Leveling but not what you think

[Roenman24]

Yes i have read some of the "leveling" search posts. But i still have some questions. So i followed the plan of putting everything im not gonna really use as major and everything is slower which is understandable (unless its just my game my damage is much lower). But the real question is if it is my major skills that level me up and i will not really use them how do i level up at all. Another thing i understand that if u put what you do want as your major skills you get owned later but would it be any different if i had my difficulty on the easiest ( please dont ask i like things easy). Cause i do understand that like later on i would get destroyed on regular difficulty but the better damage and items and such is so tempting so with easiest difficulty would i get owned?


Sorry if its a repost. thanks.

[galraen]

It depends on what your major skills are. The easiest to level up with are magic skills, especially once you have access to the spell making altar. If one of them was hand-to-hand then walk along the beaches thumping mudcrabs.

What are your major skills?

As for playing on the easiest setting, I imagine you would saunter through the game without breaking sweat. I've never tried myself, the lowest I've played on is two clicks below average.

[Claudius]

I play so that 20 damage ought to kill a deer and I just set the difficulty slider to the minimum to accomplish this.

But to answer your question: Yes you gain levels by leveling the skills set in your majors...So you use them only when you want to gain a level. Simply use the skill and it will level (some skills need an enemy to target to use or get hit by an enemy).

I would suggest using some balancing mods like Fransesca's or OOO (look at GB link sticky on mods and also oblivion wiki section on mods). I am playing with fransesca's and a mod that makes my level/abilities a mathematical function of my skills. So if I am better at marksman, sneak, and lockpicking then I get a high agility for example. The higher my abilities go up the higher the level...

I find power training abilities breaks the immersion (unless say I am having fun jumping around on rocks to train acrobatics...but it shouldn't be a chore). The two things I don't like are dying constantly (or no challenge) and having the world seem ridiculous. The first I control by altering the difficulty slider + tactics and experience. The second I change with Fransesca's (I am referring to the world morphing from 1000s of wolves and iron/fur armor up to 1000s of xvilae and daedric suited bandits roaming all around at high level).

[Roenman24]

Well i have it on ps3 so i cant exactly get a mod or anything but i mean its easy enough with slider maxed. But my main question is if i have the bar maxed out could i just go with like blade block athletics acrobatics destruction restoration illusion ( these are the ones that i want as my majors) i no it gets harder later and u cant really do anything once u keep getting owned at higher levels but would difficulty change that?

Just in case you didnt understand that like what is better to do for the long run

make the things you want your character to be the minors and other things that u dont really want majors?

or on easiest setting make majors what you want?

[galraen]

Originally Posted by Roenman24

what is better to do for the long run

make the things you want your character to be the minors and other things that u dont really want majors?

or on easiest setting make majors what you want?

It's a matter of personal choice really, both work towards the same end.

I note that you want Illusion as a major, implying you use it a lot. The only thing I can see using Illusion a lot for is Chameleon, potions are actually more effective than the spell for invisibility. Once you get to the stage where you can have 100% Chameleon it's game over anyway, that's effectively 'God mode'.

[Roenman24]

o ok thanks i think ill go majors then on easy and see how it goes thanks again

[Claudius]

with the difficulty slider maxed you'll do 6x the damage and receive 1/6 the damage.

Spoiler (some example of monster types and how easy they were at 1/3 difficulty slider):
I restarted a character at higher challenge (I was maybe 1/3 of the way from the left) when I realized that my level 11 character could take down a gloom wraith - a level 26 monster? - with an elven mace enchanted to 3 shock damage/hit. And Will o the Wisps which are highly powered midlevel - 11 - monsters went down in 3 hits do my damage health dagger (greater soul gem powering it and max damage health (20) for that gem).

I think a good idea for majors is ones you want to level faster. Like if you want any kind of mercantile skill you better be stealth with merc as a major or it will level slow as molasses. Restoration takes forever to level as well as destruction unless you use dest for every battle. Marksman takes for ever to level because you usually do only limited shooting and toe to toe archery isn't as good idea as hit and run. Armorer is good early because you can't repair enchanted gear till your 50 in Armorer. Plus the endurance bonus if you are not heavy armor. Athletics takes ages to level and it sucks to be slow. It takes a long time to get decent acrobatics if you don't start out with it. Block is pretty difficult to level because its a bad combat strategy until its higher level...Similarly leveling blade, block, or hand to hand from 5 or 10 is difficult unless the difficulty slider is on easy/you have lots of healing potions and easy monster spawns - good armor or alteration

Skills that level like wildfire: conjuration, mysticism, illusion, light armor, heavy armor, alchemy if you make potions purely for cash, armorer if you pick up all bandit gear and repair

[Roenman24]

ok so i took your advice and went with everything you said to put as majors but instead of merc i put security cause im kind of bad with picking locks but thanks

[Claudius]

You might have to play with it awhile to find a combination you like (I did). As you get more experienced with the game (and the difficulty slider helps too) you will find that any combination can work it is more a matter of what you like and dislike. For example I feel really cool when I fire arrows from stealth but someone else might love to summon things and use destruction magic. It all depends.

My current char is stealth: armorer, blade, athletics, marksman, sneak, mercantile, restoration. So far each of those have saved my butt except merc/armorer is just keeping me having money. And I haven't used marksman much (but believe me unless you don't intend to use bow at all it is VEERRYY painful to level marksman all the way from 5).

One way of looking at it is this: You can take skills you WANT to use. If you do that you will be strong because those skills will be high level power (granting that you can use difficulty slider to match the game to your tactical/experience level). OR you can take skills you will NEVER use. Then you will be strong because your skills will go up and up but you (and the monsters) will only gain levels when you train the skills you never use. The second strategy really isn't necessary unless you want to beat the game at the hardest difficulty setting...which is analogous to installing mods to make a game more difficult and at the same time using all the engine exploits and AI exploits to make yourself win.

[Roenman24]

yeah thanks im seeing that now ive been through like 7 characters but i think im good now just one last question is it better to go heavy or light in the beginning because i no most people go heavy later?

[galraen]

Originally Posted by Roenman24

yeah thanks im seeing that now ive been through like 7 characters but i think im good now just one last question is it better to go heavy or light in the beginning because i no most people go heavy later?

That depends, at least in part, on your character's starting strength. If he/she's an Orc, then go for heavy, but if it's a Bosmer, then light is probably all they can handle initially. Heavy gives the best protection, and is more durable, but weighs a ton.

[Roenman24]

im a khajit and theyrre good thieves but it would be good to get a head start on heavy for later but then again i am on a really easy setting so what ever

[Claudius]

For thieves until you hit journeyman of sneak wear light boots so you don't penalize your sneakiness. Light armor hits weightlessness at level 75 and is much lighter before then. Heavy hits weightlessness at 100. Light is as strong as heavy at 100 but it isn't as durable (but by then you'll have mad skills with magic and mad enchanted items).

If you want to wear heavy and weight is a real problem consider working on alteration. You can make a alteration spell that is 120 seconds of 100 extra carrying and its not too expensive to cast (so you can carry the loot).

Plus I usually make multiple trips into a ruin and clear out everything worth money (unless its like 50 lbs. and worth 5 g)

[Roenman24]

haha i have to thank you so much i was so confused before when i played but im starting to get it now also if i increase the difficulty its harder yes. but i hit more and get hit more so i can increase skills and stuff. Any way thanks again

[sheri]

I hope this question belongs here.I decided I like always getting 2 - 5 point bonuses when I level up. It looks like I get 1/4 point for every minor, & 1/2 point for every major increase. Is this the accurate formula?I work on minors tons so I'm really powerful and don't level up too fast. Kajiit level 34