Heya all,
New to Oblivion, and I have been trying to understand the leveling efficiency aspect. (The reason is making sure I have the best possible character is exactly my play style regardless of whether its a mage, warrior, or rogue. I have read the Wiki http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Efficient_Leveling , but to be honest, I still do not quite understand. I read this :http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Creating_an_Awesome_Character and that's pretty much exactly what I am looking for. I understand the beginning, and I understand the end goal, but I do not understand how to get from point A to B...even after reading the wiki.

My limited understanding so far is the basic premise that if I want to be a caster, say destruction (int) sneaking (agi), I just make sure I do not make those my main major skills?

If anyone can help me understand this I would be grateful!

The best guide on the subject is one I read years ago. It is a long one, but I found it well worth the investment in time:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/924363-the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion/faqs/42091

Acadian, thanks much for this info. I'm a Fallout 3 junkie :vaultboy: who started playing Oblivion in anticipation of TES V, and was wondering the same exact thing as the OP. I started out as a Breton Mage but dropped Alchemy in favor of Blade as I didnt want to become solely dependent on Magic. I've only gotten as far as to clean out the Ruins in Vilverin and wasnt sure what I needed to do to level up or how to begin leveling up into a powerful Mage (leaning toward summoning and ensuring I stay healthy enough to not be killed during every battle). I'll take the time to read this guide and if necessary, start again as I haven't gotten too much time invested. Again, thanks for pointing me in the right direction :foodndrink:

Yes, I cannot stress enough thank you!! Reading through it and I think I am finally getting it.

to make sure I understand, If I want a character that basically be sniping from stealth with a bow, and able to fight with blades, in light armor,

I might make something like this
Stealth
Agility, Speed
Sign Thief

Then take for Majors: Armorer, Blunt, illusion, hand 2 hand, heavy armor, destruction, and alternation

When leveling the 3 stats want maxed first might be speed, agility, and end. I just kill things until with my bow (agi), while running (speed) getting 10 skill ups in each...then when I am ready to level I get 10 skill ups in armorer and heavy armor? (end and both are majors) If I want at some point to change the skills I need to max out, I would use minor skills that have say int, and wis, then then use majors that have STR (10 skill ups each) to get those three +5 to stats?

I guess I should also ask is there a way to see how many skillups a certain skill has so I can monitor it?

Efficient leveling is long and boring but totally worth it in the long run. A couple of things to decide before you begin.

1. Use Minor Skills 1st then Majors
2. Decide if your going the +5+5+5 route or the +5+5+1 (If you go the 5+5+1 route you will need to take the Thief)


The only problems I see with your majors concerning Efficient Leveling is that you have 2 majors in Endurance (Armorer, Heavy Armor), 2 majors in Willpower (Alteration, Destruction) and 2 Majors in Strength (Hand To Hand, Blunt). Try to do one of each skill if you could although you could use that to your advantage later on if you major something like Endurance then you can get Three +5's and then just raise your major skill that has it's attribute already maxed out.

I'll give an example as to how I got my efficient character leveled up. I only leveled her up to 25 because I don't really feel like taking 5 minutes just to kill one enemy and I got tired of the grinding.

Breton Female
Birthsign (I believe it was the Mage)
Specialization Mage I forget what the +5 were I think it was Endurance and speed
Majors Alteration, Mysticism, Restoration, Conjuration, Illusion, Marksman (Filler), Speechcraft (Filler).

The 1st thing I did was that I needed to decide ok what should I max 1st and I decided on Strength, Endurance, and Speed. I got all 3 of those maxed at level 14 by basically raising those 3 minor skills of Light Armor, Blade Blunt and Hand To Hand, and Armorer, Block, and Heavy Armor. After that I decided on raising Intelligence, Willpower and Agility (although Agility won't make it all the way because of Marksman being a filler major). I got Intelligence maxed around 22-23 and then I decided on trying to raise Willpower but I got tired of all the grinding and stopped at Level 25. I'm quite happy with how she turned out and it only took about 32 hours of gameplay but I focused only on the efficient leveling part and didn't do anything else in the game.

My Attributes at Level 25
Strength 100
Intelligence 100
Willpower 79
Speed 100
Agility 63
Endurance 100
Personality Around 45
Luck 50

Here are a few more pointers for efficient leveling.

1. Use the minor skills 1st then the major skills or skill I can't stress this enough.
2. Decide what Attribute you want to get to 100 1st and then figure out what level that attribute will make it to 100, 10 LVs=50 Attribute points.
3. Robber's Glen Cave, The Eastern Imperial Sewers (From The North Exit to the South Exit), and Vindasel are good dungeons to go to for items, experience (Letting a bandit hit you will raise Light Armor or Heavy Armor which is very useful), and money which you will need. Robber's Glen Cave is a very easy dungeon with good items and Vindasel has a free boss chest just don't attack Umbra. The Imperial Sewers has 3 boss chests available although you will need to use Lockpicks to open the doors so just save before going through them and reload if you don't get the door unlocked and keep trying until you do. Once they are unlocked then you don't need to worry about unlocking them again.
4. Use the Trainers it will cost you gold but it will speed up the process.
5. Join all the guilds and sell as many of the items as possible. They won't miss them and you will need the money and some of the items like the Silver Longsword.
6. Major Specialized Skills will rise faster so keep that in mind when you select your race and custom class.
7. Do not depend on Acrobatics or Athletics because their rate of increase is random. Athletics can be helpful increasing speed but you probably will want to depend on Light Armor for the +5.

Oh god, efficient levling. One of the few things I hate about this game.

My strategy is to pick the major stats that best suit my strategy for my character, and then just play the game doing what I want, when I want. That means I don't get a lot of 5s when I level up, but so what? My character probably isn't as uber as she could be, but I like the challenge.

ok...

so I might want to lean towards this
Wild Elf male
Birthsign Thief
Spec Stealth
Agility, Speed


Then take for Majors:
Armorer, Marksmen (since I will be firing bow all the time), illusion, blunt, destruction, and alternation, mysticism

Then I run through dungeons, raising my mark sneak, security, etc...gaining the +5 to speed and agi, then Power level/grind the other major when I am ready to level? making sure whatever stat I want to to get the +5 in ...one of the corespediong skills skills up 10 times..correct?

While I can definitely appreciate that Hombre, I think efficient leveling is what I will enjoy most...I LOVE getting the maximum stats etc out of my characters...so this is really what I want to learn. I think I am on the right path, just need a little bit more guidance and feed back to make sure I understand the process so I don't waste a ton of time with trail and error...that's something I find not so fun

Telfear, I suppse that's part of what makes this game so great -- it can accomodate a lot of different play styles. Enjoy!

Basically, if you care about efficient leveling, you pick three attributes at the start of each level that you wish to raise by +5. You figure out how, via a combination of minor skill increases and major skill increases, you will get 10 or more points in skill increases associated with each one of those three attributes.

Focus on Endurance first, for sure. Unlike every other derived stat, your hit points are not retroactively increased by increases in their associated prime attribute (endurance). This means the sooner you get 100 Endurance the higher your net hit points will be throughout your leveling up process and at your character's eventual top level.

Every other stat can be raised when you see fit with no "penalty" to be paid, if you will. Though you always benefit from getting three +5's at level-up time, endurance is the one stat you darn well want to make sure (if you care about stats at all) to get +5's in right away, every time, until it hits 100.

I am currently leveling a rogue/assassin type character, like you. So, from the outset, I made raising endurance +5 each level my #1 stat-related priority. The way I did this was put heavy armor as a major (ironically, because I never wear it), leaving block and armorer (the other two skills associated with endurance) as minors. I get 5 points in block each level just blocking some weak creature (mudcrab, skeleton, whatever) and I get 5 points+ in armorer just repairing my armor and the armor of baddies that I kill. The 5 points in block takes a couple minutes, the points in armorer happen easily enough during the course of play.

Now, from the outset, the other two stats I made as next-highest-stat-priorities are strength (more damage when I do use a blade, plus more ability to carry loot) and agility (a natural for us rogue-types, and especially important for archery -- aka marksmanship). Here I made blade a major (since I know I will use it, and it levels relatively slow) and marksmanship a major (same reason). What I do is use a blunt weapon for 5 level ups or hand-to-hand for 5 level ups, at the start of the level. Right around or just after the block thing I mentioned first. That means I'm halfway to +5 strength just moments after I start a new level. I get the other 5 points afterwards, during the level up process, just using my blade.

For agility it's been the simplest of all, since sneak, security and marksmanship all impact agility -- and I use all three of those skills all the time.

Synopsis: have at least two minors per attribute that you want to make sure get +5's at level up time. Focus on them first, as you begin each level, to ensure you do. Once you get the hang of it, efficient leveling is incredibly simple, and need not be particularly time-consuming. In fact, I spend less than 30 minutes a level, if that, doing "efficient leveling" sorts of things. And I level slowly, on purpose, leaving the vast majority of my play time as just that: play time.

thanks all for the help! I think I got it! Made a few mistakes and but I over leveled speed on accident (easy to do it seems) so I dumped my points there...still got my 3 5's. Hopefully I can get this down pat. thanks again all!

You're very welcome!

I understand why some players, some of them quite smart and quite experienced with this game, will often say "Don't worry about efficient leveling." It's not like this is the most difficult game ever to play. And, in fact, for long-time vets they may prefer the slight spike in challenge from not being "perfect" and leveling efficiently. However, speaking for myself, and perhaps for some others, there is the RP-side of the game and there is game-side of the game. On the "game" side there is something very pleasant about getting perfect +5's at level up time. I don't know how else to put it. And once you figure out how to ensure that, in such a way that overall your play time is not dominated by thoughts of it, it becomes an added "shiny" in the overall appeal of the game.

One other thing worth mentioning (not sure if others mentioned it earlier): Training.

As your character levels up, even his minors will begin to reach levels that make additional skill increases more and more time-consuming. One way to mitigate this is via Training. Training means visiting with a npc that has the cool little training symbol among his/her other chat symbols (you know, like influence, barter, cancel, etc.) when chatting with them. The trainers in the world can each train you in something. For example, Rohssan of "A Fighting Chance" in the Imperial City can train you in Armorer. If you pay her 10x your current level in armorer your skill level in armorer will increase by one. You can, in total, train up to 5 points per level. So, during level 1 for example, your character (if he has the money) can visit Rohssan and train 5 points in armorer. Or, he could visit Varnado and train 5 points in heavy armor. OR, he could visit Rohssan to train 3 points in armor and then visit Varnado to train 2 points in heavy armor, etc. Once your character reaches level 2 he'll have 5 new points' worth of training he can choose to train with if, if so desired. Etc.

Training can be a valuable and time-saving way to fill out your minors (or even your majors).

Dont worry about it, just use Alchemy.