Oblivion 360

[jeffd]

Tell me about Oblivion on the 360. Is it worth it?

I've got it on the PC and played maybe 15 hours or so. I got to Kvatch and stopped; for some reason I just wasn't feeling it. I think at the time I just didn't feel like I had the time or energy to dedicate to such a huge undertaking.

I kind of want to give it another shot, and I'm tempted to get it on my 360. Why? Well, while it's not quite as pretty the idea of sitting back and just playing it on the TV is kind of appealing. Plus, Achievements. :D

The drawbacks? No mods, so I'll have to deal with the leveled list bullshit.

So should I do this? Or am I just setting myself up for disappointment? If I do go through this route, any advice on how to avoid leveled list inspired wackiness?

[Marcus]

Honestly for me it depends on how much it is. I have the PC version and I do want the 360 version I am just not willing to pay 39.99 for it. I'll be very tempted to get it once it hits 19.99 though which honestly should be soon.

[zx81-Amd64]

for the 360 it's one of your 'must have' games imho. But if your used to PC rpg's like Morrowind/Ultima/Baldurs gate etc - it is a pretty 'lite' experience imho.

[Chris Nahr]

For all I know Oblivion on the 360 is exactly the same game as on the PC, including auto-leveled monsters. So I'm not sure why you even contemplate that version since you already didn't like the PC version. Get a Wii or Gamecube and play Zelda instead.

[Quitch]

Plus you can MOD the PC version to change things you don't like.

[metta]

I put hundreds of hours into the PC version, and just picked up the 360 a few weeks ago, and I prefer playing Oblivion on the 360.

The graphics are nicer (and pretty faces easier to make, for some reason), the draw distance deeper, and the control schema much easier: whacking the D pad for quickslots is a snap, when compared with hunting for a number key on the PC. Best of all: you get to sit on your couch/bean bag/dog.

[Qenan]

Pluses: I think it was designed more for the 360 than the PC.
Minuses: No mods, long loading times.

[Quitch]

I put hundreds of hours into the PC version, and just picked up the 360 a few weeks ago, and I prefer playing Oblivion on the 360.

The graphics are nicer (and pretty faces easier to make, for some reason), the draw distance deeper, and the control schema much easier: whacking the D pad for quickslots is a snap, when compared with hunting for a number key on the PC. Best of all: you get to sit on your couch/bean bag/dog.

Well graphics will depend on your PC, and the PC is capable of putting out better graphics, especially as you can tweaky the ini values.

There's also no reason you cannot hook up a PC to a TV.

[metta]

Well graphics will depend on your PC, and the PC is capable of putting out better graphics, especially as you can tweaky the ini values.

There's also no reason you cannot hook up a PC to a TV.

Yeah, fair enough. The PC can put out better graphics, in all their subjective glory. For me, the eye candy to stutter ratio was much better on the 360. On the 360 there is no chug and it looks amazing; on the PC I had to dial back the graphics to make it playable, on a P4 3.4 w/2GB RAM :p

This is one of the main reasons we gave away our two PC boxes this winter. We were sick of maintaining them and wanted a gaming experience more like the DS gives us: put the disc in and you're off to the races.

[Quitch]

Well, to be honest, what maintaince is there with a PC? You buy PC, you buy game, disc goes in, game auto-installs, you play game and graphic settings are auto-detected for you.

End of story.

It's not quite console level yet, but hell, it's not really far off. We just need a better system for updating graphics drivers.

[Qenan]

There's still a certain amount of troubleshooting on the PC. My wife installed something to my daughter's PC recently and it didn't work. The error message wasn't informative. I had to go digging through the event logs and infer that it required a different version of Flash.

I never have to do anything like this for my consoles.

[metta]

Well, to be honest, what maintaince is there with a PC? You buy PC, you buy game, disc goes in, game auto-installs, you play game and graphic settings are auto-detected for you.

End of story.



:D Thanks for the laugh, mate. How long have you been a Windows user?

[Dave Long]

I've owned both and the 360 version is gone while I still own and tinker with the PC game. Make of that what you will...

[WarrenM]

:D Thanks for the laugh, mate. How long have you been a Windows user?
Yeah, that seems a little idealized. PC gaming almost always requires me to spend 20 minutes searching the internet for patches, tweaks and INI changes so I can play the game at a decent frame rate.

[jeffd]

I didn't not like the PC version, I really enjoyed it. I just wasn't in the mood at the time - I didn't have a bajillion hours to commit to the game. Now I do!

I went ahead and picked up the 360 version. Achievements here I come!

[peterb]

To me, the most significant difference between Oblivion on the PC and the 360 is that you can play the 360 version from your couch.

This means the 360 version is about 379 times better. At least for me.

You do miss out on various user-created mods and content. But since I'm not willing to sit at my desk for 4 hour stretches to experience said content, that's sort of moot.

I haven't tried Oblivion on a laptop (I should see how the MacBook Pro handles it in Windows). If someone can reassure me that it runs well that might make it tolerable to me, because I could then play on the couch.

(I am intentionally disregarding the "But wait! You could reorganize and rewire your entire house and hook the PC up to the big screen TV!" argument as being too specious to deserve serious attention.)

[RobotPants]

Well graphics will depend on your PC, and the PC is capable of putting out better graphics, especially as you can tweaky the ini values.

There's also no reason you cannot hook up a PC to a TV.

There are plenty of reasons why someone wouldn't want to hook their PC up to their TV, though.

[Marcus]

I'd say its 359 times better.

[jeffd]

Well, I got it. So far I'm liking it a LOT more - the controls are WAY better on the 360 for some reason. I don't know what it is, maybe I've just been fully converted to console FPS controls but I'm loving it. Plus I can lay back away from the screen and enjoy the game.

So for my guy, I didn't put ANY of my commonly used skills (long blade, light armor, sneak, security, destruction) as a major skill; how should I handle leveling? SHould I just bang out 10 ranks of armorcraft every once in a while? Or am I going to end up being a level 1 god?

[Desslock]

The graphics are nicer (and pretty faces easier to make, for some reason), the draw distance deeper, .

It's definitely true that the 360 version looks better than a PC on a PC that's 18 months old or older, but on a new high-end PC, Oblivion looks a LOT better on the PC. I like the 360 version and was playing it a fair amount since it played better than it did on my PC, but after recently upgrading my PC so that I can play with every graphic option enabled at 1920x1200...I can't believe how much better Oblivion on the PC looks. It's so nice not to have grass popping up a few feet in front of you, heh.

[Damien Neil]

So for my guy, I didn't put ANY of my commonly used skills (long blade, light armor, sneak, security, destruction) as a major skill; how should I handle leveling? SHould I just bang out 10 ranks of armorcraft every once in a while? Or am I going to end up being a level 1 god?

I don't recommend doing this. You're going to end up being a level 1 god, facing level 1 opposition. You can fight this by leveling up deliberately, but that's just a hassle. You're better off putting your common skills as majors and fixing any balance problems (which probably won't occur) with the difficulty slider. Just make sure that you go to Kvatch as quickly as possible.

(Man, I wish Bethesda would get themselves a decent character advancement system.)

[zx81-Amd64]

Well, I got it. So far I'm liking it a LOT more - the controls are WAY better on the 360 for some reason. I don't know what it is, maybe I've just been fully converted to console FPS controls but I'm loving it. Plus I can lay back away from the screen and enjoy the game.

It WAS designed for the 360 first and formost - the PC interface/menus/various crippled info/items screens tells the story.

Still the free user mods(they are still free right?) for the PC is what enabled me to enjoy the game for the 50 odd hours i put into it. If i had been stuck with vanilla Oblivion, i dont think it would have lasted as long before frustration set in.

[makore]

So for my guy, I didn't put ANY of my commonly used skills (long blade, light armor, sneak, security, destruction) as a major skill; how should I handle leveling? SHould I just bang out 10 ranks of armorcraft every once in a while? Or am I going to end up being a level 1 god?

I am about 2/3 done with Oblivion 360 and did exactly as you described above. When I started the character, I made it a decision to level as often as possible while keeping the +5 attribute gains. Generally that meant I would go to a new town, do all the quests there, clear any reasonably close by ruins, then practice skills until I could level up before moving on to the next town. I'm now level 13 and almost done with the mage and assassin guilds. I have destruction, conjuration, illusion, intelligence and wisdom maxed. Now I'm leveling as much as I like as long as I get +5 str and +5 end gains each time.

[Marcus]

I am about 2/3 done with Oblivion 360 and did exactly as you described above. When I started the character, I made it a decision to level as often as possible while keeping the +5 attribute gains. Generally that meant I would go to a new town, do all the quests there, clear any reasonably close by ruins, then practice skills until I could level up before moving on to the next town. I'm now level 13 and almost done with the mage and assassin guilds. I have destruction, conjuration, illusion, intelligence and wisdom maxed. Now I'm leveling as much as I like as long as I get +5 str and +5 end gains each time.

Is this a good way to go? I just started Oblivion on the 360 ( love it so far ) and I might start over if this is a better way to go.

[Xaroc]

Oblivion is a great experience on the 360. I preferred the drop and go gameplay to the what mods should I install to make my graphics look optimal etc. song and dance.

[Marcus]

what mods should I install to make my graphics look optimal etc. song and dance.

Yeah thats pretty much what pushed me over the edge.

[delirium]

I am about 2/3 done with Oblivion 360 and did exactly as you described above. When I started the character, I made it a decision to level as often as possible while keeping the +5 attribute gains. Generally that meant I would go to a new town, do all the quests there, clear any reasonably close by ruins, then practice skills until I could level up before moving on to the next town. I'm now level 13 and almost done with the mage and assassin guilds. I have destruction, conjuration, illusion, intelligence and wisdom maxed. Now I'm leveling as much as I like as long as I get +5 str and +5 end gains each time.

Is there a way to find out how much you'll gain on your stats before you level up, other than just trying to remember what skills leveled? I'm planning on doing something like this with my newest character.

[Moore]

I'm trying my damnedest to not level until after the MQ on my 360 oblivion playthrough. I think I'm up to L3 accidentally right now..

[Alan Au]

Is there a way to find out how much you'll gain on your stats before you level up, other than just trying to remember what skills leveled? I'm planning on doing something like this with my newest character.
I write down the numbers every time I level up.

Also: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Efficient_Leveling

- Alan

[extarbags]

I'm trying my damnedest to not level until after the MQ on my 360 oblivion playthrough. I think I'm up to L3 accidentally right now..

You're really better off just ignoring the whole levelled content thing and playing it as you would any other RPG. It's not really that big a deal.

[Moore]

You're really better off just ignoring the whole levelled content thing and playing it as you would any other RPG. It's not really that big a deal.

I've played it before, it is a big deal to me. My 360 playthroughs are a bit goofy intentionally, my pc playthroughs are more fun. I'm just going through it on 360 for achievements and couch-time, really.

Not levelling, incidentally, doesnt seem to affect the game at all, but so far I dont see daedric on hobo bandits, so I'm happy.

[Gaming-Module]

You're really better off just ignoring the whole levelled content thing and playing it as you would any other RPG. It's not really that big a deal.

I did this with my first character, a nightblade. It was a disaster. At level 18 I was getting trounced by creatures from the Oblivion realm with absolutely no hopes of turning things around - even a lone spider daedra was a resource draining struggle to the death.

My line of thought was that I would allow my character to progress "naturally," not paying any attention to my build and just going with whatever stat boosts looked good at each levelup screen.

I think this is more an issue with the pre-planned agility based characters than it is melee and magic oriented classes. Classes like thief, scout and nightblade have, by far, the most non-combat oriented major skills in the game.

This wasn't such an issue in Morrowind, because you could actually use your thieving ability to obtain items and weapons far beyond the station of a similarly leveled warrior or mage, thus bringing to bear the fruits of those non-combat skills, but with Oblivion's scaling there is no way to really make skills like speechcraft, mercantile, lockpicking, etc give you an edge in battle. You simply can't find a ebony sword or elven bow until a certain level, at which point that will be the standard level of equipment for everybody across the board.

That said, I love Oblivion, especially on the 360.

Here's hoping Two Worlds turns out to be an awesome alternative. It will have multiplayer, factions that actually oppose eachother and have some consequences and no scaling, from what I hear.

[tromik]

Goddamn, did you guys know there are like eight pages of Oblivion threads? I guess I was oblivious to them. Get it? Right? Oblivion? Oblivious? See what I did there?

So I've been rocketing through BG2 lately, building up a character for ToB, and I felt like playing a more recent RPG. I went to Bestbuy to grab a copy of Oblivion. I wasn't too concerned with which version, I finally have a decent PC, and I assumed the PC version would be cheaper. On the other hand, I kinda prefer playing 360 games now.

To my surprise the 360 version was cheaper - way cheaper. The PC version of Oblivion was $69.99, and the expansions were $14.99 each, while the GOTY edition (with the exapnsions) for the 360 was $59.99. WTF? Usually PC games are $20-$30 cheaper. Anyway, I'm happy enough walking out of the store with the 360 copy.

I'm about eight hours in now, and I'm loving it, but I'm noticing all sorts of bugs and stuff. For one, riding a horse through the overworld has some really bad framerate issues. It looks a bit choppy, and everything will kind of seize for a second at points as the draw distance catches up.

*SPOILER ?*
I was traveling with Martin and Jauffre, and when I'd exit a city, Jauffre would sometimes turn invisible. I couldn't see him, but I could speak with him, and when he was on his horse it would lock into one animation frame and slide around.

What the hell? How haven't things like these been fixed yet?

[bago]

Are you connected to Live?

[tromik]

Are you connected to Live?
Yes? I downloaded a patch when I started it up for the first time, if that's what you mean.

[Rimbo]

I never noticed any of those things. Well, framerate issues, yes. But none of the rest.

[tromik]

I never noticed any of those things. Well, framerate issues, yes. But none of the rest.
I already got them to their destination, but if I do any other babysitting quests I'll make sure to take a picture.

Also, a bunch of times, while they were following me they would just stop for no reason. Just seems like things like that could be fixed by now.

[malkav11]

Canadian prices must be really weird. The GOTY PC version hereabouts is $50, I believe (maybe $40), and a basic Oblivion box would only set you back 10-20 bucks.

[tromik]

Canadian prices must be really weird. The GOTY PC version hereabouts is $50, I believe (maybe $40), and a basic Oblivion box would only set you back 10-20 bucks.
I'm guessing it's just BestBuy not updating the prices of their PC games. EB sold it cheaper but didn't have any in stock.

Like I said, PC games are generally $20-$30 cheaper.

[BDGE]

Unless you tend to play as a thief-esque character, you really needn't concern too much over the whole leveling metagame. Trying to wrangle 5x multipliers out of specific categories is a tedious affair that turns the game into a very ugly experience that saps away much of what Oblivion is designed to be.

Just play and let the cards fall as they please.

[Bahimiron]

Who could have guessed this thread would have played out the way it did?

Oh. Everyone? Okay. Never mind, then.

[Rock8man]

Unless you tend to play as a thief-esque character, you really needn't concern too much over the whole leveling metagame. Trying to wrangle 5x multipliers out of specific categories is a tedious affair that turns the game into a very ugly experience that saps away much of what Oblivion is designed to be.

Just play and let the cards fall as they please.

Nice. Someone with some sanity when it comes to Oblivion. Plus a friend of mine even played as a Thief-type character through the game without needing "game the system" as it were. And it worked out fine for him once he figured out he had to really use Alchemy (one of his major skills that he kept inadvertently leveling all the time) to defeat some of the tougher monsters/enemies and in order to stay alive. The game definitely has peaks and valleys of difficulties (until you get above level 25, when its one big valley, and a little too easy), but there's no need to game the system to get the most enjoyment out of it.

[Rock8man]

Tromik: Sorry to hear about your bugs. I didn't run into anything like that in the game. However, the slowdown when you're on a horse is ridiculous in the game. Sometimes I really think they should have taken horse-riding out of the game in the 360 version. Obviously they couldn't make the streaming/loading of the world not work fast enough when you're on a horse, so there's "loading pauses" every few seconds when you're on a horse.

On the other hand, I chose not to ride a horse when immersion was more important to me, but at other times, speed was more important, so I rode to my destinations on black horses (the fastest in the game). So in the end, I'm glad they left horses in the game.

[Bahimiron]

I liked Oblivion okay, but playing it reminded me of how much retarded fun I had in Morrowind. The cap on athletics is crap. By the time I was done with Morrowind, my character could leap from one side of Balmora to the other without magic. With magic, he could cross continents. CONTINENTS, I TELLS YA!

Goddammit, game makers. When will you realize that 'super jumps' = 'quality game'. Look at Crackdown. No one cares about the shooting parts or the driving parts. Everyone loves the super jumps.

Someone should make a game called Super Jumps.

[Jason Becker]

Goddammit, game makers. When will you realize that 'super jumps' = 'quality game'. Look at Crackdown. No one cares about the shooting parts or the driving parts. Everyone loves the super jumps.

Someone should make a game called Super Jumps.

Play Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

[tromik]

Tromik: Sorry to hear about your bugs. I didn't run into anything like that in the game. However, the slowdown when you're on a horse is ridiculous in the game. Sometimes I really think they should have taken horse-riding out of the game in the 360 version. Obviously they couldn't make the streaming/loading of the world not work fast enough when you're on a horse, so there's "loading pauses" every few seconds when you're on a horse.

On the other hand, I chose not to ride a horse when immersion was more important to me, but at other times, speed was more important, so I rode to my destinations on black horses (the fastest in the game). So in the end, I'm glad they left horses in the game.
Yea, making the ride to Kvatch and seeing the fortress walls at the top of the mountain was awesome. Then you started to get closer, and the ground is chared and the planetlife is dead. And then of course, you see the Oblivion gate, and by this time the sky is dark. That stuff is really cool.

BTW - I remember this game was one of the first games people started clearing the cache for. What was that for, and is it still necessary?

[Bahimiron]

Play Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

I did!

The super jumps were enough to make me forgive the parts where the developers were like 'dang, super jumps are for homogays, let's stick in some punishing boss fights that will make people cry'.

[Desslock]

Things turning invisible in 360 games is generally a sign that the cache needs to be cleared on the HD - zap it and it should solve that problem

[Xaroc]

Things turning invisible in 360 games is generally a sign that the cache needs to be cleared on the HD - zap it and it should solve that problem

I recall to do that you just had to hold down A while the game was loading. I pretty much did this every time I played.

[BlueJackalope]

I did!

The super jumps were enough to make me forgive the parts where the developers were like 'dang, super jumps are for homogays, let's stick in some punishing boss fights that will make people cry'.


Aren't these guys doing the suuuper powered protagonist game Prototype? I hope they got over their hatred of we superjump loving homogays, who love H:UD.

[Rimbo]

Nice. Someone with some sanity when it comes to Oblivion. Plus a friend of mine even played as a Thief-type character through the game without needing "game the system" as it were. And it worked out fine for him once he figured out he had to really use Alchemy (one of his major skills that he kept inadvertently leveling all the time) to defeat some of the tougher monsters/enemies and in order to stay alive. The game definitely has peaks and valleys of difficulties (until you get above level 25, when its one big valley, and a little too easy), but there's no need to game the system to get the most enjoyment out of it.

I'm playing as a thief/assassin, and at one point I had to do some power leveling to deal with some stats that were lagging vs. my opponents... a lot of leveling-up due to non-combat skills (esp. Sneak) did that. Fortunately, a couple of levels of this was all I needed.

[Bahimiron]

Aren't these guys doing the suuuper powered protagonist game Prototype? I hope they got over their hatred of we superjump loving homogays, who love H:UD.

Yes, they are. The footage shared on here a while back has me salivating. There's stuff clearly wrong with it, but they got superjumps so I am there!

[tromik]

I recall to do that you just had to hold down A while the game was loading. I pretty much did this every time I played.
Yea, you can do that or go in through the system blade. Either way works. I'll clear it tonight and see if it makes a noticable difference.

[Aeon221]

Nice. Someone with some sanity when it comes to Oblivion. Plus a friend of mine even played as a Thief-type character through the game without needing "game the system" as it were. And it worked out fine for him once he figured out he had to really use Alchemy (one of his major skills that he kept inadvertently leveling all the time) to defeat some of the tougher monsters/enemies and in order to stay alive. The game definitely has peaks and valleys of difficulties (until you get above level 25, when its one big valley, and a little too easy), but there's no need to game the system to get the most enjoyment out of it.

Alchemy is so effin borked powerful that it blows my mind. Not enough mana to do something? Whatever, chug some potions to pump your brains and mana and it's all good. Need more damage? Monsters beating the shit out of you? Paralysis poison on your dagger, damage over time poison on your sword, swap between em to keep his ass still and hurting. Or just damage his strength down to zero and walk right on past his encumbered butt.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Potions

Just read through that for a bit if you're wondering what, exactly, you can do to break the game with alchemy.

edit: Oh, and don't forget that those are just the basic effects. You can also make a single poison with multiple effects, like, say, damage strength, endurance, and intelligence. Turn any monster into a retarded, 1hp, immobile object with just one poison!

[malkav11]

I liked Oblivion okay, but playing it reminded me of how much retarded fun I had in Morrowind. The cap on athletics is crap. By the time I was done with Morrowind, my character could leap from one side of Balmora to the other without magic. With magic, he could cross continents. CONTINENTS, I TELLS YA!


Better yet, Scrolls of Icarian Flight.

[Rod Humble]

Does anyone know what the best path to getting all the 360 DLC is? I just have the vanilla base game right now.

I am confused when reading the reviews, some seem to imply "the shivering Isles" comes with the "knights of the nine" and the player castle some dont. Anyone know what comes with what on the 360 when buying digitally only?

Thanks!

Rod

[awdougherty]

I am one of those who is playing a thiefy-stealth-bow guy and the game has had some really hard parts. I did not run straight to Kvatch and that nearly broke me. Now I'm level 24, got me some 100 stealth and chameleon action going and the backstab is now my friend. Still takes a million arrows to kill stuff in a normal fight, but I can usually get a few stealth shots in the wilderness and remain completely hidden in dungeons. I have finally become the ninja badass I wanted to be, never tweaked the difficulty slider, but definitely struggled in places.

[Aeon221]

I am one of those who is playing a thiefy-stealth-bow guy and the game has had some really hard parts. I did not run straight to Kvatch and that nearly broke me. Now I'm level 24, got me some 100 stealth and chameleon action going and the backstab is now my friend. Still takes a million arrows to kill stuff in a normal fight, but I can usually get a few stealth shots in the wilderness and remain completely hidden in dungeons. I have finally become the ninja badass I wanted to be, never tweaked the difficulty slider, but definitely struggled in places.

Hows your alchemy?

[awdougherty]

weak, but I've started building it up and it has helped.

[bago]

get some good alchemy and enchants going and that 3X or 6x multiplier REALLY hurts.

[Omniscia]

I picked up a used copy with that 25% off GameStop coupon. So far, I'm pleasantly surprised how well it works on the 360. Granted, it looks a bit nicer on the PC, and the mouse is still preferable for aiming with the bow, but it plays great and the 5.1 sound is a marked improvement over my plain, old, stereo headphones.

It also seems to be quite a bit darker, in the dungeons, than on the PC, so I'm actually having to use torches now. Visibility was rarely, if ever, an issue, but now it's a matter of life and death.

[Islanti]

Does anyone know what the best path to getting all the 360 DLC is? I just have the vanilla base game right now.

I am confused when reading the reviews, some seem to imply "the shivering Isles" comes with the "knights of the nine" and the player castle some dont. Anyone know what comes with what on the 360 when buying digitally only?

Thanks!

RodI believe those items were only included in the retail re-packaging which included Shivering Isles on the disc.

[Rock8man]

I am one of those who is playing a thiefy-stealth-bow guy and the game has had some really hard parts. I did not run straight to Kvatch and that nearly broke me. Now I'm level 24, got me some 100 stealth and chameleon action going and the backstab is now my friend. Still takes a million arrows to kill stuff in a normal fight, but I can usually get a few stealth shots in the wilderness and remain completely hidden in dungeons. I have finally become the ninja badass I wanted to be, never tweaked the difficulty slider, but definitely struggled in places.

I have to admit, that when I'm talking about my friends trying all kinds of different characters, thieves, magic users, hand-to-hand fighters, sword fighters, etc. The one thing I've never seen tried in the game is bow use. Usually in my group, I'm the guy who picks the bow-and-arrow users in RPGs. And I disliked the bow and arrow so much in Morrowind, I didn't even want to try it in Oblivion, so I have no idea how well balanced the game as a bow-user.

[Bahimiron]

How does Hand to Hand work? I found it to be even more useless in Oblivion than it was in Morrowind. Is there a trick to it, or did I give up too early?

[Rimbo]

I have to admit, that when I'm talking about my friends trying all kinds of different characters, thieves, magic users, hand-to-hand fighters, sword fighters, etc. The one thing I've never seen tried in the game is bow use. Usually in my group, I'm the guy who picks the bow-and-arrow users in RPGs. And I disliked the bow and arrow so much in Morrowind, I didn't even want to try it in Oblivion, so I have no idea how well balanced the game as a bow-user.

I'm playing as an archer/thief/assassin kind of guy, and when Sneak hits 100 and you get trained up to master level and the best bow, you can pretty darned near kill everything in one shot. It really reminds me a lot of the gameplay in Thief, except that with Sneak at that level, you don't have to worry too much about being spotted.

[forgeforsaken]

I have to admit, that when I'm talking about my friends trying all kinds of different characters, thieves, magic users, hand-to-hand fighters, sword fighters, etc. The one thing I've never seen tried in the game is bow use. Usually in my group, I'm the guy who picks the bow-and-arrow users in RPGs. And I disliked the bow and arrow so much in Morrowind, I didn't even want to try it in Oblivion, so I have no idea how well balanced the game as a bow-user.

My main character was bow primary. Finished the game with him and didn't have too much of a problem. I did use swords too though on occasion. Stealthed bow does a nice amount of damage. Also once you max bow, which takes a while, you get a chance for knockdown so you can totally own enemies at distance.

[Desslock]

How does Hand to Hand work? I found it to be even more useless in Oblivion than it was in Morrowind. Is there a trick to it, or did I give up too early?

Hand-to-hand is pretty useless. It never gets very exciting or compensates for the additional magical effects (and poisons) you can get from weapons/shields.

In terms of downloadable content: the PS3 version of Oblivion came with Knights of the Nine, but on the 360 they're all separate items -- i.e. you need to download Knights of the Nine, the Shivering Isles expansion, and any of the other little content additions you might want (Mehrunes Razor's dungeon is the only other one with significant additional gameplay)

[Rod Humble]

In terms of downloadable content: the PS3 version of Oblivion came with Knights of the Nine, but on the 360 they're all separate items -- i.e. you need to download Knights of the Nine, the Shivering Isles expansion, and any of the other little content additions you might want (Mehrunes Razor's dungeon is the only other one with significant additional gameplay)

Thanks! (and you Islanti ) Just wanted to make sure I wasnt re buying anything. I am really enjoying the game again. There are so many little touches in the quest design of the game that are simply wonderful. I also think its fantastic you can ignore the main quest line (which I do) and just enter the world and do your own thing. Great design there.

[ElGuapo]

The archery in Oblivion is tits. It really is. Standing by some cliff and shooting an arrow down at an ogre, one shot-ing him while hidden and getting a sneak attack, thus killing him and watching him tumble over the side, is awesome.

I love shooting at things far way and missing. Missing lets you know you have work to do. You readjust your aim and let fly again. Smack! I love everything about archery in Oblivion. I love that missed arrows stick into things. I love that arrows stick (and stay) in bodies. I love that arrows from opponents stay in you (and sometimes I finish a fight looking like a pincushion). I love gathering missed arrows after a fight. I like enchanting arrows (this is a mod, I think). I like shooting normal arrows and having a reserve of arrows for magic enemies like Wraiths and Will-O-Wisps. I really love the perks that mastering archery brings. Knock down, and especially paralyze.

It could only be improved with location based damage.

[BlueJackalope]

The archery in Oblivion is tits. It really is. Standing by some cliff and shooting an arrow down at an ogre, one shot-ing him while hidden and getting a sneak attack, thus killing him and watching him tumble over the side, is awesome.

I love shooting at things far way and missing. Missing lets you know you have work to do. You readjust your aim and let fly again. Smack! I love everything about archery in Oblivion. I love that missed arrows stick into things. I love that arrows stick (and stay) in bodies. I love that arrows from opponents stay in you (and sometimes I finish a fight looking like a pincushion). I love gathering missed arrows after a fight. I like enchanting arrows (this is a mod, I think). I like shooting normal arrows and having a reserve of arrows for magic enemies like Wraiths and Will-O-Wisps. I really love the perks that mastering archery brings. Knock down, and especially paralyze.

It could only be improved with location based damage.

I've always ignored the archery, seemed to slow and didn't do enough damage, but you've opened my eye. Time to start plugging sand crabs and rats.

[BDGE]

The archery in Oblivion is tits. It really is. Standing by some cliff and shooting an arrow down at an ogre, one shot-ing him while hidden and getting a sneak attack, thus killing him and watching him tumble over the side, is awesome.

I love shooting at things far way and missing. Missing lets you know you have work to do. You readjust your aim and let fly again. Smack! I love everything about archery in Oblivion. I love that missed arrows stick into things. I love that arrows stick (and stay) in bodies. I love that arrows from opponents stay in you (and sometimes I finish a fight looking like a pincushion). I love gathering missed arrows after a fight. I like enchanting arrows (this is a mod, I think). I like shooting normal arrows and having a reserve of arrows for magic enemies like Wraiths and Will-O-Wisps. I really love the perks that mastering archery brings. Knock down, and especially paralyze.

It could only be improved with location based damage.

I love the archery in oblivion as well, but I never liked that you only get a meager 3x boost for stealth hits compared to the 6x for melee. Also, once I hit the high levels, monsters would take an extreme amount of punishment before being felled(Doing Kvatch at 20+ required an entire quiver of the best arrows to down a single spider bitch thing), really aggravated me. I also powerleveled totally the wrong way, so its my fault for not following the backwards method of preparation the game secretly expects of you.

I did love skulking through dungeons entirely cloaked in shadows and stalking my prey very deliberately. Gave a total Thief vibe.

[ElGuapo]

I've always ignored the archery, seemed to slow and didn't do enough damage, but you've opened my eye. Time to start plugging sand crabs and rats.

Yeah the absolute key are those stealth kills. If you are on PC there are some good mods as well, that increase the damage and quickness of arrows a bit.

[Desslock]

To really make archery deadly, have two bows, one with max electrical damage (which you'll use against most opponents), and one with fire damage (to use solely against undead and Storm Atronachs) - there's no real point in a cold damage one - and make a bunch of poisons that inflict paralysis, health damage, and electrical or fire damage.

Nothing survives that onslaught for long.

[ElGuapo]

Man, I completely forgot you could apply poisons to arrows. That's a good trick, but gets kind of heavy I would think. I never really explored an Alchemist Archer. Do you get some kind of free/max attack on paralyzed foes?

[DustyTheHamster]

Paralyzed foes slump over so you can plug em with arrows till they get back up onto their feet. I generally keep a staff of paralyz with me weighs 10 but has quite a few charges, if it get's close I give it a shot then pin cushion it while it falls down and get's back up. You could also take the time to run away.

[awdougherty]

Love archery, but I admit that a straight up fight involves me running like mad while shooting until the thing dies. But Stealth really makes it cool with the triple damage and knockdown especially. Really gives you that badass feeling, which El Guapo described well. I'll also add in a dungeon, which some have some huge rooms, you zoom in, see the 5 or 6 thieves walking around. Wait until one separates, use both triggers to zoom, and snipe the straggler. One shot and he's down with no one else alerted. Move in a little closer, position for the next straggler, repeat. It's like being the villain in your own horror movie, but you're also a ninja. Add to that a high athletics skill, jump to perches you couldn't before, enjoy.

It can be rough getting all the skills up there, but once they are, it's really fun. Let me add that one of the great additions to the series is the perks that come with certain skill levels. I don't remember them from Morrowind but I never got that far into it.

[TheSmokingManX]

This thread is tempting me to pick up the PC version even though I already invested over 150 hours into Oblivion and Shivering Isles on 360 when they both came out.

[Papageno]

There are just so many advantages to the PC version in terms of mods that tweak this and that that I can't imagine playing on the 360.

[Desslock]

I have zero interest in Mods, and still much prefer the PC version, just because it looks exponentially better than the 360 version, particularly when it comes to view distance, etc.

That said, I still managed to put 300 hours into Oblivion 360 and liked it a lot.

[Aeon221]

If you don't mix your herbs, they generally weigh very little. Just wait til you need something and then mix a pot. Alternatively, download one of any number of infinite space bags and put your herbs in there. I fucking hate buggering about with inventory management, so I always break that as soon as possible. I mean, my dude could easily go back to town, hire some donkeys, and stuff all the loot in bags that they carry. I'm just abstracting out that part.

If you aren't using poisons on your bows, you're gonna do a lot more running around and a lot less killing. Paralyze, drain endurance, shoot shoot shoot.

[Rimbo]

Man, I completely forgot you could apply poisons to arrows. That's a good trick, but gets kind of heavy I would think. I never really explored an Alchemist Archer. Do you get some kind of free/max attack on paralyzed foes?

The alchemist archer is called an "assassin," and it's a default class. Paralyzed foes are just really easy targets, is all, and they can't attack back. Which is nice.

The trick to using poisons is to make a bunch that are identical, and then hotkey it to the d-pad. On the 360, then, you just push the right direction on the d-pad before each shot.

Also, there's this bow that you can find in Oblivion... Hatreds Soul (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Hatreds_Soul#Hatreds_Soul). I found it at a high level so I only get about 15 shots with it before it needs a recharge. But with the bonus added from being a master sneak (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Sneak#Mastery_Perks) and the aforementioned poisons, that's pretty much 15 kills, as long as I don't miss.

[Rimbo]

If you don't mix your herbs, they generally weigh very little. Just wait til you need something and then mix a pot. Alternatively, download one of any number of infinite space bags and put your herbs in there. I fucking hate buggering about with inventory management, so I always break that as soon as possible. I mean, my dude could easily go back to town, hire some donkeys, and stuff all the loot in bags that they carry. I'm just abstracting out that part.

If you aren't using poisons on your bows, you're gonna do a lot more running around and a lot less killing. Paralyze, drain endurance, shoot shoot shoot.

That's odd -- in my experience, the finished potions weigh much less than the individual reagents. Numerous times I've been encumbered (my Str is low), and a quick mix of some random potions suddenly freed up enough space to be able to pick up whatever I needed.

[malkav11]

FYI, combined potions weigh less than the ingredients that went into them. So carrying around a pile of ingredients is actually exactly what you don't want to do.

[flyinj]

Ok, so, I got back to playing my thief class who is currently completing Dark Brotherhood quests.

I have a quest where I have to kill a guy in the Imperial City. I've waited for him to walk around the city and pickpocketed his house key off him. I then wait for him to go to sleep, sneak into his house past his butler and into his bedroom. Then I attack him from sneak while he's sleeping, doing 6x damage. This takes him down to about 1/6th health. I hit him again and he's dead.

I then sneak back out of the house, only to be immediately arrested by a guard. How the hell did the guard know I killed the guy? Is there something I'm missing here?

[Rimbo]

Ok, so, I got back to playing my thief class who is currently completing Dark Brotherhood quests.

I have a quest where I have to kill a guy in the Imperial City. I've waited for him to walk around the city and pickpocketed his house key off him. I then wait for him to go to sleep, sneak into his house past his butler and into his bedroom. Then I attack him from sneak while he's sleeping, doing 6x damage. This takes him down to about 1/6th health. I hit him again and he's dead.

I then sneak back out of the house, only to be immediately arrested by a guard. How the hell did the guard know I killed the guy? Is there something I'm missing here?

Nope. Did he holler when you killed him? The guards "hear" it from a mile away, especially in Imperial City. You can try killing him with a poisoned apple. What I did was that I'd already completed the Thieves Guild quest, which gives you a certain item useful for such activities. Or, when the guard comes up, you can choose to pay off your bounty, or flee and pay off your bounty with a Thieves' Guild member or something.

[Alan Au]

FYI, combined potions weigh less than the ingredients that went into them. So carrying around a pile of ingredients is actually exactly what you don't want to do.It depends on the ingredients. Seeds and leaves are light, vegetables are heavy, etc.

Archery is fun, but I found it tricky having to scrounge for arrows all the time. That and arrows are heavy when you start toting around a couple hundred of them.

- Alan

[malkav11]

It depends on the ingredients. Seeds and leaves are light, vegetables are heavy, etc.

The final weight will depend on the ingredients, but a potion is *always* lighter than the ingredients that went into it (absent a glitch described here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Alchemy#Weight, which I suspect has been fixed in a fan patch on PC.). So unless you're saving the ingredients to make a potion that you can't currently make, your inventory space is better served by mixing them into potions.

[flyinj]

Nope. Did he holler when you killed him? The guards "hear" it from a mile away, especially in Imperial City. You can try killing him with a poisoned apple. What I did was that I'd already completed the Thieves Guild quest, which gives you a certain item useful for such activities. Or, when the guard comes up, you can choose to pay off your bounty, or flee and pay off your bounty with a Thieves' Guild member or something.

How do you poison an apple? Or get a poisoned apple? And how do you get him to eat it?

[malkav11]

Poisoned apples are available from the Dark Brotherhood HQ (or there's an equivalent - chokeberries - in the Vile Lair DLC.). As to how you get someone to eat one - pickpocket them, steal anything edible, and plant the apple in their inventory. They sooner or later will eat it, you just have to be patient. (I think they may eventually eat it even if you don't deplete their other options, but it'd definitely take longer.)

I don't remember any straight up, unscripted "kill someone" quests after the introductory one, at least not for a long time. Are you sure they haven't provided some special scripted execution method?

[flyinj]

Poisoned apples are available from the Dark Brotherhood HQ (or there's an equivalent - chokeberries - in the Vile Lair DLC.). As to how you get someone to eat one - pickpocket them, steal anything edible, and plant the apple in their inventory. They sooner or later will eat it, you just have to be patient. (I think they may eventually eat it even if you don't deplete their other options, but it'd definitely take longer.)

I don't remember any straight up, unscripted "kill someone" quests after the introductory one, at least not for a long time. Are you sure they haven't provided some special scripted execution method?

Nope. It's a "gift list" for the entire family. The quest is just "follow the list and kill everyone on it".

[Aeon221]

You might be able to get some from this guy (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Shady_Sam), but I haven't played in so long that I really don't know.


The final weight will depend on the ingredients, but a potion is *always* lighter than the ingredients that went into it (absent a glitch described here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Alchemy#Weight, which I suspect has been fixed in a fan patch on PC.). So unless you're saving the ingredients to make a potion that you can't currently make, your inventory space is better served by mixing them into potions.

So thats why all my pots were really heavy. I was wondering, because I've always found it better to just hold onto ingredients and mix as needed.