The Elder Scrolls: How to approach for a beginner?!

[Edguy]

I've been meaning to play TES for a long time, even before Skyrim elevated the serious to the top of the hype shelf, but I struggle a little getting into it. I bought Oblivion (in the fabulous BioShock combo, which my friend hadn't played) almost a year ago, but didn't really get any further than Kvatch (where I was saving this Martin guy, or whatever his name is).

I think much of the problem is that I'm kind of compulsive about exploring and collecting. That works out ok in lighter games like Mass Effect and BioShock, but it gets kind of.. tiresome in TES.

Anyways, I guess what I'm asking for is some general tips on how to play; how to effectively use alchemy; how quickly I should progress the main plot; whether I should explore dungeons, or wait until they possibly become part of a quest; how to go about gear and weapons etc.

EDIT; I'm on Xbox, so modding is pretty much out of the question. Also; enchanting?! Is it important? Should I be careful not to waste the orbs/stones I collect from the Oblivion gates? Should I wait with enchanting until I get some rare gear that's worth keeping? How does soul gems work? The fact that enchanted weapons have a set number of uses REALLY puts me off..

My character, btw, is a Nord Mage, which seems to prefer destruction magic and blunt one hand weapons. So yeah, kind of a mess.

EDITEDIT; Any gear suggestions for my half-soldier/half-mage Nord? I believe what I'm seeking is one-handed weapons, preferably blunt, and light armor. Obviously not asking for ultimate endgame stuff here, but something that's be available for me, being lvl 4(?).

Also; have they improved the incredibly awkward conversations in Skyrim? I have no words for how horrible the camera angling and character behavior is when speaking to people..

Captcha:
"Which one is hardest?
-Sleeping
-Looking straight ahead
-Sitting down
-Jumping up and down on one leg while chewing gum"

Teh fuk, get your stuff together..

 

[Ruedyn]

-Nord Mage-

Milk drinker >_>

Yeah, explore as much as possible, dungeons give the best weapons and armor, and in Oblivion you can all but ignore the main quest. In fact, I recommend it, because the Plains of Oblivion are WAAAAAAAAAAY shittier than one would first assume, and it's only useful for pointless potions. And plot, I guess.

Oh, and as for Alchemy, just health potions. You're going to want enough that you have an effective IV in combat, maybe mana pots if you're a mage.

And one last tip, kill someone. Don't make it an obvious thing, prison time is a thing, just secretly kill someone. You'll thank me

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I couldn't play Oblivion. First time I lost interest after the tutorial, second time I lost interest after the first Oblivion gate (or whatever they are). For some reason, though, I loved Skyrim. Maybe it is the same for you?

Also, to your captcha, sleeping is actually harder than any of those for me.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

How to quickly progress the main plot: Do the main quest. That is all. It's only about 10 hours long.

 

[Edguy]

I couldn't play Oblivion. First time I lost interest after the tutorial, second time I lost interest after the first Oblivion gate (or whatever they are). For some reason, though, I loved Skyrim. Maybe it is the same for you?

Also, to your captcha, sleeping is actually harder than any of those for me.

I sort of have to play Skyrim sooner or later, it's one of those must try games, but I at last want to play through Oblivion first.

About the captcha, I agree. Are these subjective questions really necessary?

How to quickly progress the main plot: Do the main quest. That is all. It's only about 10 hours long.

I meant if I should do a lot of side quests first, or follow up the main quests early on.

 

[Esotera]

Just do whatever the hell you feel like doing, and if you're struggling put down the difficulty or become an OP sneaky archer. It's a game & no-one else can tell you how to play it.

That said, it's a good idea to play with a wiki handy, as there's inevitably going to be a quest you get stuck on or maybe you just want to learn more about the mechanics.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

People talk about the previous TES as being good RPGs. Or better RPGs than Skyrim, whatever, but the gameplay was... painful. Like, in Oblivion, there was a skill that leveled up damage inflicted that also leveled up by jumping, so you spend half the game jumping around and suddenly you are the best at everything. Melee was spammy and impractical, Archery was heavy and clunky, Magic was annoying and involved too much waiting around for recharges. (Well, those problems exist in Skyrim, but they aren't as bad! Archery in Skyrim is still the funnest I've ever experienced.)

How to play: Just do what feels right. Even if you're junk at the game, it's really easy to get ahead.

Effectively use Alchemy: It's not entirely worth the time, in my opinion, unless you're going for really strong poisons. Otherwise, spells and dungeon looting will give you enough of what you want.
Progress through main plot: It's not necessary, nor is it hard or that good.
Explore or wait until quests: Dungeons that are a part of specific quests usually are blocked off until that quest is activated, so everything is fair game. It depends on if you want to or not.
How to get the good stuff: Just play the game. Some dungeons have one rare or expensive item at the end of it. Or you could just wait until the item is sold in the store and then buy it with your loadsamoney.

How to quickly progress the main plot: Do the main quest. That is all. It's only about 10 hours long.

I remember before Skyrim came out, there was a news article that it took one of the playtesters less than two hours to beat the main quest. Course, it was done by a person who probably played the game for hundreds of hours, and it was on the easiest setting, but man.

 

[Doom972]

Oblivion isn't the best of the series. It would've been better if you started with Skyrim or Morrowind.

The answer to all your questions - whatever you prefer to do. Continue the main quest when you feel like it, explore when you feel like it, etc. Personally, I like to get to a city/town (the first one is the Imperial City) and do all the quests in it, and then the outside quests that are closest. When traveling between settlements, I only go to dungeons as long as I have enough room to carry loot.

As for your race: Pick whatever you like. In the long run, it won't matter that much.
As for your class: Create a custom class and pick the skills that appeal the most to you. I recommend not picking skills that level up without your control - those would be athletics, acrobatics, heavy armor and light armor.

 

[DoPo]

As for your class: Create a custom class and pick the skills that appeal the most to you. I recommend not picking skills that level up without your control - those would be athletics, acrobatics, heavy armor and light armor.

No, no, no - don't do that. Pick the skills you don't want. But yes, pick skills that you can control the levelling of. So absolutely don't get acrobatics or athletics, and don't pick block unless you won't be using shields and so on and so forth. The reason is simple - the game punishes you if you level up too fast - everything else levels with you but due to the obtuse way your character is advancing, one wrong step and you'll be picked off by any bandit in range while no more powerful than a squirrel. Athletics/acrobatics are especially bad as they level up on their own and very fast at that - you can pretty much get ten or so levels just exploring the Imperial City for the first time, at which point you'll be boned.

Actually, it would be better to use a mod with an an alternative levelling system - try TES Nexus for some. And while you're at it, get the No Psychic Guards mod, too. It's so worth it.

Other than that...I dunno what to say - just explore and do whatever you want, really. It might be better to leave off the main quest for the beginning - do something else.

And one last tip, kill someone. Don't make it an obvious thing, prison time is a thing, just secretly kill someone. You'll thank me

There was a bosmer NPC in Skingrad roaming the streets - take his quest. While not related it would lead you to killing a person. It would suffice.

 

[Doom972]

As for your class: Create a custom class and pick the skills that appeal the most to you. I recommend not picking skills that level up without your control - those would be athletics, acrobatics, heavy armor and light armor.

No, no, no - don't do that. Pick the skills you don't want. But yes, pick skills that you can control the levelling of. So absolutely don't get acrobatics or athletics, and don't pick block unless you won't be using shields and so on and so forth. The reason is simple - the game punishes you if you level up too fast - everything else levels with you but due to the obtuse way your character is advancing, one wrong step and you'll be picked off by any bandit in range while no more powerful than a squirrel. Athletics/acrobatics are especially bad as they level up on their own and very fast at that - you can pretty much get ten or so levels just exploring the Imperial City for the first time, at which point you'll be boned.

Actually, it would be better to use a mod with an an alternative levelling system - try TES Nexus for some. And while you're at it, get the No Psychic Guards mod, too. It's so worth it.

Not a good advice for a beginner. If you do this the wrong way, you can stay at level 1 for the entire game and never get high-level gear and will keep running into the boring low-level enemies. It's only good for an experienced player who wants to have complete control over his level-ups. It's also not a good advice for a beginner to use mechanic-changing mods that have the potential of breaking the game.

 

[Evil Top Hat]

Do whatever you like, really. Elder Scrolls games are accommodating and not that difficult, you can do as you please and face no negative repercussions in almost all circumstances.

Speaking as a guy with hundreds (and hundreds, and hundreds) of hours in Oblivion, I advise talking to random people if you haven't met that NPC before. Side quests can often pop up out of nowhere, and if somebody gives you anything other than the stock conversation options then chances are they have a quest for you. Also, know that one of Oblivion's major failings is that there's fuck all to see or find in most dungeons, so if you're going to start doing them, know that unless they are quest dungeons, your curiosity will go largely unsatisfied.
I love Oblivion because of the freedom it gives you. Want to be an Dark Brotherhood assassin that exclusively uses mysticism? You can do that. Want to max athletics on your warrior and run faster than a horse whilst wearing full plate armour? Why the heck not. Want to sod the whole world saving business and retire to be a scholar, collecting and reading all manner of different books in your hand decorated mansion? Whatevs. Elder Scrolls games are chill. I like that.

 

[DoPo]

As for your class: Create a custom class and pick the skills that appeal the most to you. I recommend not picking skills that level up without your control - those would be athletics, acrobatics, heavy armor and light armor.

No, no, no - don't do that. Pick the skills you don't want. But yes, pick skills that you can control the levelling of. So absolutely don't get acrobatics or athletics, and don't pick block unless you won't be using shields and so on and so forth. The reason is simple - the game punishes you if you level up too fast - everything else levels with you but due to the obtuse way your character is advancing, one wrong step and you'll be picked off by any bandit in range while no more powerful than a squirrel. Athletics/acrobatics are especially bad as they level up on their own and very fast at that - you can pretty much get ten or so levels just exploring the Imperial City for the first time, at which point you'll be boned.

Actually, it would be better to use a mod with an an alternative levelling system - try TES Nexus for some. And while you're at it, get the No Psychic Guards mod, too. It's so worth it.

Not a good advice for a beginner. If you do this the wrong way, you can stay at level 1 for the entire game and never get high-level gear and will keep running into the boring low-level enemies. It's only good for an experienced player who wants to have complete control over his level-ups. It's also not a good advice for a beginner to use mechanic-changing mods that have the potential of breaking the game.

Do they? The levelling mods I've seen tend to be sane and actually work. Heck, I'm pretty sure that's where Skyrim got its levelling system too - they try to actually integrate levelling with playing what you like.

 

[Doom972]

As for your class: Create a custom class and pick the skills that appeal the most to you. I recommend not picking skills that level up without your control - those would be athletics, acrobatics, heavy armor and light armor.

No, no, no - don't do that. Pick the skills you don't want. But yes, pick skills that you can control the levelling of. So absolutely don't get acrobatics or athletics, and don't pick block unless you won't be using shields and so on and so forth. The reason is simple - the game punishes you if you level up too fast - everything else levels with you but due to the obtuse way your character is advancing, one wrong step and you'll be picked off by any bandit in range while no more powerful than a squirrel. Athletics/acrobatics are especially bad as they level up on their own and very fast at that - you can pretty much get ten or so levels just exploring the Imperial City for the first time, at which point you'll be boned.

Actually, it would be better to use a mod with an an alternative levelling system - try TES Nexus for some. And while you're at it, get the No Psychic Guards mod, too. It's so worth it.

Not a good advice for a beginner. If you do this the wrong way, you can stay at level 1 for the entire game and never get high-level gear and will keep running into the boring low-level enemies. It's only good for an experienced player who wants to have complete control over his level-ups. It's also not a good advice for a beginner to use mechanic-changing mods that have the potential of breaking the game.

Do they? The levelling mods I've seen tend to be sane and actually work. Heck, I'm pretty sure that's where Skyrim got its levelling system too - they try to actually integrate levelling with playing what you like.

What I'm getting at is that an experienced player will know to recognize problems because he already played the game without these mods, and would probably know how to work around problems that may come up because of these mods. I think that it's best to play the game as it is (Except for texture packs) for a while before changing it with mods.

I understand your argument and as an experienced Oblivion player I agree with you, but I don't think that it's a good idea for a beginner to exploit the leveling system or mod it.

 

[Comocat]

I'd find some detailed walkthroughs that look interesting and copy them. Games like Skyrim are as much about playing the game as they are having knowledge about the game. Once you get a good appreciation for the different storylines, you can experiment with what works well for you.

Some people are advising you can do whatever you want, which is technically true, but I find its harder to play with wacky combos than with tried and true allocation of points and styles. IMO, it's easier to get into the role play aspect of the game if you are playing archetypes (sneak archer, heavy armor warrior, etc) than a spontaneous amalgam of skills.

For me it boiled down to finding a way to create an organic progression throughout skyrim. It's easy to get waylaid on the bazillion side quests, so if you are guided through the game it makes a lot more sense. My first playthough I sampled a little bit of everything and got nowhere. My subsequent playthroughs have been more targeted and a lot more fun for me to play.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

because the Plains of Oblivion are WAAAAAAAAAAY shittier than one would first assume, and it's only useful for pointless potions. And plot, I guess

Wrong. Them sigal stones are kick ass for making magic weapons

I would also recommend, that you shouldn't be afraid to completely break the game. That's the best part of any Bethesda game. Learn that trick to duplicate items (its laughably simple). I liked taking sigal stones, copying a dozen at a time, and making items so I could infinitely buff myself. Of course, I did this after reaching level 80 and saying "fuck it. I'm going to make myself a god now"

 

[LAGG]

It's pretty easy there's no special tips needed to play it.

 

[Judgement101]

Elder Scrolls games have a plot? Since when?

There really isn't many tips to give, but if you're going for Morrowind, enjoy the horrible combat but amazing world.

 

[piinyouri]

People talk about the previous TES as being good RPGs. Or better RPGs than Skyrim, whatever, but the gameplay was... painful. Like, in Oblivion, there was a skill that leveled up damage inflicted that also leveled up by jumping, so you spend half the game jumping around and suddenly you are the best at everything. Melee was spammy and impractical, Archery was heavy and clunky, Magic was annoying and involved too much waiting around for recharges. (Well, those problems exist in Skyrim, but they aren't as bad! Archery in Skyrim is still the funnest I've ever experienced.)

Morrowind and previous games were better RPG's.
May not have been good action RPG's, as Oblivion and Skyrim are clearly better at that, but Morrowinds combat was just a placeholder representation of the old style dice rolling combat, and it had a lot more complexity than Oblivion or Skyrim. (Not all of which was necessarily good mind you, but most of it was.)

It wasn't so much about the action, it was about character building, questing and exploration.

 

[Edguy]

Thanks for the replies people, but anyone have any tips on alchemy and enchanting? I really want to et a little into it, for the sake of fully covering the game