Do I have a chance of getting through Oblivion?

[Kasey24]

Hey guys,

 

I'm playing mostly vanilla with ony a couple of cosmetic mods. I've read some about the leveling system and I'm not sure how or if it will significantly impact my style of play.

 

I have 2 separate games going - one a dark elf theif/magic type; the other is an orc hack and slasher. Hey, I get bored with just one style.

 

Anyway, I prefer to have my characters gain experience doing the quests and exploring the dark places, not keeping a spreadsheet of how I need to build points to level up to the max each time I sleep. So far, I'm mostly getting 3 points (out of a possible 5), sometimes a 4 and frequently some 2s. I've heard (and experienced) how the competition is leveling up everytime my character does. So far, I'm able to cope up to level 10, but will I eventually run into a perfect storm where I have no chance?

 

I have the difficulty set at the default which I assume is 50/100. This style worked fine in Morrowind, but some of the comments I've read on Oblivion have me concerned. Can anyone assure me that I have a fightin' chance - or if not, where will the problem first appear?

 

One more thing. I usually only level up about every 10 "game days", so at least my character is probably a couple of levels higher than the official count. I find sleeping isn't really necessary here in Oblivion. :whistling:

 

Thanks for any help or warnings. :thumbsup:

[David Brasher]

I don't understand why everyone stresses out. You will be just fine. I don't have any leveling mods. That aspect of my game is always vanilla. I keep my difficulty level at default. I have about 13 characters and I play each of them now and and then. I never keep spreadsheets and I almost never get more than 3 points on a skill when I am leveling up. My characters very rarely die. I feel like I am doing poorly if I have two deaths in one long evening.

 

People talk about the "terrible teens." It might be a little rough between level 10 and level 20, but you can deal with it. The game is supposed to be challenging. I am here to have fun, not work with spreadsheets and avoid developing certain talents because it doesn't fit in with the master plan. My characters get good at whatever they spend time doing, and that is the way it should be. Once you get to about level 30 you will be so well-equipped and highly skilled that you will be able to clear any dungeon if you have enough time. The game starts feeling pointless and easy at level 40. I tend to start another new character before that point.

 

So don't worry. Be Happy!

[Megatarius]

Don't worry. If anything you'll feel it's too easy eventually. As long as the skills you develop are skills you can survive with. If you reach level ten by maxing out such things as Mercantile, Speechcraft, Alchemy, Acrobatics, and Athletics a lot, and your Blade and Block and Destruction and Conjuration skills are underused, well you'll learn the hard way that everyone else has been pretty busy practicing their Blade and Block. That's the biggest problem with the leveling system. It assumes you are actually fighting a lot of the time and not just running around picking flowers and playing speechcraft wheel of fortune.

 

Another problem you'll find is that while monsters and bandits level up with you, storehands don't. (I don't think.) In other words, when every bandit is wearing a mix of Glass and Daedric armor, and you try to haul all that valuable stuff in to sell, the merchants still only have a piddly amount to barter with. All that fancy armor tends to become just as worthless as Fur and Iron. It takes all the excitement and value away from actually finding a hardcore piece of equipment. You may also find that even the main quest is easy on the lower levels, you'll beat it, close the Oblivion gates forever, and go on your merry way playing mods and sidequests and really getting to know the world you didn't explore before. And everybody has Daedric and Glass. Where did it all come from? You just kicked Dagon's ass....

 

It's your choice and your game of course. Perhaps you have a really cool story in mind to explain all that. Knock yourself out. However, if all that sounds kind of stupid to you, I highly recommend FCOM Convergence, or at least OOO.

[Jenrai]

Lol. Love the sense of humour around here.

 

I'd actually say hold off on the main quest. At least until level 20-25ish, because as Mega says, it all feels a bit easy and to be honest, somewhat worthless before then.

 

As for selling your loot, get a couple of decent modded shops on the go, or learn how to play with merchant gold levels yourself, or pick up one of the mulitude of mods that enhance the economy market, and suddenly all that glass and daedric armour you find is worth its weight in gold again.

 

Jenrai

[Netwit2008]

These guys speak the truth. I've never played with any kind of leveling help or mods, and I'm now a level 38 or 39. Never felt anything was too hard, not afraid of anything. I've only died a few times in over 600 hours of gameplay, and even then it was by getting hit from a rock slide I didn't see above me.

 

Still have the main quest to do, it doesn't interest me yet. Too many good mods to play. I practice many skills so I'm proficient in many... blade, block, light and heavy armor, alchemy, etc. etc. Like David says, I get good in the things I practice. I still have some skills I need to work on.

 

As far as loot goes, get a mod like they said. I have several merchants that have 5K and above to barter with (e.g. Naughty Joanna, Apachii Goddess or Heroes stores, Imperial Furniture store). When your mercantile skill gets to a certain point, you can invest in shops which will give them more gold to pay out. Right now, I am literally almost a millionaire. I can make like 20K in one dungeon or Ayelid ruin crawl. I think I actually have too much money! I don't even bother looting anything that will yield less than $100 dollars. I buy clothes and furniture, spending money like water.

 

I ended up moving the difficulty slider up a bit because it was so easy to fight, even without companions. I'm thinking of turning it up yet again. Just play and have fun, you'll get where you need to be level wise, when you need to be there :)

[Kasey24]

Thanks, all. :thumbsup:

 

That is quite reassuring. I will keep on keepin' on and see where it leads.

 

One other question comes to mind. I jump in and out of the main quest - based on whether I have any interesting quests available. I have noticed that Oblivion gates are springing up all over the place. Can I ignore them for a while? So far I've closed 3 but they seem repetitive and there is so much other stuff that just needs my attention.

 

Any isssues with that I should know about?

[Jenrai]

Generally, no. They're marked on your map. Rest assured they ain't going nowhere and will still be there when you come back.

 

You just touched one quite a beef of mine with the main game. Closing the first gate is fun, if challenging... the second is a little "erm, didn't I do this already?" by the end of the third one you're thinking "My god if I never walk through one of those things again it'll be too soon!" ... so you can imagine the fourth. To be honest, the only thing that kept me closing em on my main was I use the fantastic Midas Magic mod, and wanted the Sigil Stones to make some more powerful spells in that. I certainly wouldn't have done half as many as I did if it wasn't for Midas. There's a thread somewhere about what we'd like to see in TESV ... more thinking content, and stuff in general being less "spamerific" is my big beef with Oblivion as I said on there. They really coulda put anything they wanted behind those gates. Instead they are all the same.

Still a great game though. ;)

 

Jenrai

[Netwit2008]

Thanks, all. :thumbsup:

 

That is quite reassuring. I will keep on keepin' on and see where it leads.

 

One other question comes to mind. I jump in and out of the main quest - based on whether I have any interesting quests available. I have noticed that Oblivion gates are springing up all over the place. Can I ignore them for a while? So far I've closed 3 but they seem repetitive and there is so much other stuff that just needs my attention.

 

Any isssues with that I should know about?

 

I HATE Oblivion Gates! :verymad:

At this point my only reason for doing the main quest would be to close them all. I agree with Jenrai, they get repetitive and just tedious to me. I'm not one to use cheats, but I can honestly say, I do use the console to add sigil stones so I don't have to go in and get them. I've closed about three of them as well. They will continue to spawn randomly until you finish the main quest. I think I read somewhere that a total of 66 can be open at once. I will go near them for daedra kills and combat purposes sometimes. Other than that, they just pop up and I ignore them.

 

There are certain mods you can get that mark when you've closed one, I think I have that mod. There are I THINK a mod or two that either close them or don't allow them to spawn. I could be wrong about that, but I remember something like that I came across when hunting mods one time. It does no harm at all (except to the surrounding fauna and flora) to leave them open or have them keep appearing.

 

Good luck with the mods. You'll have to keep us posted on how you're doing and if you like them once you start adding them. :smile:

[Oblivious_Fallout]

My friend Justin and I have both closed half of the Oblivion Gates Spread over Cyrodil (Last time I checked there were 60) I closed 30 and so did he, The thing we had to do was spread them out thin, do one or two and then move on and do something else for a long, long time, then get back to it. Its tedious, but there are some items in the game like the ring of perfection, the Wizards Ring, Fighters ring... etc.etc. that you have a much bigger chance of finding in the oblivion gates. As far as Oblivion gates go, I say close them or don't, its optional, but I think closing them is pretty rewarding in the end. besides its a great time spender for people who want 100% completion points... hooray... Proof you don't have a life right there...

 

Oblivious Fallout

 

P.S: I don't believe you can 100% complete Oblivion, I believe there is always something else to do.. But just making a point.

[Rabbit1251]

A little warning about mods. Don't go overboard at first. Try to limit yourself to cosmetic mods; things like weather, custom bodies, clothing. Then as things start to get stale add some others a bit at a time. Play the game first before adding things like weapons and armour. If you start the game with swords that will slay the beasties only by looking at them and armour that makes you invulnerable or money enhancement mods that will make you a millionaire by level three then you will find the game too easy and quickly get bored of it and leave you wondering what everyone sees in this game. I have mods that I've collected and haven't used yet just waiting for the time when I'm looking for something new to keep the interest up. This is the reason that I've been playing TES Oblivion since it first came out four years ago. The most important thing is, like everyone here has already said, have fun with your game!!

 

 

The Rabbit