First of i'm new to this forum so hi all, secondly i'm new to rpgs so go easy on me.
I wanted to creat a charecter that can fight hand to hand and use magic, don't ask me why but i chose this:
Race - Dark Elf
Birthsign - The Mage
Class - Spell Sword
atm i'm Level 14
I'm wearing a mix of light armor and heavy (should I wear one or the other), using a shield and one handed sword (can't find a decent 2handed).
Very recently i've struggled fighting anything, even wild animals seem to constantly knock me over. Basically i'm confused as to what to wear, use fight and all that so can someone suggest a way of helping me as I don't really wanna start again.
Me being new to rpgs i'm finding it a big daunting and struggling to get my head round it all so any help is appreciated.
Thanks
Wilde
Should I start again?
[QUOTE=ammama]oblivion can become very difficult without powergaming, something i hate. [/QUOTE]
Interesting, Morrowind was *very* prone to powergaming. Hmm. Just an observation.
Interesting, Morrowind was *very* prone to powergaming. Hmm. Just an observation.
[INDENT]'..tolerance when fog rolls in clouds unfold your selfless wings feathers that float from arabesque pillows I sold to be consumed by the snow white cold if only the plaster could hold withstand the flam[url="http://bit.ly/foT0XQ"]e[/url] then this fountain torch would know no shame and be outstripped only by the sun that burns with the glory and honor of your..'[/INDENT]
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RavenBlackthorn
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This being my first Elder Scrolls game, I was also a little confused about the leveling process (which I imagine is pretty complicating for newcomers) and was afraid of my character becoming "unplayable" as so many people had warned. (Now having played it and realizing what I was missing, I will probably go out and get Morrowind as well but thats beside the point )
This game is different in the sense the "just gaining experience and leveling up" doesnt necessarily make you more powerful. Alot of the RPG's that I played in the past were like that. In this game however, How you level up, is what is important. Again, I am new to the series and can not speak with much authority on the subject but it seems like slow, methodical leveling is key. One of the things that I have tried to focus on is getting the +5 Attribute bonuses every level. (Of course this may not happen every time, but it is definately my focus and intent) Each time I level up, I record my stats on paper so that I know: "Hey I need to get 10 points of Acrobatics this round." and so on.
This slow leveling may require however, that you go out of your way at times to level up Minor Skills prior to "allowing" yourself to level up your Major Skills. Once you've leveled up your Minor Skills to where you know for a fact that you'll get the maximum of 3 +5 bonuses when you do level up, then you can go and get that 10th Major Skill point.
Again, I can't speak with authority, but I encourage you to read one of the Character Building FAQs that are out on the web. They discuss the leveling system way better than I ever could and they might be able to help you get your character back on track. To put it into perspective, I'm playing a character very similar to yours and am currently only a level 12. But with my slow leveling, I feel that I can take on just about anything that I come across. By maximizing my leveling as much as possible, I think that I've got the upper hand in most of my encounters.
By reading one of those FAQs (as well as perhaps temporarily lowering the difficulty setting as previously mentioned) you might be able to get your current character back up to speed without starting over. If you do decide to start over however, you'll probably be suprised at how powerful you level 5 Mage is compared to your level 14 that you used to have, through slow, methodical leveling. Good luck, let us know how it works out.
)This game is different in the sense the "just gaining experience and leveling up" doesnt necessarily make you more powerful. Alot of the RPG's that I played in the past were like that. In this game however, How you level up, is what is important. Again, I am new to the series and can not speak with much authority on the subject but it seems like slow, methodical leveling is key. One of the things that I have tried to focus on is getting the +5 Attribute bonuses every level. (Of course this may not happen every time, but it is definately my focus and intent) Each time I level up, I record my stats on paper so that I know: "Hey I need to get 10 points of Acrobatics this round." and so on.
This slow leveling may require however, that you go out of your way at times to level up Minor Skills prior to "allowing" yourself to level up your Major Skills. Once you've leveled up your Minor Skills to where you know for a fact that you'll get the maximum of 3 +5 bonuses when you do level up, then you can go and get that 10th Major Skill point.
Again, I can't speak with authority, but I encourage you to read one of the Character Building FAQs that are out on the web. They discuss the leveling system way better than I ever could and they might be able to help you get your character back on track. To put it into perspective, I'm playing a character very similar to yours and am currently only a level 12. But with my slow leveling, I feel that I can take on just about anything that I come across. By maximizing my leveling as much as possible, I think that I've got the upper hand in most of my encounters.
By reading one of those FAQs (as well as perhaps temporarily lowering the difficulty setting as previously mentioned) you might be able to get your current character back up to speed without starting over. If you do decide to start over however, you'll probably be suprised at how powerful you level 5 Mage is compared to your level 14 that you used to have, through slow, methodical leveling. Good luck, let us know how it works out.
Teh 'Banshee Pwnzes.
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Fljotsdale
- Posts: 1640
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[QUOTE=wilde]First of i'm new to this forum so hi all, secondly i'm new to rpgs so go easy on me.
I wanted to creat a charecter that can fight hand to hand and use magic, don't ask me why but i chose this:
Race - Dark Elf
Birthsign - The Mage
Class - Spell Sword
atm i'm Level 14
I'm wearing a mix of light armor and heavy (should I wear one or the other), using a shield and one handed sword (can't find a decent 2handed).
Very recently i've struggled fighting anything, even wild animals seem to constantly knock me over. Basically i'm confused as to what to wear, use fight and all that so can someone suggest a way of helping me as I don't really wanna start again.
Me being new to rpgs i'm finding it a big daunting and struggling to get my head round it all so any help is appreciated.
Thanks
Wilde[/QUOTE]
Hello!
Hell, you didn't choose an easy game to start rpging, did you! :laugh:
Dark Elf is a good choice. Natural 75% immunity to fire is VERY handy in many situations. A Dark Elf also has some nice natural skills, which you should take advantage of:
Starting bonuses of +10 Blade and Destuction (as well as some +5 bonuses) means that you would be wise to have taken Blade and Destruction as Major Skills. Since you have taken Hand-to-Hand as a Major Skill, but are actually using a sword, I am not really surprised you are struggling a bit!
Turning down the difficulty level, as has already been suggested, is a good idea. You don't need to turn it down much to get a decided improvement in your ability to play the game:
Go to the Options window and look for Gameplay. Then find the difficulty setting. You will notice that the Difficulty bar is centred above a row of 'OFF's, with the slider above the first F of OFF. Move it so that it is above the O of OFF. This is quite sufficient for you to notice a decided difference in ease of playing, but without making you feel like a wimp!
Slow levelling, as had been suggested, might be the way forward: it works as described - but I personally don't like it. I've tried it and got frustrated as hell because I wasn't getting any decent loot - loot is levelled to your character level - just iron and wimpy stuff worth very little gold. With slow levelling, your character may have all the skill levels of a char of level 15, but since he is still only level 5 (for example) he isn't getting the loot he SHOULD be getting - and that makes me mad, LOL!
Be VERY careful about leveling such skills as Athletics and Acrobatics. It is best not to have either in your Major Skills, because they rise rapidly (unless you always walk and never jump), and bring you to level-up before you are ready for the enemies you will encounter at the next level.
If you have unhelpful Major Skills, the best thing you can do is to stop sleeping until your char has developed some more important skills, such as Blade, Hand-to-Hand, Destruction, Armour (I suggest that if your char doesn't have Strength of more than 40, it would be better to go for Light Armour rather than heavy) and Armourer (so you can mend your equipment on the run, as it were).
Alchemy is also a good skill to have, because you can make useful potions to heal and protect yourself, and poisons to put on your weapon.
Hope some of that stuff will be helpful.
Good luck!
I wanted to creat a charecter that can fight hand to hand and use magic, don't ask me why but i chose this:
Race - Dark Elf
Birthsign - The Mage
Class - Spell Sword
atm i'm Level 14
I'm wearing a mix of light armor and heavy (should I wear one or the other), using a shield and one handed sword (can't find a decent 2handed).
Very recently i've struggled fighting anything, even wild animals seem to constantly knock me over. Basically i'm confused as to what to wear, use fight and all that so can someone suggest a way of helping me as I don't really wanna start again.
Me being new to rpgs i'm finding it a big daunting and struggling to get my head round it all so any help is appreciated.
Thanks
Wilde[/QUOTE]
Hello!
Hell, you didn't choose an easy game to start rpging, did you! :laugh:
Dark Elf is a good choice. Natural 75% immunity to fire is VERY handy in many situations. A Dark Elf also has some nice natural skills, which you should take advantage of:
Starting bonuses of +10 Blade and Destuction (as well as some +5 bonuses) means that you would be wise to have taken Blade and Destruction as Major Skills. Since you have taken Hand-to-Hand as a Major Skill, but are actually using a sword, I am not really surprised you are struggling a bit!
Turning down the difficulty level, as has already been suggested, is a good idea. You don't need to turn it down much to get a decided improvement in your ability to play the game:
Go to the Options window and look for Gameplay. Then find the difficulty setting. You will notice that the Difficulty bar is centred above a row of 'OFF's, with the slider above the first F of OFF. Move it so that it is above the O of OFF. This is quite sufficient for you to notice a decided difference in ease of playing, but without making you feel like a wimp!
Slow levelling, as had been suggested, might be the way forward: it works as described - but I personally don't like it. I've tried it and got frustrated as hell because I wasn't getting any decent loot - loot is levelled to your character level - just iron and wimpy stuff worth very little gold. With slow levelling, your character may have all the skill levels of a char of level 15, but since he is still only level 5 (for example) he isn't getting the loot he SHOULD be getting - and that makes me mad, LOL!
Be VERY careful about leveling such skills as Athletics and Acrobatics. It is best not to have either in your Major Skills, because they rise rapidly (unless you always walk and never jump), and bring you to level-up before you are ready for the enemies you will encounter at the next level.
If you have unhelpful Major Skills, the best thing you can do is to stop sleeping until your char has developed some more important skills, such as Blade, Hand-to-Hand, Destruction, Armour (I suggest that if your char doesn't have Strength of more than 40, it would be better to go for Light Armour rather than heavy) and Armourer (so you can mend your equipment on the run, as it were).
Alchemy is also a good skill to have, because you can make useful potions to heal and protect yourself, and poisons to put on your weapon.
Hope some of that stuff will be helpful.
Good luck!
Leonard Cohen :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8VwvO0e ... re=related
time for a change
"Dogs come when they're called. Cats take a message and get back to you."
time for a change
"Dogs come when they're called. Cats take a message and get back to you."
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fable
- Posts: 30676
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As others have noted, Oblivion is a lot less tolerant towards non-powergamer characters than its predecessor, Morrowind. While MW allowed you to leisurely raise your stats and get high multipliers, Oblivion literally forces you to level up after making a certain number of major skill levels. It assumes, too, that those major skill increases will feature very large multiples, and regularly in areas such as strength and endurance. Opponents in Oblivion, too, usually start with a higher level of endurance than your own character at an appropriate level.
There are many mods out there for PC users that change Oblivion's leveling system; all of them work pretty well, but do their jobs in different ways. If you're interested in these, let us know. They're not "cheats," but simply ways of advancing that try to level out the playing field. As it stands, it is all too ridiculously easy for a level 1 character to march through the game, while a level 25 character regularly fails in a number of areas.
There are many mods out there for PC users that change Oblivion's leveling system; all of them work pretty well, but do their jobs in different ways. If you're interested in these, let us know. They're not "cheats," but simply ways of advancing that try to level out the playing field. As it stands, it is all too ridiculously easy for a level 1 character to march through the game, while a level 25 character regularly fails in a number of areas.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
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Ragin Cajun
- Posts: 476
- Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2002 3:09 pm
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As mentioned above, there are several leveling mods. I would suggest looking into some of these (I personally use one created by Digizen, you can find it by doing a search by screen name in the elder scrolls mod forum; that's also where fable got his if I remember an earlier post by him on this subject).
You are seeing what many others have, the ability to kill a wolf with two hits at level one and then taking 20-30 hits to kill the same wolf at level 15.
Good luck.
You are seeing what many others have, the ability to kill a wolf with two hits at level one and then taking 20-30 hits to kill the same wolf at level 15.
Good luck.
You might want to start over. Dark elf is a great all round race, my Dark Elf managed to master every guild, its not limited to being a fighter, theif, or mage, but can be any or all at the same time. However I do suggest taking blade, light armor (Personal preference, and I think the Dark Elves get a bonus to it), and destruction as major skills, along with what ever else you choose to use. Other skills I reccomend working on but not necesarily making major are: Armorer, Restoration, Alchemy, Block, Acrobatics, Speechcraft, and Mercantile. Good Luck.
Oh, and welcome to the forums, I suggest you come on down to [url="http://gamebanshee.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16"]SYM[/url] a great place to get to know some people, and get aquainted with the forum. The people here are generaly warm and inviting, although some/all of the people who regularly float around that particular board may seem strange, they are really nice people.
Oh, and welcome to the forums, I suggest you come on down to [url="http://gamebanshee.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16"]SYM[/url] a great place to get to know some people, and get aquainted with the forum. The people here are generaly warm and inviting, although some/all of the people who regularly float around that particular board may seem strange, they are really nice people.
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
Voltaire
[QUOTE=Xandax]Color me purple and call me barney.[/QUOTE]
Voltaire
[QUOTE=Xandax]Color me purple and call me barney.[/QUOTE]
Starting Over
I played Oblivion for quite a while then restarted. I had two reasons for doing this. First, I wasn't happy with the levelling up - I'd created a character similar to what I use in Morrowind, and, as others have said, its easier to be balanced in MW. The other reason was I was getting knotted up in reams of quests that I couldn't clear fast enough to get on to other outstanding ones.
Personally, my preference is to play a Breton specialising in Stealth skills. This is because of the racial 50% magic resistance and Shield power which is priceless at lower levels. Bretons only get bonuses to the various magical skills, which are little use to me 'cos I don't usually do much spell-casting, but you might like that too.
I also took the Thief birthsign because its +30 spread across three stats, and chose Luck as one of my two primary stats. This gave me a starting Luck of 60 - and it has a huge effect on random loot.
By the time I was lvl2 I already had a selection of basic magic rings like constant Strenth, Feather, bonuses to Armour and so on, which made dungeons easier - and then I could run away with the loot without having to come back for a second batch
Other than the above, I'd recommend creating your character not using a template, because that way you control the skills you have as major and thus the levelling up process.
If you want to use Blade, put blunt or hand to hand in majors. Stealth, Athletics and Acrobatics should never be major because they increase uncontrollably. I also wouldn't put an Armour skill in there for the same reason (wear a mixture of armour types in order to get 'ticks' on both skills).
Good luck and may the Force be with you!
Jewel
Ooh! Shiny!
I played Oblivion for quite a while then restarted. I had two reasons for doing this. First, I wasn't happy with the levelling up - I'd created a character similar to what I use in Morrowind, and, as others have said, its easier to be balanced in MW. The other reason was I was getting knotted up in reams of quests that I couldn't clear fast enough to get on to other outstanding ones.
Personally, my preference is to play a Breton specialising in Stealth skills. This is because of the racial 50% magic resistance and Shield power which is priceless at lower levels. Bretons only get bonuses to the various magical skills, which are little use to me 'cos I don't usually do much spell-casting, but you might like that too.
I also took the Thief birthsign because its +30 spread across three stats, and chose Luck as one of my two primary stats. This gave me a starting Luck of 60 - and it has a huge effect on random loot.
By the time I was lvl2 I already had a selection of basic magic rings like constant Strenth, Feather, bonuses to Armour and so on, which made dungeons easier - and then I could run away with the loot without having to come back for a second batch
Other than the above, I'd recommend creating your character not using a template, because that way you control the skills you have as major and thus the levelling up process.
If you want to use Blade, put blunt or hand to hand in majors. Stealth, Athletics and Acrobatics should never be major because they increase uncontrollably. I also wouldn't put an Armour skill in there for the same reason (wear a mixture of armour types in order to get 'ticks' on both skills).
Good luck and may the Force be with you!
Jewel
Ooh! Shiny!
I second this Question! Can't Kill anything! What do We Do?????
I am a level 5...pretty much just started the game but far enough in to it that I dont want to start again!
I have been going along just fine. Then Suddenly, I cant kill anything..no matter what I do.
I went with Barius to the meeting: can't kill the bad guys..tried about 20 times. So I gave up...thought I needed to level or get better weapons or more armor...but I have gone into dungeons that I had to give up on trying...right now I am in the painting and I cant kill the trolls. I did kill one by running up on top of a rock and just hammering him with arrows till he died. But...I cant manage to do that with the next troll that comes at me .
I am such a whimp in the game. I dont know how I can change this from where I am at. I see that I can start over and make my major skills ones that I dont use....BUT I dont want to start over again.
ADVICE Please????????
I am a level 5...pretty much just started the game but far enough in to it that I dont want to start again!
I have been going along just fine. Then Suddenly, I cant kill anything..no matter what I do.
I went with Barius to the meeting: can't kill the bad guys..tried about 20 times. So I gave up...thought I needed to level or get better weapons or more armor...but I have gone into dungeons that I had to give up on trying...right now I am in the painting and I cant kill the trolls. I did kill one by running up on top of a rock and just hammering him with arrows till he died. But...I cant manage to do that with the next troll that comes at me .
I am such a whimp in the game. I dont know how I can change this from where I am at. I see that I can start over and make my major skills ones that I dont use....BUT I dont want to start over again.
ADVICE Please????????
oblivion works on levelled lists. creatures level with you. so if you're level 1-4 you may encounter stunted scamps on the planes of oblivion, but if your 5-10 they become clannfear and atronachs and dremora and all sorts of baddies.
i had the same problem. at level 4 i wizzed through the game easy. then i hit level 5. Oh the pain. Just keep levelling up. only solution
i had the same problem. at level 4 i wizzed through the game easy. then i hit level 5. Oh the pain. Just keep levelling up. only solution
[QUOTE=Lady Mer]I am a level 5...pretty much just started the game but far enough in to it that I dont want to start again! [/QUOTE]
I seem to remember level five being the most unbalanced level in the game. Atleast in my experiance I think it was the toughest. As ammama said the level lists switch at that point, and go from being ridiculously easy to painfully difficult - you'll start encountering larger mobs of harder monsters .
Oblivion has a recognised levelling and difficulty issue, I think its fair to say you can knock the difficulty slider down a few notches without it being considered cheating. Knock it down until gameplay isn't too hard, then fine tune it as you go along.
Only other option is one of the many character levelling mods.
I seem to remember level five being the most unbalanced level in the game. Atleast in my experiance I think it was the toughest. As ammama said the level lists switch at that point, and go from being ridiculously easy to painfully difficult - you'll start encountering larger mobs of harder monsters
.Oblivion has a recognised levelling and difficulty issue, I think its fair to say you can knock the difficulty slider down a few notches without it being considered cheating. Knock it down until gameplay isn't too hard, then fine tune it as you go along.
Only other option is one of the many character levelling mods.
"I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"
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fable
- Posts: 30676
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Personally, I suggest Digizen's Smooth Leveling, but there are now close to a dozen leveling mods out there, and most are quite good. What I liked about DSL was its transparency: X skill levels up, and you made a character level. Nice and easy. And Digizen gives you several ESPs so you can pick and choose how many skill levels do it for you. Two levels ago my current character took 60 skill levels to rise. Now I've chosen 30. It's a level 4 character, and I'll probably jump it back to 60 in a bit. I simply prefer to wander about, seeing all the stuff around without having to worry about hitting level 20 or 30 in the process.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.