Can you survive as a marksman ?

[RawwSauce]

I have to agree completely. When i saw this post i was like...are you kidding? Marksman class was the first i used. Stealth based with a bow. Makes it quite easy to win arena matches if your're fast, you just need to develop some skill and even face to face battles aren't very difficult. Otherwise, dungeons are insanely easy. Stealth kills are much easier then with a weapon, and if your bow is enchanted and your arrows are powerful...you're looking at 1 hit kills throughout nearly the entire thing. Having restoration is always a plus, but if you develop and use your character correctly, you should never get touched.

 

 

Like the poster said before me. If you want a challenge, try a pure spellcaster. It never ceases to surprise me how the spell system in oblivion is lacking so much. Its obviously there as a secondary system, yet they create the premise that its a primary. Thats a class that takes alot of skill, and without mods, i find it slightly unreasonable and incomplete. 8 hotkeys...seriously? If youre a mage theres not much you can do with that. Although i suppose its another class that can be effective when used correctly, ive just found it too boring to try.

[oddkaos]

You can easily survive as a marksman, as for a build, this is what i use. I use Oblivion XP a mod that overhauls the leveling system (highly recomended) if i was playing vanilla my choices would be different.

 

In parenthesis: Pure Marksman

 

Race: Dark Elf (for blade and marksman) - Wood Elf (pure marksman)

Specialization: Stealth

Birthsign: The Theif

Main Attributes: Agility,Strength(Speed)

 

Major Skills:

Marksman

Illusion

Sneak

Light Armor

Mysticism

Restoration

Blade (Alteration)

[hellbishop]

Yes its quite possible to survive as a Marksman considering bows can do quite a bit of damage on their own or with poisons. I discovered this recently when playing a modless game of OBLIVION to see the difference between a pure game and one using an overhaul. I actually found OBLIVION more realistic without mods as i saw enemies dropping like flies with only one to three arrow hits.

 

So if you design your character properly you will definitely be as shadows wind with a life stealing touch.

[DuckThor21]

"as shadows wind with a life stealing touch." I like it :)

[MidbossVyers]

Proud pure witch-hunter... That occasionally uses restoration magic.

[Vindekarr]

I was wondering if, in Vanilla Oblivion you can survive on pure marksman. Like no blade or blunt....only marksman. In my point of view you cannot thinking that it's very hard to gain marksman experience and enemies die very hard. What is your opinion ?

 

Its not only possible but good fun. Good side skills to have are athletics(pay-train this, it gives a really big run-speed buff once leveled up, like, 20%+ a rank, great for outpacing slowpoke melee'ers) also you'll want light armour(better protective value-to-weight ratio than heavy) or heavy armour(it's perfect for archers once mastered, but absolutely aweful until then) sneak(ovious reasons, sneak n snipe will become two of your favorite concepts with this build) and illusion(for nighteye, target marking(via on-target light) and cloaking) I also recomend mysticism, since one thing that will give you problems is finding your target in the dark.

 

I can really recomend that if you want to keep the game balanced(and night-eye is a bit unbalanced) then make a daybow and a nightbow, and a magekiller. My nightbow has in addition to it's other enchants, a light effect on target, shoot somone and they light up like a red phosfire flare, perfect for landing repeat hits in the darkest of nights.

 

For a daybow I can recomend a drain health/damage health combo enchant, this is great for killing pretty much anything, or you could try this devious duo: damage agility, drainskill athletics, which brings your foe to a grinding, permanent slow, like shooting out their kneecaps.

 

And for killing mages, damage magicka with drain magicka. Dont bother with silence, some enemies can overide it, bretons in particular are not effected by it for long and will drain the charge quickly.

 

Lastly, if you want to use a mod that wont effect balance, try crossBows of Cyrodiil, it gives sniper rifle type bows: the crossbows have an abysmal rate of fire, but if you score a hit, it's a big hit., though not unbalanced-you also cant reload while moving, which keeps it fair.

 

As for you Sunlord, you're exactly right, it feels like a system to give you backup abilities rather than one intended for use in pure characters. Nonetheless I've got a pure spellcaster and it really is a fun challenge. Maybe Im a masochist but being flimsy as tissue, having a huge weakness to magic, and yet for some reason not dying but wtfpwning everything makes me giggle.

[GrailQuest]

The most boring and evil way to do it is a custom bow with about 2-3 seconds of Command Creature or Command Humanoid.

Against groups, you just need them Commanded for a second or two in order to get them fighting. Once they start fighting, they keep going until they detect no more hostiles, even if the Command effect has worn off.

Against singles, they will follow you as if they were your Companion. Just hit them over and over.

This will suck up a lot of soul gems, however.

 

My Oblivion mods and reviews

Oblivion story blog

My Oblivion Screenshots

fantasy-art.tel

[wyhattgodden]

ive finished the story line dark brother hood and shivering isles main quest line with only marksman and sneak

[Ferryt]

My first character was a custom class in which Marksman was a secondary skill, and I almost never touched a bow. My attempt to complete the Thieves Guild quest line was an epic failure. I couldn't shoot the Arrow of Extrication far enough to get it to the target! Since then Marksman has been one of my primary skills and I've learned to use the bow as my preferred method of attack. Here are the caveats I've determined that work for me.

 

1. I don't use Chameleon or Invisibility. I think they make the game too easy. However, my characters have, so far, all been Stealth-based, and Marksman + Sneak is a winning combination, and I always have Sneak as a primary skill.
    
   
2. Alchemy is a plus for a marksman, but it's not necessary to make it a primary skill since it's so easy to improve -- just use it every chance you get. I should probably wear a sign on my back that says "Caution -- Browsing Botanist" or "Danger! I brake for plants."
    
   
3. Take Atheletics as a primary skill, whatever you do if you're planning on running a "pure" marksman, or even if you actually have Blade or Blunt as a primary skill, should you use the bow almost exclusively. I always have Blade as a primary skill, but use a sword or dagger only if I have no choice, so it always lags way behind my Marksman skill. Being able to run fast can be invaluable in extricating yourself from situations where you're just overwhelmed by the opposition -- best to live and run away and return to fight another day. This is another very easy skill to "train" -- just run and swim whenever you get a chance ... which is everywhere you go while you're under way.
    
   
4. Acrobatics is an important skill for a bow specialist. NPCs can't jump. The ability to get to a high point where your opponents can't follow you can be a life-saver. I wouldn't recommend taking it as a primary skill unless you specifically want to. It's remarkably easy to train. Just jump a lot. Up stairs, down hills, over rocks and bushes ... basically anywhere jumping makes sense and even if it doesn't. Running and jumping everywhere you go might make you look like you've lost a few marbles, but who cares what NPCs think, anyway?

[scrivener07]

YES bow junkie reporting in!

 

Edit- Difference between Heavy Armor Blade user and Light Armor Bow user is taking hits or not taking any.