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Hey all, I have had this one for a bit and only recently got some time to really get on it. I can't seem to get the leveling ball rolling, is there a different trick than in Morrowind? It seems harder to make any good money and I just can't seem to get it going well. Can someone give me a step-by-step breakdown and some tips on money making? It seems like the Mercantile skill is more difficult to 'massage'.
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Hey all, I have had this one for a bit and only recently got some time to really get on it. I can't seem to get the leveling ball rolling, is there a different trick than in Morrowind? It seems harder to make any good money and I just can't seem to get it going well. Can someone give me a step-by-step breakdown and some tips on money making? It seems like the Mercantile skill is more difficult to 'massage'.
What? Oh....
Just about to leave, but I'd like to help. Unless someone answers before me I'll give you a more detailed answer later tonight. :)
All right...leveling. It really depends on how you want to go about it. If you want to get the most out of leveling and get the three +5's (i.e. you can add 5 points to three of the seven attributes when you level) then it can take a bit of planning.
This isn't technically necessary, but I start by creating my own character class instead of using one of the pre-gens. For my seven major skills I take one for each of the seven attributes (strength, etc.). I don't tend to bother with whether a major attribute is one I use often, but some people only put skills they don't use much as a major.
From there, when I want to level I work on my minor skills first. In order to get the maximum +5 attribute bonus you need to have added 10 skill ranks for that attribute, in any of the three skills that are tied to the attribute. And you'll need to make sure that this is done for each of the three attributes you want to add to when you level. Make sure you do a lot of minor skills first so that you don't accidentally level before you finish up the 30 skill ranks. You level whenever you have added a total of 10 skill ranks to any of your major skills.
Here is an example...say you want to add +5 to your strength, intlleigence, and endurance. Your major skills are say, blade, conjuration, and armorsmithing. So add 5 ranks to alchemy (minor intelligence), 2 ranks to mysticism (minor intelligence) 8 ranks to block (minor endurance) 5 ranks to blunt (minor strength), and then do 3 ranks to conjuration (major intelligence), 2 ranks to armorsmith (major endurance) and 5 ranks to blade (major strength). That's 20 ranks in minor skills, and 10 ranks in major skills.
In practice it usually doesn't work that way for me as I don't bother to avoid the occasional skill addition in other skills. As long as you keep track of your majors, and which attributes you want to level for each time you level-up then you can get the most out of leveling.
Alternately there is a mod at The Oblivion Wiki that allows you to get +5's to whatever attributes you choose once you get the 10 major skills added. I haven't used it, but I've read that it does take the occasional tedium out of leveling.
Now...money making. One tip is be a thief. ;)
The mercantile skill is incredibly tedious to level up in my opinion, especially because of the way the trading menu system is set up, and it takes so long that it's not really worth it.
Instead I use a bit of a work-around. You can't do it right off the bat, as it does take some time to set up, but once it is set up then you can sell all your goods for the best possible price.
First, you have to go all the way through the mages guild initiation quests so that you can have access to the spell creation area at the main guild (alternatively buy the Wizards Tower official mod from the Bethesda store and spend 6000 gold to buy the ability to create your own spells).
Second you need the three base spells...charm, fortify attribute and fortify skill. For charm you get a free base spell of this type while going through the mages guild quests. Fortify attribute you can buy from Orag Gra Bargol, the orc priest in the temple in Chorrol (it's actually fortify strength, but it allows you to make a new spell with any attribute boost). The last one is the hardest as you can't buy it in the base game. You need the Thieves Den official mod (it costs >$2 at Bethesda's store) and have cleared it out. Once it is cleared out you can buy the fletcher upgrade who sells the fortify marksman spell. This allows you to create any fortify skill spell at the spell altar.
Third, you need a base restoration skill of 25 to be able to cast the latter two spells.
Finally, go to the spell creation altar and create a spell (I called it Merchant Prince) with fortify mercantile 100 for one second on self, fortify personality 100 for one second on self, and charm 100 for one second with touch. The spell cost will be around 40 or so to start out with, which is why I only put it for one second.
When you go to a trader, cast it and then talk to them quickly before the one second runs out. Once you get into the trading menu the time doesn't matter anymore. This spell bumps everything related to sales, so you don't need to play with the speechcraft game at all anymore, nor do you need a high mercantile skill before you can get good deals. Just cast the spell on the merchant, set the haggle as high as you can (for most merchants you can set it within about 5-10 of the max) and sell everything for great profit, or buy stuff at the lowest possible price.
BTW, personally I find it a shame that the mercantile and speechcraft skills are so annoying to work with (at least to get them up to a decent number). I would have liked to have been able to use my personality influence better, without resorting to creating a spell, but I think that's my inner D&D player talking. It's a computer game so it's not like true gaming. ;)
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BTW, personally I find it a shame that the mercantile and speechcraft skills are so annoying to work with (at least to get them up to a decent number). I would have liked to have been able to use my personality influence better, without resorting to creating a spell, but I think that's my inner D&D player talking. It's a computer game so it's not like true gaming. ;)
Yeah, in Morrowind I got used to that whole "buy low, sell high" thing and it made it easier to afford to get training. I hate seeing the buy/sell percentages in Oblivion. It's like 'wow, I can sell this stuff for 55% of it's value and you'll charge me 145% of the value if I buy it right back!?' Yeah, that sucks! Do you have a link to the add-on you recommended for $2? I think I will go that route.
Good info BTW, and thanks for the assist.
Personally, I decided some time ago that the game was inherently broken on many levels. I didn't start the main quest until I was level 26. During the siege of Kvatch I was facing like a dozen Daedroths at a time. The game is very unforgiving and actually punishes you for leveling. Since the quest rewards are level based (and some require a certain level to begin) you can't really avoid leveling. You can level efficiently, but it's not fun. By choosing skills you don't use often you can slow the leveling process and guarantee higher stat bumps when you level.
For that reason I cheat without a shred of remorse. The Elder Scrolls Wiki has a list of console commands that can set your skills and stats, add spells and items (including gold), and kill enemies outright. If you reach the point in the game where it feels like a chore, the console can... console you.
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Personally, I decided some time ago that the game was inherently broken on many levels. I didn't start the main quest until I was level 26. During the siege of Kvatch I was facing like a dozen Daedroths at a time. The game is very unforgiving and actually punishes you for leveling. Since the quest rewards are level based (and some require a certain level to begin) you can't really avoid leveling. You can level efficiently, but it's not fun. By choosing skills you don't use often you can slow the leveling process and guarantee higher stat bumps when you level.
For that reason I cheat without a shred of remorse. The Elder Scrolls Wiki has a list of console commands that can set your skills and stats, add spells and items (including gold), and kill enemies outright. If you reach the point in the game where it feels like a chore, the console can... console you.
BTW I forgot to mention that I am playing on the 360, not sure what codes are available there but I will look into it if I seem to get frustrated..
There was a nice way around to make money slowly, but good.
just buy 100 arrows, then sell them 1 at a time.
when you buy them the whole 100 cost like 30-70 gold, but while selling it back you get 1 gold for 1 arrow.
It had a positive side effect, but I can't seem to remember. Had something to do with the skill...
If you're into cheating there is a glitch that lets you duplicate items. Saves a lot of time. Look here -
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?s=7a240e7a8e0e5bc6c9dc797b6cdf9 691&showforum=22
BTW, personally I find it a shame that the mercantile and speechcraft skills are so annoying to work with (at least to get them up to a decent number). I would have liked to have been able to use my personality influence better, without resorting to creating a spell, but I think that's my inner D&D player talking. It's a computer game so it's not like true gaming. ;)Yeah, in Morrowind I got used to that whole "buy low, sell high" thing and it made it easier to afford to get training. I hate seeing the buy/sell percentages in Oblivion. It's like 'wow, I can sell this stuff for 55% of it's value and you'll charge me 145% of the value if I buy it right back!?' Yeah, that sucks! Do you have a link to the add-on you recommended for $2? I think I will go that route.
Good info BTW, and thanks for the assist.
Here is the base site for Oblivion. The Oblivion downloads page doesn't seem to be working for me at the moment though. I don't know how it works for Xbox360 downloads though as I played on a computer, but I seem to remember something about being able to use 360 points (whatever they're called) to order the plugins. The one you'll want to set up the spell I talked about is the Thieves Den.
Until I saw that you are playing on a 360 I was also going to recommend another mod from the Oblivion Wiki page that I linked to in my second post above. The mod upgrades any level-based quest items you receive as your character level up. That way you're no longer penalized for doing a quest early, since in an unmodded game the level-based quest items stay at the level they were when you found them. I don't know if it's available for 360 though. You can probably poke around and see.
I was also underwhelmed by the Mercantile skill in Oblivion compared to Morrowind. I didn't mind Speechcraft, but after a certain point it's quite tedious to get to 100. Magic skills are the easiest to level up -- just cast a weak spell over and over and over again.
As far as money goes, beat up on some daedra and sell their equipment. I never found anything really worth buying anyways; stuff you enchant or pick up from enemies/quests is usually better than stuff you buy from a store.
My favourite class skills were:
Restoration
Illusion (invisibility FTW!)
Alchemist
Blade
Heavy Armor
Armorer
Mysticism or Sneak (depending on whether you like to be sneaky or not)
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If you can, get the Knights of the Nine plugin; the gear from it can be set on the armor stand in the basement of the KotN priory and it'll adjust to your current level.
Just hope you don't run into anything flameproof, and do any infamy-causing quests first.
Really, if you get the various plugins, and complete all the quests, then do the Main quest, I think the endgame should be different, since by that point you'd be:
1) The Daedric Prince of Madness.
2) The leader of the Knights of the Nine, with one of said Knights in tow.
3) the Archmage, with an apprentice in tow, and you'd be fully clad in the Regalia of the Crusader.
4) the head of the Dark Brotherhood, with a lesser assassin in tow.
5) Owner of Frostcrag Spire, with an Atronach in tow.
6) Undoubtedly capable of massive summonings, which lets you have an additional gaggle of Beasties tagging along.
Picture the face of Mehrunes Dagon, if you will, seeing Prince Sheogorath, clad in the Holy Armor of the Nine, charging screaming down the main street of the Imperial capital with this motley crew in tow, as well as the Emperor (bearing the Amulet of Kings) and the remaining Blades.
If I were Mehrunes, I'd turn around and go home after seeing that.
If you want to make some fast cash early on in the game, here's what you do.
1. Join the Mages Guild (you don't have to do any of the quests, just being an associate will do)
2. Go around the Guilds in the various cities and take everything that isn't nailed down. Potions, Calcinators, Books, Silverware, Soul Gems, Rare alchemy ingredients, anything that doesn't indicate that you'll be stealing it.
3. Turn right around to your guildmates and sell everything. It's amazing that these guys will pay you good coin to get the items that were just sitting out in front of them. :)
4. Profit!