Oblivion:Under Leveling

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Under Leveling is a strategy for dealing with the Leveling Problem; it is one alternative to the Efficient Leveling strategy. In Efficient Leveling you try to gain maximum power when you level by raising your statistics quickly. In Under Leveling you try to gain the maximum skill points without raising your level so your opponents do not get more powerful.

[edit] How to Under Level : 1. Stay Awake

You may have noticed that while leveling, monsters will level too, and so the following methods describe how to get a real advantage over them.

Efficient leveling and training: don't do it. Yes, your Attributes are all on 100 and that enchanted Daedric blade is scary, but those packs of Daedra hunting you make it look paltry.

So how can you win this "arms race"? The answer relies on the monsters staying the same level as you, but not gaining your skill increases.

• If you don't sleep you won't level. You could have 100 in all your skills at level two if you wanted. This gives you a huge advantage over your equal level, but lesser skilled opponents.

• This can be used by efficient levelers and regular adventurers with equal productiveness.

• Power levelers, just don't rest. Write down your stats at the beginning and end of every level, gain your skills as you would, with the levels. After every 10 major skill points, save and rest and make sure your level worked out as planned. Make sure it worked out as planned! Otherwise you might end up many levels down the line ALL messed up.

• Regular adventurers...just do your thing. Don't sleep and you'll get the skill advantage, and not have to worry about that troublesome leveling. Leveling with your little +2s won't really hurt, if you don't actually accept them.

[edit] How to Under Level : 2. Play against the majors

This is a technique for people who want to finish the Main Quest at level 2, or play the entire game at 100% difficulty, or just don't like the arms race and always want to have an edge over their opponents. The principle is simple: choose major skills that will not be used and can be controlled.

For example: If the character is to be melee-averse try this set of seven majors { Block, Hand-to-Hand, Blunt, Armorer, Mysticism, Marksman, Heavy Armor } The character might forgo a shield or carry an enchanted one and just stay out of melee combat or regularly use a two handed sword. The character would pay for armor repair and sell the hammers. The character would wear light armor, use enchanted items for Soul Trap and Life Detection, and use a short sword for injecting poison. The specialization could be either stealth or magic, but not combat. The character would begin with modest 10 point skills that would be heavily used and quickly advance to the Apprentice level (25 points). Improving the used minor skills should be paramount in selecting the character's race and birth sign. While the actually used skills continue to advance and acquire perks, the monsters wait patiently at level one, until the character deems it time for them to move up.

Playing against the majors, may be still be possible even if the character was not created with that intent. The question would be: can the 14 minor skills make a viable character and are the majors controllable (i.e. not Athletics, not Acrobatics, not anything that tends to advance due to normal game play.)

Additionally, this strategy generally assures +5's in the appropriate governing attributes at the lower levels once the decision to use the majors enough to level up is made.

One of the disadvantages of this strategy is that it may be slow going at first until a few key minor skills hit the Apprentice level, which is where they would have started as majors. Another disadvantage is that it may be difficult to put together efficient 15 point level ups at higher levels since the needed minors may be maxed out. Another, would be that one needs to buy the five skill training points carefully since there will be significantly fewer level ups. Lastly, one needs to be careful not to read books that are potentially going to advance a major, such as "Way of the Exposed Palm" (Hand-to-Hand in the example.)

[edit] Disadvantages

• Most loot and quest rewards level as well, so under either strategy, you will never receive the highest level of quest rewards or see daedric armor or weapons. This particularly applies to enchanting with Sigil Stones. See Advantages of Leveling.