Ultimate Power-Levelling Guide by Steven Mills (omgItsHorde) Male Redguard Edition Updates Version 1.0 Basic structure implemented Began listing base attributes Version 1.1 Huge amount done, guide complete for now Awaiting feedback from readers Introduction First off, I'd like to say hello to everyone using this guide. This originally started as a plan I made for a new character, and I decided to add some extra info and make it into a guide. It's my first ever guide. The main reason I decided to publish these 'notes' was because I couldn't find a 'hardcore' powerlevelling guide which went into great detail about what skills to level, and when. Unforunately, because this character guide is so in-depth, it is unique to the Redguard race of the male gender. If anyone was to use it for another race or gender, it would have to be highly adapted. However, if I receive good feedback from whoever uses this guide, or if anyone specifically requests it, I would be willing to publish similar guides to this one for each and every race and gender. It would be time-consuming but if it helps people to enjoy the game more then it's worth it. I'll just mention now that for the vast majority of you, this procedure will be overwhelmingly boring for you, and it could easily take anything from 10 hours to 40 or more, depending on how quickly you work at it. If you lack willpower (in real life :D), or you just don't feel like sitting tapping RB for 2 or 3 hours straight, then please stop reading just now. If that is the case, this guide cannot help you. However, if you are willing to spend a good number of hours 'training' your character, then at the end of it all, it will make Oblivion a very enjoyable experience. I strongly discourage you from using this system unless you have already completed the game! It is not for new players! So, on with the powerlevelling. ____________________________________________ NOTES: It is vital that you do not use ANY skills unless you are told to do so. No jumping whatsoever! Athletics is the only exception as it is for the most part uncontrollable. ***** Step 1 Creating your character (The Tutorial) ***** NOTES: Throughout the tutorial, try your best not to level any skills other than the ones I have instructed you to (Heavy Armour, Blade). To make sure you don't over-level (ie level up more than the instructed amount), press Start and go to Gameplay, and turn the difficulty right down. This is so enemies die in less hits. Less hits equals less experience which in turn equals less chance of over-levelling. Also, grab as many items as you can that don't require you to open locks (as this will level your Security, which we don't want). At certain points in the tutorial, you will be asked to create different aspects of your character. Make sure that by the end of the tutorial, your character has these characteristics. Race: Redguard Gender: Male Class: Custom (call this whatever you want) Specialization: Combat Bonus Stats: +5 Luck and +5 Endurance Birthsign: The Thief Core Stats: Strength 50 (Base 40 + Racial 10) Intelligence 30 (Base 40 - Racial 10) Willpower 30 (Base 40 - Racial 10) Agility 50 (Base 40 + Sign 10) Speed 50 (Base 40 + Sign 10) Endurance 55 (Base 40 + Racial 10 + Bonus 5) Personality 30 (Base 40 - Racial 10) Luck 65 (Base 50 + Sign 10 + Bonus 5) Major Skills: Blade 40 (Base 5 + Major 20 + Spec 5 + Racial 10) Block 30 (Base 5 + Major 20 + Spec 5) Conjuration 25 (Base 5 + Major 20) Destruction 25 (Base 5 + Major 20) Illusion 25 (Base 5 + Major 20) Light Armour 30 (Base 5 + Major 20 + Racial 5) Sneak 25 (Base 5 + Major 20) Minor Skils: Acrobatics 5 (Base 5) Alchemy 5 (Base 5) Alteration 5 (Base 5) Athletics 20 (Base 5 + Spec 5 + Racial 10) Armourer 10 (Base 5 + Spec 5) Blunt 20 (Base 5 + Spec 5 + Racial 10) Hand to Hand 10 (Base 5 + Spec 5) Heavy Armour 15 (Base 5 + Spec 5 + Racial 5) Marksman 5 (Base 5) Mercantile 10 (Base 5 + Racial 5) Mysticism 5 (Base 5) Restoration 5 (Base 5) Security 5 (Base 5) Speechcraft 5 (Base 5) NOTE: Your character's appearance is purely cosmetic. Have them look however you want. Once you are out of the sewers, take note of any skills you have levels, and move on to Step 2. ***** Step 2 Making some money ***** In order to buy enough weapons and armour, and to have enough money for repairs, we need to first make money. The way we are going to do this is by going to the Arena. However, we are not going to fight in the Arena. We are going to bet money on the fights. Normally, betting on fights is not a lucrative source of income. However, thanks to our Luck being 65, we will have a good chance of winning most of the time. Luck alters the health of the combatants, and the more Luck we have, the more health 'our' combatant has, giving them more chance to win the fight. So, first things first, immediately fast travel from the sewer exit to the Imperial City Market District, find a vendor and sell everything you can. Don't worry too much if you go up a level in Mercantile. Once you've sold it all, you should have at least a hundred or so coins. Go to the Mystic Emporium and buy the spell Conjure: Bound Dagger. Once you have it, fast travel to the Arena District and approach the NPC (he is called Hundolin) standing next to the chest at the Arena Entrance. Go through the door on the left, into the Arena Bloodworks. Go and find Owyn, and ask to fight in a match. Choose a Raiment, doesn't matter which. After you've spoken to him, check the cupboard on his left and take as many Raiments as you can carry. They respawn gradually so you can always come back for more. Make sure you leave enough room in your inventory for the swords you will be buying shortly. Leave the swords that are lying around the Bloodworks, they are inefficient for training. Once you have some Raiments (both Heavy and Light), leave the way you came in and....... #SAVE YOUR GAME# Now talk to Hundolin, and ask to place a bet of the highest amount you can. It doesn't matter which team you choose. After you've placed the bet, go through the door to Hundolin's left and enjoy the match! If you win, great! Go and collect your winnings. If you bet 25 gold, you'll get 50 back. If you bet 50 gold, you'll get 100 back and if you bet 100 gold you'll get 200 back. If you don't win, reload your save and place another bet. Once you win, make sure you #SAVE YOUR GAME# !! Repeat this procedure until you have about 10,000 gold! It sounds like a lot of hard work, but if you're getting 100 gold per win, you only need 100 wins! Plus you get to see some awesome fights :D Once you have roughly 10k, you can now begin the long and arduous journey of maxing your stats :) From the Imperial City, fast travel to the town of Leyawiin (it is to the far south east on the map). Visit the local weapon vendor and stock up on fast blades (buy daggers and shortswords only, leave the rest) and buy a shield as well (you will need to buy arrows and a bow later, to train Marksman). After you have the weapons, look around Leyawiin for Rosentia Gallenus' house. Once you fnd it, enter. Upon speaking to her, you should get a quest called Whom Gods Annoy. Proceed through the quest until you gain possession of the staff. Once you have it, leave the house (Scamps in tow :D) and find an Inn. Pay to stay for the night, and go to the room. #SAVE YOUR GAME# This is where the training will take place. Make yourself very much at home, because you're going to be here for a pretty long time. ***** Step 3 The training... ***** Skill tips: To train Heavy/Light Amour, and Block, hit the Scamps 3 times each to get them to attack you, and then turn down the difficulty so they don't kill you for a long time. To train Blade, Blunt, Hand to Hand, Destruction and Marksman, turn the difficulty up enough so that the Scamps take a fair beating before they die. Experience is based on how many times you hit them, not the damage you do, so hitting them with a dagger is much better for training than hitting them with a claymore. The same applies to arrows and spells. Use Iron arrows and Flare to train Marksman and Destruction respectively. To train Acrobatics, just jump around. To train Sneak, find a beggar sleeping outside, take off your boots (this includes your Raiment, it's a full suit of armour, including boots) and sneak into a wall next to them. To train Alteration, Illusion, Mysticism, Restoration or Conjuration, repeatedly cast a low mana-cost spell from that particular school of magic. Here are some good choices: Alteration - Protect Illusion - Starlight Mysticism - Minor Life Detection Restoration - Minor Heal Wounds Conjuration - Bound Dagger (simply unequip the dagger to continue casting) Rest when you run out of mana. (You can cast almost twice as fast if you have a weapon or shield out and hold the Left Trigger (Block button) while you tap RB. With these tips in mind, you should have any problems getting your skills up (other than the time it takes and the insane boredom it causes). Here is an example of how the level-by-level layout works: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level 1 <--------------------- the level you should be. Heavy Armour should be 15 <------- level the skill should be Blade should be 40 <------------------- level the skill should be +10 Heavy Armour <-------------- what you should be training (and by how much) to get to the next level +10 Blade <-------------------------- if you have to train more or less than this, you've done something wrong. (+5 End,+5 Str,+1 Luck) <---------- what stats you should be choosing once you level up End - 60 <------------------- what your stats should be after levelling up Str - 55<--------------------- if they are not these values Luck - 66<------------------- you've done something wrong. Heavy Armour should now be 25 <------ what this skills level should be after you level up Blade should now be 50 <------------------ if it is more than this, you've over-levelled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now that you know how to interpret the system, you may proceed to power-level. Make sure you train the minor skill BEFORE the major skill, or you will get no bonus to the minor skills associated stat. Also remember to SAVE OFTEN! It's EXTREMELY annoying to get up 10 skills or even 2 or 3 levels, only to screw up, or to have your 360 crash and you have to go back and do it all again. With all I've told you in mind, get on with it already! See you on the other side...... Level 1 Heavy Armour should be 15 Blade should be 40 +10 Heavy Armour +10 Blade (+5 End,+5 Str,+1 Luck) End - 60 Str - 55 Luck - 66 Heavy Armour should now be 25 Blade should now be 50 Level 2 +10 Heavy Armour +10 Blade (+5 End,+5 Str,+1 Luck) End - 65 Str - 60 Luck - 67 Heavy Armour should now be 35 Blade should now be 60 Level 3 +10 Heavy Armour +10 Blade (+5 End,+5 Str,+1 Luck) End - 70 Str - 65 Luck - 68 Heavy Armour should now be 45 Blade should now be 70 Level 4 +10 Heavy Armour +10 Blade (+5 End,+5 Str,+1 Luck) End - 75 Str - 70 Luck - 69 Heavy Armour should now be 55 Blade should now be 80 Level 5 +10 Heavy Armour +10 Blade (+5 End,+5 Str,+1 Luck) End - 80 Str - 75 Luck - 70 Heavy Armour should now be 65 Blade should now be 90 Level 6 +10 Heavy Armour +10 Blade (+5 End,+5 Str,+1 Luck) End - 85 Str - 80 Luck - 71 Heavy Armour should now be 75 Blade should now be 100 Level 7 H2H should be 10 Block should be 30 +10 H2H +10 Block (+5 End, +5 Str, +1 Luck) End - 90 Str - 85 Luck - 72 H2H should now be 20 Block should now be 40 Level 8 +10 H2H +10 Block (+5 End, +5 Str, +1 Luck) End - 95 Str - 90 Luck - 73 H2H should now be 30 Block should now be 50 Level 9 +10 H2H +10 Block (+5 End, +5 Str, +1 Luck) End - 100 Str - 95 Luck - 74 H2H should now be 40 Block should now be 60 Level 10 Light Armour should be 30 +10 H2H +10 Light Armour (+5 Str, +5 Spd, +1 Luck) Str - 100 Spd - 55 Luck - 75 H2H should now be 50 Light Armour should now be 40 Level 11 Acrobatics should be 5 Sneak should be 25 +10 Acrobatics +10 Sneak (+5 Spd, +5 Agi, +1 Luck) Spd - 60 Agi - 55 Luck - 76 Acrobatics should now be 15 Sneak should now be 35 Level 12 +10 Acrobatics +10 Sneak (+5 Spd, +5 Agi, +1 Luck) Spd - 65 Agi - 60 Luck - 77 Acrobatics should now be 25 Sneak should now be 45 Level 13 +10 Acrobatics +10 Sneak (+5 Spd, +5 Agi, +1 Luck) Spd - 70 Agi - 65 Luck - 78 Acrobatics should now be 35 Sneak should now be 55 Level 14 +10 Acrobatics +10 Sneak (+5 Spd, +5 Agi, +1 Luck) Spd - 75 Agi - 70 Luck - 79 Acrobatics should now be 45 Sneak should now be 65 Level 15 +10 Acrobatics +10 Sneak (+5 Spd, +5 Agi, +1 Luck) Spd - 80 Agi - 75 Luck - 80 Acrobatics should now be 55 Sneak should now be 75 Level 16 +10 Acrobatics +10 Sneak (+5 Spd, +5 Agi, +1 Luck) Spd - 85 Agi - 80 Luck - 81 Acrobatics should now be 65 Sneak should now be 85 Level 17 +10 Acrobatics +10 Sneak (+5 Spd, +5 Agi, +1 Luck) Spd - 90 Agi - 85 Luck - 82 Acrobatics should now be 75 Sneak should now be 95 Level 18 Marksman should be 5 Light Armour should be 40 +10 Marksman +10 Light Armour (+5 Agi, +5 Spd, +1 Luck) Agi - 90 Spd - 95 Luck - 83 Marksman should now be 15 Light Armour should now be 50 Level 19 +10 Marksman +10 Light Armour (+5 Agi, +5 Spd, +1 Luck) Agi - 95 Spd - 100 Luck - 84 Marksman should now be 25 Light Armour should now be 60 Level 20 Conjuration should be 25 +10 Marksman +10 Conjuration (+5 Int, +5 Agi, +1 Luck) Int - 35 Agi - 100 Luck - 85 Marksman should now be 35 Conjuration should now be 35 Level 21 Alteration should be 5 +10 Alteration +10 Conjuration (+5 Wil, +5 Int, +1 Luck) Wil - 35 Int - 40 Luck - 86 Alteration should now be 15 Conjuration should now be 35 Level 22 +10 Alteration +10 Conjuration (+5 Wil, +5 Int, +1 Luck) Wil - 40 Int - 45 Luck - 87 Alteration should now be 25 Conjuration should now be 45 Level 23 +10 Alteration +10 Conjuration (+5 Wil, +5 Int, +1 Luck) Wil - 45 Int - 50 Luck - 88 Alteration should now be 35 Conjuration should now be 55 Level 24 +10 Alteration +10 Conjuration (+5 Wil, +5 Int, +1 Luck) Wil - 50 Int - 55 Luck - 89 Alteration should now be 45 Conjuration should now be 65 Level 25 +10 Alteration +10 Conjuration (+5 Wil, +5 Int, +1 Luck) Wil - 55 Int - 60 Luck - 90 Alteration should now be 55 Conjuration should now be 75 Level 26 +10 Alteration +10 Conjuration (+5 Wil, +5 Int, +1 Luck) Wil - 60 Int - 65 Luck - 91 Alteration should now be 65 Conjuration should now be 85 Level 27 +10 Alteration +10 Conjuration (+5 Wil, +5 Int, +1 Luck) Wil - 65 Int - 70 Luck - 92 Alteration should now be 75 Conjuration should now be 95 Level 28 Mysticism should be 5 Destruction should be 25 +10 Mysticism +10 Destruction (+5 Int, +5 Wil, +1 Luck) Int - 75 Wil - 70 Luck - 93 Mysticism should now be 15 Destruction should now be 35 Level 29 +10 Mysticism +10 Destruction (+5 Int, +5 Wil, +1 Luck) Int - 80 Wil - 75 Luck - 94 Mysticism should now be 25 Destruction should now be 45 Level 30 +10 Mysticism +10 Destruction (+5 Int, +5 Wil, +1 Luck) Int - 85 Wil - 80 Luck - 95 Mysticism should now be 35 Destruction should now be 55 Level 31 +10 Mysticism +10 Destruction (+5 Int, +5 Wil, +1 Luck) Int - 90 Wil - 85 Luck - 96 Mysticism should now be 45 Destruction should now be 65 Level 32 +10 Mysticism +10 Destruction (+5 Int, +5 Wil, +1 Luck) Int - 95 Wil - 90 Luck - 97 Mysticism should now be 55 Destruction should now be 75 Level 33 +10 Mysticism +10 Destruction (+5 Int, +5 Wil, +1 Luck) Int - 100 Wil - 95 Luck - 98 Mysticism should now be 65 Destruction should now be 85 Level 34 +10 Alteration +10 Illusion (+5 Wil, +5 Per, +1 Luck) Wil - 100 Per - 35 Luck - 99 Alteration should now be 85 Illusion should now be 35 Level 35 +10 Illusion (+5 Per, +1 Luck) Per - 40 Luck - 100 Illusion should now be 45 You should now be Level 36 Now you have achieved 100 in all stats except Personality. If you wish to max Personality, please continue to follow the guide. Level 36: +10 Illusion, sleep, Per - 45 Level 37: +10 Illusion, sleep, Per - 50 Level 38: +10 Illusion, sleep, Per - 55 Level 39: +10 Illusion, sleep, Per - 60 Level 40: +10 Illusion, sleep, Per - 65 Level 42: +10 Mercantile/Speechcraft, +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 70 Level 43: +10 Mercantile/Speechcraft, +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 75 Level 44: +10 Mercantile/Speechcraft, +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 80 Level 45: +10 Mercantile/Speechcraft, +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 85 Level 46: +10 Mercantile/Speechcraft, +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 90 Level 47: +10 Mercantile/Speechcraft, +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 95 Level 48: +10 Mercantile/Speechcraft, +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 100 Congratulations, you have reached Level 49 and your stats are maxed. Alternately, if you want a nice rounded level of 50, you can change your skill-ups in the last few levels..... Level 48: +8 Mercantile/Speechcraft, +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 99 Level 49: +10 Any Major Skill, sleep, Per - 100 Congratulations, you are now level 50! Now that you have your stats maxed, you can finish off maxing all of your skills, even the major ones. Now that you have maxed stats, level up your major skills no longer levels you up! Now you can cruise through the game at your own pace, enjoying every minute without having to worry about all the number crunching! Outro Thanks for using my guide. I hope you found it useful. If you have found any mistakes, or have some helpful input to add (credit will be given), or if you want to see me make more guides, please feel free to message me on gamefaqs.com. My account name is omgItsHorde. I will not be disclosing my e-mail at this time. Legal stuff Copyright © 2007 Steven Mills (omgItsHorde) For personal use only. Do not plagiarise anything from this guide, do not try to credit it as your own, do not modify anything in the guide, do not attempt to distribute it for payemnt. If you refer to any part of the guide, credit must be given to me. If you wish to use it on your website please ask me for permission first. Basically, don't do anything with it other than read it or print it off for your own personal use. If I find it on any site that hasn't been given my permission to use it, I will consider legal action. So far the only website authorised to display this FAQ is gamefaqs.com