After playing this game for a month, and still not finished it because of still searching for solid character build, and after reading FAQs, hints, walkthroughs, and after try and error so much, i have come to this conclusion...that is...to create a perfect build is by contradicting what you want to build.

For example, you want a battlemage, do not make your major skills are magic based, instead make it fully combat skills, in contra, training your magic skills using cheap spell you can buy starting at novice level. Magic is easy to level, you can jump from novice to apprentice in few minutes. Play as a mage until you get the attribute and skill level you want.

Other example, you want a "Jedi Master" like character, that is a warrior with some magic skills with no armor, do not put any combat skills as your major, instead put in all magic skills as major and start training combat skill as minor. Wear heavy armor, repair, block attacks, play as a warrior until you get attributes and skill level you want.

In this way you don't level up so quickly and suddenly, and you manage to collect all +5 attributes you need and skill level you want.

In all races, Breton is the best all rounder. have free 50% magic resistance and 50% physical resistance (Dragon Skin).

There is no other way.

There are actually several different ways.

Your way, the "Majors as Minors" method, works to build a very strong character, but leveling is very slow (or not at all.) I had a character who was built that way, who finished the Main Quest at level 2, and had done the Arena, Mages Guild, Fighters Guild, SI, and KOTN before hitting level 4.

One popular way is to set three or four Majors that you will really use, and the rest of the Majors are skills that you will never use. A character built this way will typically "cap" at around level 20, which is when most of the better enemies and loot have appeared. You can still get reasonably good level-up multipliers, so your character remains strong.

Or, if you're on PC, you install a leveling mod that fixes the problem, and just build characters the way you want them.

I am not happy so far...

The leveling system is so bad, i can't make the character i want. Even the standard class are so bad too.I don't know how to enjoy this game anymore

You could try to play the game normally...

You're not alone in being frustrated by it. It's the single biggest complaint about the game.

Some people might disagree, but I think it's working as it was intended to. Oblivion is designed to get harder as you level up. This was a response to complaints about Morrowind being too easy at high level.

One simple solution is to move the "difficulty slider" to the left. That slider only adjusts relative damage, so it's useful for balancing combat without changing anything else in the game. I find that for some kinds of characters, the game seems more "realistic" with the slider set at around 35-40% rather than the default 50%, especially at higher levels.

The second solution involves learning to use the tools that the game provides. Alchemy is very powerful. You can do almost anything with Alchemy that you can do with all the other magic types, and poisons are very effective when you get Alchemy to high level. Also, you have to keep updating your spells and your equipment as you level up. You can't keep trying to heal yourself with that novice spell, for instance.

By the time you get to level 6 or 7, you should be ready to face enemies who can reflect damage back on you, and who can heal themselves. It gets worse as you go up from there. Some of them are immune to certain types of magic, or to poison, so you have to know who you're fighting, and what to use against them. As you get into the teens, enemies will have a lot more ways of attacking, and they will start reflecting spells back at you.

The best plan I've found is to focus on one good ranged attack (like Marksman or Destruction), one good up-close attack (like Blade or Absorb Health), and one good defense (one armor type, if worn, or Alteration for shield spells.) Other skills like Block and Acrobatics make good majors, because they advance slowly. Then intentionally train two or three Minor Skills that are useful to the character: Sneak, Security, and Armorer are good.

If you do that, you should be getting +3s or +4s as multipliers, so you should be keeping up with enemy advancement, as long as you keep your spells and equipment up to date.

Spells are expansive... and it have fixed effect. Heal Major Wound heal 25 with the cost of 55 magicka, so imbalanced.

You dont have to worry about levelling too fast in this game because levelling isnt automatic. You could get all your majors to 100 and still be level 1.


Spells get cheaper as you increase your skill in a given school. At 100 Restoration, Heal Major Wounds costs 12 magicka.

Here's the deal: At least in my opinion.

Efficient leveling is for people who want uber. And we all sometimes want that. So I understand. However, by the time you get to a higher level, unless you have massive amounts of willpower, you will be very good at a lot of things in the game. (You need massive amounts of willpower to restrict yourself to NOT becoming a jack of all trades.)
Getting a +1 as opposed to a +5 in Endurance is not a game killer. Facing tough enemies is a part of the draw for me. I want the feeling of the chance of dying from an encounter.

The game gives you everything you need to succeed. It's how you use those resources that counts. If something is kicking your butt, perhaps it's time to change your tactics. Maybe you weren't fully prepared. Run away and come back when you are.

I have a flame shield. Just saying.

Yes, as Jango says, they have fixed effect but the cost is not fixed. And you can make your own.

But Alchemy is the thing I believe you're overlooking. As you improve the Alchemy skill (and get better equipment), your potions get stronger and stronger. They can do almost anything that can be done with spells, they can have multiple effects, and you can have up to four potions active at once. The effects usually stack, too.

A high level Restore Health potion can restore over 500 points of health, for example. It's far more practical to use potions than magicka when in battle.

My necromancer character, who has the Atronach birthsign, needs to use Restore Magicka potions constantly. She brews a potion that is a combination of Restore Magicka and Shield, and drinks one or two just before going into battle.

Lols, i already calculating every possibilities in this game regarding character building, the one i am happy is no magic at all character, that is the one and only i made but she can't survive the Will-o-Wisp (or whatever it is) just because she don't have magic and don't have enchanted and/or silver weapon.

That make me rage, the game force me to use magic and enchanted weapons, i don't want.

If you guys read my comments on other posts, i dislike Enchanting and Soul trap in this game, i sold enchanted weapons, i just use Sigil Stone permanent effect enchanted items, it is because i don't like the idea of soul trapping. To recharge enchanted weapon can simply sent it to recharger in Mage Guild, but how they recharge it all? They kill people and take their soul?

So, i try role-play 100% warrior, but the game force me being half warrior half mage.

(a normal warrior sure svck in chemistry... )

I believe that silver weapons are effective against will-o-the-wisps. I had a warrior who would not use spells or enchantments, and that’s what he used. The wisp still killed him, though.

Yea, Jericho's silver sword is a boring old silver sword, We can easily kill wisp just by going the old boring Sword and Board, you don't have to use enchantments if you don't want to, just stock up on potions

Too bad there is no Potion of Healing recipe, and this potion is too expansive to buy. to find it randomly is also hard. To make potions is not a warrior job, that is alchemist job.

The reason i don't want to use magic is because the mechanic is bad. we can hot key spells from 1 to 8 but cast once and once using "C" key, It is hard, why not just press the hotkey 1 to 8 and those spells cast without using "C" key? Or hotkey it with whatever key we want?

i have to look at the key board at the same time looking at the monitor, 1 to 8 key is so long in the row. And there are a lot of spells to choose messing up my brain.

So the simple way is playing warrior, hack and slash, but the game forcing to use magic when it come to certain part in the game.

You can always remap key control. Personally, I use 'Q' for spell cast. The hotkey setting for my battlemage character is '123' for main destruction/conjuration spell, '45' for restoration/invisibility/dispel, '678' for secondary illusion/conjuration/alteration/absorb.

You absolutely do not need magic to play this game.

Cairn Bolete Cap + Lady's Mantle = Restore Health
Cairn Bolete Cap + Venison = Restore Health. You can make these at level one.
Flax + Steel Blue Entoloma = Restore Magicka

This is just a basic example. Alchemy and Illusion are by far the most powerful schools in the game. Over all others. Overpowered I would say. Here is the uesp for http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Useful_Potions.

Niza, every complaint you have possesses a degree of validity - and solutions. There are many here who have played this wonderful game for thousands of hours and can make it perform like a symphony – and they are offering you bits of advice. Rather than ignoring this counsel and continuing to focus on the negative, I gently urge you to open your mind to what you are being told and focus on the large number of solutions (with or without mods). Playing successfully with or without magic is extremely viable in this game – if you take the time to learn what is admittedly a complex fantasy world and make it sing at its best. Otherwise, you perhaps ought to consider another game.

Alright, i will make a new character, an Imperial soldier, with no magic except what already she have at the beginning, learn chemistry and making potions, and following you guys advice. Thanks

It is? When I played the vanilla game.... everything leveled with you, so at no time were you in any danger of running in to something you couldn't handle. I saw zero point in leveling at all, except for the better stuff.

So you haven't noticed that the monsters get stronger, and have a greater variety of attacks and defenses, as your character's level rises? And that the enemy NPCs also have better equipment? Maybe I'm playing a different game than you are.

lols, not only the enemies become stronger, they grow in numbers...

I remember play Kavatch at level 1, there just some scamps, but in other play through at level 5 there are Clanfear runts, lot of scamps, Daedra mages and some fire Astronachs....

it is insanity

What worse is our allies don't level up...oh Salvian Matius....he always run to the enemy then get unconscious, the others just dead in few seconds

I do but the game doesn't play normally.

What I noticed was, as I got stronger/got better gear, so did everything else. There wasn't a single place that I had to think about going in to, wondering if I was 'up to the task'..... it was never a question.

So now i create a new character, based on my previous character with different play through (i don't want to get into main quest so early)

race : imperial
birth sign : warrior
specialty : combat
class : custom knight
major skill : acrobatic, athletic, armorer, blade, block, heavy armor and marksman
magic : restoration and destruction (already have)

is this a good build?

Having three majors be from one attribute, in your example: Heavy Armor, Armorer and Block for the attribute of Endurance, might be an issue in later levels.

If you plan to use a shield, I would drop Block as a major, because that will level up quickly on its own anyway, with constant shield use.
If you plan to not use a shield, or have it give you passive armor (equipped, but not in your hand, will still give you shield bonuses, including any magical bonuses), as in using a claymore, then I would keep Block as a major, as you will received experience for blocking with your weapon, though not at the rate that you would if you used a shield.

If you want to dabble in magic in the future of your character in an offensive way, I would put Destruction as a Major.
If you want to dabble in magic in the future of your character in a defensive way, I would put Restoration as a Major. Either way, Restoration is very good as a major, as it levels so slowly.

Heavy armor sounds like you want to be a tank-like attacker. (My current character is too, though he wears a variety of armor purely for looks.) Then Restoration is a sure pick for a major... I'd even dump Heavy Armor and throw another magic skill in there, if you will actually be wearing heavy armor, it will level up very fast if you wade into battle.
My two septims.

Thanks, i like to use two handed weapon (blade) because it looks so stylish, and deal more damage, i am into offensive, a good defense is a good offense, that is my motto

i don't block much so far before, blocking is just in few combat at early level, then i find out later that block is just not as good because there will be too many enemies and they are fast. Blocking reduce mobility, i rather chase the enemy down and changing targets than be a sitting duck.

I don't know about restoration, i use it often before as major, make my character level up so fast. After any combat, when health is reduced i just spam restoration to its full health. i also retreat while spamming restoration in combat to save some potions (or have no potion anymore)

About heavy armor, i want her to wear heavy armor, but i have check it out, heavy armor in high level are so ugly, Dwarven and Daedric heavy armors are sooooooo ugly! Light armors other than city guards armors are ugly too. Glass armor look like Japanese Kamen Rider or something. So i don't know...heavy armors make to achieve +5 Endurance attribute easier, and light armor give +5 to Speed easier, but i don't want to make her look like Robocop or Power Ranger

Magic is not user friendly in Oblivion, it is like a mess...really...1 to 8 keys to choose and need another key to cast, time consuming. and the symbols are the pain in the eyes. I just want to cast different spells just like that, so i don't spam other than healing spells