The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (GOTY 2009): Complete Guide

A full guide to the original 2006 Oblivion as sold on Steam in the Game of the Year Edition: character creation that won't ruin you later, how leveling and level scaling really work, builds, the main quest and guild questlines, must-get items, and the essential fixes and mods for modern PCs.

Researched September 2026 — current for the Steam GOTY Edition (2009 release, includes Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles). This is the original game, not The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (a separate product released April 2025). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• You level by raising Major skills — 10 points in total — then sleeping. Minor skills never trigger a level-up.
• Enemies and loot scale with your level. Leveling "wrong" (raising Major skills you don't use in combat) makes the game harder over time.
• Choose Major skills you won't use constantly if you want control over leveling, or embrace the scaling and don't worry about it on a first playthrough.
• Raise skills that govern the attributes you want in each level to get +5 bonuses (see the table below).
• Join guilds early. The Mages Guild gives access to spellmaking and enchanting at the Arcane University; the Fighters Guild and Thieves Guild provide money and gear.
• Close Oblivion Gates for Sigil Stones — they're the best enchantments in the game and scale with your level.
• Use the difficulty slider freely. It's in Gameplay options and affects damage dealt and taken.
• Quicksave, but keep hard saves. The engine is from 2006; rotating manual saves avoids corruption heartbreak.
• Install the essential community fixes (see Modern PC section) before a long playthrough.

Character Creation

Races (highlights)

Race | Notable perks

Altmer (High Elf) | Large Magicka pool, weak to fire/frost/shock

Breton | Magic resistance, good mage

Dunmer (Dark Elf) | Fire resistance, balanced

Bosmer (Wood Elf) | Archery, disease resistance

Khajiit | Night-eye, agile, stealth-friendly

Argonian | Water breathing, disease/poison resistance

Imperial | Speechcraft and Mercantile, easy social game

Nord | Frost resistance, strong melee

Orc | Heavy Armor, Berserk, great warriors

Redguard | Blade/Blunt, resist poison, adrenaline

Birthsigns (the ones people argue about)

• The Atronach — huge Magicka boost and spell absorption, but no natural Magicka regeneration. Powerful but inconvenient without a plan.
• The Mage / The Apprentice — more Magicka (Apprentice also adds weakness to magic).
• The Warrior / The Lady / The Lord — melee and survival bonuses.
• The Thief / The Shadow — stealth bonuses and an Invisibility power.
• The Steed — faster movement.

Classes

Always consider a custom class. Pick seven Major skills and the specialization and favored attributes you want. The classic efficient approach: put skills you'll rarely use as Majors so you choose when you level.

Leveling and Attributes

You gain a level after raising Major skills by 10 points total and resting. On level-up you raise three attributes. The bonus offered depends on skill increases (Major or Minor) governed by that attribute since the last level:

Skill increases governed by the attribute | Bonus

0 | +1

1–4 | +2

5–7 | +3

8–9 | +4

10+ | +5 (max)

Unused progress doesn't carry over. Efficient leveling means planning three +5 attributes per level.

Level scaling means most enemies grow stronger as you level, but your gear, health (based on Endurance) and access to higher-tier items grow too. The practical takeaway: don't neglect your main combat skills, and prioritize Endurance early because health gains are based on it at level-up.

Build Archetypes

Build | Majors (example) | Key gear/spells

Spellsword | Blade, Destruction, Restoration, Heavy/Light Armor | Sigil Stone enchanted weapon, custom Destruction spells

Pure Mage | Destruction, Restoration, Alteration, Conjuration, Mysticism | Custom spells from Arcane University, Shield spells, Summons

Stealth Archer | Marksman, Sneak, Security, Light Armor | Sneak attack bonus, Chameleon enchantments

Heavy Warrior | Blade/Blunt, Heavy Armor, Block, Armorer | Heavy armor sets, Fortify Strength enchantments

Thief-Assassin | Sneak, Security, Acrobatics, Short Blade | Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild rewards

Key systems:

• Spellmaking and enchanting unlock after you're accepted into the Arcane University (Mages Guild recommendations from each city's guild hall).
• Sigil Stones from Oblivion Gates give powerful enchantments.
• Soul Gems and Azura's Star power enchanting and recharging. Azura's Star is a reusable soul gem from the Azura Daedric quest (level 2 minimum).
• Alchemy is both money-maker and power multiplier; you learn ingredient effects by eating them and as your skill rises.

Main Quest Outline (light spoilers)

• Tutorial — Escape the Imperial Prison with the Emperor. You finalize race, class and birthsign before leaving.
• Deliver the Amulet — Take the Amulet of Kings to Jauffre at Weynon Priory.
• Find the Heir — Travel to Kvatch and close the Great Gate; find Martin.
• Weynon Priory / The Path of Dawn / Dagon Shrine — The Amulet is stolen; track down and infiltrate the Mythic Dawn.
• Spies / Blood of the Daedra / Blood of the Divines — Martin, now at Cloud Ruler Temple, decodes the Mysterium Xarxes; you gather the first ritual items.
• Bruma Gate / Miscarcand / Allies for Bruma — More ritual components and rallying the cities for the coming siege.
• Defense of Bruma / Great Gate — The big battle at Bruma; you take the Great Sigil Stone.
• Paradise — Enter Mankar Camoran's realm and retrieve the Amulet.
• Light the Dragonfires — Finale in the Imperial City.

You can ignore the main quest indefinitely, but most random Oblivion Gates only start appearing around Cyrodiil after the Kvatch section.

Guilds and Faction Questlines

Faction | Where to start | Big rewards

Mages Guild | Any city guild hall; earn recommendations from all seven | Arcane University access, spellmaking, enchanting

Fighters Guild | Chorrol, Anvil or other halls | Gear, money, combat experience

Thieves Guild | "Finding the Thieves Guild": ask around the Imperial City about the Gray Fox (or learn of it in jail), then pass "May the Best Thief Win" at the Waterfront | Fence access, the Gray Fox storyline

Dark Brotherhood | Commit murder, sleep; you'll be visited | Shadowmere (horse), assassin gear

Arena | Imperial City Arena | Gold, Raiment armor, Grand Champion

Knights of the Nine (DLC) | The Prophet in Anvil | Crusader's Relics set

Shivering Isles (DLC) | A door appears in Niben Bay | New realm, Sheogorath's questline

The seven Mages Guild cities are Anvil, Bravil, Bruma, Cheydinhal, Chorrol, Leyawiin and Skingrad.

Must-Have Items and Easy Wins

• Umbra — a powerful sword from a boss in a specific ruin (Vindasel); it's a Soul Trap blade.
• Azura's Star — reusable soul gem.
• Shadowmere — Dark Brotherhood horse, very tough.
• Great Welkynd Stones — Magicka recovery from Ayleid ruins.
• Sigil Stones — close gates, choose enchantment effects scaled to your level.
• Daedric shrine quests give many unique artifacts; each shrine has a level requirement (table below).

Daedric Shrine Quests

Daedra | Min. level | Artifact

Azura | 2 | Azura's Star

Sheogorath | 2 | Wabbajack

Namira | 5 | Ring of Namira

Vaermina | 5 | Skull of Corruption

Sanguine | 8 | Sanguine Rose

Nocturnal | 10 | Skeleton Key (unbreakable lockpick)

Malacath | 10 | Volendrung

Meridia | 10 | Ring of Khajiiti

Peryite | 10 | Spell Breaker

Mephala | 15 | Ebony Blade

Hircine | 17 | Saviour's Hide

Molag Bal | 17 | Mace of Molag Bal

Boethiah | 20 | Goldbrand

Clavicus Vile | 20 | Masque of Clavicus Vile, or Umbra (500 gold offering)

Hermaeus Mora | 20 | Oghma Infinium

Levels per UESP. Clavicus Vile's quest can be finished early if you already carry Umbra from Vindasel.

Modern PC Fixes and Mods

The GOTY Edition runs on Windows 10/11 but benefits from community fixes:

• Unofficial Oblivion Patch (plus the Unofficial Shivering Isles and DLC patches) — fixes thousands of bugs.
• xOBSE — the modern script extender many mods need.
• Oblivion Display Tweaks and Engine Bug Fixes — widely used community patches for stutter, frame pacing and crash fixes.
• A Large Address Aware (4GB) patch — lets the 32-bit exe use more memory; many modern setups rely on it.
• UI mods (e.g. Northern UI or DarNified UI) — smaller text and better menus for high resolutions.
• Mod Organizer 2 — use a mod manager to keep your install clean.
• Controller play — some users have launch problems with controllers connected; the game was built for keyboard/mouse and Xbox 360 controllers.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Making combat skills your Minors and utility skills Majors without understanding it. You can end up leveling slowly while enemies still scale if you raise Majors by accident — know which skills are which.
• Skipping Endurance early. Health gains on level-up depend on Endurance, and don't retroactively apply.
• Selling Sigil Stones. Use them to enchant.
• Ignoring the Mages Guild recommendations. Spellmaking and enchanting are game-changing.
• Not saving before Shivering Isles or Kvatch. Big set-piece battles are where crashes and bad decisions tend to happen.
• Leaving difficulty at the default when it's not fun. Adjust it.

Advanced Tips

• Custom spells: combine effects like Weakness to Magic plus Destruction damage for huge multiplied damage.
• Alchemy money: collect common ingredients around the Imperial City and sell potions.
• Security minigame: listen for the tumbler click; use the Skeleton Key (Nocturnal's) as an unbreakable lockpick.
• Speechcraft: the persuasion wheel — pick reactions based on the NPC's faces for likes and dislikes.
• Frostcrag Spire (Wizard's Tower plugin): not in the plain GOTY Edition; it comes with the official plugins bundled in the GOTY Deluxe edition. It gives mages a tower with an altar of spellmaking and enchanting without the guild questline.
• Shivering Isles is best started around mid-level; it has its own quests and gear.

FAQ

Is this the same as Oblivion Remastered? No. This is the 2009 GOTY Edition of the original 2006 game. Oblivion Remastered (2025) is a separate product.

Which DLC is included? Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles. Steam also sells a GOTY Edition Deluxe (English only) that adds the smaller official plugins, including Fighter's Stronghold, Spell Tome Treasures, Vile Lair and Mehrunes' Razor.

How does leveling work? Increase Major skills by 10 points in total, then sleep. Attribute bonuses depend on how many governed skill points you gained.

What's the best class for beginners? A custom Spellsword-style class (melee plus Restoration and Destruction) is forgiving and versatile.

How do I stop enemies outscaling me? Plan efficient levels (+5/+5/+5), prioritize Endurance and your main combat skills, and use Sigil Stone enchantments and good alchemy.

Does Oblivion GOTY run on Windows 11? Generally yes, with the community fixes above recommended for stability.

Sources

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY on Steam
• UESP — Oblivion: Leveling
• UESP — Oblivion: Daedric Quests
• UESP — Oblivion: Thieves Guild