A detailed breakdown of the worst choices you can make in Oblivion. From actions that’ll make you diabolically evil or potentially lock out cool opportunities from your playthrough.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, released on April 22, 2025, has drawn over four million players to its revamped Cyrodiil, boasting Unreal Engine 5 visuals and all DLC content. Its open-world freedom, a hallmark of Bethesda’s 2006 RPG, invites exploration but hides pitfalls that can make the game punishingly difficult. From mismanaging skills to ignoring critical systems, here are the top 10 worst gameplay decisions players make in Oblivion Remastered that ramp up the challenge, turning a heroic journey into a grueling ordeal, as gleaned from community forums and gameplay analyses.
1. Ignoring the Main Quest Too Long
Delaying the main quest, like delivering the Amulet of Kings, can backfire due to Oblivion’s level scaling. As players explore side content, leveling to 15 or higher, enemies in quests like “Breaking the Siege of Kvatch” become brutal, spawning Daedroths and Atronachs instead of Scamps. Reddit tales, like one player’s regret at facing an overpowered Kvatch gate, highlight how waiting too long escalates difficulty, as allies die quickly and gear lags behind. Starting the main quest by level 5 keeps encounters manageable, securing early rewards like a horse and armor.
2. Neglecting Combat Skill Specialization
Choosing a class without focusing on combat skills—Blade, Blunt, Marksman, or Destruction—leaves players underpowered. Non-combat builds, like pure thieves relying on Sneak and Security, struggle against scaling enemies like Minotaurs at level 10. Community guides on UESP warn that spreading skill points thinly across Speechcraft or Mercantile weakens fighting ability, making dungeons like Vilverin deadly. Prioritizing one combat skill early, like Blade for melee, ensures survivability as enemy health scales.
3. Mismanaging Attribute Leveling
Oblivion’s leveling system ties attribute bonuses (e.g., Strength, Endurance) to skill usage, but poor planning yields weak gains. Leveling up by grinding non-combat skills, like Acrobatics from jumping, often results in +2 or +3 bonuses instead of +5 in key attributes like Endurance, which boosts health. Steam forums describe players stuck with low health at level 20, dying to basic bandits. Training major skills strategically—e.g., Blade and Heavy Armor for Strength and Endurance—maximizes attribute gains, preventing frail builds.
4. Overlooking Repair Hammers and Armorer Skill
Failing to repair gear regularly makes combat harder, as degraded weapons and armor lose effectiveness. At low Armorer skill, Repair Hammers break often, and neglecting the skill means frequent, costly blacksmith visits (1,000 gold per item). Reddit users lament running out of hammers mid-dungeon, facing enemies with a dulled blade. Carrying multiple hammers or using the Fortify Armorer exploit for unbreakable hammers, as shared on X, keeps gear at 100%, boosting damage and defense against scaling foes.
5. Avoiding Potions and Alchemy
Ignoring alchemy deprives players of critical buffs. Restore Health potions, crafted with common ingredients like Aloe Vera and Apples, can save lives in tough fights, yet many skip this system, as GameFAQs notes. Without potions, players rely solely on healing spells or resting, impractical in Oblivion Gates. Crafting Fortify Strength or Damage Health potions at Alchemy level 50 turns battles like “The Wayward Knight” from slogs to victories, but neglecting this skill leaves players vulnerable.
6. Picking Inefficient Birthsigns
Choosing a birthsign like The Apprentice (+100 Magicka, 50% Weakness to Magic) over The Warrior (+10 Strength, Endurance) can cripple survivability. The Apprentice’s magic boost is tempting, but its weakness makes mage enemies, like Liches, lethal, as Steam reviews highlight. Birthsigns like The Thief or Lady offer balanced bonuses, while The Atronach’s Spell Absorption is powerful but risky without Magicka potions. Selecting a suboptimal sign early locks players into a harder playthrough.
7. Rushing into High-Level Dungeons Early
Exploring high-level dungeons like Fort Nikel or Sancre Tor at level 5, lured by loot like Welkynd Stones, often leads to disaster. Scaling enemies, such as Wraiths or Daedra, overwhelm undergeared players, as Reddit threads recount. These dungeons are balanced for levels 15+, requiring enchanted gear or high combat skills. Sticking to low-level caves, like Vilverin, until level 10 builds stats and loot, preventing early wipes that discourage newcomers.
8. Ignoring Enchanting and Magic Gear
Skipping enchanting, accessible via the Mages Guild or Frostcrag Spire, limits combat potential. Unenchanted gear falls behind as enemies gain magical resistances at level 15, per UESP. Crafting a Fortify Strength ring or Fire Damage bow at level 10 swings fights, yet many players, as GameRant observes, stick to mundane weapons, struggling against Storm Atronachs. Farming Sigil Stones from Oblivion Gates for enchantments, like 25% Chameleon, is key to countering scaling difficulty.
9. Neglecting to Manage Inventory and Encumbrance
Overloading inventory with heavy loot, like 50-weight Daedric armor, slows movement and disables fast travel, making dungeon escapes grueling. X posts describe players crawling to exits, dying to respawning enemies. Keeping Feather potions or dropping low-value items, like 1-gold books, maintains mobility. The remaster’s faster leveling can boost Strength for carry weight, but mismanaging inventory early leaves players stuck, especially without a horse from the main quest.
10. Underutilizing Followers and Summons
Going solo without followers or Conjuration summons makes fights harder, especially on Adept or Expert difficulty. NPCs like Martin or Dark Brotherhood initiates tank damage, while summoned Scamps distract enemies, as GameFAQs guides suggest. Players ignoring these, as seen in Steam reviews, face overwhelming odds in quests like “Paradise,” where multiple Mythic Dawn agents swarm. Recruiting followers via quests or leveling Conjuration to summon Frost Atronachs balances encounters, easing difficulty.
These gameplay mistakes amplify Oblivion Remastered’s challenges, rooted in its unforgiving systems. The level scaling mechanic, unchanged from 2006, punishes unprepared players, as bandits evolve into Daedric-clad warriors by level 20, echoing the Kvatch regret from community tales. The remaster’s accelerated leveling, noted by IGN, exacerbates this, pushing players to high levels without gear to match, unlike Skyrim’s capped enemies. Bugs, like stuttering reported by Digital Foundry, can compound errors, such as inventory mismanagement causing crashes during overencumbrance.
Community sentiment on Reddit and X splits between embracing the grind and cursing its brutality. Veterans exploit systems—like the unbreakable Repair Hammer or gold duplication—to mitigate difficulty, but newcomers often stumble, as Eurogamer observes, expecting Skyrim’s accessibility. Mods, like “Realistic Leveling,” streamline attribute gains, but console players, lacking Nexus Mods, face the raw challenge. The persuasion minigame, though not a direct difficulty factor, ties into inefficient Speechcraft builds, diverting focus from combat skills, as GameRant critiques.
Oblivion’s freedom, lauded by PC Gamer, is a double-edged sword. Decisions like rushing dungeons or skipping alchemy offer flexibility but court failure, unlike Assassin’s Creed: Shadows’ streamlined quests, which guide players. The remaster’s $50 price, softened by Game Pass, demands mastery of systems to justify its 115GB footprint, especially with only minor new quests in the Deluxe Edition. Training with NPCs like Shagrol gro-Uzug or using the Ayleid Crown of Lindai for Armorer experience, as UESP suggests, counters some errors, but only for those who research.
Bethesda’s minimal patches, per GameFAQs, leave exploits like Fortify Armorer viable, helping players overcome mistakes like neglecting repairs. However, the lack of difficulty scaling reform, as Eurogamer notes, ensures these choices matter. Future updates may address bugs, but the core gameplay loop—demanding strategic planning—remains. Players who avoid these 10 pitfalls, leveraging main quest rewards, potions, and followers, find Cyrodiil forgiving, but missteps turn it into a relentless gauntlet.
In conclusion, Oblivion Remastered’s worst gameplay decisions lie in players’ hands, from ignoring quests to mismanaging skills. These choices, amplified by scaling and dated mechanics, transform a vibrant RPG into a punishing test. As fans share tips on Reddit or exploit glitches, the remaster’s challenge endures, proving that in Cyrodiil, freedom comes at a steep price—one misstep can forge a hero or break an adventurer.
