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I’ve been a fan of the Elder Scrolls series since Morrowind, and when Oblivion came out, I jumped right in. However, it wasn’t until I explored The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered that I finally grasped the intricacies of skills and attributes, just as a new leveling system was introduced. With many players experiencing Oblivion for the first time, understanding how skills and attributes work together is more crucial than ever.
There’s no shortage of activities in Oblivion, from closing those troublesome Oblivion gates to embarking on quirky side quests. Revisiting this game has filled me with nostalgia, so much so that I initially missed the significant changes to the game mechanics, particularly regarding leveling in the remaster. Oblivion Remastered has refined its mechanics for skills and their connections to leveling, striking a harmonious balance between the original system and Skyrim.
Understanding Skills and Attributes
In Oblivion, a character’s abilities are divided into attributes and skills, where each influences the other and contributes to leveling up. This might seem complex for players familiar with Skyrim, as the fifth installment greatly simplified this aspect. In the original Oblivion, attributes directly governed skills; however, this relationship has shifted in Oblivion Remastered. While attributes still enhance some skills, they no longer dictate them entirely.
In the original Oblivion, each attribute influenced three skills, except for Luck, which impacted everything aside from Acrobatics and Athletics.
There are eight attributes in Oblivion, all levelable to a maximum of 100 points, with the exception of Luck. Your character’s starting attributes depend on their race, origin, and class in Oblivion Remastered. These attributes can improve as your character advances in levels.
| Attribute | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Strength | Affects damage with longswords, claymores, maces, war axes, battle-axes, and hand-to-hand. Increases carrying capacity and maximum health. |
| Intelligence | Determines maximum Magicka. |
| Willpower | Influences Magicka regeneration speed and increases maximum fatigue. |
| Agility | Affects damage with daggers, shortswords, and bows. Increases maximum fatigue and fatigue regeneration. |
| Speed | Determines movement speed. |
| Endurance | Increases maximum health and health regeneration speed. |
| Personality | Affects how favorably others view you, influencing prices at shops. |
| Luck | Impacts all skills. |
Oblivion features 21 skills, categorized into Major and Minor skills based on your class. Each skill has five tiers: Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, and Master. The mechanics of skills in Oblivion Remastered resemble those in the original game as well as in Skyrim.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Acrobatics | Determines jumping ability and fall damage. |
| Alchemy | Influences potion creation and their quality. |
| Alteration | Reflects your ability to cast Alteration spells. |
| Armorer | Indicates your skill in repairing weapons and armor. |
| Athletics | Affects running, sprinting, and swimming speed. |
| Blade | Influences damage dealt with bladed weapons. |
| Block | Affects damage mitigated while blocking. |
| Blunt | Determines damage inflicted with blunt weapons. |
| Conjuration | Reflects your ability to cast Conjuration spells. |
| Destruction | Indicates your skill in casting Destruction spells. |
| Hand-to-Hand | Represents damage dealt with unarmed attacks. |
| Heavy Armor | Affects your proficiency in using heavy armor. |
| Illusion | Reflects your capability to cast Illusion spells. |
| Light Armor | Indicates effectiveness in wearing light armor. |
| Marksman | Influences damage dealt with bows. |
| Mercantile | Affects bargaining with merchants for better prices. |
| Mysticism | Represents your ability to cast Mysticism spells. |
| Restoration | Reflects capability in casting Restoration spells. |
| Security | Determines how many lock tumblers stay in place when picks break. |
| Sneak | Affects stealth and your ability to remain undetected. |
| Speechcraft | Reflects your persuasion capability. |
Each skill improves through its use, and as you level up your skills, you unlock perks that enhance them. For example, advancing in Armorer means you use repair hammers less efficiently, while higher levels in Blade mean more damage output. Unlike Skyrim, there’s no option to choose specific perks; the progression from one to the next is straightforward.
Major and Minor Skills Explained
Major and Minor Skills significantly impact leveling in Oblivion, making it essential to understand each category’s role. Your character’s class defines what skills belong in each category, whether you choose one of the many predefined classes or create your own. Each class has seven designated Major skills, while the rest are classified as Minor skills.
Major skills are the ones you’ll frequently utilize to fit your class and provide a 20-point boost to their base level. They level up faster than Minor skills and contribute more significantly to overall player experience points, helping you advance to the next level.
It’s worth noting that when you create a custom class, choosing a specialization grants a plus-five bonus to related skills, which also applies to predefined classes. This aspect is important for maximizing effectiveness.
Minor skills make up the remaining skills in Oblivion and offer about one-tenth of the potential toward leveling up each time they increase. Though these skills progress more slowly than Major ones, they still hold value and should not be neglected.
Improvements in Oblivion Remastered Leveling
The leveling system in Oblivion Remastered deviates significantly from the original, and it’s a welcome change. Gone are the days of meticulously balancing skills and focusing on specific ones to raise certain attributes. Now, all skill increases contribute to your overall level, with Major skills giving a greater boost than Minor ones.
If you find yourself over-leveled in a non-combat skill (like lockpicking or acrobatics) and struggle in combat, you can shift your focus to combat skills temporarily. The Arena questline is especially useful for this.
Leveling up feels like a much better balance between the original Oblivion and Skyrim, as skills are no longer intertwined with attributes. Previously, you could only boost attributes based on related skills. Now, you have much greater flexibility in choosing how attributes improve when you level up.
With each level-up in Oblivion Remastered, you receive 12 Virtue Points that can be allocated among three attributes however you like. Even if you only sleep for an hour, you’ll need to rest to level up. Each attribute can be increased by a maximum of five points per level, offering exciting possibilities for creating diverse builds in Oblivion Remastered, with better health gains that apply retroactively, making higher levels less daunting.
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