Birthsigns
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Birthsign
Features
The following table lists all the birthsigns and features in declining order of desirability. Notes give a quick thumbnail assessment of each birthsign's merits and limitations.
Of course, a birthsign's desirability depends on how it fits your character concept, and sample matchups of races and birthsigns for certain familiar character concepts are given in the "Model Characters" section.
The Mage and Apprentice birthsigns are at the top of the chart because maximum Magicka is the most difficult component of a high-level character to raise to useful levels late in the game. Many players who start with a non-spell-casting character concept decide they'd like to explore the abundant charms of spellcastinggameplay at a later stage in the game, but find themselves permanently crippled by low maximum Magicka scores, which prevent them from casting the most juicy and entertaining spells.
Anyone starting with a combat or stealth specialization who may want to experience the complete glorious spectrum of Oblivion gameplay at a later stage in the game is advised to start with the Mage birthsign, regardless of starting character concept, just so he or she can have boatloads of fun casting spells when the character's level is in the late teens and twenties.
Notes
Mage
Apprentice
Magicka +50
Warrior
Thief Shadow
Magicka +100, Weakness to Magicka 100% Strength + Ï0, E nd u ra nce + Î0
Agility +10, Speed +10, Luck +10 Invisibility (duration 60) once a day
Lover Ritual tower Serpent
Atronach Lady"
Paralyze (touch, duration 10) and lose 120 points of Fatigue once a day
Restore Health (magnitude 200, instant) once a day, Turn
Undead (magnitude 100, duration 30)
Open Average Lock once a day, Reflect Damage
(magnitude 5; duration 120)
Four effects, all at once, once a day—Damage Health
(touch, magnitude 3, duration 20), Dispel (magnitude 90),
Cure Poison, Damage Fatigue (self, magnitude 100)
Magicka +150, Spell Absorption 50%, no Magicka regeneration
Willpower +10, Endurance +10
Spellcaster essential; reliable.
Spellcaster essential; aggressive.
Perfect fit for fighters; attribute bonuses arc always a safe bet.
Best fit for general stealth gameplay or for a generalist.
Useful for problem-soiving; extremely potent for thief and assassin quests; useful often and at all levels. Useful for problem-solving; potent; useful often and at all levels.
Useful for problem-solving; potent; useful often and at all levels.
Useful for problem-solving; potent, but passive and subtle; useful often and at all levels. Useful for problem-solving; weak; rarely useful, but at all levels.
Spellcaster essential; dicey; restoring Magicka is a time-sucking chore.
Attribute bonuses are always a safe bet, but less useful than Warrior unless your character concept mixes many Willpower- and Endurance-based skills.
Steed
Speed +20
Attribute bonuses are always a safe bet, but Speed only governs Acrobatics, Athletics, and Light Armor, and only Light Armor is particularly useful.
Lord
Restore Health (duration 15, magnitude 6), Weakness to Fire 25% all the time
Heal spell is powerful at low levels, remains useful into high levels, but comes with a permanent weakness. Useful for character concept without Restoration.
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RECOMMENDED CHOICES
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The first four recommended birthsigns provide attribute bonuses—always a safe bet. Shadow is a rarity: a birthsign with a once-a-day feature for which it is worth forgoing the ever-active effects of attribute bonuses.
Mage: Choose Mage over Apprentice for your spellcaster if you plan to do the Mages Guild faction quests and the Main Quest, and hunt a lot in Necromancer and Conjurer dungeons, because the Apprentice weakness to Magicka will kill you when you're fighting the spellcasting creatures, spellcasters, and their spellcasting summonings in these quests and dungeons.
Apprentice: Choose the Apprentice over the Mage for your spellcaster if you plan a broader campaign, with many Miscellaneous quests and freeform dungeon-looting, where the proportion of spellcasting enemies to non-spellcasting enemies is more favorable to you. And also select the Apprentice if pure power is your lust, because those extra 50 Magicka points make spellcasting a lot more fun...// you're willing to put up with the extra prep and hassle when fighting Necromancers, Conjurors, Scamps, Imps, and Dremora.
Warrior: This is the best choice for any melee specialist, and essential if relying on the Heavy Armor skill (heavy armor and great weapons weigh a ton, the best heavy armor and great weapons weigh extra tons, and you'll need lots of strength to carry it all).
Thief: This is the best choice for a stealth specialist. Pick this if you want your birthsign choice to give your Sneak, Marksman, and Security skills added punch in every aspect of your quest and freeform gameplay.
Shadow: This is a good choice for a stealth specialist with particular interest in greasing the most difficult issues in the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests. Invisibility is also a more dramatic, entertaining toy than attribute bonuses. However, many players overlook or forget once-a-day powers, so Thief is usually a better bet.
Worthy Alternatives
These have the virtue of being active features, fun to play with, while attribute bonuses work quietly and joylessly behind the scenes. But once-a-day abilities get forgotten and overlooked, while attribute bonuses are always working for you.
Lover: Paralyzing enemies is hugely entertaining, a fine equalizer against the occasional super-tough enemy boss. Accidentally passing out when you cast this power with depleted Fatigue is also good for a laugh.
Ritual: Getting 200 points of Health back all at once will solve a lot of ugly boss confrontation problems. But the once-a-day factor is weak.
Tower: Reflect Damage is the rare feature that works against the greatest threat to survival—multiple enemies fighting you all at once. But its effects are subtle and passive, and just not a lot of fun to play with.
Serpent: In theory, it's fun to poison an enemy. But the total effect is modest, and worse yet, it takes too long to get the full benefit.
Atronach: This birthsign has the biggest character creation attribute benefit in the game, but it's saddled with painful liabilities. It's not worth the hassle of forgoing Magicka regeneration for 40 hours of gameplay.
Lady: Attribute bonuses are always worthwhile, but these are useful only if you're specializing in skills from two separate specializations (always weaker than a character that focuses within one specialization). Nonetheless, despite its overall low rating, it's an ideal choice for some unusual character concepts.
Steed: An attribute bonus of +20 is a great benefit, but the attribute governs only one important skill (Light Armor).
Lord: This birthsign has a decent benefit burdened with a permanent weakness. Ritual gives a better Restore Health benefit, with no accompanying weakness, but only once per day. Lord is a good choice for character concepts without a Restoration skill, especially for Dark Elves who are not bothered much by the weakness to fire.
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Prima Official Game Guide)
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