Strategy guide for 100% difficulty

ParanoidAndroid · Post by **ParanoidAndroid** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 2:10 pm

I'm working on a good strategy for completing the game on 100% difficulty (not from the start though). So far I've found the game becomes to hard with:
- Non-enchanted gear
- No damage or spell reflection/absorption

But the game becomes too easy with:
- 100% Chameleon
- 100% dmg reflect + 100% spell absorption/reflection/resist magic

So currently I have:
- 85% armor from heavy armor
- 35% damage reflect (Escutcheon of Chorrol)
- around 50% spell absorption
- Destruction @ lvl 100 with custom spells

Anything less and I get stunned by every hit (even though I have 100 Agility). Has anyone tried a 100% difficulty run and what are your findings?

Master David · Post by **Master David** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 7:54 am

At lv 70++, a dread zombie will become your toughest enemy

ParanoidAndroid · Post by **ParanoidAndroid** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 3:33 am

Don't think so a dread zombie's health is fixed to 340 according to uesp.net. So a powerful fire spell will still kill them.

Stworca · Post by **Stworca** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:32 am

Master David wrote:At lv 70++, a dread zombie will become your toughest enemy

On lv 70++ boredoom will become your toughest enemy.

As for the OP's question : AI is screwed when you levitate. You can also win every fight with kite-archery. Dmg reflect is just the less time-consuming way to beat foes on 100% difficulty.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:02 am

Whilst it's true that by default a Dread Zombie is fixed t 14 level and 340 hit points, I don't know what effect playing on insane has on that, possibly the cap is removed? I've never played on insane, can't see the point, I experimented briefly once, and got my ass kicked by a mudcrab!! :laugh:

However other levelled monsters aren't capped, Minitaur Lords for example, and the Guardian Zombies in Miscarcand have their level capped at 99.

In my opinion Stworca hit the nail on the head, boredom would kill me off well before level 70.

Master David · Post by **Master David** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:29 am

ParanoidAndroid wrote:Don't think so a dread zombie's health is fixed to 340 according to uesp.net. So a powerful fire spell will still kill them.

Unfortunately your trusted UESP only lists everything on normal difficulty slider.
Try it yourself, and you'll know what I meant when you can't kill a Dread Zombie in 5+ minutes.

galraen wrote:In my opinion Stworca hit the nail on the head, boredom would kill me off well before level 70.

Agree
But my level 73 char can be a show off to my friends who play OB, because he has such a clean & high stat, no jail, no green stat
In my experience, everyone who see my char level always asks: "How can you go that high without going to jail?"

ParanoidAndroid · Post by **ParanoidAndroid** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 1:12 pm

Master David wrote: Agree
But my level 73 char can be a show off to my friends who play OB, because he has such a clean & high stat, no jail, no green stat
In my experience, everyone who see my char level always asks: "How can you go that high without going to jail?"

I also saw a trick on youtube where you have to finish the knights of the nine as one of the last quests you do so your infamy score gets set to 0.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 4:13 pm

Not sure what the big deal is about not going to jail, I've only ever had that happen to one character. The infamy thing is a also easy to keep at zero if you're playing a 'good' character, just don't murder any innocents; of course that's easier said than done with the glitches in the game, but the glitches don't trigger infamy usually. Triggering the visit from Lucien Lachance happens too often as a result of killing a villain, or just completing the Arena.

PS Of course every character goes to jail once, otherwise the game doesn't start!

Stworca · Post by **Stworca** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 4:23 pm

galraen wrote:Not sure what the big deal is about not going to jail, I've only ever had that happen to one character. The infamy thing is a also easy to keep at zero if you're playing a 'good' character, just don't murder any innocents; of course that's easier said than done with the glitches in the game, but the glitches don't trigger infamy usually. Triggering the visit from Lucien Lachance happens too often as a result of killing a villain, or just completing the Arena.

PS Of course every character goes to jail once, otherwise the game doesn't start!

I think he speaks about getting that high level without going to jail. (as jail time lowers your skills, thus allowing you to level up more)

As in, he went the longest and most painful possible way to get high level.

IF he means not getting caught, well, sorry good sir but my mean-face-drunkard never got caught

(except for the first time obviously, but this girl seemed like over 18 i swear! And the night was cold.. And the wine strong.. And i was the victim, true story!)

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 5:02 pm

How does one get to 73rd level without going to jail or exploiting the drain skill glitch? By exploiting the damage skill glitch, either way, the character isn't exactly 'clean'.

PS well another answer is to cheat of course, but I wouldn't even think of accusing MD of that.

Master David · Post by **Master David** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 5:44 am

galraen wrote:PS Of course every character goes to jail once, otherwise the game doesn't start!

Nah, that doesn't get recorded in the journal ^_^

Stworca wrote:I think he speaks about getting that high level without going to jail. (as jail time lowers your skills, thus allowing you to level up more)

As in, he went the longest and most painful possible way to get high level.

IF he means not getting caught, well, sorry good sir but my mean-face-drunkard never got caught (except for the first time obviously, but this girl seemed like over 18 i swear! And the night was cold.. And the wine strong.. And i was the victim, true story!)

You were right, the former

galraen wrote:How does one get to 73rd level without going to jail or exploiting the drain skill glitch? By exploiting the damage skill glitch, either way, the character isn't exactly 'clean'.

PS well another answer is to cheat of course, but I wouldn't even think of accusing MD of that.

I play the PS3 version, so I can't cheat,
And I didn't say I did not exploit the drain skill glitch....
Basically I max a skill as early as possible, and then when it was at 100 train it 5 times, so I only need to level 5 more from other skill(s). That way you can have a higher than the usual max level character, without a jail time recorded in your journal

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 6:58 am

And I didn't say I did not exploit the drain skill glitch....

...and you didn't' say you did either!

I figured that was how you did it.

Master David · Post by **Master David** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 10:18 am

galraen wrote:...and you didn't' say you did either! I figured that was how you did it.

Lol

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 7:29 am

Lvl 73? Boredom gets me MUCH sooner than that!

Tenser · Post by **Tenser** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 2:28 am

Boredom is a big problem with TES.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:01 am

Boredom can be a problem with Oblivion, but nothing like the boredom with other games like Dragon Age or NWN2.

After my initial frustration with how dumbed down Oblivion was from Morrowind (and that was from Daggefall come to think of it), I did enjoy it for more than one run through, thanks to Shivering Isles, KotN, and ore importantly 3rd party mods.

However one play through Dragon Age was enough, although time may change that if some more third party mods come out. I never even managed a run through NWN2, got completely hacked off with that abomination by the half way point.

I have tried max difficulty, but didn't sustain it for long, having the crap beaten out of my 10th level warrior by a mudcrab was the final straw!:laugh: There are other ways of making the game harder, such as Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, that mod actually can make the start of the game a nightmare. I suggest trying that on slightly above average difficulty if you want more of a challenge.

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 1:17 pm

galraen wrote: However one play through Dragon Age was enough, although time may change that if some more third party mods come out. I never even managed a run through NWN2, got completely hacked off with that abomination by the half way point.

Never tried Dragon Age, and now I'm glad I didn't.

Totally agree about NWN2. Keep meaning to try it again, but, somehow... meh. Maybe one day...

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 4:43 pm

Don't let me put you off trying Dragon Age Fljotsdale, it isn't a terrible game, and a lot of people do like it. It was worth the one run through, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that I'll try again when some more extensive mods come out. There are already some good mods available, but I tried them, just couldn't bring myself to continue after I'd explored them.

Tenser · Post by **Tenser** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:38 am

Err, I'm sorry, but Dragon Age beats Oblivion three times over, for me.

Real story with tons of sidequests and background lore, real party with party interaction and romances, much much better rulesystem with challenging fights - hooray !

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:52 am

Well then, guys, maybe I will try it after all!