For anyone interested in Oblivion

[JRod]

The one thing that I don't like about closing gates is the creatures seem to take twice as many hits as before. Just to take down one of the brownish imp creatures took me 8 steel arrows with a few right through the ol noodle.

Considering that my slash and smash ratings are lower I have a tough time killing things. I've been neglecting magica for far too long. I need to work on that.


What's some of the better ways to get gold in this game. I would like to train in some areas but I'm broke. The only thing I'm really buying is arrows and an paying for weapon repair when I'm out of hammers. Still I have no money.

[Brando70]

JRod's post got me thinking -- are any of you doing well with the bow as a main combat weapon?

I have found that most of my combat encounters occur too close to make much use of it. I might get a shot or two off if someone is in the distance and they don't spot me, but that's about it. I actually picked up a nice magic bow, but I'm considering selling it since I'm not sure how useful it would be.

Also, shield or no shield? I have stuck with a shield and either short or long sword, as the damage increase for a claymore isn't that high (and you can't fight with a torch in your hand, which is a must for me in dark dungeons).

[hellbent]

Closed my first Oblivion gate last night. What an intense experience, they really made the netherworld look creepy, not just like another city with more fire.

In getting over to Kavatch, I rode west from the Priory and then cut south through the wilderness. I just love the scenery. This sounds so silly, but seeing the day change while making a long journey added so much to the immersion factor.

I also can't believe that I'm only 13 hours in and have barely scratched the surface. Most games don't even last this long.

Hope you're not too leveled up yet, Brando. Since your opponents scale up right along with you, the Kvatch quest is best handled as soon as possible. I was pretty lucky, did a couple of side quests first but was only about level 5 or so when I went into there. It was still pretty brutal - not the closing of the Oblivion gate, but rather when you actually start "liberating" the city. Be prepared to face several encounters of 10+ enemies virtually on your lonesome, and if you've leveled up substantially these creatures are pretty tough, from what I've read elsewhere.

Agree with all the DSP'ers on here that the game is flat-out phenomenal. I've put in probably 15-20 hours already (would have been more if not for being out of town for a week), and I've really barely done anything. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and tricks also. I'm having some slight regrets about not taking more combat-based primary skills, but other than that I'm having a blast using a stealthy mage with a penchant for shooting the unsuspecting with poison arrows before blasting them with fireballs if they're still standing.

After reading the other posts on the board the past few days about the craptastic MLB 2k6, I'm extra-happy about how awesome this game is. It's been a great distraction from my usual sports-gaming habits.

[Zeppo]

I have become better at using my bow. I have one with shock and one with fire, and then adding some poison to the arrow as well, and I can get a good chunk out of someone. But my character's real damage is done with spell, and I will switch to the sheild and sword if they get close.

My 2nd character I made a stealthy wood elf, and that one gets really good damage with the bow, even with the basic gear at level 2. With her I will even sometimes use the bow in close combat. Of course, once she gets up higher in stealth rating, there will be extra damage for that sneak attack as well.

I was at first useless with the bow and frustrated, and then I discovered my first character was not well built for bow work. However, with the magic bows, poisoning the arrows, etc. I have become almost competent, even though my agility is still ridiculously low.

I've never bought an arrow, either. I just take them off dead guys, and try to get my own back after I use them.

[peabody]

The one thing that I don't like about closing gates is the creatures seem to take twice as many hits as before. Just to take down one of the brownish imp creatures took me 8 steel arrows with a few right through the ol noodle.

Considering that my slash and smash ratings are lower I have a tough time killing things. I've been neglecting magica for far too long. I need to work on that.


What's some of the better ways to get gold in this game. I would like to train in some areas but I'm broke. The only thing I'm really buying is arrows and an paying for weapon repair when I'm out of hammers. Still I have no money.

Learn how to fight. Seriously. When I first got this game I just wildly swang at stuff without thinking and I wasn’t using my shield (blocking). Last night was the first time I was forced to strategize while fighting. I was doing a side quest (actually Scoop posted this earlier) where I was retrieving an amulet for a countess. I had to go through a trail, a cavern, and yet another trail just to get to the ruins. I had to fight 5 imps, about 10-15 ogres, a troll and 2 to 3 bears just to get to the actual ruins where the amulet was. By the time I got there my dwarven armor (and that armor is not too shabby) covering my body was down to zero and I had burned through two katana’s. All I had left was my blade of woe. I had gone too far to turn back. Failure was not an option.

When I opened the door to the ruins I was met by scores of undead skeletons (Alkevari Warriors I think). And this is where I learned how to fight. I would hold up my shield (which was the only useful armor I had left), let him strike a couple times, then fire off a couple shots and back away. Used magic to restore health when necessary and eventually fought my way through to get the amulet. I think I went from level 9 to level 12 after completing this quest. That’s just how much killing and activity there was with this little quest.

I’m not much of a magician either. I’m at apprentice level with restoration and illusion. Everything else is all novice. I’m an Imperial, so not much magic for me. Another thing that might help you is to up your alchemy skill be creating negative effect potions, then dip your weapons in them for added effect. I’m approaching journeyman level with alchemy at this point and it helps a lot. I sometimes go through the fields and just pick ingredients and store them in my 2000 gold sh*t-shack outside of Imperial City.

As for your money troubles, again alchemy can help a little. Pick some ingredients and make some potions, then go sell them. It will increase your alchemy skill, mercantile skill and give you a little gold to boot. I have the complete apprentice alchemy set (mortar and pestle, calcinator, retort, and albemic). I also think as you level up, the gold and items you get from exploring dungeons increase in value. I also grab and sell off everything that’s legal. I am still far from wealthy myself. I have just enough to get buy. This game makes you work for your money. But now that I’ve started to learn how to fight I may be able to reduce the amount of money I spend on repairing my armor.

I am appreciating this game as a whole more and more every day.

[Brando70]

Hellbent, I hit level 5 while in Oblivion and leveled up when I got to back to the chapel and could sleep. I should hit level 6 by the time I get through the Kvatch siege. I have a lot of ingredients from Oblivion to make some nice potions and get the Alchemy skill up.

I plan to do the Gray Prince sidequest after I finish Kvatch, since it's in the area. I probably will do a main/side split as much as possible.

I'm not sure how I'll feel after finishing, but I'm looking forward to playing at least part of the game again as a more magic-oriented character, maybe with some monk or thief elements for good measure.

[Zeppo]

Hope you're not too leveled up yet, Brando. Since your opponents scale up right along with you, the Kvatch quest is best handled as soon as possible. I was pretty lucky, did a couple of side quests first but was only about level 5 or so when I went into there. It was still pretty brutal - not the closing of the Oblivion gate, but rather when you actually start "liberating" the city. Be prepared to face several encounters of 10+ enemies virtually on your lonesome, and if you've leveled up substantially these creatures are pretty tough, from what I've read elsewhere.

That one was tough. I left Kvatch right after closing the gate, and only came back to do the rest of the city after leveling up a bit. I had to reload the game several times. The key to finally succeeding was keeping my companions alive and healthy until that final melee of baddies. Also, trying to constrain my allies' agro, so they wouldn't go running way off ahead at certain junctions was key as well. I found that if they did run off ahead after an enemy, it was better for me to stay back rather than chase after them. That way, they would come back and find me after they were done with that baddie, whereas if I chased after them, we would end up getting all kinds of enemies on us at once and my friends would be gone.

[Zeppo]

I'm not sure how I'll feel after finishing, but I'm looking forward to playing at least part of the game again as a more magic-oriented character, maybe with some monk or thief elements for good measure.

Why wait until you finish? I assume you mean finish the main quest, because finish the game. . . .

I'm serious, roll a new toon right away. It will help your present one by more clearly demonstrating how useless he is in some areas (like using the bow, or stealth, for example, ahem, ahem . . .). I found two quests in Imperial City right out of the sewers that I never saw with my original guy. I mean, already out of the gate (of the sewers. . . ) it is a very different game, not just becaus the character and combat is so different, but because I have all new quests I never knew of before. I'm sure mosts quest I do will be the same old ones, but there are so many side quests in the game. And with a second toon going along on the side, I feel much less obsessive about doing absolutely everything (and perfectly) with the original guy.

Just do the creation and get out of the sewers for a minute, and see how it is. Only takes a little bit to get to level 2.

[TCrouch]

I've done everything but the last couple ranks in the Thieve's Guild as far as XBL Achievements, and I've logged almost 140 hours so far.

And that's without even "playing". I wiped everything off of my hard drive last night to play a character to run back through and do everything, instead of making a unique character specifically for each line. I've played through the Arena and Main quest as a pure fighter, the Dark Brotherhood as an Assassin, the Mage's Guild as a pure mage, etc.

It's amazing how different the game is depending on the style. I rolled a guy last night a bit after dinner, and by the time I went to bed he was a level 10 and just wiping the floor with stuff by the truckload.

[peabody]

I've done everything but the last couple ranks in the Thieve's Guild as far as XBL Achievements, and I've logged almost 140 hours so far.

And that's without even "playing". I wiped everything off of my hard drive last night to play a character to run back through and do everything, instead of making a unique character specifically for each line. I've played through the Arena and Main quest as a pure fighter, the Dark Brotherhood as an Assassin, the Mage's Guild as a pure mage, etc.

It's amazing how different the game is depending on the style. I rolled a guy last night a bit after dinner, and by the time I went to bed he was a level 10 and just wiping the floor with stuff by the truckload.

Wow. That's alot of playing. The game has been out since what, March 21. Assuming you got the game the day it came out, that's about 16 days. So you've averaged playing 8.75 hours per day every day since the game came out. I assume it's been work, game, eat, sleep (in no particular order) for you.

[XXXIV]

I've done everything but the last couple ranks in the Thieve's Guild as far as XBL Achievements, and I've logged almost 140 hours so far.

And that's without even "playing". I wiped everything off of my hard drive last night to play a character to run back through and do everything, instead of making a unique character specifically for each line. I've played through the Arena and Main quest as a pure fighter, the Dark Brotherhood as an Assassin, the Mage's Guild as a pure mage, etc.

It's amazing how different the game is depending on the style. I rolled a guy last night a bit after dinner, and by the time I went to bed he was a level 10 and just wiping the floor with stuff by the truckload.

Wow. That's alot of playing. The game has been out since what, March 21. Assuming you got the game the day it came out, that's about 16 days. So you've averaged playing 8.75 hours per day every day since the game came out. I assume it's been work, game, eat, sleep (in no particular order) for you.

He cheats...he plays at work...

[TCrouch]

That 140 is not even counting the work time That's just the 360 version.

But yeah, basically. I prewarned my wife long before Oblivion came out: for a few weeks, maybe a month, there's nothing but Oblivion for me.

So it's been 4:30 PM until 1am or 2am every night, and all day on weekends for a few weeks straight.

That's not counting the 8 hours a day on the PC version at work, completely different time frame that I'd care not to add to it

[peabody]

I've done everything but the last couple ranks in the Thieve's Guild as far as XBL Achievements, and I've logged almost 140 hours so far.

And that's without even "playing". I wiped everything off of my hard drive last night to play a character to run back through and do everything, instead of making a unique character specifically for each line. I've played through the Arena and Main quest as a pure fighter, the Dark Brotherhood as an Assassin, the Mage's Guild as a pure mage, etc.

It's amazing how different the game is depending on the style. I rolled a guy last night a bit after dinner, and by the time I went to bed he was a level 10 and just wiping the floor with stuff by the truckload.

Wow. That's alot of playing. The game has been out since what, March 21. Assuming you got the game the day it came out, that's about 16 days. So you've averaged playing 8.75 hours per day every day since the game came out. I assume it's been work, game, eat, sleep (in no particular order) for you.

He cheats...he plays at work...

An acceptable use of work time in my opinion. I was worried he wasn't getting the doctor recommended 8 hours of sleep per night. With all that Oblivion playing combined with sleep deprivation, he may hallucinate or blur the lines of Oblivion with reality.

I can just hear it on the news now, strung out video game player arrested for disorderly conduct believing he could summon skamp on the owner of a pawn shop. The altercation took place after the accused (clearly deranged) lost his temper while trying to "haggle" with the pawn shop owner over the price of a sword. In a statement to the police, the pawn shop owner said, "He was out of his mind. He kept going on and on about needing the Katana so could enchant it with his soul gem. When I wouldn't come down in price, he muttered something unintelligible about a this damn persuassion mini-game, then went through some herky-jerky motions saying he was going to summon skamp on me if I didn't give him his katana. He was mad I tell you, mad!"

[TCrouch]

Wow, you put a lot of thought into that one.

The Navy cured me of any "sleep" needs I may have had. When you go 40, 50, 60 days with 7 on, 7 off, 5 on, 5 off...then they throw a GQ out during your sleep time and you don't sleep for a few days at a time....your body adjusts and needs less sleep. That, or you die, I guess. Mine adapted.

I just play a lot of games is all. Nothing dramatic about it. And considering we have LAN tournaments of Ghost Recon and Rogue Spear with the President of the company in the middle of the day, I don't think he complains much about use of company time lol. The day I was hired, the interview process was "I don't care what you do as long as when you're speaking with a customer you stop doing it." I've followed that rule for seven years and been completely happy. Perfect job actually...can do this all day, still get a masseusse in my office on Mondays and Fridays to "destress", cruises every year for the frau and I with private suites with veranda decks and in-cabin bars, etc.

Yeah, come to think of it, not much I can complain about...other than my f*cking connection to XBL on my XBox and ToCA3

[Gurantsu]

Wow! If I was on the west coast I'd ask ya to hook up a fellow squid with a job!

[Danimal]

So whats the general thought on the Oblivoun Gates that randomly pop up? Enter them all, avoid them, do they have any relevance.

I was entering them as they poped up, but each one can take 30+ minutes and it started detracting from the fun.

[Badgun]

So whats the general thought on the Oblivoun Gates that randomly pop up? Enter them all, avoid them, do they have any relevance.

I was entering them as they poped up, but each one can take 30+ minutes and it started detracting from the fun.

Aside from the first one in Kvatch, I have avoided them like the plague. For one thing, the completely ruin the beauty of the game if you get near one since it changes the color of the sky and gives everything a gloomy tint. The game is too beautiful to let these gates ruin it. I went in one just to see how I would manage and was promptly destroyed by the first guy a came across.

I have heard that some of the best armor and weapons are in the oblivion gates, but I guess I will do without. My game is progressing just fine without them. Unless at some point the main quest requires that I close more of them, I have no plans to go back into another one.

[kevinpars]

I am sorely tempted to create a new character. I am Khajit with mainly thief and light armor skills. I thought I would become a better fighter by doing the arena, but it just taught me how to backpedal and shot arrows at the same time - and to reload after getting smoked.

While this game is much better at the ability to sneak than the last Elder Scrolls game, I still think that a character who can use a sword and heavy armor is going to be a better character in the long run. I still find myself being smoked by the occasional wolf in the forest if I am not paying attention. But at the same time, I have put a lot of time and effort into this character.

[ScoopBrady]

I have only closed the Oblivion gate at Kvatch but I do plan on closing them all. I may be wrong but I think you have to close them all to finish the story. Right now I'm concentrating on doing side quests or guild quests to build up my character but I will start closing a gate or two shortly. The higher your level when you close a gate, the harder it is.

[webdanzer]

For one thing, the completely ruin the beauty of the game if you get near one since it changes the color of the sky and gives everything a gloomy tint. The game is too beautiful to let these gates ruin it.

Wow, I love the visual impact of the gates! Just last night as I was returning from a side quest of taking care of a bogus vampire hunter, I crested a ridge to see the 'gate lightning' just past and above a lone nearby farmhouse. It was like 2am game time, and the glow and the effect to me was just awesome. All I wanted to do was rush into the farmhouse and wake up the poor doomed family: "EVIL is upon you! Run, run! "

Ahem, anyway, I really like the environmental changes as you approach a gate. It makes them seem ominous, powerful, alien....good stuff, IMO.

[peabody]

I have only closed the Oblivion gate at Kvatch but I do plan on closing them all. I may be wrong but I think you have to close them all to finish the story. Right now I'm concentrating on doing side quests or guild quests to build up my character but I will start closing a gate or two shortly. The higher your level when you close a gate, the harder it is.

I think you are only required to close the gates that occur in the Main Quest. You can completely ignore the other gates if you want. I'm not sure about this, but gates outside of the Main Quest are randomly located.

[Danimal]

I have only closed the Oblivion gate at Kvatch but I do plan on closing them all. I may be wrong but I think you have to close them all to finish the story. Right now I'm concentrating on doing side quests or guild quests to build up my character but I will start closing a gate or two shortly. The higher your level when you close a gate, the harder it is.

I think you are only required to close the gates that occur in the Main Quest. You can completely ignore the other gates if you want. I'm not sure about this, but gates outside of the Main Quest are randomly located.

Yes, gates start to appear randomly and the more you do of the main quest the more % chance they have of appearing. I'm not sure it is even worth closing them, as the random ones can just pop back up.

[pigpen81]

Guys, stupid question, but how do you close the gates?

[dbdynsty25]

Guys, stupid question, but how do you close the gates?

Follow the story. The only one I've closed, I had to go up this huge tower and get some gem stone or whatever to close it.

[James_E]

There's good loot inside the random gates, and you get sigil stones that can be used to enchant items.