Elder Scrolls IV - Any advice for a newbie

[Blackrat]

Well after hearing a lot of good about this game and how Fallout 3 is going to be build with same engine I decided to buy this on Xbox-360. I got a good deal on the game and both it's expansions and today evening I'm going to start playing. But a quick glance got me baffled by the amount of choices in character creation. Could someone give me some pointers? I'd like to play something that's a bit of sneaky and if necessary could speak his way out of trouble, but mainly a weapons master type who can use any weapons effectively. Is there something I should avoid? Is there an extensive ingame tutorial? Any advice without spoiling the story?

Oh, and I never played the previous Elder Scrolls games so making references and comparison to them isn't going to be very helpfull to me .

 

[Thanee]

http://www.tesguides.com/tes4/main.htm
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Character_Creation

Hope this helps.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Blackrat]

Thanks Thanee. That wiki article is actually quite helpfull.

 

[Talislan]

Them's some good links from Thanee.

Just to give you a personal perspective, I have tried to get characters right in this game for as long as it has been out, and character optimisation is certainly difficult straight 'out of the gate so to speak.

The most important piece of advice I can give is actually in the manual. When you get to the end of the intro section, you have to pass through a gate. At this point you get the chance to revise your options in full. This is the most important saved game you will make. the initial section is just long enough that if you have to replay it too many times it becomes a bit of a drag. Also in getting to the end of the intro, no matter how many times you do it the development of your abilities tends to be always pretty much the same in my experience. (It is a set pattern of events after all)

It is for this reason I have always played the intro through with a fairly strong(tough) race physically. This allows me to get through it reasonably quickly whilst practicing whichever skills/abilities I want to get a head start with in relative safety.

Now if you are a power gamer this is the way to go, if not you can really play any race through the intro because the range of activities are fairly general and give you opportunity to utilise a fairly wide set of skills if you want to.

Moving on, the key to optimising your character through the game is quite simple, though not so simple to maintain focus on. It comes down to training and how you play. The power game key is to get the most improvement points for your abilities when you level up. A warrior with a sword who fights constantly with a sword and trains in the sword and nothing else will in one way maximise his strength score if fighting with a sword is one of his character preferences. Problem is he will level up fairly quickly without as much bonus to some of his other abilities.
So, think about this when you play. save your preferred way of fighting for when you need it. Got a rat to kill and you're a sword fighter? use an axe, or your fist. these skills are still linked to strength and while they don't develope as fast or develope that ability as much (if they're not a preffered skill that is) they also don't push you towards a new level if they are not in your chosen skill set. however when you do reach a new level you should get greater ability gains.

If you get this tactic right it makes the difference between levelling up adding 3 points to 3 abilities and levelling up adding only 1 point to three abilities. It's not easy to accomplish but it will give your character a wider breadth of choices later in the game.

Alternatively to this advice there is the Focus on one thing and one thing only tactic. This will level you up pretty quickly and probably jog through the main game, but it will limit some of the things you are able to do or achieve.
The one exception is skill in the bow. this requires a certain dedication from the player IMX because when the bad guys come running in close it is all too easy to give in and go for a sword or axe etc. this means you sometimes get one or two shots before they get to you and start clobbering. Bowman, be prepared to run around a lot, particularly early on.

These are just a few thoughts from my xp playing. The final one i'd leave you with is go out and do a few quests before you decide what you want to play. I've restarted charcter conceptions hundreds of times from that first save at the sewer gate, just to tweak them. but I only found out they needed tweaking because of how I ended up playing through different quests with any given skill set.

I'm not sure I've helped much but hey-ho. I hope you enjoy whatever happens.

T.

watch which quests you leave to higher levels. a couple of them can be a real pain in the proverbial if you try them later at the wrong level.

 

[Blackrat]

Thanks T. Some of that I gathered from the wiki entry too, but you made a couple of points more understandable.

 

[Felon]

I have no idea how any excels as a bowman. Even if you try to kite, you'll eventually backpedal into a wall or otherwise box yourself in, or you'll just get caught.

Oblivion is one of those games where spells offer you all the benefits of utility, immediacy, and generally superior results over mundane methods without a huge associated cost. It's not like you're burning vancian slots, after all. One school of maigic contains far more utility than any other skill. There's precious little incentive to bother with lockpicking or stealth when you can get the same benefits as those time-consuming, often-frustrating skills with a snap of the fingers. The long and short of it is, magic rules in Oblivion. It does get expensive though.

It's been said elsewhere, but never train Athletics or Acrobatics. Athletics increases just through plain old movement, and Acrobatics through jumping and falling. Since you need to level in a controlled manner, those skills are murder because you can't just decide you're not going to run or jump anywhere for the next couple of levels.

If you're going to become a thief, then don't bother trying to case the homes of the local nobility. They frequently seems to have little wealth. What wealth they do have, they typically carry on their person at all times. Instead, rob weapon and armor shops. They leave fortunes literally just lying about in the open.

I gotta say, I've never found that potions are particularly plentiful, so I'm not sure what the Beginner's Guide author was going on about.

 

[Blackrat]

Thanks for all the advice. I've been running around the country side for about ten hours now, just marvelling at the game and killing wolfs and goblins. Done couple of quests too but still just beginning. Now a quick question if someone would be kind to answer. I'm planning on joining a guild as many rumors point me to. But can I be a member of more than one guild or am I stuck to the one I choose for the rest of the game without chance to get to the others?

 

[sfgiants]

As far as I know you can join whatever guild you want. In fact to get the most out of the game you should try and join a few. Each guild opens up a bunch more missions.

 

[ToddSchumacher]

I work with a guy who just finished this game. He had been playing it for months. Convinced me to try it. And while I didn't find it very fun, he managed to finish nearly every quest, was the master of EVERY guild, and by the end he was something like 50th level.

 

[Captain Howdy]

My advice would be to make one character and create a custom class that will allow you to be useful in any situation. Incorporate the most useful skills from each section (one armor skill, one weapon skill, sneak, security, etc.) This will allow you to play the same character and complete all the guild quests with the least difficulty... Although I have found that the only guild that you really need certain abilities for is the Dark Brotherhood.

Some random tips that you should be aware of:

-I would do the guild quests first (doesn't really matter what order, just do all the quests for all the guilds.) That way, when you start on the main quest, you will be higher level, and the items you get as rewards will be more powerful. (Items are scaled to your level when they are generated. Sword X will be better if you find it at level 20 than if you found it at level 10)

-Do the Dark Brotherhood quests first. You get a free horse, and it is black. Black horses are the fastest in the game. That will make the overland travel much quicker.

-If you do the Shivering Isles quests, save your amber and madness ore till you are high level. The armor and weapons you get from them are uber if you are 20+.

-If you find the game is too hard, there is a difficulty meter in the options menu that will adjust how much damage you take and how hard enemies are to kill.

-Don't bother with healing spells or potions. If you "wait" for one hour, you get fully healed. The chances of you being attacked in that one hour are pretty slim.

If you have any other questions, ask here or go to gamefaqs.com

P.S. The strategy guide is actually pretty well written and helpful, if you are inclined to purchase that.