Oblivion Stats Explained: A Beginner’s Guide to Character Building

The Core Attributes: The Foundation of Your Hero

Your character’s journey in Oblivion is significantly influenced by the core attributes. These fundamental characteristics form the basis of your abilities and define your strengths and weaknesses. Understanding each one is paramount to making informed decisions during character creation and throughout your gameplay experience.

Strength: The Power Within

Strength is the attribute of raw physical power. It directly impacts your character’s carrying capacity, the maximum weight you can carry before becoming encumbered. A high strength stat means you can loot everything in sight, carrying mountains of gear, weapons, and potions without a significant impact on your movement speed. Furthermore, strength affects the damage you inflict in melee combat, giving your swings more “oomph” and making you a more formidable opponent in close quarters.

Increasing strength can be achieved through a few methods. Leveling up will allow you to allocate points to this attribute. Specific items and equipment may also provide a boost to your strength. Consuming potions that enhance strength is another strategic method, especially before a challenging encounter.

For warriors and heavily armored characters, strength is absolutely crucial. It allows them to wear the heaviest armor, carry powerful weapons, and remain mobile on the battlefield. A low strength build, on the other hand, will struggle to carry necessary equipment, and it makes your character a less effective damage dealer in close combat.

Intelligence: The Mind’s Dominion

Intelligence governs your character’s mental prowess, most notably affecting your Magicka pool. Magicka is the resource that fuels your spells. The higher your intelligence, the larger your Magicka pool and the more spells you can cast before needing to replenish it. This is vital for any character who relies on magic, whether it’s offensive, defensive, or utility-based.

Intelligence also contributes to the effectiveness of your spells. A higher intelligence stat will often lead to higher damage output, longer durations, and increased chance of success for your magical endeavors.

Like strength, intelligence can be improved through leveling, equipment, and potions. Mages and spellcasters should prioritize intelligence to maximize their magical potential. High intelligence opens the door to powerful spellcasting and allows you to shape the world using the arcane arts.

Willpower: The Strength of Spirit

Willpower is a crucial attribute that influences your character’s fatigue (stamina) regeneration rate and your resistance to magic. Fatigue is expended when performing actions like running, sprinting, and attacking. The higher your willpower, the faster your fatigue recovers, allowing you to stay in combat longer and cover ground at a quicker pace.

Willpower also provides a degree of magic resistance, making you less vulnerable to spells cast by enemies. This is extremely useful for any character, regardless of their chosen class, as it helps you absorb magic attacks and makes you more resilient in battle.

You can increase willpower through leveling up, as well as from equipment and potions. Willpower is valuable for all classes, but it is particularly important for characters who engage in close combat and for those who anticipate facing mages and spellcasters. High willpower keeps your character fighting and resistant to enemy attacks.

Agility: The Art of Grace and Deception

Agility governs your character’s physical dexterity, impacting your hit chance in combat, your block effectiveness, and your ability to sneak undetected. A higher agility stat means your attacks are more likely to connect with their targets, increasing your damage output. Additionally, it improves your ability to block enemy attacks and mitigate damage.

Agility is vital for any character who relies on stealth, such as archers or rogues. It also greatly enhances your ability to avoid enemy detection, moving through shadows and making you practically invisible.

Leveling up, specific equipment, and potions can all enhance your agility. This attribute is extremely important for archers, who rely on accuracy, as well as rogues, who favor avoiding combat altogether.

Speed: The Swiftness of the Feet

Speed directly impacts your character’s movement speed and running speed. This attribute is important for all characters, making them more mobile, allowing you to cover ground quickly. Whether escaping a dangerous situation, or chasing down a fleeing enemy, speed provides the advantage.

Speed can be improved by leveling up, and equipment. While not as critically important as other attributes, speed can make the difference between life and death when facing tough odds.

Endurance: The Crucible of Hardship

Endurance is directly linked to your character’s health points and fatigue. The higher your endurance, the more health your character has, allowing them to withstand more damage. Endurance plays an important role in the game’s overall survivability and makes you more resilient on the battlefield.

Endurance can be raised with leveling up, specific equipment and potions. For characters who expect to be hit regularly, this attribute should be a high priority.

Personality: The Art of Social Manipulation

Personality influences your character’s social grace, impacting your ability to persuade non-player characters (NPCs). If you’re looking to be more successful with your dialogue choices, personality is extremely important, making it easier to haggle with shopkeepers, gain information from other NPCs, or complete quests.

Like the other attributes, personality is increased through leveling up, specific equipment, and potions. For characters who want to be successful in quests and interactions with NPCs, this attribute is extremely helpful.

Skills: The Building Blocks of Mastery

Beyond the core attributes, skills are the building blocks of your character’s abilities. The skills are the means through which you gain proficiency. Each skill grows as you use the skill, and they are divided into different categories.

Combat Skills: The Art of War

• Blade: This skill dictates your proficiency with one-handed swords, short blades, and similar weapons. The higher your blade skill, the more damage you inflict with these weapons.
• Blunt: Blunt weapons, such as clubs, maces, and hammers, are what this skill is focused on. The higher your blunt skill, the greater your damage.
• Hand to Hand: The art of unarmed combat. Hand to hand is perfect for those who prefer to fight without weapons.
• Marksman: This skill controls your accuracy and damage with bows and arrows. Archers should invest here.
• Block: This is the skill that allows you to effectively reduce incoming damage with your shield. A high block skill can change the tide of combat.
• Armorer: This skill governs your ability to repair armor, allowing you to maintain your defensive capabilities.
• Heavy Armor: The more adept you are at wearing heavier armor, the less cumbersome it feels.
• Light Armor: Light armor skill allows for better evasion and is beneficial for those who prefer not to be weighed down by heavy equipment.

Magic Skills: The Power of the Arcane

• Destruction: Controls your ability to cast damaging spells, from fireballs to lightning bolts.
• Restoration: The ability to heal yourself and others.
• Alteration: This skill governs spells that affect the environment and your character’s attributes, such as levitation.
• Conjuration: This skill allows you to summon creatures to fight on your behalf.
• Mysticism: Mysticism encompasses various spells, including those that drain attributes and detect magic.

Stealth Skills: The Shadows Embrace

• Sneak: Improves your character’s ability to move unseen, allowing you to avoid enemies or get the drop on them.
• Security: The skill used to pick locks.
• Acrobatics: This allows for better mobility, including more jumping ability.

Other Skills: A Diverse Skillset

• Speechcraft: Increases your ability to persuade NPCs.
• Alchemy: Allows you to create potions with various effects.
• Mercantile: This skill affects the prices you get when selling and buying goods.

Skill Development and Leveling Up

Your skills improve as you use them. Using a weapon strengthens its corresponding skill. Casting spells improves your magic skills, and so on.

You’ll also need to select major and minor skills at character creation. These influence how quickly you gain levels. The skills you chose as major skills gain experience faster.

The leveling process involves filling up skill bars. Leveling attributes requires leveling skills. To level attributes, you must pick five skills. Leveling up is a key part of progressing throughout the game.

Choosing Your Class and Race: Tailoring Your Destiny

Oblivion offers a diverse range of classes and races. Your race affects your base attributes and skill bonuses. A Nord, for example, starts with higher strength and a bonus to their blade skill, while a High Elf will possess a larger Magicka pool and bonuses to their magic skills.

The default classes, such as Warrior, Mage, and Thief, provide a framework for your character. However, the most powerful characters often come from custom classes. This allows you to tailor your starting skills to perfectly match your desired playstyle. Consider which skills are most important for the character you envision.

Tips and Tricks for Mastering the World

Start with a balanced selection of attributes. Don’t neglect any single stat early on. Focus on a build, so that your character is effective.

Explore the world, try different things and learn the skills.

Seek out skill trainers to boost your abilities.

Take advantage of equipment to improve your stats and skills.

The journey through Cyrodiil is yours to shape. Learn about your stats, choose your path, and become the hero you were destined to be.