Oblivion Update (DELIBERATELY VAGUE SPOILERS)

[filkertom]

I just got through the second part of the main quest in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

The entire sequence was a combination of the massive jolt of "What the hell are you? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?" the first time I saw the Ghostfence in Morrowind... and Silent fucking Hill.

I beat it at Experience Level 2.

I tell you this neither to make you think the game is easy nor to show off my l337 gam0r skillz. I got my ass kicked thirty-seven ways from Sunday, died about fifty times, and was down to less than a dozen arrows, and I finally made it only by incredibly careful rationing of resources, saving after every fight (often while another critter was readying an attack at the far end of the room), tactical trial and error, sheer dumb luck, and the grace of the game itself (you'll see what I mean). My point is, it's gonna look horrific, but you can beat it... but, for God's sake, level up some before you go to get the kid, and bring lots of healing magic or potions, attack magic, and ammo. If you try to slug it out, you will likely die horribly, again and again and again.

Comments

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

No victory screenshots?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Too spoilery. And, things were happenning too damn fast. The last thing I was worried about was hitting the PrtScr button.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

So, has the game inspired any music yet? An Oblivion ode? I ask because a few years ago, a friend and I were playing a mediocre first person shooter with a ghoulish monster theme and it was getting awfully pedestrian, so just for fun I turned off the sound and put on my CD of "The Carl Stalling Project." Powerhouse matched up almost perfectly during our assault on a midlevel boss, but we kept losing because we were laughing so hard. Ever since then I always wondered why there's so few filk songs about games.

Probably because all of the minstrels are too busy playing.

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

damn you tom smith...it's probably your fault that tc bought oblivion....and i am being neglected!!!!!!

sigh!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Now, now. Just go over and make appropriate ooh and ahh noises regarding tc's adventurous successes -- carefully taking notes over the shoulder for when you play....

[pyrephox.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a beautiful adventure. It had me freaked out most of the way through, and the end was just perfect. They are NOT KIDDING when they tell you to save often! :D

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Finished already, eh? Kewl. I'm planning to take my sweet time, but the main quest got hopping so suddenly, it may take awhile to get away from it....

[pyrephox.livejournal.com]

Nah, just that part, and a little further. :D I got distracted by the mind-boggling amount of stuff to do. But I've gotten up to level 28 or so.

Sadly, a few of my quests are broken, so I have to try and work around them.

[andamaroo.livejournal.com]

I'm level 8 or 9 and I haven't even started the main quest yet, other than getting the free hourse.

Too much other stuff to do.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Am I missing something? Is there a way to fight on horseback? 'Cause I don't even want to deal with that stupid beast. I keep getting attacked, and can't do a frickin' thing, and it's too much trouble to defend it.

[andamaroo.livejournal.com]

No, when I got my speed higher I ditched my horsey.

I've mainly been focusing on the arena and the thieves guild. No time to find the emperor's only heir.

[nomaddervish.livejournal.com]

Kind of sad that horses are just a speed boost and nothing more... I bought one when I first got to Chorrol expecting that I would be able to dump loot on it while off adventuring in the wilds, but, no, the stupid horses don't even appear to have saddlebags. So I reloaded from my previous save and haven't bought another one since.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I bet we'll have mods with both within the month. I just got one today -- haven't had the chance to play it yet -- that provides the light-armor version of Blades Armor, so I'm going back (thankfully not all that far) to the point where I...

... but that would be telling. ;)

Congradulatons

[farnex.livejournal.com]

Congradulations on this milestone in Oblivion. I confess I don't know the game but I just threw my rented Xbox 360 controler at a wall after losing to Alpha-152 on DOA4 for the 67th time so I can truley understand the level of elatment you are feeling in finally conquering this obstacle. Good job and Game on!

[nomaddervish.livejournal.com]

Level 2, huh? Huzzah for Oblivion's 'scale the entire world to match your level' mechanic. :p I've been watching the official elderscrolls.com forums lately and that is, by far, the number one complaint people have about Oblivion and there are easily half a dozen mods already out there trying to fix it.

Regarding your advice, what I've read on the forums suggests that level 8 or 9 is the optimal time to do that step and it's actually harder if you wait longer because the bad guys level up to match you, but the guards on your side don't - one person said they did it at 14 or 15 and all the guards got one-shotted. Which has me plenty scared, because I'm just now making my way in that direction at level 20... (Thankfully, the posts about it have been spoiler-free, referring to the event simply by the name of the city where it takes place.)

A Few Minor Spoilers (Location Names), So Be Careful

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

See, part of the... I don't want to say problem, because I haven't really had any, apart from just general baddie-toughness (not being a power-gamer, I hardly ever do any of the levelling-up things outside of just adventuring around 'n' stuff, and, besides, training's expensive)... part of the situation is that it's ridiculously easy to get to that point in the game. All you really have to do is use fast-travel to go to the abbey, and then use it again to go to Kvatch. Even with getting supplies, that's, what, a few minutes after getting out of the sewers at the beginning.

I just want a better supply of cheap healing potions, is all.