A Beginner’s Guide to The Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered gives you an enormous open world the moment you step out of the tutorial sewers. Cities, factions, quests, and dungeons stretch out in every direction. Oblivion is full of systems that reward you for exploring, experimenting, and trying things your own way.

For new players, though, all that freedom can be paralyzing. Once you leave the tutorial, there’s no blinking arrow to guide you on the “right” way to play. That’s the point, but it can also leave you standing at a crossroads, wondering if you’re already doing it wrong. Some mechanics, like levelling, storage, and combat, can trip up new players if you rush in mindlessly. The early hours set the tone for the rest of your playthrough, so it’s worth taking the time to set up a strong foundation before you get lost in side quests.

Thankfully, online resources like the TES Wiki can make navigating the early game easier. This beginner’s guide contains a handful of early steps that make Cyrodiil easier to understand.

Save at the Sewers

When you reach the end of the tutorial, the game pauses and lets you adjust your character one last time before stepping into Cyrodiil. This is the ideal spot to create a permanent save file. Think of it as your master template, a point you can always return to if you want to try a different race, class, or skill setup.

Instead of replaying the entire tutorial every time you want to experiment, you can just reload this save, tweak your choices, and continue straight into the open world. It saves hours of repetition and makes it easier to test new builds without commitment.

Even if you’re confident in your character, keeping a sewer-exit save is worth it. Oblivion is a game that rewards curiosity and having that flexible starting point makes it easier to explore different playstyles later.

Join the Guilds

Guilds are one of the best ways to get started in Oblivion. Each faction offers quests, rewards, and safe places to sleep, all of which make your early game much easier. The good news is you can join multiple guilds at once, so there’s no need to lock yourself into a single path.

• Fighters Guild: Found in Chorrol, Cheydinhal, and Anvil. A solid choice for combat-focused characters, with straightforward quests and decent pay.

• Thieves Guild: Join by getting caught stealing and following rumours of the Gray Fox. It’s the only way to unlock fences that buy stolen goods.

• Mages Guild: Open in most major cities. Joining grants access to alchemy ingredients, spell merchants, and eventually enchanting services.

• Arena: Speak to the Blademaster in the Imperial City Arena District to fight for gold, fame, and some of the game’s earliest combat practice.

• Dark Brotherhood: Join by killing an innocent NPC, then sleeping in a bed. The questline is infamous for a reason — it’s one of the best in the game.

Joining guilds gives you a steady income, valuable resources, and questlines that grow alongside your character. Even if you don’t plan to complete every storyline, signing up early is always worth it.

Secure a Free Place to Sleep

Levelling up in Oblivion works differently from most RPGs. Gaining skill experience isn’t enough. You can only level once you’ve rested in a bed. Inns and houses cost gold, and in the early game, that’s money better spent on gear or potions. Finding a free, safe place to sleep is one of the smartest things you can do right away.

Two of the easiest options are:

• Abandoned Shack (Imperial City Waterfront): This small, unlocked shack has bedrolls you can use without trouble. It’s not glamorous, but it gets the job done.

• Aleswell Inn: Complete the “Zero Visibility” side quest, and the villagers reward you with a permanent free room at the inn. Unlike the shack, it also offers safe storage, which is a huge bonus for stashing loot.

Both choices give you a reliable home base early on, letting you rest, level, and store items without draining your gold supply.

Clear Early Dungeons

Right outside the sewer exit, you’ll notice ruins and caves dotting the landscape. These early dungeons are perfect for learning combat, gathering loot, and earning gold without wandering too far from the Imperial City. They’re balanced for low-level characters, so you won’t feel outmatched.

Some of the best first stops include:

• Vilverin: An Ayleid ruin packed with bandits and undead. Great loot and a good mix of enemies.

• Fatback Cave: Home to goblins. Challenging in groups, but doable if you’re careful.

• Sideways Cave: A straightforward dungeon full of creatures. Easier for melee fighters.

Clearing a few of these dungeons early will leave you with better weapons, more gold, and the confidence to tackle bigger challenges down the road.

Find a Fence for Stolen Goods

In Oblivion, regular merchants won’t buy stolen items. If you accidentally (or deliberately) pocket something with a red hand icon, your only option is to sell it through a fence. The Thieves Guild is the key here. Once you’ve joined, you’ll gain access to special merchants who deal exclusively in stolen goods.

The first fence you’ll meet is Ongar the World-Weary in Bruma. He’s not picky and will happily take your loot, even if it’s just silverware swiped from someone’s table. Until you unlock him, it’s smart to store any stolen items somewhere safe. The free room at Aleswell Inn is perfect for this, since it has reliable storage that won’t reset.

Getting access to a fence early means all that “borrowed” loot turns into gold. It also makes thieving a viable playstyle instead of a waste of inventory space. For more information about this mechanic, check out the UESP Wiki.