I just made a really weak "Weakness to Fire" spell that I could cast on myself constantly to level up my destruction in Oblivion.

Actually, it's easy to level up magic skills in Morrowind, because you don't need any enemies to do that, unlike in Oblivion. Of course, skills in Oblivion generally improve faster than in Morrowind, but if we are talking about the system itself, I prefer Oblivion's one. In Morrowind all you needed for the purpose of becoming a master of Destruction magic was a bed and an easy spell. Hit the wall with fireballs repeatedly until you have 0 Magicka, rest, repeat. In Oblivion I've had to actually use the spells on enemies. That's the direction I want Bethesda to follow in future games. Either learn by practice or pay for training.

However, there are numerous ways of improving the system. Regarding weapon skills, I think the rate at which they improve should be based on the level of the enemy you are facing. The higher the "negative" gap (it comes into play when your level is higher than the enemy's), the lower the gain. For the "positive" gap it should be the opposite. That way hitting a rat would improve your Longblade skill less than hitting an ogre and on high level hitting a rat wouldn't improve your skill at all. Moreover, the improvement rate should be modified by damage dealt, too, so hitting for 3 damage would count less than hitting for 30 damage. It's only fair and logical. Currently, from levelling perspective, you gain more by having lower Strength and faster, low-damage weapon, because it allows you to hit your enemy more times, which equals higher skill gain rate. It makes no sense. With proposed adjustments things would become more balanced and realistic.

Regarding magic skills, I think the improvement rate should be based on magicka cost, which should also be compared to your skill level. That way casting weak spells would improve your skill quickly when you have 5 Destruction skill level, but if you have e.g. 75, then casting weak fireballs wouldn't improve your skill at all. Spell failure should be reintroduced to add some spice.

There is always the problem with "passive" skills that can be levelled easily by gamey actions, such as "running" into a wall constantly. I'm sure that it's possible to find good solutions there, too. A common method of improving sneak skill in Oblivion was sneaking constantly by facing a wall near a beggar etc. It makes no sense. Firstly, I think that it shouldn't be possible to "run" into a wall and our character should stop instantly. Secondly, I think that sneak skill should only improve when you are sneaking on hostile actors and by "hostile" I mean actors that would either tell you to leave their house (trespassing) or attack you (bandits etc.). Thirdly, I think that the rate at which you gain sneak skill should be dependant on the actor's sneak level compared to your sneak level - simple relativity. Therefore, sneaking on a guy who has 15 Sneak skill level would improve your skill quickly if you have 10 Sneak skill level, but not if you have 60 etc.

When it comes to athletics and acrobatics, it's only logical to level them up by... running and jumping. However, if we anolyse those skills closely, it's easy to see that they are in fact much more. The first one is used for combat manoeuvring and combat endurance (lower stamina loss when running) and since Oblivion the second one can be used for dodging (that's the concept I would like to see expanded in the next game). Therefore, while both should improve by performing corresponding actions outside of combat, the rate should be slow. When in combat, however, it should be much higher and be dependant on the difference between your level and enemy's level. Therefore, your athletics skill should be improving quickly when you are running from a high-level enemy or manoeuvring in battle (sidestepping etc.), while your acrobatics skill could be improved by dodging enemy attacks. Because of relativity, such things wouldn't work when fighting with a rat as a high-level character.

Damage weapon/armour is the best. Gets Armourer up, too.

But, I need to spam a crap load of spells to level up Destruction this way. Far more than the rest, anyway.

That sounds like a good way to level it I think.

No it's not. I should need to have practical experience with my spells, after a certain level. Sure, I'm going to learn something from spamming spells for a while, but I'm not going to become some all powerful mage by casting fireball at a wall. I need real life experience. I think it's been like this throughout TES. It needs to change.

How would you simulate that?

Your skill goes up every time you cast a fireball because you are learning more about casting.

What if casting spells still leveled up your magic skills, but then, actually hitting or missing your enemies with spells could be governed by marksman or maybe even a combat magic skill?

Perhaps, once I get to , I can only advance by getting practical application? e.g., to get desturction up, I'd need to actually hit an enemy. To get alteration up, I'd need to actually open a lock etc. It can be quite ard to implement, what with "on self" pells, but I think if a group of devs got together in a room, they could think of something.

Have you read my post at all?

No. The wall of text burns. :cryvaultboy:

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Why should I tear this down?

Basically he's saying that with Combat skills, your skills should increase faster or slower based on the skill of your opponent, with Magic, you should get more experience for more powerful spells, and with Stealth skills, you should gain experience based on the hostility level and awareness of the NPC's you are using the skills against.

I would expand on this, and say the levels of experience you earn for offensive spells should increase or decrease based on the spell resistance of your target, so that you basically have to make opposed skill checks against an opponent.

But really, shouldn't this be going into the Suggestions thread?

I prefer mixed specialties, either combat/magic (spellsword or battlemage) or combat/stealth.

Well, actually I guess that I have a slight preference for combat. :hehe: I just think that swords are cool (I have about a dozen swords in my collection).


:dead:

Ah. Then I agree!


The suggestion thread is so last week. :rolleyes:

I like them all, but my favorite would probably be stealth.

I can't pick just one to vote on. :facepalm:

I like subtlety. I like knives. I like stealth.

I usually go combat but for TESV I might go for more of a stealthy approach.

I like combat and magic, so most of my characters have been battlemages. If I had to choose only one, I guess it would be combat, though.

To the OP: If possible, I recommend editing the polling options to include Combat/Stealth, Combat/Magic, Stealth/Magic, and maybe Combat/Stealth/Magic. That way people who use more than one system can vote properly.

I followed your idea as you can see.

Changed my vote to stealth / combat

I prefer stealth, and that's what I mainly use. I've tried both pure mages and warriors, and most possible mixes, but in the end it's pure or mainly stealth oriented characters I enjoy the most. I've been experimenting a bit recently though, compared to constantly going with my Argonian Thief.

In Oblivion: Stealth-combat... start off with a sneak attack, then draw my claymore and finish it. I use magic to enhance my combat capabilities and for healing... so it's probably more of a stealth-combat-magic style.

In Morrowind: Combat... just beat the crap out of things with my weapon.

Well if look at my sig, all my classes (not counting FO) are magic oriented. I love me some magic, makes life 20x easier. MW for example, "Aww crap Balmora is on the other side of this mountain. What will I ever do!" *Casts Levitate* Problem solved.

OB for example, During the Thieves Guilds independent thievery stuff, I just went into the jewler place in the Imperial City and enraged him giving me the right to kill him then just loot the whole place. :foodndrink:

I would enjoy stealth if they ever got it just right.

I like subtlety. I like magic. I like stealth/magic.