I've recently taken up playing Oblivion on console again as a result of my F:NV gamesave becoming so large I can't really play it anymore. I set up my character with one skill to each stat, but it seems like I'm leveling without getting decent stat boosts. I've tried focusing on non-class skills but i still seem to be unable to get to a high enough level of use. I've tried using training, but I don't think the game is counting those. I've tried reading the Wiki for advice, but i'm not sure what to do. I'm leveling fast, but i'm eventually going to hit a point where my skills and abilities aren't keeping up with the increased Difficulty. Here's my set up -

Bosmer/Male

Strength- Hand to Hand
Endurance - Block
Speed - Light Armor
Agility - Sneak
Personality - Illusion
Intelligence - Alchemy
Willpower - Alteration

Class attributes are Intelligence and Willpower, Birthsign is Mage, and Specialization is magic. I understand that Hand to Hand is going to be a bit rough, but I find it ridiculously fun compared to the use of slashing, blunt, or even my secondary means of attack, Marksman. Can anyone advise me on Efficent Leveling or making a new character? I chose those skills because they're usually the ones I use most. I'm still set on playing a Wood Elf, but I'm looking for advice on a better set-up and leveling strategies.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Efficient_Leveling This should explain it better than I can.

Huh, I didn't know that non-class skills don't give you any bonuses. Wonder how I managed to get +2 or +3 in stats I don't have any major skills for.

I just wish the article would give me some more details.

you get 1 point to put in each attribute for every two skill points you get within that attribute. i.e. increasing your blade by 10 in one level would give you +5 in strength. the best way to max your character is to train two attributes per level and always put one in luck. so for your character for example:

train 5 in hand to hand then five in blade/blunt
train 5 in heavy armor then five in block
this will give you +5 in both strength and endurance and +! in luck per level

MAKE SURE that you don't train skills other than the four you choose to in that level. leveling to max is a full time job and generally decreases your rping ability

and definitely use senior cinco's link and the wiki. it knows everything you want to.

By non-class, I assume you mean Minors. Well they do. If Hand 2 Hand is a Minor skill, and you raise it 10 times. When you level up, you will have a +5 bonus at Strength.

See if http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Leveling explains some things better.

Dont worry about it, just pack alchemy. I have never done a specially leveled character. Once you hit level 20 your in god mode anyway.

Wait, so when it comes to point attributes, what's the difference between class and non-class skills if any besides one making you level?

I forgot how screwed up the Elder Scrolls leveling system is.

Major skills make you level up. They also start higher and increase slightly faster than minor skills. There is no diff between the two when it comes to attribute gains.

The specialization (combat, magic, stealth) also makes it easier to increase skills. The UESP also has a http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Increasing_Skills showing different speeds for skill increases depending on whether they are Specialization, Major, both, or neither. A good reference for figuring out how long it will take to train something. Note, in particular, that without some sort of boost athletics and mercantile really drag.

In case this still isn't clear, you do not need to include every attribute among your major skills in order to level efficiently. If you take the default mage class (a very solid class), you can still gain 5-5-5 as long as you achieve 10 increases in any skills linked to the attributes you wish to train.

So does everyone have any thoughts on doing +5/+5/+1 (luck) instead? I forgot to mention I'm not a hardcoe optimizer, so my results probably won't be perfect, but i'd like to do better than +2's across the board.

For me, when playing a warrior the most important is Strength, Endurance, Intelligence and Willpower. Then, Agility, etc.....

It's easy to have each time 5 for Intell. and Will. but harder for Str. and End. My blade gives me points for str. but my armorer (as I have to repair often) gives me points for end.

An esample: I want 5 points in strength. So I train my blade skill against a summoned skeleton 5 times WITHOUT repairing my blade to avoid getting an endurance point . I then go to a trainer to continue my training 5 times. Then I get the message to sleep.....

In that case I have trained 10 times my blade governed by Strength attribute. Total: 5 points to put in STRENGTH. All those skills are among the seven first skills on the page which mean main skills allowing you to upgrade. When I fight I get misc. points of all kinds of abilities. So to be sure to put 5 in Intel and Will. I train 10 times in various abilities governed by Intelligence and then 10 times in others governed by willpower, just after I had just leveled up.

If you are not ready to take a pen and a piece of paper and mark each time your scores, you wont be able to upgrade smoothly.

I did the 5/5/5 a couple of times and its boring to death. I'd encourage folks to simply forget this even exists.

One thing that threw me for the longest time was that you have to get an even number in a given skill to get a full attribute point. For example if you're doing a warrior and raise Block and Heavy Armor 3 skill levels and Armorer 4 skill levels you've done 10 points in endurance skills but you won't get 5 points just 4 (2 for Armorer and only one each for Block and Heavy Armor). If you raise Block 2 skill levels and Heavy Armor and Armorer 4 you get the full 5 points. Something to remember if you decide to spend money to train a skill those 5 levels. You have to get one more skill level on your own to get maximum attribute bonus for that experience level.

As far as whether it's worth it to get the triple 5's I'd say it can make a big difference for a melee character. I used to do the Thief Birthsign to get that extra 10 points in Luck and I'd boost Strangth, Willpower and Agility (the latter two because the gains were so easy at the lower levels). For a change I switched to the Warrior and stayed focused on getting Strength and Endurance maxed out and it's made a huge difference. Right now my warrior character build is:

Race: Nord
Birthsign: Warrior

Custom Class
(Strength / Endurance)
Specialize: Combat
Skills:
Armorer
Block
Blunt (or Blade whichever one you prefer)
Conjuration
Destruction
Illusion
Marksman

Of these Major Skills I only use Armorer and Block (it's easier to control how fast you level these than Heavy Armor). For actually fighting I use Blade and Hand to Hand (to boost Strength) and Light Armor for protection. The Light Armor works well with the steady raises to Athletics just from running around to make Speed my third five for the bonus it gives to Fatique and for the fact I can actually play tag with deer now .

With this build you start with Strength / Endurance at 65 each. By Level 8 you can have both at 100 and you can go back to your Heavy Armor (you'll have access to Dwarven by this point instead of Iron/Steel which are basically dead weight) and Blunt, which are still sitting at a decent 40 skill level, and start maxing out Agility, Willpower and Speed for the Fatique bonuses.

Downside to this build is that levels 5,6 and 7 go by pretty slow as you're getting up Blade (stick with daggers) and Hand to Hand. You also have to make do without Bound Weapons, Chameleon and Light spells for those levels and a ranged attack for those pesky archers placed up on a ledge.

Plus side is once you're at Level 8 you can forget about the fives and just do what you want since your key stats are covered. So a little short term pain for long term gain.

For casters you could probably work something similar but focussing on Destruction and Restoration (since those are the toughest to raise) to boost your Willpower.

Thanks for this template! I'm a newbie to Oblivion and have been reading Oblivion docs for about 10 hours now in order to understand how to create the custom Warrior I want and how to level in a balanced way. Am not interested in total efficiency, however, just enough to avoid large imbalances. Am trying to decide between +5/+5/+5 and +5/+5/+1. I had pretty much decided on a Warrior build much like yours, and seeing yours gave me confidence that I was on the right track. One question:

You said, " For actually fighting I use Blade and Hand to Hand (to boost Strength)." I don't understand this statement. According to the list of skills you posted above, Blade and Hand to Hand are, for your character, minor skills. Therefore, according to my understanding of how Oblivion works, raising them does not boost Strength, since only raising major skills boosts attributes. Can you explain?

This is completely false.Only raises in majors make you level up, but at that point ALL the skills contribute to the attribute increases.

You go up a level every time you collect 10 major skill increases. If that were all that increased your attributes, you'd have a total of 5 points available, not the 15 you're aiming for.Those other ten have to come from minor skills being increased.

OK. Thanks for clarifying.