Oblivion advices tips needed:)

[DooMeR]

I picked up oblivion in the steam sales as part of the quake con pack. I had the reatail game awhile but the disc got damaged and never got around to playing it.

Its the game of the year edtion with the dlc.

I have made myself a breton with the Atronach sign. I plan going a mage type. Its my understanding i cant take magic damge any magic damage i do take is turned into mana. I also plan to use and make plenty of potions to help with mana regen.

But now i am a bit lost with regards to what major and minor skills to take. Its my understanding skills level as you use them but having never played oblivion before i dont know what i should be taking and what would be useful for a mage. I dont want to take skills i can easily level while playing.

Plus are there any good mods that say give you a bar for your spells a bit like dragon age so i dont have to switch between spells then cast them.

And any other tips and adive would be welcome as well

 

[Tefal]

I have made myself a breton with the Atronach sign. I plan going a mage type. Its my understanding i cant take magic damge any magic damage i do take is turned into mana. I also plan to use plenty of potions to help with mana regen.

iirc it;s either 50% of the damage is absormed or you have a 50% chance to absorb it.

you're stil lvunerable (but with enchanting you could get it much higher than anyone else could.

 

[Evilsod]

I think you can get 100% with or without Atronach sign, Atronach obviously just makes it a lot easier. I occasionally think i'll give it a go... then i just end up making a normal mage. But seriously i wouldn't touch the Atronach sign unless you are a seasoned Oblivion player. Without tricks like the Dunmer Ancestral Ghost you'll just become frustrated by the lack of natural regen which really isn't worth the trade off imo since most magic can be dodged fairly easily anyway. Besides, mages aren't common enough.

If you're gonna play vanilla Oblivion i'd honestly say either go with a pre-made class so you can see how dreadful the normal levelling system is or try to make your own. Generally a mix of a couple of skills you'll be using often and could do with them at a higher level to start with and some you probably won't use but can level passively and quickly when you want. But doing it that way just makes you get sick of the game trying for 'perfect levelling'. Oblivion XP all the way imo... lets you focus on playing as you can assign points wherever the hell you want and major/specialisation have a real effect.

And sadly there is no such UI available. God it would be nice to have a skillbar but unfortunately they seem obsessed with the 'hotkey' method despite you maybe having a ton more things to assign than the 9 they give.

 

[DooMeR]

I have gone for a purely mage type skills, if i get frustrated with lack of mana regen i will reload as i saved it in the sewers. I plan to use a blade and light armor, i can level them using them right, and i can also put skill points into them?

Its a shame theres no ui but other then that really impressed with the game so far the graphics for a games that like 3 years old now are awesome

Edit i did a fight in the arena it took me 6 mana pots to get my mana back i think you was right about the Atronach sign what would be a good sign to go ?

 

[Meridian]

iirc it;s either 50% of the damage is absormed or you have a 50% chance to absorb it.

50% chance to absorb it. If you roll correctly you absorb all. It's the first effect tested, so if you have armour with a similar enchantment, that is rolled separately and after the roll against you.


OP

You know you can hot-key spells, right?

Most of your fighting will be using Destructions spells, and Destruction levels very slowly, so pick it as a major. Illusion and Alteration can be levelled quickly by casting random spells - but remember that as an Atranoch you can't regain magicka naturally. Note that spells cast on a target or touch must hit something to count as experience, but spells cast on self always count. Conjuration is a must: it levels pretty well, but you need it high to start.


Note that Atranoch is not an easy way to learn to play if you are going as a mage!


M

 

[DooMeR]

Yes i have hot keyed spells just annoying having 2 switch to them then cast them rather then just pressing the key.

I am finding Atranoch quite tricky but the magicka boost seems really powerful so i might stick with it.

I'm thinking of going with a battle mage type thing using heavy armor, swords and sheilds and using spells to help me out rather then doing damage.

So i wont need the mana regen as much as say a normal mage bit like a arcane warrior in dragon age. Gonna try that now see how it goes

 

[Evilsod]

Most of your fighting will be using Destructions spells, and Destruction levels very slowly, so pick it as a major. Illusion and Alteration can be levelled quickly by casting random spells - but remember that as an Atranoch you can't regain magicka naturally. Note that spells cast on a target or touch must hit something to count as experience, but spells cast on self always count. Conjuration is a must: it levels pretty well, but you need it high to start.

Destruction should be a major/spec or it will take even longer to level. The 1 thing that annoys the hell out of me with the Oblivion levelling system is that all spells are worth exactly the same 'experience'. There is no way that casting a 1 mana cost on self weakness to fire magic should be worth exactly the same as a 100 mana bolt of lightning. Restoration is in the same boat and takes an age to level up normally if you don't major/spec it, you'd be amazed how slow it goes up.
Conjuration you can level very easily but getting started is a serious problem because you have to find a spell weak enough to cast before you can make your own 1s version. Alteration, Illusion and Mysticism all have a few associated spells that are very useful and having them as majors can be a problem since you ideally need them all on 50 at least for some decent spells.

Yes i have hot keyed spells just annoying having 2 switch to them then cast them rather then just pressing the key.

I am finding Atranoch quite tricky but the magicka boost seems really powerful so i might stick with it.

I'm thinking of going with a battle mage type thing using heavy armor, swords and sheilds and using spells to help me out rather then doing damage.

So i wont need the mana regen as much as say a normal mage bit like a arcane warrior in dragon age. Gonna try that now see how it goes

Problem with armour is it reduces the spell effectiveness. On paper losing 10% effectiveness is meaningless, but the game rounds everything down. A slow 'poison' or a regen type heal like 2 over 60 seconds you'd think would do 1.8 for 60 seconds as 10% would indicate but in reality it does 1 over 60 seconds, a massive 50% reduction in effectiness. It doesn't matter for instant or 1s duration spells but they generally cost a lot more and making it over a few seconds can get you more for less.

Also once you hit the Arcane University and get access to a spellmaker there really is no reason to use anything but magic for offence or defence. Melee took a severe downturn imo on Oblivion. Its more realistic with blocks but between the 2 magic wins hands down.

And mana regen really isn't that bad. All you need to do is pump up Intel and Willpower. Atronachs 150 mana boost really isn't worth the penalty if you aren't gonna be dedicated to 100% absorption abuse. The 50 sign is perfect and the 100 sign is fine if you can deal with the downside.