Oblivion:Skills

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There are 21 skills in Oblivion, each of which determines how well you can perform various tasks. Each skill is governed by an attribute; there are three skills governed by each attribute (except Luck). The relationship between governing attributes and skills is discussed on the attributes page. Each skill also belongs to one of three specializations.

Attribute	Skills Governed by the Attribute
Strength	Blade	Blunt	Hand to Hand
Endurance	Armorer	Block	Heavy Armor
Speed	Athletics	Acrobatics	Light Armor
Agility	Security	Sneak	Marksman
Personality	Mercantile	Speechcraft	Illusion
Intelligence	Alchemy	Conjuration	Mysticism
Willpower	Alteration	Destruction	Restoration
Luck	(none)

Specialization
Combat
Stealth
Magic

[edit] Notes

• There are several ways to improve your skills:
  • All will naturally improve as you continue to use them throughout the game.
  • The page on Increasing Skills provides general information on how to practice skills in order to improve them, as well as a table that lists the exact number of actions required to increase each skill.
    • Each skill page discusses specific strategies for how to practice that skill.
  • Trainers can be paid to provide you with lessons (up to 5 per character level).
  • Reading a skill book will provide you with tips, causing a one-point boost in the associated skill.
  • There are a variety of Free Skill Boosts available. Some are quest rewards and some are easter eggs.
• The level of each skill can range from 0 to 100. (Values as low as zero will only occur if your skill is drained; starting values of skills range from 5 to 40). In addition to providing skill perks (detailed next), your skill level determines your competency at performing the associated skill.
• Each skill has five Mastery levels:
  • 0-24 skill points: Novice level
  • 25-49 skill points: Apprentice level
  • 50-74 skill points: Journeyman level
  • 75-99 skill points: Expert level
  • 100 skill points: Master level

Reaching each of these skill levels provides Skill Perks, detailed on the individual skill pages. These perks generally make the skill substantially more useful.

• The initial level of each skill is primarily determined by your character's class, in particular whether the skill is one of the seven major skills that determine when you level up, and whether the skill is in your class' specialization. In addition, each race provides several skill bonuses.
• Some magical effects can increase your skill above 100, but in general increases above 100 have no real effect. The only exceptions are Acrobatics and Athletics, which will continue to increase your character's jump height and run speed, respectively, up to a maximum value of 255.
• The level of all skills (except Acrobatics and Athletics) is modified by your luck attribute. See Luck for details.
• Features common to the six magic skills (Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism, and Restoration) can be found at Magic Overview.

[edit] Magical Effects on Skills

Skills may be temporarily decreased by Drain Skill spells or scrolls. Skills can be boosted above their base values by Fortify Skill effects, although Fortify Skill effects are relatively hard to find. Absorb Skill spells provide a combination of Drain Skill against the target, and Fortify Skill on the caster.

Unlike all other statistics, there are no Damage Skill or Restore Skill effects available in the game.

Skills can be permanently damaged by spending time in Jail. For each day you spend in jail, one skill will randomly be selected. In most cases, that skill will be permanently lowered by one point, supposedly because your unused skills become rusty while sitting in a jail cell. This reduction is not a Damage Skill effect that can be repaired by a Restore Skill spell (none are available!) or even by activating an altar in a chapel: it is truly permanent. The only exceptions are the skills of Sneak or Security: if one of these skills is the one randomly selected for that day, it will be boosted by one point (you picked up some pointers from your cellmates).

Skills that are raised by either Fortify Skill spells or magic effects from items in general do not gain their respective perks. For example, if you have an Armorer skill of 45, you cannot normally repair magic weapons and armor. Cast a Fortify Armorer Skill of +10 for a 55 total skill and you still cannot make those repairs even though your skill level reflects that you should be able to do so. Likewise, Fortifying your Destruction Skill to 75+ from a lower rank will not allow you to cast spells that require a skill of 75 to cast. The same is true of wearing items that boost those skills. There are exceptions however, as described on the Fortify Skill page. Even if you do not gain any perks, fortifying skills is not a waste of time. Fortifying sneak and combat skills does help you with hiding and attack damage respectively. Fortifying any spell casting skill (Alteration, Destruction, etc.) will end up lowering the casting cost of the spells you can cast even though you still don't gain access to spells that you were previously unable to cast. For example, Fortifying your Alteration skill from 60 to 75 will lower the casting costs of all of your Alteration spells but will not give you access to cast Open Hard Lock as that requires a natural 75 or higher (Expert level in Alteration) in order to be able to cast.

Skills in Oblivion
Combat:	Armorer | Athletics | Block | Blunt | Blade | Hand to Hand | Heavy Armor
Magic:	Alchemy | Alteration | Conjuration | Destruction | Illusion | Mysticism | Restoration
Stealth:	Acrobatics | Light Armor | Marksman | Mercantile | Security | Sneak | Speechcraft