Does Specialization matter at all when in the class creation?

The skill set you specialize in are easier to level and you get a small initial bump in their scores. It doesn't have a big impact on gameplay but it does do something.

Thanks.

Specialization is far and away the most underrated aspect of character building. It actually can be VERY important.

Aside from the immediate bonus to all related skills (which itself can be important, not only as just a head-start on the skills, but because the higher a skill's level is, the slower it increases), here's the way it works:

The base amount of experience necessary to get a skill increase is for a non-specialization minor.
If the skill is a specialization minor, you only need to get 75% of that experience.
If it's a non-specialization major, you only need to get 60% of that experience.
And if it's a specialization major, you only need to get 45% of that experience.

What that means is that for both majors and minors, making a skill a specialization skill reduces the amount of experience necessary to get an increase by 25%. That's actually a fairly substantial reduction.

And it means that the difference between the extremes-- between specialization majors and non-specialization minors, is enormous. You need less than half as much experience to get an increase in a specialization major than you do in a non-specialization minor.

There are a number of different ways to use specialization, depending on the build-- if it's most-used skills as majors or most-used skills as minors, whether it's a specialist character or a hybrid character, whether you want to level quickly or slowly. If I were to go into detail about all the different ways it can be used, I'd be here all night, so I'll just leave it at this for now.

Yes-- it matters.

@gpstr Where did you find all that?

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Increasing_Skills#Experience_Points_Needed

Yes, very true. That is why a person who plans to build a character to get +5 at level-up should put a lot of thought into it.

gpstr makes good points. I'd add one thing, though, which isn't really in the wiki info. Basically, the wiki has good info, but it is always pretty much categorized. Unfortunately, the game itself is not segregated like that.

In other words, the different skills have different xp requirements and thus develop at different rates. In addition, some skills are far, far easier to use/control than others. The magic schools are a great example. All of the magic schools are extremely easy to control, and thus are extremely easy to level. Not only that, but all the magic schools really do not require very many uses per level in order to get to the next level regardless of if they are minor, major, or specialized. Every magic school has spells you can cast on yourself, or you can create custom spells to do so, and thus they become very easy to develop no matter how you set up your character.

In contrast, combat skills are far more difficult to control. You have to have a target, for one thing; you cannot hit yourself (^_^). You can hit yourself with a spell, but not with a combat weapon (try shooting yourself with a bow, or slash yourself with a dagger... doesn't work.) Same with a skill like Armorer. You have to have a damaged weapon or armor to use it. Compared to the magic schools, this makes such skills much more difficult to develop even if they are specialized and even if you make them major. In addition, they require far more uses to level than the magic schools and, since their actual use is more difficult to achieve, this drags out the development even further.

Another skill for contrast (easier skill, that is) is Sneak. Easy to control, easy to develop, doesn't require much use to level even without major or specialization. Also, it's use can easily be done in safe situations with no danger to yourself.

Gpstr is right (as always). I like to level very slowly and design my characters so they cannot level beyond 20-23. Basically this means picking 4 major skills to never use (speechcraft, h2h, etc). My current char, for example has about 500 hours on her and is level 20. So. . . I use specialization for two things:

1. To affect the starting points of the 3 majors I am going to use - thereby influencing my top level.
2. To affect how quickly or slowly the 3 majors I am going to use will level up.

Thank you all. I always enjoy seeing what advice the veterans have. it is always a treat