So, I just started playing Oblivion....

[JackandTom]

Well it started when I started thinking Skyrim was looking good, but I had never played oblivion. I own a large majority of the best Xbox 360 games but not Oblivion. So I picked it up and so far I am liking it. But I realised I didn't know the best ways to play and all the secrets to getting the best out of the game, so, I was wondering what advise you guys would have for a guy just starting out? Is there any secret weapons I should know? Or any other things I should know?

 

[ZeroMachine]

I hate to break it to you, but you already made the biggest mistake- if at all possible, you should get Oblivion on PC. Mods are fantastic. I got a freakin' Keyblade.

All I can recommend is to just explore, explore, explore.

And get the unbreakable lockpick (I forget what it's called, but I know it's a Daedric artifact) ASAP. I think you need to be level 10 or 15 to get it.

Shutting down at least a few Oblivion gates before beating the main storyline is advisable too. Good free enchantments.

 

[Rule Britannia]

(Sorry for all the 'ifs' in this post)

If you're playing on normal difficulty then good for you. Oblivion is difficult in that way.

If you are playing on normal you NEED health potions lots of them.

If you're playing on easiest possible difficulty you should be fine, just wait an hour after each fight and you'll be on full health.
Do the dark brotherhood questline (kill an innocent person(bandits and random hostile humans do not count)) the dark brotherhood is great fun and you can get lots of money from doing it.

If you're looking to level up to the fighters guild (assuming you're a warrior or archer)

If you're a mage then go do the mages guild (joining it is a pain in the arse though ¬.¬)

Stack up your money, if you want a house you'll need to accumlate a lot of money. You'll also need money for that new sword you've been looking at in the store. (Although you'll probably find a better one off of a dead bandit)

Sorry if you knew all this stuff already.
GOOD LUCK

 

[ZeroMachine]

Stack up your money, if you want a house you'll need to accumlate a lot of money.

Right, IMO, the best house in the game only costs 5000 Septims and a quest. It's in Anvil. Ask around the inn.

 

[LilithSlave]

I'm going to have to go with Zero that playing the game in the XBOX 360 is vastly inferior to playing it on the PC.

 

[DirgeNovak]

I'll second the guy who said to get the Skeleton Key from Nocturnal as soon as you hit level 10. Lockpicking in Oblivion is shiiiiit.

Other than that, find an isolated farm or something and murder its occupant. Then go to sleep and have fun for days.

 

[Kestor]

Battle-Mage is the best all-rounder in the game to start off with, and probably the closest you'll get to be that OMFG I'm GOD feeling.

 

[Zeh Don]

A few things you should do in order to get the best start possible:

1. Complete the quest line from Jansine in the Market District, dealing with Thoronir.
At the end of it, you'll have a good starter weapon and an empty house to dump excess stuff in. Don't put items in the chests however, as they'll re-set - just drop them on the ground in the house. Also, make sure Guards don't see you entering as it counts as trespassing. This quest also boosts Sale prices and lowers Vendor prices for everyone in the Market district, giving you more money earlier.

2. After that, complete the Arena.
You'll get loads of XP, money and rewards. While completing the Arena, you'll encounter the Grey Price, who'll eventually give you a quest. Finish this quest before you finish the Arena, and the last fight will be easy - and it's a free kill that counts as a "murder" without having to worry about messing anything up.

3. After the Arena, sleep.
You'll be visited by the Dark Brotherhood. Complete their entire Guild Questline. You'll be rewarded with an undying Horse - who when knocked unconscious can you can load up with unlimited items - and a variety of interesting weapons and armour in the process. It's also the most interesting of three Guilds.

4. Don't visit Kavach in the main quest until you're ready for random Oblivion gates opening all over the place. They can make exploration needlessly difficult thanks to the powerful enemies they can spawn.

5. Focus on leveling Armourer and Alchemy.
A Max level Armourer doesn't break repair hammers, meaning one repair hammer will see you through until the end of the world. Alchemy allows you to create helpful potions, like healing potions, and terrific poisons, which can make you basically unstoppable.

6. Obtain the Sword Umbra. Google the details. Once you've obtained Umbra, obtain Azura's Star. Google the details. Produce a large number of Black Soul Gems. Google the details. Obtain a full set of Deadric Armour. Enchant full set of Deadric Armour with Chameleon. You'll be granted over 100% - meaning you can now go anywhere, do anything and no one will even blink.

Enjoy!

 

[Vicarious Reality]

The deedra shrine quests gives you fun loot.
Also, caves, ruins and other dungeons all pretty much look the same.
Investing in speed is a great idea, and use UESP.net if you get stuck.
Stay away from vampires unless you like burning to death during the day and never being able to talk to anyone.
Arrows bounce off skeletons and those fire... ladies.
Your horse will always get in between you and whatever is attacking you.
Buy a house to store all your crap.
Don't pick up things to look at them inside shops.

 

[Amnestic]

Ignore everyone's suggestions.

Pick a direction and run in it. Get distracted by whatever comes in your path. Explore. Get lost in the wilderness. Get a bounty on your head. Do whatever the hell you want.

Things like this:

You'll be granted over 100% - meaning you can now go anywhere, do anything and no one will even blink.

Completely break the game from the get go. While that can be funny for a while or on repeated play throughs, it tends to dull it on the first time.

Strap on a blindfold and do whatever appeals to you. Once you get a dozen or so hours under your belt, then come back and ask people what's cool to do.

 

[LilithSlave]

Other than that, find an isolated farm or something and murder its occupant. Then go to sleep and have fun for days.

I hate how a game that constantly refers to you as a chosen hero, allows you to act like a constant sick creep.

This is one thing I don't understand about wRPGs. Sure, jRPGs don't allow you to be a super villainous jerk. But that's a kind of lame choice to begin with. And kind of dumbfounding when the game says "you're the hero". In a world like Disgaea, it kind of makes sense to have moral choices, because you're not exactly given a role of saving everything and being a good hero. You're just a demon who, may or may not have an inner heart and goodness like Flonne thinks.

But a hero who kills people at random? Not my idea of a hero.

Then again, I'm also a person who likes acting moral in games to begin with. So I wouldn't take the immoral choices even if given them, so they're a useless option to me.

 

[Furioso]

Looks like I am the only one who thought lockpicking was an easy to master challenge, as for everything else, once you have access to a place where you can make your own spells (Mages Guild I think) creating your own nuke spell is a fun way to cause untold amounts of pain

 

[trooper6]

Hi OP, ignore all the PC Master Race folks. Oblivion is fun on the 360 as well as on the PC...and I think a lot of mods are overrated. You've got a 360, you've got Oblivion enjoy it.

So that said, I do have some advice:

You level up your skills and that ups your overall level. You can quickly level, depending on class, by doing things like Jumping...but here's the thing...don't do it! If you power level mainly through the use of non-combat skills you'll find yourself in trouble because all the monsters level up with you. You'll be a level 10 Rogue, with level 5 combat skills going up against monsters with level 10 combat skills and you'll be sad.

Enjoy yourself! Play in ways that speak to you. If you want to play all stealth all the time...do that! If you like being a burly fighter...do that! You can always play more than one play through to do different sorts of things.

 

[Riddle78]

Ignore everyone's suggestions.

Pick a direction and run in it. Get distracted by whatever comes in your path. Explore. Get lost in the wilderness. Get a bounty on your head. Do whatever the hell you want.

Things like this:

You'll be granted over 100% - meaning you can now go anywhere, do anything and no one will even blink.

Completely break the game from the get go. While that can be funny for a while or on repeated play throughs, it tends to dull it on the first time.

Strap on a blindfold and do whatever appeals to you. Once you get a dozen or so hours under your belt, then come back and ask people what's cool to do.

I agree with this post,but with one caveat. I strongly encourage you to get the PC release of the game,with The Shivering Isles. That way,when Vanilla Oblivion starts to slow down for you (It will take a VERY long time,but it will happen,sadly),you'll be able to mod the game to add new dimensions and replayability.

 

[shrekfan246]

Other than that, find an isolated farm or something and murder its occupant. Then go to sleep and have fun for days.

I hate how a game that constantly refers to you as a chosen hero, allows you to act like a constant sick creep.

This is one thing I don't understand about wRPGs. Sure, jRPGs don't allow you to be a super villainous jerk. But that's a kind of lame choice to begin with. And kind of dumbfounding when the game says "you're the hero". In a world like Disgaea, it kind of makes sense to have moral choices, because you're not exactly given a role of saving everything and being a good hero. You're just a demon who, may or may not have an inner heart and goodness like Flonne thinks.

But a hero who kills people at random? Not my idea of a hero.

Then again, I'm also a person who likes acting moral in games to begin with. So I wouldn't take the immoral choices even if given them, so they're a useless option to me.

Don't worry, you're not the only one. Playing through Mass Effect/Dragon Age, I always feel bad if I ever take the "jackass" options during dialogue/missions. I'm not even sure why, because when I do pick them I usually find them hilarious. It just makes it feel a bit more realistic and immersive to me that these people would be so willing to help the actual nice guy who's supposed to be the hero of the galaxy, rather than the guy who blows people's heads off if they look at him funny.

 

[lovest harding]

Ignore everyone's suggestions.

Pick a direction and run in it. Get distracted by whatever comes in your path. Explore. Get lost in the wilderness. Get a bounty on your head. Do whatever the hell you want.

Things like this:

You'll be granted over 100% - meaning you can now go anywhere, do anything and no one will even blink.

Completely break the game from the get go. While that can be funny for a while or on repeated play throughs, it tends to dull it on the first time.

Strap on a blindfold and do whatever appeals to you. Once you get a dozen or so hours under your belt, then come back and ask people what's cool to do.

So much this.
So much. Oblivion is a lot less interesting if you're playing by someone else's rules or with direction from a walkthrough or guide.

EDIT: All these people recommending PC version are just too fond of mods. Mods are a GREAT addition to the game, but it's a wonderful game on it's own. Mods do not make it a great game, they simply can add to an already huge world and polish issues (that 99% of the time aren't game breaking) that Bethesda didn't.

 

[smeghead25]

But I realised I didn't know the best ways to play and all the secrets to getting the best out of the game

The best way to play, and the secret for getting the most out of that game: There is no best way to play and there is no secret for getting the most out of the game.

Honestly.

I played it for long hours and everytime I would tell myself 'today you are doing the story quests'. And everytime, a few hours later, I would realise that I hadn't even started one. The game is huge. Basically, if you see something interesting, there's a good chance that it is. If you see a mine entrance or something, there's probably someone to kill in there. And loot to be had. Or a secret entrance to a dungeon inside. Explore everywhere and talk to everything.

 

[Irridium]

Do NOT put choose skills you use as those required to level up. Because everything levels up with you, meaning that as time goes on, everything gets stronger, some creatures disappear(which actually breaks a few quests), and eventually you STOP getting physically stronger, but the NPC's don't.

Yeah, Oblivion's leveling is broken. Pick skills you'll never use as level-up skills.

 

[zehydra]

I hate to break it to you, but you already made the biggest mistake- if at all possible, you should get Oblivion on PC. Mods are fantastic. I got a freakin' Keyblade.

All I can recommend is to just explore, explore, explore.

And get the unbreakable lockpick (I forget what it's called, but I know it's a Daedric artifact) ASAP. I think you need to be level 10 or 15 to get it.

Shutting down at least a few Oblivion gates before beating the main storyline is advisable too. Good free enchantments.

I recommend playing the game vanilla first before installing mods. If you install mods right off the bat, you'll never know if you enjoyed Oblivion.