In the classic The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the leveling system was rather intricate, often leaving players bewildered. However, the revamped edition, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, has significantly refined this process for a more enjoyable experience.
Understanding the leveling mechanics is crucial for achieving a seamless transition into the endgame. As you enhance your character’s capabilities, the environment accommodates this growth by leveling up itself. Mismanagement of your experience points can lead to overwhelming challenges, as you may find yourself easily defeated by enemies if not properly prepared.
This comprehensive guide focuses not only on leveling your character effectively but also on gaining experience through various skills, thereby positioning yourself for optimal rewards as you progress.
Major and Minor Skills
At the game’s outset, players have the option to select their major skills, either by choosing a predefined class or by crafting a custom character. These major skills will significantly shape your gameplay experience. The remastered version also allows character experience to be accrued from minor skills, albeit at a slower rate compared to major skills.
Exercise caution when leveling skills you don’t intend to use extensively, as progressing through levels introduces tougher adversaries with increased health and damage output. Without a defined combat strategy, you’ll soon face challenges from formidable foes such as Dremora and Elemental Atronachs.
Upon reaching specific level thresholds, you’ll unlock new perks. The level brackets are categorized as follows:
- Novice
- Apprentice
- Journeyman
- Expert
- Master
Do keep in mind that once you achieve level 100 in any skill, further experience points will no longer be earned.
Gaining Experience
Throughout your journey in Oblivion Remastered, nearly every action contributes to skill development. While some skills progress faster than others, it’s essential to remain mindful of your leveling to avoid overreach.
Players can create a custom class that suits their play style, allowing for a blend of the three build types. Below is an overview of skills in the game along with methods to enhance each one:
Warriors
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Armorer | Repair your equipment using repair hammers. |
| Athletics | Sprint or swim to boost this skill. |
| Blade | Utilize longswords and claymores in combat. |
| Block | Use a shield to defend against attacks. |
| Blunt | Defend yourself with axes and hammers. |
| Hand to Hand | Engage in combat using your bare fists. |
| Heavy Armor | Equip heavy armor and withstand enemy blows. |
Mages
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Alchemy | Mix potions with a pestle and mortar, or consume ingredients. |
| Alteration | Cast Alteration spells to level up. |
| Conjuration | Summon familiars using your spell repertoire. |
| Destruction | Employ destructive magic against foes. |
| Illusion | Cast spells that manipulate NPC behaviors. |
| Mysticism | Use spells like Detect Life to enhance your abilities. |
| Restoration | Utilize healing spells and buffs for your stats. |
Thieves
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Acrobatics | Practice jumping during exploration to increase skill. |
| Light Armor | Wear light armor and endure blows to enhance your skill. |
| Marksman | Utilize bows and arrows effectively in combat. |
| Mercantile | Conduct high-value transactions with merchants. |
| Security | Open locks to improve your skills. |
| Sneak | Stealthily navigate around NPCs and attempt pickpocketing. |
| Speechcraft | Engage in dialogue minigames to persuade others. |
You can exploit certain skills to expedite your training. For instance, the sneak skill can be honed early on by methodically sneaking against a wall near a goblin’s location. Additionally, swimming repeatedly against a rock can help boost your athletics skill.Note that skills such as Acrobatics and Athletics continue to evolve even beyond the level 100 cap.
Virtues & Attributes
Now, let’s dive into the leveling component. Once you acquire sufficient experience points to level up, an orange icon will appear in the corner of the screen. This indicates that it’s time to rest.
Find any bed—be it in your home or a simple campsite roll—then you will be confronted with the virtue screen. Feel free to rest for just one hour for a swift level-up.
The eight attributes available for point allocation include:
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Strength | Affects Blade, Blunt, and Hand-to-Hand skills, as well as maximum carry weight. |
| Intelligence | Increases maximum magicka capacity. |
| Willpower | Speeds up magicka restoration and boosts maximum fatigue. |
| Agility | Influences Marksman skills, proficiency with daggers and shortswords, and your sneaking ability. |
| Speed | Affects your overall movement speed. |
| Endurance | Enhances maximum health and regeneration rate. |
| Personality | Affects NPC interactions and shop prices. |
| Luck | Affects almost all gameplay facets; it’s most beneficial when raised above level 50. |
You will have 12 virtue points to distribute; however, allocation is capped at a maximum of three attributes at a time (e.g., 5-5-2).Notably, increasing your luck costs significantly more—4 points, compared to just 1 for other attributes, limiting you to 8 additional points across only two other areas.
While advancing all attributes is valuable, prioritize those most relevant to your character build. Strive to allocate all 12 virtue points whenever possible.Once an attribute reaches 100, it can no longer be enhanced further.
Skill Books
Approaching level 100 in specific skills can be daunting, particularly as they become increasingly time-consuming to develop (level 90 and above).To expedite this process, consider seeking out skill training books for immediate experience. It’s advisable to reserve utilizing these until the late game, as early levels progress more rapidly.
Skill books may be found as quest rewards or scattered across various locations, including houses and dungeons throughout the game. It’s wise to remember the locations of skill books before you engage with them.
Opening a book grants you a level-up. However, once you hit level 100, these books will no longer provide any benefit.
Be cautious when reading books that are not yours; while you may peruse freely, taking them can incur a bounty.
Trainers
If you find yourself with a surplus of gold, consider enlisting the help of trainers to level up your skills. Trainers specializing in a variety of disciplines are dispersed throughout Cyrodiil, each with particular training capabilities.Each trainer can only train you up to five times per level.
If you’re having difficulty locating a suitable trainer, follow guild questlines, such as those associated with the Mage’s Guild or the Arcane University, which offer a plethora of trainers across all major skills. They can also recharge your weapons and sell you necessary spells for your own skill development.
Keep in mind, as you level up, training costs will escalate. Fortunately, accumulating wealth in Oblivion is relatively manageable. At level 20 and beyond, you’ll encounter Ebony gear frequently, which can be enchanted and sold for high prices in the Imperial City market district.
Leveled Rewards
As enticing as it may be to hastily traverse the realm of Oblivion, completing every quest without regard for leveling can lead to missed opportunities upon replaying.Not all quests or rewards scale consistently with your character level.
Your character level determines the quality of quest rewards. For instance, a Chillrend Sword collected early on will not possess the same strength as one received at character level 25.
A quintessential example is the Mundane Ring, accessible from Raven Camoran’s body in the sewers. It is most advantageous to acquire this ring when reaching level 22, especially when paired with the Breton class to ensure invulnerability to spells.
This principle applies across the board for many Dark Brotherhood quests, which offer stellar rewards best obtained around level 30.
While meticulous planning for rewards is not strictly necessary, when entering the higher levels of the game, the quality of your gear can make all the difference, especially if you are playing on difficulties beyond Adept. Be prepared, and good luck!
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