Summary
- Oblivion Remastered enhances visuals with Unreal Engine 5, but gameplay remains mostly unchanged from the original.
- Some skills in Oblivion Remastered are deemed useless, like Athletics, Conjuration, Mercantile, Mysticism, Hand to Hand, Acrobatics, and Security.
- The leveling system in the remaster may not make all skills worthwhile investments, as some end up being outgrown quickly.
There was little build-up to the arrival of Oblivion Remastered, but that hasn't stopped fans from eagerly jumping back into Virtuos Games' revamped version of The Elder Scrolls 4. The remaster does much to improve the look of the original game, with a visual overhaul powered by Unreal Engine 5. The attention that's been put into all the small details in this visual revamp elevates the classic gameplay of the original, which remains mostly untouched.
Can You Respec Skills in Oblivion Remastered?
Investing in the wrong skills every time you level up in Oblivion Remastered might be a burden, which has some asking if it's possible to respec.
With only a few minor changes to gameplay and systems, that means the game retains all the strengths of the original, but most of its weaknesses too. Leveling has been tweaked, but skills and what they do remain unchanged, which means if a skill was underpowered in Oblivion, it's still underpowered in Oblivion Remastered. Not all skills have the same level of payoff for the time put into leveling them, and some won't benefit players in the later game at all. For players who want to avoid these mediocre skills, these are the most useless skills in Oblivion Remastered, ranked.
These skills are only "useless" relative to the other options in the game. They still have their uses with the right builds.
5 Acrobatics
Jump A Bit Higher
Per Level Bonus:
- Increase jump height, reduce fall damage
Milestone Bonuses:
- Apprentice: Grants a dodge move with the specified button press
- Journeyman: Jumping consumes less fatigue
- Expert: Jump on the surface of water
- Master: Fall damage is greatly reduced, consume even less fatigue when jumping
Acrobatics has limited uses, but it does limit the player's fall damage and grants a dodge move at apprentice level. These two factors make Acrobatics useful to level, but not necessarily as a major skill. The extra jump height is worth nothing most of the time, though it might help some ranged players hop onto ledges that enemies can't access if they want to exploit some tough melee foes.
The real issue is that most of Oblivion's various dungeons and places of interest have little to no verticality, which makes being able to jump and access out-of-reach places mostly pointless. There are a few notable exceptions to this for players who also have a high Speed stat, though. One reason to pick Acrobatics as a major skill is if players want to level by standing in one spot and hopping a lot, but there are other, more beneficial skills that players can level just as easily.
How to Increase Restoration Level Quickly in Oblivion Remastered
Restoration is one of the hardest skills to level up in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, but there is a way to fast-track the process.
4 Mercantile
The Rich Get Richer
Per Level Bonus:
- Higher prices when selling, lower prices when buying
Milestone Bonuses:
- Apprentice: No reduction in value for selling items in poor condition
- Journeyman: Vendors buy any item type (except stolen) and may offer better items
- Expert: Merchants have more gold, invest in shops to increase available gold
- Master: Get the best price when buying/selling by default
Being able to get better prices in stores seems like a good thing, and in the early game, some skill in Mercantile can help players get the resources they need, keep their armor repaired, and still amass some gold. As players get later in the game, though, they'll find they have more gold than they can spend, regardless of whether they have any mercantile skill or not. On top of that, Mercantile can be time-consuming to level, even as a major skill.
This is enough to make Mercantile a less desirable skill already, but when players consider that Speechcraft allows them to persuade and affect disposition, and that determines success with the haggling mechanic, Mercantile becomes even less relevant. Merchants will never run out of gold, so the benefit of increasing their stockpiles is suspect at best. In the later game, money will never be an issue, and Mercantile will feel like a wasted major skill investment.
3 Mysticism
Basically Just Soul Trap
Per Level Bonus:
- Decrease mana cost of casting Mysticism spells
Milestone Bonuses:
- Apprentice: Cast Apprentice level Mysticism spells
- Journeyman: Cast Journeyman level Mysticism spells
- Expert: Cast Expert level Mysticism spells
- Master: Cast Master level Mysticism spells
If any of the magic schools in Oblivion can be described as useless, it's Mysticism. Early in the game, this school of magic will do almost nothing for the player. They'll have access to Detect Life, Dispel, and Soul Trap. Out of those three, Soul Trap is the only spell that's remotely useful - if players want to enchant items or keep enchanted items charged. Once players get to higher levels, there are a couple of spells that aren't totally useless: Spell Absorption and Spell Reflect.
The only problem is that players will need to get to at least expert rank to be able to use them at any relevant potency, and there are enchanted gear pieces that will provide the same effects, permanently. Mages are better off with any other magic school.
2 Hand To Hand
Slap Fight
Per Level Bonus:
- Deal increased damage with unarmed attacks
Milestone Bonuses:
- Apprentice: Increased damage with standing power attacks
- Journeyman: Gain sideways power attacks with a chance to disarm, improved blocking
- Expert: Gain a backwards power attack with a chance to knock down, improved blocking
- Master: Forward power attack may paralyze, blocking may disarm opponents
The idea of a martial arts monk fighting hand to hand might be cool, but the fantasy doesn't really work out for players who pick Hand to Hand in Oblivion Remastered. If players know where to find the Bands of Kwang Lao in the Arena District, and pick them up in the early game, fighting hand to hand can be pretty useful.
Best Weapons in Oblivion Remastered, Ranked
A complete list of the best overall weapons in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.
As players advance in levels, though, the power of Hand to Hand doesn't scale very well, and the bonus from the bands starts to fall off if used as a main source of damage, especially against armored foes. The later power attacks at higher skill levels have useful effects, like being able to disarm opponents or even paralyze them, but this is hampered by Oblivion's directional power attacks being pretty awkward to use consistently. For these reasons, Hand to Hand is the weakest of the weapon skill choices.
1 Security
Just Pick Anything Else
Per Level Bonus:
- Tumblers move slower when lockpicking
Milestone Bonuses:
- Apprentice: One Tumbler remains in place when a pick breaks
- Journeyman: Two Tumblers remain in place when a pick breaks
- Expert: Three Tumblers remain in place when a pick breaks
- Master: Tumblers never fall when breaking a pick
The Security skill only affects the lockpicking mini-game, and even then, its effects are minimal in between milestones. That would make it a niche skill on its own, but unfortunately, there are a couple of reasons why this skill is even more useless than it first appears. The first is the existence of a unique item, the Skeleton Key, which is an unbreakable lockpick with an enchantment of 40 levels in Security. This item means that players can pick any lock with enough tries of the auto-attempt function, without ever engaging with the picking mini-game. It's easily available as a reward from the Deadric quest at Nocturnal's Shrine, which players can get as soon as they reach level 10.
Even if players don't want to seek out that item, the Alteration school of magic has access to the Open spell. This will only open easy locks at first, but it's readily available from the Mage's Guild or the Dark Brotherhood, and if players level Alteration, they'll be able to create higher-level versions of the spell, as well as having access to a bunch of other useful spells. This means that Security is basically redundant as a skill, and there's almost no reason at all to pick it as a major skill. Other less useful skills have some redeeming features, but Security is probably the most useless skill in Oblivion Remastered.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
- Released
- April 22, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Action, RPG, Open-World, Adventure
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- Platform(s)
- Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5, PC
