While many RPGs have streamlined their systems to the point where progression is a gradual slope, mostElder Scrollsgames like to throw you into the deep end.The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remasteredis definitely one of those times. After a lengthy tutorial sequence in a dank dungeon and grody sewer, you’re thrust into the limelight and the sun of Cyrodiil, fast-travel mechanic in hand, ready to take on Tamriel.
It can betough to figure out what skills to hone in on inOblivion, especially given the time sink involved in trying to stratify every possible statline. With that in mind, there are several core skills you’re able to focus on, even if your build is melee, magic, or range-focused (or any combination thereof). Some skills will also progress naturally without much effort, leaving you to spend more timefocusing on the storyand navigation. After all, you want to maximize your playtimeuntil the nextElder Scrollsis out.
10Block Helps In Multiple Builds
Keep Yourself Safe Even If You Don’t Use A Shield
To increase any given skill,you’ll need to either practice the skill (in the case of block, literally block in-game to gradually level it up)or obtain skill-ups through secondary sources, like quests, books, and trainers. By and large, skills are boosted by practicing them intuitively, and you’ll slowly increase the efficacy of those skills, earning extra perk-like bonuses. Skills do not inherently increase as a result of a traditional “level-up.”
So, why is blocking a good skill to focus on regardless of your build? It’s simple:every single build is capable of blocking in a pinch. Just because the picture of the block skill shows off a shield, it doesn’t mean that a shield is a hard requirement to benefit from blocking. Holding down the left trigger on Xbox (L2/right click on PlayStation/PC, respectively) will trigger the block animation, and successful blocks result in increasing your block skill.
9Conjuration Can Confuse Enemies Easily
Call Upon NPC Allies
Conjuration is a weird skill to grasp at first, butthink of it like “summoning,“or akin to a Necromancer class in other games. Conjuration allows you to will other helpers into being, first and foremost, but it can also craft temporary items and can be used as an offensive array of spells. Through procuring specific spells (present in both the core game world and theShivering IslesDLC), summoning NPCs in combat can be a powerful tool to help any class or build.
The thing aboutOblivionis thata lot of the NPC AI can be thrown off through the use of conjurations. Bringing just one more body into a fight can confuse enemies, and easily allow you to take advantage of a fight. Whether that conjuration helps you do extra damage or tanks enemies for you and takes some heat off, it can be a really useful skill to pump points into, even if you’re only using basic conjuration spells.
8Armorer Is A Must-Have Skill For Exploring
Repair Your Own Gear
Unless you’re going for a special armor-less speedrun, odds are you’ll be using armor in every single build inOblivion. Whether you’re the type of person who favors light or heavy armaments doesn’t matter, sincethe armorer skill applies to all types of equipment. Investing in armorer can help you avoid multiple trips back to town while you’re adventuring, or save you in a pinch mid-dungeon.
To level up as an armorer, you’ll need to repair equipment periodically. Get in the habit of doing this while you’re traversing the game world, so you can work your way up to the journeyman and expert levels of the skill and repair generally everything in the game. Once you’ve maxed out armorer, you can repair everything infinitely with one hammer.
7Restoration Can Help You Win Tough Fights
Healing…It’s Kind Of Important
I know what you’re thinking: just because you’re not a spellcaster, it doesn’t mean that you won’t get a lot of use out of restoration. Operating primarily as a healing skill,restoration is useful even if you’ve only put a nominal amount of effort into it. Even just one auxiliary heal can make the difference between winning and losing a fight.
Restoration is also dead simple to level up, whether you’re a spellcaster or a physical damage-dealer. For the former, your vast pool of mana will help you pepper in restoration spells with ease. If you’re a melee master,get in the habit of using a simple restoration spell after you’ve been damaged instead of reaching for a potion or food item. Your mana will replenish gradually, and you’ll be able to rinse and repeat the process while leveling restoration.
6Security Is Useful Throughout The Entire Game
Locks Are Prevalent Throughout Oblivion
No matter how you personally approach combat, the way locks and the act of lockpicking work inOblivionis constant. You will need to level it up regardless of your class and build,so that you may access tougher locks and snatch free premium loot. You don’t want to get to the end of a huge dungeon and find out that you can’t actually open a chest that would have granted you a choice item.
When in any given town or city, get in the habit of buying a surplus of lockpicks from NPCs.Once you reach master security (skill level 100) your picks will no longer break, but it’s a long road to get there. Spending extra gold investing in lockpicks can end up yielding dividends later on.
5Sneak Is Effective Even If You Aren’t A Thief
Sometimes Not Fighting Is the Best Strategy
Sneaking around might seem like something limited to rangers or thief builds, but the truth is,everyone can utilize the sneak skill to their advantage, both in and out of main story quests. Sometimes you don’t want to alert an elite mob to your presence, andmany quests inOblivionallow a peaceful resolution. Pacifist builds will want to level up sneaking very quickly, but combat builds can also use the “attack from stealth” damage modifier bonus to open up a fight.
Just keep in mind that early on, especially if you don’t have sneaking as a major or minor skill, your character is generally clunky and loud.Equipment weight (particularly boots) is a problem and impacts your sneak effectivenessuntil the journeyman level of the sneak skill (levels 50 and above). Sneaking also allows one to steal items from NPCs, and can be a quick source of gold.
4Mercantile Lets You Keep Gold For Useful Items
Save Some Gold
InOblivion, having deep pockets can circumvent a lot of stops in the game. Gold can make questing more expedient and net you crucial items and tools (like lockpicks).Saving money is key to avoiding hitting progression wallsin everything from the main story campaign to any number of tricky sidequests.
To boost your mercantile skill, you’ll need to sell items to NPCs. Any item will do, as long as you’re offloading it to a vendor and not chucking it on the ground. Once you’ve hit apprentice level mercantile (levels 25 and above), you can sell equipment to vendors at full sale price even if it’s tarnished/in need of repair. It’s an early gold boost you’ll want to take advantage of.
3Speechcraft Can Change The Story
Unlock New Dialogue Choices
In any Bethesda Softworks game, speechcraft is one of my first priorities. If you’re a master ofOblivioncombat you won’t need to invest a ton in a lot of the game’s skills, leaving you to discover more story bits and pieces that fill out the fluff of Cyrodiil. Speechcraft is always a safe bet to level up, and it only takes an apprentice-level skill to see the results immediately.
In addition to unlocking new dialogue, speechcraft can also be used to bribe NPCs.
As soon as you start gaining skill in speechcraft,you’ll notice the impact through additional dialogue choices,and new scenarios/situations will unlock. It’s also one of the only flavor-heavy skills in the game, as NPCs will change how they act based on how high your speechcraft skill is.
2Acrobatics Is Super Easy To Level
Jumping Will Get You Far In Oblivion
Acrobatics is arguably the most fun skill inOblivionto level up. To work your way up to level 100 (where you can unlock water jumping),all you need to do is jump. Constantly. It’s ridiculous, leaping around everywhere you go, but you will make gradual progress, and leveling acrobatics to level 50 will unlock an additional dodge ability (utilized by jumping as you block).
Just remember that jumping constantly does drain your fatigue bar. If you’re in an area where you’ll need to run away fast or use stamina in combat, you’ll want to cool it on the constant jumping. In safe zones like towns, however, go wild.
1Athletics Will Help You Explore and Fight
Run Like The Wind
Athletics will likely be one of the easiest skills you level up during your time withOblivion. All you need to do to level it up is run (sprint) or swim, which you’ll be doing constantly. The key thing to keep in mind is thatyou will want to run (not walk) everywhere, so that your athletic skill will max out by the time you reach the endgame. That way, you can regenerate your fatigue stat much quicker, until you eventually reach level 100 and just avoid running fatigue altogether.
Swimming can level your athletic skill quicker than sprinting.
While exploring, make a point to take a dip in the water whenever you’re able to. While many portions of Cyrodiil are landlocked,a good combination of sprinting and swimming can boost your athletic skillfar before the end of theElder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remasteredstory campaign.
