Summary
Different character classes are available and pre-programmed within the Oblivion game. But also there's the tantalizing option of creating a brand new, customized class.
- Caution - making a brand new, customized class. It will mean a little calculation in the beginning on the part of the player, since despite what's written out there, the fact of the matter is that a player's "Major" and "Minor" Skills rule the gameplay.
All classes fall into one of three main categories - Combat, Magic, Stealth. These categories govern several skill sets and provide bonus level points (+5) to all skills within that set. Most of which are obvious, like Armourer & Athletics belonging to the Combat category. One which is not obvious is the "Light Armour" skill because it part of the Stealth category. (on second thought maybe it is obvious, but then again this editor always believed that any armour belonged with Combat.)
All classes have 2 governing attributes, which provide a bonus level to skills that are governed under the same attribute. Example: Intelligence & Strength. All skills with either of these attributes will have a +5 bonus, if they are in the "Major Skills" set.
Classes are further divided into "Major Skill" and "Minor Skills". A playable character must have 7 "Major Skills" and 14 "Minor Skills". All skills are related to a governing attribute.
Therefore most skills will begin with a base of 5 points in the level, once the player leaves the first dungeon (Imperial City Sewers). Although some skills may go up to 30 points depending on the race, birthsign and primary attributes chosen when creating a custom class.
Combat
Combat is one of the easiest classes to play as, and therefore an excellent choice for beginners
Race
Orc or Redgaurd, depending on major skills
Major Skills
Major skills for warriors are often hard to choose
Fighting Style
You should choose one fighting style for your character
Orc:Blunt
Redgaurd:Blade
Armor
Heavy Armor
Necessary Skills
Block Armorer Alchemy
Other
unfortunately, there is a lot of "Other" With warriors, you could choose almost anything, but go for useful skills or skills that are easy to level up.
Sign
Although you could choose the Warrior, it is best to choose a sign that will increase skills that you won't get a chance to level up The Shadow
The Thief
The Steed
Magic
Race Breton or Altmer
Major Skills
simply give them all of the magic colleges except illusion and then use light armor
Sign
Mage
Apprentice
Stealth
Hybrid
Notes
The most important part is choosing or creating a class. If you feel adventurous you could try answering the personality questions; if you don't want too many choices you might like a premade class; however for the most well-rounded long-term character you will probably want to design your own.
Class design is more complicated than it looks. Due to the way leveling works you don't necessarily want to put your favored skills as your majors. There are four things to pick for a class, the name, specialization, favored attributes and skills. Major skills start out with a higher score than Minor skills, however both can increase at exactly the same speed, unlike those affected by your favored attributes. The name can, of course, be anything from Lowly Janitor to Grand Inquisitor. The Specialization is generally whatever category you choose the most skills in. Favorite attributes will start a little higher than others.
The way skills and attributes improve in the game is with use. When you use a skill you get better at it, and eventually it goes up. Improving your skills by at least 10 points (up to 30) will give you bonuses to the governing attributes when you go up a level. This means that skills you use more will go up faster, so they need not start out as high, with a few exceptions. It also means that you should have at least one skill for each attribute, and focus on improving skills for a particular attribute before leveling up. In general, you only need one type of armor (including unarmored) and weapon (including hand-to-hand), and can use other slots for more interesting things. You start with all the skills, you are just assigning bonuses. On the other hand, skills with low scores tend to fail, so it is harder to use and improve them.