Oblivion Blog

[This is part two in a series of postings about my experiences of playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, taken from Menori.com]

"There's something out there," The guard turned to Hadaster who had drawn his sword Goldbrand. A look of anguisg came over the guard's face. "I'll go first", the Monk said and stepped off the platform on which stood the Oblivion gate. Hadaster knew he had to keep the guards from the terrors that lurked in this otherwordly realm. He'd faced them several times before and knew that the Spider Daedra were especially deadly, their smaller minions would paralyse from out of sight and a torrent of lightning would surge down from the Daedra itself.

"Charge!" screamed the guard. Hadaster turned in a flurry to see the guard rushing off in the direction of a huge humanoid shape. "No!" Hadaster bellowed, "Get back."

Too many times do you have to do quests where keeping someone alive is the key focus. Anyone who displays a crown on them is a vital character to the plot and therefore cannot die, the simply fall unconscious. Be wary though as this can change through the game. A character deemed critical at one point can be slain just as any other at some points of the game. So be aware of characters that you need to keep alive (especially in Oblivion) and their tendency to leap towards enemies fool hardedly. I found that standing in between an enemy and the character helps as the enemy tends to focus on you if you're doing more damage. It's a bit like drawing aggro in Everquest 2.

Generally my experiences of combat tend to be how the game was intended to be played I think. Having a shield and actually using block is essential for most battles. I found that on the Xbox 360 you could keep the left trigger held down for blocking and then press the right trigger to attack. Once the right trigger was released you'd revert back to blocking. Patience and conserving your endurance in battles is essential. For starters your Armour doesn't degrade as fast if you block and you can take advantage of the 'recoil' to get a good hit in. I've found that Clanfear at any level tend to dish out a lot of damage even if you block, so it's best to take them from a distance.

The guard was dead. A huge Xivilai stood over him brandishing an enormous axe. A summoned Clanfear stood beside the huge daedra, like the master's pet. Only then did Hadaster noticed the lithe figure of the Spider Daedra out of the corner of his eye. All ready the small spiderling was rushing towards him. Goldbrand hummed in his grasp and he thrust the sword into the spiderling. The small creature was caught within Goldbrand's flames and with another swift blow Hadaster killed the foul thing.

Despite picking up Umbra, and keeping the sword, which is said by many to be the best sword in the game, I found that Goldbrand is better for out and out damage. Not many things apart from Dunmer are resistant to fire (and I know, it saved me a few times) so Goldbrand dishes out a lot of damage when charged. I found it much better to cast Soul Trap and then hack away rather than use Umbra and its ability to Soul Trap. Although Goldbrand is good, I found that as I progressed in the game I preferred to wield lighter weapons. My favourite weapon, therefore, is a Daedric Shortsword that I enchanted with a Sigil Stone that adds fire damage. In total it does about 10% less damage per strike than Goldbrand, but weighs less than half as much. Never use two handed weapons. They're just too big and unwieldy and you get a rubbish backstab bonus for using them. Oh and Mehyrunes Razor is rubbish (from the add-on pack). In fighting about 15 enemies it only once killed one of them instantly and then it's charges ran out.

Hadaster pulled his blade out of the lifeless body of the last of the daedra. His ascent through the Tower had been an arduous one, but now the final task stood before him. The Sigil stone burned brightly, hovering in the intense light of the flames that surrounded it. With a swift motion the Monk grabbed the stone and for a moment time seemed to stand still. Then all hell, literally, came apart and the rift between Oblivion and Cyrodiil imploded. After a brief moment of fiery intensity Hadaster stood in the clearing outside the city once again. The Oblivion gate no more than a smouldering piles of rocks.

Oblivion gates. Love e'm, hate 'em. One major gripe that people levy at Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is that the process and frequency of closing the Oblivion gates is to similar and is repetitive. I have to agree, so it's important to break up the activity and spend your time in Oblivion productively and constructively.

Spilt up the fighting with grabbing the resources. Bloodgrass, Vines etc. Once you've closed the Great Gate at the end of the game these resources are not so abundant and are harder to come by (if you have the Wizard's Tower expansion you can get them in the 'garden' that comes with the Tower once it's fully furnished). And explore the caves and catacombs in Oblivion where they're available. Use the map, see where you haven't been and keep your eyes open for doorways.

I tended to always use Nighteye when in the underground or indoor areas of Oblivion. The contrast of colour is lost so it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish a doorway from simply an arch, but it's much better than using light spells or a torch as Nighteye doesn't draw the attention of the daedra. And daedra seem to be far better at detecting you than normal Cyrodiil creatures. Sneak everywhere and use Nighteye and you can get some good backstabs in. Even as a powerful fighter backstabs are a great way of doing a lot of damage.

The 'fleshy pods' and 'Tortured Souls' in Oblivion are storage areas which sometimes hold good items. The only 'Mundane Ring' (one of the best and most valuable items in the game I found was in a normal chest in a cave full of Vampires though - as well as the one that is on one of Mankar Camoron's cronies [his son I believe]. I don't remember finding any REALLY good items in Oblivion apart from a very heavy Warhammer.

Finally the Sigil stones themselves are very useful as they add some magical properties to items and typically have a good number of charges. You also don't need to be at a workbench in the Arcane University, or Frostcrag Spire, to fuse them into your items. I must admit I only used one throughout my progression from no-body to Champion.

[That concludes part two. There's plenty more to come though about preparation and not getting complacent!]