Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

[Garny]

The only thing i havent got the hang of in this game so far is the alchemy skill (108 hours in) I make potions and then name them, but i can never find the damn things in my inventory. I thought at first i was just missing them, but i named them in block capitals and still i cant find them. Any ideas what im doing wrong? (maybe i need empty bottles Zelda style??)

This is my only skill thats lacking at the moment. The others are journeyman level with a few on expert and a couple on master.

[Garny]

I've just had a run in with that unicorn. All I wanted to do was pet it on the nose, but instead it tried to trample my head into the ground, so I set the bloody thing on fire!

Where is the little bugger? I was hunting for him yesterday after hearing about him.

[MonkeyWrench]

It only appeared for me after I took a mission for the Hircine god/statue. It was located near the inn where you begin the dark brotherhood quests (I forget the name), in the bottom right hand corner of the map.

[Uli]

i got stuck in several sidequests which require me to open hard or very hard locks. so i am urgently in need of lockpicks. can i buy them somewhere?

[Jebus]

i got stuck in several sidequests which require me to open hard or very hard locks. so i am urgently in need of lockpicks. can i buy them somewhere?

Buy them from any fence, ie Ongar the world weary (Bruma I think?) he'll either be in the pub or his house...5 gold per lockpick so take cash!

[Jebus]

Intelligence governs the amount of magicka you have, so in order to boost that you'll either need to select that at level up, or fortify it.

To increase your skill levels, simply use the skill. There are seven different magic skills; Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism and Restoration. Soul Trap is mysticism spell, so get one with low magicka and cast it lots. It'll take longer to work the level up if it's a minor rather than major skill, and some are easier to grind than others. I got alchemy to master pretty rapidly as it's easy to make potions. You can also go to trainers, but you can only train 5 times for each level. I didn't realise there were trainers at first as I never met them, so missed out earlier on. Now I make sure to use the training slots before I level up.

Oh, I forgot books, certain books will also boost some skills when you read them. Look at for them, they are worth more money.

To enchant a weapon, you need to go to an enchanting stand - they have them at the arcane university. Also need to have a charged soul gem, an appropriate item and a spell that can be used for enchanting. Only just discovered them myself, though it's probably mentioned in the manual.

Ahh, not really explored the arcane university much because I'd been doing the thieves/arena guilds... Looked at loads of books, about 20/30 in total that all gave me skill increases! I can't get a soul gem charged without being able to use soul trap (btw, do you do that before or after they die?) so its catch 22 for me at the moment! How do you find out what "item" and spell you need to enchant?

Destruction I have used numerous times and it's levelled up so I presume I need to buy a new destruction spell and use that? I keep thinking as I level up it'll give me new spells but that isn't the case in this game, I keep forgetting that!

Alchemy annoys me, I can never create good potions, always just fatigue restoration...what can you combine to get health/magicka potions? Is it as simple as just making loads and loads of potions to raise you alchemy skill? All I can use is food/wine/etc, I can never find anything to go with my leaves/stalks/mushrooms etc?

Does the item you use for alchemy make a difference to the potion you make because I keep nicking and selling the good stuff from mages guilds, but it's just occurred to me that maybe THEY are the things that will make better potions that my pestle and mortar?

So basically, if you are about to sleep and you haven't managed to get your magicka skills up, you go to a trainer and train it up 5 times to be sure you advance that skill? Nice idea!

You know, sometimes I think this game is too big! As I said, 43 hours and not only have I not started the actual "game quest" so to speak but I get the feeling I've not really scratched the surface of the game at all!

Am I making the main quest harder for myself not doing it yet?

One final question...are some enemies different levels depending on where you are facing them? I found some ogres rather easy in a certain quest but later on, when looking through dungeons they kill me with one hit (when blocking)...so it seems a bit odd?

[wonderboy]

Yep, i'm nearly in the same boat as you Jebus. I'm pretty weak by
comparison to what i should be. Like you, if there's more than two
enemies. I can get killed, i mostly get away, but i seem to be not
the best fighter in the world. I started as a Battle-Mage, Breton.
So I thought maybe i'll be magical and hold my own fighting. As i've
played i think i've diverted to much away from aggresive traits...

It took me while early on to realize that the Major-skills, level your
character up. Leveling up means, all the bad guys and monsters out
there, get stronger too. So, i start to wonder if i should have just
focused on minor skills at first. Try to get them up to the max ?

Alchemy is pretty easy for my character. Just pickup everything you
find as you journey and keep making potions. Even useless one and sell
gets your alchemy skill up. when you get over 50 it tells you what
ingredients, have which properties. Making it easier to make good potions.
Yeah. being able to steal the ingredients, cuts the costs even more...

I've just got to 75 for sneak, 36 for marksmanship, but my block is
31, light armour is 27, heavy is 36 and athletic and acrobatics is 33, 35.
I've been jumping as i'm running everywhere to get them up My highest
stats are the magical ones, conjuration, destruction etc. I'm on 47 for
blade will 50 make a diffference ? Also, what's the best way to get my
light or heavy armour up quicker ?

Has anyone here played the game just focusing totally on fighting skills ?
Does it seem harder or easier..? Just wondering....

[GordonJ]

Ahh, not really explored the arcane university much because I'd been doing the thieves/arena guilds... Looked at loads of books, about 20/30 in total that all gave me skill increases! I can't get a soul gem charged without being able to use soul trap (btw, do you do that before or after they die?) so its catch 22 for me at the moment! How do you find out what "item" and spell you need to enchant?

You need to be able to cast the spell before you can enchant an item with that effect.

With soul trap, you cast the spell on the creature, then as long as you kill them within the spell duration (20 seconds for the first one) then you capture their soul, if you have a gem big enough to hold the soul.

Destruction I have used numerous times and it's levelled up so I presume I need to buy a new destruction spell and use that? I keep thinking as I level up it'll give me new spells but that isn't the case in this game, I keep forgetting that!

Yup, just check all the mage guild in the other towns as they sell higher versions of the spells. The university only seem to sell the highest level spells. You can also make spells at the university, but it's probably cheaper to buy from the mage guild to begin with.

Alchemy annoys me, I can never create good potions, always just fatigue restoration...what can you combine to get health/magicka potions? Is it as simple as just making loads and loads of potions to raise you alchemy skill? All I can use is food/wine/etc, I can never find anything to go with my leaves/stalks/mushrooms etc?

Can only seem to make restore health/magicka potions, also you can eat the raw ingredients to raise your skill, so just round up a load of flax seeds (magicka) and daedra hearts (health) and eat them raw

Does the item you use for alchemy make a difference to the potion you make because I keep nicking and selling the good stuff from mages guilds, but it's just occurred to me that maybe THEY are the things that will make better potions that my pestle and mortar?

If you're talking about the calcinator etc, then they increase the effectiveness of the potions (increasing good effects, decreasing bad effects), so it's best to hang onto some, although it would probably be best to buy them so they dont get repossessed when you get busted

Am I making the main quest harder for myself not doing it yet?

Short answer is yes, you level up, the bad guys level up, but the good guys dont seem to.

Well, they may do, but their equipment doesn't so they're not much help in a fight, and as their armour is so poor they get chewed through pretty quickly so not even much help as a distraction.

One final question...are some enemies different levels depending on where you are facing them? I found some ogres rather easy in a certain quest but later on, when looking through dungeons they kill me with one hit (when blocking)...so it seems a bit odd?

Pass, it may be that the quest was set for a low level and you were at the upper level limit to get that mob, so if you had tried it a level later they might been harder trolls.

[GordonJ]

...I've just got to 75 for sneak, 36 for marksmanship, but my block is 31, light armour is 27, heavy is 36 and athletic and acrobatics is 33, 35. I've been jumping as i'm running everywhere to get them up My highest stats are the magical ones, conjuration, destruction etc. I'm on 47 for blade will 50 make a diffference ? Also, what's the best way to get my light or heavy armour up quicker ?

Has anyone here played the game just focusing totally on fighting skills ? Does it seem harder or easier..? Just wondering....

Quickest was is probably to run around just outside Imperial City rounding up a few mudcrabs then let them beat up on you till you get bored (or your armour breaks)

My paladin like character is currently (I think) 103 blade, 100 heavy armour, 100 armourer, 80something block, 50something restoration, 55 speechcraft, 30something mysticisim. I'm level 35 at the moment

Combat is easy when there are less than 3 monsters fighting me, especially with my block skill so high, with 3 or more it gets a bit tricky trying to time my attacks, but I've yet to die in combat

I wouldn't say it was easier in the beginning, just different because you're always the focus of the enemies attacks as opposed to having a summoned ally as a decoy, this late however I'm not sure how I'd managed without some combat skills.

I did start a combat mage type (blade, heavy armour, conjuration, destruction, illusion, mysticisim, alteration), but as you really need to do mage guild quests to get into the university for spell making and enchanting as any character I binned him anyway.

Although if I was starting again now, I'd go Breton/apprentice just for the magicka boost at the start, the +stat birthsigns seem pointless as you cant raise them above 100 anyway.

You will always need to use some form of magic even it is only just restoration skills and soul trap.

->Open Spoiler<-

I'd change birthsigns if I could find an apprentice stone anywhere

[Jebus]

Well I'm just finding certain battles really rather hard...Trolls/Wraiths especially...UNLESS I use my fire staff which pretty much kills anyone in 3/4 hits and I barely take a hit, but of course that costs about 2500 gold to recharge each time (with 40 hits) and it feels a bit cheap using that weapon.

What I actually want to do is get the magicka working for me, summoning, soul trapping etc...but it's really hard to get my intelligence up since none of my major skills use intelligence!

I use restore minor health etc an awful lot, and I've just bought a new destruction skill...as for the mysticism/etc, I can't find a SINGLE spell (and I'm at level 14, 45 hours in) that I am capable of using

[GordonJ]

What I actually want to do is get the magicka working for me, summoning, soul trapping etc...but it's really hard to get my intelligence up since none of my major skills use intelligence!

That makes it easier because you wont level while raising it, it's the boring elder scrolls(tm) method of sitting in a corner continuously casting low cost spells till you get enough raises for the +5 int when you level up.

Easy mysticism spells are soul trap and detect life (should be a minor detect life hovering around, if you haven't got it already)

[Jebus]

That makes it easier because you wont level while raising it, it's the boring elder scrolls(tm) method of sitting in a corner continuously casting low cost spells till you get enough raises for the +5 int when you level up.

Easy mysticism spells are soul trap and detect life (should be a minor detect life hovering around, if you haven't got it already)

Ah bugger, don't wanna do that! Mind you, the amount of times I hit minor health restore no wonder I was getting +5's every level, but recently its stopped happening, and I haven't been able to level Intelligence at all!

I can't cast soul trap yet, and I've used a potion for detect life, but I might try and find the spell version!

Not needed it since I've had the

->Open Spoiler<-

grey foxes cowl and that detects life for 200ft+

To be honest, after 45 hours with the only quests I'm getting being mages guild/fighters guild/dark brotherhood...it's making things a bit of a chore now...finding that any decent stuff I find in a dungeon on these quests makes me over-encumbered and with the battles being harder, I may actually start the main quest tomorrow

After that bastard pair of trolls killed my horse (or chased it off, either way I can't find it) I'm gonna have to buy a new horse now as well!

[GordonJ]

I've got 100 strength and two pieces of my armour enchanted with feather, having an encumberance limit of 730 is handy

[Jebus]

I've got 100 strength and two pieces of my armour enchanted with feather, having an encumberance limit of 730 is handy

Using the item I mentioned above mine goes from 410 -> 650 but the trouble is you take it off and it drops back down, and of course when you leave a dungeon you'll have a bounty on your head because of the item!

[MartyG]

It's a toss up between feather and strength enchanted armor - with my glass enchanted stuff, it pushes my strength to 162, and I can then take nearly 900 in weight.

Jebus - if you're really struggling with the fighting, just knock the difficulty slider down a notch until you improve your skills, I did that when I was struggling.

Note that using a weapon you're not skilled in has a massive affect on the damage you do. My blunt skill is shocking, I'm trying to get that improved atm, but I do very little damage so it takes ages to kill things.