The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Walkthrough and FAQ V.1.0 (Started 12-1-05)(Updated 3-29-06)
By Corey Blanding
This file is Copyright (c)2005,2006 Corey Blanding. All rights reserved.
Howdy folks. Ok so this will be my first official FAQ/Walkthrough. Seeing as
how that's so I'd like to thank you for giving this guide a chance. Now I'm a
huge Morrowind fan and so I've been looking forward to this game for a VERY
long time. In fact I started writing this in late 2005 so that I would have
all this extra nonsense out of the way when the game finally came out after a
small delay. I mean I even made the ASCII seen above, it looked better in my
head.
But yeah so the Table of Contents pretty much lays out the order this
will be updated. I'm gonna fly though the main quest just for you guys, then
I'll start over and exhaust every city one by one, finally after all that I'll
lay down what I've gleaned of Character Creation, stat wise, no one will care
what I have to say about nose placement.
So now that you've seen the order I'm doing this in, "if" someone wants to go
exhaust a town for me, do a quick write up and email it my way I'll include it
giving you full credit, both good and bad until I have a chance to confirm it,
then you 'll just get the good credit. Again that's just "if" you feel like it.
I will never do an item or armor compendium, basic spells maybe but that's it.
So don't ask me about where you can get what armor and which is better, I'll
have an opinion but nothing factual for you, and I have a tendency to be a
sarcastic ass when I get asked the same thing all the time, so unless you like
being abused, don't. I'll try and be nice for real questions though.
So yeah enjoy and I hope you find this helpful, if nothing else this will be a
great reference guide for myself since I'll at least understand what I'm saying.
Version .01
12-1-2005
-Outlined Guide Structure
-Wrote Chapters 1, 9, and 10
-Started Chapters 2, 3, and 8
Version .02
3-17-2006
-Added "Races of Tamriel" to Chapter 6
-Thought about adding "The Basics of Skill" but decided to sleep
Version .03
3-18-2006
-Added "The Basics of Skill" to Chapter 6
-Added "What's Your Sign?" to Chapter 6
-Expanded upon "Races of Tamriel" in Chapter 6
Version .5
3-22-2006
-Began Main Walkthrough, "Prison Break" and "Welcome to Cryodiil"
Version .6
3-26-2006
-Added "Into Oblivion", "Battle for Kvatch", and "Priory Surprise"
-Cleaned up some spelling errors.
Version .7
3-27-2006
-Added "Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes", "Mythic Dawn Shrine",
"Spies, Spies, Everywhere", and "Dimensional Ingredients"
-Corrected error about Beast Races, thanks again Jessi
Version .8
3-28-2006
-Added "Azura's Vampires", "Tiber's Tomb", and "The Great Stone"
-Added "Canvas the Castle" in Chapter 5
-Added NOTE about Sigil Stones under "Into Oblivion"
Version 1.0
3-29-2006
-Corrected error about Imperials, thanks Duncan
-Added "The Great "Evil" Stone", "Paradise Lost", and "Dragon Fires"
-Added NOTE about "Aid for Bruma" optional quest
-Corrected a whole bunch more spelling errors
Okay so this is gonna start out a very rough outline of the story and it will
include certain unavoidable spoilers so don't read ahead. I'll clean it up as
I play through again and pay more attention to detail.
Prison Break:
You, whoever you may be and however you may decide to look, start out in jail,
congrats. The guy in the cell across from you is a wonderful conversationalist
and will surely have great things to say to you. After he is done insulting
your wonderful little self you will hear voices coming down the stairs. Three
guards and a rather fancily dressed man will appear outside your cell and be
quite confused for a moment as to why you are there. As it turns out, fancy
pants is the emperor, his three guards are members of the secret service like
organization called the "Blades". Someone is trying to kill the emperor and so
he's fleeing for his life, like any rational being would. Part of that fleeing
involves escaping through a secret tunnel whose entrance is located on the side
wall of your cell. Well apparently you are the man or woman of the Emperor's
dreams cause he recognizes you and instantly trusts you, don't try and betray
him, you couldn't kill him anyway, no seriously its impossible. But yeah so
I recommend following them down the tunnel but hang back a step or two because
they are gonna get ambushed and you're wearing rags, not much protection. One
of the blades' operatives die in this ambush, you should pick up her sword for
sure and any armor or clothes you can find. Then you should equip them.
They will run off ahead of you, and unless I just sucked at following their
tracks you will lose them and enter an underground cavern, lots of rats down
here and a good number of goblins. This will walk you through the basics of
combat, stealth, magic, and interacting with the world. Towards the end of the
caverns you'll enter a rather large room, which if I remember correctly has two
basic goblins and a rather nasty goblin witch, plus a few more rats. Although
I didn't, I would recommend taking out the witch first, she has a sweet little
staff that shoots lightening when she swings. Kill her, equip her staff, and
fry her friends. After the witch you should catch back up to Septim and his
bodyguards, you'll now choose your birthsign, you can look at the character
creation section for an idea of what each one has but it tells you in game too.
So now you stay with Septim and the remaining two Blades. You'll be ambushed a
few more times and this time the baddies know you're against them and they know
your an easy target, so fry them or hack them but keep your finger near the tab
button as that will pause the game and allow you to access a potion from your
inventory, unless you hotkeyed your potion sin which case just keep a finger
ready to hit the magic number. You shouldn't have too much of a problem though.
You're group will eventually reach a locked gate, they decide to try door
number two which is of course another ambush. This time your party doesn't
fare so well, you'll lose the jerk Blade and the Emperor himself, though not
before he passes on his last words and his Amulet of Kings to you. Clean up
the last baddie or two then the only other survivor in your party will talk to
you. He tells you about the priory you need to head towards and also helps you
pick your class, specialization, and primary skills and stats. Then he takes
away that sweet blade you had picked up off the first dead blade and sends you
on your way. Fear not though, if you made it past the witch ok the rest of the
sewers are nothing special. You'll come to a final gate, through which you
should see daylight, SAVE YOUR GAME BEFORE GOING THROUGH THE DOOR. When you
click the gate it gives you the option to change anything about your character
setup from its appearance and race to its birthsign to its class. If you make
a save file here then from now on you'll never have to go through those first,
rather dark hours of the game. After saving and perfecting your character head
through the gate.
Welcome to Cryodiil:
You are currently located right outside the Imperial City, heads on in and find
some equipment, some quests, and any other goodness you stumble across. Then
look down at your compass, turn till you see a red arrow, and start marching in
that direction. I cut through like the crow flies but for those of you who
think following "roads" might be more your style, then you want the Black Road,
heading west towards Chorrol. I ran across a Khajit Highwayman on my way, he
wanted a hundred gold, I said no, it was a tough fight but I killed him.
Eventually you'll find Chorrol and the monastery, go in and talk with Jaffur or
something like that, give him the amulet, tell him your story, talk to him
until all the options grey out indicating he has nothing new to say. He wants
you to find Martin the bastard son of Emperor Septim, who is a priest in Kvatch.
Make sure you talk with both the other monks in the monastery about "assistance"
one gives you a book that improves block the other offers use of his horse.
Now you can follow the roads back towards the imperial city then switch over to
the Gold Road, or you can travel off the beaten path, again I went as the crow
flies. When you reach Kvatch, which will appear as a large fort on top of a
hill surrounded by a few farms and what not, you'll notice a big red flaming
gate blocking your way. Join the guards who are already there in the fight
against the fiends from Oblivion. Afterward head back and talk with them, if
you bring up Martin you'll learn he's trapped inside the city, but you can't
get in unless you somehow turn off the gate, from the inside. Save, rest up,
invest in fire proof armor(I'm just kidding here, although it would be useful
if you could find some). Then head on in.
Into Oblivion:
One of your first sights upon entering the flaming, demon spewing, giant gate,
is a scorched corpse lying on the ground in front of you. This is immediately
followed by some "leveled daedra", which means my level 1 orc, got to smash
stunted scamps and your level 13 whatever, gets to fry something a hell of a
lot more deadly, but then again, you'll be a badass anyway by then. So yeah
you kill some monsters, then find a live Kvatch guard, he tells you his friend
was taken up to the tower then tries to skip town on you. You can let him or
you can ask for his help. He never lived long for me, but then again I
typically use companions as meat shields. On the plus side he has nice light
armor, for those of us who are level 1 or 2. You and him have to weave your
way to the tower, avoiding rock slides, and firery proximity mines and of
course killing off all the mobs you find. When you reach the tower, save, then
head in, for me there were two leveled monsters in the first room as well as
two mana shrines, which essentially just cast restore magicka on you and then
die. You'll work you way through one of the doors into the rending halls, then
move on to the blood feast, and you'll continue working your way up through the
corridors of salvation and through the blood feast a few more times before you
reach the "top". There is a locked door along the way, but it has an easy lock
or you can cross the bridge to one of the side towers and kill the daedra there
for a key. When you reach the top you'll have a slightly tougher leveled
monster and then you'll see a glowing stone, once you take the stone, you are
cast out of Oblivion and the gate closes, so make sure that you've looted the
good stuff first.
NOTE:: the Sigil Stone which now resides in your inventory can be used to
enchant weapons and armor and clothing. When you hover your mouse above it two
spells will show up on the side, the upper spell is applied to weapons on
strike, the lower is applied to armor or clothing as a constant effect. I got
a helm of constant nighteye doing this, which has been incredibly helpful in
the early game, since I no longer need torches or need to waste magicka casting
light, or nighteye. Also, you can not fail to enchant an item. ::END NOTE
Battle for Kvatch:
Once out of the oblivion gate, go back and talk to the guards, he'll ask if
your ready to storm the city with him. I typically sell my loot and repair my
armor in the encampment first but that's up to you. Agree to go with the guard,
charge the city, get swarmed by leveled mobs, kill them, enter church. Don't
be too concerned with the swarm you have 3, maybe 4, guards who come with you.
In the church you can find Martin, tell him that he isn't really a bastard and
he will agree to come with you. At this point you can tell Martin to sit tight
and you can rejoin the guards to finish off expelling the daedra from the city,
or you can leave with Martin for now and come back later. The plus side to
having Martin sit tight is an enchanted Kvatch piece of armor with a bonus to
its armor rating too. I'm going to assume you like enchanted armor. Tell
Martin to wait, tell the guard your ready, run out and kill lots of mobs, soon
you discover your locked out, but conveniently there is another way in. Run
back to the chapel, talk to the guard with the key, he'll lead the way. At
this point you should also be joined by a squad of Imperial Legion soldiers.
Bring them along, run through the underground passage, and across the open area
your guide will probably die, lift the key from his body and keep going. A
side note, should a legion soldier die, and your character happens to be a
heavy armor build, then you should definatly borrow his suit and hope it serves
you better. But yeah, get into the castle, open the main gate, your old squad
will rejoin you and you'll be bum rushed by daedra. Kill them all and work you
way back to some grand hall. The wimp of a guard will tell you to go ahead and
he will guard your back, luckily the legionnaires go with you. You eventually
make it to the Count's room, he's dead, lift his signet ring and return to the
guard, trade the ring for the enchanted armor. Now go back and get Martin and
its back to the monk house.
Priory Surprise:
I recommend fast traveling back, mainly because you and Martin will never want
to move at the same speed otherwise. You arrive, some farmer comes to you to
whine about being under attack, he stops talking and you will most likely be
hit instantly. Finish up the attackers, these are the same type of guys who
killed Martin's daddy. Jauffre is hiding out in the chapel, go save him. He
says they came for the amulet and runs off to see if its missing, surprise, it
is. You now need to secure Martin and Jauffre somewhere safe. Jauffre
recommends Cloud Ruler Temple, a Blade stronghold, again fast travel cause its
a long way, and not worth struggling with your two companions and possibly a
horse, you can walk it later to see the pretty sites. At Cloud Ruler, they
welcome and hail Martin, Jauffre sends you off back to the Imperial City to
meet up with Barus, the only surviving blade from when the Emperor was attacked.
Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes:
Upon reaching the Imperial City, you should follow your lovely red arrow to
Luthor's Boarding House, Barus should be seated at the front counter. Talk to
him. He tells you to sit down and shut up. Do so. Now he explains that he is
being tailed and he wants you to follow the guy following him. He gets up and
heads to the basement, the man in the corner gets up and follows, you get up
and follow him. You're gonna want a torch here cause its dark and you don't
want to knock Barus unconscious by mistake. The tail will transform into the
heavily armored cultist that he is, and be slain by the combined might of you
and Barus. Search his body and you will find a book titled, Commentaries of
the Mysterium Xarxes Volume 1, take it, read it, it'll up a magical skill. Now
talk to Barus, he'll tell you to talk to one of the mages at the academy just
outside town. She will tell you about the book you hold and the cult you are
being hunted by, she will also give you the second book, which increases a
different magical skill. She will also recommend visiting the first edition
to find Volume 3 of 4. The bookstore owner tells you he has the book, but it
isn't for sale cause he already sold it and is just waiting for the guy to pick
it up. At this point you could persuade and bribe the bookstore owner for the
book or you could wait for the other guy, Gwinas, to show up. Wait for Gwinas.
Not only will this save you 100 gold but you have to talk to him anyway. When
he shows up let him finish his transaction before approaching him, if your good
you can convince him to give you the book for free. He will also tell you how
to get book 4. Report back to Barus. Book 4 can only be gotten from a cultist.
Luckily Gwinas already had a meeting set up. Travel with Barus into the sewers
and follow him until you arrive at the door outside the room with the table.
You'll know you are there cause Barus will stop walking and tell you so. Now
it's time to decide who goes where. Barus wants to go to the table, leaving
you crouched upstairs as his backup, but you can argue so that you get to sit
at the table. I'm not aware of any particular benefit, except that whoever
stays upstairs will be confronted by two cultists, while the guy downstairs
only faces one at first. But it will come down to a fight, 2 on 3. Keeping
Barus alive should be a chief concern here as he will award you three free
skill points, one in block, blade, and heavy armor when you speak to him back
at the Temple. Also the downstairs cultist has an enchanted ring, that grants
a low grade fire shield as a constant effect (this may or may not be leveled
loot). Get the book follow Barus out of the sewers, return to your mage friend
and she'll give you a hint about how to find the shrine using the books. The
trick is to read the big red letters and then partition them into words. They
read "GREENEMPERORWAYWHERETOWERTOUCHESSUN" aka "Green Emperor Way, where tower
touches sun". "Green Emperor Way" may sound familiar, its an area right outside
the Imperial Palace filled with tombstones. "Where tower touches sun" is less
a location and more a time of day, i.e. noon. Your mage friend will eventually
tell you all that if you ask her on four separate days for help. Wander around
the cemetery till you find a large Princes tomb, on the side opposite the tower
you'll find an engraving, now wait till noon, the engraving lights up and gives
you the location of the Mythic Dawn Shrine.
Mythic Dawn Shrine:
You will need to travel via horse of foot to reach the shrine, which is buried
in some caves. There are two ways to do this part of the quest, A) Large and
in charge or B) Deceit and thievery. Both work, and depending on your class,
and the level of certain skills you may be tempted in one direction or another.
Route A involves killing everything you see once you enter the cave, but
remember once you've killed one cultists, all his or her brothers are gonna
come at you on sight. These are the guys who transform into the big armor with
the big spiky maces. If you decide to follow Route B, you will have to
sacrifice all your weapons, items, armor, and gold, unless of course you
"accidentally" drop all of it in a well lit corner in the room where you meet
the first cultist, but you can't drop the gold. Either route you will work
your way to the main cavern where the "Master" is speaking, he has the amulet,
you can't take it from him, what you can take however is the Mysterium Xarxes
itself though, the "bible" of the Mythic Dawn. How you get the book varies
according to route, you can just take it via route A, or you can complete the
sacrifice, and wait for everyone to leave the room before pilfering the book.
Touching the book immediately puts all cultists to hostile, and don't forget to
recover all the goodies that were taken from you by killing the cultist who
took them.** Once you get the book you need to get back to Cloud Ruler Temple
and talk to Jauffre, then give the book to Martin, who apparently dabbled in
the darker arts before becoming a priest.
Spies, Spies, Everywhere
Jauffre has a new job for you while we wait for Martin to figure out the Xarxes.
Apparently they have spotted some spies casing the Temple, its you're job to
find them, figure out what they are after, and eliminate them. If you talk to
Captain Steffan about the spies he'll tell you they have been spotted around a
"Doomstone" just outside the castle. If you go there at dusk you'll probably
find at least one cultist, she's not really sneaky and will charge straight at
you. You will lift a key off her dead body, which unlocks someone's basement.
Nearby is a cavern, which you can wander through looking for the other cultist.
This cavern will eventually lead back into Bruma and into someone's basement.
The other way to go is to talk to Captain Burd of the Bruma guard or any beggar
on the street of Bruma (beggars are always good sources of info) to find out
that one of the residents has been seen with someone "strange". You can go to
this person's house to try talking with her about it, but she will attempt to
kill you, luckily she was a spy anyway and the plans are down in her basement.
Return the plans to Jauffre after you dispatch both spies.
Dimensional Ingredients
Martin has had time to study the Xarxes and has figured out that the book is
the instructions of how to enter the Mythic Dawn's "Paradise". The first
ingredient in the spell is the essence of a Daedric Lord. Sounds tough right?
Luckily you won't need to find and soul trap a Daedric Lord for this, their
essence is imbued into their special items, and so offering up one of the items
is like offering up the lords essence. Now you have a wide selection to choose
from here and choose you must because anything you offer up can not be brought
back. Martin recommends a book for you to read that contains the location of
one of the Daedric Lords' shrines, Azura's. For the sake of this guide I will
assume you go there, because A)it's easier, and B) the shrines have level pre-
requisites, Azura's is only a level 2 pre-req. Visit her shrine, you need to
offer her some glow dust at dawn or dusk in order for her to talk to you.
Glow dust can be harvested from those floating yellow Wisps in the area. BUT
regular weapons won't do any damage, you WILL need something magical or daedric
or Silver to get it. I used a bound weapon from a scroll to kill mine. When
you offer up the dust Azura will talk to you. She will tell you a story about
some loyal followers who while trying to cleanse the area of Vampires fell
victim to the disease instead and how they are now locked away. She offers to
open the door that binds them if you will kill them all for her and let them
rest. Your reward is Azura's Star, a reusable soulgem that can house even the
strongest of souls. If you feel this is too valuable to use as an ingredient,
find another shrine.
Azura's Vampires:
Technically this doesn't have to be the shrine you used, but since its the one
that is found first I'm gonna write it in here. Ok, so to prepare for this
quest you need two things, first you need a potion of cure diseases, which
should be saved until after you have killed the last vampire, second you
should have a magic, silver, or daedric weapon, cause vampires have a
resistance to normal weapons. If your weapon does fire damage on strike, that
is helpful too. So there are 5 vampires in the gutted mine, and one ball and
chain trap, in the very beginning. There isn't a lot to this quest, if you go
in prepared, you'll walk out in good shape, just remember to pay attention to
if you get infected, and drink your potion after you complete your quest. Also
the heavily armored vampire, has a note on his body, which may or may not be
required to complete the quest, upon further consideration I don't believe it
is. Either way return to the shrine, you don't have to wait for a special time,
just click the shrine and listen to Azura's little speech, then take the Star
and head back to the temple where you will deliver it to Martin.
Tiber's Tomb:
First and foremost, I'm well aware it's not really Tiber's Tomb, its closer to
being a shrine, but that's irrelevant. Ok so, this "tomb" is filled with
ghosts and skeletons...I don't recall any zombies but they may be there too.
I'm also pretty sure the mobs here are leveled, the point of telling you there
are ghosts though is so that you realize you need a "special" weapon, i.e.
magical, daedric, or silver. Luckily one should be lying on the floor next to
an actually dead skeleton. The goal here is to free the four ghosts of Tiber's
Blades, combined they will overcome the magick of the Underking and lower the
barrier blocking you from Tiber's armor. All four blades skeletons' have an
enchanted item, for me, I got two enchanted swords an enchanted shield and an
enchanted necklace. Tiber's armor is also enchanted, but you have to give that
up. Return to Martin when you finish, give him the armor he'll give you the
quest for the next ingredient.
The Great Stone:
The third ingredient is a great and powerful magic stone. Which is buried in a
long lost city of an ancient civilization...ohh and guarded by a powerful and
dead king. So this quest is a tad cliche, but it has secret passageways so
that makes up for it in my book. Ok so yeah this quest has skeletons and
goblins and zombies and the dead king, who qualifies as a ghost, which means
you still need your "special" weapon. What's funny is that the goblins and the
undead don't get along, so they will fight each other for you, in fact they
like one another less than they like you so they'll fight each other first then
turn on you. But yeah, so you'll wander into this underground city and quickly
discover that all the doors seem to be opened from somewhere else, but that
there is no lever for you to pull anywhere. You'll need to jump off a bridge
to find the lever, which is actually a button, press the button then work your
way up and back across the bridge to the next room, again its find the button.
Then you progress again to the next area, I believe there were only two buttons
you needed to find before your way was clear. When you see the great stone,
and it will be great and glowing, grab it. This will prompt that undead king
to spawn, kill him and his zombie friends. Now you could work your way back
how you came or you could enter that room the king came out of, the raised tile
opens a secret passage when you step on it, follow the passage kill the zombies,
loot the coffins, you eventually find another raised tile which opens a second
passageway, which lets you out directly at the entrance to the underground city.
Take the stone back to Martin. He has now figured out the last ingredient.
NOTE:: Optional Quest, "Aid for Bruma" will make the next quest easier. It
involves visiting every other major city and speaking with the Count or
Countess, and getting them to send some soldiers to Bruma. They will all ask
that you first close the Oblivion gate that stands outside their own walls,
except for Kvatch, they will just agree to send soldiers as you already closed
that gate. Jauffre offers this quest::END NOTE
The Great "Evil" Stone:
As the first two ingredients were opposing forces, so too are the last two
ingredients. The magic in the stone you just received finds its opposite in an
Oblivion Sigil Stone, but not just any sigil stone, no in a Great Oblivion Sigil
Stone, a stone that anchors the Great Gates that the largest of war machines
from Oblivion pass through. Martin has decided that you and he must allow the
Great Gate to open outside Bruma, then while he stays to defend the city, you
will enter into Oblivion once again and try and get to the stone before the
Daedric Siege Machine can destroy Bruma. You also get the honor of explaining
Martin's plan to the Countess of the city he is using as bait. So that's your
first step, go talk to the Countess of Bruma, tell her to meet Martin in the
Church. She goes, they talk, and when you speak with her again your real quest
begins. If you did the "Aid for Bruma" optional quest noted above, you'll get
a few more companions to help guard Martin while you wait for the three lesser
gates to open and then the final Great Gate. Head on into the Great Gate when
it opens. This time you have a time limit, but don't be too concerned my Orc,
fully decked in heavy armor still managed to move fast enough to finish this
with time to spare. There is a straight bridge in front of you leading to the
entrance of the main tower, but the giant insect looking weapon is wandering
down that so enter into either the left or right tower nearest to you and take
the high road to the next tower, then the low road to the next tower. There
was a bit of a gap in the road on the left side, but again my novice jumping
Orc made the jump so I'm confident you can too. There is a gate blocking you
from the main tower, but the lever is conveniently located what I'll call the
third tower. Pull lever, run through gate, kill baddies, climb main tower.
If you've run a few Oblivion gates you should be use to this by now, but enter
the rending halls then the central portal area, then the corridors of dark
salvation, then the center portal area again, then head into where the sigil is
kept at the very top of the tower. As expected you'll find a few more baddies
so dispatch them and grab the Great Sigil Stone, thus closing the portal and
somehow killing the siege weapon. Return the stone to Martin and then prepare
for a relaxing trip to paradise.
Paradise Lost:
Return to Martin when you are fully rested and stocked for your trip, unlike
with the Oblivion gates the portal to Paradise does not stay open, so once you
enter you have to finish the quest. So head on in, and...holy crap, nothing is
on fire in here...it looks...peaceful. But looks can be deceiving, go ahead
follow the brick road laid out for you, you'll hear our good friend the
"Master" taunting and talking to you throughout your travels in Paradise. He
is the great and powerful man behind the curtain in this land and will see
everything you do. But yeah back on the brick road, and you following it. If
you talk to the people at the top of the hill you'll learn that they hate it
here, immortality isn't fun when everything around you kills you again and
again on a daily basis. Head back down the hill get back on the path and work
your way to the forbidden grotto, which only the "chosen" can enter. The
grotto is guarded, but the guard is a decent type, he'll let you through if you
kill him, or if you do him a service. My build was combat oriented so I just
killed him, but you're more than welcome to try doing him a service, I will
when I work my way through again. Once you get the bands, make your way to the
door to the grotto, equip them and head in. The bands have a 50% weakness to
fire, and as luck would have it they are stuck on you. As you wander the
grotto and kill the hostiles you'll be approached by a man who says he wants to
help, and who claims to be able to remove your bands. Since as it turns out
the bands keep you from ever leaving the grotto. He asks you to play along
with him and act like a prisoner when the warden comes, this involves climbing
into a cage and being lowered towards a lava pit, but rest assured, you'll be
safe. I assume you could also just kill the warden, but I didn't try that yet.
The man says he will meet you further into the caves, after you get released to
the other side of the lava river. You'll find a door you can walk through and
your friend will be on the other side. He will remove your bands as promised.
He will also follow you out of the grotto if you agree to his help in killing
the Master. I recommend you take it, unlike other allies, this one is immortal.
But yeah work your way up to the Main building here in Paradise, both the
Master's children who you are likely responsible for killing will meet you at
the entrance and lead you in. Go talk to the Master, hear his spiel, then talk
to him again and he'll get all defensive about the amulet and dare you to take
it from his cold dead fingers. This is a tough fight mainly cause it's really
chaotic and your in a cramped room with a lot of bodies, and because the Master
is really quite good with the restorative spells, but eventually you'll kill
him and take the Amulet of Kings and be transported back to Cloud Ruler Temple
as Paradise crumbles around you.
Dragon Fires:
With the Amulet returned to him there is only one thing left to do, head back
to the Imperial City and talk with the High Chancellor. Just as you are
preparing to head out to relight the dragonfires, you get besieged by Oblivion
gates inside the city. Your job is to get Martin safely to the temple so that
he may relight the fires and close the oblivion gates. When you get to the
temple district where the dragonfires are housed, you will find a lot of Gates,
and a lot of enemies, including a very special enemy. When Martin sees this
enemy he will despair, but after talking with you will move on, get him into
the temple and be prepared for a spectacular fight, feel free to remove your
armor so that you may watch this divine duel more comfortably. When the fight
is over the High Chancellor will find and talk to you. You are the Champion of
Cyrodiil and will have a suit of Dragon Armor that is typically reserved only
for the Emperor made for you. Congratulations you have completed the main
storyline, now go forth and enjoy the rest of Cyrodiil that you worked so hard
to save.
**Reminder about getting your stuff back courtesy of Jukka**
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chapter 5 :City by City Sidequests
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Because I've gotten several emails on this I'll add it for the time being.
Chorrol:
Canvas the Castle:
The Countess is distraught cause someone stole her painting of the late, great
Count. You get to be her outside Investigator, a role you'll play in several
quests throughout the game. She gives you a list of suspects and a list of
people who might know something. Lastly she gives you a key that opens most
doors in the castle so you can do a physical search. Do you're talking first.
When you talk to people always play the persuasion mini game first or charm
them, that way you make sure to get all the info. The countess' steward has
nothing useful to say but speak to him anyway. Then move on to Orgnolf, he's
an ass, but he'll speak in defense of himself and tell you that he was yelling
at some delivery boy for breaking all his booze, when the boys horse slipped in
the rain. Chanel is next on the list, she will defend herself by telling you
she was outside star gazing, then retired to the west tower to make notes on
what she saw. Clearly one of these two is lying. Orok is next, he informs you
that he didn't see Orgnolf or Chanel because he stayed in his room all night
cause it was raining. Bittneld has little of note except that he had seen
Chanel in the west tower, supposedly working on her spell book. So that's the
basics of the interviews, you should have a good idea by now who did it but you
need physical proof. First stop should be the west tower, head down to the
lower part of the tower through the trap door and visit the other side of the
boxes to find a "strange" painting and a pallet of paints. Next head to the
dinning room just off the great hall, if you check the rug you'll see paint and
find a footprint. Finally head to Chanel's room, wait for her to leave if you
are a clumsy fighter, then look in her lectern to find stashed paints.
Suspicious much? You have enough evidence now to accuse someone, if you choose
correctly then you win the prize, choose wrong and...I don't know actually I
choose correctly.
If you've played Morrowind, you will recognize all of the character races and
many of the character skills, although I believe several have been combined,
i.e. short blade and long blade are no longer separate skills, just one big
"Blade" skill. But yeah here's the basics for you as I understand them so far.
I could have just "borrowed" what was written on Bethesda's web page but I find
my definitions so much more colorful. Enjoy.
----------------
Races of Tamriel
----------------
Argonian:
Beast races in Oblivion have changed since Morrowind, they can now wear boots
and helms.** They still have the same bonus skills and abilities though.
Argonians are not a strong combat race, it can be done, just not as easily.
Argonians are much better suited to magic and mischief making, or some
combination of the two. They get points for originality and style, but not my
cup of tea.
Resist Disease 75 pt. Constant Effect
Resist Poison 100 pt. Constant Effect
Water Breathing Constant Effect
Breton:
This is the race of choice for many hoity-toity mages. They are humanoid,
which means they could wear a full set of armor if you were so inclined to deck
them so. But, there is no question that this is a mage race, again, can be
played any way you desire but it will be easiest as a mage. Despite my love
for the flair of magic, I have to admit that the uselessness of magic in
Morrowind kinda turned me off of using these guys.
Fortify Max. Magicka 50 pt. Constant Effect
Resist Magicka 50 pt. Constant Effect
Shield 50 pt. Daily 1 min.
Dark Elf:
I'll put it on the table now that this is my race of choice, so expect me to be
biased. A jack of all trades race, these guys can successfully be played
whether they be armed to the teeth, have a spell book the size of Texas, or are
too busy stealing everything that isn't nailed down. Essentially the main race
in Morrowind, I understand them to be in far less abundance in Cryodiil. Again
with the right skill set these guys can be played any way you like without
extra difficulty.
Resist Fire 75 pt. Constant Effect
Summon Ghost Daily 1 min.
High Elf:
These dudes are the Bretons of Elves. Magic users through and through, and
probably even more arrogant. Being elves, they have a natural inclination to
both the arcane and the shadow, and can be played either way without too much
of a problem. Not a first choice for combat but like with everything else in a
game as free and open as Oblivion, it can be done.
Fortify Max. Magicka 100 pt. Constant Effect
Resist Disease 75 pt. Constant Effect
Weakness to Constant Effect
Fire 25 pt.
Frost 25 pt.
Shock 25 pt.
Imperial:
I'm gonna call them the Human Jack of all Trades race. Though they tend to shy
from the really heavy tank build, these guys can definatly fight. For that
matter they can do pretty much anything, just to a lesser degree as everyone
else. As their name implies, they are the race running the show, especially in
Cryodiil. So the easiest way to have your character get along with the NPC's
in this game will probably be being an Imperial.
The second beast race, and generally more popular than Argonians because these
guys have a drug habit just like the people who play them. That was a joke.
But seriously Khajiit will constantly be displayed as druggies and prisoners, I
have rarely seen a Khajiit who wasn't on the wrong side of the law to some
degree. They make excellent thieves coincidently enough, sneaking, back-
stabbing, stealing, whatever they need to do to feed their habit. They also
make decent warriors, though think light armor, short blades, and a quiver of
arrows, cause these can't go toe-to-toe with a hardened warrior like an Orc or
Nord.
Speak of the devil. Nords are warriors. I repeat Nords are warriors. Say it
with me now, Nords are.... Good. That being said, Nords also make interesting
battle mages, especially if you want to RP off the whole cold, giant like
aspect of Nords. I've played a Nord thief before, it was kinda fun, I'd
backstab one guard, steal his armor and weapon and then charge in through the
back door and slaughter the next 7 moving things I saw. A fun class to goof
around with and very good for beginners, no one likes you but your bigger than
everyone so it doesn't matter.
Resist Frost 50 pt. Constant Effect
Frost Damage 50 pt. Daily
Shield 30 pt. Daily 1 min.
Orc:
Not a beast race, though ugly enough to be. They can wear the helms and boots.
Anywho, Orcs are warriors. In fact just think of Orcs as green Nords, only
even Nords hate you. I don't recommend magic or stealth as an Orc, I recommend
big blunt objects, gotta play to the stereotype, right? But yeah you can
dabble in some destructive magic, just know that your big club is gonna be your
best friend.
Resist Magicka 25 pt. Constant Effect
Berserk Daily 1 min
Fortify Health 20 pt.
Fortify Fatigue 200 pt.
Fortify Strength 50 pt.
Drain Agility 100 pt.
Redguard:
Redguards are less your Nordic barbarian, and more your regal black knight type
of warrior. Proficient with any weapon you can think of and some you can't.
The typical Redguard can double as a shotty thief, if only because he'll kill
you before you can call an alarm after his stumbling wakes you. Another good
class for beginners, and generally more well liked than Nords.
Resist Poison 75 pt. Constant Effect
Resist Disease 75 pt. Constant Effect
Adrenaline Rush Daily 1 min.
Fortify Agility 50 pt.
Fortify Speed 50 pt.
Fortify Strength 50 pt.
Fortify Endurance 50 pt.
Fortify Health 25 pt.
Wood Elf:
The last of the elf races, and indeed the last race on this list, Wood Elves
are rangers and rogues. If you played Morrowind you probably loathe all Wood
Elves based on the fact that the first whiny character you meet is a wood elf
and almost all the other wood elves are whiny too. Wood Elves are hippies
without the drug habit, maybe they'll earn some respect back in Oblivion.
Resist Disease 75 pt. Constant Effect
Command Creature 20 pt. Daily 1 min.
**Info on change in beast races from Jessi**
*Correction on Imperial starting skills from Duncan*
-------------------
The Basics of Skill
-------------------
At this point I should just tell you to hit up the Elder Scrolls website, as
they have pretty pictures to go along with their skill descriptions but
whatever.
Combat Skills:
Armorer: Lets you repair your weapons and armor. Dull blades and
dented armor just don't look as pretty or work as well.
Attribute: Endurance
Athletics: Run, swim, and breathe. This skill makes you better at all
these things. By breathe I just mean you'll lose stamina slower and
recover it faster.
Attribute: Speed
Blade: If it has a pointy end and you're trying to make someone bleed
with it then you want this skill. Long blades, short blades, daggers,
etc. More skill equals more effective attacks.
Attribute: Strength
Block: ...umm Blocking. But seriously this used to be a passive skill
but is now an active skill which means you have to do it yourself. So
the higher the skill the less damage you will actually take when
blocking with shield or weapon.
Attribute: Endurance
Blunt: Large, heavy objects are blunt weapons, kinda like how blade
works this just makes you more effective with them. Think maces,
hammers, mauls, picks, axes...I woulda called that a slashing weapon
but whatever.
Attribute: Strength
Hand to Hand: Turns you into a brawler. In morrowind this did fatigue
damage first, then once you were beating their unconscious body it did
real damage. The skill just improves the effectiveness of your hits.
Attribute: Strength
Heavy Armor: Makes Heavy Armor worth wearing, especially if you're a
warrior of some kind. The higher this skill the higher defense you get
out of Iron, Steel, Dwarven, Orcish, Ebony, and Daedric armor.
Attribute: Endurance
Stealth Skills:
Acrobatics: Whether you purposely jumped off the roof of that building
or someone pushed you, this skill will help you either avoid damage
when you hit the ground or successfully make the jump to the next
building. Jumping was also the fastest way to get around Morrowind,
sans cheating. Coincidently Acrobatics was also the easiest skill to
raise quickly.
Attribute: Speed
Light Armor: Makes Light Armor worth more than its weight in gold to
all thieves and light infantry types. The higher the skill the more
defense you glean from Fur, Leather, Chainmail, Mithril, Elven, and
Glass armor.
Attribute: Speed
Marksmen: What Blades does for swords Marksmen does for bows and
arrows. Lots of fun for picking off guards from a rooftop they can't
jump to to slash you up. Though they might call someone who can.
Attribute: Agility
Mercantile: Here's a skill for all the bargain shoppers who haven't
realized that the five finger discount is even cheaper. You'll sell
for more and buy for less, so I guess if you're inclined to be lawful
or just plain greedy this may be beneficial.
Attribute: Personality
Security: I personally find it funny that a skill used to bypass locks
is called security...but regardless, this skill will open many doors
for you sooner rather than later, especially since I don't think this
game has fully destructible environments so you can't really bash your
way in.
Attribute: Agility
Sneak: Useful for allowing you to be where you shouldn't be without
getting pummeled to death. Also supposedly helps with pick-pocketing
though that was so damn near impossible in Morrowind that I gave up
trying. Due to some new tweaks, your sneak score will get lighting
and weather bonuses and penalties. So be smart in your sneaking.
Attribute: Agility
Speachcraft: Feel the need to be gifted with a silver tongue? Me
neither. But this is helpful for pissing people off enough that they
take the first swing. "I was only defending myself ocifer."
Attribute: Personality
Magic Skills:
Alchemy: Brew potions and understand reagents. This one is
interesting to play with but I don't know if I've ever seen someone
really use it for anything other than making money in game. Though I
can see the benefit to knowing what mushroom to eat to make you fly...
though flying has been removed from the game.... The good news is
alchemy is a great way to convert ill gotten ingredients into sellable
potions that any vendor would be more than happy to purchase from you.*
Attribute: Intelligence
Alteration: You change the things around you, make them bend to your
will. Don't feel like getting that spiffy robe wet? Just cast water
walking and you'll stay nice and dry. Also home to the coveted open
lock spell, for those of you who aren't a thief but want to pretend you
are.
Attribute: Willpower
Conjuration: You're a summoner, be it of creatures or strange weaponry,
if it exists in another dimension you can bring it to ours. Thanks in
advance I partially blame you for the portals all these creatures are
pouring out of.
Attribute: Intelligence
Destruction: You make things go BOOM!! If you're gonna play a magic
man you're gonna want a nice healthy level of destruction skill. Fire,
ice, and electricity will probably be your go to weapons of choice.
Attribute: Willpower
Illusion: Kind of like voodoo minus the doll. You can use illusion to
paralyze and control others, to make it so they don't see you or fall
in love with you if they do.
Attribute: Personality
Mysticism: This one deals more with the stuff you can't see. Absorb
anothers' magic or trap their soul in a crystal where they will forever
do your bidding. Useful for some things, but prized for the enchanted
weapons created through it.
Attribute: Intelligence
Restoration: Possibly the only school of magic more often to be used
than destruction, restoration heals you and makes you stronger.
Attribute: Willpower
*Alchemy hint via Olli*
-----------------
What's Your Sign?
-----------------
There are thirteen of these and most stop being useful within a few levels.
Pretty much anything that fortifies an attribute or a skill is a waste with the
exception of from an RP standpoint or to counteract your race's initial stats.
The Apprentice
Merit: Fortify Max. Magicka 100 pt. Constant Effect
The following people, companies and things contributed in some way to this
guide:
Bethseda
-Creating a game that I actually wanted to write a guide for
Me
-For actually starting this thing
Jessi
-Info on Beast Race changes
Duncan
-Info on Imperial Skills
Olli
-Info on turning hot goods to good potions
Jukka
-Reminder about you're belongings with regards to the Mythic Dawn Shrine
This guide currently has permission to be posted on the following sites:
-GameFAQs
-GameFly (through association, thanks for the heads up GameFAQs)
-GameSpot (also through association, you really coulda warned me)
-Cheat Code Central
-Neoseeker
-GamerHelp.com
-1up.com
This file is Copyright (c)2005,2006 Corey Blanding. All rights reserved. This
file is all my own work unless otherwise noted in the Credits section of
this file. This file may NOT be posted, or sold (complete or in part), on ANY
website or media without express written consent from myself. This file may
not be altered in any way by anyone other than myself without express written
consent. If this copyright is broken, action will be taken.
Feel compelled to comment on this guide, or even be one of those "if" people
mentioned above? Then just shoot me an email at the following address
neo(underscore)terran(at)hotmail(dot)com
I know it won't deter all spam but it's worth a shot.
If you decide to send me something make sure "Oblivion guide" is the subject
line, be it contribution, comment or question. Also in the email tell me where
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