To restart or not to restart. (few, but some, spoilers)

[Xandax]

Well, as some might know - I'm a perpetual game-restarter, especially RPG-ish games, because I have a hard time deciding if the character I'm playing is infact what I want to play.

So now, for the first time in an Elder Scroll game I've tried one of the predefined classes (mostly because of the dumbing down of the classes Bethesda have done for this game), so the assassin fitted my character I wanted to play decently. So now I've leveled to L17(ish) and done a large amount of quest, but running around plundering a dungeon I fell over - amongst others a Dread Zombie. I could not scratch the thing. My weaponskills were with enchant some 55ish blade and similar marksman (I stole some Darkbrotherhood clothes early in the game which gives me good enchants, so I'm not using armor, without enchants I'll be around the 40s in blade/marksman) with an enchanted dagger (presumable glass) and an enchanted bow (persumable glass). I could not make a dent in this zombie at all, so I ran out.
I'm also haveing some issues with some Wraiths which apparently are immune to my dagger.

I just did the Fighers Guild quest where you have to resupply some folk in a mine and kill some goblins (Savage ones I think they were called) and they were very hard to kill. Had it not been for the 3 others, I'd not be able to do it.

I am using a mod which should make the mobs level slower (NPC static level I think it is called. I'm not even sure it works ), because frankly I think the whole mobs level with you aspect takes the fun out of exploring because they are near your level all the time.

But regardless, then I'm unsure if I'll continue to run into more type mobs which I can't dent now, or I'll still be able to find lower levels mobs so I can level up my weapon skill. However, it takes ages to level a weaponskill when combat isn't your "prefered", so I'd likely have to find some bad weapons and use them on these easier mobs to not kill them to fast, but to gain skills.
Or should I restart (in which case I'll make another class) and focus more on my weapons.

Now, I know nobody can give me a straight up answer to something as subjective as this, however, advice and experiences are welcome.

[C-K'R[PhoEniX]]

I bloody completely understand you!
I have also made LOTS of characters, always using those pre-defined classes, but somehow it's always either too easy or too hard or too boring. I've never even completed the main quest, and I sure as hell have played Oblivion enough hours to complete it a dozen times. Btw, are you playing on default difficulty? I have tried to play on hardest difficulty from the start, on 75% etc. and I always chose either the assassin class, or some other stealth based character. I only remember getting to that dread zombie thing once with an acrobat kajiit (default difficulty), I had Silver bow and arrows but I just couldn't kill the damn thing (and I shot about 70 arrows at it), but I suppose some poisoned arrows could eventually kill it (zombies are really hard to kill for archers, I know). Anyway, I am playing with an assassin again, dark elf lvl 11 now, but not on default difficulty because it's just not fun (i hardly ever get killed, at least for now), so I increase the difficulty by 1 each time I lvl (meaning my difficulty now is 61%, because I am lvl 11), and I am really having a blast! It's getting a lot harder now, but not impossible. I stopped using slow level mods, or any other gameplay-changing mods. Playing this way really makes you appreciate every item you get, every enemy you kill; it also makes you appreciate the fast skill leveling in Oblivion (you try playing this way and you'll know why), and the monster leveling (i always get enough challenge). I hope it won't get too hard later on, cause if it doesn't, I think I just might have the perfect solution for my character restarting. I don't know if this reply helped at all, but I still wanted to share my experience in playing Oblivion.

P.S. Has anyone else tried to play this way ? (increase difficulty by 1 each level)

[Fljotsdale]

Yeah, I understand too! And, like C-K'R[PhoEniX], I have not yet completed the game! My highest level char was LVL 40, then it got too easy (default difficulty) so instead of increasing the difficulty I restarted with a new char. Anyway, I like playing around with character building...

As for Dread Zombies... well, yeah, they are tough, but I never failed to kill one yet, in all the games and char types I've played - whether Ranged, Melee or Magic, or a combination of the three.
I find SNEAK the most useful skill any char can have. And having something enchanted with Nighteye for dungeon-crawling is a must. You can see enemies of any level well before they see you, most times, and your first strike (x3 or x6 damage for being unseen) should do quite a lot of damage, whether ranged or melee. For some reason, magic attacks don't get the 'unseen' advantage.
Zombies of all types are immune to disease, poisons, resistant to magic, and resistant to frost. However, they have a weakness to FIRE! So, if you have a GOOD Ranged or touch fire spell, use it. Shock spells are also quite good. If you don't use much magic, it is a good idea to have a weapon that delivers fire or shock damage.
Even so, they are not a pushover! Although at level 40 (default difficulty)they are.

[Xandax]

Sneak attacks did little for my combat with the Dread Zombie. I always (well, with this current character) sneak around, and I have found a ring with constant "night eyes".
But it hardly made a dent in the zombie before he found me and I trying running around using range - or meele - and it didnt' make any impact what so ever.
Sure I could start tweaking the difficulty slider, but that would seem .... pointless ... incase I have to do that everytime I enter a dungeon.

[Fljotsdale]

Doesn't fire work? Or shock?

Hm. Does your char have a low Endurance level? Or low Strength?

Oh, another thing! Do you go OUT of Sneak mode as soon as you are seen? Being in Sneak Mode makes you slow, and the blighters will run rings round you, even as slow as they are!

Zombie slowness is also to your advantage, especially if you use a bow or ranged spells. You can run away, pause, shoot, run again, shoot again (making sure you are running to an already cleared area, of course!). It's a bit harder if you are a melee person who like bashing it out toe-to-toe, but even so, you can run, healing yourself as you go, then turning to face it and having another bash.
Where possible - and there are not many places in dugeons where you can do it - get up onto something high and attack with ranged weapons or spells from there. Those bridges in Fortresses are good. There are a few places with similar advantages in Ayleid ruins, too. I always use 'em where available.

[Xandax]

Doesn't fire work? Or shock?

Hm. Does your char have a low Endurance level? Or low Strength?

Oh, another thing! Do you go OUT of Sneak mode as soon as you are seen? Being in Sneak Mode makes you slow, and the blighters will run rings round you, even as slow as they are!

Zombie slowness is also to your advantage, especially if you use a bow or ranged spells. You can run away, pause, shoot, run again, shoot again (making sure you are running to an already cleared area, of course!). It's a bit harder if you are a melee person who like bashing it out toe-to-toe, but even so, you can run, healing yourself as you go, then turning to face it and having another bash.
Where possible - and there are not many places in dugeons where you can do it - get up onto something high and attack with ranged weapons or spells from there. Those bridges in Fortresses are good. There are a few places with similar advantages in Ayleid ruins, too. I always use 'em where available.

With next to no magic abilities other then some 25ish restoration, "fire" is out of the question.
As for sneak, I stay there as long as I can get sneak attack bonus, otherwise not.

And it doesn't matter that I can outrun a zombie when I do not take any of his health with my attacks. Their "health bar" doesn't go down much and goes up faster then I can damage it.

[Fljotsdale]

Really? What sort of weapon are you using? Weapon level, I mean, as well as weapon type. A 1 to 4 won't make much impact, unless it is a claymore. A weapon with a fire or shock enchantment is best.

Have you considered leaving that dungeon and going to find a better weapon? I did that once, but it was to get a better spell! So long as you are not away long, the place won't respawn. A quick dash to a city shouldn't be a problem.

You are right - a low-level restoration Heal is not going to help a lot.
Do you do alchemy? Whether you do or not, it is a very good idea to have lots of health and shield potions, even if you have to buy them.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to post your Attributes levels, Major skill levels, and the best of your minor skill levels, so we can (hopefully) see what is not working with your char? At level 17 you should be doing better than that, imo.

[FredrikNo1]

I think one of the greatest thing with oblivion is its massive difficult slider. If u find that zombie to hard then lower the difficulty and i promise you u wont have to reroll.

this great difficult slider makes it possible to play with pretty much any char (a diplomat can finish the game, if u make a fighter and it gets to easy just increase difficulty)

this makes the game very well balanced and I dont think u should reroll for any other reason than that u want to play a new type of char.

[Fljotsdale]

Some of us really hate messing with the difficulty slider. It's a matter of pride! :laugh:

[Belthan]

I've restarted several times, 4 chars on PC & 1 on 360. It's almost like a different game when you play a character with radically different strengths and weaknesses. For example, I completely agree dread zombies are a major pain for assassin-type characters, but not too hard for a mage with decent destruction spells or a tank that can dish out and take massive melee damage. I always make custom classes because I usually have a definite "personality" in mind for each character and the prefab classes are never quite a perfect fit for how I want to play the character.

[UncleScratchy]

With next to no magic abilities other then some 25ish restoration, "fire" is out of the question.
As for sneak, I stay there as long as I can get sneak attack bonus, otherwise not.

And it doesn't matter that I can outrun a zombie when I do not take any of his health with my attacks. Their "health bar" doesn't go down much and goes up faster then I can damage it.

Sounds to me like a classic example of leveling to fast and in the wrong skills. Still it might be fixable if you don't mind taking the time to train up where it counts. I am a firm believer in making your minor skills the ones you want to define your character and making your majors skills those that can be done without or postponed for survival and success. If I wanted an assassin for a character I would not pick the pre-made Assassin class. I would make a custom class and put all the assassin type skills in the minor category. Also I would not waste the birthsign on something that will not last the entire game. That means the only birthsigns I ever consider are Apprentice, Mage and Atronach. I learned this the hard way with both Morrowind and this game. That extra Magicka is a real bonus that doesn't become obsolete. Doesn't matter if you don't want to be a mage, even thieves and assassins need chameleon, invis, fortify, heal, and most importantly conjuration spells.

So to make your char more powerful you will need to get your health, magicka and fatigue derived attributes up with combat training. Go out and learn a basic conjuration spell like Bound Helmet. Cast it until your conjuration is 25 (Novice Level). Now go out and buy a conjured skeleton type spell. Skeletons and basic zombies are the best to train with. These guys will be your new training partners. Casting them will increase your conjuration skill and thereby give you max level up points towards Intelligence which will boost your Magicka bar. Killing them will boost your hand to hand, blade, blunt and destruction skills and thereby your Strength and Health. Fire works best on the undead so that should be your main destruction focus. Finally, letting them hit you or blocking them and then repairing your weapons/armor will boost your Endurance attributes. Endurance and Strength have the biggest impact on your health line. The destruction/healing spells you cast will help boost your Willpower but more importantly will enable you to cast more powerful destruction and healing spells as well as those Greater Fortify spells. Do this training focusing on the use of only the minor skills that apply. Keep track of your skill level improvements and when you have 10 in two or three categories only then focus on getting the 10 major skill level ups. After a few levels of doing this you will be wasting those dread zombies (with appropriate weapons of course).

I make it my first goal of the game to acquire the Waterfront shack with the storage improvements. Join the mages guild and learn the spells that you will need to train on - don't forget to check the chapels and alchemy shops for some good spells as well. Settle down in my shack and start training. The goal is to stay ahead of the leveled monsters and bandits you will be facing. Forget most guild quests and focus on your character stats so you can kill bandits and loot their lairs for cash and equipment. I tend to do the mage quests first so I have access to the Academy then try to join the thief and DB guilds. Fighters guild is always last because it has few if any real perks to offer. The nice thing about training inside your shack is you won't be bothered by the locals becoming involved, you can sleep to heal if you need to, and if your conjured training partner is getting the best of you you can quickly recast him and get a non-hostile one while you recover.

[Xandax]

I decided (until now ) to continue playing my assassin, and did okayish- when running from monsters I pretty much couldn't kill and using sneak attack/marksman on the rest and finally ended up with some ebony weapons.
My character now reached about L20, still heavily infront with sneak/lockpicking and other such "soft" skills compared to weaponskills.

However, then I did Kvart and the first gate of Oblivion and it was a slaughterfest. I mean it was Diablo in First Person view and it kinda sucked the energy and motivation to play my character from me - possible even the game. Where it up to now had been possible to get by with sneaking around and choosing my battles, I was now forced into a hack fest where only one thing mattered. Slash with my dagger and drink potions ever so often - reloading each time I died.
So I changed the difficulty (something I swore I wouldn't do) and it made it easier, however it was the same hack n' slash.
Up to this point, I though it was a decent enough game this, but now - I question if I even bother playing my character onwards because I know this will happen a couple of times still - or at least, I can deduct as much.
Having a meele weak character, more usable for sneaking around and then not being able to sneak around because umpteen deadras and athronacs and what not swarm around you is ... well bad and not fun.
I just got more dissapointed by this game.

So now I think I'll let Oblivion rest for a couple of days, think about restarting with a custom character with more focus on meele and magic and then see where it goes from there, or simply abandon the game for a longer while.

[Maximus38]

I found the Dread Zombie not as difficult as I'd feared......my big advantage is that I have a high Conjuration skill and can summon creatures eg Daedroth, Faded Wraith to my aid - they deal some serious damage. Also by backing off, hitting it with Fire Spells, poisoning blades with cumulative Fire Damage, I just ran rings around it, it couldn't get near me.
Having said that I chose all the wrong skills for my majors, I also level up too fast, now I'm having to use blunt weapons and Heavy Armour which puts me at a disadvantage as I'm not skilled in them (yet) - but now I'm levelling up far more slowly

[Rein]

Restart

But regardless, then I'm unsure if I'll continue to run into more type mobs which I can't dent now, or I'll still be able to find lower levels mobs so I can level up my weapon skill. However, it takes ages to level a weaponskill when combat isn't your "prefered", so I'd likely have to find some bad weapons and use them on these easier mobs to not kill them to fast, but to gain skills.
Or should I restart (in which case I'll make another class) and focus more on my weapons.

Now, I know nobody can give me a straight up answer to something as subjective as this, however, advice and experiences are welcome.

Xandax I think you should start a new Character.

I don't have oblivion yet (but will, come Friday) but I play similar to you and with my four years experience with Morrowind, I suggest you start over. When I first played Morrowind I ran into the same problems and, IMO the game will not be fun (this goes for any game) if you are playing a character that is lame. So I say forget about forcing yourself to continue with this character and get a new one that you know you will enjoy; Live your life in Oblivion the way that suits you.

[Siberys]

Dunno if it's been suggested, but if you do decide to restart, most definitely download Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, I've been playing that and it's SO much better than the normal oblivion. More challenges, more monsters, allies and henchmen, new items, new weapons, etc.

[Fljotsdale]

I decided (until now ) to continue playing my assassin, and did okayish- when running from monsters I pretty much couldn't kill and using sneak attack/marksman on the rest and finally ended up with some ebony weapons.
My character now reached about L20, still heavily infront with sneak/lockpicking and other such "soft" skills compared to weaponskills.

However, then I did Kvart and the first gate of Oblivion and it was a slaughterfest. I mean it was Diablo in First Person view and it kinda sucked the energy and motivation to play my character from me - possible even the game. Where it up to now had been possible to get by with sneaking around and choosing my battles, I was now forced into a hack fest where only one thing mattered. Slash with my dagger and drink potions ever so often - reloading each time I died.
So I changed the difficulty (something I swore I wouldn't do) and it made it easier, however it was the same hack n' slash.
Up to this point, I though it was a decent enough game this, but now - I question if I even bother playing my character onwards because I know this will happen a couple of times still - or at least, I can deduct as much.
Having a meele weak character, more usable for sneaking around and then not being able to sneak around because umpteen deadras and athronacs and what not swarm around you is ... well bad and not fun.
I just got more dissapointed by this game.

So now I think I'll let Oblivion rest for a couple of days, think about restarting with a custom character with more focus on meele and magic and then see where it goes from there, or simply abandon the game for a longer while.

Restarting with a different char might be best... I suppose. Especially if you no longer like your character.

But, if you DO like the char, but are just concerned about his present abilities:

ALL character types are perfectly playable, not just Tanks and Mages.
I am currently running a girl Dark Elf with no armour. She's level 13 at present. Up to level 10 she only had a shield (a 3!) for protection. She now has shoes, skirt, a pretty top and a mage hood enchanted for Shield, giving her a total of 30 protection. She has a nice magica inexpensive Touch Shock spell, which is now not quite good enough, but WAS fantastic. Her melee skill is rubbish, her Ranged skill is even rubbishier. But she gets by just fine. She's neve run away, and never lost a fight - though it has been touch-and-go a few times.

Her major skills are:
Athletics 37
Conjuration 50 (but she doesn't summon critters)
Acrobatics 46
Mercantile 41
Security 38
Sneak 63
Speech 50

Minor
Blade 32
Block 28
Alchemy 55
Alteration 50
Destruction 30
Restoration 41
Marksman 18

The rest are not worth mentioning

If she can manage - and she is - so can your guy!

Magic weapons are helpful, but my girl didn't have a single one until her last dungeon crawl. Just kept a silver dagger for ghosties and such.

BUT although she is a Stealth type, she joined the Mage Guild and now has a Mage staff of Shock that delivers 60 damage on target. It's fantastic! I never knew how to work them before - thought you bashed with 'em, like a blunt weapon - but you just point 'em and press the left mouse button, and ... Whoo-hoo!
I have to try not to depend on it, though. They run out of juice too soon! It only has 50 shots.

But a staff of some sort might help your character out of tight corners. Why not pay a visit to Rindir's Staffs in the Market District? And trawl a few Ayleid ruins for Varla Stones to replenish the staff's power? It's well worth it! Filled soul gems will top 'em up a bit as well.

[Xandax]

<snip>
If she can manage - and she is - so can your guy!
<snip>

Well, my L20 assassin with high sneak/security and other highish non-combat skills and some 55 blade (with enchant) and ebony weapons and withouth armor (enchanted clothes), could not withouth me manipulating the difficult slider some ~10-15% down. Not even close, far from it indeed.
The NPCs in Kvarth(sp?) died within a couple of seconds or went unconsious and the masses of Spider Dreadra and Storm Athronacs with various other things just pounded me severly. There were to many enemies, they spotted me almost instantly (despite having above 100 sneak with enchant) so I couldn't even use sneakattack strategies.
And that is combined with many other fights I had to run from because I couldn't dent the monsters health bar fast enough to kill them.

I very dislike the leveling scaling of this game and it seem to discourage/punish exploration and promote cookie-cutter speccing, which I find strange for an open ended game, and because neither Daggerfall nor Morrowind punished exploration in the same manner.
I will try to find another NPC leveling modification to apply to the game before I consider trying again with this game.
Or perhaps just going the mindnumbing way of a heavy meele character with some magic would be the "way to go", or simply completely avoid exploration/quests until the main story is close to done.

[Siberys]

>>>I very dislike the leveling scaling of this game and it seem to discourage/punish exploration and promote cookie-cutter speccing, which I find strange for an open ended game, and because neither Daggerfall nor Morrowind punished exploration in the same manner.

Suggesting again, Oblivion overhaul. It turns oblivions leveling system into morrowinds "You go to an ayleid dungeon, you die" system. Oblivion, hard mode couldn't kill me. Oblivion overhaul, easy mode is a bit difficult.

[Xandax]

I'll try to take a look at that "Overhaul" thingy and see if it suits me

[Siberys]

The Elder Scrolls Files - Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul (1.3) Info

There's the latest version of it, if you don't have DSL or something of the equivelant speed though, don't bother with this. It's 400 megabytes in size.