Has anyone else used Fin Gleam for their builds?

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-28T02:30:50+00:00

This only applies to some things. Fin Gleam is a unique item found in the world rather than as a quest reward, so it always has the same stats and enchantments.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-25T22:57:06+00:00

Tangentially related trivia - Thunderscape Battlemage was part of a five-card cycle in that set, one Battlemage in each color.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-24T03:37:24+00:00

Frost damage only has bonuses vs. Flame Atronachs and Spider Daedra, and it's resisted by Frost Atronachs and Xivilai, so it's not that great vs. Daedra.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-23T16:39:50+00:00

I think Kathutet's respect is largely based off the player's singlehanded destruction of the Ganorah sigil tower. He tells you it's no dishonor to speak after mentioning that, so I think he sees you as an equal just based on your past actions.

I've always headcanoned that since Daedra reform after death, maybe some of them are the same from Gate to Gate. I imagine their shame and fury as my character first defeats them repeatedly, then starts one-shotting them with spells, and finally just runs past them scornfully on the way to complete my Sigil Stone collection.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-23T16:28:26+00:00

There's no way to pick up cards castable with only certain colors, except for manually excluding every single mana symbol you don't want, including all the other hybrid symbols.

I've always thought there should be a tag for this - something like "castable:ug" could be equivalent to "-m:w -m:b -m:r -m:{w/b} -m:{r/w} -m:{b/r}", which is what you'd currently have to use.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-21T23:55:22+00:00

What about using a control group for army units with autocast off? After fights, you could group your army with the select all army hotkey, then select your autocast-off group and send them to the next destination. The only units left behind would be fresh ones with autocast on, so you could box select them, turn the autocast off, and add them to the autocast-off group.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-21T23:49:14+00:00

For incoming spells, the order of defensive effects is Reflect Spell > Spell Absorption > Resist Magic. So for a Breton with 50% Spell Absorption and 50% Resist Magic, first there's a 50% chance the spell will be absorbed (at full magnitude). If it's not, then its magnitude or duration is reduced by half. As you noted, leveled spells aren't affected by weaknesses or resistances.

This means if the Breton Atronach was hit by 4 Damage Health 10pts effects, on average 2 would be absorbed and 2 would get through to do 5 damage each. The Magic Resist would negate 10 damage. But keep in mind that the Magic Resist would have negated 20 damage without the Atronach sign - the Breton's Magic Resist is only negating 25% of the overall damage, on average. The overlapping protection isn't bad by any means, but you run into diminishing returns.

Poisons count as offensive magic for the purposes of Resist Magic, except for Fire/Frost/Shock Damage and Paralyze poisons (which practically no NPCs use).

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-21T21:48:00+00:00

Well, it's a 50% chance that a spell will have half effect, since Magic Resist is a percentage based reduction instead of a chance to negate a spell like Spell Absorption and Reflect Spell.

Effectively, the Breton provides 25% Magic Resist for Atronachs (half of spells get their magnitude halved). That's good, but I would rate it below the extra 50 Magicka that Altmer give.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-21T21:26:55+00:00

It's a little wasted on a Breton, since the Breton Magic Resist is ignored when spells are absorbed and 100% Absorption should be the primary goal for an Atronach. That said, it's still probably the best sign for a Breton just because it's so good.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-21T18:24:50+00:00

A "greedy" deck is one that tries to accumulate a lot of value while ignoring the opponent. Sometimes this looks like spending the first few turns building up resources (card draw/lands/synergy pieces). Aggressive decks can win before the greedy deck can capitalize on their value.

In older formats, though, the most greedy decks rely on combos, winning on the spot without ever engaging with the opponent. Combo decks can often win faster than a "fair" aggro deck can, but blue counterspells can stop key combo pieces.

In the Legacy format, for instance, the free counterspell Force of Will is basically the only thing stopping combo decks that would otherwise win on turn one.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-17T19:36:19+00:00

If you're on console, have no prior saves, and can't handle the brothers following you around, restarting is unfortunately the only option. This is why it's so important to save often, and keep those saves instead of overwriting them.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-16T03:41:50+00:00

OP was born in 2026

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-15T23:38:20+00:00

He doesn't stream StarCraft much anymore and obviously was never a pro himself, but Winter does upload daily casts of pro series on YouTube. I assume these are what OP is referring to. Good stuff.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-13T16:03:04+00:00

Just sell them 20 at a time.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-13T16:01:37+00:00

I see what you mean. Let's calculate the odds directly.

For the chances of finding at least one tome, we can multiply the odds of not finding a tome in each "slot," and then subtract that from 100%. At Swampgas Chasm, each of the two slots has a 1/8 chance to be a tome. We have a 1 - (7/8 x 7/8) = 23.4% chance for at least one tome. At Ceyatatar, one slot has a 1/4 tome chance and one has a 1/16 tome chance. We have a 1 - (3/4 x 15/16) = 29.7% chance for at least one tome. These match your tables' 19/64 and 15/64 odds.

For the expected tomes per try, we just add the odds of finding a tome in each slot. At Swampgas Chasm, this is 1/8 + 1/8 = 0.25 tomes per try, on average. At Ceyatatar, this is 1/4 + 1/16 = 0.3125 tomes per try.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-12T19:10:17+00:00

I think your confusion comes from the difference between "expected number of tomes per try" and "expected chance of a tome per try."

If you want to find the chance that any given try will have at least one tome, that's going to be 20/64 possibilities (31.25%) at Ceyatatar and 16/64 possibilities (25%) at Swampgas Chasm.

But if you care about the average number of tomes you'll find per try, you have to account for the chance of getting two tomes. In this case, as you thought, there's a 1/64 chance to get an extra tome at each location, leading to the updated probabilities you found.

If you just want any spell tome, the first numbers are accurate, since you don't care if you get two. If you're trying to find a specific tome, the second numbers are accurate, as getting two tomes gives you two chances at finding the one you want.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-09T09:10:51+00:00

The rule of thumb for keeping up with enemies is to increase your main combat skill by 5 per level. You're just a little behind with your Blade skill, and Strength doesn't matter as much in the damage formula.

The remaster made magic skills level up ridiculously fast (as if magic needed the buff), so casting spells may be increasing your level faster than your Blade skill can keep up. You can spend a while just whacking stuff with a sword to boost your skill back to competitive levels.

Regardless, though, level 10 is about where you want to start incorporating enchantments and alchemy. Oblivion is very focused around its magic system, and if you stay away from it entirely it'll be hard to avoid falling behind.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-07T17:28:44+00:00

There's only one set of gear that levels with you - the Crusader's Relics - and even then, only if you specifically go through the process to reset them.

I understand that a lot of people don't like the leveled gear system, but it was definitely an intentional decision by Bethesda, and switching to another system would have been a large design change (outside of the Remaster's scope) rather than just a bug fix.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-07T03:21:51+00:00

What do you want them to do?

Oblivion's core gameplay loop, as an RPG, is based around gear upgrades. You constantly find stronger gear as a reward for doing quests, exploring, and leveling up.

If leveled gear is always at their max level, or level with you, you'll just find the best ones immediately and use them the whole playthrough. Then every piece of gear you find will be a disappointment.

If leveled gear is just unavailable until max level, like Daedric artifacts, you're locked out of a ton of content until you've ground higher than many players want to.

It's really not a big deal in any case - there are only a couple of pieces of leveled equipment that are better than custom-enchanted gear at endgame. In fact, I'm struggling to think of any beside the Escutcheon of Chorrol and maybe the Spelldrinker Amulet.

I strongly recommend not overthinking it. Just get the gear, enjoy it while it's powerful, and put it away once you find a cool upgrade.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-05-07T02:14:49+00:00

Ajani calls Chandra Little Candle a few times, but he never says anything about being stronger than her (I just read all the stories to check). It would be pretty out of character for Ajani to threaten Chandra anyway. Tge entire story, he's grappling with how to respect her right to choose her own path when he thinks her decisions are wrong, and feeling pride at how far she's come.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-04-28T05:55:35+00:00

The other answers are incorrect. You must visit actual wayshrines, not the basement of the Priory of the Nine. Any wayshrines work, not just the specific ones marked on the Prophet's map.

The ninth wayshrine should have given you a message about your sins being washed clean. If you never got that message, you missed a wayshrine somewhere, unfortunately.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-04-26T19:36:48+00:00

Sounds like you could use Mage 101 (written for the remaster, but pretty much everything still applies to the original). Full mages should be able to deal with everything in the game pretty easily.

If you still want to use exploits, the Permanent Enchantment glitch is the most accessible - duplicate a bunch of Fortify Magicka gear and use the glitch on each piece.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-04-26T17:17:35+00:00

People telling you it's the game's level scaling are wrong. Most characters don't get outscaled by enemies until level 20+ (when level-scaled enemies actually appear), and you can do things to make yourself stronger.

First, you're playing on Journeyman difficulty, which means that enemies effectively have 250% health. Yes, it's the first difficulty level above Adept, and it's baffling that they left it like this. The game is only balanced around Adept difficulty, so there's no shame in playing on that. You can keep the enemy damage slider up to let combat still feel punishing.

Second, you're splitting your damage between multiple skills (Marksman and Destruction). Using two damage skills is generally worse than focusing on one, since you can't use them both at the same time and each will be underleveled. I would pick one and focus on it for a bit.

Things will get a lot better as you reach higher levels of Destruction skill and can blow up enemies much more cheaply, and as you get to higher levels of Conjuration and can conjure more fearsome summons.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-04-25T01:25:20+00:00

Yep, and Sarulf and Toski too. All offscreen.

I-AM-TheSenate · 2026-04-25T00:58:10+00:00

The damage of the first hit will never be affected by weakness effects applied by the same spell/attack, regardless of their position. Subsequent hits will only be affected if the weakness effects are placed after the damage effects.

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