With The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered coming out almost two decades since the original first dropped, newcomers or returning players who haven’t touched it in a long time are diving into it. There’s a lot of things that the game doesn’t outright tell you, and with the amount of freedom it gives you right from the start, it can feel a bit overwhelming or confusing.
To help you get started, here are 6 tips you should know to give you some initial goals to work towards and get you to some of the fun stuff early!
Tip #1. Don’t Neglect Combat Skills
Oblivion, even with the refinements in this remastered version, has a scaling system that will make all of the enemies you encounter more powerful as you reach higher levels. For example, bandits who used to wear fur armor will start rocking glass and ebony as you gain more character levels.
Because of how the leveling up works in the game, you can raise your character level by just grinding stuff like sneak, speechcraft, or even acrobatics. If you do this too much and completely ignore your combat skills, you’ll eventually reach a point where enemies will become way too tough.
With that in mind, train your preferred combat skills regularly. Since generic enemies respawn after a few ingame days, you’ll never run out of things to fight. You don’t need to powerlevel or anything, just make sure you don’t completely neglect whichever combat styles you love using and you’ll be fine.
Tip #2. Find a Usable Bed ASAP
On the topic of leveling up, you should definitely find a place to sleep as soon as possible. Once you have gained enough experience by raising your major/minor skills, you’ll need to sleep at any bed in order to actually level up your character and allocate attribute points.
It can be at an inn, a random bedroll out in the wilds, or a house that you’ve purchased/earned (there’s plenty of them to discover). If you need a safe and free option, which you’ll definitely want at the start, there’s one at the Imperial Waterfront.
The waterfront is found at the southwestern corner of the Imperial City, and you can fast travel to it as soon as you leave the sewers. There, you’ll find an abandoned shack that has usable bedrolls, and you can enter and use them at any time.
Tip #3. Don’t Rush the Main Story
Oblivion is at its best when you spend time wandering off the beaten path and discovering side content through pure exploration or by talking to every NPC you encounter. With that said, you should at least do the first few main quests. Once you complete the sections involving Kvatch, you’ll have triggered some of the “fun” stuff that can appear all around the map.
I’m trying my best not to spoil anything for those who are completely new to this, so just know that there’s a certain mechanic unique to this Elder Scrolls entry that only starts once you finish that part of the story. After that, you can go back to exploring the map at your own pace!
The side content in this game is generally considered to be way better than Skyrim‘s, and I agree. I find the NPCs and side quests in this game to be much more memorable, to the point where I was actually somewhat disappointed when Skyrim finally released back then. On that note…
Tip #4. Join a Faction/Guild Early
Building on from the previous tip, there are a handful of factions that you can join as early as when you’ve just completed the tutorial. I’m not exaggerating when I say that these have some of the best questlines in the game, and joining one can have various perks both in general and specific to each.
One quick way to do this if you’re keen on joining one immediately is to either look for a Fighters Guild hall in any of the major cities or visit the Arcane University in the Imperial City.
You can also murder any random citizen to attract the attention of the Dark Brotherhood. If you’ve played Skyrim before, trust me when I say that this game’s version of it is lightyears better than that in terms of the characters in it and how creative the assassination quests are.
The Thieves Guild questline is also a hell of an experience, but I’ll let you find them on your own. If you want a hint, you’ll probably stumble into them if you regularly go to the abandoned shack I mentioned in tip #2. 😉
Tip #5. Stock Up On Lockpicks
Picking locks in Oblivion is a bit of an acquired taste. I personally love this minigame, but I also know that some find it annoying. Regardless, you’ll want to stock up on a lot of lockpicks, because there’s plenty of juicy loot hidden behind locked doors and chests.
Buy as many lockpicks as you can from merchants and loot them off dead enemies. You’ll thank me later once you encounter a random mid-level lock that burns through your supplies.
There’s one way to completely negate the need to do this without leveling up your security skill, but since I’m trying to avoid spoilers in this guide, I’m gonna let you discover that on your own. All I’ll say is that it involves a Daedric prince. 😉
Tip #6. Be Wary of Vampirism
It may sound cool to be a vampire, but it can be particularly annoying to deal with in Oblivion, especially if it’s your very first playthrough. If you don’t want to deal with sun damage or the constant need to feed, then just try your best to avoid contracting vampirism altogether.
Whenever you find yourself fighting any vampire in the game, there’s a chance that you contract a disease called Porphyric Hemophilia. Once you’ve gotten it, then you’re already on the road to developing a thirst for blood.
Luckily, this can be cured by a simple Cure Disease spell or potion within the first three days. If you pass that period without doing so, you’ll become an actual vampire. If that happens, you’ll have to go through a fairly long quest to find a cure for vampirism itself.
There’s DLC content (which is already included in the remaster) that can also help you cure full-blown vampirism in a pinch. If I were you, though, I’d avoid the hassle entirely and just make sure that you never have a lingering case of Porphyric Hemophilia.
And that’s a wrap! Oblivion is a fantastic game that heavily encourages you to explore every corner as soon as the world opens up, so take your time and see everything it has to offer at your leisure.
Also, don’t stress too much about character builds. Tailor your choices to your own playstyle and you’ll have so much more fun with the game. That’s how I’ve always approached every playthrough.
This remastered version does change and fix a few things, but at its very core, it’s still the exact same game from all those years ago. These tips, which are based on both my own experiences with it and what I’ve learned from playing the original on and off since 2006, should help you navigate the first few hours of a potentially long adventure. Good luck!
If you’re looking to add some mods, because it won’t be a Bethesda game without them, then check out my list of six must-have mods that’ll help enhance your overall experience.