I had gotten the "family" a PS3 for X-mas and was all excited about learning of the Elder Scroll series having been a big fan of Ultima and AD&D growing up (did I just date myself?). Hearing of all the problems with Skyrim on the PS3, I didn't want to shell out $60 for a game that would give me a bad taste for the series or the PS3. So I picked up Oblivion and waited until Santa arrived.

WOW!! I am completely taken by this game. Way beyond my expectations. I had plans to be a Fighter/Mage combination but I am turning out to be more of a Paladin type because I just can't bring myself to steal anything and I'm terrible with the bow and haven't made much progress with spells! I'm now thinking of starting a second evil character Thief/Assassin just to get the other experience, maybe even get bit or something . Is a Mage/Thief/assassin too hard to build up or it best to have 3 types of characters going to get a good overall experience, ie Fighter , Mage and Thief/Assassin

What character combos do you recommend?

Just love this game to pieces and I'm only on the 4th level. Now if the kids would just get off the PS3 to let me play!

Mage/Assassin works well, as you can use the illusion spells in order to help keep hidden.

The fighter, the thief, and the mage are your three basic types. But the great thing about the ES games is that you can not only mix them up any way you like, you can even play one of those "core" types in many different ways. For example, you can play a fighter who wears heavy armor, and uses a two handed weapon like an claymore or hammer. Or the same fighter with light armor, a longsword, and shield. You will find your fights different with those two styles. Or you might have a fighter who used destruction magic for long range attacks (since sometimes closing to melee will get you clobbered by enemy missiles). Or you might have a magician who uses bound armor and weapons, and then slugs it out in melee with everyone (making them a fighter).

There is always a new way to play Oblivion and the other ES games. That is what makes them so addictive. You can keep coming back for more, and have it feel new each time. So my advice is have fun with the fighter you have now. Get to know the game, and just have a good time. Don't try to do everything with one character. Just walk around, explore the place, and get into trouble do some good. When you have had enough of that, make someone new, and try a different approach.

Welcome to Oblivion


I tend to go the Paladin route too.

But both the Theives Guild and Dark Brotherhood are great questlines to experience. I just keep telling myself that I am not my character

I would personnally still roughly with the Mage, Stealth or Warrior archetypes. For a Stealth character a bow works really well and is not hard to use. My first character did not use a bow much for fear of running out of arrows. But actually a bow is a very fun weapon.

At early level a warrior is very powerful. However a Mage character usually ends up to be the most powerful in the game at higher levels, in my experience. But a thief/assassin can be very very fun too.

Have fun. A major piece of advise: Save Often, and keep lots of Saves!

lol, just tried to speak to someone in an inn, and didn't realize that stealth was on

Stop Thief!...found my last save, restored...

I played Oblivion on and off since 2007. It was the game I returned to after the new thing had lost its shine. Enjoy, you have plenty to do and see!

Welcome! My advice would be to play how you feel is right the first time. Get to know the world and how it all works before committing yourself to any one 'type'. And I see you've been doing that already. Enjoy Oblivion!

I got committed to my first and only character so I guess we′re all somewhat different, huh? Save often and enjoy the game

I'm going to make something of an off the wall suggestion, to consider maybe in a couple of weeks:

Spend $12 US (plus shipping) via Amazon, and buy the PC version that includes the Shivering Isles.

Why? Because currently there are over 25,000 mods for Oblivion. These cover everything from incredibly detailed companions with their own extensive quest systems, to separate quest systems that add more than 150+ hours of gameplay, to thousands of new homes tailored to different characters, to many new lands or new graphical textures, to all sorts of tweaks that make the game harder to play, or easier, or just easier to use. You can check out what's generally available on http://www.tesnexus.com/index.php, the best site for mods.

I don't recommend going for mods now. But once you've played for a while and looked at Nexus to get a sense of what mods can do, just consider this as an option. Mods really do ramp up Oblivion to the next exponential level--and though that sounds like hyperbole, it isn't.

Back to your request. I'd suggest that whatever kind of character you make, work up their Alchemy. Because Alchemy seldom fails except on the very lowest levels in Oblivion, and it can give you many of the effects spells do from all the schools. What's more, you can make potions with multiple effects, such as heal+regain magicka+regain endurance, and you can create potions that will poison or "curse" an opponent in battle. You can also sell potions and eventually turn a nice profit, buying cheap ingredients and getting back more for your efforts. And as time goes on and your Alchemy level rises, the return increases dramatically. Nothing approaches for making money without using cheats.

Congratulations. You have purchased one of the top ten video games of all time, according to most major critics. You have also found one of the best forums on the net for information and ideas to maximize your experience and enjoy it. I have over 800 game play hours in Oblivion; over 200 in Skyrim, and still actively play both. Oblivion still competes with Skyrim quite favorably. My advice would be to take your time and "experience" the game rather than just playing it. I have a feeling that Skyrim will eventually make peace with your platform, and your Skyrim experience will be even more rewarding as a result of Oblivion, if you decide to pursue it later on. Both games are unique, in that you will never really "finish" playing either. Each character build referenced in your post, as well as dozens of others, is a unique and special journey in the game.

As said before, if your PC can handle it, i'd get the PC version.

Contains hours of gameplay EXTRA in the complete edition PLUS

Free acces to hundreds, possibly even thousands of gameplay hours due to Modding (www.tesnexus.com)

Now wait until you start roleplaying in Oblivion too XD The door is open, have fun with a world of near unlimited possibilities

You're not the one who is terrible, it's archery that's weak by itself. It's Alchemy and Enchantments + Azura's Star that saves it. As for spells, they are already powerful if used well, but I wonder if the PS3 version allows spell stacking and magicka stacking.

I beg to differ. An adept marksman, and with much practice as you advance in levels, can hit a moving target while sneaking, known as leading, in addition to fending off three or more active melee combatants. After figuring out distance, you can make long-range, sneak shots that will shock and amaze your friends. Alchemy is a great addition to archery, but archery alone is quite powerful. My archers can clear out entire dungeons using just a bow. And no one knew he was there.

I agree with the Big Daddy. Bows can be very powerful by themselves, although my dark elf just can′t help enchanting everything...

Archery, like Destruction, takes a long time to build up. Both can be very powerful in the long run, but you'll want to get something else to deal with all those times when an enemy succeeds in getting upfront and close with your character.

There are also mods that make both more powerful in the short run.

Absolutely. If Varla had thought to http://youtu.be/O9hUSPqDwoQ, it would have been a one shot kill.

Thanks everyone, great comments and advice.

Unfortunately, my PC doesn't cut it, too old. And my son is so busy with minecraft on it, I never get to use it anymore!

As for the roleplaying, I get pretty into that. I always seem to move into a righteous, Knight/Paladin character. You had to see me yesterday. The corruption and conscience quest was killing me. Someone get killed in cold blood but I'm clean or steal an item to do the right thing but have a stolen item on my character. Did the right thing, now have a stolen item on my conscience. Kept the old save incase I change my mind. If these moral decisions points keep happening, going to make it tough to stay squeaky clean.

I've also been careful with the archery because of not wanting to attack someone 1st and the honourable combat I'm sticking too. When I play the Thief/Assassin type, I will have no such issue using the bow.

?I have been playing with the Alchemy, seem to have that rolling a bit now. My magic is not very balanced, mostly restoration and some destruction.

lol, I even felt guilty avoiding an Oblivion gate to get to a city I wanted to visit. Like I said earlier, the game has really got me.

One of the best ways to get to know your character's personality is to make them live with the consequences of their actions (the non-fatal ones.) While I've had characters that were devastated by being reviled by some city guard, I've had others that just laughed. I never know what they are like until circumstance reveals their quirks.

There is a confirmed glitch that can cause you to be falsely accused of theft as you pass by the stables near the Skingrad main gate. When a city guard called Sarrah scum and with a revolting smugness told her what he was going to do, she nearly got a nosebleed from the blush of embarrassment. Released from the Skingrad castle and half blinded by tears, she ran to her mansion in town. Running up the stairs, she crashed into the wall at every turn. At last in the security of her bedroom, she cried herself to sleep.

That little incident lead to one of the funniest mini-games Sarrah ever invented (she had many.) She would cloak herself with chameleon magic and fire off a flare spell at the hip pocket one of the Skingrad city guards. The spell is too weak to do them any real harm but we both laughed as they jumped and then ran around as if their pants were on fire. Come to think of it, they were. The cloaking prevented any escalation to more serious levels. No lasting damage was done (she would have had to live with it), just good clean outdoor fun.

Sweet shot!


Lol, that's awesome. I never thought of pranking, until now.

This reminds me of when Lothran hit an ogre which was standing across a gorge. It was on the road going west from Bruma just after the stairs in the hills and before the bridge. He did have it poisoned though and I was astonished the arrow could fly that distance!

Sarrah used this same technique on rude citizens. The funny thing is, I have never liked pranks. I feel they are all too often rationalizations of destructive behavior. Still, Sarrah was a prankster and I admit to laughing at the things she came up with. She liked to attract a bear in the woods, run to a bandit camp, and then cast an invisibility spell. She had tons of mini-games from exploding landmines with a fireball, to stuffing staffs into an open-top barrel. With too many staffs in the barrel, the game physics would cause them to rattle around until they all came flying out. Her high score was 8 staffs.

I also avoid oblivion gates. I mostly do the ones that are quest related or else it gets pretty repetitive.

Etta recently got peeved by a chapel altar that scolded her for being wicked, when all she wanted was to repair a damaged attribute. And the priest was quite rude to her as well. So she left an "offering" on the altar -- a copy of The Lusty Argonian Maid.

Bandits who attack her tend to be left dead, wearing only boots.

Several of her DB "contracts" have been "enhanced" by rearranging items at the crime scene, to confound and befuddle the investigating authorities. (They always get to keep their shoes, too.)

Whenever she stays at an inn for the night, she drinks several bottles of cheap wine ("Drain Personality") and then goes down and annoys the innkeeper in the middle of the night.

One of my characters thought it was the height of fun to get rid of stolen keys she no longer needed by pickpocketing them onto city guards.

Love the pranks from Sarrah and Etta! I know Angel has done her share of pranking too.

Buffy, who majored in illusion at University, is not averse to answering excess rudeness with a demoralize spell (Alval Uvani, we're lookin' at you). Since it is not considered an assault, the guards usually laugh right along with her.

Luv it

I'll have to tell Angel about this one.