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[The Shadow]

Before I go on another tomb raiding adventure, can someone tell me if having a silver bow is any good against ghosts or is it silver arrows that are important? I've killed ghosts with silver arrows but if I use iron or steel arrows on a silver bow, will that do anything?

If not, I'll just sell the bow.

Try what I did. Get an enchanted bow and some good arrows. Before choosing to fight her, hop up on the tomb looking thing in the back of the room, then up on to the ledge behind it. I was able to stay up there and pelt her to death.

I hopped onto that broken pillar from the table and shot her full of arrows but they didn't seem to do anything to her aside from make her pissed.

I'll try an enchanted bow. I have like three of them.

 

[Xellos]

Before I go on another tomb raiding adventure, can someone tell me if having a silver bow is any good against ghosts or is it silver arrows that are important? I've killed ghosts with silver arrows but if I use iron or steel arrows on a silver bow, will that do anything?

If not, I'll just sell the bow.



I hopped onto that broken pillar from the table and shot her full of arrows but they didn't seem to do anything to her aside from make her pissed.

I'll try an enchanted bow. I have like three of them.

I got her from that broken pillar you're talking about. My strategy (difficulty on default):

Spoiler

1. Strip naked to maximize speed, jumping; there's a box in the room before hers if you want to put it there. I was wearing Blades armor and couldn't reach the pillar with it. Keep only scrolls, potions, arrows, lockpicks, and the bow of choice. I had a bow of cold, a variety of arrows(~50 total), two summon scrolls (skeletal archer and zombie), a weak fireball spell, and enough magicka potions to refill my magic (~78MP) about six times. I think I was around level 10.
2. Fire one arrow at her from the ledge overlooking her camp site. She'll come running. Wait until she's close to jump down.
3. If you need to recharge your bow (I did), you can use lockpicks to open the chest near one of the pillars. Should have two soul gems, a scroll, and some gold inside.
4. Quickly jump to the opposite pillar like you were talking about.
5. I first started by using the scroll found in the chest; I think it was a fatigue scroll. Then I unloaded with the bow, while simultaneously using my two summon scrolls (one after the other; not both at once). After I ran out of arrows, I switched to the weak fireball spell (~5 damage in 5ft. for 3 seconds, I think) and just kept firing, refilling magic as needed. She went down, but it took everything I had to do it.

Also I got recruited by the Dark Brotherhood because of this. I thought she was just another monster, but I guess not. If she's part of some quest (her sword apparently is), I didn't know about it. I was only looking for some Welkynd (spelling?) stones to complete one of the Mage Guild quests (Finger on the Mountain II). The crabs and rats earlier in the ruins were so easy that I was pretty surprised to find such a powerful enemy at the bottom. Kicked my ass many times before I finally tried the pillar + nude archer approach.

 

[DrM]

Game is getting better and better, but my 7900gt is driving me insane. It worked fine at beginning (game was unable to detect my card and all settings went to Medium), but now, outside areas (when riding on my stolen horse) are killing my framerate. Any 7900gt users with similar problems ? Currently using 84.25 drivers, updated CPU, MB and Sound drivers. INI file is tweked.

 

[Speevy]

What's everyone's favorite created spell so far??

 

[PanopticBlue]

Wow, after finally getting into the Arcane Uni at level 19 (and 50+ hours) I got to make my

Spoiler

first staff. I chose to make a shock staff. 80 pts shock damage on target.

Holy shit at this thing, I was killing everybody in sight in two blasts, then I stepped out the door and about 10 npcs just charged my ass, it was me vs the arcane uni. I was able to take a couple out with my new toy before they overwhelmed me :lol

I am absolutely amazed that after all the hours I've put into this game, I'm still thinking about getting home and playing it while at work. GOTY without a doubt, I don't see how this can be surpassed this year. I haven't been this hooked on a game in literally years. I've barely even started the main quest!

 

[Speevy]

I shot a minotaur with a shock blast and made him fly off the side of a steep hill.

 

[Ghost]

My lack of lock picks is really pissing me off now, im doing pretty well in dungeons but can never collect the loot because the best stuff is always in a bloody locked chest!


The drops are finally picking up though, after 15 levels (i think) of nothing but steel & iron crap i went through one dungeon and found a kickass Elven warhammer, then ran to the next dungeon along (my horse is MIA, dont remember him dying) and a gaggle of necromancers all dropped glass maces, Im still wearing my Arena armour though, I guess its because ive only come accross one fighter since my loot leveled up and he was wearing mythrill (stupid mugger was no match for my mace), i'll go looking for more trouble in a bit.


I found a ghost W00000, one more ectoplasm to get before i can continue with the fighters guild quest thats been on hold for about 10 days (real world time) :lol.

 

[Tunesmith]

I shot a minotaur with a shock blast and made him fly off the side of a steep hill.

Placing a strong fireball in the middle of a group of corpses and seeing them flying high in all directions is good fun.

My lack of lock picks is really pissing me off now, im doing pretty well in dungeons but can never collect the loot because the best stuff is always in a bloody locked chest!

Get the

Spoiler

Skeleton Key

 

[GashPrex]

for lock picks

Spoiler

buy lock picks from slim shady(something like that). Go to the imperial stables, and go left towards the elven gardens, he is along the wall. you can buy them from him at a reasonable rate.

 

[regret]

Fuck!

I think i just lost 4h of progress. I'm an assassin and i had this awesome ring of 35% chameleon. I didn't realise i had given it to martin as part of one of the quests. So now i can either use a 4h old save and keep the ring or continue without it with a serious disadvantage.

 

[TemplaerDude]

So I was wondering where the hell these arrows keep coming from, I never pick any up, not even to sell them, yet every time I look in my inventory I have arrows!
Took me a while to figure out you keep the ones shot at you.

 

[snaildog]

Another 512mb of memory will probably help a bunch. That's about 30-40 bucks. You could also buy a 6800 AGP for around 150 and that would make a big improvement too.


Edit: Wait, do you have an AGP or PCI-E slot?

... I don't have a clue! How can I find out about this stuff?

 

[Panajev2001a]

I met a crazy lade in the eastern side of the land near the great lake, in a house near a suspended bridge.

I started talking to this lady, although she was quite rude, but I practiced some speechcraft ability and got the "relation" to 58 or so then I could not "persuade" her any longer so we stopped talking... after a few seconds she mumbles something and starts shooting lighting at me and attacking me with an enchanted axe almost knocking me down on my ass. I run out of the house, she follows me... I heal, summon a scheleton and start firing fire-balls at her while hitting her with my sword. She falls down and for a while she stays down (she probably passed out) then she wakes up and goes inside (apaprently she had enough). I go bakc in and we chat normally for a bit, then she says "that's enough" and she starts pacing around her house quickly... darn, as soon as I saw her doing that I though "aw crap, not again" and ran away without looking back.

I LOVE Radiant A.I. .

 

[firex]

I'm either level 21 or 22, and I'm having a blast. Maxed Alteration, so I can open all doors up to Hard with a simple spell. Plus I have Aegis and the best Feather spell, which gives me a ton of extra weight, and 50% more damage resistance, and these two buffs are pretty damn easy to constantly keep up (as are water breathing and water walking). Now I'm just working on getting into the Arcane University!

Side note: Anyone know if there's an "Open Very Hard Lock" spell you can buy? I didn't see it on the list of spells to buy in Chorrol.

edit: Also, I agree that the scaling of enemies' gear and such is very frustrating... But the best ways to deal with it are 1) Never level up a bunch of times in a row (though granted, sometimes it just happens - I gained like 6 levels exploring the plane of Oblivion, but then again I have a skill setup that probably levels a bit too fast) and 2) turn down the difficulty a bit until you're geared up enough to take things normally. That's what I had to do, but that's because the way my character's major skills are set up, I can't deal with the huge jump in damage and so on that went from going up a bunch of levels at once.

I'm loving the way the Radiant AI works... I managed to find a Necromancer's Robe, and I'm going to test out how the NPCs in the Arcane University will react to me walking through there with one on (especially given that I have a lot of conjuration - some NPCs even comment to me that I "smell of the dead" which is great, since I'm playing an evil wizard type).

 

[Ghost]

Oh man, i was just trying to clear an oblivion gate & help one of the counts sons survive, that guy is such a douche. 10 seconds after i met him he threw himself into a river of lava (Chasing a Daedra), so i had to reload, managed to get him safely indoors where he cant harm himself, but he insists on pushing infront of me whenever im fighting an enemy and taking a mace in the back for his troubles.

Eventually i got bored and killed him myself, then the count thanked me for doing all i could to save him.


Now my strength is pretty high im getting a lot of gay comments around the towns, i walked into a tavern last night and i heard "ooooh, look at the muscles on him" coming from the direction of a cat man.

 

[atomsk]

Side note: Anyone know if there's an "Open Very Hard Lock" spell you can buy? I didn't see it on the list of spells to buy in Chorrol.

once you get into Arcane you can make one.

 

[Ecrofirt]

I'll repost this:
OK, maybe someone can give me a tip.

Spoiler

I found a mine right near the south gate of Chorral. I went in and killed everyone I could see, and I'm in a room now where there's a crack in the wall and I can see through to the other side where there appears to be a room. However, I can't go through this crack.

Anyone have any ideas? This is the mine where you get a Warhammer of Jinxing.

Help would be appreciated.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I started a new character last night, just to try something different. I was having a blast with my thief, but wanted to mix it up some, so I'm going with a Battlemage. I tore through the first few dungeons I explored. Part of that was just knowing how to play a little better, but a part of it was also the difference in character classes.

Watching your spells worth their physics on a creature is great. Nothing like throwing a fireball and watching a bandit get blasted backwards up against a wall or tossed down a staircase! :lol

Anyone know a cheap Alteration spell I can buy? I need to level up Alteration so I can use the lock spells, but at the moment I have no Alteration spells.

 

[slayn]

whats special about black soul gems?

The only ones I've seen were form a quest and they were taken from me. I thought maybe they were a special item but now I need one for a quest.

am I just not a high enough level? Grand soul gems are quite common for me at this point but I've never seen a random black soul gem. Are black ones higher than grand?


Also, are grand soul gems the absolute best you can do for enchanting? Would black be higher? It'd be fun to be able to make a bow that did like 300 elemental damage on hit

 

[Dr_Cogent]

I started a new character last night, just to try something different. I was having a blast with my thief, but wanted to mix it up some, so I'm going with a Battlemage. I tore through the first few dungeons I explored. Part of that was just knowing how to play a little better, but a part of it was also the difference in character classes.

Watching your spells worth their physics on a creature is great. Nothing like throwing a fireball and watching a bandit get blasted backwards up against a wall or tossed down a staircase! :lol

Anyone know a cheap Alteration spell I can buy? I need to level up Alteration so I can use the lock spells, but at the moment I have no Alteration spells.

Dude, you are hardcore.

I doubt I will be playing through the entire game with two different characters. The freshness of it will be a lot less if I play another character.

whats special about black soul gems?

What's so special about soul gems period? Do I really need these things. I have stolen a shit load of them and just end up fencing them for money.

Someone was telling me you can trap creature souls in them, but how do I do that? Do I have to get to the Arcane Uni first to do this sort of thing?

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Doc: Soul Gem + Capture Soul Spell work together to allow you to recharge your magic items. When you are in a fight, you cast the Capture Soul spell when you have an enemy near death, then you have like 20 seconds to kill 'em off and grab the soul. Different quality Soul Gems allow you capture more powerful creatures.

After the Gem is full, you can then use it on a magic item to recharge it.

 

[SteveMeister]

Doc: Soul Gem + Capture Soul Spell work together to allow you to recharge your magic items. When you are in a fight, you cast the Capture Soul spell when you have an enemy near death, then you have like 20 seconds to kill 'em off and grab the soul. Different quality Soul Gems allow you capture more powerful creatures.

After the Gem is full, you can then use it on a magic item to recharge it.

You can also use filled soul gems to create new enchanted items, once you are a member of the Arcane University.

 

[LizardKing]

sorry for not wanting to read through this giant thread as it's probably answered here, but my interest in oblivion has been peaked by GAF. Can someone tell me how it compares to morrowind? i thought morrowind was a great concept but i hated the combat and didn't get that much into the game (maybe i should try again though). is oblivion better executed?

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

You can also use filled soul gems to create new enchanted items, once you are a member of the Arcane University.

Cool! Now that I didn't know, but my new Battlemage character will certainly be ordering a custom Big Staff of Major Ass-Kicking(tm) in the near future.


And LizardKing the combat is, imho, much better in Oblivion. You actually feel like you are more apart of the battle, and it's more action oriented, although your stats and skills still play into the battle.

 

[slayn]

sorry for not wanting to read through this giant thread as it's probably answered here, but my interest in oblivion has been peaked by GAF. Can someone tell me how it compares to morrowind? i thought morrowind was a great concept but i hated the combat and didn't get that much into the game (maybe i should try again though). is oblivion better executed?

I thought morrowind was a nice idea that, in execution, was in fact a pile of shit. But at level 14 I'm stilling liking oblivion quite a bit.

 

[Diseased Yak]

What's everyone's favorite created spell so far??

I'd have to say my favorite so far have been my "practice" line of spells. I made a Summon Ghost spell that lasts 1 second and costs 2 magicka, and a Sense Life spell that lasts for 1 second and costs 1 magicka. Talk about raising your spell skills! I hammer these as I'm running around doing various other stuff.

I need to make an alteration one next, just need to figure out which spell to make it with.

 

[slayn]

for those that aren't aware:

http://www.tescreens.be/oblivionmodwiki/index.php/Category:Mods

all current oblivion mods nicely organized.
edit: I highly reccomend BTmod http://www.tescreens.be/oblivionmodwiki/index.php/BTmod

which lets you fit a lot more on screen and do stuff like have inactive quests faded out a bit. One of the things they do is also get rid of stuff like map markers but when you download it they also provide versions that don't do that and only improve the ui.

 

[Sysgen]

Why on earth would you want to turn off map markers?

 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Sometimes the markers make the game a little too easy but just thinking about trying to play it without them makes my head hurt. Finding anyone would be a complete pain in the ass.

 

[Jugendstil]

The physics in the game are so cool. Last night I was cleaning out a cave full of necromancers, and one of their stupid skeleton guardians was standing at the top of a stairway. I snuck up behind him and killed him in one hit. As he collapsed, his skull popped off and bounced down the stairs. It was just a small detail, but it looked so cool and seemed so realistic (you know, as realistic as killing a skeleton archer can be). What a great game.

 

[slayn]

Why on earth would you want to turn off map markers?

a lot of people don't like it because it basically holds your hand for quests. You almost don't have to even read the dialog or clues or anything because you can just skip all that and start walking to the next location. They think it ruins the immersio or some such.

I imagine the people that don't like map markers are the same people that don't like fast travel. And I think they are insane.

 

[Pellham]

Has anyone noticed that even though Oblivion is technically larger than Morrowind, that the world seems to be a lot smaller? Maybe it's just that I run through it a whole lot quicker, but that's what it feels like.

Oblivion is still way better than Morrowind though. That's just a little quirk I noticed. (The Imperial City for instance was supposed to be several times larger than Vivec, but in terms of walking around it, Vivec feels way more larger).

 

[Sysgen]

Sometimes the markers make the game a little too easy but just thinking about trying to play it without them makes my head hurt. Finding anyone would be a complete pain in the ass.

A lady had me follow her neighbor in Anvil only when I got the quest the red flag was in Choroll (and yes I had the right quest activated). So the npc isn't even in the city. I never use fast travel but I did here to see wtf was going on. I fast travel to Choroll but now the red flag is on a road back to Anvil. She's travelling apparently. So I fast travel to a camp near the marker. I look again and now she's back in the Anvil where I was able to follow her. However, it's early in the day and I am following her but all she is doing is roaming around. So I wait (back button) an hour on the hour until she's does something which happens at night. After each wait I had to find her again using the red marker. I can't imagine playing this game without markers.

 

[vatstep]

The map markers for places are very helpful, and I couldn't live without them, but the ones used for specific people, that move dynamically, are kind of unrealistic. It feels like I'm playing MGS1/2 with Soliton radar. Seems like it would be more realistic to mark the general location they're in, rather than tell you EXACTLY where.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I like the markers. They make it easy to stay on track in such a huge world, and save a lot of time. Without the markers, our play time would go up dramtically just in trying to find stuff.

As for fast travel, it's a mixed bag for me. I really prefer to travel everywhere on foot if I can help it, but sometims when I'm pressed for time, I'll just jump to where I need to. I'll often do this when selling stuff too. Cuts down on the mundane and gets you back into the exciting exploration stuff faster.

 

[Wollan]

-spoiler-

Spoiler

Ok, Im gathering defenses for Bruma and so far I've only gone to one town. I had to close an oblivion gate outside their walls and now I got their help. Now there are only all the other citys to go... seriously, do I have to get every last one???

 

[SteveMeister]

-spoiler-

Spoiler

Ok, Im gathering defenses for Bruma and so far I've only gone to one town. I had to close an oblivion gate outside their walls and now I got their help. Now there are only all the other citys to go... seriously, do I have to get every last one???

Spoiler

No, but it'll make an upcoming confrontation slightly easier if you do. Otherwise it's completely optional to do as many or as few as you want after the Bruma gate.

 

[Jugendstil]

I can't imagine playing this without map markers and fast travel. In the limited time I have to play, I don't want to be wandering around lost and frustrated because some stupid NPC is hard to recognize. I prefer actually making progress while I'm playing and killing things and getting loot. That's not to say wandering around soaking up the sights isn't fun, because it is. I just appreciate the fact the game is a tad more accessible than Morrowind was.

 

[BlackSalad]

Has anyone noticed that even though Oblivion is technically larger than Morrowind, that the world seems to be a lot smaller? Maybe it's just that I run through it a whole lot quicker, but that's what it feels like.

Oblivion is still way better than Morrowind though. That's just a little quirk I noticed. (The Imperial City for instance was supposed to be several times larger than Vivec, but in terms of walking around it, Vivec feels way more larger).

I agree with this, oblivion does seem much smaller. However, after 40 hours of play on oblivion, I think I like morrowind better. I miss the houses fighting, the treasure hunting, and how each city was very unique in architecture and layout. Plus the NPC's AI doesn't really stand out as much as I thought... All I've noticed it that they eat, sleep, and talk to eachother about the exact same things =/

Don't get me wrong, its a great game! but I think it was a little overhyped.

 

[IJoel]

I can't imagine playing this without map markers and fast travel. In the limited time I have to play, I don't want to be wandering around lost and frustrated because some stupid NPC is hard to recognize. I prefer actually making progress while I'm playing and killing things and getting loot. That's not to say wandering around soaking up the sights isn't fun, because it is. I just appreciate the fact the game is a tad more accessible than Morrowind was.

I agree. Hardcore be damned... I remember spending like 4 hours just searching for someone in Morrowind before I could find him.

Fast travel, I think could've been made 'less friendly' and allowed you to just go to the cities, as opposed to all the visited places. That's what I usually do when I'm far and have to use it. I simply love discovering new areas in the game.

 

[dammitmattt]

I agree. Hardcore be damned... I remember spending like 4 hours just searching for someone in Morrowind before I could find him.

Fast travel, I think could've been made 'less friendly' and allowed you to just go to the cities, as opposed to all the visited places. That's what I usually do when I'm far and have to use it. I simply love discovering new areas in the game.

Other potential improvements to fast travel (some would require a new/enhanced engine to pull off):
1. You can only fast travel to places that you have previously visited
2. You can only fast travel when you have a horse
3. If there is trouble (bandits on the road, for example) on the way to the location, the fast travel is interrupted
4. Fast travel is shown real time where you see your icon moving across the map instead of just staring at a loading screen for 30 seconds
5. Fast travel could be real-time and have the same effect that you get while driving fast in Burnout or changing bodies in Battlefield 2: Modern Combat - you see your character moving very quickly through the world and there is a blur affect around the screen as your character tears through the world - this would look really cool, and it would be easy to interrupt when bandits are in the road or some other obstacle comes up

Steve/Vark - get to work on these features for Elder Scrolls 5!

 

[Dr_Cogent]

I agree. Hardcore be damned... I remember spending like 4 hours just searching for someone in Morrowind before I could find him.

Fast travel, I think could've been made 'less friendly' and allowed you to just go to the cities, as opposed to all the visited places. That's what I usually do when I'm far and have to use it. I simply love discovering new areas in the game.

I love fast travel. It doesn't have to be less friendly either - you can just opt to not use it. It's a great feature and I expect the next game to have it in it.

It's great to be able to whisk myself off to Bruma to unload all the stuff I have stolen.

Other potential improvements to fast travel (some would require a new/enhanced engine to pull off):
1. You can only fast travel to places that you have previously visited
2. You can only fast travel when you have a horse
3. If there is trouble (bandits on the road, for example) on the way to the location, the fast travel is interrupted
4. Fast travel is shown real time where you see your icon moving across the map instead of just staring at a loading screen for 30 seconds
5. Fast travel could be real-time and have the same effect that you get while driving fast in Burnout or changing bodies in Battlefield 2: Modern Combat - you see your character moving very quickly through the world and there is a blur affect around the screen as your character tears through the world - this would look really cool, and it would be easy to interrupt when bandits are in the road or some other obstacle comes up

Steve/Vark - get to work on these features for Elder Scrolls 5!

1. No
2. No
3. No
4. No
5. No

Please don't implement any of these guys. It's perfect just the way it is.

 

[Jugendstil]

Yeah, sometimes I do feel like fast travel is a bit of a cop out on my part. I was amazed when I started the game that you could immediately travel between cities, but I'm not complaining. No one forces you to use it, and some of most fun I've had with the game has come from walking between cities and getting completely distracted by a dungeon or enemies. Why can't I be at home playing right now... STUPID JOB

 

[LakeEarth]

I spent an hour in a cave killing trolls before realizing I was in the wrong cave for the mission I was doing (two caves in close proximity). And I was having fun doing it too.

 

[Baron Aloha]

Actually, there is 1 thing they could do to improve fast travel.... let you fast travel directly inside of any of the houses you own.

 

[jarosh]

so, how do you guys make money? what are some good ways/quests to get more gold?

 

[Baron Aloha]

so, how do you guys make money? what are some good ways/quests to get more gold?

Dungeon raids (sell the weapons/armor you find), alchemy (make potions and sell those), pickpocketing.

 

[slayn]

I made quite a lot of money in the arena.

I get like 1500 gold per fight now.

 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

so, how do you guys make money? what are some good ways/quests to get more gold?

Early on money is always going to be an issue (unless you cheat) but as you advance in levels you'll find a ton of high value items on just about everyone. I'd recommend the Fighters Guild or Arena if you're looking for some quick cash though.

 

[Baron Aloha]

I made quite a lot of money in the arena.

I get like 1500 gold per fight now.

Oh yeah, that's a really good way. Can't believe I forgot to put that one.