hack, smash, bash, whoosh

[rpgadventures]

or Kit's Guide to Oblivion 4:The Elder Scrolls for the Video Game Challenged- part one

I have been playing Oblivion 4 and although there are tons of help files and guides for people who are actually good at playing video/computer games, there are very few for those of us that suck are not proficient at gaming. Since I am already working on a series of articles on the locations of potion ingredients  for the novice player I decided a beginner's guide would fit along side nicely.

The Tutorial.

The tutorial is designed to be easy and help you get familiar with skills, spells and actions. Even so, here are a few tips to make it even easier to complete.
 
1) Once you get through the scripted intro set your difficulty bar to the lowest setting. You will find it under 'options' 'gameplay'. Under 'options' 'video' you will find a brightness bar. Set it about three quarters of the way on. Most of the tutorial is underground and it can be hard to see objects in the darkness.

2) Pick up EVERYTHING. You can always dump equipment later if you become encumbered. I dump equipment I will not be using first and hang on to things like arrows, potion ingredients, jewelry and potions. It may seen like the big weapons and heavy armor would yield more gold, but at beginning and lower levels the lighter stuff always brings in more money. Do keep any weapons and armor you want to use later and DO remember to take the goblin shaman staff.

3) Hang on to your lockpicks. There is a good tutorial on lockpicking at OblivioWiki. If you really hate lockpicking you can use spells once you are out of the tutorial but there are a few locks in the game that can only be opened by lockpicks so keeping a supply is a good idea.

4) Sneak is your very best friend. Seriously, if you can shoot the critters before they even see you or tiptoe around them unseen it is a huge advantage.

5) You have to pick a class with Baurus but don't panic. You will have another chance to set all your skills before leaving the sewers.

6) After the Emperor's death you set off on your own. Try to use your bow to pick off the goblins and rats from a distance. And pick up your arrows as you go. If you are still feeling a little overwhelmed just take each room slowly and save often.

7) When you reach the sewer gate you can change all your information. Race, appearance, class and birthsign can all be switched around to your liking. There are three ways to approach your class. You can pick a preformed class from the list, you can chose the skills that make sense for the characater you want to play or you can pick skills that don't autolevel and that you don't use often to slow the advancement of your character. This is called efficient leveling and it makes for a more powerful character in the long run but it also slows your leveling down to a crawl. For new players I recommend choosing a pre-determined class. They are fairly well balanced and you level at a decent pace.

Before you exit the sewers save your game. Do not save over this file! If you want to restart or try out a different character you can start from this point, rather than going through the tutorial again.

Extra points of interest.

Alteration gives you spells like ease burden and water breathing, as well as the pick lock spells. Restoration has healing and spells like fortify strength and absorb health. I would recommend choosing at least one of these as a primary skill. Starting out with one of these at apprentice level gives a newbie player a big advantage.

Remember, we are not going for strict role play realism here...we just want to stay alive long enough to get some experience playing the game.

For an explanation of each school of magic and info on the various spells check out the Spells page and links on OblivioWiki.
 
Encumbered is just a fancy way of saying your character is carrying too much stuff to move. ;)

- Kit

Graphics courtesy of Gamespy and used according to the IGN User Agreement.