The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Hints

Stockpiling Tips

  • 1 of 11: You'll find literally tons of good stuff to take in most cities and dungeons, but your inventory's weight capacity is limited, and you're utterly immobilized if you have just one unit of weight over your maximum. If you have just under your max, you can run and jump as if you were totally unencumbered. (Dumb, but true.)
  • 2 of 11: Your Strength stat determines your maximum carrying capacity, so it's important to start the game with a high Strength and keep practicing and training Strength-related skills so you can get attribute multipliers for it when you level up.
  • 3 of 11: Also, keep a few Strength-enhancing potions or spells handy for when you get over-encumbered and need to get somewhere to sell or store items. (Unbelievable though it may seem, this game has no teleportation spells of any kind. What *were* they thinking?)
  • 4 of 11: Skooma is a very powerful Strength-enhancing potion, so it would be a good idea to keep some on hand for emergency loot-carrying situations. Note, though, that skooma damages your Intelligence, and you'll have to use a restorative spell, potion, or chapel altar to get it back to normal.
  • 5 of 11: NOTE: You can fast-travel any distance while carrying too much stuff as long as you have a temporary Strength-enhancing effect on you, even if it's about to wear off.
  • 6 of 11: Other good things to have on hand for loot-carrying are Feather potions and enchanted clothing or armor with Feather effects on them. Once you practice up your Alchemy skill (see the Magic Skills Practice Tips), you can make some very powerful Feather potions. As for the Feather clothing, the best way to make it is with top-quality sigil stones from Oblivion Worlds.
  • 7 of 11: You won't want to leave your stockpiled items just anywhere -- you'll need to find yourself a central storage location and use it regularly.
  • 8 of 11: One way to do this is to buy a house.
  • 9 of 11: Another way is to annex a house by killing off its occupant(s) and taking it over.
  • 10 of 11: There are some container types that never respawn even if they're not in a house you own. The extremely common "sack" containers that look like open bags of grain never respawn, so you could store stuff in any of them indefinitely. Just don't forget exactly where you've put things -- make a written list, or something.
  • 11 of 11: NOTE: I've found it very convenient to use the numerous sacks that are in the NE section of the Imperial City's Market District since they're so close to the stores I usually sell to (like Jensine's). None of the sacks ever respawn, even the ones that don't look like open grain bags. If those sacks aren't enough for you to sort your stored goods into, you'll find several more in the NW section of the same district.