Oblivion is a pretty great game. I really love the fact that NPC's have routines they maintain. People go to bed. They go out for a bite to eat. They socialize. They don't just stand around in the same spot waiting for a player to come see them. In that respect, it makes being a thief or spy type of character very entertaining.
But there's a lot of other elements that work against that type of character. What I really don't like is that opponenets are auto-leveled to (supposedly) be a match for you, but your combat ability only improves if you actually utilize your combat skills You can easily gain several levels by doing non-combat activities, and then find yourself unable to defeat fairly oridinary opponents.
In terms of equipment, if your thief wants to survive, then he winds up strapping on shiny chainmail and carrying a big steel shield. Lame.
And you wind up needing to cast spells too. Darkness is a genuine problem, so you at least need the ability to deal with darkness (torches occupy a hand slot that you need for a shield). You probably need a healing spell too, because potions are insanely expensive. From there, you can choose not to use spells for things like opeping locks and stealth, because there are skills for Security and Sneak. But honestly, think about it: you can have the Illusion skill and become invisible and create light sources and do many other wonderful things, or you can invest in Sneak which is patently inferior to invisibility and has no other uses. Which is better? Same goes for Security versus the Alteration skill.
But there's a lot of other elements that work against that type of character. What I really don't like is that opponenets are auto-leveled to (supposedly) be a match for you, but your combat ability only improves if you actually utilize your combat skills You can easily gain several levels by doing non-combat activities, and then find yourself unable to defeat fairly oridinary opponents.
In terms of equipment, if your thief wants to survive, then he winds up strapping on shiny chainmail and carrying a big steel shield. Lame.
And you wind up needing to cast spells too. Darkness is a genuine problem, so you at least need the ability to deal with darkness (torches occupy a hand slot that you need for a shield). You probably need a healing spell too, because potions are insanely expensive. From there, you can choose not to use spells for things like opeping locks and stealth, because there are skills for Security and Sneak. But honestly, think about it: you can have the Illusion skill and become invisible and create light sources and do many other wonderful things, or you can invest in Sneak which is patently inferior to invisibility and has no other uses. Which is better? Same goes for Security versus the Alteration skill.
Last edited:
) Most quests are of the fetch quest and killing variety.
