Oblivion Remastered Leveling Guide Fast Progression Tips and System Explained

Step into Cyrodiil once more-Oblivion Remastered has overhauled its iconic leveling system, blending classic depth with modern flexibility. Whether you’re a returning hero or a first-time adventurer, mastering the new Virtue Points and skill mechanics is the key to surviving tougher foes and shaping your legend across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Ready to break free from old restrictions and forge your perfect character? Here’s how to level up smarter, faster, and stronger in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.

Our Oblivion Remastered guide will tell you all about the leveling system. We’ll also cover how to level up all skills and your general character level in Oblivion Remastered.

How to earn XP in Oblivion Remastered

Earning XP in Oblivion Remastered revolves around improving your character’s Major and Minor Skills through regular gameplay activities. Major Skills provide the most XP, so focusing on actions that increase these-such as fighting with your chosen weapon, casting spells, or picking locks-will help you level up faster. Minor Skills also contribute to your XP bar, but at a much slower rate. Every time you use a skill in the world-like running to boost Athletics, crafting potions for Alchemy, or wearing armor in combat-you make progress toward your next level. Skill Books and trainers can also give instant boosts to your skills, directly increasing your XP. Once your XP bar is full from these activities, rest in a bed to level up and receive Virtue Points to distribute among your attributes.

You don’t earn XP in Oblivion Remastered by killing enemies (well, not directly). Instead, you earn XP by improving your major and minor skills.

And you improve those by. just doing things. Wearing light armor for a while (in combat) improves your Light Armor skill. Lockpicking improves your Security skill. Swinging a sword (in combat) improves your Bladse skill. Running (and swimming) improves your Athletics skill.

As you improve your skills, you’ll occasionally see a progress bar in the upper right corner of your screen. When that’s full, you can level up.

How to level up all skills in Oblivion Remastered

To level up all skills in Oblivion Remastered, focus on repeatedly performing the actions tied to each skill, since both Major and Minor Skills now contribute to your overall character level. For example, swing swords to increase Blade, jump frequently to boost Acrobatics, or cast spells to train magic schools like Destruction or Restoration. Major Skills level up faster, so your class selection has a big impact on your progression. Efficient methods include using low-headroom spots for rapid jumping, creating and casting custom spells for magic skills, and practicing combat skills on indestructible NPCs, such as those found at certain shrines. For skills like Alchemy, crafting and selling large quantities of potions is effective, while sneaking or picking locks in safe locations can quickly raise Stealth and Security. With patience or by using in-game exploits, you can maximize all 21 skills and unlock powerful perks as you progress.

The XP you earn to level up comes from improving your major and minor skills. You improve them by using them. But the seven skills you’ve selected as your major skills – whether through choosing a class or making a customized class – will level up more quickly, though it’s unclear in the game just how much more quickly.

Here’s a list of all skills in Oblivion Remastered, with details about what they affect – and, thus, how to level them up:

• Acrobatics: jumping and falling
• Alchemy: Creating potions and using alchemical ingredients
• Alteration: casting spells that change abilities or reduce damage (spells that alter your abilities)
• Athletics: running, swimming, and sprinting
• Armorer: repairing weapons and armor (with a Repair Hammer)
• Blade: dealing damage with blade weapons (like katanas, shortswords, and daggers)
• Block: mitigating damage when blocking
• Blunt: dealing damage with blunt weapons (like hammers and, confusingly, axes)
• Conjuration: casting spells that summon creatures, weapons, and armor (and turn the undead)
• Destruction: casting spells that inflict elemental damage or weaken your opponents
• Illusion: casting spells that do things like charm, conceal, silence, paralyze, and command
• Hand-to-hand: dealing damage with your bare hands
• Heavy Armor: wearing heavy armor
• Light Armor: wearing light armor
• Marksman: dealing damage with bows
• Mercantile: buying and selling goods
• Mysticism: casting spells that absorb or reflect damage, dispel, move objects, and reveal paths
• Restoration: casting spells that restore, fortify, and absorb attributes as well as cure disease and improve resistances
• Security: using lockpicks
• Sneak: moving undetected and pickpoketing
• Speechcraft: persuading NPCs

Your skills and attributes both affect your abilities, but they’re not directly related. For example, having high Strength and high Blades both increase your damage with longswords, but Strength doesn’t have any control over or influence on Blades.

How to level up your character in Oblivion Remastered

Leveling up your character in Oblivion Remastered centers on improving both Major and Minor Skills through regular gameplay actions-fighting, casting spells, sneaking, or even swimming all contribute experience toward your next level. As you use these skills, a progress bar fills, and once full, a level-up icon appears on your screen. To actually level up, you must rest in a bed, which then grants you 12 Virtue Points to distribute among your character’s attributes, with a maximum of 5 points per attribute per level (except Luck, which costs 4 points per increase). This system encourages you to play according to your preferred style, as any skill use advances your progress, and you can tailor attribute increases to suit your character’s needs each time you level up.

Once you’ve improved your various skills enough, you’ll get an icon in the upper right of your screen. In the pause menu, you’ll see that same icon on the Character tab next to your level.

You can’t just level up from the menu, though. You’ll have to rest (and “meditate on what you’ve learned”) first. To do that, find a bed or a bedroll and take a nap. The length of time you sleep doesn’t seem to matter.

When you wake up, you’ll get a new screen that says you’ve ascended to level whatever. Below that, you’ll see the level up options.

Each time you gain a level, you’ll get 12 Virtues – think of these as attribute points – to assign to three of your attributes. You can raise any attributes by up to 5 per level (meaning you have to spread them across at least three attributes).

Best attributes to level up in Oblivion Remastered

Choosing the best attributes to level up in Oblivion Remastered depends on your character’s playstyle, but some stats consistently offer strong benefits across all builds. Endurance stands out as the most universally valuable attribute, as it directly increases your maximum health and boosts health regeneration, making your character much more resilient in combat. For melee-focused characters, Strength is essential for maximizing damage output and increasing carry capacity, while Agility is crucial for those relying on bows or light weapons. Magic users should prioritize Intelligence to expand their magicka pool and Willpower for faster magicka regeneration and increased stamina. Speed is also valuable for all builds, improving movement and jump distance, which helps with both exploration and kiting enemies. Finally, Luck provides subtle but broad benefits by enhancing all skills and improving outcomes in various in-game scenarios, making it a worthwhile investment for players seeking a well-rounded character. Ultimately, focusing on Endurance, then tailoring your choices to your preferred combat style, will ensure the strongest and most versatile character progression.

You have eight attributes in Oblivion Remastered. They determine everything from the damage you deal to how fast you swim and how likable you are. Attributes and skills combine to affect a lot of your abilities, but they aren’t quite the same (see above).

The attributes you’re working with are:

• Strength: Affects damage with longswords, claymores, maces, war-axes, battle-axes, warhammers, and barehanded. Also determines your carry capacity and has a slight influence on max Health
• Intelligence: Determines your max Magicka
• Willpower: Determines Magicka regeneration and greatly increases your max Fatigue (stamina)
• Agility: Affects damage with daggers, shortswords, and bows. Slightly increases max Fatigue and determines Fatigue regeneration
• Speed: Dictates how fast you move
• Endurance: Greatly increases your max Health and Health regeneration out of combat
• Personality: Affects how much people like you, and improves information-gathering and getting deals at shops
• Luck: Luck is a bit esoteric and is a blanket improvement to your skills when it is above 50

Which attribute you choose is really about your playstyle, and is also likely influenced by whatever race you chose when creating a new character, as your race affects the base score of your attributes. Early on, though, regardless of how you’ve built your character, you should focus on surviving – dealing damage and increasing your health and fatigue.

Strength is the obvious choice if you focus on the more martial melee weapons, while Agility is better for up close and stabby. Intelligence is your go-to if you’re playing as a caster. And Endurance is always a good pick for the health regeneration. Willpower increases your stamina (with a bonus to Magicka regeneration if you’re magic-focused).

How can I maximize my level ups in Oblivion Remastered’s new system

Maximizing Level Ups in Oblivion Remastered

Focus on Major Skills for Fastest Progress

• Leveling up your Major Skills grants the most experience points (XP) toward your next level. While Minor Skills now also contribute XP, Major Skills remain the most efficient path for rapid leveling.

• Use your Major Skills frequently in gameplay-combat, magic, or stealth actions tied to these skills will fill your XP bar faster.

Minor Skills Still Matter

• Minor Skills now contribute to leveling as well, so you’ll gain levels more quickly than in the original Oblivion, even if you’re not focusing exclusively on Major Skills.

• For a balanced approach, mix in Minor Skill usage to keep your progression steady and avoid bottlenecks if your Major Skills plateau.

Rest to Trigger Level Ups

• Once your XP bar is full, you must sleep in a bed (inn, purchased home, or bedroll) to officially level up-waiting does not count.

• The length of sleep does not matter; the act of resting is what triggers the level-up screen.

Attribute Point Allocation

• Each level grants you 12 Virtue (attribute) points, which you must distribute across at least three attributes, with a maximum of 5 points per attribute per level.

• Prioritize attributes based on your playstyle:

  • Strength for melee damage and carry weight

  • Intelligence for maximum Magicka

  • Endurance for health and regeneration

  • Willpower for Magicka regeneration and fatigue

  • Luck provides a general skill boost if above 50.

Plan for Luck Early

• Luck is more valuable in Oblivion Remastered; it costs 4 points per increase. Consider boosting Luck early or selecting a birth sign that grants a Luck bonus at character creation for long-term benefits.

Skill Overleveling and Rollover

• If you continue to increase skills after filling your XP bar (before sleeping), the extra gains will roll over to your next level, ensuring no progress is wasted.

No Hard Level Cap

• There is currently no confirmed hard level cap; you can keep leveling as long as you continue improving skills, though attributes and skills cap at 100 unless using mods or console commands.

Summary Table: Leveling Tips

By focusing on your Major Skills, resting to level up, and strategically allocating attribute points-especially into Luck early-you’ll maximize your character’s growth and effectiveness in Oblivion Remastered.

How do Major and Minor Skills differently affect my leveling speed in Oblivion Remastered

Major vs. Minor Skills: Impact on Leveling Speed in Oblivion Remastered

Major Skills

• Major Skills are the seven core abilities you select for your class. Increasing these skills grants significantly more experience (XP) toward your character level than Minor Skills.

• Major Skills require only 60% of the experience needed to level up compared to Minor Skills, meaning they increase in rank much faster.

• When a Major Skill is also part of your class specialization (Combat, Magic, or Stealth), it levels up even faster-requiring just 45% of the base XP a non-specialized Minor Skill would need.

• Raising Major Skills, especially at higher levels, yields larger chunks of XP toward leveling up.

Minor Skills

• Minor Skills are the remaining 14 skills not chosen as Majors. They contribute less XP to your overall level when increased-about a tenth of what a Major Skill provides per increase.

• Minor Skills level up more slowly and require more experience per rank than Major Skills.

• Despite their slower growth and lower XP yield, Minor Skills still contribute to leveling, allowing for more flexible progression than in the original Oblivion.

Summary Table: Leveling Speed Comparison

Key Takeaway:
Focusing on Major Skills-especially those aligned with your specialization-will maximize your leveling speed in Oblivion Remastered. Minor Skills do contribute, but at a much slower rate and with less overall impact on your level progression.