It's probably a bit of a noob question but I can not find answers. I like to play Oblivion with the difficulty set a notch higher than normal. Not the maximum, but difficult none the less. All went well. Sometimes I had some issues with high level monsters, but I was able to progress the story. But all of a sudden, I can't kill goblins anymore, let alone fire atronarches, trolls and ogres. Is it true that when you continue to level up, your enemies get more and more difficult to beat? I don't want to set the difficulty down...

MeanRat

Some creatures in Oblivion are scaled, and some are not. Rats, Wolves, Slaughterfish, Mountain Lions, Trolls, Bears, Boars, Clannfear, Zombies, Wraiths, Spriggans and Will-o-the-Wisps (to cite just a few) are never scaled in Oblivion. These creatures are always static (i.e. they remain at a fixed level no matter what level the player is).

Of the four creatures you mention in your post two creatures (Troll and Flame Atronach ) are never scaled. Flame Atronachs are always level 7, Trolls always level 6. Ogres do scale, however. And in the case of Goblins, it depends very much which Goblin you're talking about. Anything you see labeled "Goblin" in your game does not scale - it will always be a level 1 creature. Also, Goblin Skirmisher (level 4), Goblin Netherboss (level 4), Goblin Berserker (level 8) and Goblin Ambusher (level 14) never scale. Goblin Shamans and Goblin Warlords do scale. If you're having trouble with Goblins my guess is that it may be a Shaman or Warlord.

Many players dislike this aspect of Oblivion. Without knowing the specifics of your character or how you are playing, it's difficult to give you advice about what you could do differently to make your game easier.

Thanks for your detailed answer. I checked the Wiki of Oblivion so I also checked what goblin I specifically encountered and it was just a normal one. Also, I do have more trouble with Trolls and you say they never scale. So your answer gives me only more questionmarks...how come it now is so difficult to play? I've been thinking and came up with several possibilities:

- It's true I now wear heavy armor, while in the past I used to have elven armor which is light. Maybe every blow of a goblin (and any other creature) now damages me so much I just don't have a chance at all to fight back. But I doubt it will make that much difference. Does it also affect your ability to deliver more damage to your enemy when you strike your weapon, wearing heavy armor when this is not your speciality?

- There's some keycombination which raises and/or reduces the difficulty level and I seemed to have raised it without knowing it

Still weird, because I could handle goblins when I still was level 1 or 2. Now with a high level sword WITH firedamage it takes so many blows to lay down just one goblin, let alone two. I really do not understand why my blows do not cause that many damage as they did earlier.

MeanRat

Trolls are a special case, I think, since they regenerate health. This can make them formidable opponents even if they're lower level than your character. The strategy with Trolls is to kill them before they regenerate that health!

It sounds like the switch from Light armor to Heavy armor might be your problem. As far as armor rating is concerned, you are starting all over again. But the good news is that it's only temporary. Level up your Heavy armor skill and you'll most likely be in good shape again.

This may sound like a stupid question, but have you repaired your weapon lately? If you haven't, it will degrade over time and do less damage.

I know Trolls regenerate health, but in a mission I cleared a whole cave of Trolls. It was difficult yes, but I did it. Now I can't even kill one Troll. Maybe it is because of the Trolls in that mission were weaker because they were...mission trolls? So to speak...

So if it's my heavy armor, how come I can not do siginificant damage to my opponent, like a level 1 goblin?
I repaired my sword, yes.

Alright, this is just a shot in the dark. Have you also switched weapons recently, like you did with armor? If you recently picked up a weapon for which you have a low skill, you are going to do less damage.

I'm more or less an experienced player. What I learned playing Elder Scrolls games is that weapons are categorized in types: blade, blunt, marksman. Maybe there's one I can not think of right now, but I am using a sword, and always used a sword. I'm over level 50 in blade-skill. So swords are best for me and the one I am using is also the best according to the numbers under the weapon-icon when you view the sword in your inventory list. The only thing I can be wrong with is that there's a difference between one- and two-handed swords, other than that with one-handed swords you can hold a shield for extra protection.

What I will try to do this evening (if I have time) is trying to find some elven armor somewhere and see if the goblins are still that difficult to beat.

Btw, the goblins are jumping at me at the moment...never saw that before. Still it says I'm fighting a goblin, and a goblin only.

I think I know what quest you're talking about with the trolls. The trolls for that quest are scaled to your level. There are a few other quests that do that.

Post ur level and stats maybe that'll help, maybe u do need to lower the difficulty even if u jus put it back to default and see how u get on, armor as far as I'm aware will not affect ur damage output but wearing heavy armor will make u move slower, maybe ur getting hit more than u used to?

Also, check to be sure that you haven't got damaged Strength and/or Endurance.

I'm betting that part of the problem is that the enemies you're meeting now are able to Regenerate (Trolls) or Reflect Damage (Atronachs.)

Are you using an enchanted sword? Fire Damage is good against Trolls, but useless against Flame Atronachs, which are weak to Frost.

OK, thanks for all your information. Hadn't got the time to play. Busy working life nowadays. But the information is usefull. At least it got the Troll problem solved. Now the goblins... I am at this mine called Exhausted Mine (pinpointed at mine nr 11 on this map: http://s2.n4g.com/media/11/newssi/15000/18861_0_org.jpg) and the goblins there are unbeatable. Can't figure out why, because when I encounter them, the display says they are 'goblins', nothing more. Is the level of the goblins hidden or displayed somewhere else?

Alltogether, trolls goblins, it seemed to me I couldn't fight good enough anymore. But maybe it's just some sort of coincidence in combination with me not understanding it all. THanks guys.

MeanRat

Oblivion doesn't display enemy stats the way that, say, an online game does. That information is found in the Construction Set. Without mods it is invisible to the player. (Which leads me to ask a question I was going to ask in one of my previous posts but forgot: are you on PC and, if so, are you using mods?)

I looked Exhausted Cave up in the Construction Set. All three Exhausted Mine cells draw from the same leveled lists. These lists are set up like this:

Level 1: Goblin
Level 6: Goblin Skirmisher
Level 10: Goblin Berzerker
Level 15: Goblin Shaman
Level 20: Goblin Warlord

Oblivion's leveled lists (and lists within lists and lists within those lists) are almost an arcane science that even modders who work with leveled lists on a daily basis have trouble understanding. But, as far as I can tell, a regular Goblin will continue to show up past level 6, only less frequently. You will mostly encounter Goblin from around your level.

Anyway, while I was in the Construction Set I thought you might be interested in seeing exactly what the Goblin stats are. So I took a screenshot: http://morrowind4kids.com/pseronwyrd/Screenshots/GoblinStats.jpg