As a faithful remaster of the originalOblivion (2006),The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remasteredis quite a well-understood game. What secrets it holds have long been discovered, as in terms of gameplay, it doesn’t really do anything majorly different, with a few exceptions.
Having said that, for quite a large number of people,Oblivion Remasteredis their very first foray into the lands of Cyrodiiland the Imperial City. This list is mostly meant for these newcomers, with a few interesting tidbits that even veterans may find useful.
8Local Map Toggle
A Hidden Shortcut For Seamless Dungeon Exploration
The map inOblivion Remasteredis split into two parts: the world map and the local map. The main way to access the local map is by zooming in all the way while on the world map. The only problem with this is that if players exit the local map and then press the map hotkey again, they are taken to the world map instead, forcing them to zoom in again. Most of the time, this isn’t an issue, but exploring dungeons or trying to find a specific house in a city gets very tedious very quickly.
What the game doesn’t tell players is that, on PC, they can use the toggle on the right corner of the world map screen to instantly go to the local map screen without having to zoom in. This toggle doesn’t work on consoles, unfortunately, but console owners can reopen the local map after closing it by pressing the Start key (instead of D-Pad Down).
7Restore Magicka with the Atronach Birthsign
Infinite Magicka With A Little Spell Absorption Trick
The Atronach offers players 150 extra Magicka and 50% Spell Absorption, making it one of themost powerful Birthsigns inOblivion Remastered. To balance this, the player character’s magicka regeneration is zero, meaning they have to rely on Potions of Sorcery, Welkynd Stones, or Ayleid Wells to refill their magicka. This is definitely doable, but it can be a hassle, especially in the early game.
What the game doesn’t tell players is that there is a special interaction with Spell Absorption and the Telekinesis spell that makes it so that if Telekinesis is cast, the caster’s “absorb magicka” ability triggers, recovering magicka. At100 Mysticismand 100 Spell Absorption, this method has a 100% success rate, allowing Atronach mage characters to easily refill their magicka bar in seconds, which ends up being even faster than traditional regeneration.
6Wrist Irons
The Most Underrated Item For Mages
Wrist Irons are a part of the default starting equipment for all characters inOblivion Remastered. For mage characters, this is one of the most important items in the game. The reason this is the case is because Wrist Irons are considered wrist clothing, the only armor piece of this type, and like all clothing, they can be enchanted.
There are other armor pieces that equip this slot, but none of those qualify as “clothing.” In Oblivion Remastered, all armor, whether it’s light or heavy, reduces a character’s spell effectiveness. Clothing does not. For players who have thrown away this item without knowing its value, there areother spots to obtain Wrist Ironsin the game.
5Racism Impacts Gameplay
Reputation Isn’t Just About Fame
Much of how the NPCs in the world will react to the player character is decided at the character creation screen, because therace a character picks inOblivion Remasteredhas a huge impact on how the residents of Cyrodiil perceive them. An Orc, for example, will find that most NPCs will deride them with scathing remarks when they first talk to them, give bad prices during transactions, and have a lower base disposition than normal. This is due to the inherent racism most races have towards Orcs.
On the other hand, Imperials will have a much easier time because the story’s setting is Cyrodiil, the central stronghold of the Imperial race. While this impact can be mitigated with a higher speechcraft skill and gaining fame by doing quests, it’s still something the game doesn’t expressly state, making new players often confused about why random passersby on the street hate them so much.
4Magic Skill Experience Gain
Magic XP Is Tied To Magicka Cost
In the originalOblivion (2006), magic skill experience gain was dictated by how many times a spell was cast. As a result, the most optimal strategy to power level any magic skill was to create a spell that required the least amount of magicka possible so that it could be spammed to level the related skill in seconds.
InOblivion Remastered, this is no longer the case. Instead of the number of times a spell is cast, magic experience gain is directly proportional to how much magicka a character spends. This makes high magicka cost spells that can drain the entire bar in one cast thefastest way to level the relevant skills.
3Permanent Bound Gear
Making Bound Items Last Forever
There are three types of Rune Stones spread out across the map inOblivion Remastered: Hestra, Reman, Sidri-Ashak. Upon activation, each type of Rune Stone will gift the player with two pieces of Bound Gear. If the Bound Gear’s durability is lowered (by taking damage or using weapons), and aRepair Hammer is used on it, it becomes possible to go to the inventory and ‘drop’ it on the ground. Dropped Bound Gear turns into regular items that persist forever.
The only problem with this strategy is that half of the gear obtained classifies as Heavy Armor, while the rest falls under the Light Armor category. This impacts not only the defenses the gear provides but also the Spell Effectiveness impact from wearing it.
2Unkillable Followers
Immortal Allies Make Tough Battles Easier
InOblivion Remastered, there are threetypes of followers players can recruit: Essential, Non-Essential, and Respawning. Most are non-essential, which means that if their health bar drops to zero, they die permanently. As a result, they make for terrible combat companions, especially at higher difficulties.
Essential followers are immortal, and when their health drops to zero, they merely enter a “downed” state instead of dying. Unfortunately, all Essential followers are locked to certain quests, leaving after their quest if completed. Respawning followers work the same way as Non-Essential ones, but after they die, they respawn after a certain duration and return to the player’s side. This makes them suitable helpers in combat as their deaths are not permanent.
1Passive Skill Training
Watch And Learn
A cool feature very fewOblivion Remasteredplayers are aware of is that watching certain NPCs at certain times of the day can be used to passively train some skills. Watching two fighters practicing their swordsmanship, for example, may level up the Blades skill, or watching two Arena combatants practicing their hand-to-hand combat increases the relevant skill.
This is not repeatable, meaning it cannot be used as a substitute for the actual leveling grind. Additionally, only certain NPC interactions have this feature; one can be found in the Cloud Ruler Temple, and another in theImperial City Arena.
