Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

[roguebanshee]

The potion drinking limit been commented on in this thread, but what about potion creation?  In Morrowind one of the 'cheapest' tricks to the game was buying massive quantities of herbs, making potions, and then selling them to the Creeper in Caldera.  I'm guessing the references to being a flower picker means ingredients must be found more than bought, is that correct?

They also closed the mega potion exploit by ignoring Alchemy above 100 and seemingly completely ignoring Intelligence. 100 Alchemy seems to let you make the most powerful potions your equipment allows for.

Are any of the classes or skills radically different than they were in Morrowind?

Enchanting has been revamped some. There is no Enchant skill anymore, you have to be a ranking member of the Mages Guild to get access to player made enchantments. However, any wearable item accepts enchantments of any strength, with weapons using charge based stuff and clothing/armor using constant effects. The power of a constant effect enchantment is based on the soul used, a petty soul will not give as high a buff as a greater.

There are also (as explained in the manual) Sigil Stones which can be used by anyone to enchant an item with a fixed (defined when you pick up the stone) effect. The effect is split into two different, one used if applied to a weapon and the other when applied to armor/clothing.

They also removed some spell effects from the possible choices when making an enchanted item. Restore Health & Fatigue, Chameleon and Spell Absorption are the major exploitable ones missing from player made enchantments. You can find Sigil Stones with the last two.

And finally - How are the load times?

About 10-15 seconds max for me, on an "Oblivion low spec" laptop. Mostly about 5 seconds.