The idea of a stealth archer weaving in mysticism is a neat fantasy, especially with the ranger fantasy of preparing for the perfect shot so focusing on enchanting, alchemy and making it so your bows have extra damage riders sounds like quite a bit of fun.
You do a great job using your gameplay videos as examples to reinforce what you teach with your spreadsheet videos. Oblivion's mechanics can be a little dense to those of us with little to no experience with the game, so this is incredibly helpful. Looking forward to more content!
I've tried to get into Oblivion a few times but always bounced off of it, but your videos have really helped me understand the system deeper. Knowing how to make a good build has made the game a lot more fun, as well as all the general game knowledge you've shared. Thanks for your content.
nice! i had thought that bows were absolutely inferior weapon options, but the fact that they can get two-second destruction enchantments (lowering the magnitude-based exponential cost) on account of their draw time actually helps a bit
@theoldknight85 - Thanks to you, I just rebooted Oblivion after 15 years. Thanks for all the awesome content. I'm struggling with normal difficulty Siege of Kvatch, despite selecting the S and A tier attributes, Mage sign, Breton race, destruction restoration illustion and blade, etc. What do you think I can do to break through? Should I be trying more potions? I don't think my combat is THAT rusty, but I just can't handle the castle fight with 3-4 flame atranochs and their attendant imps and clanfears. Level 9. :(
Flame atronachs are weak against frost. Get in the mages guild, but weakness to frost from the skingrad mages guild, make a 7 second 100% weakness to frost spell and a separate 20 damage for 2 seconds frost spell. Hit them with weakness to frost, touch them with the frost damage. Over the 2 seconds hit them with your sword. Maybe get a sword enchant like shock damage (or double down on frost damage, but many undead are immune) to kill them faster. This might burn through your mana. They first appear at level 9 so this is the hardest part. Some restore mana potions will help. Flax seeds around skingrad and those blue steel mushrooms in the arcane university work. Enchant your gear with fire shield for defensives. Level up some minor skills like alchemy for a little bit. You gotta catch up on power and then go back to it. Good luck! Editing to add: destruction skill is important too to get lower costs for spells. Maybe use fortify skill enchants on your gear or just train it up
@@theoldknight85 OK - Solid plan. Agnostic of which enemies I'm facing, my overall concern was whether the game is intended to be so demanding at middle-of-the-slider difficulty. In another video you mentioned that the game can be tedious if you don't manage leveling correctly, so my concern is more that somehow I have reached level 9 ineffectively and am now in for a tedious playthrough. Currently getting my destruction up to 50 and handling some mages guild quests so I can start making spells and enchants. Thanks man.
@ the mid game is the hardest part. After you get 100 destruction and good equipment the game will be much easier. It takes time though, and level 8 to level 9 is quite a power spike with those atronachs. Clannfears come in 4 levels which can be tricky, but they are weak to shock and by then hopefully you can combine weakness to magic and shock into one spell for a big boost to damage and have a stronger weapon enchant
Well, it ends here: There’s a bug on the Nvidia GeForce Now instance of the game that makes it so the Bravil mages guild recommendation quest can’t be completed. Unless I can figure out how to activate console commands or find a patch, Oblivion will have to remain in the past :/
More of a channel comment than this video in particular. I think you should make a video, explaining why exactly bonus magicka is such a powerful race bonus and birth sign bonus. I feel you just gloss over that when you made your birth sign and race tier lists. Because to a new player, it is not immediately apparant why exactly increasing the maximum magicka is so important. Breton + Mage = 100 extra, but that is little compared to the 200 you get from 100 intelligence and the 400+ you get from sigil stone enchants + necromancers amulet. Starting spell costs also seem to be far lower than your maximum magicka, which is true even when you start to dabble into buffing yourself with shield and feather. It seems to the player, that the determining factor in being able to cast many spells during combat relies on magicka regeneration, and not total magicka. To me, total magicka didn't make sense as an end game barrier, due to the aforementioned enchants you can get. Orc mage even seems viable, since they have high willpower. If you are curious, the reason why max magicka is important early, middle and late. It is because willpower enhancing your magicka regeneration, does so as a function of your maximum magicka. So a Breton with the following stats. 50 + 5 int = 110 magicka + racial + mage sign = 210 Magicka 50+5 willpower = 0,02% * 55 = 1,1% mana regen per second + 0,75% mana regen which is the base = 1,85% mana regen per second 210 / 100 * 1,85 = 3,885 magicka per second. So if i were to make a spell at 210 magicka, to increase willpower by 100 points for 3 seconds. I would spend 43 magicka casting the spell. Then i would receive 100 * 0.02 = 2% of my maximum mana back every second = 12,6 magicka. But if my maximum mana was 700 = 100 int, bretton + mage sign + 500 from enchants. The same 100 willpower / 3 seconds would yield a 42 return. So if you stack a bunch of temporary buffs, like was done in the mage showcase, then you can get back more mana than what is spent. This whole maximum mana, and willpower regen system. Is why Orc is such a poor race. Because even if you pick a male orc for 50 willpower and 50 endurance, then you pick the lady to get +10 to both and put +5 to both as bonuses. The 65 willpower will only have 60 magicka to work with since male orcs start with 30 intelligence. Which means you only regen 2,05% of your 60 magicka per second = 1,23 magicka per second. Which is less than 1/3 of what the Breton is regenerating per second. Which means you can barely do more than dabble into feather effects as an orc warrior. So early on, you need a high maximum magicka to even engage with the system as a primary method of dealing damage. Then medium/late the sooner you can get past a certain threshold, the sooner and stronger the feedback loop of custom spells being attached to fortify max magicka and fortify willpower can 'click'. Where casting a really expensive spell can yield a net positive magicka.
Hi Old Knight, can you cover about your opinion on being a vampire in the game? The only thing i dislike about being a vampire in Oblivion so far is just that it makes my character ugly lol
Having recently played a vampire, my ultimate takeaway is that it's ultimately annoying to play. The stat boosts are amazing, but once you hit level 4, half the game shuts off. You can't talk to anyone, so no trading or quests. Talking sun damage isn't the worst, but merchants only trade during the day, so you'll have to take something. When you feed, you get shot back down to level one, so optimally, you'd want to keep at level 1-3 until you need to do some dungeoneering or something that doesn't interact with anyone not hostile for level 4. That's just micromanaging something that's only a bit better.
Do you play with any mods? You seem like you'd be very minimalistic about it if you did, so I was wondering if you think there are any mods out there that you think are essential for you. Maybe a good video topic for you if you wanted.
Random Christmas question: have you or any commenter ever tried levelling Luck to 100 and do you think it's worthwhile? I've watched the attributes tier list but I'm still unsure. I've never tried it but was thinking of trying to get luck to 100 as quick as possible for my next time playing. Although it means you're missing out on levelling other attributes faster.
I did it once many years ago. It is absolutely not worthwhile. That is +20 to all skills (without unlocking any perks, and not including acrobatics/athletics). If you picked the thief sign with luck as a favored attribute it would still take until level 36. By that point the skills you are using will be at 100, and none of the skills affected by luck do anything past 100, so very late game it becomes a worthless stat.
Whats your take on actually using conjuration? I find myself jumping between "its free damage" and "this magicka could be used for something more immediate"
@@BananaGatorProds I almost never use it, but I just don’t like the aesthetic of summons and I always hit them on accident. I’ve heard they are really powerful, but even if they were twice as strong I wouldn’t use them, just not for me.
Since starting to watch the channel I've been trying a Bard. Conjuration is quite powerful in conjunction with Illusion spells. I usually frenzy the enemy if there is more than one, then summon a Clanfear for "free damage". I rarely get involved in fights and let chaos run amok as I run around invisible. Different playstyle. I'm more Arcane Trickster than Witch-hunter Stealth-Archer.
Can I ask for your advice? I started making a custom paladin class, breton with mage sign, magic specialization, and for my majors i know i want armourer, heavy armor, blade, restoration and destruction. But I'm not sure what i should pick for the rest of my majors, I'm leaning towards illusion probably and maybe alteration but I'm concerned about having all 3 willpower skills. Was also considering maybe athletes instead of alteration just to be able to run faster in the early game. I normally never really mess around with alchemy. Decision paralysis is keeping me stuck in the sewers at the moment though lol.
@@jakethejax haha there is no choice that can’t be fixed later. I wouldn’t go alteration, you can still get feather pretty quickly with 25 alteration, with a magic spec that really won’t take long. Athletics is nice for moving faster, sneak can work but leaning into the paladin fantasy id do mercantile or illusion instead. I’d definitely still use a shield and block plenty for good endurance gains. Also no one will judge if you punch a few mud crabs or use trainers for blunt to get better strength bonuses. Just don’t over focus on attributes and it sounds like a fun build. Even if you don’t normally use alchemy restore fatigue potions make a pretty staggering difference and are absurdly easy to get
I used a mod that changed the look and icons of a bunch of things to look cooler, and then it started to crash my game. I turned it off, but some of my icons are still bugged out. I don't even notice it anymore lol, but it looks kinda demonic
@@theoldknight85 reminded me time when i was installing some mod for better skybox. Instead i got purple/pink one and just deleting mod wasn't helping so have to reinstall game. Pink skies was hard to ignore, so ye... wasn't as lucky.
The idea of a stealth archer weaving in mysticism is a neat fantasy, especially with the ranger fantasy of preparing for the perfect shot so focusing on enchanting, alchemy and making it so your bows have extra damage riders sounds like quite a bit of fun.
You do a great job using your gameplay videos as examples to reinforce what you teach with your spreadsheet videos. Oblivion's mechanics can be a little dense to those of us with little to no experience with the game, so this is incredibly helpful. Looking forward to more content!
Real liking these "going through the motions" kind of videos, where you do a dungeon or gameplay. Much more appealing than the spreadsheet ones. 😅
Haha I can do more of these but the spreadsheets are never stopping. I want them to be my signature thing
I've tried to get into Oblivion a few times but always bounced off of it, but your videos have really helped me understand the system deeper. Knowing how to make a good build has made the game a lot more fun, as well as all the general game knowledge you've shared. Thanks for your content.
For the algorithm. Just found you channel and currently binging every video!
nice! i had thought that bows were absolutely inferior weapon options, but the fact that they can get two-second destruction enchantments (lowering the magnitude-based exponential cost) on account of their draw time actually helps a bit
Now this is some high quality content!
@theoldknight85 - Thanks to you, I just rebooted Oblivion after 15 years. Thanks for all the awesome content. I'm struggling with normal difficulty Siege of Kvatch, despite selecting the S and A tier attributes, Mage sign, Breton race, destruction restoration illustion and blade, etc. What do you think I can do to break through? Should I be trying more potions? I don't think my combat is THAT rusty, but I just can't handle the castle fight with 3-4 flame atranochs and their attendant imps and clanfears. Level 9. :(
Flame atronachs are weak against frost. Get in the mages guild, but weakness to frost from the skingrad mages guild, make a 7 second 100% weakness to frost spell and a separate 20 damage for 2 seconds frost spell.
Hit them with weakness to frost, touch them with the frost damage. Over the 2 seconds hit them with your sword. Maybe get a sword enchant like shock damage (or double down on frost damage, but many undead are immune) to kill them faster.
This might burn through your mana. They first appear at level 9 so this is the hardest part. Some restore mana potions will help. Flax seeds around skingrad and those blue steel mushrooms in the arcane university work.
Enchant your gear with fire shield for defensives. Level up some minor skills like alchemy for a little bit. You gotta catch up on power and then go back to it. Good luck!
Editing to add: destruction skill is important too to get lower costs for spells. Maybe use fortify skill enchants on your gear or just train it up
@@theoldknight85 OK - Solid plan. Agnostic of which enemies I'm facing, my overall concern was whether the game is intended to be so demanding at middle-of-the-slider difficulty. In another video you mentioned that the game can be tedious if you don't manage leveling correctly, so my concern is more that somehow I have reached level 9 ineffectively and am now in for a tedious playthrough. Currently getting my destruction up to 50 and handling some mages guild quests so I can start making spells and enchants. Thanks man.
@ the mid game is the hardest part. After you get 100 destruction and good equipment the game will be much easier. It takes time though, and level 8 to level 9 is quite a power spike with those atronachs.
Clannfears come in 4 levels which can be tricky, but they are weak to shock and by then hopefully you can combine weakness to magic and shock into one spell for a big boost to damage and have a stronger weapon enchant
@@theoldknight85 Thanks man, appreciate it.
Well, it ends here: There’s a bug on the Nvidia GeForce Now instance of the game that makes it so the Bravil mages guild recommendation quest can’t be completed. Unless I can figure out how to activate console commands or find a patch, Oblivion will have to remain in the past :/
More of a channel comment than this video in particular.
I think you should make a video, explaining why exactly bonus magicka is such a powerful race bonus and birth sign bonus. I feel you just gloss over that when you made your birth sign and race tier lists. Because to a new player, it is not immediately apparant why exactly increasing the maximum magicka is so important. Breton + Mage = 100 extra, but that is little compared to the 200 you get from 100 intelligence and the 400+ you get from sigil stone enchants + necromancers amulet. Starting spell costs also seem to be far lower than your maximum magicka, which is true even when you start to dabble into buffing yourself with shield and feather. It seems to the player, that the determining factor in being able to cast many spells during combat relies on magicka regeneration, and not total magicka. To me, total magicka didn't make sense as an end game barrier, due to the aforementioned enchants you can get. Orc mage even seems viable, since they have high willpower.
If you are curious, the reason why max magicka is important early, middle and late. It is because willpower enhancing your magicka regeneration, does so as a function of your maximum magicka. So a Breton with the following stats.
50 + 5 int = 110 magicka + racial + mage sign = 210 Magicka
50+5 willpower = 0,02% * 55 = 1,1% mana regen per second + 0,75% mana regen which is the base = 1,85% mana regen per second
210 / 100 * 1,85 = 3,885 magicka per second.
So if i were to make a spell at 210 magicka, to increase willpower by 100 points for 3 seconds. I would spend 43 magicka casting the spell. Then i would receive 100 * 0.02 = 2% of my maximum mana back every second = 12,6 magicka.
But if my maximum mana was 700 = 100 int, bretton + mage sign + 500 from enchants. The same 100 willpower / 3 seconds would yield a 42 return. So if you stack a bunch of temporary buffs, like was done in the mage showcase, then you can get back more mana than what is spent.
This whole maximum mana, and willpower regen system. Is why Orc is such a poor race.
Because even if you pick a male orc for 50 willpower and 50 endurance, then you pick the lady to get +10 to both and put +5 to both as bonuses. The 65 willpower will only have 60 magicka to work with since male orcs start with 30 intelligence. Which means you only regen 2,05% of your 60 magicka per second = 1,23 magicka per second. Which is less than 1/3 of what the Breton is regenerating per second. Which means you can barely do more than dabble into feather effects as an orc warrior.
So early on, you need a high maximum magicka to even engage with the system as a primary method of dealing damage. Then medium/late the sooner you can get past a certain threshold, the sooner and stronger the feedback loop of custom spells being attached to fortify max magicka and fortify willpower can 'click'. Where casting a really expensive spell can yield a net positive magicka.
Hi Old Knight, can you cover about your opinion on being a vampire in the game? The only thing i dislike about being a vampire in Oblivion so far is just that it makes my character ugly lol
Having recently played a vampire, my ultimate takeaway is that it's ultimately annoying to play. The stat boosts are amazing, but once you hit level 4, half the game shuts off. You can't talk to anyone, so no trading or quests. Talking sun damage isn't the worst, but merchants only trade during the day, so you'll have to take something. When you feed, you get shot back down to level one, so optimally, you'd want to keep at level 1-3 until you need to do some dungeoneering or something that doesn't interact with anyone not hostile for level 4. That's just micromanaging something that's only a bit better.
Do you play with any mods? You seem like you'd be very minimalistic about it if you did, so I was wondering if you think there are any mods out there that you think are essential for you. Maybe a good video topic for you if you wanted.
Random Christmas question: have you or any commenter ever tried levelling Luck to 100 and do you think it's worthwhile? I've watched the attributes tier list but I'm still unsure.
I've never tried it but was thinking of trying to get luck to 100 as quick as possible for my next time playing. Although it means you're missing out on levelling other attributes faster.
I did it once many years ago. It is absolutely not worthwhile.
That is +20 to all skills (without unlocking any perks, and not including acrobatics/athletics). If you picked the thief sign with luck as a favored attribute it would still take until level 36.
By that point the skills you are using will be at 100, and none of the skills affected by luck do anything past 100, so very late game it becomes a worthless stat.
I think you got yourself Porphyric Hemophilia
It drains 5 Fatigue
@@zeratultemplar6604 makes sense, I just got azuras Star. That’s some crazy game knowledge
Hi like your content. What difficulty do you usully play? Change your difficultie during the game?
@@csabacsohany1262 right in the middle. Sometimes I raise it to max difficulty just to see if I can survive, but not typically
Whats your take on actually using conjuration? I find myself jumping between "its free damage" and "this magicka could be used for something more immediate"
@@BananaGatorProds I almost never use it, but I just don’t like the aesthetic of summons and I always hit them on accident. I’ve heard they are really powerful, but even if they were twice as strong I wouldn’t use them, just not for me.
Since starting to watch the channel I've been trying a Bard. Conjuration is quite powerful in conjunction with Illusion spells. I usually frenzy the enemy if there is more than one, then summon a Clanfear for "free damage".
I rarely get involved in fights and let chaos run amok as I run around invisible. Different playstyle. I'm more Arcane Trickster than Witch-hunter Stealth-Archer.
Can I ask for your advice?
I started making a custom paladin class, breton with mage sign, magic specialization, and for my majors i know i want armourer, heavy armor, blade, restoration and destruction. But I'm not sure what i should pick for the rest of my majors, I'm leaning towards illusion probably and maybe alteration but I'm concerned about having all 3 willpower skills. Was also considering maybe athletes instead of alteration just to be able to run faster in the early game. I normally never really mess around with alchemy.
Decision paralysis is keeping me stuck in the sewers at the moment though lol.
@@jakethejax haha there is no choice that can’t be fixed later. I wouldn’t go alteration, you can still get feather pretty quickly with 25 alteration, with a magic spec that really won’t take long.
Athletics is nice for moving faster, sneak can work but leaning into the paladin fantasy id do mercantile or illusion instead. I’d definitely still use a shield and block plenty for good endurance gains. Also no one will judge if you punch a few mud crabs or use trainers for blunt to get better strength bonuses. Just don’t over focus on attributes and it sounds like a fun build.
Even if you don’t normally use alchemy restore fatigue potions make a pretty staggering difference and are absurdly easy to get
@@theoldknight85 Thanks! I decided to go with athletes and illusion for my last 2 majors. 😁
What's "clogs"? 03:09 loot from cro
i mean why it's icon so dead ofc
I used a mod that changed the look and icons of a bunch of things to look cooler, and then it started to crash my game. I turned it off, but some of my icons are still bugged out. I don't even notice it anymore lol, but it looks kinda demonic
@@theoldknight85 reminded me time when i was installing some mod for better skybox. Instead i got purple/pink one and just deleting mod wasn't helping so have to reinstall game.
Pink skies was hard to ignore, so ye... wasn't as lucky.
Comment for the algo nothing clever to say today.