Oblivion:Quest Timing

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While there's no level requirements for when you should do most of the quests, there are some quests which it is most advantageous to do early, and others which are better to save until later. Still others it can be helpful to start early and hold off finishing until later, and there are certain quests that conflict with each other if being performed at the same time. This page attempts to clarify some of these issues.

1 Quests to do Early
2 Quests to Save for Later
3 Quests to Start but not Finish
4 Quests that Conflict
5 Avoiding Sleep

[edit] Quests to do Early

A Knife in the Dark

This quest gives you early access to M'raaj-Dar who is a novice level merchant, and sells a number of unique items and spells. It does, however, require you to sleep twice which is obviously not good for those trying to not level up.

The Battle for Castle Kvatch

More than any other quest in the game, this one punishes those who put it off for even a few levels. Even at level 5, most of the guards and Legion troops will probably get killed before you even make it to the castle. At level 25 or higher, you will face dozens of Xivilai and Storm Atronachs. That said, the quest is technically optional, and having 100% Chameleon or Reflect Damage can certainly help tip the scales in your favor if you decide to take it on at a higher level. Also see the entry under Quests to Save for Later.

A Brush With Death

Level 1 is by far the easiest time to do this quest, based on the damage from the leveled poisons vs. the health of the leveled creatures you need to use them on. There are breaks every four levels, but it never again gets as easy as it was on level 1. There is a chart on the quest page detailing this. Keep in mind however, that the reward you get is also leveled. As with many other quests, having 100% Chameleon or Reflect Damage can help tip the scales in your favor if you decide to take it on at a higher level.

The Collector and A Venerable Vintage

These quests require lots of dungeon exploring, and they are full of enemies. The rewards for both quests aren't leveled, and doing them later you will have to fight more and stronger enemies.

All the Daedric shrine quests

Unlike most quest equipment rewards in the game, the equipment awarded by the Daedric shrine quests are of fixed quality and enchantment, regardless of your level. Hence, most of them are at their most effective if you collect them as soon as you meet the level requirement.

Namira

It is recommended to start this quest while your personality is below 60 because if it is any higher than that, starting this quest becomes more difficult (as explained in more detail on the quest page).

Deliver the Amulet

Two words: Free horse. Sure, it's not the fastest or the strongest horse you can get, but you can't beat the price.

The Desolate Mine / The Killing Field

Both of these quests require you to accompany perishable NPCs into battle with Goblins, and in both cases you have minimal control over where and when they fight. Due to the nature of level scaling for NPCs and Goblins, the higher your level, the more likely the NPCs will die and your reward will be compromised. See the quest pages for hints on how to keep your companions alive. Note that for The Killing Field you may want to put off collecting your leveled reward until later; read the next section on leveled equipment rewards Also, if you have rescued Martin Septim before you begin this quest, 10-25 Oblivion gates will start opening when you return to Weynon Priory to meet Rallus Odiil and Antus Odiil (see the quest Find the Heir for more details). For that reason, it may be advisable to do this quest a bit later, i.e., at about level 5. (If you leave it later than that then the chances that the NPCs will survive will be much lower.)

Fighters Guild quests

There are two fighters guild quests that have quirks related to the level at which you do them. Because of the order in which you are required to go through these quests, there is no way to get the best possible reward from both of the quests. In addition, a third quest has a non-leveled reward that you may want to get as early as possible. The Mind and Body Ring is in general more useful than the Amulet of Interrogation, so it's probably most advantageous to do these quests around level 10. The quests, in the order that you must do them are:

Mystery at Harlun's Watch

The leveled Mind and Body Ring that you get as a reward from this quest has its leveled items out of order. Doing the quest at level 10-19 will give you a better ring than doing it at level 20+.

This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.

More Unfinished Business

The leveled Ring of Aegis that you get as a reward from this quest is significantly better than what you can find in random loot at the same level. For example, doing the quest at level 10 will net you a Grand Ring of Aegis, which otherwise you will not be able to find until at least level 14.

Azani Blackheart

It's a little hard to do this one early, as there are several Fighters Guild quests which must be done first. But whenever you do get around to this, the quest will net you a very nice enchanted Elven claymore, along with a nearly complete set of Elven armor. This loot is not leveled, so you'll get it regardless of level.

Information Gathering

An even later quest in the Fighters Guild line, but it has one curious quirk: The leveled Amulet of Interrogation you get as a reward from this quest has its leveled items out of order. Doing the quest at level 5-9 will give you a better amulet than doing it at level 10+.

This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.

Finding the Thieves Guild and May the Best Thief Win

Even if you don't plan on being a career thief, doing these two quests early on can save you a lot of hassle later on, because they give you access to a Doyen who can remove any bounty on your head, and a Fence who can remove those stolen-tags on any loot you may be carrying for a price. Compared to the prospect of going to jail or paying a fine and having any ill-gotten goods confiscated, the minor infamy point you get here is completely worth it.

The Ghost Ship of Anvil

No real reason to do it early, but no reason to hold off either. The "leveled" sword you get as the quest reward is not really leveled - every version has the same stats. So might as well get it early, as it's a fairly decent beginner sword for not too much effort; you can always get the town guards to do the work for you, after all. If you have the Unofficial Oblivion Patch installed, however, the reward is leveled correctly and the best version of the sword is available only at level 30 and over.

Go Fish

Another particularly useful quest to do early. The reward is an unleveled ring that provides Water-Breathing and a slight Athletics boost, and all you need to do to get it is kill a few Slaughterfish!

All the Mages Guild Recommendation quests.

You'll probably want to have access to the Arcane University as early as possible, since it gives you access to the Enchanting and Spellmaking altars. Even if you do not plan on specializing in magic, you'll probably need to use some spells, and making your own is usually preferable to the ones you can buy. Enchanted gear, of course, is useful for everybody.

Alternatively, the Wizard's Tower official plug-in provides access to an Enchanting and Spellmaking Altar, but without any of the other benefits of Mages Guild membership.
Once you make it into the Mages Guild, you may want to hold off continuing the quest line in order to receive a better quality Mage's Staff. At levels 15 and higher, a Mage's Staff of Destruction does damage comparable to the most powerful ones in the game (80 points, compared for example to 99 points for Apotheosis). However, it uses much less energy for each strike (80, compared to 250 for Apotheosis or 159 for Staff of the Battlemage). Therefore, the Mage's Staff can easily exceed the total damage capacity of any other staves in extended mage battle.

Fingers of the Mountain

In particular, Fingers of the Mountain (which is the Chorrol recommendation quest) is best done early. The spell Finger of the Mountain will cost an insanely high amount of magicka if you get it later, far more than it would cost to make the same spell yourself at the spellmaking altar. Prior to level 5, the casting cost is equal to a self-made spell, but afterwards, it increases astronomically. If you don't plan on using the spell, it doesn't really matter, but it can be a good offense spell for an early character.

Mazoga the Orc and Knights of the White Stallion: Besides the fact that doing these quests later usually results in Mazoga getting killed, there are two more reasons to do them early. The Black Bows you get from the second quest are not leveled, and better than any other bows you can find at low levels. If you're into Marksmanship, getting one of these early will give you a nice boost early on. Just remember not to give all of them away to the Count. You can even enchant one to keep him from taking it when you talk to him. The count will also give you the key to White Stallion Lodge, which is a free house where you can sleep and store your belongings.
The Pilgrimage of the Nine Divines: If you have the Knights of the Nine add-on installed, you may want to do this quest before you gain any Infamy points, so that the KoN and the Pilgrimage don't interfere with one another (for example, if you gain infamy while doing the Pilgrimage but after doing the KoN quest). While there's no reason you can't do it later, it's probably easiest to do it early on, before joining the Thieves Guild or the Dark Brotherhood.
Seeking Your Roots: Best to do this early just for the annoyance factor. Searching for Nirnroots while being attacked left and right by high level creatures is a pain. Doing it while there's nothing more threatening than mudcrabs on the shores is much easier. Also, the quest requires a great deal of exploration, which can help you find a lot of new locations early on, helpful for fast-travelling later.
Two Sides of the Coin: It's somewhat inconvenient (if you care about your criminal record) that you have to get arrested at least once in order to do this quest. But it does earn you a free set of Imperial Guard chainmail, which is a couple grades better than any other light armor you can find very early in the game. And as a bonus, it gets you an invitation to join the Thieves Guild.
Zero Visibility: Straight after the tutorial you should do this mission. Its incredibly easy and will earn you a free bed and storage chest you can stash your stuff in, without having to save up for a house!

[edit] Quests to Save for Later

Any quest with a leveled equipment reward

In most cases, when you receive a piece of equipment as a reward for completing a quest, its power and enchantment are adjusted so that it is neither overpowered nor underpowered at your current level. Unfortunately, without a Quest Award Leveler mod, the reward cannot be traded in for a better version after you have leveled, and what was a useful item at level 3 is usually garbage at level 23. Some quest rewards have unique properties, and earning them at an early level essentially squanders them. Some quests simply award a leveled amount of gold or generic enchanted trinket; these are better candidates for early questing. Also, the level of the reward is usually not determined until you collect it, so it is often possible to do the "work" of a quest at a low level when it will be easy, and wait to formally finish it until you are of high enough level to collect the best reward.

The Battle for Castle Kvatch

If you didn't do this quest at the start of the game, save it until your character is extremely powerful as you will face a range of powerful daedra and it can be a challenge for even a mid-level player. If you do the quest at this stage, don't expect any of your Imperial Guard helpers to survive but you should at least be able to finish it.

Corruption and Conscience

You may want to wait until you have completed the Defense of Bruma quest in the Main Questline to start Corruption and Conscience. This allows you to have Ulrich Leland as an ally during the Defense of Bruma (if you also complete The Wayward Knight as part of Allies for Bruma). Since Ulrich is an essential NPC he can be a particularly valuable ally.

Dark Brotherhood quests

Besides the fact that most of the rewards you receive for doing these quests are leveled (you won't receive the "best" item until you're level 30!), doing the Dark Brotherhood quests will net you quite a number of Infamy points, which can be somewhat inconvenient early on if you haven't earned a comparable number of Fame points as well. This applies in a lesser extent to the Thieves Guild quest-line as well, though most of those rewards are not leveled, and the net reward for completing them all is an item which makes your Infamy more or less irrelevant. For this reason, it might be best advised to finish the Thieves Guild quest-line before starting the Dark Brotherhood quests.

On the other hand, there are definite benefits to doing the Dark Brotherhood quests early such as obtaining the Shrouded Armor and Shadowmere. Completing the Pilgrimage quest for the Knights of the Nine add-on will reset your infamy points to zero.

Find the Heir

After delivering Martin to Weynon Priory and completing the Find the Heir quest, up to 25 Oblivion Gates will start opening up in random places all over Cyrodiil. These can be a real hassle for a young character, and it may be in your best interests to hold off on this until later. Or not. (Later in the Main Quest, even more hassles emerge. After the Dagon Shrine quest, Oblivion Gates become far more common and Mythic Dawn agents begin to attack you on sight.)

However, it can also be advantageous to do this quest early so you can begin discovering the locations of Oblivion Gates while going about your normal leveling, and then come back to them with fast travel when you feel ready. This way you won't have to run all over Cyrodiil a second time later on to spawn random Oblivion Gates.

Information for a Price

After completing this quest, Volanaro of the Bruma Mages Guild will no longer be available to you. He is the only vendor in the game that sells the Summon Dremora Lord spell. So, if you are a conjurer or ever plan on mastering the skill, you may want to buy this spell from Volanaro before finishing this quest.

Origin of the Gray Prince

If you wait until your athletics skill is at 100, the Gray Prince's Training you receive as a reward for the quest will permanently boost your athletics skill above 100. Athletics is one of only two skills (the other is acrobatics) that continues to provide benefits after 100.

The Path of Dawn

Although the quest has no reward as such, Raven Camoran will be wearing a magic ring which you can loot when you kill him. At level 22 or higher, this will be a Mundane Ring, one of the most coveted pieces of equipment in the game for its powerful Resist Magic and Reflect Spell enchantments. At level 20 or 21, he will be equipped with an Elemental Ring, which while not quite as powerful is still a very useful piece of equipment. Below level 20, his ring will be much lower quality. One of the Mythic Dawn agents escorting him will also have an enchanted ring, and the best random rings don't appear until level 20.

The Pilgrimage of the Nine Divines

If you choose not to do the Pilgrimage early, you may want to wait until after you have completed the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood. In this way, you will not have to worry about gaining any infamy due to the quests you do.

Sins of the Father

After completing this quest, Fathis Ules will no longer be available as a Thieves Guild fence. Thus you may want to wait on it. Also, the rewards from this quest are leveled, and quite valuable (particularly the Escutcheon of Chorrol).

Another option is to only do the quest up to the point where you retrieve the Honorblade of Chorrol (which is a zero weight Ebony Longsword); this part can be done very early if you wish to use the Honorblade of Chorrol. Just don't turn it in for the quest reward until you are done using it and are ready for the leveled reward.

The Sword of the Crusader (Knights of the Nine quest)

During this quest, Ohtesse, one of the advanced trainers of Restoration at Cheydinhal's Chapel of Arkay will be killed. Since the other advanced trainer, Marz is also killed in an earlier Knights of the Nine quest, and since her replacement Beem-Kiurz will not provide you with a recommendation allowing you to continue your training with the Master Trainer, Oleta, doing this quest prior to receiving a training recommendation from one of the two advanced trainers will make it impossible for you to receive master-level training in Restoration.

If you have already lost both advanced trainers, or don't want to put off the quest line until you have unlocked master training, create a custom "Drain Restoration 60 pts. for ~3 seconds on Self" spell, and cast it before talking to a basic trainer. They will be fooled by the spell effect and will train you.

[edit] Quests to Start but not Finish

Azani Blackheart: While you may not order Modryn Oreyn to "wait", he is still a powerful unkillable ally - far more than the Jemane brothers - and he can be useful for helping to fight by your side.
Clavicus Vile: At the end of this quest you get to choose between holding onto Umbra or handing it over (and receiving the Masque of Clavicus Vile as a reward). If you choose to keep Umbra it stops being a quest item and becomes heavy. By delaying the end you can hold onto one of the best swords in the game at zero weight. Sadly you will eventually need to finish the quest to do the final Daedric quest Hermaeus Mora. Or you can just say you will leave in peace to Umbra, then go back and get it and it will be weightless and a quest-item.
Legacy Lost: Guilbert and Reynald Jemane are capable fighters who will follow you to Weatherleah during this quest. However, nobody says you have to go there right away. Instead, you can let them follow you around and fight by your side wherever you go. They are un-killable during this quest, so you don't have to worry about protecting them.
Sins of the Father: The Honorblade of Chorrol is a powerful and durable weapon, perfect for a sword-wielding character at lower levels. It has zero weight during the quest, which leaves more room in your inventory for loot, and it drains very little fatigue when you swing it. An extra bonus is that this sword can damage ghosts, will-o-the-wisps and wraiths, which otherwise requires a silver, Daedric, summoned, enchanted or poisoned weapon. You might wish to hold on to this sword indefinitely. Being a quest item, it will even stay in your inventory during the Dagon Shrine quest.
Skingrad Recommendation: Erthor is a pretty handy ally to have around, with a decent array of magical defenses at his disposal. He can't be killed during this quest, and will follow you anywhere and fight at your side. The only downside is you'll eventually need to finish this quest in order to get into the Arcane University.
Weynon Priory: As with Legacy Lost and Skingrad Recommendation, not completing this quest gives you powerful unkillable companions, Martin and Jauffre.
When the Vow Breaks: The leveled blunt Rockshatter that you get during this quest is a pretty nice weapon to have around, far more so than the paltry gold you get for completing the quest. So you can leave this quest open until you find a better weapon, if you're into blunt weapons. Another advantage is that it's also weightless. As a quest item, it will not be removed from your inventory even when other items are, such as when you are arrested or when you 'join' the mythic dawn; it is handier in a fight than just fists.
Whom Gods Annoy: While the four scamps may get in the way sometimes, they are great for power leveling and often distract attackers. If an enemy hits one instead of you, the scamps will join you in the fight!

[edit] Quests that Conflict

Ahdarji's Heirloom & Sanguine: It is best to complete the Ahdarji's Heirloom quest before doing Sanguine's quest. The Ahdarji's Heirloom quest cannot be completed while you have Sanguine as your current quest. Even after completing Sanguine, the Countess may permanently sit down at the dining room table instead of retiring to her bedroom like she should. See the quest page for possible solutions.
Bravil Recommendation & Through A Nightmare, Darkly: Through a Nightmare, Darkly is not part of the Bravil Recommendation: although both of these quests come from Kud-Ei, they are considered to be two separate quests. This can at times be confusing, as it is possible to accept both quests simultaneously. If you do so, Kud-Ei will automatically head to Henantier's house and stand by his bedside, while you are free to do either quest. However, this may result in errors and make it impossible to finish one of the quests (Kud-Ei may not acknowledge your progress in both quests). Preferably you should finish one of these quests before accepting the other one.
The Elven Maiden & An Unexpected Voyage: Do not start the quest An Unexpected Voyage while doing the Thieves Guild quest The Elven Maiden. Doing so will crash the game; see An Unexpected Voyage for details.
Mazoga the Orc or Knights of the White Stallion & Sanguine: If you have started, but not finished, the Mazoga the Orc or Knights of the White Stallion quests, doing Sanguine's quest may result in Mazoga coming to your aid and getting killed by the guards. This is only a problem if you choose to run from the scene. If you plan on fleeing from Sanguine's quest, it is recommended that you either complete both these quests before starting Sanguine's quest, or not start them until after. More information can be found on the Mazoga the Orc quest page.
Necromancer's Moon & Repairing the Orrery: It is possible during the Repairing the Orrery quest for Bothiel to disappear indefinitely into inaccessible areas. This seems to occur particularly if you are doing this quest and Necromancer's Moon at the same time. See Repairing the Orrery for possible solutions.
No Stone Unturned & Revenge Served Cold: In unpatched versions of the game, there is a bug that can prevent you from completing "Revenge Served Cold" if you have completed "No Stone Unturned". Therefore it is best to do "Revenge Served Cold" first.
The Sword of the Crusader (Knights of the Nine) & Restoration Master Training: The trainers who provide you with the master training reference are both killed during the Knights of the Nine quest line: Marz is killed after the Nature's Fury quest and Ohtesse is killed during the Sword of the Crusader quest.
The Collector & Secrets of the Ayleids: After you finish Secrets of the Ayleids, you will not be able to complete The Collector. Instead, find all ten statues and sell them to Umbacano before completing Secrets of the Ayleids.

[edit] Avoiding Sleep

Several quests require you to go to sleep in order to complete. If you are playing a character that is deliberately keeping a low level in order to keep enemies from leveling, you may wish to perform these quests early, so that you do not level when you sleep. Note that the other quests in the game that require you to sleep do not trigger leveling and therefore are not included in this list (namely, Through a Nightmare, Darkly, Where Spirits Have Lease, and triggering Vampirism)

Anvil Recommendation: You need to sleep at Brina Cross Inn in order to advance this quest.
A Knife in the Dark: You will not receive your first visit from the Dark Brotherhood until you've slept after committing a murder. You need to sleep a second time to finish the quest. It is possible to use one of the quests where you can sleep without triggering a level-up to enter the Dark Brotherhood (Lucien Lachance will even visit you in Henantier's Dreamworld).
An Unexpected Voyage: Sleeping aboard The Bloated Float Inn will activate this quest. You also need to sleep a second time to finish the quest.