Oblivion: Breton vs. High Elf
John Salerno
want to play a mage, so I know these are my choices. Dark elves don't
seem quite as good for it.
Anyway, I was wondering what exactly their abilities mean, specifically:
Breton: Fortify Max. Magicka, Resist Magicka, Shield
High elf: Fortify Max. Magicka; Resist Disease; Weakness to Fire, Frost,
Shock
Basically two questions:
1. Are the shared abilities the same for both races, or are there
differences?
2. What *exactly* does this mean in terms of numbers and how they affect
stats?
Thanks.
Greg Johnson
<john...@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>Just curious about the special abilities of these two races. Obviously I
>want to play a mage, so I know these are my choices. Dark elves don't
>seem quite as good for it.
>
>Anyway, I was wondering what exactly their abilities mean, specifically:
>
>Breton: Fortify Max. Magicka, Resist Magicka, Shield
>High elf: Fortify Max. Magicka; Resist Disease; Weakness to Fire, Frost,
>Shock
>
>Basically two questions:
>
>1. Are the shared abilities the same for both races, or are there
>differences?
No, High Elves get more extra magic than Bretons do. However, Bretons
only get advantages while High Elves get disadvantages as well. I
usually choose a Breton for my spellcasters for this reason.
>2. What *exactly* does this mean in terms of numbers and how they affect
>stats?
Bretons and High Elves have nearly the same beginning stats. High
Elves have slightly higher Agility, while Bretons have slightly higher
Willpower, a 10-point difference in both cases. In both races, female
characters get a 10-point bonus to Speed. Male Bretons get a 10-point
Strength advantage, and male High Elves get 10 points of Endurance.
Their skills are also different. Bretons get a 10-point starting bonus
to Conjuration, Mysticism and Restoration, and 5 points in Alchemy,
Alteration and Illusion. High Elves have 10 points in Alchemy,
Destruction and Enchant, and a 5-point bonus to Alteration,
Conjuration and Illusion. All these bonuses are heavily outweighed by
the bonuses you get for choosing Magic as a class type and the magic
skills as major skills, but they do all add up in the end.
The Breton gets Resist Magicka 50% and Fortify Maximum Magicka 5 as
permanent effects, and a once-a-day power of Dragon Skin, a 50-point
shield that lasts 60 seconds. Note that the fortify is actually a
multiplier, and so has more effect than the small number might lead
you to expect.
A High Elf gets Resist Disease 75%, which only affects common
diseases, Fortify Maximum Magicka 15(3x the Breton's bonus), but
weaknesses of 25% to Shock and Frost damage and 50% to Fire damage and
Magic effects. These effects are all permanent - they have no castable
powers.
In practice, this makes the High Elf a bit of a glass cannon until
they get decent enchanted gear to make up for their weaknesses. Yes,
they can cast more spells than the Breton, but they are also weak
against every type of magic. Most player who make a High Elf also
choose the sign of the Atronach, whose spell absorption can go a
little way towards covering up that weakness while also enhancing the
raw pool of magic available. Breton builds are more variable, because
they don't have that built-in weakness to compensate for.
John Salerno
> The Breton gets Resist Magicka 50% and Fortify Maximum Magicka 5 as
> permanent effects, and a once-a-day power of Dragon Skin, a 50-point
> shield that lasts 60 seconds. Note that the fortify is actually a
> multiplier, and so has more effect than the small number might lead
> you to expect.
>
> A High Elf gets Resist Disease 75%, which only affects common
> diseases, Fortify Maximum Magicka 15(3x the Breton's bonus), but
> weaknesses of 25% to Shock and Frost damage and 50% to Fire damage and
> Magic effects. These effects are all permanent - they have no castable
> powers.
So for Resist Magicka, does that mean you take 50% less damage than
normal from magic attacks? And how does the Fortify Max. Magicka
actually work? What is it multiplied by?
> In practice, this makes the High Elf a bit of a glass cannon until
> they get decent enchanted gear to make up for their weaknesses. Yes,
> they can cast more spells than the Breton, but they are also weak
> against every type of magic. Most player who make a High Elf also
> choose the sign of the Atronach, whose spell absorption can go a
> little way towards covering up that weakness while also enhancing the
> raw pool of magic available. Breton builds are more variable, because
> they don't have that built-in weakness to compensate for.
Yeah, I like that the Breton has no weaknesses. I played a Breton in
Morrowind and thought it was great, but it's been so long that I don't
remember any of these stats and abilities anymore. Plus, it may be
different in Oblivion anyway.
Is it still safe to assume that bonuses to skills like Conjuration,
Destruction, etc. don't ultimately matter, since any class can max out
all skills if they want to? I'm sure the bonuses help more at lower
levels...
Greg Johnson
<john...@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>Greg Johnson wrote:
>So for Resist Magicka, does that mean you take 50% less damage than
>normal from magic attacks?
Only those without another element type. It has no effect on Fire,
Frost, Shock or Poison attacks, but affects Absorb/Drain attacks and
also helps you resist things like blind, paralysis, silence, etc. This
is true both in Morrowind and Oblivion.
> And how does the Fortify Max. Magicka
>actually work? What is it multiplied by?
Your intelligence, basically. In Morrowind, characters by default get
1.0xInt as their base magicka, but Bretons get 1.5xInt and High Elves
get 2.5xInt. But in Oblivion the bonuses are not multipliers any more,
just straight bonuses to magicka. Base Magicka is 2.0xInt for
everybody, the Breton gets 50 points above that base, and the High Elf
gets 100 points above base. Because of this, most spells cost more
points in Oblivion than they did in Morrowind, but the magic
regeneration that everybody gets tends to make up for this. It's also
much easier to find effects that fortify or restore your magicka than
it was in Morrowind.
>> In practice, this makes the High Elf a bit of a glass cannon until
>> they get decent enchanted gear to make up for their weaknesses. Yes,
>> they can cast more spells than the Breton, but they are also weak
>> against every type of magic. Most player who make a High Elf also
>> choose the sign of the Atronach, whose spell absorption can go a
>> little way towards covering up that weakness while also enhancing the
>> raw pool of magic available. Breton builds are more variable, because
>> they don't have that built-in weakness to compensate for.
>
>Yeah, I like that the Breton has no weaknesses. I played a Breton in
>Morrowind and thought it was great, but it's been so long that I don't
>remember any of these stats and abilities anymore. Plus, it may be
>different in Oblivion anyway.
It is. They've changed what the bonuses are and also how the spell
system works. The answers I gave earlier are completely accurate for
Morrowind(since that's the newsgroup I saw your question in), but only
generally true for Oblivion because the details have been changed. In
Oblivion, the High elf keeps the disease resistance, but there are no
longer any diseases it doesn't affect. They lose the weakness to magic
and just get a flat 25% weakness to fire, frost and shock damage.
>Is it still safe to assume that bonuses to skills like Conjuration,
>Destruction, etc. don't ultimately matter, since any class can max out
>all skills if they want to? I'm sure the bonuses help more at lower
>levels...
They don't really matter much in either game except to cast stronger
spells a little sooner. Yes, everyone can max out everything, and
there are no premade spells that can't be cast by both races once they
get skilled enough.
John Salerno
> It is. They've changed what the bonuses are and also how the spell
> system works. The answers I gave earlier are completely accurate for
> Morrowind(since that's the newsgroup I saw your question in), but only
> generally true for Oblivion because the details have been changed. In
> Oblivion, the High elf keeps the disease resistance, but there are no
> longer any diseases it doesn't affect. They lose the weakness to magic
> and just get a flat 25% weakness to fire, frost and shock damage.
Thanks for the info!
Peter Knutsen
> Your intelligence, basically. In Morrowind, characters by default get
> 1.0xInt as their base magicka, but Bretons get 1.5xInt and High Elves
> get 2.5xInt. But in Oblivion the bonuses are not multipliers any more,
> just straight bonuses to magicka. Base Magicka is 2.0xInt for
> everybody, the Breton gets 50 points above that base, and the High Elf
> gets 100 points above base. Because of this, most spells cost more
> points in Oblivion than they did in Morrowind, but the magic
> regeneration that everybody gets tends to make up for this. It's also
> much easier to find effects that fortify or restore your magicka than
> it was in Morrowind.
I haven't tried Oblivion at all, yet, but in un-plugged Morrowind you
really need a high Magicka bonus in order to get to play a proper
spellcaster. You need to go for both a starsign bonus and a race/species
bonus, on top of a high INT. Otherwise you run out of magicka after only
a very, very few spells, which makes dungeon exploraiton (in fact
exploration of all hostile sites, or even just underwater sites) next to
impossible.
Later in the game, of course, you'll "itemize" - Enchant items to cast
utility spells such as Night Eye and Water Breathing, and even combat
spells like Health Regeneration, which serve to converse your magicka,
so that you can actually explore a bit.
And I've ended up cheating, installing a plug-in that slowly regenerates
my magicka.
So the end dynamic, for is, is somewhat similar to what I imagine
Oblivion to be like. But un-plugged Morrowind has *got* to be very
different from Oblivion.
--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org
DeAnn
I played MW for about a year and a half with no plugins at all (except
for the Bethesday ones) because my game was quite unstable. At lower
levels, I drank a lof of Sujamma or Matze, and at higher levels made
lots of restore magicka potions. (When your intellect goes to zero
from liquer, you will USUALLY-but-NOT-always regenerate your magicka
when your intellect returns.) Also, if you play as an atronarch, all
the spells you absorb replenish your magic--including praying at
shrines and altars. I'd Mark, Almsivie or Divine to recharge, the
Recall to where I was wandering.
Hmm, I much prefer playing with a plug in that slowly regnerates
magicka--it just FEELS better.