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 Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion Character Build-up

 
   
 
 
Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion Character Build-up
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Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Character Build-up & Development Guide 
Version 1.3.8 2007/12/08
Copyright 2006-2007 Thomas "Sajin" Bergmann
Creative Commons by-nc-sa, see Copyright Notice

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was developed by Bethesda Game Studios,
published by Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games and is copyright 2006 Bethesda
Softworks. This guide is not endorsed by, nor is the author associated in
any way with, Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks or 2K Games.


 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                        INTRO & CONTACT INFORMATION                        |
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oblivion is a great game, a huge game and at least on hard difficulty a 
really challenging game. Since large parts of the game involve fighting, 
and your enemies scale with your level, it can easily get over challenging. 
So if you don't want to move your difficulty slider, or if you just want 
to know how you get most out of your character and the game, read on ! 
If you have further information or corrections, please write me: 
sajin(insert at)gmx(a dot here)net

I try to avoid quest spoilers in this guide, so i cannot include e.g. 
training tips directly related to certain quests.   

A note to pure role players: This guide explains how you optimize your 
character both statwise and in terms of possible quests/guilds, so 
don't take offence and read it as background info. I don't force you 
to do anything. 


 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                            TABLE OF CONTENTS                             |
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Intro & contact infos
   Table of Contents

   Basics...........................................................CBDG01
   Choose your Race.................................................CBDG02
   Choose your Birthsign............................................CBDG03
   Choose your Skills...............................................CBDG04 
   Character development............................................CBDG05

   Appendix A: Sample character builds..............................CBDG0A
   Appendix B: General game play tips...............................CBDG0B
   Appendix C: Spell Discussion.....................................CBDG0C 
   Appendix D: Fast overview for Morrowind players..................CBDG0D

   Credits 
   Version History
   Copyright

 Quick jump to a section: Copy & paste the Code into your search box 
 (in windows CTRL-F)

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG01]                            BASICS                               |
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After playing TES3: Morrowind for a long time and basically sitting in 
front of Oblivion since it came out, i noticed how many people seem to 
confuse game lore character ideas with actually good character builds. 
Something like: A good fighter has all weapon skills, weapon specialisation 
and The Warrior Birth sign. Or: Bretons are ideal mages but bad fighters
and thieves. All wrong except the part about ideal mages. 

Lets take a quick look at the Attributes before we go in-depth. Starting 
Attributes have scores between 30 and 50 (exception: female Orc 25 
Personality), depending on your Race and Sex. You can modify them slightly 
with Birth signs and the choice of favoured attributes. The maximum score 
in-game is capped at 100, so while high starting scores will get you to 
the maximum faster, they don't modify the cap. The Attributes are:  

Strength (STR)
Related skills: Blade, Blunt, Hand To Hand
Determines: How much you carry, Fatigue score, melee damage

Intelligence (INT)
Related skills: Alchemy, Conjuration, Mysticism
Determines: Magicka, spell effectiveness

Willpower (WIL)
Related skills: Alteration, Destruction, Restoration
Determines: Fatigue score, resistance to Magicka, Magicka regeneration

Agility (AGI)
Related skills: Security, Stealth, Marksman
Determines: Bow damage, Fatigue score

Speed (SPD) 
Related skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Light Armour
Determines: Movement speed

Endurance (END)
Related skills: Armourer, Block, Heavy Armour
Determines: Fatigue score, Health gain on level up

Personality (PER)
Related Skills: Illusion, Mercantile, Speechcraft
Determines: NPC reactions

Luck (LCK)
Related Skills: None
Determines: how lucky you are 

 --------------------------------------------------------
| Directly derived from attributes are the following     | 
 --------------------------------------------------------

Health
The amount of damage you take before dying. Starts with 2x Endurance, add
10% Endurance per level up.  

Magicka
Power to cast spells. 2x Intelligence + Race/Birth sign Bonuses. 
Regenerates constantly over time, regeneration speed is tied to Willpower. 

Fatigue
Jumping and Power attacks (and other things like blocking & bow at low 
levels) use Fatigue. The Formula is STR + END + AGL + WIL. Regenerates 
constantly over time. 

 --------------------------
| Resistances & Weaknesses |
 --------------------------

They are not displayed on the attribute screen, you have to access them 
via the magic tab. 

Resistance 
You can have resistance versus certain types of damage or effects. 
Magnitude 50 resistance to fire = only half (50%) fire damage from spells 
and attacks. Types: Fire, Frost, Shock, Magic (except elemental), Poison 
and Disease

Weakness 
The opposite of resistance. Magnitude 50 weakness = 50% more fire damage

Immunity
If you reach 100 % resistance, you are immune to that type of damage or 
effect. You won't gain health for more than 100% resistance.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG02]                   CHOOSE YOUR RACE                            |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

First off, starting attributes are not important for your choice. Why ? 
The difference between 30(min) and 50(max) Strength is only four levels.
And the maximum Attribute score is the same for all races. So one race 
will have max Strength at level 15, the other already at level 11. Imho 
this is no big difference, max. level is about 50. Same for skills, but
here the difference is max. one level (10 skill points). Since beauty is 
in the eye of the beholder, lets take a look at special abilities. 


 Argonian
  Resist Disease (magnitude 75, constant)
  Immune to Poison (Resist Poison, magnitude 100, constant) 
  Water Breathing (constant)

   Three positive constant effects - not bad. But Disease and Poison 
   is rare, and one potion or spell can heal it. Water Breathing is a 
   cheap spell, so then main advantage of Argonians is their cool 
   lizard look. 

 Rating: B-


 Breton
  Fortified Magicka (Fortify Maximum Magicka magnitude 50, constant) 
  Dragon Skin (Shield magnitude 50, duration 60; once a day) 
  Resist Magicka (magnitude 50, constant)

   Resist Magicka 50 constant ! This is a constant master level spell, 
   which is absolutely great. Its easy to get magic immunity with this 
   Race. Fortified Magicka is also good for all casters, but Resist 
   Magicka this high is really priceless for all classes. 
   Note: this does not include resistance/immunity to elemental 
         magic and effects: fire, frost, shock (by Priyesh)

 Rating: A


 Dark Elf
  Ancestor Guardian (Summon Ghost, duration 60 once a day) 
  Resist Fire (magnitude 75, constant)

   Resist Fire 75 is nice, especially since this game is called oblivion 
   (which is Tamriels hell). Fire damage is common and fire immunity is 
   close for Dark Elves. The Ancestor Guardian is good for Atronach 
   players (see Birth signs) for early mana regeneration. 

 Rating: B+


 High Elf
  Weakness to Fire, Frost and Shock (magnitude 25, constant) 
  Resist Disease (magnitude 75, constant) 
  Fortified Magicka (magnitude 100, constant)

   Ok race for Mages, 50 more Magicka bonus than Bretons. However, 
   instead of Magic resistance you get weaknesses to the most 
   common magic damage types. The weaknesses don't hurt too 
   much, but you have a far way to go and probably won't get more 
   than one full immunity in one of them. Pick High Elf if you like 
   pointy ears or if you really need the high Magicka. 
 
   Note: (by Stefan Lindberg & Reimer the_maestro) If combined with 
   the Atronach Birth sign and some Spell Absorption Items for 100% 
   Spell Absorption, High Elves Weaknesses are turned to immunity - 
   the magic is absorbed before it could hurt you more than normal. 
   So what's left: the highest possible Magicka score without items 
   and Resist Disease 75 (easy immunity). 

 Rating: C- (B for Mages, A+ for 100% Absorb Atronachs)


 Imperial
  Star of the West (Absorb fatigue, magnitude 100; once a day) 
  Voice of the Emperor (Charm, magnitude 30; once a day)

   Two once per day abilities, both equivalent to low spell levels ? 
   Well... not so well.

 Rating: D


 Khajiit
  Eye of Fear (Demoralize, magnitude 100, once a day) 
  Eye of Night (Night Eye, duration 30, unlimited uses)

   Demoralize is quite strong and works quite well. Good if you are 
   outnumbered. Eye of Night is good for dungeon crawling without 
   a torch, but equivalent to low level illusion spells. 

 Rating: D+ 


 Nord
  Nordic Frost (Frost Damage, touch, magnitude 50; once a day) 
  Woad (Shield, magnitude 30, duration 60; once a day) 
  Resist Frost (magnitude 50, constant).

   Resist Frost is ok, but only 50. Its not as common as fire, but 
   its all right. Woad is a medium shield spell once per day, Nordic 
   Frost is a combat starter for the first 4 levels. 

 Rating: C


 Orc
  Berserk (Fortify Health 20, Fortify Fatigue 200, Fortify Strength 50, 
  Drain Agility 100, duration 60; once a day) 
  Resist Magicka (magnitude 25)

   Resist Magicka is always nice, but 25 is not much. Berserk includes a 
   50 strength Boost and the Fatigue Boost helps your power attacks 
   greatly. Very nice for melee fighters, but only once per day. 

Rating: c+ (A- for fighters)


 Redguard
  Adrenaline Rush (Fortify Agility 50, Fortify Speed 50, Fortify 
  Strength 50, Fortify Endurance 50, Fortify Health 25; duration 60) 
  Resist Poison (magnitude 75)
  Resist Disease (magnitude 75)

   Four Attribute Boosts of 50 ! This is a really great ability for melee 
   and ranged fighters. Sure, only once per day - but the boost is just
   incredible. Poison and Disease Resistance are nice, but you will find 
   enough potions for a cure anyway. 

 Rating: B- (A for fighters)


 Wood Elf
  Beast Tongue (Command Creature, magnitude 20, duration 60, once a day) 
  Resist Disease (magnitude 75)

   Well, er. magnitude 20 ? You don't even summon your beast ? Bad joke ! 
   Resist Disease - or just keep a potion ready. 

 Rating: D


|||| Conclusion ||||

Breton is a good race for anybody, followed by Dark Elves and Argonians.
For Atronach players, High Elves might be a good Idea. Redguards and Orcs 
are interesting for their once a day attribute boost, but i honestly 
prefer good constant effects over great once a day effects.  


 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG03]               CHOOSE YOUR BIRTHSIGN                           |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are four basic kinds: Attribute Birth signs, which are not really 
necessary: you can max your all attributes and then some. They do 
provide a nice boost for the first few levels however. Spelllike Ability 
Birth signs to get you one or more abilities. Magicka Birth signs, to get 
higher Magicka. And The interesting Birth sign(tm) - the name says it all.

 ---------------------
| Attribute Birth signs | 
 ---------------------

 The Thief 
  (Fortified Agility 10, Speed 10, Luck 10)
   
   High Boost, since Luck +10 is worth 50 Attribute points, 
   all in all you get the equivalent of 70 level-up Attribute 
   points - see character Development Section for explanation 

 Rating B


 The Warrior 
  (Fortified Strength 10, Fortified Endurance 10)

   Equals 20 more starting hit points and one more hit point at level up 
   until Endurance is at maximum. 10 Str is not bad either, both for 
   encumbrance and dishing out damage. 

 Rating C


 The Steed 
  (Fortified Speed 20)

   You will be able to outrun most enemies at early levels, which is 
   good to get Magicka and Fatigue back up, for hit and run tactics 
   etc. However, this effect wont last long.  

 Rating D+


 The Lady 
  (Fortified Willpower 10, Fortified Endurance 10) 

   20 more starting hit points and one more hit point at level up until
   Endurance is at maximum. (Barely) faster Magicka regeneration. Not 
   as good as The Warrior, but might be a better choice for a mage. 

Rating: C-


 --------------------------------
| Spell like Ability Birth signs |
 --------------------------------

 The Lord 
  (Restore Health 6/sec for 15 sec
  Weakness to fire magnitude 25, constant)

   Well, this is bad. Restore Health is good for the first 10 levels, 
   weakness to fire is bad forever. 

 Rating: F


 The Shadow
  (Invisibility 60 sec, once per day)

   Invisibility is a useful spell, but it IS a spell - and you wont even 
   need illusion as a major skill to get it...

 Rating: D+


 The Serpent
  (As a single ability
  Damage Health touch, magnitude 3 for 20 sec
  Dispel (magnitude 90
  Cure Poison 
  Damage Fatigue self, magnitude 100)

   60 damage over 20 sec is nothing. Cure Poison and Dispel are ok, but 
   nothing special. And you pay 100 Fatigue.

 Rating: D


 The Lover 
  (Paralyse 10 sec, touch, damage 120 fatigue on self)

   10 Second duration, that's the paralyse spell on master level, quite a 
   treat i think. 

 Rating: B-


 The Tower
  (Open Average Lock 1/day
  Reflect Damage 5 points for 120 sec 1/day)

   Might be a sign for you if you are bad in the lock picking mini game 
   (its reaction based after all) and don't use illusion. A 5 Point 
   Reflect Damage is nice only at the start.

 Rating: D+


 The Ritual
  (Restore Health 100, 1/day
  Turn Undead (100 for 30 sec, 1/day)

   Expert level Restore Health is nice, but you can use potions and spells 
   instead. Turn Undead is ok, too. If you don't have high restoration, 
   this might be interesting - but once per day is simply not enough.

 Rating: D


 ---------------------
| Magicka Birth signs |
 ---------------------

 The Mage
  (Fortified Magicka 50)

   The standard Birth sign for casters. But all classes that use magic 
   will benefit from this sign. No strings attached, this is a safe 
   pick. 

 Rating: B (A- for mages)
 

 The Apprentice
  (Fortified Magicka 100
  Weakness to Magicka 100)

   50 more magicka than The Mage is not worth dying for. For you will die 
   with this birth sign. You might pick Breton for a combined Weakness to 
   Magicka 50 and Maximum Magicka +150, but i don't recommend it. 

 Rating: F (C for mages)


 --------------------------------
| The interesting Birth sign(tm) | 
 --------------------------------

 The Atronach
  (Fortified Magicka 150
  Spell Absorption 50
  No Magicka regeneration! )

   This sign is just great. And I'm not talking about the Magicka bonus. 
   I would pick it even if it had a Magicka malus - the real special is 
   the 50% Spell Absorption - imagine this: You get hit by magic in only 
   50% of all cases, the rest gets absorbed completely. If you get items 
   or spells that add another 50% Spell Absorption, that's like immunity 
   to fire, frost, shock and magicka all in one ! For pure fighters, there 
   is no downside, But you might think, no Magicka regeneration really 
   gimps a caster ? The obvious solution - Potions - costs time and money. 
   Shrines and the like replenish Magicka, but wont help in the middle of 
   a dungeon. Your Spell Absorption will do the trick: If your enemies 
   don't cast spells on you anyway, summon a wraith (or ghost), hit it 
   three times and it will start to attack you with magic only. Full 
   Magicka guaranteed (low level ghosts may damage you a little and take 
   three or four summons)! If you foresee a tough fight, you can take the 
   ghost with you to keep your Magicka up. It also works with other 
   summoned casters, but the ghost/wraith/gloom wraith line works best. 
 
   A possible downside: In big fights, pure destruction mages may run out 
   of Magicka if all opponents are melee without any magic weapons. This 
   should not happen very often if you followed my "focus on prime damage 
   skill and attribute" rule - but keeping some self-made Magicka potions 
   just in case won't hurt. Also, if you are first level and your 
   summoning skill is 25, summoning the ghost might be more expensive
   than the mana returned. This won't happen later on (later as in level 
   3 and more).  

   [Clarification: Unlike Resistance, Spell Absorption 50 absorbs 100% 
   of a spell - and it will work on 50% of all spells]  
   
   Note: The Summon Ghost spell or better is essential for this build, 
   so first thing out of prison should be a quick trip to Chorrol. If you 
   don't have enough money, sell the Mage Guilds Alchemy equipment & potions.  
 
 Rating: A+


|||| Conclusion ||||
 
The Atronach is the best birth sign, but it also has a huge impact on 
game play. If that's not your cup of tea, The Mage is good for all 
spellcasters, The Lover is a good ability sign and The Thief is a great 
attribute sign.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG04]                 Choose your Skills                          |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Shouldn't this section be called 'Choose your Class' ? No. Classes are 
just a selection of major skills, two favoured attributes and a skill 
package. Take a look at the Skill descriptions here, and if you find 
a good predefined class in game pick it accordingly. However, the 
existing classes don't have luck as favoured attribute, and most have 
stupid skill combinations from a game play perspective - they are 
ok from the lore perspective, but that's not the point of this guide. 

First, lets take a quick look which favoured attributes we pick - 
favoured attribute equals a one time +5 bonus. The first one is 
obviously luck, since its hard to raise (see Character Development for 
more info). The other one is up to you, although endurance would be 
a natural choice, since later endurance changes are not retroactive
(your starting health is 2x your starting endurance, not 2x your 
level 50 endurance). 

Secondly, pick a skill package. This affects you in two ways: You get 
a +5 bonus to all package skills (packages are Combat, Magic, Stealth)
and you will increase those skills even faster. A major package skill 
will rise faster than a normal major one, a minor package skill will 
rise faster than a normal minor but still slower than a normal major.   
I normally pick stealth or combat, since magic is so easy to raise 
anyway. Some hardcore power gamers think one should get the package 
with the least major skills, since your maximum level is determined 
by (700-(sum of starting major skill points))/10  - but that's not 
true since you can decrease your skill points in prison. And its not 
fun. 

Thirdly, pick your major skills. The 7 major skills rise a lot faster, 
they start at apprentice level and 10 skill rises in any combination of 
major skills gives you one level-up. However, you can also raise minor 
skills, actually as far as major ones - its just slower. Skills give 
you certain perks at 25 (Apprentice), 50 (Journeyman), 75 (Expert) and 
100 (Master) Skill points. The Spell casting skills have no real perks, 
but the perk levels allow you to cast different spells. Ok lets start...


 ---------------
| Combat Skills | 
`---------------´

 Block (Endurance) 
   Essential Skill for melee. Some good timing is required, but 
   especially later on it will mean the difference between winning 
   a fight barely scratched and loosing badly. Its easy rise, so 
   no need to pick it as major - but DO spend time or money on this
   lifesaver. 

  Novice: fatigued by blocking 
  Apprentice: not fatigued by blocking
  Journeyman: shield/weapon takes no damage from blocking (!)
  Expert: chance to do a knock back counter-attack
  Master: knock back counter-attack has chance to disarm

 Rating A- 


 Armourer (Endurance) 
   Repair your stuff to keep it effective. Get it at least to Journeyman
   if you use armour and weapons so you can repair magical equipment. 
   Good overall skill, but since it just saves some money for repairs 
   and rises fast its not worth a major pick.

  Novice: cannot repair magic items
  Apprentice: repair hammers last longer (2x)
  Journeyman: can repair magic items
  Expert: Can improve items to 125% 
          - yes they get more effective that way !
  Master: never breaks repair hammers 

 Rating C


 Heavy Armour (Endurance) 
   Either pick this or Light Armour if you wear armour at all. Somewhat 
   cosmetic choices, since both types do not encumber at master level & 
   Light Armour has 50% AC bonus later on. However, the best non-unique 
   Heavy Armour has better enchanting capacity than the best Light Armour 
   and until you reach master level, Heavy Armour is the better choice - 
   encumbrance is not that much of a problem - staying alive is better 
   than carrying more. The third choice, no armour, is hard - especially 
   in many vs one battles. So pick this skill, and pick it major. 

  Novice: 150 % degration rate
  Apprentice: normal degration
  Journeyman: 50% slower degration
  Expert: encumbers only 50%
  Master: encumbers not at all

 Rating B+


 Blunt (Strength)
   Maces, Axes, Mauls, Staffs... you name it. A little stronger than 
   blade, but also a little slower. There are more unique Blades than 
   Blunt Weapons, and since effects are an important factor later on, 
   speed wins over damage. If you don't need Blunt for style reasons 
   (Mage Staff, Maul Barb), get Blade.
   
   Note by Aerenel: Blunt is stronger against certain creatures, e.g. 
                    Skeletons & Slaughterfish

  Novice: basic power attack
  Apprentice: Standing Power Attack damage bonus
  Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attack have chance to disarm
  Expert: Backwards Power Attack has chance to knock-down
  Master: Forward Power Attack has chance to paralyse

 Rating B+


 Blade (Strength)
   Daggers, Short Swords, Long Swords, Claymores, Katanas & Dai-Katanas -
   something for every range and speed requirement. It wins speed wise 
   over Blunt. It has more variety. It has more unique weapons. And they 
   look cool. So if you want to get into melee at all, pick Blade. 

  Novice: basic power attack 
  Apprentice: Standing Power Attack damage bonus
  Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attack have chance to disarm
  Expert: Backwards Power Attack has chance to knock-down
  Master: Forward Power Attack has chance to paralyse

 Rating A


 Athletics (Speed) 
   Well you run & swim faster - and since you run all the time anyway, 
   this skill will go up. Swimming will raise it if you don't get any more   
   raises out of running. Don't take it as major, it will give you gimp 
   levels en masse. 

  Novice: running = slow fatigue regeneration 
  Apprentice: 25% faster fatigue regeneration
  Journeyman: 50% faster fatigue regeneration
  Expert: 75% faster fatigue regeneration
  Master: running does not reduce fatigue regeneration

 Rating D 


 Hand to Hand (Strength)
   Hand to Hand is fast - very fast. Knock-downs are abundant. But that's 
   about it. Both damage and reach are minimal. And all those cool weapons 
   won't make you smile in your sleep, and you cannot enchant your fists.
   (by GTPoompt) Also usefull if your weapon is destroyed by spell or 
   heavy usage.   
   
   Nordic Boxing (by Isaiah Ari): I think you undervalued hand to 
   hand combat, though. My main character is a Nord and I set him up as a 
   sort of boxer.  He wears no armor, just enchanted clothing.  It makes him 
   much faster, and the clothes are enchanted to give shield, which 
   compensates for the lack of armor.  I also stole an item from Branwen 
   outside the Arena, it gives +20 hand to hand. Combined with paralyze, 
   the whole build works great.   

  Novice: basic power attack
  Apprentice: Standing Power Attack damage bonus
  Journeyman: Left/Right Power Attack have chance to disarm
  Expert: Backwards Power Attack & Block has chance to knock-down
  Master: Forward Power Attack has chance to paralyse
          Block has a chance to disarm 

 Rating D+

 --------------
| Magic Skills |
 --------------

Higher magic skill equals lesser spell costs - so if you find one 
of those "Call me Death Star" spells with high Magicka cost, raise 
the fitting magic skill. There are no perks, just access to new 
spells. Alchemy is the exception, it works just like the other 
non-magic skills.


 Destruction (Willpower)
   Magic Damage for all your needs: fire, frost, shock, health, Magicka, 
   equipment, attribute or skill - if it has a rating, you can damage it 
   with destruction. Just destroy your enemy's magic, disintegrate his 
   stuff and enjoy Mr. Superarchmage fighting naked with his fists. Pick 
   it !

 Rating: A


 Alteration (Willpower)
   Open locks with magic, alter encumbrance on self and others and water 
   walking are the not so good parts of Alteration, but Water Breathing is 
   essential for your underwater expeditions (or Alchemy) and the 
   shield spells (vs normal/elemental damage) are nice, too. Ok, but not 
   really worth a major pick.  

 Rating: C


 Illusion (Personality)
   Let your enemies fight against each other, while you watch invisible or 
   join the fight under a chameleon spell. Make them love you, make them 
   fear you. Paralyse them. And this school has the most effective spell 
   versus casters: silence. Its fun, however not absolutely necessary as 
   a major.  

 Rating: A-


 Conjuration (Intelligence) 
   Well, turn undead and summon weapons/armour is worthless (you want your 
   stuff enchanted and at 125%) . But summoned beasts are nice, willing 
   training dummies, and the best Magicka potion for you atronachs (see 
   birth signs). In fights, you get most damage for your magic from 
   summons, and they also take damage for you. 

 Rating: B (A for Atronach Birth sign)


 Mysticism (Intelligence)
   Dispel and Life Detection are not that important, the basic apprentice 
   soul trap is completely sufficient, you don't need telekinesis for 
   most thefts. The real goodies are Spell Absorption & Spell Reflection.
   On the other hand, both are better used as constant effect items.
   Not worth the major pick. 

 Rating: C+


 Restoration (Willpower) 
   If Destruction allows you to destroy anything with a rating, restoration 
   allows you to absorb all those (health, Magicka, fatigue, skills, 
   attributes), or fortify them, or restore them. You will use this power 
   often - so often in fact that you will be at 50 skill points very fast. 
   50 is sufficient, so its a  must have, but not must have major. 

 Rating: A


 Alchemy (Intelligence)
   The jack of all trades magic skill. Make your own potions and poisons for 
   every occasion. Creating new crazy potions is a great game on its own. 
   If you like to try out new stuff, this is for you. Can jump in for any 
   magic school except conjuration.  

  Novice: recognises 1 of 4 properties of substances
  Apprentice: recognises 2 of 4 properties of substances
  Journeyman: recognises 3 of 4 properties of substances
  Expert: recognises 4 of 4 properties of substances
  Master: make potions from a single ingredient

 Rating: A- 

 ----------------
| Stealth Skills |
 ----------------

 Security (Agility) 
   Open locks. Well, you can open a very hard lock with one lockpick and 
   skillevel 5, so its not really worth it. If you don't like the mini 
   game,  you are better off with Alteration than with high security 
   skill levels. There is also an independant-one-quest item that will 
   remove the last bits of usefulness from this skill. 

  Novice: up to 4 tumblers fall on fail
  Apprentice: up to 3 tumblers fall on fail
  Journeyman: up to 2 tumblers fall on fail
  Expert: up to 1 tumblers fall on fail
  Master: no tumblers fall on fail

 Rating D (F with special item)


 Sneak (Agility) 
   Move unseen, backstab and pick pockets. This skill is great. There is 
   no substitute for pick pockets, Backstabbing is the best way to start 
   a fight and nothing gives you better heart attacks than sneaking into 
   the treasure chamber (or out of prison). Additionally, you wont draw 
   attention if you sneak while lock picking. Pick it major if you are 
   interested the thief guild / heists / assassin methods in general.

  Novice: 4x back stab, 2x marksman undetected critical
  Apprentice: 6x back stab, 3x marksman undetected critical
  Journeyman: no penalty for weight of boots
  Expert: no penalty to chance of detection for moving
  Master: back stab ignores armour rating

 Rating A-


 Acrobatics (Speed) 
   Jumping and Falling. This skill gets interesting on higher levels: 
   Since there are no levitation spells in Oblivion, high Acrobatics is 
   the only way to reach certain places - for example, there are hidden 
   areas only reachable by water (aka lava) jumping (submitted by Aerenel). 
   The dodge ability is nice against enemy power attacks, real blocks are 
   better to break a normal attack sequence with their counter attack. 
   Also good for getting out of sticky situations in late game (by 
   LtKerensky). Probably no major pick, but you should train this. 

  Novice: no attack when jumping/falling
  Apprentice: normal attacks when jumping/falling
  Journeyman: dodge (block & jump to avoid hit completely)
  Expert: 50% less fatigue loss for jumping
  Master: jump off the surface of water

 Rating C+  


 Light Armour (Speed)
   Pick this or Heavy Armour. Light Armour means less encumbrance early 
   on, Heavy Armour better defence - but on Master level they are 
   almost equal (no encumbrance, about same defence). Even then, Heavy 
   Armour is better for enchantment. However, until master level Heavy 
   armour is a better, since encumbrance is less important than armour 
   rating. 

  Novice: degrades at 150% of normal rate
  Apprentice: degrades at normal rate
  Journeyman: degrades 50% slower
  Expert: does not encumber at all
  Master: 50% bonus to armour rating (only for full light armor)

 Rating: B


 Marksman (Agility)
   You want to show Legolas how one REALLY uses a bow ? Pick this skill. 
   Double enchantments (bow & arrow are added) with zoom, knock-down & 
   paralysing chances + 3x critical if you use sneak - your enemies 
   will be in a bad condition when they reach you - if they reach you at 
   all. Drawback: It uses ammo (so what?) and requires some tactical 
   planning in battles against multiple enemies. 

  Novice: fatigued when holding bow drawn back
  Apprentice: not fatigued when holding bow drawn back
  Journeyman: block with bow = zoom ability
  Expert: chance of knock-down
  Master: Chance of paralysing 

 Rating: A-


 Mercantile (Personality)
   High Mercantile = better deals. Since money is lying on the streets 
   anyway, you don't need better deals. 

  Novice: value is reduced by worn condition
  Apprentice: value is not reduced by worn condition
  Journeyman: buy and sell any object to any vendor
  Expert: invest in shops (shops available gold +500)
  Master: all shops have +500 gold for barter

 Rating: F


 Speech craft (Personality)
   Persuade others. Ok if you don't use illusion, but bribes are working 
   all right in most cases. You can get the disposition up about 30 points 
   in the mini game without any training - add illusion and/or money and 
   you will be all right. Not worth a major pick. 

  Novice: offer bribes to increase Disposition
  Apprentice: free rotation of a wedge in the mini game 
  Journeyman: timer in mini game is 50% slower
  Expert: disposition loss by bad choices in mini game is reduced 
  Master: bribes for half price

 Rating: C-


|||| Conclusion |||| 

Good major skills are Block, Heavy or Light Armour, Blunt or Blade, 
Destruction, Illusion, Conjuration, Alchemy, (Restoration), Marksman 
and Sneak. 


 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG05]                  CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT                        |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The best starting character is worthless if you don't level him up 
correctly. And the game punishes you severely for not doing so. If you 
don't plan ahead a little, you will not be able to play beyond medium 
difficulty, and if you seriously screw up, even medium may get impossible. 

 -------------------------
| Level-Up Game Mechanics |
 -------------------------

So lets take a look how a level up works: As soon as you have gained 10 
skill points in any combination of major skills, you will get a level 
up. Upon level up, you gain 1/10th of your endurance in Health and can 
select 3 attributes to be increased. Sounds easy ? Well there is a catch: 
Skills are tied to attributes, and for every 2 skill points tied to a 
certain attribute you get a better increase for this attribute on 
level up. The maximum increase is +5. 

An example: 

Your mage has gained 4 Points Mysticism, 5 Points Conjuration & 1 Point 
Alchemy - all those skills are tied to Intelligence. So if you pick 
Intelligence on level up, you will get a 5 points boost instead a one 
point boost. If you had 5 Points Conjuration,, 1 Point Alchemy and 
4 Points Destruction, you would get Intelligence x3 and Willpower x2. 

It does not matter whether the skills are major or minor, all increases 
add to the stat increase modification. You probably know where this 
leads: For every level, use a combination of minor and major skill 
points that give you a +5 increase to two attributes - Luck is not tied 
to a skill, so it will go up one point per level. You could also just 
leave luck at 55 and try to get three +5 increases. And don't get any 
other skill points which will not contribute to those attributes. And 
don't get all 3 skills tied to one attribute major, since you will 
have to use them exclusively or not at all that way (remember, 10 
points to level up AND 10 points for +5). 

Obviously, this is horrible. Forget immersion, forget normal exploring, 
just say "I will be God, and this is necessary". Well... Or don't.  
I recommend to get one of the many level-up mods that give you x5 for 
any skill gain since the last level. You still gain your levels 
honestly, so i consider this to be a fix. If you consider it cheating, 
say "i will be God, so this is necessarily fun. It is... really !". 

[Note: I got quite some emails stating its hard to find the mod, and 
indeed i couldn't find a "one change only" mod any more, So i posted  
one that just gives you +5 for any skill gains since the last level, 
nothing else. Its on 
www.oblivionsource.com/?page=modforge&op=viewproject&project_id=264

Someone deleted it. I found it again on 
http://files.filefront.com/plus5alwaysesp/;4919583;;/fileinfo.html

If you read this guide and the last update was some time ago, it might 
be a better idea search the web for "plus5always" or "plus5always.esp" ]

 -----------------------
| Character Development |
 -----------------------

I will assume you got your +5 increases in one way or another. But 
its still a good idea to keep focused, At level 14, you can have 
60 in every attribute (and Luck 68). Or you can have 100 Endurance 
and 100 in your main attribute: Strength for melee fighters, 
Agility for archers, Intelligence for mages. The first character 
will be lost on hard, and difficult on medium, the second will be 
easy on medium, and sometimes challenging in hard. 

|||| So, first rule of fight club |||| 
Maximize Endurance first ! Endurance = Health, and Health you 
need. The only stat that does not work retroactive. 

|||| Second rule |||||
Maximize Endurance first ! And focus on it. Its really important 
to have enough health to stay alive in a hard 6 vs 1 battle on 
maximum difficulty. It still won't be enough health, but 
less health is suicide. 

|||| Third rule ||||
Maximize one important attribute ! - And I'm not talking about
Personality. The attribute tied to your damage dealing skill should 
be max. For melee, that's Strength, for Archery Agility, for 
Magic Intelligence or a mix of Willpower and Intelligence. 

|||| Forth rule ||||
Some focus on the damage dealing Skill is important. You don't 
need to hurry as much, and maxing out is not the prime goal, 
but your prime damage dealer should be in the upper seventies 
rather sooner than later. 

|||| fifth rule ||||
Don't forget your minor support skills. 


After you got a decent prime damage skill, your further skill 
development is really up to you. You are safe now.  

 -----------------
| Training Skills |
 -----------------

Learning by doing - and learning more by doing more, or how 
you train specific skills outside normal combat. 

Spellcasting Skills: 
Most schools have training cantrips, cheap spells you can 
cast onto yourself while running to the next town / quest. 
Illusion has Light, Alteration has Protect, Mysticism has
Minor Life Detection. Conjuration and Destruction are best
trained together: Summon Skeleton and blast it away with 
Flare. 

  ------Liq writes------
  for destruction training, getting to the spell maker 
  allows one to make a self nuke that drains fatigue
  ----------------------

Alchemy: 
Create some endurance potions made of common food - its 
lying around everywhere. 

 ------Adam Stasiak writes------
 Since the potions usually sell for more than the 
 ingredients, you can go to all the ingredient sellers you 
 choose, and buy up all their cheap ingredients (2-4g). Then 
 pretty much just make whatever you can with all that. Once 
 you sell it all you will probably have made a profit. As 
 you get to 25,50,75 it gets easier and easier since it's 
 easier to find valid potion combinations. But this can be 
 a lot faster and less tedious than wandering through the 
 fields.
 -------------------------------

Fighting Skills: 
Hit your summoned Skeleton for Hand to Hand, Blade, Blunt and 
Marksman, let it hit you for Light and Heavy Armour, and block 
its attacks for Block. (by Reimer the_maestro:) You could also 
get yourself some rats - lets call them Martin, Davis and 
Sinatra - for some rounds of block and armour. They hit fast 
without much damage and thus increase defensive skills much 
better than any summoned creature. 

 ------Adam Stasiak writes------
 For training combat skills and destruction, basically anything 
 where you need a victim. The Zombie seems a much better victim 
 than the skeleton. He has MANY more hitpoints, and attacks a 
 bit slower. So you can hit him that many more times per 
 summoning. I would also recommend using bad weapons to train 
 (iron club, iron dagger, iron bow) since they are both cheap 
 and do less damage. You can also let these wear down in quality 
 so their damage rating is down to 1 or 2. The skill gain seems 
 to be based on the number of hits, not the damage you do, so 
 there's no point in killing them too quickly, only to have to 
 summon another one. This also makes it easier if you want to 
 avoid raising conjuration. 
 -------------------------------

 ------Morph writes------
 For marksman skill, if you hit the pickup button right after 
 the fire button, you can pickup the arrow right as it bounces 
 off your summoned critters.  It works mighty effectively for 
 conserving arrows!
 ------------------------

 ------Gessie writes------
 Heavy/Light Armor can be trained very easily. Simply drink 
 some Shield potions to get your rating up to 85, then drink 
 another restore health potion, and get beaten up by a bunch 
 of guards. The Imperial Prison is a good place to find guards, 
 since there won't be any other NPC's who will join the fight. 
 Imagine 5 guards constantly using swift blade attacks on you, 
 meaning about 3 hits every second, more if you stand in the 
 right place.
 -------------------------


Armourer: 
Repair everything, repair hammers are cheap and you gain 
skillpoints fast. (by Adam Stasiak:) The amount of skill gained
is not per repaired damage, but per repair skill application. 
So repair everything every time its damaged, even if its only 
one point. Using the fact that bows are damaged for every 
fired arrow, use e.g. five bows to fire an arrow into the 
grass at your feet, pick em up, repair the bow, repeat. 

 ------Joseph Carmona writes------
 create a destroy armor spell that works on yourself :-)
 ---------------------------------

 
Security: 
Picking locks, this way: 

 ------Michael Grazier writes------
 Well, the best way I've found to do it is to lock a tumbler or 
 two in place, exit out, and then re-attempt the lock.  Repeat 
 ad nauseum and your lock picking should go up relatively quick.
 ----------------------------------

Sneak: 
Go into a room with a person inside, go to a corner of the room, 
sneak. If you keep walking (even if you just walk against the 
wall), your Sneak skill will rise. 

 -----Stephen(vitamin dew) writes:------ 
 At the bottom you give training tips. Another good, maybe even 
 better, way to raise sneak is to finish the arena and get your 
 fan. Then tele to a cave and go inside, he will appear in front of 
 you and you can just sneak and pick pocket for as long as you want.

 Another way to do it, but I don't know if it works right away or if 
 you need a few levels. You can sit in front of a bed at an outside 
 camp(Kvatch) and just pick pocket him to his face and sleep after 
 each level.
 ---------------------------------------
 
Like athletics, you dont have to be present to raise sneak:
 
 ------Chase writes------
 get arrested and when ur in jail go into a corner and put a rubber 
 band on the left thumbstick so that you walk into the corner and 
 just come back in about 30 min and you will go from like 1 sneak to 
 maybe 100 i did this from less than 40 and i went all the way up to 
 100, its just a lot less work you need to do
 ------------------------ 


Athletics: 
Swimming raises this one fast, far faster than running which 
you do all the time anyway. 
 
 ------Adam Stasiak writes------
 Hit Q to go into auto-run mode, find a pool with a steep edge in 
 a corner, face into that corner, and go grab a cup of coffee while 
 your character swims their way to a brand new body. 
 -------------------------------
 
Acrobatics: 
Jumping around, especially this way: 

 ------Brett Johnson writes------
 hey for acrobatics i found it really easy to get your head close to 
 the top of a wall by jumping on places like a shelf in the cloud 
 ruler temple armoury...
 --------------------------------

Another very good way:   

 ------Chris Raine writes------
 Great guide! Here's a faster way to train acrobatics: Find a 
 place  to fall just enough to take damage without getting killed 
 (I used  one of the terrace walls in Bruma because stairs are so 
 accessible). Jump off, groan with pain, heal yourself while 
 running back up the stairs, jump again. Taking damage from falls 
 does much more acrobatics training than just jumping. 
 ------------------------------

The same idea, improved some more: 

 ------Morph writes------
 Chris Raine has the right idea, but it's too slow ~ the best way 
 is to go up to "Gnoll Mountain" which is somewhere to the right of 
 Bruma (above the county of bruma and under the big M of mountain).  
 Then, from there, run toward imperial city, jumping all the way!  
 Eventually, you'll come up the same elevation as the Imperial City.  
 At this point, fast travel up to Gnoll Mountain, and jump and 
 fall again!  Works great =) 
 ------------------------
  
Speech craft: 
Play the persuasion mini game with everyone. 
 
 ------NightStik writes------
 In order to quickly train the Speechcraft skill, what you should 
 do is talk to someone about whom you don't care (say a guard) 
 and go to the Persuade option. Every time just click the smallest 
 wedge on each block as it goes around the circle. The disposition 
 will eventually hit zero, but your speechcraft will continue to 
 raise when you do this.
 ----------------------------

Mercantile
Buying/selling stuff. But how you sell is important, too: 

 ------Ender writes------
 OK, so Mercantile raises by how many transactions you do with the 
 other person, Not by how much you've earned or how many things 
 you sell. So, a good way to raise Mercantile and Alchemy at the 
 same time is:
 Grab all the food you find
 Make Restore Fatigue potions
 Sell the Restore Fatigue potions one at a time
 ------------------------


There are also trainers who charge money for increasing your 
skill - might be interesting for high Athletics and Security. You 
will need a recommendation from the medium trainers to train with 
master (70+) trainers, who normally also want you to complete a 
quest. 

 ------Aerenel writes------
 Each new level still only has 5 points. So to get important skills 
 up to a perk fast, such as HA to reduce weight, armourer to repair 
 magic items, alchemy to make better potions, etc, it is technically 
 best to use all 5 trains starting at level one and never failing.  
 --------------------------

I think he has a point. Lvl 10+ money is abundant, and high skill level 
training without a teacher gets slow. On low levels, getting the money 
uses far more time than some rats gnawing on your boots for a minute. 


 -----------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG0A]      APPENDIX A: SAMPLE CHARACTER BUILDS               |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Spellcatcher

Race: Breton
Birth sign: The Atronach
Skill package: Combat
Favoured Attributes: Luck, Endurance
Skills: Blade, Heavy Armour, Illusion, Destruction, Conjuration, 
        Alchemy, Sneak


Normal Combat looks like this: After the initial 6x critical power 
attack with a blade imbued with self-made poison, the spellcatcher
tries to keep the attention of his enemy while his pet happily 
whacks on the unprotected back. If the enemy is humanoid, he will 
fight with bare fists after a few Corrode Weapon spells.

Magic combat is where the fun starts: Instead of avoiding enemy 
spells, the Spellcatcher tries to catch them, using the gained 
Magicka to play Fireball ping-pong. Alas, most times the 
Spellcatcher is the only one with a racquet.     

In times of peace, he lets friendly summoned ghosts replenish his 
magicka while he's searching ingredients for stronger poisons and 
combat drugs.



Battlemage (by Stefan Lindberg)

Race: High Elf
Birth sign: The Atronach
Skill package: Magic
Favoured Attributes: Luck, Endurance
Skills: Blade, Heavy Armour, Illusion, Destruction, Conjuration, 
        Alteration, Mysticism 

(explanation by myself)
Highest possible Magicka, and 5 immunities are easily reachable: 
Magicka, Frost, Fire and Shock by additional 50% Absorption 
items/spells, Poison by additional 25% items/spells. Add Heavy 
Armour and a damage shield, perhaps some resistance to mundane 
damage items and this guy will eat damage like dragons do (and 
then some).



Thief Lord (by GigaFire)

Race: Breton or Dark Elf
Birthsign: Atronach or Thief
Skill Package: Stealth
Favored Attributes: Strength/Luck
Skills: Blade, Light Armor, Illusion, Destruction, Sneak, 
Marksman, Conjuration

The point of this build is to take out some enemies with a sneak 
blow, then be prepared to handle more guys without sneak or 
handle your initial target if he survives the sneak multiplier. 
Light Armor should protect you for the duration of the battle, 
especially at master level. If it's too light where your target 
is and you can't get a sneak blow with your blade, then you 
simply pull out your trusty bow and fire an arrow or two. With 
Illusion, you can stalk through dungeons binded to the shadows, 
possibly with invisibility, and see twice as clearly as your 
foes. If your foe happens to be Umbra or something, summon a 
Xivilai, blast away her armor and weapon with a destruction 
spell, and watch the fireworks. Also, for Atronach players, you 
can summon a ghost so it can "share" its magic with you.



Invincible Chameleon (by Gessie)

Race: Breton
Sign: Thief
Attributes: Endurance, Luck
Skills: Marksman, Light Armor (an archer wearing ebony simply 
looks lame), the rest: Whatever you want, really.

Tactics: Get the Ring of the Kajiit (35% chameleon, 10 speed) 
and enchant 3 other items with Chameleon, giving you a total 
of 95%. Cast 6% Chameleon for 120 seconds. Nothing can see you, 
you get infinite stealth hits. If you have higher Illusion skill 
you should be able to cast 30% or 50% Chameleon for such a 
duration, meaning that you need less enchantments, meaning more 
skill/attribute buffs. [...] An alternative is drinking Chameleon 
potions like mad. [...] Bloodgrass has Chameleon as the first 
effect, so a master can create 0.1 weight Chameleon potions 
using just bloodgrass.

(Comment by me) 
Pro: You are invincible!
Con: You are invincible...

(Your Character build could be here - only requirement is hard 
difficulty capability) 


 ------------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG0B]         APPENDIX B: GENERAL GAMEPLAY TIPS               |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------

Early money: 
Sell all this free alchemy equipment and those silver daggers from 
the mage guild. Do some arena fights. 

Pick any lock: 
After the tumbler went up very fast, it will go up at constant 
speed next time, so just click as soon as its up. 
Another way is to listen for the additional click sound that only
happens if the tumbler is slow. 
-> Very hard locks with one lockpick

Move while fighting: 
If you see one of those sloow attack moves, that's a power attack - 
move back to avoid it or sidestep and attack yourself. Blocking 
is good to break an normal attack sequence, but enemy power 
attacks should be dodged. Circling around an enemy also helps 
if he is using slow weapons/attacks in general. 

Everyone needs the Mages Guild (Andrew Harris): 
2 very important options are only available in the Mages Guild 
in the Capital: 
 1) Spell making - 100 charm for 2 seconds is better 
    and cheaper than 50 for 30 seconds, since time stops on 
    conversations anyway!
 2) Item enchantment - you can hope to find the perfect item, 
    or you just create it for yourself

Resist the Guards: 
But don't fight, just run like hell. After two or three areas 
they will stop to run after you. Now travel to the Thieves Guild 
and pay half price fines while keeping all your stolen stuff. 

 ------Scheherazade writes------
 Dodging fines doesn't require entry into the Thieves' Guild. 
 When you arrive at a city, make a point of fawning on all the 
 guards. When their disposition is in the eighties or nineties, 
 you're set. If you get caught stealing or such, guards who like 
 you will often waive the fine for you. It'll hurt their 
 disposition towards you, but it's usually cheaper to bribe them 
 than to surrender your stolen goods. In the off chance that a 
 guard decides to press the fine, resist arrest. You can yield 
 to them by blocking and activating them. It will buy you a few 
 seconds to make a getaway. 
 -------------------------------

 ------Joseph Carmona writes------
 Found a decent way to avoid small fines with the guards. Create 
 a 100% Charm spell @ 5 seconds, if you get caught, and they 
 arrest you, resist arrest, cast the spell then yield they will 
 almost always pay for the fine (I think it works for anything 
 small, haven't tired it with big fines such as murder yet)
 ---------------------------------

Faster Spellcasting:

  ------Morph------
  It's essential to hold down block as you cast... for much 
  faster casting!  Also, create your own spell for less mana 
  usage.  ie, I created a 1 second 1 magnitude shield to cast 
  over and over! 
  -----------------

Save on different slots: 
Quick save can be too quick sometimes. If you didn't save for days, 
don't forget you could temporarily turn difficulty down in 
special situations (No Magicka/no potions to summon battery ghost 
in Oblivion).  

Utilize Alchemy for power...: 
Hard fights will get easy with the right combination of potions. 
Trust me, as soon as you start to fight high, you don't want to 
miss it. And you can use your magic for the important things 
like testing whether your enemy will strip if you magically 
burden him enough.

...and profit:

  ------Gessie------
  One last thing, a good tip about making money:Get your Alchemy to 
  100 (yes, I'm an Alchemy freak) and pay a little visit to the 
  swampland East of Leyawiin. You'll find mushrooms all over the 
  place, 20 minutes of picking will result in hundreds of shrooms. 
  That translates to hundreds of potions, and each will be worth 30 
  to  60 gold, depending on your alchemy equipment.Oh, and I guess 
  it wasn't the last, 6) This is a great way to train Alchemy as well.
  ------------------

Create items:
With Soul gems, money and a mundane weapon or a piece of 
armour/clothing/jewellery, you can create your own magic items. Try 
to get constant effects. An example: 

  ------esmonkeyboy------
  I'm guessing you already know this, but another alternative for 
  the Water Breathing spell besides potions is a filled Petty Soul 
  Gem, 2000 gold, and whatever piece of jewelry fits your fancy. I 
  suppose the 2000 gold might be a little hard early on, but that's 
  what I do.
  -----------------------
 
Take your time: 
Oblivion is not just beautiful, it has really interesting and 
well thought out quests for a change. E.g. the rat problem, 
the painter, the dream. Good stats are nice, but don't miss 
this other world called Tamriel. 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG0C]         APPENDIX C: SPELL DISCUSSION                   |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------

I decided to do a spell discussion here later on, i think a pure 
spell list won't help much. Until i find the time to do it, a 
good spell list can be found in Bon "Brynne" Cottle Oblivion 
Balanced Character Creation Guide on Gamefaqs (although i think 
its too big for a chargen guide, its a great piece of reference 
material). 


 -----------------------------------------------------------------
| [CBDG0D]         APPENDIX D: CHANGES TO MORROWIND               |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------

General: 
- Perks for 25, 50, 75 and 100 skill points
- new Minigames for persuasion and lockpicking
- you cannot wear clothes over/under your armour
- no Unarmoured skill
- no Medium Armour (by LibraScythe)
- no Thrown Weapons (by LibraScythe)

Magic: 
- No chance to fail: if your skill is too low, you cannot learn it, 
if you know a spell, you always cast it successfully. 
- Spell maker is seriously gimped
- No levitation/flight spells
- no teleport spells 
- Enchantment as a school is out                  
- fast mana regeneration !
- no magic mushroom tower


 -----------------------------------------------------------------
|                    VERSION HISTORY                              |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------

v.1.3.8 2007/12/08
      - I was told the "i dont care bout copyright" line was stupid.
        Guess thats right, so the guide is now licensed under 
        Creative Commons -> See new copyright notice

v.1.3.7 2007/09/18
      - since i dont play Oblivion anymore, i didnt update my 
        guide. But i got some emails about the plus5always mod
        missing and some other imput i want to share.
      - Added new location for plus5always and exact mod name 
        for websearches
      - Added Create your own stuff tip       
      - Heavy/Light Armour training by Gessie
      - Invincible Chameleon by Gessie
      - Alchemy for Profit by Gessie 
      - Sneak training coffee break by Chase   
      - Thief Lord by Preetham Ganupuru
      - Water breathing jewellery by esmonkeyboy
      - Nordic Boxing (Hand to Hand Update) by Isaiah Ari
      - Changes to Morrowind update (by LibraScythe) 

V.1.3.6 2006/05/10
      - had nice holidays -> no update / email answers for quite 
        some time. I didn't and won't answer all mails, just got 
        too much also from other projects (311 for this quide 
        alone). 
      - fixed error stating major skills start at Journeyman, 
        they start at apprentice level (by Digital Terror)
      - Destruction training by Liq
      - Light armor master bonus for -full- light armor (GTPoompt)
      - Hand to Hand as backup (by GTPoompt)
      - Security made useless by special item (lots of people)
      - fast spellcasting (by Morph)
      - improved Marksman training (by Morph)
      - improvement for the improved Acrobatics (by Morph)
      - tip for armour training (by Joseph Carmona)
      - Guards best friend (by Joseph Carmona)
      - fixed error in levelup example (by Stephen Gates) 

V.1.3.5 2006/04/08
      - fixed even more typos (hooray for spellcheckers!)
      - Atronach / High Elf combination (by Stefan Lindberg & 
        Reimer the_maestro)
      - 3 skills for one attribute major = bad (by Stefan Lindberg)
      - Battlemage (by Stefan Lindberg)
      - restoration is tied to WIS, not INT (by ben hopkins)
      - Rat Pack (by Reimer the_maestro)
      - Security training by Michael Grazier

V.1.3.4 2006/04/06
      - Mage guild for everyone by Andrew Harris
      - improved combat training by Adam Stasiak
      - improved Alchemy by Adam Stasiak
      - improved Armourer by Adam Stasiak
      - improved Athletics by Adam Stasiak
      - added download location for +5 mod
      - changed spell chapter

V.1.3.3 2006/04/04
      - Location of Summon Ghost for Atronach players
      - Added explanation for resistances/weaknesses
      - Changed Athletics description and rating 
      - Some typos, different wording (by Duncan)
      - clarified 100 % Magic resistance does not apply 
        to elemental magic - fire, frost, shock (by Priyesh) 
      - even better mana batteries by Daman Bouya
      - lockpicking while sneaking by The Admiral
      - Added improved Speechcraft Training by NightStik
      - Dodging fines by Scheherazade
      - Jumping out of sticky situations by LtKerensky

V.1.3.2 2006/04/04
      - Added improved Acrobatics Training by chris raine
      - Another way for Acrobatics Trainig by Brett Johnson
      - Added improved Mercantile by Ender
      - Alternation should be Alteration typo by john
        (i thought it was derived from alternative, thanx!)
      - light armour gets a 50% boost at master level, i wrote 
        150% in the heavy armour description (fixed by Aerenel)    
      - example for useful high acrobatics (by Aerenel)    
      - changed The Mage birthsign rating (by Aerenel)
      - expanded Atronach Example (by Aerenel)
      - enchantment capacity light vs. heavy (by Aerenel)
      - expanded paid trainer section (by Aerenel)

V.1.3.1 2006/04/03
      - fixed some typos, most glaring Atronach = 0% spell 
        absorbtion (corrected by Gar Hong) 
      - High Elf Magica is 100 (corrected by Comazon)
      - Explanation Spell Absorbtion
      - Corrected Atronach Example
      - Added Sneak Training by vitamin dew

V.1,3 2006/04/01
      - Translation to English, first publication on gamefaqs
      - tuned down bad language for general public

V.1.2 2006/03/31
      - Added Appendices B, C, D

V.1.1 2006/03/29

      - added quick jump to table of contents
      - indenting for better overview 
      
      Fixed errors: 
      - High Elf Magicka bonus is 50, not 100 
        (this is an error, no fiy see 1.3.1
      - fixed Level Up Game Mechanics example   

V.1.0 2006/03/28
      German publication 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------
|                      CREDITS                                    |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Contributors to this guide: 

Bethesda - they made the game
Me - precious hours outside Tamriel were sacrificed for this
The guy - who created the ascii-art aeons ago in IRC
Daniel - he showed me how good alchemy is
Cat - she told me to translate it, and I cannot say no to her.
      Actually she just mentioned it casually. 
Brett Johnson - better way for training arcobatics
Chris Raine - a different better way for training acrobatics
Ender - better way for training mercantile
Aerenel - lots of major and minor points on HtH/Blade/Blunt, 
          secrets with acrobatics, skill training...
Pryesh - brought attention to the magicka / elemental resistance 
         difference - resistance section
Daman Bouya - wraith/gloom wraith for high level atronach 
NightStik - better way for training speechcraft
Scheherazade - different way to dodge fines
LtKerensky - jumping in fights
Andrew Harris - importance of enchantment / spell making
Adam Stasiak - several training improvments (Combat, Alchemy, 
               Armourer, Athletics)
Stefan Lindberg - High Elf & Atronach + game mechanics
Reimer the_maestro - also High Elf & Atronach, Rat training
Michael Grazier - better way for Security training
Liq - better way for Destruction training
GTPoompt - light armor master bonus only for full light armor,
           point on HtH
Morph - faster spellcasting, improved Marksman training, very 
        fast acrobatics
Joseph Carmona - Dodging Fines and Armor training tip
Gessie - Invincible Chameleon, Alchemy Money and Armour Training
Chase - Sneak coffee break
GigaFire - Thief Lord
Esmonkeyboy - Constant effects with soul gems
Isaiah Ari - Hand to Hand Update
LibraScythe - More Changes to Morrowind


Friendly Typo Monkeys: Gar Hong, Jonathan Mann, Duncan       
Error fixers: Comazon, Aerenel, Duncan, Priyesh, The Admiral, 
              Ben Hopkins, Digital Terror, Stephen Gates



 -----------------------------------------------------------------
|                     COPYRIGHT                                   |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------

This document is distributed under the Creative Commons by-nc-sa 
license. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

You are allowed 
<> to Share — to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work
<> to Remix — to make derivative works

...under the following conditions:

<> Attribution - You must attribute the work in the manner specified 
by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that 
they endorse you or your use of the work).

<> Noncommercial - You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

<> Share Alike - If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, 
you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar 
license to this one.
 

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