When all five of the vampires have been destroyed, loot their bodies and return to Azura's Shrine to nab Azura's Star, an infinitely reusable Grand Soul Gem. Unfortunately, Azzan doesn't know the location of the thieves, and tells you to ask around for more information. That said, in order to sneak well, you need to know what factors take part in whether or not a nearby person can see you or otherwise detect you. GamesRadar+ takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love. Keep working through Kud-Ei's chat tree until you get the "Mages Staff" option. You can kill any of the Blind Moth Prelates you happen to encounter from here on in, if you wish, or you can just sneak past as many of them as you can, if you want to leave them be. Return to the Waterfront Unfortunately, there is a problem when you return to the Waterfront: it's crawling with Watchmen, all of whom are looking for Armand. You'll pass through Belletor's Folly, a small camp set up on the road leading into town. In the case of skills, this doesn't seem to have much of an effect (your Heavy Armor won't protect you any better at 110 than it does at 100, for instance), but it's a great way to permanently add another 10 points to a critical primary attribute if you've already maxed it out. Although he's been complaining about the dangers of running contracts while having a family, you don't have many choices but to make some orphans here. Lastly, bring along any Potions of Invisibility that you might require, as a weapon of last resort. If you're spotted - by anyone! As your disease progresses, more and more people will recognize you for who you truly are, and most of them will refuse to speak to you. If you can somehow get him to drink a flagon of mead, he'll be much weaker than he would be normally. You can tell Modryn that Maglir actually did complete the task, if you wish; you'll gain the same amount of cash either way. How do you lower your Personality? The solution to this little riddle is save your game just before you head into the citadel's final room. He wants you to free them from their bonds of oppression. Alternately, you can just hop onto the ship and try to find a passage inside, but doing so will cause all of the pirates near the ship to become hostile to you. You can read it in one of three manners: Steel, Shadow, or Spirit. Masque of Clavicus Vile (+20 Personality Mask), Volendrung (Paralyze, Drain Health hammer). If you let him know you're there, wait for him to turn invisible, then stand so that the central pillar is between you and he, he'll eventually come back into sight. The process is a bit trickier with shopkeepers, who'll follow you around their shops in an effort to keep you in sight. Killing Phillida If you head down to Leyawiin, you should be able to find Phillida via the pointers on your compass. Burd will tell you about Jearl, which gives you the prompt to tell him that she was a Mythic Dawn agent. From there, head west or northwest until you start seeing sets of stone stairs cut into the mountain. Well, if you travel to the village of Brindle Home and persuade someone there to talk about him, they'll tell you that Melus hasn't raised a fist in anger since his wife Vena died, and that he visits her grave once a day. If you can find another Strange Candle on the easternmost side of the room, the middle cask will open, revealing a hidden passage. Most of these character archetypes are just suggestions; one of the joys of Oblivion is making a custom character and seeing how they work. And where might that be? When you find Galtus Previa's corpse, pick up the shield near his body and return it to Modryn. You can find his shrine just to the southwest of the Imperial City. Speak to the Countess and tell her about Martin's plan. (Eww!) You need to head to the South Watchtower, which can be reached from either the Temple District or the Arboretum. Get the hell out of there! Make your way through the Imperial Subterrane, avoiding the guard as he makes his rounds, and infiltrate the Imperial Prison. Poisons can't be ingested, so they can't really hurt you. This unicorn is located near Hircine's Shrine, so at least you won't have a long way to walk. Poor Vidkun. Needless to say, this is one quest that you should prepare for beforehand. Umbra is a fiercesome threat, but she offers great rewards. If you want to try and prevent this, note that there's a door near the entrance from the Shrine; if you lure the Acolytes through, then close the door, you may be able to wedge them into the first small room and prevent them from escaping. Keep in mind that the length of time you hold back the bow will increase the power of your shot, which in turn will decrease the amount of arc that your arrow travels through. Shady Sam is a better choice for characters that wish to obtain lockpicks without joining the Thieves Guild. Not quest-critical, but an interesting place to explore if you're looking for something to do. Again, though, it doesn’t matter how you kill him, so long as you loot the body and get the finger. The necromancers have apparently succeeded in completing the construction of a large Black Soul Gem. Around halfway between Brasil and Leyawiin. Note that, unlike Morrowind, your Minor Skills have no impact on the rate at which you level, no matter how much you raise them between levels. Zombies are weak to fire magic, so feel free to blast them with the Fireball Adrienne gave you. Vicente's next task for you is a doozy: he wants you to infiltrate the Imperial Prison and kill a Dunmer named Valen Dreth. This includes people, but note that using it against regular civilians is considered a crime, due to the fact that the clone will always attack the original. If you are caught stealing or pickpocketing, then you'll find yourself facing off against...a loading screen? Although some of the heavier reagents might be worth a good amount of money when sold, they're rarely going to be that much more useful than lighter-weight reagants. If all goes as planned, you should hear the tone indicating you hit the target (or at least be able to adjust your aim based on the puffs of smoke), and you'll be able to equip the Arrow of Extrication (without moving your aim!) These items can be anything from alchemy ingredients that you're saving, a quest item that you know you'll need later on, or heavy weapons that you don't need at the moment. If, however, you want to make some actual potions, here are some ideas. It's difficult to reach, however; you'll probably have to scout around for Fort Facian, which is located to the southwest of the shrine, and follow the rough path there up to the shrine. But hey, he's immortal, so one more death isn't going to bug him overmuch. He's recently retired to Leyawiin, far from his cronies in the Imperial City. When you're ready to track her down, head over to the Gray Mare Inn to speak to her. Follow the marker on your compass to the cave and head inside. Remaining that way requires you to stay out of your enemy's line of sight (which doesn't necessarily mean that you have to stand behind them all the time) and to stay quiet. The amount of noise you make depends on the weight of the boots that you're wearing and how fast you're moving. The two Ayleid Guardians on either side of the statue will also animate, so poison them from afar and then outrun them to finish them off, or just chop them down with weapons if you're a melee-oriented character. If you travel to Leyawiin, you can either find Ahdarji's house on your own, or ask a beggar for the info. While in most RPGs, you want to level up as quickly as possible to gain an advantage over your enemies, that's not always going to be the case in Oblivion. You'll also have to pick a five-tumbler lock, but heading in this way will position you directly behind Tussaud, allowing you to sneak attack him, or just slip a Poisoned Apple into his inventory and wait for him to keel over. You can kill Arkved if you like, but he doesn't offer any decent loot. Damage Health: Many common ingredients can be added to Damage Health poisons at this point, including apples, flax seeds, grapes, onions, and pears. Still, though, mage characters are likely going to be able to just cast something they buy in a store, while fighters and thieves will likely be able to make or buy plenty of Healing or Restore Health potions. From there, walk north outside of the Imperial City's walls. The Blackwood Company will come into play in the future; for now, it's time to get some jobs for these poor, downtrodden folk! Each skill also has a rank associated with it, which indicates a different level of power, which in turn lets you unlock new abilities related to that power. GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers. Feel free to select it in your inventory and use it to try and make some rudimentary potions or poisons. When you do complete Armand's task, though, he'll point you to the location of Ongar the World-Weary in Bruma, one of the Thieves' Guild fences. He'll tell you about another member of his party that was dragged off to the nearby tower; it's up to you to rescue him! Do anything you think you might need to do to get ready for a tough fight. If you speak to him, he'll tell you of his vampirism, and offer you the first contract for the Dark Brotherhood. If you have any magical weapons capable of dealing extra damage, it might be worth your while to try and quickly kill Harrow to grab your gold off of his body before making your escape. Jauffre may have died, no matter what you do in the Plane of Oblivion, so feel free to mourn him before looting his corpse. The Company members aren't going to be happy to see you, though, so come loaded for bear: bring poisons, potions, charge up your magical weapons. You will, however, have to buy them one at a time, which can be a pain. Ungolim is an archer who's going to be automatically hostile to you when he spots you, so be ready for a fight. Standing Power Attack becomes available; hold down button while standing still. Seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? Continuing past the shrine will lead you to the mess hall, where an intimidatingly large number of foes are arrayed against you. Only one of the markings has a direct reference in the tome, however, so in order to get more acquainted with the translations, speak to Denel. Regardless, leave the library and head left to reach the Monk Priests' Quarters, and pass through there to the Imperial Battlemage's Chambers. Alternately, you can charm his wife, who should be standing nearby, and she'll tell you that Soris has the staff locked up in the basement. The first is actually in the immediate vicinity: if you look at your local map, you'll note that there's a secondary door in Melisande's hut, which leads into her basement. She does make some kind of reference to "The Master", which bodes well for some kind of Manos-esque arch necromancer at the end of this questline. If you make a save just outside the door, you can run into the final room, check the treasure chests (which themselves often have great items) and nab the Sigil Stone. Try to do this as quickly as possible, before Laenafil and the Orcish guard are done with their conversation, because when they are, they'll move to this area, making it more difficult to sneak up on the medicine cabinet. Anyway, if you were nice enough to give Maglir credit for completing his earlier botched assignment, he'll be kind enough to give you the name of the contract which he defaulted on; if you told Modryn the truth, he'll be standoffish, and you'll have to return to Modryn for the name of the quest-giver. Just head to the Waterfront district, and bring along some potent weaponry. She has Argonian resistance to poison, so this will be the best chance you have of getting a good first blow in. Anyway, there isn't a "perfect build" in Oblivion - there's only what you enjoy playing. Rugdumph's sword casts Silence when it hits, meaning it'll completely shut down many spellcasting enemies if you use it against them. You can take a Resist Disease potion when fighting against vampires, sure, but it wouldn't be guaranteed protection and you'd have to take it again every couple of minutes. Even getting negative results will raise your skill in Speechcraft, so try to take the time to Persuade anyone you meet that offers you the opportunity to do so, even if they're just an average joe that doesn't have anything important to tell you. Of course, if you kill them in one shot, then they'll fall to the floor, and any other nearby foes won't be alerted at all, even if they see the corpse flop around in front of them - they'll only be alerted if they happen to see you. They've been spotted leaving the city and heading east, so you'll just have to follow them and put a stop to their nefarious dealings. Feel free to loot the Mythic Dawn's storehouse if you can pick the Hard lock; there isn't anything tremendously exciting. Light: The more light that's falling on you, the harder it'll be for you to stay out of sight. If you poked around in Leyawiin during the Drunk and Disorderly quest, you may recognize the make of the shield, even if Modryn isn't interested in talking about it just yet. None, and difficult to find. They're the most personable of all the races, though, typically well-liked by everyone, with the gift of a golden tongue. Prince of Destruction, huh? This local alchemist should have some work for your men. The Goblin Shaman by the door has a number of items, including the key that will let you into the Imperial Substructure. We've gotten through most of the game without ever casting Dispel or Cure Poison on ourselves, so you should probably steer clear of this birthsign. The Commander's seal is lying atop his desk, so simply use it to seal the forged letter, then bust out of there, but not before re-checking his chest next to the desk, which should be chock full of spicy equipment you can steal and sell to raise money for the rest of the quests in the Thieves Guild. After you hit them the first time, they'll immediately detect your presence and come after you, usually alerting any nearby enemies as well. When you enter, Francois will immediately find you and speak. Note that much of this information is repeated in our Alchemy Tips chapter. Don't sweat over this choice overmuch at the moment; you'll be able to change your mind again in the future if you don't like what you selected. Most of the time, though, the uses are too narrow and too short-lived to be useful. When you pop out, you'll be contacted by a Thieves Guild member who'll clue you in to a secret meeting in the Imperial City's Waterfront District at midnight. Note that the Cowl of Nocturnal, while an incredible item for thieves, will cause most guards to attempt to apprehend you on sight, since they'll assume that you're the Gray Fox. Luckily, the interior of the cave doesn't possess any Wills; only trolls populate it. You may want to perform this latter task in the middle of the night, though, when Soris and his wife are asleep. Modryn wants you to track down one Maglir, a low-ranking Fighters Guild member who defaulted on a contract. Unfortunately, learning the intricacies of picking locks can lead to a whole lot of broken lockpicks, especially early on in the game, forcing many players to bypass locked doors and chests in dungeons. To facilitate your entrance, he'll give you a key to the Imperial Prison Sewers, which you used to escape from the prison lo those many weeks (months? When you do finally reach it, kill all four of the mountain lions. You can head into it, or follow the path to its end to find a door leading on to the third tower (which has nothing in it). Jearl and Saveri aren't exactly subtle about their Mythic Dawn leanings. He worries that the Blackwood Company might've attempted to take over the Water's Edge settlement. It's a great way to make lots of money by selling potions, or to increase your efficacy in combat by producing useful potions and poisons. She'll send a recommendation off for you, and teach you a low-level Charm spell for free. In the Buroseli, find Falcar, kill him, and grab the Colossol Black Soul Gem off of his body. Benefit: Can turn invisible for 60 seconds once per day. Now, you can ask a beggar if need be, but your destination is marked on your map from the get-go. You don't need all four pieces of the puzzle to make a potion, but they're relatively easy to find, at least in the beginning of the game. Gains a chance to knock down an enemy with successful arrow shot. On the second day, they'll all be +10, and so on, up to the fourth day, when they all gain +20. The Orc and the Redguard here are likely going to be two of the more difficult enemies you'll face, and unfortunately they're both at the very start of the tournament. You're to take Viranus Donton, the son of the guildmaster, out into the field to find Galtus Previa in the Nonwyll Cavern near Chorrol. Either way you go, get your cull on and grab some galls. Sigh...you can feel better about your needing to kill him since he summons a zombie to help him out. If you've got "hot" goods that you wish to "move" at a "fence", then "peep" Ongar in "Bruma". Before you attempt to run past him (on the left), be sure you're at full health. Handing It In Now, at this point, you can either return the sword to Clavicus, or just use it yourself for a while. While it's unlikely that you'll ever actually use all 180 seconds of Invisibility (due to the fact that it goes away when you interact with an object or attack), it can profitably be used to maneuver past too-tough enemies (although there won't be many of these by the time you hit your fourth day) or escape from a tough group of enemies. Bloodgrass grows all over the place in Oblivion, so just pop into an Oblivion gate and pick a couple of them. Well, how do crazy homeless people do it? All of the pirates near the ship are now hostile to you, though, so be ready for a fight when you leave! Here's a short list of what you can do and what they offer you in return, as well as whom you can speak to to find the location of the Daedric Shrine required to start the quest. Relevant Attribute: Personality Low Trainers: Alga, Bruma (Honmund's house); Uravasa Othelas, Bravil's Chapel Medium Trainers: Varon Vamori, Bravil; Gruiand Garrana, Cheydinhal's Chapel High Trainer: Tandilwe, Temple of the One, Imperial City Temple District. If you're familiar with the Burden effect, then you'll know that you're going to face the risk of being over-encumbered when you pick it up. Search all of the treasure chests in the area before heading into the Entry Hall. Disposition decays 50% slower during Persuasion minigame. At any rate, you can't walk in and just attack, or you'll rack up a murder bounty; instead, you have to wait for Ja'Fazir to approach you and tell you that your life is forfeit before the festivities can begin. After obtaining the Daedric Artifact for Martin (or after enough time has passed since he gave you that quest), he'll tell you of another item he'll need to open the gate: the blood of a divine. What it does mean is that the game's main storyline has been completed, and that all of the Oblivion Gates in the world will have shut permanently; no more Sigil Stones or Daedra Hearts for you! If you head down alllll the way to the bottom of the pool, though, you'll run across a Giant Slaughterfish with some amusingly weird stuff on its corpse, as well as an exit that leads out to the middle of Niben Bay, out in the middle of the water. The Bloodworm Helm is in Fort Teleman, well to the southeast of the Imperial City. With all of the cities on your side, speak to Jauffre in Cloud Ruler Temple to finish this quest. After the short goblin skirmish here, head into each of the three houses and clear them out as well. If you examine the books' first words of each paragraph, you'll receive the following messages. If you let her complete her orders, Brother Martin will be relocated to the camp, and you'll have to walk down to find him. Follow the markers on your compass to reach the Dining Hall, which in turn will lead you to a small section of the County Hall, which will lead you to the Courtyard. Although it appears separate, the two locations are actually connected underground. Feel free to listen to his little spiel, if you wish; when it's over, he'll sit down, and his children will move to attack you. Your task? A half-Life collection. If you unlock the switches at the top of the two smaller towers, the bridges about halfway down the smaller towers will extend to the larger tower, allowing you to head outside and reach the top of the tower directly to shut down the Gate. If you head to the Waterfront at midnight, you should be able to find Armand Christophe, one of the Thieves Guild mucky-mucks, standing in the gardeb behind an abandoned shack in the slum section of the zone, starting around 11:30 PM. On the first day of your vampirism, you and your pale skin won't necessarily feel any ill effects from sunlight, apart from making some itchy flaking. Kill the Xivilai near the exit and get your loot before return to Paradise. The Destruction magic here should be used as a followup to your opening sneak attacks. (Find or buy a lot of Cheap Wine to reduce your score here. Anyway, sounds pretty straightforward. Martin will lead the defense of Bruma while you head into the Great Gate and find the Sigil Stone. You'll be able to kill him later to get it back, but this can be difficult, especially if you're a stealth character, so if you're worried about your roll getting taken permanently, invest it beforehand in something, like expensive equipment or training. You'll have a rude awakening when you reach the Priory again. After finding the Mystic Archives, talk to Tar-Meena, who'll tell you to track down a book called Necromancer's Moon. Who knew a little murder could be so profitable... Lastly, if you become a vampire and complete the quest to find a cure for a certain NPC, you can repeatedly highlight the "Reward" option in that NPC's dialogue menu and click it to obtain the reward he offers you as many times as you like. If he does make it back to the ruins, you'll have to follow him inside and track him down, while ignoring the slaughter behind you, where your teammates have likely turned on one another. There are more in the other small exit in the northern side of the helmet's room.