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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Hints
Practice Skills
1 of 15: While you're doing the Tutorial quest, use the skill-practicing tips that I have in the hints for the Natural Caverns to get a big head start on several skills.
2 of 15: In particular, practice Sneak up to at least 50, Restoration and Acrobatics to at least 25 each, and your chosen armor skill to at least 40. When you choose your class, create a custom character class and make all of those into major skills.
3 of 15: It's also important to make Armorer a major skill since you'll want to get it up to 50 and be able to repair magic equipment (like the Umbra sword) as soon as possible.
4 of 15: After you exit the sewers, go to the Imperial City's Market District and sell off all the excess stuff you brought out with you to sell. You should buy repair hammers and use them on damaged equipment before you sell it.
5 of 15: NOTE: Run and jump everywhere you go to practice Athletics and Acrobatics. Also, cast Heal Minor Wounds frequently to keep practicing Restoration.
6 of 15: Now find somewhere you can store items long-term and drop off your armor, weapons, ingredient items, and other stuff to make room in your inventory. The Stockpiling Tips have suggestions for storing stuff, and I particularly recommend using the sacks that you can find in the Market District.
7 of 15: You're now going to be running around the city gathering ingredients for potion-making, and practicing your Speechcraft and Mercantile skills using the Interpersonal Skills Practice Tips.
8 of 15: To get ingredients and more, check all the outdoor containers in every Imperial City district. You should get several ingredients, lockpicks, torches, repair hammers, and cheap clothing items to sell.
9 of 15: You can also buy cheap ingredients from the people who sell them, and you can steal ingredients from various houses, eating places, and inns. Your Sneak skill should be high enough to let you get away with it pretty well.
10 of 15: Also, it's usually very easy to sneak into the basements and upstairs areas in shops since they have very easy locks on their doors and the shopkeepers won't follow you in. Remember that you can buy lockpicks from Shady Sam if you ever need to.
11 of 15: NOTE: Store any items that you steal but can't use (like gems, silver, etc.) in one of the Market District sacks for later selling.
12 of 15: After you stockpile up a whole bunch of ingredients, use your mortar & pestle to turn them into cheap potions. This rapidly increases your Alchemy skill, plus you'll have lots of potions to sell to raise money.
13 of 15: Another way to practice skills in the Imperial City is to sign up at The Arena and do some of the early Arena combats. If you're well-prepared, you can handle quite a few combats while still at level 1. You could also try having some Fun With Guards, but that may be a bit too dangerous right now.
14 of 15: At some point, buy 5 points of Armorer training from Rohssan in "A Fighting Chance" in the Market District and then sleep somewhere to level up. (You can sleep for free in several places, including the basement of the All-Saints Inn in the Temple district and the Abandoned Shack in the Waterfront District.) Do this twice if you can afford it to get your level up to 3 and your Armorer skill up by 10 points.
15 of 15: If you've got the Shivering Isles expansion installed, you might want to skip training with Rohssan and go get the Amulet of Disintegration instead. It can be a huge help in quickly raising your Armorer skill, and you can then buy training for some other skill before leveling up.
