» Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:21 pm Experiment 1: Mehrunes Dagon
Background: Mehrunes Dagon. The mere mention of those two words is enough to inspire fear in almost every Oblivion player. This towering red baddie can take down a whole Legion company without a mite of damage. He is the largest and most powerful vanilla character in TES4. Some players have successfully taken down this near invincible creature, but even they could describe the preparation needed to accomplish this heroic feat. But, let's say another NPC, not the player, decided to take this axe-armed monster down. Actually, let's make it five NPCs.
Hypothesis: I predict that the Cyrodiilic Five (Five of Cyrodiil's best warriors) will successfully eliminate Mehrunes Dagon while still keeping at least one member of the party alive.
Plan: I used the same Imperial male from the other experiments. He was Level 1, possessed no combat capabilities, and did not interfere in the fight in a way that would sway the outcome. All combatants were placed in a custom built Ayleid Ruin room. There were no obstacles, no pathgriding, and no other creatures or NPCs in the room. Finally, all combatants had full health and fully repaired armor. I used a Companion Share mod to lead the NPCs around the room.
Trials:
Trial 1: I knew Mehrunes Dagon was one big red badass. I watched him slaughter my troops in the last mission of the MQ, and was hell bent on revenge. However, I also knew that picking any other commoner to fight him would lead to my ultimate demise. Instead, I decided to handpick the very best NPCs in Cyrodiil and have them all face Dagon at once. My choices?
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/Kaw434/CyrodiilsBest.jpg
From right to left.
Umbra: A debatable choice. Technically, Umbra is an evil character. I mean, she does kinda threaten you with her sharp sword. However, since she resided with Cyrodiil, she is a resident of the province. And, who can argue with a Level 50 Warrior Wood Elf?
Vilena Donton: My personal favorite. A Level 41 Blademaster, she is the best member of the famed Fighters Guild. In addition, if you read my other experiment, you'll know that she is one of the few NPCs capable of killing Umbra in one-on-one combat. As such, she was a invaluable addition to the team.
The Night Mother: Now I know what you're thinking: wait a minute, isn't she dead? Well, yes, but she's still in the game as a ghost. And it doesn't hurt that she's Level 50. Nevertheless, I had to make some alterations. I gave the Night Mother a Black Hand robe and took off the ghost effect. Why? The Night Mother has no default protection; for a woman of her caliber I thought at least some magical protection would be suitable. Finally, Dagon can't hurt ghosts, so her abilities had to be altered.
M'aiq the Liar: At last, the elusive M'aiq will prove his abilities in combat. I chose M'aiq not only for his speed, but for the fact that he's Level 40, making him the most powerful Khajit in the game. I had to alter his confidence, as he was originally set to run away from a fight.
Count Goldwine of Kvatch: Some of you may not recognize this guy, but he's the dead body lying in the Count of Kvatch's quarters. I "revived" him and suited him up in some Kvatch armor. Why use another dead guy? Well, Goldwine is set at Level 50; if he was set as a Warrior, he would be even more powerful than Umbra herself. And, I thought I might give him a second chance at life.
After assembling my soldiers, I led them to face Dagon. Once in range, I ordered M'aiq to lead the charge. Almost immediately, Dagon was beset by Cyrodiil's finest in a frenzy of flashing steel and spraying blood. The mighty giant stomped the ground and slashed desperately with his axe: http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/Kaw434/ScreenShot16-1.jpg
He shook and roared with hate and anger; knocked back my warriors countless times. But the soldiers of Cyrodiil held their ground without hesitation; no one cowered, no one fled. And in the end...
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/Kaw434/ScreenShot17.jpg
Yuck. His death animation is a bit messed up, but that's Mehrunes Dagon's corpse. As mighty as he was, Dagon could not kill a single one of my warriors before he fell. Cyrodiil had triumphed, and Evil was no more.
Conclusion: You're probably wondering the statistics behind this battle. After all, I think both of us were kinda expecting Dagon to win. Well, Dagon is Level 100, with 1000 health. Umbra (Level 50), Donton (Level 41), The Night Mother (Level 50), M'aiq (Level 40), and Goldwine (Level 50) add up to a combined Level of about 231. One-on-one they are not match, but together, Cyrodiil's finest warriors could take on anything. This was probably one of the only battles where I was 100% expecting the opposite result; I wasn't actually sure my hypothesis would prove true. Finally, I was eager to test the possibilities with this elite team of soldiers.
Experiment 2: Cyrodiil's Finest vs. Cyrodiil's Villains
Now, I'm sure you're all probably upset by the seemingly one-sidedness of the previous battle. I mean, Dagon was pretty much outnumbered 5 to 1. Let's make this more interesting.
Background: Cyrodiil is home to both great Good and great Evil. Sometimes, the worst of foes lie within your own homeland. So I gathered a group of Cyrodiil's strongest baddies to face Cyrodiil's Finest.
Hypothesis: None; I'm rooting for Cyrodiil's Finest, but the Evil could very well prevail.
Plan: Same as Experiment 1.
Trials:
Trial 1: Cyrodiil's Finest is the same five NPCs used in Experiment 1 (I hesitated with Umbra, but decided that her low aggression excluded her from the bad guys). Cyrodiil's Villains are:
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/Kaw434/ScreenShot19.jpg
From right to left
The Sunken One: One of lesser known, but still one of the most powerful enemies in Cyrodiil. This bad-tempered rock killed Slythe in the quest The Sunken One, and has well earned his reputation as a murderer and villain. At Level 20, he is slightly more powerful than the average Storm Atronarch, and should prove a tough enemy to beat.
Uderfrykte Matron (Dive Rock Horror): Another lesser known enemy, this vengeful troll roams the Jerall Mountains. If you pursued one of the "Easter Egg quests", you'll known who she is. If not, just know she's one tough hombre. Set at Level 18, she'll be sure to give anyone one hell of a fight.
Erandur-Vangaril: You have to know TES4 Oblivion to remember this guy. This Level 24 Lich is one of the strongest non-giant creatures in the game. And with good reason: Bethesda prevents the player from fighting the Lich until he or she reaches around Level 20. If you've fought him, you'll know that he's one of the toughest Liches you will ever face.
Dremora Valkynaz: I hate these guys. The strongest Dremora you will ever face, the Level 22 Valkynaz is a well armed and motivated killing machine. Failing to recognize him at first could spell the player's doom. Though he's technically from a Daedric world, there are pockets of Dremora and Daedra scattered around Cyrodiil even before the gates open. Granted, they're few, but there's enough.
Gloom Wraith: If you're like me, you freaked out when you first saw this ghost come your way. At Level 21, this incorporeal bastard is the strongest ghost you will ever face in vanilla Oblivion. And he's decided to bring an Elven Longsword to the party (just to make things more fun). His most formidable defense is his immunity to normal weapons; as such only three of the five members of Cyrodiil's Finest can harm him.
Now you may wonder why I didn't use Manimarco, Camoran, or even some quest-related Ogre boss. Well, these characters may not be the most well known, but they are the strongest Villains I was able to find. At any other level besides 1, Camoran or Manimarco could easily step into the fray.
Onto the battle. Cyrodiil's Finest were the first to strike, throwing themselves at the enemy with a vengeance. But Cyrodiil's Villains were ready, they quickly singled out an opponent and countered the charge. Spells flew and blades clashed in what I can only describe as a true battle of skills. I saw the Sunken One hurling lightning at Umbra; the Night Mother desperately punching the Wraith to no avail; M'aiq switching helplessly from target to target in vain. Finally, the smoke cleared, and all was silent. The result?
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/Kaw434/ScreenShot20.jpg
I couldn't help smiling. Cyrodiil's Finest had again triumphed, killing all five villains within a minute. But it had come at a great cost: Umbra was dead and every remaining one of Cyrodiil's Finest was within inches of life.
Conclusion:I really have no explanation for this. Combined, Cyrodiil's Finest had clear Level advantage over Cyrodiil's Villains (About 231 to 101). Yet, the villains had come dangerously close to winning the battle. As I said before, Cyrodiil's Finest had lost one member, and the remaining had a mere sliver of life left. To give you a comparison, each one had the same amount of life as Vilena Donton when she took on Umbra. Yeah, that's pretty close to death. After hours of contemplation, I still cannot find a concrete reason for the narrow victory. Perhaps the spells of the villains wore down my soldiers. Perhaps the villains were able to land more blows. Regardless, the Finest had triumphed.
Thank you for reading,
Kroot
But in all seriousness, I thought it would just be cool to put her in with the rest of the 50'ers. 
