Best Leveling/Scaling Enjoyment?

[faifh]

Okay, so I had played Morrowind many, many years ago, and now played through the majority Skyrim I wanted to give Oblivion a try, which I had skipped back then, since I just had no time to get immersed. And I'm sorry if this is an all too frequent Oblivion question.

 

After fixing various installation problems it runs quite fine. Just discovered the leveling system, the 10 skills rule, the scaling problem - and my head explodes. I suppose that char I just played a few evenings is quite gimped. I just installed UOP, What is the best way to get most out of Oblivion. Stay underlevel at 1 all the time or a few levels where you must sleep? Or is there a scaling mod that you really would consider. And how can I play well without having the calculator next to me all the time, figuring out what skill I must improve next time to get a character that develops at least as good as its world? Somehow I'd prefer to have a leveling system like Morrowind or Skyrim instead - where you also can't really do that much wrong.

Edited January 13, 2012 by faifh

[Lanceor]

I hated the default leveling system - I want to play the game, not micromanage efficient leveling! So IMHO, a mod that alters the levelling system is the only way to go.

 

All +5 Attribute Modifier or Attribute Plus X lets you use the default system without worrying about how many attribute points you'll get on level-up.

 

Realistic Leveling lets you simply play and your attributes increase automatically based on skills leveled.

 

Oblivion XP gives a classic CRPG style leveling system: earn enough experience points to level up and spend your attributes as you see fit.

[faifh]

Thank you! I decided for Realistic Leveling, I also decided to restart with OOO.

Additionally I spent a whole evening installing tons and tons of graphical improvements, the game looks way better now.

 

This may be a stupid newbie question, and the alive modding community is cool and all that, but wouldn't it be possible to offer a complete remodpackage like "Oblivion 2012", a single install that pushes Oblivion with its mods-collection up to its glory? Fast and easy for newbies to Oblivion? Wouldn't mind if its a 4GB download with that texture exchange.

Edited January 14, 2012 by faifh

[David Brasher]

One really wild alternative is to just throw out leveling. The world is precisely as difficult at level 1 as it is at level 45. Only your character becomes more powerful as time goes by. This means that the game is very dangerous at level 1 and you must be cautious about where you go and what you do. You have a real incentive to level up, so that you can survive the world better and better. A time will come when you have leveled up enough that you are tough and can survive fights with no sweat. Then you can relax and enjoy being the greatest hero in Cyrodiil, because you have earned it after all the difficult challenges you have faced.

 

This is the overhaul mod I am referring to: Brasher's Oblivion Overhaul

[faifh]

One really wild alternative is to just throw out leveling. The world is precisely as difficult at level 1 as it is at level 45. Only your character becomes more powerful as time goes by. This means that the game is very dangerous at level 1 and you must be cautious about where you go and what you do. You have a real incentive to level up, so that you can survive the world better and better. A time will come when you have leveled up enough that you are tough and can survive fights with no sweat. Then you can relax and enjoy being the greatest hero in Cyrodiil, because you have earned it after all the difficult challenges you have faced.

 

This is the overhaul mod I am referring to: Brasher's Oblivion Overhaul

 

I currently play with Realistic Leveling and Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul and a ton of visual enhancements, quite a nice experience. Albeit the installing took a half a day. I currently have a crash here and there, dunno if this was Oblivion per se, or one of the many mods I installed. Only left is the old user interfaces.

 

I just think it would be awesome if there would be a complete single install Oblivion Revamp, that makes it easy for newbies coming late to the show to take most out of the game.

[justwannaddl]

It is a tough call on what would go into a good starter pack. Mod conflicts because of the fairly fragmented nature of modding tend to screw up attempts to even make a thorough guide.

 

For the old UI, you should look into using Darnified UI. Change the inventory to grid mode and you'll wonder how you ever used the stock system. Don't forget the unofficial patches to fix the many bugs and possibly fast exit if you are getting crashes after exiting. I also liked Unnecessary Violence II. If you use a lot of custom armors and weapons or get tired of having to empty your inventory and don't mind using a minor cheat, the weight lifting mod is really worth a look.

 

 

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5296

 

Fast Exit

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22410

 

DarNified UI

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10763

 

Unnecessary Violence II - Taking Action

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=40310

 

Weight Lifter

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15956

 

The basic leveling system was... underwhelming. For min/max players especially it was a pain to concentrate only on certain skills to max out stats. I don't know about the mods you are using but a general rule of thumb was that you wanted to concentrate on maxing endurance early on in order to max out your HP.

Edited January 15, 2012 by justwannaddl

[faifh]

It is a tough call on what would go into a good starter pack. Mod conflicts because of the fairly fragmented nature of modding tend to screw up attempts to even make a thorough guide.

 

For the old UI, you should look into using Darnified UI. Change the inventory to grid mode and you'll wonder how you ever used the stock system. Don't forget the unofficial patches to fix the many bugs and possibly fast exit if you are getting crashes after exiting. I also liked Unnecessary Violence II. If you use a lot of custom armors and weapons or get tired of having to empty your inventory and don't mind using a minor cheat, the weight lifting mod is really worth a look.

 

 

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5296

 

Fast Exit

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22410

 

DarNified UI

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10763

 

Unnecessary Violence II - Taking Action

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=40310

 

Weight Lifter

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15956

 

The basic leveling system was... underwhelming. For min/max players especially it was a pain to concentrate only on certain skills to max out stats. I don't know about the mods you are using but a general rule of thumb was that you wanted to concentrate on maxing endurance early on in order to max out your HP.

 

I agree, I suppose agreeing on one "starter pack" might need a quite a big arguing war, what should go in there (Beside I doubt that many of the mods took care to add any reuse license with them, questioning if it would be possible). Anyway, I think all the graphic make-overs would be a good start point, assuming the user wants to play Oblivion on a PC s/he that works with Skyrim also. And I think any leveling/scaling replacement is better than out-of-the-box Oblivion, which is just broken.

 

I don't like the weightlifting hack. I consider it hillarious already, how many swords, shield and armors a normal RPG-protagonist can carry (how big are their backpacks actually?) At least not without any in-story explanation, like D&D who often allowed you to carry "pocket-universes" with you (you actually carry a gateway to another universe, which consists only of you stash). I actually liked the roleplaying element of running through a dungeon and decide for ever item if the value/weight ratio is worth it, instead of ransacking everything.

[ponyboy10]

The starter pack idea is actually pretty cool. You'll see some mods packs like this for some things, but it's still a big pain to hunt for different mods and install them all separately, especially when some go together or have special instructions, etc.

 

This is probably a pipe dream at this point., but taking that a step further, it could even be a feature of a mod manager to list and organize available mods and let you install multiple ones together or have groups of suggested mods (rather than having lists all over the place of "getting started" mods). On top of that, it would be nice to get notifications when an updated version of mods are released. I think NMM is supposed to have some extra features, but from what I understand it's pretty buggy for Oblivion so I've stayed away from it.

Edited January 16, 2012 by ponyboy10

[Alora1]

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Edited May 27, 2020 by Alora1

[bobbyskel78]

i use a coupling of Oblivion XP and JVUncapper (could just use Ely's Uncapper, as i don't use the diminishing returns, i guess ... this is stable, so i'm not changing). I'm happy with it. No monitoring and experience is gained in multiple ways, not just killing enemies. (quest completion, new potions, picking locks, telling a joke, ... etc)