Hello everyone!

I picked up Oblivion this afternoon, and now, seven hours later I still haven't actually started playing.
I really don't know how to utilise the leveling system and from what I've read so far it's actually best to don't pick the skills you want to use most so you can control your leveling.

As for what I'd like in terms of leveling:

I'd like to level up, for me it's an integral part of playing as you get new skills, more health etc. But from what I understand so far leveling in Oblivion only nets you health & makes monsters stronger.
I don't need to achieve max. level.

I would like to level up to somewhere between level 20 and 30 and have a 'strong' character statwise.

As for the character:

He is a good, though pragmatic dark elf that uses stealth to get the jump on his enemies.
Where combat is concerned he'll be somewhat 50/50 in regard to using damaging magics and melee combat and use lots of magic to boost him prior to initiating combat.

This is what I have as a character so far:

mage sign
Stealth focus
Intelligence & strength
Blade, Alchemy, Restoration, Marksman, Acrobatics, Block, Mercantile

As you've noticed I have one major skill for all abilities.

Restoration, Marksman, Acrobatics and Mercantile are purely there for control.
I actually intend to sneak a lot, use blades, most types of magic, wear light armor and block.

So what I'd actually like is:

Blade, Destruction, Alteration, Sneak, Light Armour, Block, Illusion

Would that be viable to play? or would I level too fast?

Would a good compromise be:

Blade, Mysticism, Destruction, Marksman, Light Armour, Block and Illusion? This way I've got str, wil, end, int and spd covered.

Would this character be able to lvl somewhat efficiently? Would it be a well playable character?

Perhaps I'm totally wrong in my understanding of the leveling system or if you really want to spin my head then tell me all 3 builds would be well playable (if you do please explain the differences I could expect playwise)

As my post probably reflects it's quite chaotic in my head atm and I'm asking you for your help!

After seven hours, you should have started your second character by now!

Treat the first one as a disposable test - use a (random) built-in class just to find out why they aren't a good idea, and try out all the weapons, spells etc. to see what you like.

Your character as designed will probably be very playable, but "wasting" a character first might change your choices. You also don't say what platform you got it for, so if it's PC, you might add mods before playing the "real" character.

I agree. Just make a character, and play. The best way to get a handle on how this game works, is to go out and make some mistakes, and see how it actually works in practice. This is not a quick "beat it once" game for most people, and you probably won't want to play through all the quests with the same character, anyway. (It doesn't make sense to be both an assassin and a noble knight, for instance.)

These two guides are by far the best i have ever seen for new comers, by the way welcome to the forums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLvb4Zwq4rA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCc0UKD9js8&feature=related

My advice is to not worry about leveling or how "good" your character is. Make the exact character that you want to play. My first character was a dark elf too even though now I mainly play nords but thats beside the point. When you said what you "actually want", it actually sounds really similar to my first character, and he ended up being pretty good, and more importantly really fun.

My advice is to make a dark elf, sign of the mage, stealth focus, intelligence and strength, with major skills Blade, Destruction, Alteration, Sneak, Light Armour, Block, Illusion

You will have a pretty nice magicka pool right from the start, which will allow you to blast enemies with powerful elemental spells from destruction, or paralyze and see in the dark with illusion, or walk on water, breathe underwater, or shield with alteration.

Sneak attacks are always super fun, and it sounds like this character would make a nice thief. Block + Light Armor will make you protected yet flexible, and blade, well, blade is blade and who doesn't love slicing and dicing enemies.

Once again make the character that you want, but if I had to change this you would have speed instead of intelligence, and acrobatics instead of alteration. Good luck with your character!!!!!

I have to agree with all the others who said do not sweat over the specifics of skills and such like on your first character. Just play the game, have fun, and spend some time getting to know how things work. Then on your second character you can start to put things together with an eye for what is right for your style of play.

And put http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page in your bookmarks. You will be spending a lot of time there!

This.

Trust me, you'll end up absolutely loving it and playing it over and over again. Even if you don't get into the roleplaying elements of it, you will make multiple characters to try different things.

As for the technical aspects of gameplay, they can come REALLY advanced and sometimes pretty mathematical, a bit overwhelming for your first time playing the game. I wouldn't worry about those until you've seasoned yourself a bit otherwise it will all just confuse you and complicate things.

but, you seem ambitious, which is good, you'll be one of the players who will eventually figure out just about everything about the game. For now though, just enjoy the storyline and gameplay.

The other thing is to come back to the forum often. The best ideas seem to resurface again and again and inspire whole new ways of playing the game. It's also a good place to request help if you are having a hard time.

I'm not sure what you mean by this, but if you mean you want to have total control over your character's progress at level up (as you would in a pen-and-paper or Dungeons -and-Dragons game) then you may be disappointed. At heart Oblivion is a skill-based game with a token bit of pen-and-paper-style leveling thrown in as an afterthought, a hybrid system that often tends to frustrate fans of both skill-based and pen-and-paper systems. Skill-based fans like myself use mods to eliminate the pen-and-paper-style leveling. Pen-and-paper players use mods to eliminate the skill-based leveling. I sincerely hope that Bethesda chooses one or the other for their next game.

But, as others have said, give it a chance. Most of us consider the Elder Scrolls games to be very addicting. To some of us Cyrodiil and Vvardenfell are like second homes.

As others have said ad nauseum, just pick the skills you want to have fun with, and go to it. If you try to efficient level (which I do not do) and screw up, you will die repeatedly, and will not have a fun time at all.

And personally, I would avoid the wiki and uesp at all costs for at least three characters. Why spoil the game for yourself? Ask questions here, in General Discussion.

http://www.linklost.com/occ/ a nice link to help you figure out a character.

Thanks for all your replies!

The gist is play first, worry later.

What I meant with leveling being something I like is that at heart I'm a power gamer, I like my characters to be (a lot) better then average at what they do.
And yes I am a pen and paper D&D player with the same group of friends for over 12 years now

Thanks again for all your advice! Expect to see me more often as i'll get more emerged in the world of Oblivion

I just bought this game myself two days ago, and I just jumped right in and did whatever felt natural. I've always leaned toward the more "monster-ish" characters in video games, so I was torn between Orc, the lizard guys, and the cat people (excuse my ignorance. I don't want to mess up the spelling, and can't be bothered to look it up). I ultimately decided on the cat people (Kaajit, I think). I chose the sign of the shadow, and assasin class. I have no idea if I'm upgrading the right areas or not, and my choices may not be the most compatable, but darn it...this game is fun.

The one thing I would reccomend is, if you get accepted into the dark brotherhood, don't attempt to pickpocket the guy right after he explains the 5 tenents. I meant to talk to him, but was in sneak mode and accidentally pickpocketed him, effectively getting myself kicked out before I even got to do anything. I was a member for about 5 seconds. In fact, I seem to accidentally (and not so accidentally) pickpocket a lot of people and find I'm spending a lot of time in jail (It's safe, I get 2 meals a day and a soft bed...what's not to like?).

I think I'll probably end up playing two dozen or more characters before I start to get bored with this game, so if I royally screw up my first couple, it's no big deal.

Lol. Brings me back to my first character. Entered a shop, guards show up arrest me. Get out of jail, enter another shop, guards arrest me. So I switch to first-person view, when I visit a shop, to avoid the stealing that I seem to do unconsciously, in third-person view.

As a power gamer there's only a few things you really have to worry about.

1) Raise Endurance +5 every level until maxxed

2) Get Armorer skill to 50 asap by putting your five training points/level into it. Luckily these two things work nicely together.

3) DON'T give Azura's Star to Martin! Another daedric artifact will work nicely for his purposes.

4) Avoid putting three skills governed by the same attribute in majors.

Minor skills that are easy to level for the purpose of getting those +5 attribute raises: Heavy armor, light armor, alteration, conjuration, sneak, illusion, hand to hand,

In Oblvion, as in virtually every crpg,, the monsters get tougher and the loot gets better as you level. What also happens in Oblvion is that weak monsters all but disappear, and really tough monsters are very rare.

Mara

Mara

Heh, if you're like some of us, you will get your butt kicked and get frustrated, ask how to build powerful characters and keep trying.

Then you will sort out Mara's rules above and practice and play really powerful uber characters.

Then you will discover that when you know what you're doing the game gets very, very easy. Then you will get frustrated, ask how to gimp your characters and learn to not use Mara's rules and do things like never increase endurance, never wear armor, never touch a melee weapon, etc. Then you will learn how to really roleplay and have a blast.

Link in signature

Thanks OP for the well asked question. I've been afraid to ask, having been absent from TES for about a decade. The replies have given me great insight into some dos and don'ts.

For some reason I stopped my TES experience at Arena, Redguard, and Daggerfall (which I still try to play every once in awhile). I've been avoiding the commitment to Oblivion, and Morrowind just seems to in-between to go to. Anyways, I picked up Oblivion on a lark, after devoting too much time to the world of Fallout. It's actually been sitting in the box for a couple months (don't have much game time at my age). I've seen enough to understand that character building and leveling is an arcane art in Oblivion. Thanks to the great replies. So, without further delay, and correct me if I'm wrong, what I've learned.

Do pick a stock Class
Do play through and play in the manner you like
Do level in the way consistent w/ your character
Do make mistakes
Do have fun and forget the consequences of the less than "Perfect Build"

Don't worry about the leveling mechanics
Don't fixate on efficient leveling at the expense of fun
Don't forget that Endurance and Armorer are important
Don't http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page too early
Don't become an accidental thief (do it for personal gain!)

It looks like the most important one got lost in the shuffle -

Do have fun

Also, if having fun *is* creating that perfect build as early as possible then build your character and SAVE OFTEN. That way you can go back to a previous save when you make mistakes. The thing about Endurance is that your 'level up' health increase (based on your Endurance) is not given retroactively. The thing about Armorer is that at 50 you will be able to repair magical weapons and armor. While I was growing my *perfect build* I did not pay attention to armorer. I have to say it was a pain having to carry a non enchanted weapon and run back to town to get things repaired but it wasn't a deal breaker.


I'm not one who thinks Morrowind is better than Oblivion or vise versa. They're two seperately awesome games. You should really give it a try sometime...

Go out and have a good time. Get lost in the game. If you feel compelled to make another character (I'm on fourteen... what addiction? :stare: ), and you feel the need to delve further into leveling, then certainly ask here.... I prefer to use the majors I choose, no power-leveling allowed. The game gives you many different options to deal with any given situation, use these, and realize that power-leveling is for the birds. Watch out for mudcrabs.