Beginners tips and starting life in OOO/FCOM

The previous thread on this topic has been purged

Starting life in Oscuro's world can be daunting, indeed deadly to those new to the mod.
Many will be overwhelmed by the increased difficulty it will present in comparison to what they may have been used to before installation.
If you've any viable tips on development, or advice on places relatively safe to adventure over the first few levels, share your knowledge and thoughts to help them on their travels.

Please, no cheats or spoilers.
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1078987-oscuros-oblivion-overhaul-spoilers-thread-27/
and keep the subject on topic

Three words: hit and run. In the early levels of the game, you need to be a guerrilla. Also, in dungeons, use traps to your advantage. On my current character, way back when she was level 3 or 4, she got some really nice enchanted gear because she managed to lure a much higher-level bandit boss into her own trap.

First tip......


Never ever be afraid to turn and RUNNNNNNN....you will get in over your head...Find a guard or others to help...again ...RUN!!! Oh wait im using FCOM...

If you use nGCD, you might really want to add that Immediate Character Generation plugin. The whole no class or trying to get the lowest possible major skill base is not the way to go. Add an uncapper and an alternative leveling mod if you are worried about running into skill caps to soon. I usually start the game off by heading out to Chorroll to the Fighters guild (after picking up Viconia in Bruma.) The FG is a really nice resource to have behind you starting out, especially with the free repair hammers.

In the Imperial City, or any city for that matter, RTPN or Read The Posted Notices. These will give you an idea which areas and dungeons are least dangerous.

Sinkhole Cave is a straightforward easy beginner dungeon. It's around the IC area. Beware though, the entrance is camped by bandits.

Walk quietly and carry a big stick, I am dead serious when I say this. Sneak attacks are your friend, as is kiting(pulling them slowly while peppering with attacks) pulling guards into the fight and using alchemy. USE your poisons! Every little bit will help.

...guards are your friends, at least while you are all weak and in the single-digits...

I noticed a few quests seem easy to tackle until you reach the boss. Infact one of the Fighter's Guild quests requires you to go to a place filled with bandits. The bandits I found real easy for my level (4 at the time), but the boss was impossible! even with Oreyn helping.
So, I highly recommend, in the event you get stuck in a position where you just HAVE to fight an impossible boss, as such stated above, then I highly recommend using summons and a party of companions. I didn't have a companion at the time, and if you aren't afriad of cheating a little, remember the console command player.createfullactorcopy will help create an army of yourself to aid your struggle. If you wish to remove your clones, use deleteactorcopy. I had to do that to clean the place up after the fight. It took me approximately 20 of myselves + Oreyn to kill the boss.

I do recommend being prepared for the worse, and bring atleast one companion with you if you ever go dungeon raiding.

Vilverin is always a good place to start. The bandits and undead shouldn't pose too much of a problem if your careful and have some form of restoring your health.
Don't even attempt the bottom section until you have some decent equipment. The spectrals there will make short work of you if your not properly prepared.
Return to the IC Market District and sell off your loot. Buying some open hard lock scrolls will benefit if you venture next to Sideways Cave. It's doable, but care has to be taken toward the end. There's some good loot to be had here for new characters.
Don't expect to clear dungeons on your first run. As you progress deeper the enemies will become progressively tougher. Be prepared to retreat and then retrace your steps after you gain a couple of levels.
The early Fighter and Mages Guild quests should be possible with perhaps the exception of the Leyawiin recommendation.
And no matter your class, invest in a shield spell as soon as possible. Even a few paltry points added to your AC may well keep you alive.

I just fought those spectrals for the first time with my new character...at lvl4.

LOL I won but I'm never going in that low anymore.

The spectrals do have a big weakness, but I still wouldn't want to mess with them at low levels :poke: . I once tried to do the KOTN quest at a low level with OOO. Apparently OOO adds a whole bunch of spectral warriors to a dungeon you have to get through for the quest. It didn't go well.

Sancre Tor is one epic battle with ghosts.
My god, when I went in there, there were some rooms with 6 or 7 ghosts all attacking at once!
They were easy alone, but with those kind of numbers, it posed as a real challenge.

From the OOO Spoilers thread:

From the IC waterfront you can swim to the tower stone (must be at night) and use it to get the tower warden power, open hard lock once a day. From there swim round to the waterfall below Charcoal Cave and you will find, hand placed, elven cutlass and a very nice blue glass shield. This will last a long time! Providing you haven't got any hardcoe waterlife plugins this should be very easy!

...more of a spoiler then a tip

If you have to cheat in order to use OOO, then you may as well not install it.
OOO makes the game world more immersive and "realistic". There are places a noob adventurer has no place sticking his pimpled face. If things get to hairy, run away and return once you have grown some more hair yourself. Stay close to the roads and don't venture to far into the wilderness. On the roads there will usually be soldiers for protection.

follow the guards on the trade roads, if you see something you want dead, bait it, stay ahead, run in a zigzag pattern as to not get hit and high tail it to a few guards. good gear, and then, go crab and rat hunting along the rivers, go into the sewers, but avoid the ones with people in it.

*has no idea if this is big spoiler for vilverin or not*

Heh, when I entered Nagastani, I found in first room a Gargoyle and Mystical Imp. I ran farther into the zone hopnig to evade them, and got mauled by an ogre in the gas trap room.

You gotta be careful in OOO. Although nothing is impossible at low levels - I managed to kill a marauder in that goblin fort east of the IC at level 2 through hard effort and running back and forth on the bridge in the second zone with healing spells -, it can be difficult.

DO NOT venture into any suspicious Ayleid ruins in the Gold Coast area unless you like experiences like running from an evil Black Worm necromancer only to look a Sylvan straight in the eye before he fires his arrow and kills you off in one shot.

Explore dungeons near the cities - they tend to be easier than far-out ones. For example, I travel to Smoke Hole Cavern northeast of Anvi - no scary spectrals in the first zone, though there might have been some later. I then go to Trumbe, an Ayleid ruin farther north from Anvil. Easy at first, but a really bad Spectral Warrior in the boss area. I then go to Niryastre, the northernmost Ayleid ruin from Anvil. The spectrals litter the place.

Hope this is helpful!

Vilverin has a boss level mob wandering around near the entrance. He tends to path back and forth up the staircase. You might be able to handle everything else in there at level 1 but he'll kill you in one hit so avoiding him is key.

Basically, even if the zone seems safe expect the unexpected.

Oh yeah. Assume every chest is trapped. Assume the traps will kill you. Plan accordingly. :blink:

Heh, I was robbing someone's house in Bruma while they were there nearby, and i opened a chest and it killed her and almost killed me. Also, they had a jewelery box behind their bed that i couldnt reach. Lyra Rosentia and her tiny key.

Yes, you need to be careful with him. I try to lure him into the trap in the first staircase - and if that doesn't kill him there's a trap further up as well.



Guess one beginner's tip is to be careful with traps, but also to use them to your advantage.

With a low level character, work at practicing skills. The OOO is the most immersive addition to the Elder Scrolls I have ever played. I may be a noob here at the forums, but i have History with TES back to the Arena. You need to be able to enchant as soon as possible, work with the Leyawin Orc Knight to get to have Black bows available. With the best armour and weapons available, you need to enchant and constantly update. My Character is a level 20 custom class stealth mage and bow user. Enchant has assisted in having big damage on weapons and great assists with stats on the armour. It is important to be as good as you and your equipment can get you to survive. Be immersed with your character and enjoy the difficulty. The TES IV with OOO is excellent.

Figured I'd post some locations and my experiences as I travel along.

Horn cave is safe between 3-6 and onward, don't attack the entropic rat if you see one. Charcaol Cave is medium.. has amazons, so you probably need to be level 10. It took me about 1min to kill one at lvl6, figured it was too much for me so I left after I killed her. But I had low level spells too.

Fort Homestead isn't tough at all IMO. It contains nothing but goblins. Careful of the "Fallen Ones" though. There is a door leading to some NPCs but I don't know where the key is.