The Oblivion Thread vol. II

[Dinner]

I've heard some people level in their mage skills just by summing a creature, starting a fight with your summed creature and then wasting it with spells. Alternately you could start a fight and just do nothing but block to build up your block skill (maybe armor skill as well if you don't block well), and you can build up your healing skills by healing yourself after the fight. It seems like walking into a fire to cause yourself damage and then casting heal spells would also do the trick.

I definately want to get +5 from each trainer before I go up each level. My problem is finding cash. I just don't seem to kill monsters with much cash and I haven't been able to join the thieve's guild so I can't sell any of my stolen stuff.

[Kassiopeia]

I don't think you need to actually deal damage or heal HP for the skill to level. Just stand somewhere and smash the cast key repeatedly, and that should do the trick. I noticed this when I got a point in Destruction even though my last two fireballs had missed my foe and hit the ground.

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Traianvs
I have gotten the disease of course, but I'm a vampire by now. I didn't know I would turn into one after 1 hour of resting. Oh well, so far I have only gotten better stats, no disadvantages or anything. My character does look entirely different though, and he has aged quite a bit (probably have to feed some way or another, but then again I haven't got any disadvantages so to hell with that ).

What can I say....you better feed before too long.

[yin26]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I definately want to get +5 from each trainer before I go up each level. My problem is finding cash. I just don't seem to kill monsters with much cash and I haven't been able to join the thieve's guild so I can't sell any of my stolen stuff.

If you make potions, the profits can be staggering. Jesenine (sp?) at the 'Good as New' ? shop in the Imperial Marketplace has a very low merchant skill, too, so you get great prices from her. In my last haul, I must have made nearly 5,000 gp. As for getting all the ingredients, whenever I walk / run from town to town, I don't take the main roads...then as I go past flowers, etc., I just quickly hit the space bar and off I go. As a thief, of course, I can also steal food from people's houses pretty easily...always a great source of gold there, too.

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by Nikolai


What can I say....you better feed before too long.

I'll have to find out the hard way then!

But actually, what happens when you feed on people? They don't turn into vampires themselves and they don't die, correct?
If that is the case, then what could possibly be wrong with some bloodsucking every once in a while

[yin26]

There's nothing wrong with it. In fact, I'm toying with staying as a vampire myself because of the added bonuses. Sure, there is some added micro having to feed (eventually if you don't feed, you'll not be able to walk in the daylight for more than a few seconds without dying). I have started the cure quest just for the fun of it (I want to do as many quests as possible), but I have nothing against being a vampire.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Is there some page where you can see if you are starting to turn. I was looking at my main stats page and noticed that a few of my stats were "red" and less then they should have been. Not real sure when that happened, but since I was in a city, I made my way to the chapel and got some healing and I was back to normal.

Then I looked at the far right tab on the stats page and noticed that I had a 1 in the disease column.

Was that the start of vampirism? or maybe something else? How do you know what you have? Where do you look?

Also noticed one little quirk, the trainers in the guilds won't train you unless it is daytime. Didn't quite catch that until last night.

Also did not notice that there were higher levels of the alchemy gear. That....make better potions. That....sell for more cash. Oh yeah!

[Quillan]

Kass, it depends on the spell college. Destruction doesn't give you skill increases by casting Flare at a wall. It will give you skill increases for casting Flare at a creature, and apparently even if the critter dodges. Restoration won't go up from casting Minor Heal on yourself if your health isn't down, but it does for casting Fortify Fatigue over and over again. Most of the other colleges don't have that problem, because there are "useful" spell effects all through them. Cast Minor Life Detection for mysticism, Candle Light for Illusion, Protect for Alteration, Bound Dagger for Conjuration, or make your own super cheap spell (assuming you've made it into Arcane U).

[Quillan]

Originally posted by Spaced Cowboy
Is there some page where you can see if you are starting to turn.

I can't say for certain, but if you go into the magic menu, and click on the last tab, it will show you all effects that are currently on your character. I missed the "You have contracted Porphyric Hemophilia" message with this character when I cleared out the mine for the Azura quest, and discovered I had been infected when I looked at that screen. I hadn't changed yet, but I was still suffering from a 2 point drain fatigue effect. When I moused over it, the popup to the side read "Drain Fatigue (2): Porphyric Hemophilia". I hit a temple quickly at that point and got it cured.

[ZargonX]

You know, I haven't gotten a single +5 yet for any level raise, and I'm currently level 11, and I'm ok with that. It just feels like too much micromanagement to try and scheme out exactly what skills I need to use to achieve the "optimal" build. If I wanted planning and build schemes, I'd go play CIV To each their own, I guess.

[Harovan]

So far I got quite some triple +5s. Mostly at level 2, on many characters I played. It usually involves Personality, since I do a massive amount of persuading with all merchants and generally everyone I talk to, Speed, for Athletics and Acrobatics level quick while running/jumping around, especially while they're low, and Intelligence for the first run at Alchemy, which I usually do right when I'm out of the sewers.

To get a +5 in Constitution is easy as cake for everyone with heavy armor. After a level-up, just go, find a highwayman (don't use wolves, rats or dogs, you'll catch a disease!), let him whack your shield while you do nothing but healing yourself. This trains both block and heavy armor, and after you're sick of it and killed the villain, fixing shield and armor trains armoring too. All three are constitution-based, so if you got 10 updates this way (con be done with 1, at most 2 highwaymen), you got a sure +5.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Kassiopeia
I don't think you need to actually deal damage or heal HP for the skill to level. Just stand somewhere and smash the cast key repeatedly, and that should do the trick. I noticed this when I got a point in Destruction even though my last two fireballs had missed my foe and hit the ground.

You get far less training (if any) if you're not doing SOMETHING. Missing seems to still count, but you have to be in combat. It's not like Morrowind, where you level regardless of competition.

Definitely summoning a skeleton or whatnot is an effective way to "practice" magic though

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by yin26
There's nothing wrong with it. In fact, I'm toying with staying as a vampire myself because of the added bonuses. Sure, there is some added micro having to feed (eventually if you don't feed, you'll not be able to walk in the daylight for more than a few seconds without dying). I have started the cure quest just for the fun of it (I want to do as many quests as possible), but I have nothing against being a vampire.

Also, if you don't feed for a while, people will gradually start avoiding you, until practically noone will want to even be close to you.

[yin26]

Originally posted by Nikolai
Also, if you don't feed for a while, people will gradually start avoiding you, until practically noone will want to even be close to you.

Ah, good point. I've only ever gotten as far as the "Are you sick?" questions. Fun stuff!

[bonscott]

I haven't been bit yet. I've gotten past Cloud Ruler temple and now level 11. Now Martin is on his own for a while. I've got some dungeons to clear out.