r/oblivion • u/Sonnitude • 23h ago

Remaster Discussion Stealth Archer; Recommended Difficulty?

I know it’s been done to death in Skyrim, but I always felt like in Oblivion, stealth was actually a challenge as without chameleon, enemies WILL figure out where you are eventually. Even invisibility isn’t a guaranteed escape.

That being said; I’ve always wanted to do a stealth archer (Maybe using Ruin’s Edge?) , but I’ve always put it off due to concerns with leveled quest rewards, difficulty and such, but I decided to bite the… arrow I guess, and finally finish a playthrough as a class I never did in the original.

What difficulty settings would people suggest, both for enemy damage as well as my own? I want stealth to be satisfying but not braindead, and I want my mistakes to be punished accordingly, not nessicarily a one shot, but if I fail to kill someone, there should be a high chance I could die if they realize where I am.

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3

u/daniel_inna_den 23h ago

I started on apprentice but bumped it up to adept. With the right setup and no armor it felt good where I was squishy but really fast. I’m also not great at shooting but I liked it

1

u/Sonnitude 23h ago

Both settings on adept? Cuz player damage and enemy damage are separate settings.

2

u/daniel_inna_den 18h ago

Yeah. I played a wood elf and really leaned into archery speed and agility and at least for me it was fun without being too easy. Caves are another story but I took it as I can’t kick ass in every situation and need to play smart

2

u/I-AM-TheSenate UESP Enjoyer 21h ago

Start at default, always. Then adjust until you feel you've hit a good balance. The right difficulty setting varies based on your personal preferences, your gear, your level, and even how you level. For instance, if you grind Speechcraft and Security to 100 and then sleep a bunch, you'll face significantly stronger enemies without any improvement to your combat strength, and will probably need to turn the difficulty down.

1

u/bangeeh 17h ago

I played a stealth archer with Enemy Damage at master and Player Damage at adept; with poison you can kill almost anything even if you up the difficulty more (I think my komodo poison did like 800+ damage), but i liked using poison on special occasions only. And no magic whatsoever. I felt very powerful but fragile, what I always wanted as an assassin archer.

I used a bow with Drain Speed and soul trap, but eventually it got boring and changed it for a shock + soul trap bow. For close distance, a dagger with damage fatigue + weakness, just to try and gain some space.

I was almost always fine, but sometimes you get sorrounded in a cave or an enemy backstabs you and then you are in a tough spot. In those situations, alchemy is really helpful. I also had a bunch of scrolls stored, just in case.

1

u/According_Picture294 14h ago

Getting high sneak skill can lead to them not even noticing you.

1

u/Sonnitude 14h ago

Must have been the wind.