Your first problem was following the main storyline. Fuck that shit. I don't really see why Bethesda bothered to put it in the game, it wouldn't be lacking anything if it was removed.
Oblivion is impossible!
- Thread starter Westaway
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Probably shouldn't jump into the campaign right away. If you need help go do some sidequests or join a faction. Level yourself up a little, or just turn the difficulty down.
The problem with leveling up in Oblivion is that the game expects you to know from the start what skills you're going to use the most, so if you start the game over and set your characters skills to match what you've been using the most, you should be in better shape.
My brother made the note that while in stealth, if you shoot an arrow at someone's neck, then they may, after a moment, say "Huh...must have been the wind."
However, I will note the irony: Based on the amount of damage arrows do, I don't blame the NPC for thinking that.
However, I will note the irony: Based on the amount of damage arrows do, I don't blame the NPC for thinking that.
A friend of mine was saying the same thing yesterday!
He's an archer, so I told him to learn better shield and summon spells.
He's an archer, so I told him to learn better shield and summon spells.
I hate Oblivion! I wanted to play a archery character with NO magic at all. Couldn't do it. I couldn't kill anything! I don't like magic or stealth, I just want to play with fairly realistic weapons. Just quit and play Fallout 3 instead. I could go through fallout 3 with nothing but small arms, although a few things were a bit hard.
Really? I always found Oblivion piss easy. I can plough through questlines in hours without dying at all.
An easy kind of character to play, I found, is a stealthy one. Have a class that's good with blade, sneak and security, finish the Dark Brotherhood questline and make sure to get all the bonus rewards, wear the Black Hand robes and use either Sufferthorn or the Blade of Woe, all of which you'll get along the questline, and you're pretty much a walking death machine.
And make sure you have a lot of lockpicks on you all the time. You'll be screaming in your head if you end up at a locked door you need to get through and have no lockpicks.
An easy kind of character to play, I found, is a stealthy one. Have a class that's good with blade, sneak and security, finish the Dark Brotherhood questline and make sure to get all the bonus rewards, wear the Black Hand robes and use either Sufferthorn or the Blade of Woe, all of which you'll get along the questline, and you're pretty much a walking death machine.
And make sure you have a lot of lockpicks on you all the time. You'll be screaming in your head if you end up at a locked door you need to get through and have no lockpicks.
I am way, way too lazy to read this whole thread just to offer advice, but if you're finding the skill system is putting you off of the game download Obscuro's Oblivion Overhaul with maximum haste. Words cannot describe how much a few mods like that and some of the combat overhauls/additions can add to an already fantastic game. OOO is a massive retooling of the game to give it a more traditional leveling system and as well as making most loot and monsters static. It also comes bundled with some other high quality add-ons.
First off, since this is your first time playing, you want to customize as little as possible.Sup I said:
Choose a default class (I suggest a melee heavy class), there are several that have no magic at all, and I think there is one that has blade/blunt/heavy armor/etc. etc.
Second, the leveling system in this game is not really the same as most games. Your primary talents determine what level you are, and your secondary talents are there for shits and giggles. So, if you have speechcraft as a primary skill, and level that to 50, your level will reflect that. If your speechcraft is level 50, and your blade is level 5, then your actual level will not reflect your combat proficiency.
Third, and this is very important, all enemies in this game scale to YOUR level. So if you are level 5, every enemy you encounter, will be scaled to that level. For the most part, this scaling will not make a bit of difference (crabs and rats can't get any stronger really), but if you go into a dungeon at level 5, and at level 25, the enemies you encounter will be very very different. This is very important to remember, because if you are level 15 because your restoration, acrobatics, and speechcraft are leveled through the roof, and your blade, light armor, and block are level 5, you will be pretty useless in combat. So instead of fighting against enemies that reflect your combat proficiency, enemies that would have leather armor and iron swords, you will fight enemies with glass armor and silver swords.
So be very careful how you level, and take it easy.
Also: don't go into any oblivion gates until you are positive that you can take care of yourself. The oblivion gates are really difficult at first.
I suggest doing some side quests in a guild (fighters or assassins guild is great for starting gear) until you have a good set of armor, good weapons, and a good amount of restoration at your fingertips (potions or spells).
I remember when I first started playing Oblivion. My characters were completely random, and I couldn't figure out the leveling system. Which lead me to level up in a way that had my stats end up being subpar compared to the level scaled enemies.
About gameplay;
Join the Mage, Thief and Assassin guilds. Unless you get some DLC, the getting into the Mage's compound is the only way to craft your own spells and create your own enchanted equipment. The Thief and Assassin guilds have some interesting quests.
Find the Peryite shrine ASAP, before you complete its quest, you can wail on the immortal soulless husks of its followers to train weapon/spells.
Leveling your character the "right way" is just like playing a spreadsheet.
Plan ahead, vary your class skills, get 10 points in two (or one if you're working on Luck) in skills of differing attributes, then get 10 points in a skill in a class skill and get +5 to those 3 attributes (or +5 to the 2 attributes and +1 to Luck).
Plan ahead, vary your class skills, get 10 points in two (or one if you're working on Luck) in skills of differing attributes, then get 10 points in a skill in a class skill and get +5 to those 3 attributes (or +5 to the 2 attributes and +1 to Luck).
Join the Mage, Thief and Assassin guilds. Unless you get some DLC, the getting into the Mage's compound is the only way to craft your own spells and create your own enchanted equipment. The Thief and Assassin guilds have some interesting quests.
When doing the Anvil Recommendation quest, run backwards and when you see the wizard give chase, run into the wilderness and attack them before they speak with you. That way, the wizard will still count as an innocent and the assassins will talk with you.
Also read the instruction rulebook, like really read it. That way you'll actually know what the mechanics of the game are and the icons- i mean really not seeing the health bar is something that could be fixed with just a few minutes patience and reading the book.
Do side quests, that's on of the main features of an oblivion game. Doing side quests and just generally exploring will give you more items, gold, experience (as in the opportunity touse your skills and hence level.)
Make sure your main skills are the skills you will actually use regularly or yo will never level, or hate doing so as you will have to grind.
If you really are stuck then turn the difficulty down. I personally don't know where all these people saying they had to turn it down are coming from (i found it just fine), but people are better at and enjoy different things so whatever.
Do side quests, that's on of the main features of an oblivion game. Doing side quests and just generally exploring will give you more items, gold, experience (as in the opportunity touse your skills and hence level.)
Make sure your main skills are the skills you will actually use regularly or yo will never level, or hate doing so as you will have to grind.
If you really are stuck then turn the difficulty down. I personally don't know where all these people saying they had to turn it down are coming from (i found it just fine), but people are better at and enjoy different things so whatever.
As others have said, mod the game now..
In particular, get a mod which makes levelling reasonable. As it stands, the system is gob-smackingly stupid because it rewards you more for sitting around casting precisely the right number of light spells than it does for actually doing what your class is meant to be good at.
Oblivion is not a bad game once it's been modded. But I really don't understand why it seems to be so popular. It is utterly, ridiculously crappy without mods.
In particular, get a mod which makes levelling reasonable. As it stands, the system is gob-smackingly stupid because it rewards you more for sitting around casting precisely the right number of light spells than it does for actually doing what your class is meant to be good at.
Oblivion is not a bad game once it's been modded. But I really don't understand why it seems to be so popular. It is utterly, ridiculously crappy without mods.
ok, enemies always have health bars: they just dont have images in some games. you do get experience, but its in certain areas (hand to hand, light armour etc) and the major skills determine your levelling exp. also, enemies level up with you, so people suggest having the skill you'll use more as minor skills so you dont level up when you use them, but you still have a high skill in them. also, dont do the main quest only, do the arena/fighters guild/mages guild and level up your combat/magic skills and access better stuff. i had pretty much done the arena and was blazing my way through the mages guild when i went to joffre.
also, in the oblivion gate, you get a Kvatch guard as a follower.
also, in the oblivion gate, you get a Kvatch guard as a follower.
The first gate is damn hard. The best thing to do is basically ignore it for a while. Find one of the guilds like Mage or Warriors and do some side stuff for a good while. You'll level up/get some more experiance with the game and the first Gate wont be quite a pain in the arse as it is. It's an open RPG game, you really don't have to follow the story line until you're good and ready. It took me 30+ hours to complete, because I was having too much fun doing other stuff to bother with running round saving the world.
Bows are also pretty pointless. They're upgrading that in Skyrim apparently, as well as the combat system.
Health bars are not essential. COD, Halo etc don't have them. Just hit it until it stops moving
In short, its good once you get into it. Don't just follow the story line, do other stuff. Don't worry too much about the gates and so on, they just tend to sit around without causing much trouble.
On the side discussion: Played it without mods, loved it.
Bows are also pretty pointless. They're upgrading that in Skyrim apparently, as well as the combat system.
Health bars are not essential. COD, Halo etc don't have them. Just hit it until it stops moving
In short, its good once you get into it. Don't just follow the story line, do other stuff. Don't worry too much about the gates and so on, they just tend to sit around without causing much trouble.
On the side discussion: Played it without mods, loved it.
I had the exact same problem the first time i tried it but once you get used to it its great fun. Definitely give it a second chance