Introduction
Oblivion, the fourth installment in The Elder Scrolls series, remains a beloved RPG classic. Its vast open world, engaging quests, and deep character customization options continue to captivate players even years after its release. But, as with any RPG, understanding how character progression works is crucial for a fulfilling experience. One of the most important aspects of progression is learning how do I level up in Oblivion.
Leveling up in Oblivion isn’t simply about gaining experience points. The game utilizes a unique system of skill-based progression that can be both rewarding and, at times, frustrating. One of the reasons leveling up is so important is because of the infamous enemy scaling. Enemies get stronger as you level. If you level up without carefully increasing your attributes, you may find yourself unable to defeat enemies. The purpose of this guide is to provide you with a detailed breakdown of Oblivion’s leveling system, covering skills, attributes, efficient strategies to level up, and how to avoid common mistakes that can leave your character feeling underpowered. You will learn how do I level up in Oblivion the most effective way.
Understanding the Foundation: Skills
Skills are the building blocks of your character. They determine your effectiveness in various activities, from swinging a sword to casting spells and picking locks. There are numerous skills within the game. Each skill represents a specific area of expertise, and as you use a skill, it increases, leading to character growth.
It’s important to understand the distinction between major and minor skills. When creating your character, you choose seven skills to be your major skills. Major skills advance more quickly than minor skills. The reason this is important is because leveling up depends on increasing your major skills. You can only level up once you have increased your major skills a set number of times. Minor skills do not impact when you level up.
Skills are broadly categorized into three groups: Combat, Magic, and Stealth.
Combat Skills
These skills govern your proficiency in melee and ranged combat. Blade measures your skill wielding swords, daggers, and other bladed weapons.
Magic Skills
These skills dictate your ability to cast spells. Destruction, for example, affects the power and efficiency of offensive spells like fireballs and lightning bolts.
Stealth Skills
These skills determine your aptitude for sneaking, thieving, and avoiding detection. Sneak determines how effectively you can move undetected, pickpocket, and perform sneak attacks.
Understanding the Foundation: Attributes
Attributes are the fundamental characteristics that define your character’s overall capabilities. Think of them as the underlying stats that influence your skills and general effectiveness. There are eight core attributes in Oblivion: Strength, Intelligence, Willpower, Agility, Speed, Endurance, Personality, and Luck.
- Strength: Affects your carry weight and the damage you inflict with melee weapons.
- Intelligence: Determines your magicka pool and how quickly you regain it.
- Willpower: Affects your resistance to magic and your fatigue regeneration.
- Agility: Influences your archery skill and your ability to dodge attacks.
- Speed: Determines your movement speed.
- Endurance: Affects your health and how much health you gain each level.
- Personality: Influences your ability to persuade and charm others.
- Luck: A hidden attribute that subtly affects all your skills.
Attributes directly impact gameplay in many ways. For example, higher Strength allows you to carry more loot, while higher Intelligence allows you to cast more spells.
The Level Up Process Explained
Leveling up in Oblivion requires achieving ten skill increases in your major skills. Once you’ve met this requirement, you can level up by sleeping in a bed.
The level up screen is where you allocate attribute bonuses. Each time you level up, you get to increase three attributes. The amount you can increase each attribute depends on how much you’ve used related skills. If you increase skills related to Strength by ten total points, you will be able to add five points to Strength. If you only increased skills related to Strength by one or two points, you will only be able to add one point to Strength. You will also be able to increase your health by a set amount that depends on your Endurance.
Maximizing attribute bonuses is extremely important. Because of enemy scaling, it is critical to increase your attributes by the maximum amount. Failing to do so will result in your character becoming significantly weaker than enemies.
Choosing Skills to Maximize Leveling Efficiency
Choosing your major skills wisely is paramount to efficient leveling. It is critical that you plan ahead. Try to avoid selecting skills that you will naturally use a lot. If you select skills you will use a lot as major skills, you will level up very quickly. This sounds good, but it means you won’t be able to focus your training on improving specific attributes.
Some great major skill choices for efficient leveling are Alchemy, Armorer, and Mysticism. Alchemy is a great choice because you can easily grind it. You can obtain two ingredients and mix them repeatedly to gain experience, and you can choose ingredients you don’t need. This is a much more efficient method than skills that require fighting enemies, especially early in the game. Armorer is a great choice for similar reasons. You can obtain a set of armor and repair it repeatedly, gaining experience quickly and efficiently. Mysticism is a great choice because it can be leveled relatively quickly by casting soul trap on creatures.
Skills to avoid are Blade, Destruction, and Athletics. Blade and Destruction are skills you will be using constantly, which will level you up more quickly and make it hard to maximize your attributes. Athletics is a bad choice because it levels as you run, something you will be doing constantly, making it very difficult to plan your leveling.
Training to Improve Skills
Training is a valuable tool for skill improvement in Oblivion. It allows you to pay NPCs to increase your skills, providing a controlled and predictable way to level up specific skills.
Trainers can be found throughout Cyrodiil, specializing in different skills. You can usually only train a skill five times per level. The cost of training depends on your skill level and the trainer’s skill level. To find trainers, speak to NPCs and ask about rumors. They will often share information about trainers.
Efficient Skill Leveling Methods
- Alchemy: Find a location with two readily available ingredients. Repeatedly combine the ingredients to make potions.
- Armorer: Get a set of armor, preferably cheap armor. Damage it, then repair it repeatedly to level armorer quickly.
- Sneak: Go to a location with an immortal NPC. Position yourself behind them and sneak repeatedly to level up sneak.
- Security: Find a low-level lock. Pick the lock, then re-lock it, repeatedly.
The Five Five Five Method
The “five five five” method involves maximizing your attribute bonuses by strategically increasing your skills. The goal is to get plus five to three attributes each level. You do this by increasing skills associated with three separate attributes by a total of ten each. So, if you want to increase Strength, Intelligence, and Agility, you need to increase skills related to Strength a total of ten times, skills related to Intelligence a total of ten times, and skills related to Agility a total of ten times.
Avoiding Leveling Pitfalls
A common mistake is “over-leveling” minor skills. Focusing too much on minor skills can lead to inefficient attribute bonuses. Another mistake is choosing the wrong class. Be sure to consider what skills you want to improve as major skills when choosing your class. Also, don’t fail to plan ahead. You need to know which skills to increase, and when.
Some players may also consider abusing the difficulty slider to increase skill. For example, they might increase the difficulty to make a fight last longer, in order to increase their combat skills. This can ruin the experience.
If you’ve made mistakes and want to fix your leveling build, you can use console commands on the PC version of the game. It’s important to be aware that using console commands can impact your game’s stability and may void any warranty. The other option is to simply restart the game with a new character.
Advanced Leveling Strategies
Luck is a hidden stat. Consider maximizing Luck. Some players swear by the benefits of maximizing Luck and how it affects skill gains.
You can use Fortify Skill magic to temporarily boost skills. Using a Fortify Skill spell will allow you to train skills higher than you otherwise could.
There are numerous mods available that affect leveling. Popular mods include Oblivion XP and Better Leveling.
In Conclusion
Understanding how do I level up in Oblivion efficiently is critical for enjoying the game. This comprehensive guide explained skills, attributes, and how to maximize them. Remember, plan ahead and don’t choose the wrong skills. Now that you understand how do I level up in Oblivion effectively, it’s time to go and experiment with different builds to create a character that is perfect for your playstyle.
