Difficulty help!

[C_Arnoud]

hey guys i played this game some time ago but it lost its fun because i got some levels and good armor and still i was unable to kill monsters or any person who was a little more tough.
i had to be always dodging the hits because in the first one i would die.
I think it was because i played in the most difficult level (as i do on every game).

i think i will start playing the game again, so i would like if someone who plays the game to say what is the 'right' dificulty level to play.

thx

[Fljotsdale]

Try with the difficulty slider smack in the middle until you feel confident enough to move it up a bit, then gradually increase it until you have a level you feel comfortable with but challenged by.

Your problem may also have been partly caused by having Major skills that didn't help your character's survival very much. Apologies if you already are aware of the following notes.

Some skills NOT to put in Major:

Speechcraft
Athletics
Mercantile
Alchemy
Acrobatics
Illusion

And some people think these should be left out as well (though I personally always include Security and Sneak):

Security
Sneak
Light & Heavy Armour

Which cuts down on your options quite a lot!

Good ones to include are:

Any weapon skill (Strength)
Armourer (Endurance)
Restoration (Willpower - and handy for keeping you alive. :laugh

Other than those, it depends on your class, of course.

Good luck, have fun!

[galraen]

Just to underline what Fljotsdale wrote. It is best in this game if you load your major skill allocation with the skills that you are least likely to use and/or those you can control when they are used.

I for example often put speechcraft as a major because you don't actualy have to use it at all. If you wish to join the thieves guild you will need to use it occasionally, but use bribe, not the silly wheel, and if it's a major then it'll not go up much, if at all. If you're an Imperial or use fortify speechcraft potions or spells then it may never go up. Unless of course you want it to.

Having a thief with no thieving skills in your majors is obviously counter intuitive, and if it bothers you, immersion breaking. That unfortunately is due to the very bad game design.

It's even worse when you want to improve your strength for example, that you're actually better off using a blunt butter knife than a daedric longsword enchanted to the hilt.

Use one of the level rejigging mods if you can, either Oscuro's Oblivion Overaul, or Francesca's mod.

[Lexeaus]

When you just start playing Oblivion, it is never smart to put the difficulty marker all the way up. I got one-hit-killed by a rat, doing that... *ahem*

[C_Arnoud]

ok thx for the answers
ill try to post my progress.

[Salidin54]

On my pc game I played with the slider in the middle the whole time. In Morrowind it was fun to get to the higher levels and be the sort of superman (or super- whatever race you are), so when I played on the 360 I would turn the difficulty down slightly every time I leveled up to give that same feeling again. So by the time I got to level 40-ish I had it all the way down and I could take on the entire Imperial Guard on my own, fun times.

[Fljotsdale]

ok thx for the answers
ill try to post my progress.

Do! And feel free to ask questions. There are plenty of people willing to help.