I've come back to Oblivion recently in an attempt to get a little further into it, to quench my thirst for Skyrim. After 18 hours, I've found myself trapped in that painting quest, too weak to kill the final two trolls and without a save file to reload before I got svcked in (I know, I know!)! After constantly failing to kill them, I'm biting the bullet and restarting the game. It's not been too hard a decision to make anyway, as I wanted to tinker with my build (Nordic Barbarian with Light Armour, Block, Blade, Marksman, Sneak, Security and I forget the last).

I've never got that far into Oblivion as I'm more of a Morrowind man myself, so a hack and slash class seemed best to see a large amount of the game in a short space of time. It seems catered to playing a character with a high health because of the level scaling too. In fact, I think I'd really struggle to play a character that doesn't have Block, Heavy Armour and Armourer for the Endurance modifiers. So I'm going to have Heavy Armour this time around, rather than Light. Armourer I kept as a secondary skill last time, as it advanced quick enough. Does anyone else have this issue with Endurance? Or do you all just play leet Mages?

This time around I'm thinking of trying a Knight, who will wield a double handed sword like my last. So he'll probably have Block and Blade and maybe Marksman from my last build. I ended up toying with a little Restoration last time around, so I'll add that too to make him some kind of Holy Warrior. Heavy Armour is a given. I don't want to add Security, but I'm going to need some way of getting into all those locked chests. I'm a little stuck there I guess...

So my build so far is something like - Block, Blade, Marksman, Restoration and Heavy armour. I guess I'll pick Strength and Endurance for my Favored Attributes.

What do people suggest for my last two skills? Any recommendations for Star Signs? Any other thoughts or advice?

P.S. I'm on Xbox, so no chance of any mods.

Not having security, as a Major, is no big deal. As even a low security guy can pick a high end lock. Besides, just because those skills are not Majors, doesn't mean you can't use them. One strategy, is to pick the last two, in skills that you would not normally use, to help with the leveling issue. Another is to spread a little magic in there. Like another poster asked, about a similar build. Illusion ( very powerful ) and Myst or Conj would also be good supplement skills. A warrior build, ( taken from the school of glargg ) can benefit from the Atro Birthsign. The decrease in magic damage taken, is priceless.

Dont worry about security all that much at the moment as hard locks become easier if you know the right places to go.

Once you reach level 10 visit Nocturnals shrine (head north east of leyawin). Until level 10 dont worry about chests too much and just try with a few lockpicks or an easy open spell.

Your build looks good. If you wanted to continue with your previous stuck in the painting you could always turn the difficulty slider down for that one boss fight. I always try not to but if you've tried 20+ times and you dont get anywhere near then its the only option!

Yeah I considered lowering the difficulty, but it just somehow seems like cheating to me. I'm far too proud for my own good! Besides, at least I know what to expect second time through. I didn't realise Security was fine as a minor. I'm planning on using Alchemy and Armourer, but I'll keep them as secondary too. Conjuration is quite tempting, but I don't want him to seem too much like a mage. What type of thing can he summon with it? Illusions might work too I guess, and I could RP him as a disgraced knight. I'd never considered using the Atronach sign for a warrior but it's a pretty good idea. I might use that or The Lady, as the Willpower and Endurance bonuses might be useful earlier on.

Thanks for the help guys!