I had tried two-handed weapons a few times in the game, but hadn't had much luck with them. I didn't know it at the time, but I hadn't yet figured out the effective strategies for using them. I was treating them pretty much like a one-handed weapon - standing and swinging and blocking - and it just didn't work. Then I read a post here (I think it was from Acadian) that talked about taking advantage of the reach of a claymore - of concentrating on the outside edge of the arc of the sword's swing, where you can hit the opponent but it can't hit you. I decided to try that out with a dedicated claymore fighter, and since I was just starting to play some female characters and I liked the concept of one with a claymore, I created http://i47.tinypic.com/fo27t2.jpg.
She was a struggle for a while as I tried to sort out the strategies for a claymore, but she was a very fulfilling and enjoyable character, as I've written about quite a lot over the years).
One of my most vivid Oblivion memories was traveling with her one day from the IC to Skingrad. She was somewhere in the mid-to high-teen levels, so just at the point at which she was starting to handle herself pretty well in the world. We approached Greenmead Cave, and knowing that there are generally monsters hanging around there, she slowed down and looked around, but didn't see anything. She was hurrying to get to Skingrad, so after she'd looked around and not found anything in the vicinity, she broke back into a run.
As she approached Grayrock Cave, she again slowed down, again expecting to see a monster, and this time did see one - a Minotaur. She had drawn her sword and started to advance and had just caught the attention of the Minotaur when she was hit from behind. She spun around and found, behind her, a Land Dreugh AND a Brown Bear.
I had mostly survived with her and the claymore by taking advantage of narrow tunnels and such to force opponents to engage her one at a time. I'd had problems with avoiding being flanked just in open chambers in dungeons, and here she was, right out in the open, facing three dangerous opponents at the same time.
That was easily one of the most thrilling and exciting battles I've ever had in the game. All she could do was try to maneuver around so that she kept one opponent between her and the other two, and the other two were constantly moving to flank her, so she was constantly moving to keep out of their reach while still trying to land enough hits to win. Since there were two extra opponents and nothing to box them in, they were free to come around either side (or both sides) of whichever one she was facing, so she had to keep track of where all three were at the same time and see who was moving where so she'd know which way to move to counter that. And the additional reach of the claymore wasn't even that much of an advantage, other than with the Minotaur, since Land Dreughs and Brown Bears both have exceptional reach AND they rush (or jump in the case of the Land Dreugh) from a fair distance in order to attack.
It was one of those moments when time slowed down. In the middle of it, I got so deeply immersed in the rhythm and movement of it all that beyond a certain point, I don't think anything even hit her. It was a slow motion dance, with her opponents balanced on the point of her sword. I have no idea how long the battle actually lasted - it could've been hours, but was likely only a few minutes. In the end though, she triumphed, and actually came away from it relatively unscathed. When it was over, she just stood there for a while, surrounded by corpses, while I sat there for a while and watched.
And there are many more...
» Fri Nov 28, 2014 5:09 am 
She had to go to pay a fine, or go to jail, I don't remember which, but the bottom line is that moment when she first approached the very last town was ruined. We didn't get to approach the place and really get into the spirit of exploration, you know? Argh.
