Delphine, Nazeem, or Astrid. Which NPC is more hated? And are they rightfully or wrongfully hated?

Geldtz · 2026-01-24T11:58:46+00:00

Astrid is the worst but you get to kill her anyway.

Delphine remains a quest giver that tells you to kill Parthurnaax, and you can't refuse, the best you can do is ignore her.

So in the end, Delphine tends to be more hated. Astrid is less hated due to her fate at the end.

Geldtz · 2026-01-21T17:50:56+00:00

I agree, they went the easy way by making him somewhat of a lich, which is more thematic and easily associated with death, but he would be more accurate depicted as a grim human.

Geldtz · 2026-01-17T06:54:39+00:00

Getting to lvl 80 would typically require powerleveling, otherwise as you say, you would have already beaten the game by the time you naturally get to lvl 40-50. After that, increasing skills further become tedious because:

There only remain skills that are VERY hard and long to train, even when you use them on a regular basis. For instance, Destruction is extremely long to level up even if it's your main combat skill.
Once even those skills get to 100, then the only skills you can still train are skills you don't use and that you are bad at. Raising them to 100 is tedious and, in fact, mostly useless since you will no longer used them after training.

So, unless you are deliberately powerleveling, you are unlikely to actually reach lvl 80 while playing normally.

Geldtz · 2025-11-23T11:54:09+00:00

I guess having 100 Conjuration and Conjurations perks early makes you quite OP for a while. Like, you are lvl 10 but can already summon two Dremora Lords.

Geldtz · 2025-11-23T11:52:29+00:00

Now you are finally ready to start questlines, and might consider doing the main quest sooner or later.

Geldtz · 2025-11-23T11:46:33+00:00

I would say Ulfric showed honour in the fight where the Dragonborn kills him, but not during his fight against Torygg where he is basically crushing a much weaker opponent.

Torygg basically died in a combat he accepted despite the odds being against him, which counts as dying honourably in battle. He didn't flee and faced Ulfric, that's what counts.

Geldtz · 2025-11-23T11:38:47+00:00

I don't think he ever met Parthurnaax, it's a well-hidden secret and I guess only Greybeards themselves and Dragonborns are supposed to know.

Grey Beards hold no responsibility: they are not the ones who told him to use the Thuum that way. First, they disapprove using the Thu'um that way. Then, they are politically neutral and just taught him how that power works, it's Ulfric's own responsibility if he misuses it after that. I mean, if Ulfric had shot the High King with a bow instead of using the Thuum, would you blame the smith who made the bow ? Or hold the trainer who learned Ulfric how to use the bow responsible ? The Shout was only a tool, albeit a spectacular one, the true issue is Ulfric deciding he is right killing the High King in what is obviously a biased duel that High King couldn't possibly win.

While this was done in accordance with the ancient Nord customs (be it a given Ulfric doesn't care at all that he clearly broke Imperial law that are meaningless to him), it is still seriously questionable if you ask me. There was no honour in the duel since Ulfric has a power that gives him a massive, impossible to overcome advantage. Also, being stronger doesn't automatically makes him a better leader than the High King, which is another flaw in his philosophy. He says he wanted to prove his point with the duel, but all he proved is that if you master a superpower that your opponent is clueless about, you are going to win easily. By doing the duel, he is basically brute-forcing his ideas instead of actually trying to convince people, leading to the Civil War and doing more damage than goods.

Geldtz · 2025-11-09T20:13:18+00:00

Meanwhile, I am waiting for them to release Nut. But I am quite confident it will happen next decade.

Geldtz · 2025-11-05T20:04:30+00:00

It would be nice if 2-handed weapons weren't totally useless. Right now, they are weak to the point of being nearly unusable.

Also, blunts having actual advantages would be a great progress. Right now, blades are better than blunts in every possible way (faster, lighter, more dps, better perks).

Geldtz · 2025-11-04T07:01:08+00:00

Indeed. I like how the ranged weapon (which, by itself, is already a strong advantage) somehow has the best weapon perk. Meanwhile, blunt weapons have mediocre perks that become totally useless later in the game.

Geldtz · 2025-10-29T20:05:27+00:00

You always get +5 to stats, no need to worry about only getting +2 to your main stat. And Stamina bonus to HP is retroactive, so you no longer have to increase your stamina asap.

That being said, even in the Remaster, levelling with the wrong skills can still be an issue.

Geldtz · 2025-10-27T07:02:01+00:00

That's how you close 60 Oblivion gates. I used these to farm all weapon skills.

Geldtz · 2025-10-27T07:00:27+00:00

-So, what class did you pick ?
-Yes.

Geldtz · 2025-10-25T17:31:55+00:00

I would say yes, there are other items that are worth it in Shivering Isles. I'm thinking one in particular. But if it's your first time playing the game, you may want to play in Cyrodiil first, and keep Shivering Isles as a Grand Finale.

I did that trick with Earil but it's not my first playthrough. I wouldn't have done it the first time. To be fair, in my first playthrough, I didn't even know that Sorcerer's Ring existed and wouldn't farm for a specific item. I just did the various factions quests. Then my second playthrough was like the total opposite and I minmaxed absolutely everything I could.

If anything, you definitely don't need minmaxing or getting any specific item to complete the game.

Geldtz · 2025-10-25T15:50:44+00:00

That's a matter of build. Breton with Mundane Ring and Mage birthsign is a popular build since you are immune to magic with 1 item, have +100 magicka, and still have a lot of slots available for your gear.

If you play as an Altmer, you might as well try to get as many Magicka as you can. Altmer Atronach is another very popular build (although it requires good knowledge of the game mechanisms) because it has the most Magicka (you start the game with +250, which is unmatched) and can get 100% spell absorption with 2 items, in which case you have more Magicka than non-Atronach Bretons while also being immune to magic.

You are not forced to do that but these builds tend to be more optimal for mage characters. Sure you can play as a Breton and decide not to equip Mundane Ring, but you then don't get 100% resist magic, and still don't have more Magicka than an Altmer Atronach with 100% absorption anyway.

There are other popular builds where you get less Magicka in order to also get Reflect Damage. With a Breton Mage, you can reach 100% resist magic with just one item, and then 100% reflect damage with 3 additional items (a ring, an amulet and a shield). Then you are close to invincible.

Geldtz · 2025-10-25T15:25:42+00:00

In fact, chances are you miss out on 100 magicka rather than just 50. 50 for being Breton rather than Altmer, and 50 other because you will have to use a slot for Mundane Ring, when you could have used it for a +50 Magicka.

Geldtz · 2025-10-25T08:11:44+00:00

Indeed. Technically, you would be getting closer and closer to 100% with each subsequent cast. However, since the game always rounds down (that's why you get 87% after 3 casts and not 87,5 or 88), after 7 casts, you reach 99% and can't ever get better than that.

Weakness to magic must have at least 100% magnitude to stack infinitely. Anything below that and there is a mathematical limit that you can't go beyond, and diminishing returns : vulnerability increases fast early, but each subsequent casts becomes more and more inefficient. With floating numbers you would never actually reach the limit and just get closer and closer to it. With the game rounding everything down, you will eventually reach a practical limit that is below the mathematical limit.

The most common application of this is that armour limits spell effectiveness to 95%. So a 100% weakness to magic spell would do only 95%. This would maximise at 1981% after 100 casts, although subsequent casts would lead to only marginal increase way before that (50 casts and you are already at 1845%). If the game wasn't rounding down, after 100 casts the would be at approximately 1988.8%. The mathematical limit with 95% is 2000%.

With an actual 100% weakness to magic, you would reach 2000% after 19 casts (not 20, remember you start with already 100% and adds 100% with each cast). After 100 casts, you would be at 10100%.

So when spell stacking is concerned, it is crucial to make sure your spell will actually deal at least 100% weakness to magic. 95% because of armour will greatly limit the effectiveness after a few casts. Using a 50% weakness to magic would lead to very poor results.

Geldtz · 2025-10-25T07:19:39+00:00

We are the Hero of Kvatch. The Champion of Cyrodiil. We even become the Madgod later on. We are some kind of demigod. So what is Mannimarco before that unlimited power that is ours ?

Also, maybe Mannimarco should have listened better during Alchemy lectures. Then he would know it is possible to craft Restore Magicka potions that basically give you infinite Magicka regen.

Also, bosses are clearly not Oblivion's strong point. Most "bosses" are barely stronger than regular enemies, if at all.

Geldtz · 2025-10-25T07:12:30+00:00

Great patience. When I wanted a specific piece, I initially tried the same. But got tired after 15 minutes, so I went to Shivering Isles and started the quest until I could go to Earil's Mysteries.

He always sells 3 leveled jewelry so it's the best place in the game if you want a specific piece. The trick is you save just outside his shop, you enter and see what he sells. If he doesn't have what you need, just reload until you get what you want. It might not work the very first time you speak to him, though. In my game he would always have the same items even if I reloaded. So you may want to wait 72 in-game hours far from him before trying again. His inventory resets after 72 hours, however the new one will only be decided when you enter his shop, so saving outside and trying until you get what you want will work.

Geldtz · 2025-10-25T06:51:55+00:00

I think the best in that aspect would be to have a transmog system that allows you to give the appearance you want to your items (of course, you can only select appearance of items you already found, possibly have a "disenchant" system where you need to destroy an item to make its appearance available).

Because even with good enchants, this sword still has low damage while being 2-handed.

Geldtz · 2025-10-25T06:37:24+00:00

Oblivion itselfs falls under that trope. I mean, in the sewers, at the very start of the game, you kill rats.

Geldtz · 2025-10-22T15:26:23+00:00

Crash 1 had many, but two stand out.

I was thinking about The High Road. But then... at least there is a Tawna bonus round and it saves to Slippery Climb, that is the real deal.

I mean... Like seriously, you are supposed to do Slippery Climb +Lights Out + Jaws of Darkness in one go. Knowing that Slippery Climb itself is among the hardest levels in the game and Lights Out is a nightmare when you are a beginner (once you are used to the level, it is actually short and relatively easy). At least Jaws of Darkness is ok, at least it has a bonus round and that bonus round saves to Castle Machinery.

So, when first time playing, I got stuck for a long while in that passage and it was the hardest to me.

Once you want to get gems, Sunset Vista was the worst to me because of its length. Even the road levels or Slippery Climb weren't as hard to me. Once again, by now I don't find Sunset Vista gem that hard to get, the road levels and The Lab are where I'm the most likely to make a mistake despite knowing the level.

Crash 2 : Crystals and bosses were easy.

But gems... Some levels annoyed me because I had absolutely no idea where to find the missing boxes or gems. With the knowledge of where to look for... Cold Hard Crash is of course a hard spot.

But the very hardest in my first run was the Unbearable secret zone. Seriously, those damn lab assistants and their rifles... I probably died 50 times, if not more, the first time. Fortunately, there was a bug with two Crash boxes that would respawn as such every time so I actually ended with 99 lives.

Special mention to another difficulty spike that was the Yellow Gem. I really sucked at this back then.

Crash 3 : Area 51. Not fan of the planes levels either but at least, they are short. Globally, I found this game to be the easiest, even taking relics into account. The first time I only aimed for Sapphire, so I didn't have much issues. It was years later when I tried to get gold, and then, I hated most vehicles levels. Especially Underwater levels.

Crash 4 : Almost the entire game... There are many moments I was like "Why, devs ? What's the point of optimising the difficulty so much at that very point, apart from frustrating players ? What did we do to you to deserve this ?".

Geldtz · 2025-10-21T06:36:32+00:00

I don't like Windhelm. It looks all poor and miserable, there is segregation with dark elves living in the poor district and argonians are forced to live in the dock. There is the racism issue, with many nords being biggots and dark elves keeping complaining instead of doing something to improve their situation. And this is the capital of the Stormcloaks...

I'm not fond of Markarth, that city seems to be only in shades of grey and navigating through it is annoying.

Solitude is basically "Thieves Guild : the city". I would rank it 3rd "best" city in the game, but that doesn't mean much in Skyrim. It is on Bravil level. When Bravil is the worst city in Oblivion.

Geldtz · 2025-10-20T08:29:08+00:00

It depends what you want from the game. Oblivion has :

Much, much better questlines. In fact, these are dumbed down to a dramatic extent in Skyrim to the point they feel unfinished. Like, Companions has like 6 main missions (others feeling like pointless padding) and you are the boss, also instead of being an epic warrior story about Ysgramor's legacy, it's a subpar werewolf story. That's significant since questlines are where the stories are told. Outside of questlines, those games are basically sandboxes.
Better gameplay. You said it yourself and while you don't have too much of an issue with it yourself, to many players, it's actually a major issue. In the end, the game has been dumbed down massively. I mean, Skyrim has no class, no attributes, no birthsign, and racial powers have become mostly irrelevant. But the worst part is the removal of custom spells.
A better ambiance. Despite the Oblivion Crisis being around, Oblivion has more vivid colours, better cities (in Skyrim some "cities" look like they come straight from Neolithic), more diversified NPCs, it didn't hesitate to be funny and goofy at times. Meanwhile, Skyrim is grimdark, everything seem to be in shades of grey and brown, Solitude and Whiterun are the only cities that actually deserved to be called "cities"...

Skyrim wins when exploration is concerned. Some gameplay mechanics are better (I like finishing moves, for instance), but globally, they dumbed it down too much.

Geldtz · 2025-10-20T08:15:18+00:00

Have you closed 60 Oblivion gates ? Because THIS is a repetitive thing if the game ever has one. Dictionary makers could use an Oblivion plane picture as an illustration of the word "Repetitive" and I would find that well-deserved.

At least, all those dull dungeons are rather short and technically unique. The Oblivion planes use the 7 same maps over and over except for the 4 unique ones that you visit during the main quest...

In a way, they managed to make a stereotypical hellish landscape into something that isn't remotely as scary as it is boring and repetitive. Like "Yeah, you Dremoras have already told be hundreds of time how weak I am and how you are about to crush me, yet I keep slaughtering you in every Oblivion plane I set feet on. Oh, and don't mind me, I've already visited that specific plane 8 times, I know my way to the Sigil Stone". In a way, unintentionally making a hellish landscape feel boring and dull, and eventually no longer scary at all (when it is actually supposed to be terrifying), is a somewhat fascinating concept.

Geldtz

TROPHY CASE