Forging Your Destiny: A Comprehensive Guide to Armour Crafting in Oblivion
The world of Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a dangerous place, filled with creatures, bandits, and Daedra eager to make you their next target. While readily available, store-bought armour can be expensive and often doesn’t quite meet the specific needs of your character. This leads many players to wonder: can you make armour on Oblivion? The answer, while not a straightforward ‘yes’ in the traditional crafting sense, opens up a world of possibilities for customizing your defenses and acquiring truly exceptional gear. This guide will delve deep into the intricacies of armour acquisition, modification, and enhancement in Oblivion, offering a comprehensive look at how to equip your character with the best possible protection. We’ll explore the methods to obtain unique and powerful armour sets, enchant existing pieces, repair damaged gear, and even delve into the world of modding to achieve true armour crafting.
Understanding Armour Acquisition in Oblivion
Oblivion doesn’t feature a traditional armour crafting system where you can smelt ore and forge your own cuirasses and helmets from scratch. Instead, the game focuses on acquiring armour through exploration, quests, defeating enemies, and utilizing specific skills. Understanding these acquisition methods is crucial for outfitting your character effectively.
Looting and Exploration
The most common way to find armour is by looting it from fallen enemies and exploring dungeons, caves, and ruins scattered across Cyrodiil. The quality of the armour you find will depend on your character’s level and the difficulty of the area. As you level up, you’ll encounter enemies wearing better and more valuable armour.
Quest Rewards
Many quests in Oblivion offer armour as a reward. These quest-specific pieces are often unique and can be very powerful, sometimes even possessing special enchantments. Keep an eye out for quests offered by guilds, factions, and individual NPCs, as they can lead to some of the best armour in the game.
Purchasing from Merchants
Merchants throughout Cyrodiil sell a variety of armour. The selection available depends on the merchant’s skill level and your character’s level. While store-bought armour might not be as exciting as finding a rare piece in a dungeon, it’s a reliable way to acquire basic protection and fill any gaps in your equipment.
The Significance of Armour Types
Oblivion features two primary armour types: Light Armour and Heavy Armour. Each type caters to different playstyles and offers distinct advantages and disadvantages. Light Armour, typically made from materials like leather or elven metal, offers better agility and stealth, while Heavy Armour, crafted from iron, steel, or Daedric materials, provides superior protection at the cost of mobility. Choosing the right armour type for your character is crucial for optimizing your combat effectiveness.
Mastering Armour Repair and Maintenance
Armour in Oblivion degrades over time as you take damage. Damaged armour provides less protection, making you more vulnerable in combat. Therefore, maintaining your armour is essential for survival. The Armorer skill governs your ability to repair armour. Increasing your Armorer skill allows you to repair armour more effectively and even repair magical armour.
Repair Hammers and Services
You can repair armour yourself using repair hammers, which can be purchased from merchants or found as loot. Alternatively, you can pay a blacksmith or other skilled NPC to repair your armour for you. The cost of repair depends on the severity of the damage and the NPC’s skill level.
The Importance of the Armorer Skill
Investing in the Armorer skill is highly recommended, especially for characters who rely on armour for protection. A high Armorer skill not only allows you to repair armour more effectively but also enables you to repair magical armour, which cannot be repaired by unskilled individuals. Furthermore, a high Armorer skill can save you a significant amount of gold in repair costs.
Enchanting Armour: Adding Magical Properties
While you cannot craft armour from scratch, you can significantly enhance its properties by enchanting it. Enchanting allows you to imbue armour with magical effects, such as increasing your attributes, resisting magic, or dealing damage to enemies. Mastering enchanting is key to creating truly powerful and customized armour.
Soul Gems and Enchanting Altars
Enchanting requires soul gems, which are containers that hold the souls of creatures. You can capture souls by using the Soul Trap spell on a creature before killing it. Once you have a soul gem filled with a soul, you can use an enchanting altar to enchant your armour. Enchanting altars can be found at the Arcane University in the Imperial City and in certain guild halls and mage towers.
Choosing Enchantments Wisely
The type of enchantment you can apply to armour depends on the size and quality of the soul gem used. Larger souls allow for more powerful enchantments. When choosing enchantments, consider your character’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as your playstyle. For example, a warrior might benefit from enchantments that increase their strength or endurance, while a mage might prefer enchantments that boost their magicka or resist magic.
Exploring Unique Armour Sets in Oblivion
Oblivion features several unique armour sets that offer exceptional protection and special bonuses. These sets are often acquired through completing specific quests or exploring hidden locations. Obtaining these sets can significantly enhance your character’s capabilities.
The Crusader’s Relics
The Crusader’s Relics are a set of holy armour pieces obtained through the Knights of the Nine questline. Each piece of the set offers powerful enchantments and bonuses, making it one of the most desirable armour sets in the game. Obtaining the full set requires completing a series of challenging quests and proving your worth as a champion of the Nine Divines.
The Glass Armour Set
The Glass Armour set is a set of light armour made from a rare and beautiful material. It offers excellent protection for its weight and is highly sought after by stealth-oriented characters. The Glass Armour set can be found in various locations throughout Cyrodiil, often in well-guarded areas or as quest rewards.
Daedric Armour: The Pinnacle of Protection
Daedric armour represents the pinnacle of protection in Oblivion. Forged from ebony and imbued with the essence of the Daedra, this heavy armour set offers unparalleled defense against physical attacks. Acquiring a full set of Daedric armour is a significant achievement, often requiring high-level characters to venture into dangerous Oblivion gates and confront powerful Daedric creatures. While you still can you make armour on oblivion in the traditional sense, finding Daedric armour is the closest you get.
Mods: Unleashing True Armour Crafting Potential
While the base game doesn’t offer a traditional armour crafting system, the modding community has created numerous mods that allow you to forge your own armour from scratch. These mods add new crafting recipes, materials, and tools, allowing you to create custom armour sets tailored to your specific needs and preferences.
Popular Armour Crafting Mods
Several popular mods introduce armour crafting to Oblivion. These mods typically add new crafting stations, such as forges and anvils, where you can create armour using raw materials like ore, leather, and cloth. Some mods also add new armour types and styles, allowing you to create truly unique and personalized gear.
The Benefits of Armour Crafting Mods
Armour crafting mods offer several benefits. They allow you to create armour that perfectly matches your character’s skills and playstyle. They also provide a way to acquire high-quality armour without relying solely on looting or purchasing it from merchants. Furthermore, armour crafting mods can add a new layer of depth and immersion to the game.
The Economy of Armour in Oblivion
Armour plays a significant role in Oblivion’s economy. Selling unwanted armour can be a lucrative way to earn gold, especially if you find rare or enchanted pieces. However, be mindful of the merchant’s Mercantile skill, as it affects the price they are willing to pay. Increasing your own Mercantile skill can help you get better deals when buying and selling armour.
Finding the Best Prices
Different merchants specialize in different types of goods. Blacksmiths typically offer the best prices for armour, while general goods merchants may offer lower prices. Experiment with different merchants to find the ones who offer the best deals for the armour you want to buy or sell.
Repairing and Reselling
Repairing damaged armour before selling it can significantly increase its value. A fully repaired piece of armour will fetch a much higher price than a damaged one. However, consider the cost of repairs and whether the profit margin is worth the effort.
Optimizing Your Armour for Specific Challenges
Different enemies and environments in Oblivion pose different challenges. Optimizing your armour for these challenges can significantly improve your chances of survival. For example, when exploring caves filled with undead creatures, equipping armour with enchantments that resist disease or poison can be highly beneficial. Similarly, when facing mages, armour with magic resistance can help you withstand their spells.
Elemental Resistances
Enchantments that provide resistance to fire, frost, or shock can be invaluable when facing enemies who use elemental attacks. These enchantments can significantly reduce the damage you take from these attacks, allowing you to survive encounters that would otherwise be fatal.
Disease and Poison Resistance
Disease and poison are common ailments in Oblivion, and they can quickly weaken your character. Equipping armour with enchantments that resist disease or poison can help you avoid these debilitating effects and maintain your combat effectiveness.
What Truly Matters in Armour Selection?
While the question of can you make armour on oblivion is complex, the game offers ample opportunities to acquire, customize, and enhance your defenses. From looting dungeons and completing quests to enchanting armour and utilizing mods, there are numerous ways to equip your character with the best possible protection. By understanding the intricacies of armour acquisition, maintenance, and optimization, you can forge your own destiny in the dangerous world of Cyrodiil and emerge victorious against any foe. So, while you might not be hammering away at a forge, the creative ways to acquire and customize your armour in Oblivion offer a unique and rewarding experience.
