Hello everybody.

Bought Oblivion 1 year ago, and when I finally got the hang of it I found out what a fantastic game this is

My first and only serious character so far was a classic orc warrior, who finished MQ and just slashed through everything in his way.

On my next character I wish to use more of both magic and stealth. I'm not a fan of the bow, so my thought was to make a stealth fighter, who uses magic to reach his goal.

"First of all, I wish to say that I'm planning on roleplaying this guy to some extent, but still wants to be somewhat able to kill enemies, thus I'm leaving sneak and alchemy as minors, even though I'm going to use those skills a lot.)

Race: Redguard - I like the fact that they are described as very talented warriors, making it ideal that they would be able to make a clean, one-hit-killing, sneak attack based more on technique, than strenght.

Birhtsign: I'm leaning towards the Thief because of the huge boost in 3 attributes, but also keen on both The Mage and The Atronach even though The Atronach is somewhat of a challenge.

Attributes: Strength and Intelligence - He needs to be strong to deal damage, and intelligent to plan out the sneak attacks and use magic.

Specialization: Stealth would be obvious, but so many skills there that I'm not going to use... Maybe magic would be more useful?

Skills:

Acrobatics: He needs to be able to take alternative routs to his target in order to make a sneak attack.

Armorer: He's a loner, so fixing his gear is something he has to do on his on.

Conjuration: He's trained in the darker arts of magic, so summoning evil demons to his aid is just essential, for a decoy and back-up.

Light Armor: Offers protection, but he can still be fast and mobile.

Blade: Well, obvious

Restoration: Normally a healing skill, but he's going to use the "Absorb Health" aspect of it... He can literally "svck the essence of life" out of humans and creatures

Illusion: Good for stealth, but even better for it's "dark powers".. Controlling minds is simply amusing to him, before executing the poor souls.

Sooooo, any thought or recommendation?

PS. As mentioned above I left out alchemy and sneak as majors, since they level so insanely fast.

wise to leave sneak and alchemy as minors i reckon . you say you not intrested in bow? i found it fun using bow and blade , bow is great for the first shot from stealth ( think its *6 damage after awhile) , i really didnt like bow but donwloaded a tiny mod that made arrows travel quicker , so much better for gameplay and looks , might be worth a try as something diffrent after doing melee so much with warrior , can still do melee as well. And your conjurations are good for keeping the enemy away while you fire bow as well. I'd admit though at higher levels bow isnt as powerful as melee.

my thief/assasin is similiar to yours but i have marksman and alteration instead of acrobatics and illusion . I went with stealth as spec , from a power gaming perspective magic might be better but im happy with stealth . I'm a vampire so i like to sneak in and drink the blood of every important person in each town /

Well, I forgot to mention but I'm on PS3, so no mods for me Bow sneak attack is only x3, and melee is x6.. But bow is just not me.. It's harder to sneak up and do a melee attack, and thus more fun for me.. I enjoy the planning of an attack as mush as the attack itself

I would highly suggest Mage or Atronach over Thief as your birthsign. You'll be a Redguard so you start with only 35 intelligence (already counting in the favored attribute) which gives only 70 Magicka. So at level 1 the Mage gives you more than 40% extra Magicka. Even when you max out intelligence the Mage will still increase your Magicka by 25%. For a spellcasting character this is a much bigger benefit than the attribute bonuses from Thief. Especially because you won't need Agility (because you're not using a bow) and because Luck becomes useless when your skills reach 100.

Choosing between Mage and Atronach is a matter of preference. Atronach requires more planning but your character can become more powerful than with Mage. for a pure mage I would have recommended Mage, but for a half-caster like you'll play it may be more fun to go with Atronach.

I'd go with Endurance over Strength as a favored attribute. 5 points of Strength only increases damage by 2.5%. 5 Endurance on the other hand will increase your initial Health gain by 10%. Endurance is also the only attribute for which maxing it early gives you a bigger long term benefit than maxing it late. For all the other attributes the only thing that matters is how high they are right now, but for Endurance it is also important when it became as high as it is.

Finally I'd go with Destruction over Acrobatics. You may or may not want to blow people up, but you can still use it to cast a Weakness to Magic or Weakness to Poison spell on your target so it becomes more vulnerable to your other attacks. Destruction is also the 3rd slowest skill to increase (after Mercantile and Restoration) so any boost you get is very welcome.

Other Things to consider:

Female Redguard

The Lady Birthsign

I'm strongly considering going with The Atronach now, starting to read up about how to get by the stunted magicka. I haven't really considered Destruction - first of all it's a roleplaying decision, my character won't attack on distance and I know myself about this - in the end I'm just jumping up on something elevated and firing Fireballs at them, and second of all, this is the first time I'm really implying magic to my character so I would like to have just a couple of schools to focus about.. Endurance is a good choice aswell, just have to make sure if I choose on basis of my roleplaying brain or logical brain

Id recommend Alteration.

Welcome to the forums!!

You may call yourself a semi-newbie but it sounds like you already have a clear thought on the direction of the character.
Redguard is fantastic for a stealth fighter. The Adrenaline Rush is awesome for those boss battles.

I would also consider a Dark Elf blade-mage if you want to make him have a stronger magic score at the start.
Dunmer is great if you wish to role play a general build. (Blade, bow, magic). Everything seems to fit the RP.

Welcome to the forums!! Have a http://images.wikia.com/tesfanon/images/c/c4/Fishystick.jpg

It doesn't sound like you are a semi-newbie to me at all! You seem to know how the game works, and you seem to have a clear idea how to RP. I agree with gingerbill about the bow being fun to play. You can even

Personally, for this type of build I would go with Dunmer. To me, it just seems to fit the bill of what you are going to play as (assuming you will play as an eviler character this round) even if you play as a good char, Dunmer seem to fit, as they are well balanced. Personal preference though.

Birthsign I'd go with Atronach, yes it can be hard, but also very fun. Utilize those welkynd stones and magicka potions though.

Let me add my welcome. :icecream:

Major skills. You're correct that alchemy and sneak can level very fast and therefore many players keep them as minors. Beyond that, I'll leave major skill thoughts to others since I pick them so eclectically.

Race. You like Redguard, and for good reason. I pick race based only on the looks and image I want for the character and, for what you describe as a bladed sneakster with an awesome bite up close, the Redguard is a superb choice.

Birthsign. Once again, you nail the best choices to Atronach, Mage or Thief. Some thoughts on each:
- Atronach. Seek items to boost that spell absorption to 100% . You already are familiar with what wiki says about working with that birthsign. Don't overlook the telekinesis trick to fill up your blue. Self-made restore magicka potions will be your friend early, then as your telekinesis and spell absorption abilities increase, enemy spells and enchanted weapons will be your friend. Absorb magicka can be a helpful enchantment on your own blade. It takes a unique mindset to play Atronach that embraces two aspects: 1. Your character is ready, willing and able to get hit by enemy spells and weapons. 2. You don't mind dealing with another logistical chore (refilling your blue) to go along with healing, repairing and recharging.
- Mage. If you are comfortable managing your attribute gains but not comfortable with the Atronach, this is a great choice.
- Thief. If you find managing attribute gains difficult but important, this gets you off to a great start. If you are comfortable planning for and achieving good attribute bonuses, it may not be necessary. Ultimately, your key attributes should reach 100 without this birthsign.

Tactics. Since you want to eschew using ranged attacks like fireballs and arrows, there are some neat options. Think of your Redguard as a 'ranged attack':
- Creep up behind for the sneak attack when you can of course.
- Make him fast enough to close very quickly when detected.
- Teach him a short invisibility spell so that when engaged by ranged attackers, he can safely destroy the distance between him and his foe and suddenly appear behind his foe with a flashing blade - a hedge wizard or archer's worst nightmare.
- Consider whether you want to provide distractions or some ranged assistance via your own spell casting summons. Just be aware that summons who use ranged attacks can sometimes be pretty dumb about seeing targets. He may not see that target 100 feet away that you can. For those who like to work with this, a turn undead/demoralize spell on your summon can encourage them to get close enough to your foe to engage.
- There may be times when you either cannot get to your foe, or you need to provoke your foe to charge you. This can be done with your good old basic flare spell to piss off your foe.

Thanks for all your replies Great to have some professional help

I think I'm ending up with The Atronach birthsign - I think it will be good, considering I only want to use magic as back-up. Also it gives me an edge over casters and all those nasty things in Oblivion Gates

And Acadian, I was kind of inspired by the rules you apply to your little bowgirl, but since I don't like bows I'm just vice-versaing it, but still add some roleplayrules, so that I don't become a hack′n′slash player

Buffy and I are humbled by your kind words. I was quite intrigued at your idea of a no-ranged swordsman as opposed to my no-melee bowgirl. I think anytime we add some style challenges like that, it enhances the gameplay. Your character definitely should not suffer Buffy's challenge of trying to identify (friend or foe) a pink glow that is 300 feet away. Lol. Best wishes!

Well, maybe Dezlar and Buffy should meet over a drink sometime in Cyrodill. He can't understand why she doesn't want to whisper some kind words in her foes ears, as she slowly sticks a dagger through their heart. But then again, Dezlar is a Redguard - the only time he used a bow, he was so bad at it he nearly shot himself