So, I tried playing Oblivion a couple of months back but didn't get very far as I kept restarting, being unhappy with my new class, and restarting again. Currently on level 7, with the difficulty dialed down a wee bit (I think the default is in the middle, so 50%, I'm around 30-40%, I think) and have gotten more into it this time, but I'm wondering if it matters how I'm levelling? I'm playing with Assassin as my class, and have been doing a bit of TG, bit of DB, bit of MQ and a bit of MG, plus the odd side quest. I don't really understand the levelling system, and I'm not sure I have the brain energy to try (I have ADD and am also physically disabled and my head is constantly full of fog these days, basically). Will I suddenly hit a brick wall at some point?

When it's time to level up I am generally finding about 5 or 6 attributes have +2 or +3, and I'm selecting ones that seem to have some relation to the skills I want to use, but I've no idea if this is the "right" way, or if it will result in me suddenly being unable to progress at some point. I'm not really fussed about being the Most Efficient Oblivion Player Of All Time, or anything, I just don't want to find myself stuck.

One thing to remember when leveling up a sneaky character is to make sure that your weapon skills are getting leveled up, also.

It's very easy to level up without fighting when you're playing a thief or assassin, and that can cause problems later in the game.

You can "game" the leveling system so you're getting +5 and +4 every time you level, but you should be fine with +2 or +3 as long as you're leveling a weapon skill in addition to your other skills.

There is as many right and wrong ways to play/level as there is people playing. Most of my characters only get 2s and 3s on level up because they do so many things, it kind of spreads out their talents. Like what was said above not keeping up a way to attack or defend yourself can sometimes make things a little difficult down the road, or the way I like to think of it as more challenging.

An example; I had a non magic archer once that never used her blade much and at level 9 or 10 (not sure) when caught by surprise inside of bow range (to busy being staggered to shoot) her blade was almost useless. Her remedy was to go crab hunting around the Imperial city to gather food and to help the guards thin down those nasty little crabs. That way it fit into her role and brought up her blade skills, and later magic skills,(she decided that a little restoration magic couldn't hurt) she was already way up in skill level with her bow. Then she discovered alchemy, and the poisons she made leveled the field for her(at which time she also went back to not using her magic, the potions were better).

Some people here have characters that wouldn't dirty their hands with a weapon, and others have characters that think magic is a sin. So your ok with 2s and 3s, and leveling up what you think you need or want. If you start having problems later adjust, everything can be fixed with a little thought and planing.

Have fun and if you get into something your not sure what to do about there are some very experienced veterans here that can offer suggestions.

+2 and +3 is average for most of my characters. I don't pay much attention to Attribute boni. I end up picking +1's about half the time.

As long as you can sort out how to take advantage of the tools the game provides (or are simply comfortable with dialing the difficulty down as necessary, as it appears you are), it's not very important at all to level "correctly." It's a thing that a lot of people put great emphasis on, but it's not really critical.

As long as you're getting +2s and +3s, you're doing fine anyway. That's about the average as it is, so you're at least keeping pace with the world. And if things get difficult, look into enchantments and alchemy - those are the easiest ways to give your character a boost, whether it's to damage output or armor protection or whatever. And if all else fails, just dial the difficulty down a bit and go on.

The fun's in the journey.

I find the game more enjoyable if I DO pay attention to the leveling mechanics.

I never use the built-in classes, I always build custom.

I don't strive for some flawless build, but I try to ensure that I can get +5 bonuses in those attributes that are important to the character build.. For example, Strength and Endurance for melee fighters, or Intelligence and Willpower for mages.

If you are enjoying your playstyle then you certainly don't need to change it, but if you are having trouble then you might want to consider doing some character planning. I'm not going to go into all of the details now, but if you would like some suggestions I can provide you with some.

Thanks, everyone, lots of helpful answers! At the moment, I'm enjoying how I'm playing (though I'm wondering if I'm not spreading myself too thin, quest line wise, but I'm not planning to do the whole MG thing, I just want to get the recommendations and join the university) so I'll probably keep going, I'm keeping pace reasonably well with my combat skills, would like to up my blade a bit more, though. I guess Arena fights might be good for that, as well as traditional mud crab hunting?

Erlendur, I'm probably going to try to specialise more on a narrower skill set on my next character (which I'm guessing is more likely to be conducive to getting 5s?), so if you don't mind giving a few tips, that would be awesome, as I can bookmark this for future reference.

Honestly I never bother to use 'efficient levelling'. I don't care about stat-maxing just for its own sake, and a difference of 10 points here or there is barely even noticeable in practical terms. Key skills take care of themselves through usage, and as long as my key stats are raising by two or three each level, I'm content.

Yes, a few rare times I've ended up at a point where my attack and defence skills are a lot lower than skills that aren't used in active combat, which made fights longer and tougher. And yes, at first it worried me. But as I stuck with those characters I noticed that it didn't matter in the long run. The problem took care of itself because if I'm having to hit an enemy more times to kill them, that just makes the skills raise faster. In five levels or so I was caught back up to the curve. Paying NPC trainers is useful here too.

At worst - at the very worst - you can run away from stuff you don't need to fight and use high end poisons, scrolls and staffs (which are absolute damage values, not level dependent) on the few enemies you really do have to kill. There's one sub-boss fight in the game that might be difficult, but it's still definitely not impossible.

So for me I just think "big deal" about the whole concept of efficient levelling. I haven't found it necessary, and I certainly can't be bothered to play as a stats bean-counter. I wouldn't want to break my immersion by doing so. IMO the difference between levelling carefully and not paying attention to it is about the same as playing a weird race/class combo (e.g Breton Barbarian) compared to a more optimal one (e.g Orc Barbarian).