GameBanshee Forums

I recently had to start a new game (computer went through system recovery and deleted my old savegames), so now I've gotten a little into the game.

I cannot do the main quest because of this mod I have, since it makes me start in the imperial city instead of the prison.

Could you guys give me a little in depth look on how the mages guild treats the fighters guild and vice versa AND could tou tell me which would be most beneficiary for a starting out Battlemage. Reason I ask for indepth, is because I know there was a lot of conflict with the guilds in morrowind, but I know nothing of the ones here in oblivion.

Obviously the fighters guild will have swords and armor, BUT I won't be able to gain much in magic. Opposite with the mages guild as well. I don't want to balance them as my journal would flood and get out of hand, so for a 2nd level battlemage, which is more suited right now, in your opinion? Magic with a bit of fighting on my own, or Fighting with a bit of magic here and there?

Also, if you want to name any areas, try to be as small with the spoilers as possible, but if you want to name any areas like "there's a decent quest in a small town called Blah south of bruma." I'm totally open to freelance, however my character is a good little argonian, so anything resembling the dark brotherhood is not happening.


My current completed quests-

Siege on Kvatch, Anvil Recommendation.

I have joined the mages guild, obviously, but if there's a LOT of conflict between the Mages and the Fighters, I still have yet to join the fighters.

I have attained guildmaster status in both guild and am happy to report that there is no conflict between the two guilds what so ever, there is even a small amount of interaction.

And you can easily manage both however I suggest doing the first couple of fighters guild quests first, until you reach about level 5-7, then switch to getting all of your reccomendations from the guild halls and a few of the upper level mages guild quests. Then freelance for awhile, there are plenty of rewarding quests out there, and if your looking for cash, a battlemage is well suited for the Arena. Then about level 15-17, go back and knock out the fighters guild, and then return to the mages guild.

Actually from what I have seen, there is very little, if any conflict from joining 1 guild individually, or all of the guilds simultaneously. The only thing that I have seen that may tend to be in issue for you is further on down the line in the Thieves Guild Questline in relation to the Mages Guild Quest Line. The Misdirection Quest about halfway through the Thieves Guild Questline requires that you steal Horimor's Icestaff from the Arch-Mages Chamber in the Arcane University. Stealing this Staff without getting kicked out the Mages Guild for Stealing may prove difficult. Aside from that (and granted out of the four I've only fully completed the Mages Guild Questline and the Dark Brotherhood woot! woot! Questlines in their entirety) I haven't any issues that would directly conflict with another Guild Questline.

Now to get to your second question. Your trying to keep your Current Quests at a minimum and want to know which to complete first for your Battlemage. Argh. Tough choice. I will say from the "Battle" perspective of your Battlemage, the Fighters Guild may be the better choice initially. But this is just my oppinion. Other may disagree. As a Mage character myself, I was a little dissappointed with the loot obtained from the Mages Guild Questline. I wanted some more bad@$$ Staves and bad@$$ Robes. You don't really get either as part of the Quests but you do however gain access to the Arcane University where you can enchant your own weapons and armor and make your own spells which for the "Mage" part of your Battlemage is pretty friggin' sweet. You may find that this bonus alone is worth joining the Mages Guild early on. But honestly, there are bonuses to each and if you can get over a "cluttered" Quest log, you'll get the best of both worlds.

Spoiler:
Theives guild has two run ins with the mages guild, the first with Hrormir's Icestaff, the second when you are stealling the Arrow of Extrication, Fathis Aren is a mages guild member, dont get caught stealing, and dont kill him during that particular quest.

I would reccomend fighter first simply because sometimes you have no choice but to fight, and if their are three zombies and an atronach shielding a couple of necroes and conjurers, and all you can do is throw fireballs, your in trouble. A good old sword and shield are the most indespensable tools in the game, IMHO.

There's another run-in with the TG and MG.
Highlight to read:

Spoiler

When you are doing one of the last quests (I believe it's the last one) where you enter a dungeon full of necromancers the guy with the key to the dungeon is member of the thieves guild.

The TG only asks you to pay bloodmoney to get back in, so not really a problem.

Right now I've decided to go with fighters Guild, and I must say I'm getting a little disappointed. I'm leveling faster with magic than I am with fighting. It took quite a few strikes with a blade to level "Blade." but it took two castings of Summon Skeletons to Level Conjuration and only like 5 Shields for Alteration. But meh, I'm assuming it gets better later on, right now I'm getting ready to go to...(Highlite) this cave to get a book for a guy who defaulted his contract in the fighters guild.

My stats are for this guy-

Race- Argonian
Sign- Steed

Skills-
Alteration
Blade
Conjuration
Acrobatics
Athletics
Light Armor
Restoration

And my Completed quests as of now-

Mages Guild-

Anvil Recommendation-
The merchant killer was killed.


Fighters Guild-

Rats-
I killed the mountain lions that were attacking
the rats.

Deliver Weapons-
I delivered weapons to the mine and helped fend
off the goblins.

Bandits-
Killed the bandits in Anvil Dock's General Shop.


The arena is a good place to make money, which I could do if I wanted to, I'm a decent level as of now (level 4). So if I'm in need of money, that's a place to go, but the fighters guild is a little too easy. I'd rather have to find the culprit I need to kill than to have someone tell me exactly where he is and go and find that he was waiting for me.

But meh, if anybody has anymore input, feel free.

Post deleted--it had nothing to do with the question asked, above.

Siberys, I noticed as well that the skill leveling system is out of whack: weapons go up slowly, while some spell schools (like alteration, mysticism, illusion, and to a lesser extent, destruction) advance very quickly. Perhaps this was done to compensate for the way pure magery was nerfed in Morrowind. If so, I think a better way to have handled it would be as the modder who made the Compleat Enchanter did: up the power and magicka cost of spells, while increasing the magicka reserves of different birthsigns.

Personally, I've pushed mage and fighter guilds simultaneously with my current character. There are no conflicts between the two, and the mage guild rewards are actually better. Still, I think you'll find very good independent quests in several cities, with good item rewards. Not to give too much away, but check for rumors in Chorrol, Bruma, and visit that pleasant little hamlet directly to the west of Imperial City when you get a good waterbreathing spell and a nice weapon.