my character is of course a rogue-like character, relies mostly on poisons to win fights. i have a stack of like 50 poisons in my inventory right now. basically i tried to do a quest where you have to kill zombies (which quest doesnt matter here) and they slaughtered me, i looked them up on the wiki (i've been trying to avoid that as-of-late bc i hate stumbling upon spoilers) and found out that they're apparently immune to poisons. handy.

i went to the shivering isles to get some ingreadients to make fire poisons, but i'm wondering will they actually work on the zombies or am i going to have to somehow join the arcane university and get some firespells and/or enchant my sword? i'd prefer to not bother with an enchanted weapon, recharging them is too much of a hassle. i like poisons, dont need a penny to make those!

Zombies have 100% resistance to poison, so no poison will effect them, not even fire poison. Unless. . .

You can bust their poison immunity by preceding your poison attack by a spell that includes weakness to poison 100 x a few seconds. Just make sure the weakness is in effect before you strike with poison.

My character kills poison immunes all the time like that. Here you can see the distinctive green poison tinge killing a normally immune http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv43/Acadian6/Buffy%20I/ScreenShot94.jpg.

I believe the way this works is that the immunity to poison will prevent any damage to the zombie, but that zero damage is multiplied because of the weakness, resulting in - zero damage, still. So you'll need another way to apply the fire damage, such as spells and weapons.

makes sense, but what happens when the spell wears off? does it automatically stop all poison effects on the zombie? and even so, how am i going to find a weakness to poison 100 spell without joining the mages guild? and how on earth am i going to get my destruction skill that high? it's not a major skill for him! if i remember right, his skills are:

blade
block
alchemy
marksmen
sneak
security
light armor

despite all the agility and speed skills, he's actually a combat-focus (custom class). i envisioned him as being a sort of sneaky combatant, like an assassin. his marksman skill however is actually pretty low (30ish, and i'm over level 10!) bc i typically only get one sneak-attack shot before i switch to my blade and kill the enemy with that, and sometimes i dont get to sneak attack, i just have to kill the thing with my blade! been trying to get some chameleon to fix that, but i've of course run into a few problems.

No. If the weakness is active when the poison is first applied the entire duration of the poison will be applied, even if the weakness wears off.



You don't really have too. Except for testing I have never used weakness to poison in actual gameplay. If your marksmanship and agility is high enough, regular arrows are enough for most or all zombies. Dread Zombies are the toughest because the regenerate health so you may have to hit them a few times quickly. Fire enchanted bows or arrows should help.

i do have an enchanted sword, which damages magicka 20 points on strike (i got it at like level 5). i also found another bandit with an axe or mace or something with the same enchantment (but i didnt pick it up bc i couldnt carry anymore). irregardless that wouldnt help me much. pretty much the only way i'm going to get an enchanted weapon is to find the right quest or just find it as random loot. but for some odd reason, i'm having trouble finding goblin and bandit dungeons now, mostly all i find are animals and monsters. i found this one ruin which had a single vampire in it, but the rest was all wolves (and oddly enough the vampire was near the beginning, i assumed it was a vampire dungeon bc of him but it wasnt).

as far as enchanted equipment goes, ihave a chestpiece that gives me extra agility and intelligence, pants that give me more agility, a ring that gives me even more agility, a ring of strength, and an amulet with 17% spell reflection. i havent used the 'longsword of jinxing' ever since it ran out of charge, it's just sitting in my house in bravil. my weapons are a silver longsword, an elven bow, and some elven arrows. i dont have too many of them however, i'm keeping some dwarf arrows too incase i run out. but since i typically only lose one per fight (i recover them like half the time). oh i also have a mithril shield (major upgrade from my leather one, stupid thing was so fragile it would break like after one or two hits, and besides the mithril gives me alot more armor). oh i also have an enchanted helmet with night-eye, waterbreathing, and detect life (you can probably guess where it came from). my sword, shield, mitril boots, and fur gloves all came from the bandits you run into on the roads (well actually the shield came from a highwayman, but who cares about the details?)

right now my main concern is upgrading my alchemy equipment, three of them are novice and the fourth is apprentice level! intend on changing that if i can ever find another mage dungeon. i would also like to find a bandit dungeon, just to try and get an enchanted weapon or more enchanted equipment in general. but i dont like the idea of having to pay to recharge the stupid thing, it's really annoying.

Go through both the Alchemy shops in the Imperial City Market District as you level up, and they should offer increasingly good alchemy equipment. If they don't have anything, try the various Mages Guild halls. You don't have to be a member to buy stuff from em, after all. Master equipment of all four can be found during a quest for a certain illegal faction.

Also, zombies are sadly predictable in their attacks. You can kill them up-close and personal with a melee weapon, so long as you time your movements correctly. Don't bother blocking, just move out the way of their attacks, Needs a lot of space to pull off, mind.

Teresa uses a bow with 100% Weakness to Poison on it, and it works like a charm against undead. You just have to remember that the weakness will not take effect until the second shot, so do not bother poisoning the first.

If you're doing the quest I think you're doing, you may have been given a certain Fireball spell right beforehand. If not, go back to the guild hall and follow up on the dialogue options you were given. Trust me, you want this spell. It stays handy for a long time, and it's a very efficient one, magicka-wise.

IIRC, all I had was a silver longsword (and that Fireball spell) the last time I completed this quest. Just don't stand there and let the zombies hit you; learn the timing of their attacks, step in, whack, step away, hit with Fireball. Rinse, repeat. You'll kill them. Just don't try to go to-to-toe, because they're strong and they'll beat you to death.

As for Weakness to Poison spells, someone in that guild hall sells one, though it's only a 25% magnitude spell. It's still good enough to get poisons to work against poison immune foes, somewhat. You can worry about 100% magnitudes once you get entry to the University and play with spellcraft on your own.

no it's not that quest, i've done it several times before (i've always done it at level 1 to make it easier, at the time i believe i was level 12, i moved away from it to go find something i can use to do it)

it's not related to the mages guild, infact it isnt even from a city! though ironnically, it is near skingrad, and you do have to go into a cave. the quest is quite infamous for being difficult to do. btw, the quest reward is a magic ring that i can really make use out of. if that's not hint enough.

i got the answer to my original question, and besides my problem should be over. i did a small bandit dungeon (fort homestead i believe) and you know that i got? a longsword of scorching, 10 fire damage with more than 50 charges. and ontop of that, i bought a bunch of spiddal sticks in the imperial city which allowed me to create my first ever double-effect poison (damage health and fire damage if you care). that place should be alot easier for me now. my next step is to go to skingrad and retry that quest, and then go to kvatch so i can harvest some spiddal sticks out of there (though actually, it may be a better idea of not do kvatch until i get some shock damage).

but for now, my main concern is joining the thieves guild. i was wondering around the woods around bravil (actually across the river from bravil) and i attacked some npc called mirisa thinking she was a bandit. now i have a bounty of 80 gold and i'd like to clear that up.

btw, isnt there someplace in the imperial city where you can recharge your items? i cant find any, none of the magical or alchemical merchants can do it, and it appears that the mages guild cant do it either. guess i'll just have to wait till skingrad to recharge it... no matter, i dont intend on using it until then anyway.

There are two 'rechargers' in the IC, but each have a consideration that may not work for you:

Martina Floria is at the University, but you have to be admitted to the University to get in where she is.

Aurelinwae is at the Mystic Emporium (Market District), but only if you have the DLC 'Wizard's Tower' installed.

Otherwise, visit the mages guild in any of the other cities.

Better of course, is learning how to recharge weapons yourself.

haha, guess what? problem not solved.

[censored] stupid necromancers, they're completely invulnerable. the instant you fire an arrow at one, every single living thing in the whole [censored] worthless cave swarms you and blocks you in against the door. the necromancers dont drop dead even if you have FOUR DOUBLE EFFECT POISONS ON THEM. and every time i swing my enchanted sword, nothing [censored] happens bc one of them is always blocking therefore you cant hit a single one of the [censored] worthless [censored] zombies or necromancers or ghosts without getting knocked back, and ontop of that everytime you lower your shield half of them hit you all at once and reduce your hit points by 3/4. i cant barely even open the inventory fast enough to drink half my inventory of healing potions before i drop dead.

and you know what's even more stupid about this worthless quest? i have completed it before, with a similar character, except i didnt have double-effect poisons, and my enchanted sword only did 3 damage. i'm far better off than i was back then, and i get slaughtered like i'm a rat and they're dagon.

i couldnt possibly be more prepared for this quest, ITS JUST [censored] FUTILE IT DOESNT [censored] MATTER WHAT YOU DO OR WHAT YOU ARE ITS JUST SHERE RANDOM LUCK IF YOU BEAT THE [censored] STUPID CAVE OR NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tried it again, only had two necromancers on me this time. how well did it go? i died within seconds. apparently haveing three enemies beating on you at once is alot worse than 20. talk about idiot programmers....

tried it a third time, but this time, i lowered the difficulty. killed them all without much problem, looted their bodies, and discovered something funny: they all have more than 20 healing potions on them each, and they all have 1 or 2 enchanted items, funny enough they're running around with more weight than i could carry! seriously, what the hell? this certainly goes a long way in explaining why you cant kill them at normal difficulty: they're specifically designed to make it virtually impossible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

after a couple of level ups, i noticed that everything was suddenly alot easier to kill. animals went down in a few hits at first, then i noticed that i could easily one-shot spellcasters in dungeons, and then i realized that a spriggan was nothing to me anymore! so i decided perhaps now i could go and handle those conjurers. but then i fought a clanfear, and that was pretty effortless too. then i suddenly realized: was the difficulty slider turned down? i could have sworn i turned it back up, but when i looked, i found out that i hadnt. isnt that nice, now i just went though a huge section of the game by cheating, which means it's time to delete this character.

at least i learned something: if this game ever gets easy (or even a fair challenge), it can only mean that something is severly wrong.

irregardless, i cheated when i lowered the difficulty slider that one time to get out of the painted world. and my character has died like 10 times by now, he shouldnt even be alive still.

what kind of programmer makes a game where you can set it to permanent god-mode anyway? that just completely ruins the game when you're cheating and you dont even know it while you're trying to play legitimately.

it doesnt even make any sense, it took me quite a while before i started to notice that something was off. i mean i fought bears and minotaurs on my way to bruma long before i noticed that something wasnt right. i think i even killed a few spriggans and it was still the same. it wasnt until i leveled that i noticed that everything was suddenly getting easier at an exponential rate. perhaps this idiotic game set itself to god-mode just to ruin my fun? possibly, considering how the character creation system works, i would be surprised at idiocy like that.


i'm not going to be playing this game again for a while, if ever. it's like spore, just a huge waste of money. no such thing as good games anymore, everything is [censored] buggy and poorly thought out (or in the case of oblivion, spore, and neverwinter nights 2, not thought out at all) it's astounding that you even see anyone who can make a program that can actually run. i asked why on yahoo answers once, they just told me it's bc 'games are becoming more advanced'. yeah so what? if someone built a huge fancy machine that doesnt even work would you buy it? no, who the hell would?

no more buying video games, never again. it's not [censored] worth it anymore. well except maybe games from several years back, those should work fine. they always did back then, not a single problem. i was so [censored] pissed when i paid $50 for spore only to find out that it's garbage. i've been very careful to select which games i bought from that point onward (note that i didnt buy oblivion, it was a christmas present, i didnt know anything about the elder scrolls series except for that morrowind game advertised on cartoon network years and years ago).

i would bet money that even if i did manage to 'efficiently level', which btw is pretty much as futile as playing the game, i still wouldnt be able to do [censored] would i? bah why the hell am i asking, everyone on here either plays the game in god mode or not at all. it's not [censored] possible to play the game at normal difficulty. whose idea was it anyway to make the monsters effeciently level as you went up in level? you cant compete with them, there is absolutely no [censored] way. and playing the game as it was intended is nothing but suicide, you'll be lucky to get past level 10, if you even GET THAT FAR.

what i need to do is somehow get some money and find something else to do. it's a sick world when you have to be absurdly rich just to find even the tiniest pleasure in life, actually you have to rich as hell now and days just to buy food, forget about paying taxes and owning a house, you cant even afford food anymore.

If you turn the difficulty up more than a bit past normal the game turns into an endless grind of bulletsponges. I did that once and will never again because it just is not worth the time, IMO. I stick to normal difficulty from now on.

i do have it set to normal difficulty. infact, i actually turn it down a few notches bc the bar actually isnt right in the middle when you start, it's slightly higher. apparently meant to give the AI a secret advantage. i dont know how much difference it makes though, havent noticed anything.

and what are you talking about 'bulletsponges'? that doesnt even make sense, there are no such thing as guns in the game even. all it is is you running around in full plate armor and a shield getting slaughtered by a naked wooden girl in the woods.

I don't get it. The game is too hard, but turning the difficulty slider down is cheating? :whistling:

As far as I can see, the only thing that slider does is adjust the balance between player and enemies, to make the combat work as it feels best to the player. It's a "preferences" slider: If you like more grinding, turn it up. If you like quicker battles, turn it down to where it feels right.

Having said that, there are players who have managed to play the game with the slider turned all the way up. I've tried it myself, and while I don't care for the grinding, I feel that everything in the game is still possible that way if one really works at it. It means knowing your enemies' weaknesses, being fully prepared, and having a good understanding of the game mechanics.

A good example: Nobody is going to be able to take on multiple strong opponents using just melee and poisons. Poisons are one-shot-and-reapply, and multiple opponents will cut you down if you let them all get on you. If you're being attacked by multiple enemies, you need to use choke-points and cover to your advantage, as well as moving away from danger. You can also use area-of-effect magics, summoned helpers, and illusion effects. Slap a Command on one of those necromancers, and you've suddenly got an ally. Cast a Turn Undead, and the zombie will run the other way.

This is a game of magic-using, and even if your character is mainly a non-mage, you still need magic to deal with casters, undead, and things with immunity.

from what i've learned, poisons are the only way you're going to get anywhere. they dont require mana, or getting into the arcane university somehow (which i've only ever accomplished once), or spending a huge amount of money just to get the effect. infact, i dont have to spend a penny to make my poisons! i just run around the world collecting nightshades and 'sacred' lotuses, and voila! i can kill a swarm of guards without any effort! infact, poisons are the sole reason i get as far as i do. you're not getting past level 5 without them.

i used to try to play a mage character, but i found that futile since he dies so blooming easily, typically he can only get off one spell before his target one-shots him.

now i prefer to play a character who can one-shot enemies before they even touch him (at least that's how it works until about level 8 or 9 i think).

the rogue-like designs are the only ones that work for me, everything else is just suicide. even playing a 500 lbs juggernaut in half a ton of armor doesnt go very far (ironic, considering that's what the game system was obviously designed to encourage)

and why dont i just play with the difficulty slider down? bc you move it down even a centimeter and you're playing in god mode. i want to play the game, not cheat.

btw, when bethesda made the fallout 3 game, they purposely went out of their way to make certain they didnt make the same mistakes as they did with this one, including having enemies level with you, having your hit points be based on wheather or not you use two or three skills that are actually worthless (who cares about 10% damage reduction anyway?)

and you know the funny bit about that factoid? in one game when i was doing the main quest, i did that reload and over thing with sigil stones to get enchantments that i needed, first one was a pathetic 10% shield which i put on my shield (one of the ugly legion ones btw, i regret that decision) and you know what? i was never ever able to find a better shield than that! why does everyone tell you to keep upgrading your equipment when it doesnt even make any difference? at best you'll get an extra 1% damage reduction, which is just pathetic. and i refuse to do that now, bc i just discovered that apparently the 'higher quality' equipment is always much much heavier than the worse ones, that goes a long way in explaining why my rogue was always encumbered even when his inventory was virtually empty! he could carry 200 lbs but more than 150lbs of tha was taken up! all bc i was wearing mithril armor and using elven weapons. the armor btw was enchanted, and the weapons were mostly only used for sneak attacks, so even a 1 extra damage made quite a difference with those things.

i dont even have the enthusiasm to play this stupid game anymore, what the hell is the point when the only way to win is to use cheats? hell, often the only way to keep from getting stuck someplace permanently is to use a console command! in my case it's mostly TCL, that troll case was an odd one. you wouldnt believe the number of times i get stuck someplace and unable to get out.

The way the game adjusts the challenge seems to be frustrating you. In other words, you don't seem to enjoy the amount of scaling in the game. But if you can use console commands, that means you're on PC, which means you can use mods!

My suggestion: If you don't like the current system, change it. Mods like http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1159634-relz-oscuros-oblivion-overhaul-133/ can make a world of difference. Weak enemies won't magically become stronger just because you took a few levels. There will be plenty of deadly opponents to fight, but with enough leveling and preparation, you can outpower them all. Does that sound interesting to you?

I get the impression that you're trying to "tank" everything.

If you're playing a rogue-type character, you shouldn't even be wearing much in the line of armor. You have to use stealth, speed, and agility. The best way to use poison is with a bow, from a distance, in the dark.

If you're playing a mage, and you use Absorb Health (which is one of the "free" spells you get if you Major in Restoration), you can stand toe-to-toe with an enemy and survive. You can Command multiple enemies to kill each other while you stand in the corner invisible.

And I don't understand how on the one hand you can complain that the game is too hard, and then assert that it's "cheating" to turn the difficulty slider down. I assure you that it does not go from "too hard" to "god mode" with just a slight movement. The only thing affected by the slider is the ratio of the damage you receive to the damage you dish out, and the multiplier does not change all that much with small movements of the slider, around the center point.

For what it's worth, I play Fallout 3, and I enjoy both games. FO3 is more restrictive as to roleplaying options, and it's a little easier (for instance, enemies always show up on your HUD, so you know who the "bad guys" are from a distance.) The leveling system is different, but I don't see the problem you're having with Oblivion. (Talk about "god mode," though -- just get yourself a Gauss Rifle and Power Armor, and you can go chew up the Capital Wasteland! :wink_smile: ) And it has one of those sliders too; maybe yours is set too low? :tongue:

from what i've seen, meelee combat is completely unavoidable. i do sneak attack with my bow, the only time i can remember sneak attacking with my longsword was against that ghost guarding the entrance, i figured it would be easy to do and i could possibly one-shot it (didnt kill it, ghost wasnt a challenge anyway). the first time i tried the necromancers, i had all five rush into the room to attack me (literally every single monster and npc in that level came after me as soon as i hit one necromancer with my bow)! and i am at a chokepoint of sorts, i'm forced against the door, with three zombies bashing my face in while the necromancers are all hitting me with spells that i have no defense against. and of course any ghosts that are present are also hitting me with spells.... you get the idea.

that's the only thing i've learned in the game: no matter what the hell you do, invisibility sneaking spells, doesnt matter, virtually everything you fight will be bashing you in the face. my rogue actually carries a mithril shield with him! you dont try to go through the game without at least blocking, you wont get past level 3 that way.

hmm, what does he say about his mod right at the beginning?

"Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul aims to make Oblivion a much more interesting, challenging, realistic and dangerous place, and also offers great rewards for the daring adventurer regardless of your level.

You must be prepared to cast aside your previous notions about Cyrodiil. The world no longer revolves around you, the player. Do not expect to be able to beat every monster or NPC you meet. Previously familiar areas may now be much more dangerous and you will frequently be forced to retreat from enemies who are too powerful to beat until you are stronger. You will probably die a lot more often now"

yeah, i'll be avoiding that.