Can someone explain the 5-5-1?

[Brian Sirith]

I have read guides and I dont get it. Could someone give me an example? I got 10 levels in Illusion and I got a +5 on Personality. How do I get a +5 on a second attribute given that I get a lvl up at 10 skill increases?

Edit: Also does it really matter, for finishing the game?

[Alkpaz]

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Efficient_Leveling

Personally, I use a mod that gives me +5 to any attribute via any skill I use during that level at lvl up. So I don't have to worry all to much, unless I am doing very repetitive things.

[ShinkuTear]

10 skill levels in a Major Skill gives you a character level. To get 5 stat points in one stat on a character level, you need 10 skill levels in *any* skills tied to that stat.

So, 5-5-1 means getting 10 skills levels between skills tied to 2 different stats, while also gaining 10 Major Skill levels.

So lets say you want 5 Personality and 5 Endurance from your level, and that Illusion is a Major Skill. The 3 skills tied to Endurance are Armorer, Block, and Heavy Armor. You would get the 10 needed skill levels in any of those 3 skills(or perhaps a combo of them works?), and you would do so *before* getting 10 levels in Illusion, even if it means not using Illusion at all for a while.

[Brian Sirith]

The 3 skills tied to Endurance are Armorer, Block, and Heavy Armor. You would get the 10 needed skill levels in any of those 3 skills

Thank you! So these would be minor skills, right?

Personally, I use a mod that gives me +5 to any attribute via any skill I use during that level at lvl up. So I don't have to worry all to much, unless I am doing very repetitive things.

Thanks Bandit. I saw that guide but I didnt understand it. I could just set the skills or even not bother, I'm just curious to understand this. Went through Morrowind without having a clue :P

[ShinkuTear]

And yes, you'd want the 10 levels in minor skill(s) before the 10 in Major.

[Bomb Bloke]

Originally posted by ShinkuTear:

(or perhaps a combo of them works?)

A combo works fine (regardless as to whether the skills are minors or majors). For eg, if you have Block as a minor and Armorer as a major (both Endurance skills), as well as Mercantile as a minor and Speechcraft as a major (both Personality skills), then you can spread your 20 skill gains for a given level over those four skills however you like in order to ensure +5 gains for both Endurance and Personality. All that matters is that you get your 10th minor gain before your 10th major gain.

Note, though, that you're generally better off spreading your majors / minors skill choices over as many attributes as you can. Taking too many related to the Endurance attribute, for example, may make it difficult to increase other attributes such as Strength, Speed, etc.

You should likewise take care to pick majors that you don't actually need to use in general gameplay, making it easier to ensure you're getting your 10 minor skill increases before each level up. Also take care not to gain more than 10 minor increases before levelling, as that'll waste them.

However, Endurance is notable in that the amount of HP you gain each level is tied to it. You can't retroactively boost those gains by increasing Endurance after levelling, so you want to crank it as high as you can as early as you can if you want to get as much health as is possible.

This is likewise why you want to increase Luck by 1 every level (hence "5-5-1") - there's no skill tied to Luck, so you can't get +5 gains per level for that particular attribute. Since your skills will eventually cap out at 100 (making it difficult to increase your character level higher), you hence need to start with as much Luck as possible and take every opportunity to increase it if you wish to cap it.

If you wanted to go "5-5-5", then you'd need 20 minor increases before your 10th major increase (instead of 10 minors before your 10th major, as with 5-5-1). This way you'll increase your other attributes faster, at the expense of never maximising Luck.

Getting skills and attributes above 100 can be also be done, using tricks such as Felldew[en.uesp.net] or the Oghma Infinium[en.uesp.net] after you've hit their regular maximums. Some quest givers also award skill gains beyond their usual caps.

Originally posted by Brian Sirith:

Also does it really matter, for finishing the game?

No, so long as you're getting semi-decent Endurance gains each level, it's not like you'll get stomped into the ground or anything.

[Brian Sirith]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

Originally posted by ShinkuTear:

(or perhaps a combo of them works?)

A combo works fine (regardless as to whether the skills are minors or majors). For eg, if you have Block as a minor and Armorer as a major (both Endurance skills), as well as Mercantile as a minor and Speechcraft as a major (both Personality skills), then you can spread your 20 skill gains for a given level over those four skills however you like in order to ensure +5 gains for both Endurance and Personality. All that matters is that you get your 10th minor gain before your 10th major gain.

Note, though, that you're generally better off spreading your majors / minors skill choices over as many attributes as you can. Taking too many related to the Endurance attribute, for example, may make it difficult to increase other attributes such as Strength, Speed, etc.

You should likewise take care to pick majors that you don't actually need to use in general gameplay, making it easier to ensure you're getting your 10 minor skill increases before each level up. Also take care not to gain more than 10 minor increases before levelling, as that'll waste them.

However, Endurance is notable in that the amount of HP you gain each level is tied to it. You can't retroactively boost those gains by increasing Endurance after levelling, so you want to crank it as high as you can as early as you can if you want to get as much health as is possible.

This is likewise why you want to increase Luck by 1 every level (hence "5-5-1") - there's no skill tied to Luck, so you can't get +5 gains per level for that particular attribute. Since your skills will eventually cap out at 100 (making it difficult to increase your character level higher), you hence need to start with as much Luck as possible and take every opportunity to increase it if you wish to cap it.

If you wanted to go "5-5-5", then you'd need 20 minor increases before your 10th major increase (instead of 10 minors before your 10th major, as with 5-5-1). This way you'll increase your other attributes faster, at the expense of never maximising Luck.

Getting skills and attributes above 100 can be also be done, using tricks such as Felldew[en.uesp.net] or the Oghma Infinium[en.uesp.net] after you've hit their regular maximums. Some quest givers also award skill gains beyond their usual caps.

Originally posted by Brian Sirith:

Also does it really matter, for finishing the game?

No, so long as you're getting semi-decent Endurance gains each level, it's not like you'll get stomped into the ground or anything.

Thank you! That was very helpful!