depending on how you gained skill ranks. The increase in an attribute is determined by the increases in governed skills during the class level. For each two ranks gained in a skill, you will receive one point to add to that skill's governing attribute. Increases in both major and minor skills are used for attribute bonuses. The maximum you can increase an attribute at level up is +5. Example: During the class level, you increase Blade +4, Block +4, Heavy Armor +2, Armorer +4, Security +2, Speechcraft +3 and Restoration +5. You will have the opportunity to raise... * Strength (Blade +4) by +2 * Endurance (Block +4, Heavy Armor +2, Armorer +4) by +5 * Personality (Speechcraft +3) by +1 * Agility (Security +2) by +1 * Willpower (Restoration +5) by +2 You could select any three of those attributes to increase on this level increase. Attributes not selected during this level up do not carry over their modifier to the next level. You can level up several times in one rest if you do not level for a while. E.g. you have gained 32 ranks in your major skills since your last rest. You will level up 3 times when next you sleep in a bed. -> The Leveled System Oblivion uses a leveled system for enemies, loot and merchant inventory. All enemies are adjusted based on your level. You can, technically, com- plete any quest in the game at very low levels*. As you increase in class level, so do your enemies. The game actually becomes much more difficult as you increase, so "power leveling" is not much help. The loot dropped by enemies and found in chests is also determined by your class level, as is the inventory available in any shop. All this combines to make Oblivion a truly open-ended game. You can go anywhere and do any- thing regardless of your current level. * Practically, there are quests that are off limits because you either need to complete other quests first (i.e. the main plot quests) or you need special equipment you can't yet purchase or can't afford even if it is available. <~~~~~~ WORKING THE SYSTEM ~~~~~~> (Some information in this section contributed by Cliff Lenoir.) OK, let's go over that again...No, that would take too long. Let's sum up: * Increases in class levels cause corresponding increases in enemy levels * Minor skill increases *do* contribute attribute modifiers when leveling up * Minor skill increases do *not* contribute to increasing class level * Attribute increases are capped at +5 for each class level In the long run, attribute increases are more important than class levels. "Power leveling" your class is counter-productive, as you'll get a measly +2 or +3 to only a few attributes and your enemies will more than compensate in their increased levels. So you want to work the system to get the maximum increases to attributes each time you increase your class level. To exploit this system, it is required that you do three things: * Use minor skills more than major skills * Use minor skills that cover all your attributes * Only use your major skills when you are ready to level up Then, when you do level up, you should get an available +5 in every attribute. You want your major skills to be skills you can use when you choose, without being forced into using them. Essentially, you're controlling your leveling so you earn your attribute modifiers and then start leveling your major skills quickly so you can level up. Good choices for major skills: * Acrobatics (Speed): all you have to do is start jumping all the time * Athletics (Speed): turn on Always Run and watch the ranks fly * Speechcraft (Personality): go around Persuading NPCs * Armorer (Endurance): buy repair hammers and repair everything you see * Alchemy (Intelligence): start mixing those potions! * Destruction (Willpower): head into the woods and tick off Smokey the Bear * Blade/Blunt (Strength): use one for attribute gains, switch to level * Illusion (Personality): cast Light spells on yourself Example: Class specialization: Mage Class attributes: Strength, Endurance (for encumbrance & Health) Class skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Speechcraft, Armorer, Alchemy, Destruction, Blunt Pick a race with high Strength and Endurance. Wear Light Armor (Speed), use Blades (Strength) and Block (Endurance). Sneak (Agility) a lot. Cast Illusion (Personality), Restoration (Willpower) and Conjuration (Intelligence) spells. Keep track of the ranks you gain. Once you've gained 10 ranks in each minor skill (+5 modifier to governing attributes), go play with your major skills and level up. Add +5 to three attributes. Why? Well, attribute increases are the *only* thing you get from each level. Therefore, maximizing the attribute increases maximizes your power at each class level. Since your enemies keep up with your class level, but don't necessarily maximize the attributes for each level, you should stay ahead of the difficulty curve. Of course, all of this is probably more trouble than it's worth. Good tactics, keeping up with the Jones' in spells/armor/weapons and enchanting same and wisely using potions and restorative magic should keep you alive. Make no mistake, Oblivion is a hard game and gets harder as you increase in power--not easier. If you're having a difficult time, it's either cheat or work the system... [CG05] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLASSES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ <~~~~~~ DEFAULT CLASSES ~~~~~~> These are the pre-generated classes from which you can choose at the beginning of the game. -> Acrobat Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Agility, Endurance Skills: Acrobatics, Blade, Block, Marksman, Security, Sneak, Speechcraft -> Agent Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Personality, Agility Skills: Acrobatics, Illusion, Marskman, Mercantile, Security, Sneak, Speechcraft Both of these classes are optimized for the player who prefers a very Stealthy character. Acrobats are more combat oriented, while Agents are sort of the Oblivion equivalent of a graverobber--just enough combat know-how to raid the numerous ruins and tombs and then skilled in getting top dollar for the loot. -> Archer Specialization: Combat Attributes: Agility, Strength Skills: Armorer, Blade, Blunt, Hand To Hand, Light Armor, Marksman, Sneak An archer should be a specialist in using a bow, but having all four combat skills is a waste. For a better archer build, see the Class Templates section. -> Assassin Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Speed, Intelligence Skills: Acrobatics, Alchemy, Blade, Light Armor, Marksman, Security, Sneak A skilled fighter if he gets to make the first blow undetected. Alchemy provides poison for daggers and arrows. Acrobatics can help reach hiding places, though that may not be important in Oblivion. -> Barbarian Specialization: Combat Attributes: Strength, Speed Skills: Armorer, Athletics, Blade, Block, Blunt, Hand To Hand, Light Armor Another fighter with three combat skills...What's the point? Trying to balance all three (or even two) will gimp your melee skills. Since you've got a light-footed fighter, replace two combat skills with some Stealth- related skills. -> Bard Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Personality, Intelligence Skills: Alchemy, Blade, Block, Illusion, Light Armor, Mercantile, Speechcraft The classic "bard" doesn't translate well into Oblivion. Mercantile and Speechcraft are not the best major skills in the world and if you're going to go Light Armor melee, Acrobatics wouldn't hurt. -> Battlemage Specialization: Magic Attributes: Strength, Intelligence Skills: Alchemy, Alteration, Blade, Blunt, Conjuration, Destruction, Mysticism Once again, mixing two combat skills is a waste. Better to throw in Block or an Armor skill. Also, since the focus is on Intelligence, having two Willpower-modified spell schools may be a bit much. Drop Alteration and either Blade or Blunt and put in both Block and Armor. -> Crusader Specialization: Combat Attributes: Strength, Willpower Skills: Athletics, Blade, Blunt, Destruction, Hand To Hand, Heavy Armor, Restoration Another gimped class because two major skill slots are wasted on duplicate combat skills. For a better crusader build, see the paladin in the Class Templates section. -> Healer Specialization: Magic Attributes: Personality, Willpower Skills: Alchemy, Alteration, Destruction, Illusion, Mercantile, Restoration, Speechcraft Well, all that really needs to be said about this class is: the focus in Oblivion is killing, not healing. Capiche? -> Knight Specialization: Combat Attributes: Strength, Personality Skills: Blade, Block, Blunt, Hand To Hand, Heavy Armor, Illusion, Speechcraft See notes under "Crusader" above, and the superior Paladin build in the Class Templates section. -> Mage Specialization: Magic Attributes: Intelligence, Willpower Skills: Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism, Restoration A pure wizard character. With all major skills coming from one special- ization, you'll start stronger and reach Journeyman perks faster. -> Monk Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Agility, Willpower Skills: Acrobatics, Alteration, Athletics, Hand To Hand, Marksman, Security, Sneak As close as you can get to a "pure" martial artist. (That is, Eastern, unarmed martial artist.) If you're going to fight hand-to-hand a lot, you might be better off replacing Athletics with Light Armor. -> Nightblade Specialization: Magic Attributes: Willpower, Speed Skills: Acrobatics, Alteration, Athletics, Blade, Destruction, Light Armor, Restoration The point of this build is elusive. A sneak attack artist? A sneaky mage? An assassin? -> Pilgrim Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Personality, Endurance Skills: Armorer, Block, Blunt, Light Armor, Mercantile, Security, Speechcraft Part melee fighter, part thief, part sweet-talker, all gimped. -> Rogue Specialization: Combat Attributes: Speed, Personality Skills: Alchemy, Athletics, Blade, Block, Illusion, Light Armor, Mercantile Replace Mercantile with Sneak and Athletics with Security and you've got a better roguish character. -> Scout Specialization: Combat Attributes: Speed, Endurance Skills: Acrobatics, Alchemy, Armorer, Athletics, Blade, Block, Light Armor One of the few default builds that's pretty decent. Acrobatics would be better replaced with Restoration or Alteration, but as is, this is a viable class. -> Sorcerer Specialization: Magic Attributes: Intelligence, Endurance Skills: Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Heavy Armor, Mysticism, Restoration Heavy Armor does cut down on effectiveness of magic, so this is a strange build. It's like they took the mage and got rid of Illusion in favor of something that would gimp the remaining skills. Strange. -> Spellsword Specialization: Magic Attributes: Willpower, Endurance Skills: Alteration, Blade, Block, Destruction, Heavy Armor, Illusion, Restoration A pretty good fighter/mage combination. Illusion might be better replaced with Mysticism or Alchemy, but not bad overall. -> Thief Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Speed, Agility Skills: Acrobatics, Light Armor, Marksman, Mercantile, Security, Sneak, Speechcraft A prototypical Stealth character, with all major skills coming from the same specialization. -> Warrior Specialization: Combat Attributes: Strength, Endurance Skills: Armorer, Athletics, Blade, Block, Blunt, Hand To Hand, Heavy Armor The pure fighter, and quite gimped with duplicate combat skills. Take this same class and replace two combat skills with defensive magic, offensive magic or some Stealth skills (depending on your racial bonuses) to create a more interesting tank. -> Witchhunter Specialization: Magic Attributes: Intelligence, Agility Skills: Alchemy, Athletics, Conjuration, Destruction, Marksman, Mysticism, Security A pretty good build. Athletics would be better replaced with Light Armor, since there's more of a combat focus to this class. <~~~~~~ BUILDING A CLASS & CHARACTER ~~~~~~> The pre-generated classes in Oblivion all leave a little to be desired. Once you've gotten a feel for the game, you may wish to create your own class. This is best done beforehand on paper, since the order in which you set up the class in the game is not the most efficient. There are essentially three philosophies for building a character: * Role-player: this player creates a person in their imagination and builds the in-game character to match that person's background, abilities, etc. * Power-gamer: this player is all about the numbers and maximizing the power of the PC. Race, gender, class & skills are all designed to squeeze as much out of the system as possible. * Balanced: this player is a mix of the other two types. Some attention is given to what type of person the PC is; but, the balanced player also wants to make sure the character isn't gimped, so will do some number crunching. Players can be quite passionate about their preferred method of gameplay and character building. Don't let anyone dissuade you from following your preferred path! There's no "right" way to build a character. | Role-Player +------------ Play around with the character concept. Will the class be primarily a melee fighter? Archer? Spellcaster? Is the character adept at magic? Picking locks? Backstabbing? Charming NPCs? If the character is a melee fighter, is it with blades, blunts or fists? Does the character need to run quickly? Be able to dodge attacks? Absorb magic? Make potions? Cast defensive spells? Cast offensive spells? Once you have the character concept firmly in mind, go through the list of skills and pick out those seven skills that most closely resemble your concept. Write down the governing attributes and specialization of each skill. Now, check to see which specialization and which two attributes are most represented by your skills. Choose the specialization (combat, mage or stealth) that represents the most skills in your list. Choose the two attributes that govern the most skills in your list. *TIP* Every character can use Endurance. Consider using Endurance as one of your two favored Attributes for the +5 bonus. Dig through the races and birthsigns. (The Quick Reference Tables under races can be printed on to one page as can the entire birthsign list.) You can either pick a race based on your visual preference; or, pick a race that is most suited for your class. If you're having trouble deciding, understand that races with high starting Endurance will have an easier time surviving. Races that have a high starting Strength will have an easier time looting dungeons. Pick a birthsign that fits your character concept. If you have a backstory for your character, it most likely includes a sign under which they were born. If you're having trouble choosing, then attribute bonuses (Thief, Warrior and Lady) are safe choices. If your character is a mage, then Mage is the safest choice. Apprentice and Atronach are more powerful, but more difficult to play. Your character is now ready to go! Or, will be after you've spent a couple of hours getting the cheekbones just right, the nose to the proper length and fixing that underbite... | Power-gamer +------------ Your primary goal is to increase three attributes by +5 every class level and to only class level when you have those three +5 bonuses for your three attributes. One of your favored attributes will be Endurance, because you understand the importance of Health. You will likely never pick a race that begins with an Endurance score of 30. Since you want to control exactly when you level, you want seven major skills that you can increase only when you want them to increase. Here is a list of all the skills and how you can control them: * Acrobatics: rarely used in normal play, it can easily be leveled by hopping and skipping everywhere you go. * Alchemy: raw ingredients are everywhere. You get a mortar & pestle in the starter dungeon. Get mixing! * Armorer: buy a bunch of repair hammers and repair everything you find, even if you're just going to drop it on the ground again. * Athletics: some players like to play with Always Run turned on; however, with Fast Travel and horses, you don't need to do so (you can get a horse two minutes after leaving the starter dungeon). When you're ready to level the skill, get off the horse and run around a little; or, better, go swimming. * Combat: whatever combat skills you don't normally use can be leveled at will if you have at least Apprentice level Conjuration skill. Summon a creature, then attack it. Rinse and repeat until your skill levels up. Works for Blade, Block, Blunt, Hand To Hand, Heavy Armor, Light Armor and Marksman. (Idea submitted by Nikola.) * Mercantile: the only way to increase this skill is to Haggle with merchants, which is not something you can do a lot or buy-and-sell items one at a time. The most difficult skill to increase. * Security: depending on your play style, this skill will either be very difficult to increase or very easy. If you're not playing a sneak thief, then you will have a hard time finding enough locks to pick that won't land you in jail. If you are playing a sneak thief, you will use this skill all the time and don't want it as a major skill. * Sneak: enter an inn, get behind the innkeeper, enter Sneak mode and sneak- run at the wall until you've leveled up this skill as you prefer. * Speechcraft: go to a city (Imperial City is especially good for this), and play the Persuasion mini-game with every NPC you meet. * Spells: most of the spell schools have spells you can cast on yourself, over and over and over and over... In addition to picking major skills you can control, you want all your major skills to start at rank 25. Why? Well, the maximum skill rank is 100. You get one class level every 10 major skill ranks. If all seven major skills are 25 to start, you can get 75 (per skill) ranks * 7 (number of major skills) = 525 ranks in your major skills. 525 / 10 (number of ranks to class level) = 52.5 total class levels gained. In short, starting with all major skills at 25 gives you a "level cap" of 53 (1 starting level + 52 gained levels). Start with just one skill at 40 instead of 25 and you've cost yourself a level. Start with two skills at 40 instead of 25 and you've cost yourself 3 levels. So, all your major skills must come from outside your class specialization and all of your major skills must not receive any bonus from your chosen race. Go through the list of skills and make sure the skills you will use the most during normal gameplay are all minor skills. Your major skills should remain unused until you're ready to increase your class level. Make sure your minor skills include at least one skill for each attribute. For example, you don't want Blade, Blunt and HTH all in major skills because you would be unable to increase your STR without also increasing your class level. Choose a specialization that includes none of your major skills. Choose a race that has no bonuses to your major skills and has an Endurance of at least 40. Favored attributes for your class should be Endurance (for Health) and Luck (because it is the only attribute you can't increase by +5 whenever you want). Birthsign should be Thief (mainly for the +10 Luck bonus), unless you're a mage, then you probably want Atronach--you can find ways of restoring Magicka. For each class level, pick three attributes you want to increase. Check the skill rank of one or two minor skills that are governed by those attributes. Example: You want to increase Endurance, Willpower and Intelligence. You pick the minor skills of Block, Destruction and Mysticism. Use those skills regularly until each has increased 10 ranks. You now have locked in a +5 bonus to END, WILL and INT. Go to a town and use your major skills until you've gained a total of 10 ranks across the skills and are ready to level up. | Balanced +--------- Basically, you're going to start with the role-playing perspective, building a character based on your idea of who that person is. But, you don't want to neglect your inner statistician. Choose a race with 40 or 50 starting Endurance (for Health). Consider taking Luck as a favored attribute (for the additional +5). If you're not a mage, you'll probably take Lady or Warrior as your birthsign. If you are a mage, you'll take Mage or Apprentice. (Atronach can be very difficult to play and is probably best left to the power-gamers.) The balanced player will still work the system, leveling up minor skills so they can get the maximum +5 modifer to attributes at each class level. However, the balanced player is also interested in reaching Journeyman, Expert and Master perks faster than the power-gamer. You can still play with minor skills in town to raise attribute modifiers, then use your major skills in the wild to clear quests and raise a class level. You'll be much more powerful in the use of your primary skills--i.e. those skills you use in the course of adventuring--at the cost of 5 or 6 class levels at the top end. [CG06] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLASS TEMPLATES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ The following custom class templates are suggestions. Those from readers of this guide have not necessarily been tested for effectiveness. You can, of course, just use these templates as a basis for your own custom class. None of these are guaranteed to be "THE" power class in Oblivion. In alphabetial order... -> Archer Specialization: Combat Attributes: Speed, Agility Skills: Acrobatics, Alchemy, Athletics, Block, Light Armor, Marksman, Sneak Archers are...well, bowmen (or women/lizard/cat) of extraordinary ability. Their entire focus is on effective use of the bow. To that end, they focus on finding the right spot from which to snipe the enemy (Acrobatics), staying away from the enemy (Athletics) and making their first shot count by shooting undetected (Sneak). Light Armor and Block contribute to keeping them alive if a fighter gets too close and Alchemy provides deadly poisons for their arrowtips. Recommended races: * Wood Elves get bonuses to almost all the class' major skill list, including a +10 to Marksman and Sneak. Not bad, not bad at all. * Dark Elves get a bonus to Marksman, Athletics and Light Armor, but their remaining skill bonuses go to waste. The innate ability to summon help is a good thing. * Argonians and Khajiit have high favored attribute scores and bonuses to some important Stealth abilities, but will have to work harder to get their Marksman skill up to serious damage land. Recommended birthsigns: * Thief: boosts both favored attributes, and Luck as well * Warrior: increases carrying capacity and boosts Health for a warrior class that is otherwise weak in those areas * Shadow: can't beat Invisibility for launching the first sneak attack * Tower: mainly useful for the Reflect Damage ability <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Death Knight (submitted by Andrew Lynner) Specialization: Combat Attributes: Endurance, Willpower Skills: Alteration, Armorer, Blunt, Block, Heavy Armor, Destruction, Alchemy Race: Orc, Male Birthsign: Atronach (To compensate for Orc’s low intel) With the high endurance (50) and willpower (50)with the male orc, this is a formidable opponent when skilled this way. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Fighter Mage (submitted by Mark) Specialization: Combat Attributes: Strength, Endurance, Skills: Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Mysticism, Blade, Block, Light Armour Race: Imperial (female) Birthsign: Warrior The Fighter Mage is a more refined Battlemage as they concentrate on four schools of magic that happen to complement each other and for those times when they get stuck in a spot with no spells they are well versed in the use of sword, shield and armour of their choice. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Highlander (submitted by BleeDinG_SolDieR) Specialization: Combat Favored Attributes: Strength, Endurance Skills: Restoration, Illusion, Speechcraft, Blade (or Blunt), Block, Armorer, Heavy Armor Especciallly nice for role-playing a big, blonde haired, intimidating brute from the north. Recommended races: * Nord * Orc * Redguard Recommended birthsign: * Warrior <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Illusionist (submitted by TheInfamous83) Specialization: Magic Attributes: Personality, Luck Skills: Illusion, Alteration, Alchemy, Mercantile, Speechcraft, Sneak, Blunt The magic of deception is where a illusionist thrives. They are your local magician, pullin rabbits out of hats, card tricks, etc.. But dont be mistaken an illusionist can be a very powerful speciality mage if his powers are used to their potential. Their skills lie in all that effects or persuades the perception of the mind. Even their words and actions confuse their oppenents. A quick wit and even quicker hand is recurred of any powerful illusionist. Recommended Races: * Breton * High Elf * Wood Elf Recommended Birth Signs: * Shadow - the invisibility effect derives from the school of illusion * Apprentice - illusionists were never known for their ability to combat other mages so their spell weakness is only suiting to the class, the perk being a +100 magicka increase, honestly how hard is it to pull a rabbit out of a hat. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Mage Assassin a.k.a. Mageblade (submitted by Dane Woodall) Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Speed, Willpower Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Blade, Destruction, Illusion, Light Armor, Stealth The Mageblade is an assassin who specializes in melee combat used in combination with destruction magic. Health, while a concern is not a primary concern because of the nature of combat this character engages. Choosing to strike from stealth for added melee damage, the Mageblade can capitalize on the use of a powerful 1h or 2h blade for an initial burst of damage, followed by falling back out of melee combat and finishing with destruction magic. Oftentimes, the Mageblade will intermix melee strikes with magical attacks, being as he can easily move in and out of melee combat through the use of superior speed and stealth. Illusion plays a strong role in combat, providing the means to turn Invisible at will, and often times combat will revolve around going in and out of invisibility between strikes, to make most use of the sneak attack damage multiplier. Destruction magic is the preferred method of ranged damage over bows, as it does not require switching back and forth between weapons, allowing him to move in and out of melee combat as necessary with no penalty to his ability to remain on the offensive. The Mageblade has a strong reliance on Magicka, as his performance in combat is closely tied to his ability to use Illusion and Destruction magics often, which is also why one of his primary attributes is Willpower, to enable him to replenish his Magicka pool during combat. His birthsign should also reflect this, making The Apprentice or Mage sign a viable choice to supplement his available pool of Magicka. His one vulnerability is his armor protection (or lack thereof) in melee combat. Being as he chooses to strike from stealth and move in and out of melee combat through his use of speed to strike when the opportunity arises, his reliance on armor is minimal, which becomes his one real vulnerability. Whether he is knocked down, paralyzed or just mis-times a melee attack, the Mageblade can often suffer multiple strikes from a melee weapon, which can be very detrimental to his health. To aid in covering this vulnerability, the shield serves the purpose well. Used when not attacking (whether melee or with magic), the shield will protect the Mageblade against most attacks caused by sticking in melee range too long. And since the Mageblade has an abundance of speed, he can even make use of a Heavy Armor shield, as this one item will not detriment his speed or acrobat capabilities in combat. Also consider becoming a vampire, as the boosts to stats and skills provided by being a vampire cater directly to the stats and skills utilized by a Mageblade. If managed well, vampirism is no longer seen as a drawback, but purely a boost to all the important attributes of this character. Recommended races: * Dark Elf is the primary choice here, with a good balance of all stats but most importantly starts with 50 speed. The racial bonuses to athletics, blade, destruction, light armor and sometimes marksmanship all play a strong role in aiding his particular method of combat. Males are preferred as they have 10 more endurance while sacrificing 10 personality, which is more or less useless for NPC interaction considering the use of Illusion charm spells. In addition, the Dark Elf's special power of 75% fire resistance makes this race the strongest choice, considering the prevelance of fire magic in the world and the possible addition of fire vulnerability from being a vampire. * Wood Elf is the secondary choice, with the starting 50 speed but lacks in terms of strength. While he makes up for it somewhat with the added agility, it is an obvious second place compared to the Dark Elf who seems best suited for the job. As with the Dark Elf, a male Wood Elf is the obvious choise for the extra 10 endurance over 10 personality, for the same reason. * Khajiit is the third and only other choice as the only remaining class with good racial skill modifiers and a decent layout of stats. While a Khajiit does not have the starting 50 speed he does have 50 agility and 40 strength, both necessary starting points for the Mageblade class. However, he has a lower than average 30 endurance (as male) or lower than average 30 strength (as female), making him a less than optimal choice. A Khajiit's special powers are more or less useless considering the strong role that Illusion magic plays, therefor replacing the need for his special powers. Recommended birthsigns: * Mage: +50 to Magicka is important to reinforce the need for an abundance of Magicka during combat. * The Apprentice: +100 to Magicka is a very strong boost to support his need for magic, and the downside of 100% vulnerability to magic is somewhat countered by the rabid use of Invisibility in combat. The vulnerability is only a weakness if the enemy is able to capitalize. * Steed: A good boost to speed, but not all together important as the boost to Magicka. Speed comes into abundance as you level up and get +5 to speed multiple times. * Thief: Same as steed, the bonuses are useful, but become a novelty as you level up. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Mage Hunter (submitted by Kaushik Goswami) Specialization: Magic Favorite Attributes: Willpower, Endurance Skills: Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Restoration, Mysticism, Acrobatics Is practically invincible against spell casters (Bretons get a 50% resist magicka constant effect ability). If the enemy can survive the barrage of spells thrown at him, then he gets his revenge very easily. Recommended race: * Female Breton Recommended birthsign: * Atronach <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Mau Thai Monk (submitted by TheInfamous83) Specialization: Combat Attributes: Speed, Endurance Skills: Block, Blunt, Athletics, Hand to Hand, Acrobatics, Alchemy, Restoration Mau Thai is a dangerous and lethal martial arts style practiced by few in the world. It focuses on elbow and knee assaults which can result in devestating effects. These monks of the ancient arts of Mau Thai wear no armor and practice no magic excluding the healing powers of restoration. They also have a understanding of alchemy and herbal properties. Their entire lives are in preparation and practice of their art, which involves rigorous hours of acrobatic and athletic training. All in all the monks of Mau Thai are physically superior to any other warrior. Recommended Races: * Orc * Nord * Khajiit Recommended Birth Signs: * Tower - its defense bonus is just what the monk needs, and being able to break open locked doors can come in handy. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Ninja (submitted by TheInfamous83) Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Speed, Agility Skills: Athletics, Acrobatics, Blade, Sneak, Destruction, Illusion, Marksman The Ninja is a cunning master of stealth. Quick, agile, and adept at lite magic. They are best suited as assassins, striking from the shadows with lethal and unrelenting force. Primary attacks consist of both use of the blade and bow, even rumored to be proficient in destruction magic. To better compliment their ability to move undetected ninjas are also reputed experts of illusion. This integration of diverse attacks combined with their shadowy nature, create a warrior of uncanny ability. Although not a master combatant, if used correctly, a ninja can dispatch numerous opponents without the slightest detection. Their ability at critical strikes and evasive manuvering is unmatched. Recommended Races: * Dark Elf * Khajiit * Argonian Recommended Birth Signs: * Thief - +10 boosts in speed, agility, and luck are a must for ninjas * Shadow - the ability to turn invisible once per day for 60 seconds is hard to ignore <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Paladin Specialization: Combat Attributes: Endurance, Willpower Skills: Alteration, Armorer, Blade/Blunt (choose one), Block, Heavy Armor, Restoration, Speechcraft The paladin is a holy warrior/knight errant who specializes in melee combat with some healing/buffing magic for backup. You don't really need to worry about Magicka, as you'll primarily use your spells in between fights rather than for offensive purposes. This build is designed to be somewhat self-sufficient, with Armorer to keep gear in top shape and Restoration and Alteration to reduce reliance on potions. The paladin is also a persuasive class, designed to sway people to your way of thinking. You'll want good Personality and Strength (for carrying all your equipment) in addition to Endurance and Willpower. Recommended races: * Imperial is the primary choice here, with good WILL and END scores for both males and females as well as high PER, decent STR and bonuses to combat skills and Speechcraft. * Female Nords can also do well with this class (male Nords have too low a WILL score). * You could also make this work with a male Dark Elf. Recommended birthsigns: * Lady: +10 to both your prime attributes * Warrior: +10 Strength boosts damage and carrying capacity * Apprentice: Gives a big boost to Magicka and makes the class more caster- centric. The weakness to Magicka is overcome by shiny thing with points. (Idea contributed by Charles Mousseau.) * Ritual: makes the class feel like the classic D&D paladin * Tower: makes up for low Stealth skills when you need them for a quest <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Ranger (submitted by Holj102) Specialization: Combat Attributes: Strength, Endurance Skills: Armorer, Blade, Illusion, Light Armor, Marksman, Restoration, Sneak Recommended Races: Nord, Redguard, Orc, Dark Elf Recommended Birthsigns: Thief, Warrior, Lady, Shadow The Ranger is your all in one class. He's a loner, drifting from one town to another relying on his own skills as opposed to buying them. He relies on the player's intelligence about combat more than anything else. He is proficient in both sword and bow, can repair his own equipment, and heal when in tough battles. This is a great first class for those who don't know what they want to be or are trying the series out for the first time. Based loosely on the Ranger concept from Lord of the Rings, this class is designed to be flexible about anything and everything. The ranger can be a thief, an assasin, or a knight. He is able to withstand oncoming close combat fighters, or run away and pelt them with arrows. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Revenant (submitted by psaczkowski) Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Speed (Strength), Intelligence Skills: Block, Blade, Light Armor, Alchemy, Destruction, Illusion, Sneak Race: Dark Elf Vampire Gender: Male Birth Sign: Apprentice, Atronach, Mage or Thief The Revenants are ancient creatures, who, because of their untimely and unfortunate death, have decided to take vengeance on the world. They stalk the living with poison soaked blades, using invisibility so as not to leave a trace of their damned existence. When it so happens that they are revealed, they become a raging fury of powerful magic and decimate those who were foolish enough not to go quietly. To be this character, you are going to have to want to be evil, plain and simple. There is mostly not a way around this, and I would suggest to those who do not want to murder, steal and be dishonourable in the process not to be this character, simply because I think it would take the fun out of it. The main idea behind the Revenant is to be THE stealth character, and I feel that is done best with a combination of offensive magic and melee. I feel that there are many reasons why this character is superior to stealth characters that rely on blade and marksman. First, destruction spells give you superior ranged combat over bows, since you don’t have to switch weapons and can keep attacking vigorously. Second, blades are also better than bows, mostly because the stealth modifier is x6 on blades, rather than x3 on bows (once at high level), and since you are going to poison dip your weapons, it makes sense to have only one rather than two (saves time and money not to have to poison two weapons). Furthermore, high-end bows do less damage than high-end blades, and you are going to want to try and max your stealth attack damage so you do not have to fight your enemy for very long afterwards. Third, destruction can enchant your blade to inflict up to 60 elemental damage, which you will need when backstabbing. First, this character is specifically designed to become a vampire. I see no reason not too, personally, the statistic boosts are amazing, and I have tailored the Revenant so that he/she is not as susceptible to the weaknesses accrued by becoming a vampire (although that doesn’t mean that you are going to be able to just walk around in the sun and talk to everyone, but it does mean that you are going to play a relatively normal game). You will want to be a vampire because of the attribute boosts, but also because of the damage reduction which will help a lot. Also, the powers are quite cool. One thing you will have to do with the vampire is 1) Try and find something that has a constant health regeneration effect which will help out if you are in the sun 2) Make sure your charm spells are effective enough to be able to talk to NPCs even when you are at full vampirism 3) Make sure your fire resist is high, being a dark elf helps a lot, but more would be better. I chose the dark elf race specifically because it boosts your most important stats, and because of the 75% fire resistance which is a MUST if you want to be a vampire. I also suggest being male so that your strength and damage is higher, but if you want to be a female and be more persuasive, by all means. Your birth sign is up to you. I gave the options I think are best, but it depends if you want to be risky. You will be an alchemist, so you can choose Atronach and be able to make potions for yourself if you aren’t fighting a mage and can't absorb. If you want to be risky choose Apprentice, I wouldn’t though. If you are not sure I would go with Thief, but you can try Mage if you’d like (I think the +10 luck is really good on Thief). The skill set I chose does a number of things. First, none of the governing attributes are the same, so this means you can have a power character. Why is this important you ask? Since each level you can up your attributes by a max of fifteen (5 points for three attributes), you are going to want two minor skills with the same governing attributes, because this will make it so you can use those skills to get a high number of skill points for any one governing attribute to boost it +5 without leveling. Otherwise, if you have, say, all intelligence governed skills as major ones, you will level before being able to have 3 attributes be able to get +5. Another reason the skills are good is because they will make you light as a feather, fast, powerful in melee and magic and invisible. I would suggest that when you fight, make yourself invisible from time to time, so that you are able to get behind your enemy, poison your blade, and take them out. Also, I would suggest cloaking yourself, so that you are only 75% visible at all times, the problem with invisibility is that it comes off whenever you attack. You may ask why I put block as a major skill, well, mostly because it was that or speechcraft, acrobatics or athletics and all of them level too fast to be used as majors, and you will want to make sure that they are high levels from the beginning so will want to run around with always run, jumping and trying to persuade NPCs (which can be augmented by using illusion charms as well). Also, block is going to save your ass when you become visible, or cannot sneak away, but is not going to be used enough to not let you be able to max attributes when leveling. I think you’ll find this character is also going to be hard at the beginning (though if you become a vampire quick enough that should help a lot), and may even be quite equipment intensive being a dual build. But I think you will find it rewarding in the end, I think that Oblivion has catered to dual builds quite well, as opposed to games like Diablo, which do not allow this freedom. I would suggest to boost Speed, Intelligence, Strength, Endurance and Agility, sort of in that order, but do what you think is best. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Samurai (submitted by TheInfamous83) Specialization: Combat Attributes: Strength, Agility Skills: Blade, Block, Marksmen, Light Armor, Armorer, Athletics, Mysticism Samurai live their life by the sword, in some terms their swords are extensions of themselves. They are capable of defensive and offensive techinques in swordmanship and have a wide knowledge in the crafting and repairing of armor and weapons. Also skilled users of the bow and mystic magic. These warriors are both honorable and passionate to their cause, to which extent they fight with such fierce professionlism that has earned them a reputation for fear amongest their enemies. Recommended Races: * Dark Elf * Orc * Redguard Recommended Birth Signs: * Warrior - +10 strength and endurance only make him that much better of a warrior * Ritual - helpful considering its restoration effects and turn undead. Being a warrior class any ability involving cure is a huge advantage. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Seeker (submitted by Harry) Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Agility, intelligence Skills: marksman, alchemy, sneak, security, mysticism, athletics/acrobats, blade Skilled in the art of silent, effective, and fast killing, the Seeker has the skills to find it's target and quickly dispatch it. Using a bow and a nice sword coated with poison, the seeker can get instant kills to many, even imperial guards. By using security, the seeker can easily get into one's house and loot their deepest treasures. As a master in sneaking, the seeker can easily walk right past someone (bodyguard) in hopes of dispatching the target silently. With skill in either athletics or acrobats, the Seeker is able to make a safe getaway without anyone knowing he/she was there. Recomended races: * Argonian: has 5 bonuses to main skills and underwater breathing is good for escaping ships. * Dark Elf: Also has 5 bonuses to main skills, less bonus to main attributes, summoning a guardian is nice if you get overwhelmed * Khajiit: Has only 4 bonuses, although good attributes and the ability to see in the night is great due to you carry out your "business" in the dead of the night. * Wood Elf: Also has 4 bonuses but two are +10s, attributes are great, although the special abilities aren't too powerful. Recomended birthsigns: * Thief (obvious) * Shadow (nice for quick getaways or sneaking past smart guards) * Steed (if you have athletics, you can become a speed powerhouse) <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Shade (submitted by anonymous) Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Strength and Personality Skills: Alchemy, Blade, Illusion, Light Armor, Marksman, Security, Sneak The "Shade" class is kind of like an assasin. You make poisons (Alchemy) and apply them on your Bow or Sword and sneak attack your enemy. Illusion will help you with Night Eye and Chameleon spells (useful for dungeon crawling and attacking enemys undected). And since you are also kind of like a thief, you're gonna need to be able to pick locks. For the attributes, I reccomend Strength and Personality, since this class is best for a Wood Elf, and Bosmers have low Stregth and Personality (which they need for Illusion, Blade, and sometimes Speechcraft and Mercantile to sell your stolen loot). If you are not going to be a Wood Elf, I would suggest something like, Agilty and Endurance. Reccomended Races: * Wood Elves because they are great at sneaking and with a bow * Khajiit / Argonians since they have some qualities for this class Reccomended Birthsigns: * The Thief: +10 Agility, Speed and Luck * The Steed: +20 Speed <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Shadow (submitted by Deo Baka) Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Speed, Agility Skills: Marksmen, blade/blunt/H2H *note for players who want to not carry the heavy weapons and save for bows go with H2H, (optional if none selected go with acrobatics so you can jump to a high place) light armor, illusion, sneak, security, alchemy (can switch out for acrobatics but would suggest a combat skill) A silent assian who stays in the shadows and takes down enemies from afar with poised arrows. When it gets rough will quickly perform a few stabs to an oppent with poisoned blades or will turn into a shadow with illusion and continue sniping. Recommended races: * Wood elf--really a great choice if you don’t go with a melee weapon and go with poised arrows and paralyzing then running and fighting. Great sniper. Just remember, run and fire If you have to leave a dungeon and the target will keep cashing you. Or jump on top a rock. * Kajhite if you wanna go H2H and maybe get rid of the arrows and throw in a blade and poison it. * Dark elf--Mix and match what you want Recommended birthsigns: Interesting depending on how reliant you want to be on the illusion majick really. A majick based sign will help, or you can go theif steed or warrior to give boosts in your areas. Tower is worthless because you don’t wanna get hit and lock picking is needed. Lover is the same you have illusion. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Summoner (submitted by TheInfamous83) Specialization: Magic Attributes: Intelligence, Willpower Skills: Conjuration, Mysticism, Destruction, Alchemy, Speechcraft, Blunt, Block An arrogant class to choose. Summoners notoriously view themselves as demi- gods, weilders of the greater magics of conjuration, calling on outer world beings to come do their biddings. From these voids walk demonic creatures who in turn carry their own essence of power. Also do they command the minds of men and even the elements themselves. Recommend Races: * Breton * High Elf * Dark Elf Recommended Birth Signs: * Atronach - The summoner commands from raw power and has no magicka regeneration, although he gains a +150 max magicka and %50 spell absorbtion <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Tank (submitted by Eric Opsahl) Specialization: Combat Attributes: Endurance, Strength Skills: Armorer, Blade, Blunt, Block, Heavy Armor, Athletics, Hand-to-Hand The tank is a pure melee warrior. Don't care about your magicka, since it's practically useless if your only using melee. Mainly uses heavy armor. Also, you want very high strength and endurance to be a good tank. Recommended races: * Nord would be the best choice for a strong tank. * Imperials also suit this build. * The Redguard could be used as well. Recommended birthsigns: * Warrior: +10 Strength and Endurance. * The Lord: Gives your Restore Health. * The Steed: Boosts speed by 20. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Tank (submitted by Samuel Ayaz) Specialization: Combat Attributes: Strength and Endurance Skills: Blunt/Blade (pick one), Heavy Armor, Armorer, Block, Athletics, Alteration, *players choice* This guy is built for absorbing tons of damage and returning it ten fold. He has a choice of blade or blunt, which ever is the players preference. He also has Heavy Armor for more damage absorbing and Armorer to repair the Heavy Armor. Athletics is in so this guy can run up to the enemy before they crap their pants in terror and Alteration is there for damage shielding. The last skill is players choice, I recommend Restoration to heal or Conjuration *possibly* to summon guys to absorb more damage. Recommended races: * Nord - Male - The typical barbian type race, this guy has strength and endurance a nd knows how to use it. Has a +10 in a couple of skills. * Orc - Male - All of this guys +10 are in skills for this class, not to mention his Berserk will induce explosive diarhea in any enemy in its way. * Redguard - Male - Also a good class with some +10s in some skills. Recommended birthsigns: * Warrior - +10 in both specializations...nuff said. * Ritual is also good, but Warrior is overall better, players choice however. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Tracker Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Speed, Intelligence Skills: Acrobatics, Alchemy, Athletics, Blade/Blunt (choose one), Light Armor, Mysticism, Security A tracker is a bounty hunter, focused on finding a target and bringing it (or pieces of it) back to the employer. The defining attribute for a Tracker is Speed, and lots of it. They are designed for running down their targets (or running away if the target has a lot of backup). The tracker is a light-armored warrior, relying on dodging and quick strikes with blade or blunt to bring down their foes. Security helps them bypass the locked doors behind which the targets cower. Alchemy allows the tracker to make her own potions, saving money and trips back to town. Mysticism offers protection from magical attacks and the ability to easily bind the target's soul into a gem. Much easier to carry than a head, don't you think? Recommended races: * Argonians (both genders) have good favored attribute scores and bonuses to many of the major skills. The ability to bob along on the bottom of the beautiful briny sea doesn't hurt. * Khajiits also work well in this class, just make sure you choose Blade as your combat skill, and not blunt. * Wood Elf can also be a good choice. If you decide on Wood Elf, you might want to exchange Blade/Blunt for Marksman. * Dark Elves can excel in this class, with good INT, excellent SPD and several bonuses to major skills. Recommended birthsigns: * Steed: kind of obvious for a character focused on Speed * Thief: bonuses to Speed and Luck never hurt * Lover: paralyzing touch fits with the class concept <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Warlock (submitted by Omar M. K.) Specialization: Magic/Combat (anyone will work just depends on which you prefer.) Attributes: Intelligance and Strength Skills: Alchemy (For healing potions and adding magical effects to weapons) Destruction (For offensive magic) Blade/Blunt (Depends on preference) Alteration-Shield spells (For protecting yourself in melee situations and lockpicking spells.) Heavy/Light armor (Depends on Preference, but if your specialization is magic than I recommend heavy for better protection) Conjuration (An ally can help at times and sometimes if you need someone else to take damage for you) Mysticism (for soultrap and enchanting and recharging magical weapons) Armorer (For when your not near a town and you need your equipment in top shape and to save money) The great thing about this class template is the fact that it has more than one use or focus. With this template you can complete the mages guild questline, Fighters Guild questline, and Brotherhood of shadows questline. The main questline has been only moderatly difficult with this template for me. It is the best mix of magic and combat because the magic compliments the weapons and armor and the weapons armor pick up where the magic leaves off (Melee combat situations). Race selection: * Male Dark Elf- Has both magic and combat attribute * Male Redguard- Combat taken care of only need to up magic * High Elf- Needs to improve on blade/blunt and armor and all else is easy to handle. Birthsigns: * Warrior- Helps your maximum hp, strength, and how much you can carry * Mage- Helps your mana * Lord- helps your mana and gives you spell absorbtion <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> -> Widowmaker (submitted by Todd Ramsey) Specialization: Stealth Attributes: Endurance, Intelligence Skills: Alchemy, Blade, Illusion, Light Armor, Marksman, Security, Sneak A Widowmaker is a cold blooded killer. He coats his weapons in poisons and then quietly dispatches his enemies. He uses Illusion to distract, charm, paralyze and become invisible. Using the shadows, he snipes enemies with his bow and then closes the distance with his blade. Recommended races: * Wood Elf is the best choice. Aside from the low personality and strength, all other attributes and skills line up perfectly. Using the sign of the warrior, he is able to carry more, do more blade damage and last longer. * Khajiits also work well in this class. Recommended birthsigns: * Warrior: boost Strength (higher encumbrance) and Endurance (more Health) Have a custom class you think should appear here? Email barry@papagamer.com about submitting your class for use in this FAQ. [CG07] ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE MATH: HOW SKILLS INCREASE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ This section was submitted by nyekobug and all work is his. Thanks nyekobug! As you use skills, you are awareded "experience points". Based on testing by nyekobug, the XP you earn are as follows: * Acrobatics: 0.30 per jump made, bonus awarded for damage taken during fall * Alchemy: 5.00 points per potion created (regardless of number of ingredients used) * Alteration: 4.00 per spell cast (regardless of spell cost, type, or level) * Armorer: 1.50 points per use (regardless of damage repaired or hammer broken) * Athletics: 0.03 points per second of running, 0.04 per second of swimming (no points accumulated if running while sneaking) * Blade: 0.50 per successful hit (regardless of damage inflicted) * Block: 1.25 per successful block (regardless of damage blocked, when using either a shield or weapon to block) * Blunt: 0.50 per successful hit (regardless of damage inflicted) * Conjuration: 6.00 per spell cast (regardless of spell cost, type, or level) * Destruction: 1.20 per spell cast that hits a target (regardless of spell cost, type, or level) * Hand to Hand: 0.60 per successful hit (regardless of damage inflicted) * Heavy Armor: 1.25 per hit taken (assuming the area hit is wearing heavy armor) * Illusion: 3.00 per spell cast (regardless of spell cost, type, or level) * Light Armor: 1.50 per hit taken (assuming the area hit is wearing light armor) * Marksman: 0.80 per successful hit (regardless of damage inflicted) * Mercantile: 0.40 per item sold (no points accumulated for purchases) * Mysticism: 3.00 per spell cast (regardless of spell cost, type, or level) * Restoration: 0.60 per spell cast (regardless of spell cost, type, or level) * Security: 1.50 per tumbler locked into position (regardless of lock difficulty, no points for breaking locks) * Sneak: 0.75 per second not detected while sneaking * Speechcraft: 2.40 per complete use of the persuasion wheel (regardless of net gain/loss of disposition) The number of XP required to reach the next rank in a skill varies depending on the rank of the skill, whether it is a major or minor skill, and whether it is part of your class specialization's group of skills. In the following table, the "Base" XP required is for minor skills that are not a part of your class' specialization. "Group" figure is XP required for minor skills that are part of your class' specialization and is 75% of the base. The "Major" column is the XP needed if the skill is a major skill, but not part of your class' specialization; it is 60% of base. The final column, "G+M" is for major skills that are a part of your class' specialization and is 45% of the base. +-----+-------+-------+-------+-------+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------+ |Rank | Base | Group | Major | G+M |Rank | Base | Group | Major | G+M | |-----+-------+-------+-------+-------+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------| | 5 | 2.89 | 2.16 | 1.73 | 1.30 | 53 | 99.87 | 74.90 | 59.92 | 44.94 | | 6 | 3.80 | 2.85 | 2.28 | 1.70 | 54 | 102.7 | 77.03 | 61.62 | 46.20 | | 7 | 4.79 | 3.59 | 2.87 | 2.14 | 55 | 105.5 | 79.17 | 63.34 | 47.50 | | 8 | 5.86 | 4.39 | 3.51 | 2.62 | 56 | 108.4 | 81.35 | 65.08 | 48.80 | | 9 | 6.99 | 5.24 | 4.19 | 3.14 | 57 | 111.3 | 83.53 | 66.82 | 50.12 | | 10 | 8.18 | 6.13 | 4.90 | 3.68 | 58 | 114.3 | 85.74 | 68.59 | 51.44 | | 11 | 9.44 | 7.08 | 5.66 | 4.24 | 59 | 117.3 | 87.97 | 70.38 | 52.78 | | 12 | 10.76 | 8.07 | 6.45 | 4.84 | 60 | 120.2 | 90.21 | 72.17 | 54.12 | | 13 | 12.13 | 9.09 | 7.27 | 5.44 | 61 | 123.3 | 92.48 | 73.98 | 55.48 | | 14 | 13.56 | 10.17 | 8.13 | 6.10 | 62 | 126.3 | 94.77 | 75.81 | 56.86 | | 15 | 15.04 | 11.28 | 9.02 | 6.76 | 63 | 129.4 | 97.07 | 77.65 | 58.24 | | 16 | 16.57 | 12.42 | 9.94 | 7.44 | 64 | 132.5 | 99.39 | 79.51 | 59.62 | | 17 | 18.14 | 13.60 | 10.88 | 8.16 | 65 | 135.6 | 101.7 | 81.38 | 61.02 | | 18 | 19.77 | 14.82 | 11.86 | 8.88 | 66 | 138.7 | 104.0 | 83.26 | 62.44 | | 19 | 21.44 | 16.08 | 12.86 | 9.64 | 67 | 141.9 | 106.4 | 85.17 | 63.86 | | 20 | 23.15 | 17.36 | 13.89 | 10.40 | 68 | 145.1 | 108.8 | 87.08 | 65.30 | | 21 | 24.91 | 18.68 | 14.94 | 11.20 | 69 | 148.3 | 111.2 | 89.01 | 66.74 | | 22 | 26.71 | 20.03 | 16.02 | 12.00 | 70 | 151.5 | 113.6 | 90.95 | 68.20 | | 23 | 28.55 | 21.41 | 17.13 | 12.84 | 71 | 154.8 | 116.1 | 92.91 | 69.68 | | 24 | 30.43 | 22.82 | 18.25 | 13.68 | 72 | 158.1 | 118.5 | 94.87 | 71.14 | | 25 | 32.35 | 24.26 | 19.41 | 14.54 | 73 | 161.4 | 121.0 | 96.85 | 72.64 | | 26 | 34.31 | 25.73 | 20.58 | 15.42 | 74 | 164.7 | 123.5 | 98.85 | 74.14 | | 27 | 36.31 | 27.23 | 21.78 | 16.32 | 75 | 168.1 | 126.0 | 100.8 | 75.64 | | 28 | 38.35 | 28.76 | 23.01 | 17.24 | 76 | 171.4 | 128.6 | 102.8 | 77.16 | | 29 | 40.42 | 30.31 | 24.25 | 18.18 | 77 | 174.8 | 131.1 | 104.9 | 78.68 | | 30 | 42.53 | 31.89 | 25.51 | 19.12 | 78 | 178.3 | 133.7 | 106.9 | 80.22 | | 31 | 44.67 | 33.50 | 26.80 | 20.10 | 79 | 181.7 | 136.3 | 109.0 | 81.78 | | 32 | 46.85 | 35.13 | 28.11 | 21.08 | 80 | 185.2 | 138.9 | 111.1 | 83.34 | | 33 | 49.07 | 36.80 | 29.44 | 22.08 | 81 | 188.6 | 141.5 | 113.2 | 84.90 | | 34 | 51.31 | 38.48 | 30.78 | 23.08 | 82 | 192.1 | 144.1 | 115.3 | 86.48 | | 35 | 53.59 | 40.19 | 32.15 | 24.10 | 83 | 195.7 | 146.7 | 117.4 | 88.06 | | 36 | 55.91 | 41.93 | 33.54 | 25.14 | 84 | 199.2 | 149.4 | 119.5 | 89.66 | | 37 | 58.25 | 43.68 | 34.95 | 26.20 | 85 | 202.8 | 152.1 | 121.6 | 91.26 | | 38 | 60.63 | 45.47 | 36.37 | 27.28 | 86 | 206.4 | 154.8 | 123.8 | 92.88 | | 39 | 63.04 | 47.28 | 37.82 | 28.36 | 87 | 210.0 | 157.5 | 126.0 | 94.50 | | 40 | 65.48 | 49.11 | 39.28 | 29.46 | 88 | 213.6 | 160.2 | 128.2 | 96.14 | | 41 | 67.94 | 50.95 | 40.76 | 30.56 | 89 | 217.3 | 162.9 | 130.3 | 97.78 | | 42 | 70.45 | 52.83 | 42.27 | 31.70 | 90 | 220.9 | 165.7 | 132.5 | 99.44 | | 43 | 72.98 | 54.73 | 43.78 | 32.84 | 91 | 224.6 | 168.5 | 134.8 | 101.1 | | 44 | 75.54 | 56.65 | 45.32 | 33.98 | 92 | 228.4 | 171.3 | 137.0 | 102.7 | | 45 | 78.13 | 58.59 | 46.87 | 35.14 | 93 | 232.1 | 174.0 | 139.2 | 104.4 | | 46 | 80.75 | 60.56 | 48.45 | 36.32 | 94 | 235.8 | 176.9 | 141.5 | 106.1 | | 47 | 83.40 | 62.55 | 50.04 | 37.52 | 95 | 239.6 | 179.7 | 143.7 | 107.8 | | 48 | 86.07 | 64.55 | 51.64 | 38.72 | 96 | 243.4 | 182.5 | 146.0 | 109.5 | | 49 | 88.78 | 66.58 | 53.26 | 39.94 | 97 | 247.2 | 185.4 | 148.3 | 111.2 | | 50 | 91.51 | 68.63 | 54.90 | 41.16 | 98 | 251.1 | 188.3 | 150.6 | 112.9 | | 51 | 94.27 | 70.70 | 56.56 | 42.42 | 99 | 254.9 | 191.2 | 152.9 | 114.7 | | 52 | 97.05 | 72.78 | 58.23 | 43.66 | 100 | +-----+-------+-------+-------+-------+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------+ Total exp required to reach (from rank 5, assuming not group or major) Rank 25 (Novice): 303.11 Rank 50 (Journeyman): 1,780.22 Rank 75 (Expert): 4,955.21 Rank 100 (Master): 10,219.61 Interesting fact: To get to 100 in Athletics, you will have to run 97 hours (or swim 70) if it's not a major/group skill. When you gain skillups (Speechcraft/Acrobatics skillup from the Fighter's Guild "Rat Problem" quest, Mercantile from the "Shadow over Hackdirt" quest), it doesn't actually lock the skill permanently. What happens is the skill rank is increased, but the current XP is not adjusted accordingly. What this means, is if you get the +5 skillup from Seed-Neus, it raises your skill by +5, but to get the skill to move again, you'll have to gain as much experience as you would have needed to gain those five levels of Mercantile. ~~The Elder Scrolls IV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VERSION HISTORY & CREDITS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OBLIVION~~ v1.30 2006-04-17 - Added "The Math: How Skills Increase" courtesy of nyekobug v1.20 2006-04-13 - Corrected: High Elves receive +100 Magicka (thanks to Joshua Farmer for pointing out the error) - Extensive re-write of the skills section - Added numerous reader-submitted Class Templates V1.10 2006-03-30 - Corrected errors: major skills within a specialization only receive a +5 bonus; Imperials have a +10 bonus to Heavy Armor; Argonians have a +10 bonus to Security - Rewrote entire Class Build section - Added several new reader-submitted Class Templates v1.01 2006-03-28 - Finished race commentaries - Finished default class commentaries - Added more class templates - Added Exploiting the System to Leveling section v1.00 2006-03-27 - First published version Written and Copyright 2006 by Barry Scott Will This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/