Hey Everyone!

About a year ago is when I actually sat down and played an RPG. Before this time I never gave any of them a chance since I was to wrapped up in the FPS catagory. Well, after playing fallout I became very fond of this type of gameplay since its not "stressful" like FPS games. It seems I can just kinda sit back and just enjoy the game versus feeling like I need a hit of caffine before entering the arena with friends screaming FFFFFUUUU online all evening.


ANYWAYS... So after playing the Fallout series naturally I have been desperately looking for more. Well, there isnt as of right now. So, I decided to try and give Elder scrolls a try. I own Morrow wind, Oblivion, and I just picked up a copy of Skyrim brand new locally at a thrift store of all places for 5 bucks! SCORE! So, I have commited myself to playing these. I tried morrow wind and its just not clicking with me so I think I will put that one aside for now. I want to start with Oblivion.


Coming from the FPS side Im not too interested in learning about potions and all this crazy magical stuff. It just seems like a really complex world to get into and I dont think I have the motivation to learn it. I do however have the motivation to want to play this game. It looks like a completely beautiful world to explore with so many things to do.

For someone like me who is not into magic so much, what would be a good character "type" that I would want to create? I am assuming I should lean towards the swords/arrows/warrior side but I want to make sure I do this first step right so I dont get halfway through the game and really hate these initial choices I make since they aparently really impact how its played.

Please share some opinions with me. I would appreciate it! thank you!

Welcome to the world that is The Elder Scrolls

Too bad you didn′t click with Morrowind, but I′m glad you want to venture into Cyrodiil! You don′t have to tinker with magic or alchemy at all if you don′t want to. For me Oblivion is mainly about exploration anyway and just enjoying the scenery and the interaction with all the NPCs.

You can create a classic warrior type, but since this game is so free you don′t have to make a Conan type either. You can create a merchant for instance and have him travel all across the land, trading whatever you want. You can pick ingredients out in the wild just to sell it to alchemy vendors, or raid caverns for stuff to sell and it′s more fun if you choose one thing to trade with and ignore all other loot.
Of course you can also make a regular adventurer who is not a warrior and who′d rather scamper away than fight. You can also decide if your character should ignore the Main Quest, or if he′s a staunch supporter of the Empire and would do anything to help out.

As the manual says, the possibilities are quite endless, and only your imagination stops you.

Good luck!

All characters, regardless of what you choose, will have a Heal Minor Wounds spell. Unless you are on PC, and could probably remove it.
With that being said, you can choose to ignore it, and focus strictly on using potions, or include it. It's very organic, in that it is a mainly defensive school of magic, and if you want to go a little further in magic, but not all destruction "magic fireballs of hell", you can turn restoration into an offensive weapon as well.
Endurance will be key in your approach.
Choose one weapon, Blade or Blunt. Do not choose both. I usually choose Blade, for my precious claymores.
There are so many ways to protect yourself in this game:

1) My best redguard female barbarian wore a mixture of light and heavy armor, she still ranks as the best melee combat character I've ever created. She did not use magic. She wielded a claymore and axe. (<--- I knew what I was doing when I set that up)

2) On the other hand, I created a mage a couple of years ago who had better armor rating on his street clothes, than most warriors did in uber armor.

I'm echoing Mirocu, in that you can do all kinds of things here. Referencing the above, my characters become too powerful after a while. So the first thing I did was make four majors out of seven, be the ones that I would use, and the other three were never touched. This forced my character to cap level at 30, where you get the best gear in the game.... But I was still crazy powerful, just playing normal. So I've started a new system that a member here introduced me to, which is only three majors that are used, and the other four never, to make me fear for my life at all times. It caps my character around level And I do.

Do the MQ or do not, the choice is yours. My characters these days tend to live in the world, rather than play it.

Simple way to create a workable "fighter" character:

Choose a Nord, Orc, Redguard, Imperial, or Dark Elf.

Build a custom class. Specialize in Combat. Pick one ranged skill (Marksman or Destruction), one melee skill (Blade or Blunt), one Armor skill (Light or Heavy), Armorer (to repair your stuff), and three other skills you don't plan to use very much (Speechcraft, Security, and Restoration would be good choices.)

You can choose any Birth sign that appeals to you (although Atronach will make you much stronger against Magic.)

Use a shield, which will train up Block, and Sneak whenever you're in a dungeon.

This should result in a slow leveling character (this is good in this game) who develops Strength and Endurance.

That spell can't be safely removed on PC. It's the "placeholder spell" if no other spell has been selected (as when you have used a scroll, which disappears on use.)

Playing a warrior is probably the simplest way to start, And is very good for lower levels in particular.

The race really doesn't matter much, but the typical warrior races are Orc, Nord and Redguard. Orc and Nords because of their health and Redguard for skill. Imperials and Dark Elves are good "all round" races.

As great as this game is the leveling system is a bit "weird". Meaning that if you increase levels too fast you can actually get weaker due to poor attribute bonuses. So it pays to put some slow leveling and/or seldom used skills as majors.

For a warrior I recommend block as a major because it is slow levels. Also armorer, particularly since you'd probably want to get to Journeyman level soon so that you can repair enchanted equipment (armor, weapons). I also recommend Marksmanship, that levels very slowly and a ranged attack is very useful sometimes, and without magic a bow is the only ranged option.

Although you may want to be a warrior, sneak/stealth is very helpful too. Though I would recommend sneak as minor, you can level it up if you sneak around a lot. I think stealth is very well implemented in the game. And sneak in combination with a bow can be a lot of fun.

For the birthsign, the warrior is the obvious choice. Lady and Thief are also very good.

Two bits of advice. First I recommend saving often and keeping a lot of saves around. Because sometimes you might run into a bug or a quest problem and might need it. The game is very stable now, but there are some problems that you might occasionally run into. Or you might take some action that you regret and then want to backtrack to an earlier save.

Also, I recommend deferring the Main Questline, at least for a while. You will get better rewards that way, but I think more importantly from a roleplay perspective it makes more sense to do the Main Questline with an experienced character. In the game all the NPCs seem to make the Main Quest sound urgent, but it isn't. I don't deliver the amulet (the first Main Questline quest after the tutorial) until much later in the game or never. I recommend exploring, doing some side quests, and definitely some guild questlines first.

I can be removed now. Someone (I forget who now) figured out a way to remove it awhile back.

Nah, you don′t have to go, do you?

But what is the "placeholder spell" if Heal Minor Wounds is removed? Something must be there to fill up the space, right?

I'm saddened to think you are going to miss some of the most fascinating aspects of the game. Alchemy can become an art.

I play dead-is-dead and my current character has never worn armor of any kind nor carried a shield thanks to her Alchemy skill. She protects herself with magical shields from potions and spells, powers her magicka with potions, and restores her health with potions. With over 300 hours of game play, she has waded through armies of Daedra and been last one standing. She used only her spells, her dagger, her poisons, and her potions. She can turn enemies into champions who will fight for her, She can calm the wild beast or command them to follow her. She can dissapear and simply slip away. She is awesome and easily the most fun I have ever had in an RPG.

ok, Im not completely adverse to use of spells and magic. Perhaps a better way to say it is I do not want it as my main form of fighting/protection. I know this is not fallout and with that I do not hold any expectations in that manner for elderscrolls series. I think Playing oblivion will teach me how to really play RPG's more specifically the elderscrolls series. I just need to figure out and understand the mechanics of leveling up and HOW to level up so I dont have hug gaps like in the past. For example, I will over9000 with sword and shield, but my ability is repair these items or create them is non exsistant due to me not figuring out you could do that. So, naturally im halfway through the game and try to just press on and catch up those skills.

Here is my issue to be frank. I played fallout, beat it and then learned about all the cool things I COULD have made, done, etc. I felt I cheated myself and missed out on some cool stuff. So, I played it again except the next time around I did all the stuff I noticed I missed. OK, so I beat it for a second time (LOL) only to have a friend call me an idiot for not doing this, this, and that. This, this, and That being pretty major story altering things.

I do 100% believe this is a completely open ended game. Problem is there is a learning curve present in my opinion that you must understand in order to really utilize your surroundings. I have started oblivion a couple times in the past couple years and have learned one thing. this one thing is as soon as you leave the initial dungeon i get over whelmed with "what should I be doing to help my character the most?" question. Oblivion I was told has no time sensitive issues in completing things unlike morrowind. Then again, I am just going on what I have been told. I believe once I get the hang of everything Morrowind will definitely click with me.


About this Conversation wheel. Am I the only one that is kinda annoyed by it? And is it important that I learn to master it?

Also, I want to Thank you to everyone for replying this far. I really appreciate it!!!!

Well, if you want to do all the cool stuff and not miss out on anything, then I guess I can′t really be too helpful. I′ve always only played Oblivion just because I enjoy it, getting the most powerful weapons and accomplish the "important" stuff is not for me.

About the conversation wheel, you don′t have to master it but it helps if you want a specific person to like you.

Conversation wheel: If you are adept at illusion, you can use a charm spell, that guarantees you will never need to use it. Otherwise, it was a little clunky at first for me, but after some time, it's as easy as pie.
Oblivion is designed for multiple plays. You won't be able to accomplish everything on one character, though I have certainly tried it my early Oblivion days. Plus, there is great fun in making characters be like no other. In short, there are so many varieties....
I understand that feeling you are describing, when I first got out of the sewers (promptly killed by a mudcrab, yeah, I'm THAT guy) I had no idea what to do or where to go. But there was a city just up the trail, I knew I would be safe there, so I ran up there away from the wolves who were congregating around me, and hung out there, talking to ppl, getting quests, exploring the town. And then it sorta took off from there. As I moved up in level, I grew more confident, especially with better gear than a rusty shortsword, and ventured out to find my fame and fortune.
Just take a step in one direction, willfully, and you will be rewarded. Don't forget to talk to ppl. There are tons of quests just from talking to ppl.

Hey, don′t feel ashamed. I knew there had to be a reason why all of Cyrodiil constantly talk about mudcrabs. They actually are dangerous!

Right...?

Sigh. Right. On that same playthrough, you can imagine my reaction when I met up with the Mother Of All Mudcrabs. I left. lol.

I know that you can edit it in the CS so it will have a different effect. Is there some way of removing it completely? I would love to be able to create a character who had no magic knowledge at all.

Well, since I wrote that post I've been trying to remember more about it. What I can recall is: I wrote a post in the Oblivion Mods forum a couple of years ago saying that the Heal spell could not be removed. Someone posted later saying no, it could be removed, that characters really did not have to start with a spell, and that what I had written was a common misconception. But for the life of me I can't remember who wrote that, or what mod they were working on, or if that feature has ever appeared in a mod, or if they knew what they were talking about. So I'm just going to withdraw what I said earlier, since, try as I might, I can't remember enough to back it up with facts.





I proofread my posts and still I make mistakes. *sigh* But to answer your question, I don't have to go but there are people who would like it if I did.

Same thing happened to me, got killed by a mudcrab in minutes of leaving the sewers, as I recall. I also remember losing a heated battle with a stunted scamp. I avoid the city, I figured my character was an escape prisoner and if I went there I'd be arrested again!

I thought the same thing too! But I decided I'd rather get arrested again than get eaten by a wolf.

Well I′m not one of them. In any case everyone is welcome as long as they behave and I know you do, so stick around will you

I’ve only played about 180 hours, so perhaps my advice would be a fresh viewpoint for you.
I took Blade, Light Armor, Conjuration, Mysticism, Illusion, Alteration and Destruction as majors. You need to master, i.e. max out, a magicka skill before you can make really powerful spells or enchant items with those spell effects. That’s why I took as many magicka skills as I could. However, the first thing that I did was max out my Alchemy skill, which was a minor. This gives you a source of income and potions will save you in combat. My character did not do any leveling up, I just made potions until my Alchemy skill was 100. You can find dozens of free ingredients right in the Imperial City.
Now buy an iron shield and some armorer’s hammers. Then, go to the beach for the day! Seriously, a mudcrab will attack you repeatedly allowing you to improve, Block, Heavy Armor, and Armorer (repairing your shield). All of these skills improve your endurance. Once you have improved these skills for a total of 10 levels, you can concentrate on improving one Major skill and level up. Continue this routine and you will quickly max endurance and then get the most health points per level up for the rest of the game. You should use potions or Restoration spells to keep the mudcrab from killing you.
Some good minor skills to master after Alchemy are Armorer and Sneak. Mastering Armorer skill allows you to improve your weapons and armor to 125% of the normal stats for them. Mastering Sneak allows you to do six times as much damage with an attack while you are undetected.
Some perks are available at certain levels. The first major skill I maxed was Conjuration, so that I could summon powerful creatures to fight for me and bound weapons and armor to fight with. With a fifty in Mysticism, I was then able to trap the souls of these creatures myself and enchant my normal armor and sword, so that was my next goal.
My character is level 52. I wouldn't worry about leveling too quickly. I never had a problem with each combat being an epic fight against a tough opponent. I like that I don’t “one-hit-kill” anything. I also play “dead is dead”, so I really take the combat seriously, I’m not just dying and reloading.
Good Luck!