1st time thru Oblivion - why do i keep dying

[Striker879]

I've never played Morrowind so I can't give an opinion there, but I do find that combat in Oblivion favours magic, but that doesn't mean you can't create an effective melee character. The damage formulas look at more than just strength, so you need to get your character's skill with the preferred weapon up as well as Luck (though I tend to leave increasing Luck until after I have buffed my other attributes to max). Agility also comes into play ... point being you can't just max out one or two attributes and expect a character who has good melee capability.

 

Here's another UESP Wiki link ... Oblivion:Weapons.

[meathead013]

yeah im starting to see the difference in combat compared to morrowind pretty clearly now

 

in morrowind you could pretty much rely on one or two skills if they were strong enough but in oblivion you really have to combine skills to consistently win in combat

 

for example, i cant just rely on my high STR and Blade skills, i had to start using my high conjuration skills to summon allies like the flame atronach, get the opponents attention toward them, and then rush in to attack. just running in and attacking would work in morrowind, but in oblivion you get into too much of a stun mode to just hack away - you need something to take the attention of the opponent so you can recover

 

or i could have used arrows to weaken the opponent before slashing away, but my marksman skills are low so might as well go with the summoning and wait to increase the marksman skill as time goes on

 

so i guess to sum it up, combat is tougher and more 'real' in oblivion than it was in morrowind (at least on the same standard difficulty)

[Striker879]

A favourite of mine is nail a tough opponent with a poisoned arrow, switch to melee and close for the end game fight. Like you say, requires a balanced skill set, but just doing normal gameplay I can pick ingredients and make poisons (increasing Alchemy -> plus for Intelligence -> more Magicka), train up marksman (increasing Agility which helps Fatigue and improves combat ability ... less likely to get staggered) and then finish with blade or blunt for increased Strength (more combat ability plus carrying out the loot later).

 

Plus it's more fun than whacking away at a training dummy like the Everscamps.

[meathead013]

im also going to say i think LUCK plays a lesser role in Oblivion than it does in Morrowind

 

i say that bc when i was building a balanced character in Morrowind it seemed like Luck was the great equalizer. as long as you kept luck high you could get by with lower skill levels

 

that doesnt seem to be the case in Oblivion. after Level 20 (where it was for my original post) i stopped putting points into Luck and by Level 25 my character was MUCH stronger overall

 

knowing what i know now, i would have held off on most of the Luck until later and pushed other skills until getting to that Level 20 with the Everscamp training. they i could have proceed with my plan to just play the game normally (which i can finally do now with this character at Level 25)

[Striker879]

Ya, you lose +4 every time you level Luck instead of something else because you can only advance it one at a time. I never add to my starting 50 luck until I've got everything I want maxed. While Luck does factor into the formulas for fighting and armor skills I find it's not a very noticeable effect overall. In fact the only place I've noticed much impact for Luck is in Merchantile ... especially noticeable after Spriggans arrive in the game and they damage your Luck. Chapels or Wayshrines take care of Spriggan damage to Luck and if I want I usually have an enchanted boost for Luck in a ring or amulet I can switch to while bargaining. I seldom bother because I find that by level 15 to 20 my guy has gold out the wazoo and not much left he hasn't bought.

 

I don't "train" many skills beyond the vanilla game trainers plus what happens as I play the game. I keep track of my skills at level up so that I know which fighting style to work on most. About the only thing I "train" is Restoration and that is primarily so that I can max Intelligence (for max Magicka), so I'll spam a weak restore life spell while going from point A to point B when I need those last couple of skill points before level up.

 

Yes the vanilla system has flaws.

[Legotrash]

When you'll create your next character think about the supporting skills too and try to adjust your approach in battles. For instance,my most played character is an archer with stealth and agility. Supporting skills were mostly alchemy and then magic. Very early in the game I was getting my butt handed to me until I adjusted my approach: Spot the enemy first,remain hidden and get the first strike with bonuses from stealth,enchanted weapon (if I had one of course) and poisoned arrow. The rest of my actions are based on common sense so no need to mention them.

Mix things up like I did,for example,later in the game I got a burden spell. By itself wasn't really useful but I was also making burden poison for my arrows. That combination was making my opponent a practice target. :wink:

My all-time favorite poison is damage health + damage speed. They're slowly dying while chasing me at slow motion. :tongue:

 

Edit to add: Since you like melee (well,who doesn't? :P ) get reflect damage potions or enchantments (or both if possible). That'd be a good start.

Edited May 24, 2014 by Legotrash