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Elder Scrolls Oblivion Best Build

Latest posts by Arron Kluz (see all)

Oblivion was my first RPG ever and has held a special place in my heart ever since. I return to it almost every year for a fresh playthrough in the province of Cyrodiil.

As much as I love the game, however, I have to admit that its leveling system is one of the most obtuse in the genre and is the most difficult to navigate in the series. With that in mind, I want to help new or returning players have access to some great builds to see what Oblivion all has to offer players. So, here are some of my favorite builds I’ve used throughout the years.

Oblivion’s Weird Leveling

When it comes to making a strong build in Oblivion, it is about giving your character the tools required to survive any game’s threats. There are plenty of ways to do so, but it can be challenging to find a way that works well due to its odd leveling system.

Leveling in Oblivion can also be especially harsh because every time the player raises their level, so does everything else in the game. When I first started playing the game, I had many characters hit a wall at higher levels where they couldn’t keep up with enemies anymore.

The way leveling works in Oblivion is that the player’s class selects seven of the game’s 21 skills as the player’s Major Skills. The rest are then labeled as Minor Skills. Now, it would make sense for Major Skills to be the ones in your build that you want to use the most frequently, which will likely be what you use in combat. However, it is the opposite because of the game’s level scaling.

This is because the player levels up whenever they raise any of their Major Skills a total of ten times. Players spend most of their time in combat during an Oblivion playthrough.

So, having your Major Skills be combat-related will see you level up faster. That sounds nice on the surface, but that causes you to level up faster, leading to your character’s other skills not being ready to deal with higher-level enemies.

So, I know that it isn’t intuitive, but you want your build’s Major Skills to feature the non-combat skills your character will be using. Skills like Mercantile, Speechcraft, and Alchemy all work well, as they can be easily leveled when you’re ready to level up but won’t get too high without you intending for them to do so.

What Is in Oblivion Builds

So, now that I’ve gotten the weird aspects of making a build in Oblivion out of the way, it’s time to take a look at what is all included in a build for this game.

Your build is determined as you go through the game’s tutorial to escape the Imperial prison, and you’ll get a chance just before you leave to finalize your decisions in case you try a build-out and decide you don’t like it at the lower levels.

The first part of any build is your character’s race. Each race in Oblivion comes with different bonuses and often a power, but all of the builds in this guide use the Breton race. I don’t have a particular affinity for the Breton race, but their racial bonus of +50% resistance to magic damage is undeniably the best in the game.

If you aren’t concerned with maximizing your build’s effectiveness, however, you can swap in any other races for these builds, depending on what you want to play. After your race, you’ll need to select the constellation under which your character was born. This decision is important for rounding out the build you want to use.

They have many different effects that I think are great for making stranger characters with unique play styles, but some are much more powerful than their peers. Since this guide focuses on muscular builds, we’ll only see the more mechanically solid ones.

Then, you’ll also need to select your custom class specialization between the options of Magic, Stealth, and Combat. These specializations cover a selection of skills that will level up faster as you play. For this reason, you should pick whichever one covers your Minor Skills. This is because you’ll be using them a ton throughout your playthrough, and they will start lower than your Major Skills because they’re minor.

Finally, your class will need a list of Major Skills. Again, these will be the skills you plan to use the least throughout your playthrough. I know it seems strange, but I promise it is the best way to tackle the game. For this reason, each of the builds below will detail how it is meant to be played and the best way to level up your Major Skills once you’re ready to level up.

Oblivion Warrior Build

elder scrolls the tower birthsign

Birthsign

If you want to go with a warrior build in Oblivion, there are a few solid options for your Birthsign. One that I tend to use a lot is the Tower, which gives you a daily power that can open a lock-up to Average difficulty.

This is nice because, as a warrior, you likely won’t have a ton of lockpicks at your disposal. Another healthy option I like to use is the Warrior to start with higher Endurance and Strength. While it is an obvious choice, it works well for this build.

Finally, you can also take the Steed Birthsign to increase your movement speed. This can help to keep the game moving while wearing heavy armor.

Major Skills

For a Warrior build’s Major Skills, I recommend taking the following:

  • Mercantile
  • Marksman
  • Restoration
  • Acrobatics
  • Mysticism
  • Light Armor
  • Sneak

These Major Skills will all be the ones that this build is the least likely to use while also giving you a tangible way to level up when you’re ready to. When I use this spread of Major Skills, I like to level up by finding an NPC practicing archery.

Then, I’ll don all light armor and equip a healing spell. This lets me stand in the NPC’s way to take damage and level my light armor before getting out of the way and healing to raise my Restoration.

Playstyle and Development

For this class’ specialization, you should choose combat. This is pivotal, as it will help you level up your Heavy Armor, Block, and weapon skills. My biggest problem with this class is that it starts a bit weak and vulnerable, so having the combat specialization is a great way to help your character reach a more viable position early in the playthrough.

For this build’s playstyle, you have a few options for your weapons. If you are passionate about hitting things with a hammer, you can take up Blunt, but I have found Blade far superior.

This is because Blade weapons are much more common in Oblivion when it comes to loot and shop inventories. This means you’ll have an easier time staying on top of your gear and keeping yourself equipped with reliable tools.

For this build, you should also use a one-handed weapon and a shield rather than a two-handed option. There are a few reasons that I suggest doing so, and I rarely would use a two-handed weapon at all. This is because having a shield will give you access to the Block skill and all of the abilities that it grants you when leveling it.

As you level up with this build, you should prioritize raising your Strength and Endurance. Strength will increase your damage, while Endurance will give you more Stamina for power attacks, higher carry weight, and more Health.

This build also benefits from leveling up your character’s Armorer skill and getting familiar with the game’s enchanting system. Armorer is helpful because it will save you tons of money on repairing your gear. It also is excellent for its special perk of repairing items above their standard durability. I can’t recommend it enough.

Oblivion Pure Mage Build

Thief Birthsign elder scrolls Oblivion

Birthsign

The Pure Mage is a build that only uses spells. That means that it won’t utilize any other gear or even bound items. For that reason, I would take the Thief Birthsign above the others.

This is because it increases your character’s Speed and Agility, allowing you to move quickly. It also increases their Luck, which applies to all skills. This is great for this build, as it uses every magical skill in the game. Otherwise, the next best option is the Mage for a flat 50-point increase to your Magicka. That works fine, but I don’t think it is as enjoyable to play with as using the Thief Birthsign.

Major Skills

For this build’s Major Skills, I use:

  • Armorer
  • Blade
  • Block
  • Blunt
  • Hand to Hand
  • Marksman
  • Security

These skills you should never need to use while playing with this build. This will ensure that you only increase them when you go out of your way, giving you complete control over your leveling and, thus, the world’s difficulty. When you are ready to level, there are two options.

The first I recommend doing before you gain access to spell-making at the Mage Guild. For this method, I suggest grabbing a shield and either blocking the arrows of NPCs practicing archery or just finding a low-level enemy and letting them hit the shield for a little while.

An excellent way to do this is to not progress too far into the Arena faction and block at an early combatant for a while.

Once you have access to spell-making, I recommend getting a set of cheap heavy armor and creating a spell that disintegrates your armor. Then, you will be able to wear down the armor and repair it, effectively leveling your Armorer to level up and your Destruction.

Playstyle and Development

For this build’s specialization, I always go with Magic. This is important so that you can level up your casting abilities quickly. Doing so is very important because this build is generally not very hardy. It is even more so early on in the playthrough since you won’t have access to very many spells or resources.

You can use any combination of the game’s magic schools for this build. I tend to focus on Conjuration to summon minions to fight for me while using Destruction spells to pick off enemies.

Regardless of which spell schools you end up making your focus, I strongly suggest making sure that you also give some love to Alteration and Restoration. Restoration is a great tool to have for healing. Alteration is also beneficial to use spells to open up locked doors and chests rather than getting lockpicks or leveling up the Security skill.

As you play through Oblivion with this build, there are some essential things to keep in mind. Firstly, you should focus almost entirely on increasing your Willpower and Intelligence. I cannot emphasize this enough, as investing in other attributes will mostly waste your investment points.

Spellmaking is also a pivotal part of this build and is one of my favorite parts of Oblivion. Selecting spells to cast in Oblivion is very clunky and annoying when using spell-heavy builds. Spellmaking can help alleviate this issue by allowing you to cast a single spell with multiple effects. So, if you consistently cast a summon and armor spell at the start of fights, you can combine those to be cast in one easy button press.

Oblivion Thief Build

Steed elder birthsign scrolls Oblivion

Birthsign

If you want to make a stealth build in Oblivion, there are only two Birthsign options. The first is the Steed for the increased movement speed that it grants. While that is a popular choice for the game’s community, I highly prefer the Thief.

This is because its attribute bonuses are significantly higher, and the Luck boost means you’ll get better loot. And isn’t that the real point of playing a thief character?

Major Skills

For this build’s Major Skills, I use:

  • Heavy Armor
  • Armorer
  • Blunt
  • Destruction
  • Hand to Hand
  • Mercantile
  • Speechcraft

With how much this build will see you selling items, you will likely level up your Mercantile and Speechcraft here and there, but it shouldn’t be so much that it interferes with your control over leveling.

Once you are ready to level with this build, the easiest way is to do some heavy armor and degrade it with a spell before repairing it. This will level up your Destruction and your Armorer, which will help you level up quickly once you’re ready.

Playstyle and Development

For this build’s specialization, make sure to take Stealth. This build will use some magic, but its core skills are the likes of Sneak and Security. Taking this specialization will allow you to get to a position where you can use Stealth throughout entire dungeons faster.

I usually run a strong bow and a Blade weapon like a sword or dagger for this build. These two options will be your primary source of damage, and you should try to always attack from Stealth for the bonus damage it provides. I usually prioritize using the bow and the Blade as a backup, but the build works well for either one, so it is up to you.

In addition, you should also invest attention into the Illusion school of magic and Alchemy. Illusion spells provide a lot of great utility for stealth-based builds.

Alchemy can also be an excellent tool for making potent poisons. Having your attacks kill enemies in a single hit is essential to stay in Stealth for this build, so having poisons to add to your damage helps you take down enemies in the first hit.

It would be best if you also tried to complete the quest at Nocturnal’s Shrine once you reach level ten to get the Skeleton Key. This will keep you from always buying lockpicks, which can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Oblivion Atronach Build

Atronach Birthsign elder scrolls

Birthsign

This build plays around the Atronach Birthsign to create a unique play style that is one of my favorites in the game. It increases your Magicka by 150, gives you a 50% chance to absorb incoming spells as Magicka, and prevents you from recovering Magicka normally.

Major Skills

For the Atronach build, I take these Major Skills:

  • Heavy Armor
  • Block
  • Armorer
  • Mercantile
  • Speechcraft
  • Blade
  • Blunt

When it comes time to level up your character, you should do it through the Heavy Armor, Block, and Armorer skills. I’ve found the best way to do so is to keep a complete set of gear ready so that you can equip it and get hit by some mud crabs for a while.

This is the best way to level this build because it will allow you to level up your Endurance, which is essential for staying alive early in your playthrough.

Playstyle and Development

On top of increasing your Endurance, I’ve found investing in Intelligence the best route as it increases your Magicka. Ensure you avoid Willpower, even though that is useful in most mage builds. Its main effect is increasing Magicka Regeneration, which is useless for an Atronach Mage.

For this build, I also find it very useful to focus on Alchemy during your playthrough. This build requires you to chug Mana potions nonstop, so being able to make a bunch of them will go a long way. It also is a great way to give yourself some survivability through resistance potions.

As an Atronach Mage, I suggest avoiding the Restoration magic school. Mana is the most crucial resource with this build, and trading it for health isn’t a very economical trade. Instead, make some health potions whenever you can.

Oblivion Monk Build

Oblivion Monk Build elder scrolls

Birthsign

The Monk build is all about dealing damage with nothing but its fists. I think it works best when you can move around quickly, so I usually take the Steed Birthsign and play a Dark Elf for their racial speed bonus. I’ve also run a Khajiit with the Warrior Birthsign, so that is an option if you prefer to be stockier.

Major Skills

For the Monk’s Major Skills take:

  • Alteration
  • Blade
  • Blunt
  • Light Armor
  • Armorer
  • Conjuration
  • Marksman

When playing as a Monk, you’ll want to focus on raising Speed, Endurance, and Strength as you level up. So, when you’re ready to level up, you should throw on a set of light armor and grab a sword to kill some low-level enemies and let them hit you a bit. Then, you can also fix the armor yourself.

Playstyle and Development

When playing as a Monk, you won’t use any weapons and will instead rely entirely on punching your enemies. I also usually use Restoration magic for added survivability and to help capture the meditative nature of the Monk archetype.

While Speed is important for this build, you should be able to level up your Acrobatics and Athletics fast enough that wearing Heavy Armor won’t impact your maneuverability too much. You can make Light Armor work if you prefer, but I’ve always found using Heavy Armor to feel better when playing a Monk.

When you first start with this build, you should also head straight to the Imperial Arena after leaving the sewers. You can watch two gladiators sparring for a free boost to your Hand to Hand skill. They also have a locked chest that holds a pair of gloves that will increase your Hand to Hand skill when worn.

Oblivion Oblivion-Walker Build

Apprentice Birthsign elder scrolls

Birthsign

This build requires a ton of Magicka right out of the gate. For that reason, I usually use Breton with the Apprentice Birthsign. This combo will leave you weaker to magical attacks, but it also dramatically increases your Magicka pool.

Major Skills

For the Oblivionwalker Major Skills, I use:

  • Armorer
  • Hand to Hand
  • Light Armor
  • Mysticism
  • Marksman
  • Destruction
  • Mercantile

This build needs you to improve your Endurance, Speed, Strength, and Intelligence to operate well. For that reason, when it comes time to level, I usually throw on some Light Armor and fight weak enemies without any weapon equipped. Then I repair it myself and span Mysticism spells as much as possible.

Playstyle and Development

This build is about making a character that fully embraces the powers of Oblivion through Conjuration magic. It is a build that sees you arming yourself with summoned equipment to transform into an unkillable tank that crushes the residents of Nirn.

For this reason, I prefer to use Conjuration spells that give you heavy armor or larger two-handed weapons to help sell the imposing nature of the Oblivionwalker. You also will want to stay well-stocked on Magicka potions, as you’ll burn through Magicka constantly to keep yourself equipped throughout fights.

Finally, this build also requires you to take full advantage of the Spellmaking mechanic in Oblivion. Casting numerous armor and weapon spells takes forever, so combining them all into a single spell will save you a ton of time and annoyance at the start of fights.

Regardless, this is one of my all-time favorite builds to run. The flavor and presence it brings to a playthrough are unlike anything else in the game, and it leaves you open to wearing the clothes that you otherwise wouldn’t since you don’t need armor on you at all times.

The Oblivionwalker build is also really fun because it adds the foil of having to keep yourself equipped with magic throughout a fight, making longer battles a difficult balancing act of resource management.

Oblivion Braveheart Build

Oblivion Braveheart Build steed birthsign

Birthsign

The Braveheart build blends together high damage from two-handed weapons with Light Armor, allowing players to dodge enemy attacks. With the build’s emphasis on dodging and light armor, I use the Steed Birthsign for a 20-point increase to Speed right from the get-go.

Major Skills

For the Braveheart build, I use these major skills:

  • Hand to Hand
  • Speechcraft
  • Mercantile
  • Conjuration
  • Destruction
  • Armorer
  • Sneak

For this build’s attributes, you’ll want to focus on Strength for damage, Speed for movement, and Personality to dabble in some Illusion. So, when you’re ready to level up, you can make people like you more, beat up some weak enemies without using a weapon, or cast a low-level bound spell repeatedly.

Playstyle and Development

As I said above, this build is about high damage and mobility. I don’t usually like using two-handed weapons in Elder Scrolls games, but I think it adds a lot of fun flavor to this build’s melee combat. It forces you to mix up how you approach fights by dodging and weaving between enemies rather than holding blocks to force enemies to open themselves up for a counterattack.

This helps make melee combat a lot more active and engaging throughout. On top of the build’s melee capabilities, I also like to add some Illusion magic. This allows you to cast effects like calming or paralyzing on enemies, further deepening the layers of its approach to combat.

When using the Braveheart build, I usually use a two-handed sword to complete the look, but using a hammer or axe is fine. However, I recommend sticking with Blade weapons as they spawn more frequently in loot tables, which will help you stay well-equipped throughout your playthrough.

FAQs

Question: Should you Make a Custom Class in Oblivion?

Answer: If you don’t care about maximizing your build or playing on the highest difficulty making a custom class in Oblivion isn’t necessary. The pre-made classes are all fine, but if you want to push the game to your limit, I highly recommend making a custom class.

Question: Why is Leveling in Oblivion Considered so Weird?

Answer: The main issue with leveling up in Oblivion is that leveling up is determined by raising your Major Skills. Whenever the player levels up, the game world’s difficulty also rises. If the player levels up their Major Skills too quickly, combat will get too difficult for the rest of their skills. So, it is often best to have your Major Skills be skills you don’t use frequently, which seems counterintuitive.

Question: What is the Best Birthsign in Oblivion?

Answer: The strongest Birthsign in Oblivion is The Thief. This is because its boosts to Agility and Fortify are universally helpful for all characters, and its boost to Luck impacts every skill in the game, which is enormous.

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Best Build: Conclusion

Oblivion may not be as new or visually appealing as Skyrim (I mean, look at those Orcs), but it is still a great RPG that is worth checking out. I hope that the above builds can help you experience the game for the first time or even give you some ideas for your very own.

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