In Oblivion, a class is a combination of a specialization (Combat, Magic or Stealth), favored attributes, and major skills. Your character's class determines what skills you will be most proficient in, and this in turn affects how you level.
You can:
- choose from a set of 21 Standard Classes, or
- develop your own Custom Class.
Classes that non-player characters (NPCs) use can be found in the article "NPC Classes".
One extra class on this page is "CharacterGen". This is given to the player right at the start of the game, before the conversation with Baurus during which a class is chosen. This class is basically the warrior class, except with Strength and Intelligence rather than Strength and Endurance. It is shown in the stats page of your journal as "-".
Character Creation Tools can be very helpful in determining which standard class or custom class will work best for your playstyle.
Standard ClassesEdit
The following table shows the seven Major Skills, the Specialization type, and the two Favored Attributes for each of the standard classes in Oblivion. Click on the class name to jump to the summary class description found lower on this page.
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| Battlemage | |
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| Knight | |
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| Mage | |
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| Monk | |
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| Nightblade | |
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| Pilgrim | |
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| Rogue | |
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| Sorcerer | |
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AcrobatEdit
The kind of person that uses agility and endurance to their advantage. Unafraid of jumping long distances.
| Specialization: | Stealth |
| Attributes: | Agility, Endurance |
| Skills: | Acrobatics Blade Block Marksman Security Sneak Speechcraft |
AgentEdit
Charming when they can be seen, and nearly invisible when in shadow.
| Specialization: | Stealth |
| Attributes: | Agility, Personality |
| Skills: | Acrobatics Illusion Marksman Mercantile Security Sneak Speechcraft |
ArcherEdit
A marksman, adept at combat at great distances. Able to take down most foes before they have a chance to draw sword.
| Specialization: | Combat |
| Attributes: | Agility, Strength |
| Skills: | Armorer Blade Blunt Hand to Hand Light Armor Marksman Sneak |
AssassinEdit
Nimble and quiet, they move in darkness to strike at the unsuspecting. Locks hold no doors shut for them.
| Specialization: | Stealth |
| Attributes: | Intelligence, Speed |
| Skills: | Acrobatics Alchemy Blade Light Armor Marksman Security Sneak |
BarbarianEdit
Fearsome brutes who inspire fear and dread in the hearts of their enemies. Like a storm, swift and powerful. Finding little use for heavy armor, they rely on smashing their foes into the ground.
| Specialization: | Combat |
| Attributes: | Speed, Strength |
| Skills: | Armorer Athletics Blade Block Blunt Hand to Hand Light Armor |
BardEdit
Intelligent and personable, they prefer to accomplish tasks with their words first, and sword second.
| Specialization: | Stealth |
| Attributes: | Intelligence, Personality |
| Skills: | Alchemy Blade Block Illusion Light Armor Mercantile Speechcraft |
BattlemageEdit
Able to resolve most conflicts with either spell or sword. They are a deadly mix of scholar and soldier.
| Specialization: | Magic |
| Attributes: | Intelligence, Strength |
| Skills: | Alchemy Alteration Blade Blunt Conjuration Destruction Mysticism |
CrusaderEdit
A combatant who wields the power of brute strength and medicinal knowledge. Cheating death after every fight, they rely on their keen knowledge of restoration to fight yet again.
| Specialization: | Combat |
| Attributes: | Strength, Willpower |
| Skills: | Athletics Blade Blunt Destruction Hand to Hand Heavy Armor Restoration |
HealerEdit
Fighters of poison and illness. The ancient art of restoration is their ally, and the deadly art of destruction is their weapon.
| Specialization: | Magic |
| Attributes: | Personality, Willpower |
| Skills: | Alchemy Alteration Destruction Illusion Mercantile Restoration Speechcraft |
KnightEdit
The most noble of all combatants. Strong in body and in character.
| Specialization: | Combat |
| Attributes: | Personality, Strength |
| Skills: | Blade Block Blunt Hand to Hand Heavy Armor Illusion Speechcraft |
MageEdit
Prefering [sic] to use their extensive knowledge of all things magical, they wield a might more powerful than the sharpest blade.
| Specialization: | Magic |
| Attributes: | Intelligence, Willpower |
| Skills: | Alchemy Alteration Conjuration Destruction Illusion Mysticism Restoration |
MonkEdit
Quick and cunning with the empty hand, they are strong in spirit. They prefer to solve conflict by arrow or by fist.
| Specialization: | Stealth |
| Attributes: | Agility, Willpower |
| Skills: | Acrobatics Alteration Athletics Hand to Hand Marksman Security Sneak |
NightbladeEdit
Spell and shadow are their friends. By darkness they move with haste, casting magic to benefit their circumstances.
| Specialization: | Magic |
| Attributes: | Speed, Willpower |
| Skills: | Acrobatics Alteration Athletics Blade Destruction Light Armor Restoration |
PilgrimEdit
Hearty folk, well-versed in the tomes of old. They profit in life by bartering in the market, or by persuading the weak-minded.
| Specialization: | Stealth |
| Attributes: | Endurance, Personality |
| Skills: | Armorer Block Blunt Light Armor Mercantile Security Speechcraft |
RogueEdit
They use speed in combat rather than brute force. Persuasive in conversation, their tongues are as sharp as blades.
| Specialization: | Combat |
| Attributes: | Personality, Speed |
| Skills: | Alchemy Athletics Blade Block Illusion Light Armor Mercantile |
ScoutEdit
Preferring the rolling countryside to the city life, they are gifted with the ability to evade, guard, and protect themselves with great proficiency.
| Specialization: | Combat |
| Attributes: | Endurance, Speed |
| Skills: | Acrobatics Alchemy Armorer Athletics Blade Block Light Armor |
SorcererEdit
Besting the most well-equipped fighters, they rely on the spells of the mystic arts. Unique to these mages is the bodily stamina to be armed with the thickest armor.
| Specialization: | Magic |
| Attributes: | Endurance, Intelligence |
| Skills: | Alchemy Alteration Conjuration Destruction Heavy Armor Mysticism Restoration |
SpellswordEdit
More nimble and athletic than the sorcerer, and better suited for spell-casting than the knight, their attacks are unpredictable. Students of combat and magic.
| Specialization: | Magic |
| Attributes: | Endurance, Willpower |
| Skills: | Alteration Blade Block Heavy Armor Destruction Illusion Restoration |
ThiefEdit
Profiting from the losses of others is their love. Able to be swift in shadow, and crafty in bartering. Locks are enemies, and lock-picks are their swords.
| Specialization: | Stealth |
| Attributes: | Agility, Speed |
| Skills: | Acrobatics Light Armor Marksman Mercantile Security Sneak Speechcraft |
WarriorEdit
Unafraid of light weaponry, they plow into the fray with little regard for injury. Masters of all melee tools, they put little faith in the magical arts.
| Specialization: | Combat |
| Attributes: | Endurance, Strength |
| Skills: | Armorer Athletics Blade Block Blunt Hand to Hand Heavy Armor |
WitchhunterEdit
Swift on foot, and clever with spells, they use distance as their ally. Slower adversaries are fodder for their arrows.
| Specialization: | Magic |
| Attributes: | Agility, Intelligence |
| Skills: | Alchemy Athletics Conjuration Destruction Marksman Mysticism Security |
Custom ClassesEdit
With a custom class, you can select all of the class-specific details freely. This includes all of the seven major skills affiliated with the class as well as selecting two of the eight attributes for +5 point permanent bonuses. Character Creation provides more information on how to setup a new character, including some specific tips for how to create a custom class.
The default name of the custom class as shown ingame is "Adventurer", but this can be changed to whatever you wish.
For a custom class you need to select the following:
- Specialization (Combat, Magic, Stealth) -- +5 to related Skills.
- For Combat : Armorer, Athletics, Blade, Block, Blunt, Hand to Hand and Heavy Armor
- For Magic : Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism and Restoration
- For Stealth : Acrobatics, Light Armor, Marksman, Mercantile, Security, Sneak and Speechcraft
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- In addition to these bonuses, all of these skills will increase more quickly than they would otherwise.
- Two Favored Attributes-- +5 to these Attributes.
- Seven Major Skills -- +20 to these Skills, starting you at Apprentice level, also increase quicker and allow you to level up once you train a combined amount of 10 of these skills. Note that any skills trained above this amount before you've leveled up (e.g. if you've leveled up 12 major skills since your last level up) will carry on to the next level.
Minor skills level up at the normal rate. Specialized skills take 75% as much practice or 'experience' to level up. Major skills that are not specialized take 60% of the normal experience to level up. Skills that are both specialized and major skills take 45% as much experience to level up. A table of these experience requirements is provided at Increasing Skills.
- Example: It normally takes 106 successful hits with a sword to raise the Blade skill from rank 35 to rank 36 when Blade is a Minor skill. If Blade is a Specialized (but not Major) skill, it only takes 80 uses to raise from skill rank 35 to 36. If Blade skill is a Major (but not Specialized) skill, it only takes 64 uses to raise from skill rank 35 to 36. And finally, if Blade is both a Major and a Specialized skill, it only takes 48 uses to raise from skill rank 35 to 36.
The internal name of the class is simply "Custom Class", with an editor ID of PlayerCustomClass. In the Construction Set, it is defined as a combat-specialized class, with strength and intelligence as primary attributes and major skills of conjuration, mercantile, light armor, illusion, mysticism, armorer and speechcraft.
NotesEdit
- If you desire a particular image for your custom class, selecting that class before clicking "create custom class" will assign that image to your class. However, note that the image of whatever class you eventually choose does not show up again in the game, even when you check your stats in your journal.
- If you go through the tutorial without gaining any experience points, Baurus will default to assume you are an Acrobat. This is most easily done by using the console command
tcl.