Staff wanted. Apply within. Also strength loss problem

Fidcal on 15/9/2008 at 13:43

Did a search for "increase strength" but couldn't find anything. Basically I've found it a nuisance to go to some area, kill a few monsters, accumulate stuff then get encumbered and have to walk all the way back out the cave whatever, teleport to the market area to sell stuff - often a sleep or wait needed to make sure the shop is open - then all the way back. So I've tried to boost my strength by levelling up. Gradually got to 50 ish now I've come across a single zombie which drained that down to 45 and encumbered me. So back to market sell my stuff. Now, is it worth me going back to the zombies and maybe finish up a weedy strength 1 or is there a way to boost strength without levelling up. All I can find is restore potions which do nothing that I can see, maybe only if strength is temporarily drained? Or should I be looking for something to resist strength drainage?

Also, when I played before I started on the PC and pursued the main Oblivion gate objectives. I got lucky and found a magic staff or something that was a good weapon. Somehow I [did not have] time to pursue the game for a year or so but recently got an Xbox and started afresh. Now I did the first gate sequence etc but boy I found it much harder with just a little sword and also forgot you have to equip the armour. d'uh! I carried that stuff around naked and took the hits! So, I'd like to find that magic staff again before I take on the next gate. Nothing like that I don't think in the staffs shop.

I also could use that weapon against a kind of hairy yeti thing which I learned was a troll. I never defeated it but it was a great fight! Dodging and weaving across water to get my strength back. I fought it all afternoon and all night and birds started singing again and still I hadn't beat it. Then I realized some creatures must regenerate and this one was faster than I could injure it.

PeeperStorm on 16/9/2008 at 02:47

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Now, is it worth me going back to the zombies and maybe finish up a weedy strength 1 or is there a way to boost strength without levelling up. All I can find is restore potions which do nothing that I can see, maybe only if strength is temporarily drained? Or should I be looking for something to resist strength drainage?

Use spells, enchanted items, and potions that have the Fortify Strength effect to boost it. If you just want to carry more, use spells, potions and enchanted items with the Feather effect, which usually lasts longer. You can also use alchemy to make your own potions with these effects.

Restore potions and spells are for healing damaged attributes, like Strength or Health. Cure disease potions and spells will get rid of attribute draining diseases. You can also use the healing altar in any city's chapel to heal up all attributes and cure all diseases once per day.

The staff you were talking about is probably a random item, so finding another one is just up to luck. Staves are fairly common in Necromancer and Conjurer strongholds as well as Oblivion Gates, so try raiding some of those.

Fidcal on 16/9/2008 at 03:38

I got the idea last night but not had chance to try it that the strength value I was looking at is current strength whereas maybe there is a max potential strength for that level. So maybe restore would work. My actual level shown in the stats was strength 51 then it dropped to 46 after the zombie fight. I levelled up later and noticed that the levelling up screen showed it as 51 + 2. I accepted the 2 and now the stats show 48 so it added the 2 to the 46. Think I'm misunderstanding that stat and like you say, I'll try some potions to get it up to 53 if I can.

From what you say about the staff then I probably picked it up in one of the gates when I played on the PC - dropped by the enemy after a fight. I might well have missed that this time in the dark.

Gamesaves on the Xbox are not sorted so if you have a lot after a long sequence then it is tedious searching through for your last save. And you can only delete them one by one.

Xenith on 16/9/2008 at 19:58

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you probably got a disease from the zombie that drains strength, but zombies usually have diseases that affect two or more stats.

you might have gotten a disease from a rat and if that's the case you probably have "Feeble Limb", "Bone Break Fever" or "BrainRot".

also, some beggars have diseases too though I don't know how you can catch those besides fighting them as you would a regular mob. maybe talking to them and getting to close? heh.

anyway, here's a list of diseases (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Disease) and how to cure them.

hope that helps... unless you already knew those and I'm an idiot for thinking otherwise...

Fidcal on 16/9/2008 at 20:19

Thanks. I had noticed in one of the stats pages it mentioned diseases acquired : 2 but it also had other stuff like jokes told and humans killed so I figured that was past tense and it meant diseases I had had in the past. Vampire was 0.

So if I still had some disease, how can I tell which? I took a quick look at a couple of the pages you posted but didn't understand what it was saying so I'll have to study it more if I can find out what, if any diseases I have had or have.

I have tried again potions to restore strength and once again, no effect. I can't understand what purposes those potions have except to drain money when you buy.

Xenith on 16/9/2008 at 21:38

well you can see the effect of the diseases and their names on the Current Active Effects page in your inventory (last page if I remember corectly). it will show you for example that your Strength is drained by 5 and tell you why. in this case it will show you the name of the disease.

curing diseases can be done by either visiting the chapel from any town and prating at the altar (just use it like you would a chest and poof your diseases are gone) or you can drink a Cure Disease potion which will cure you of any diseases you have except Vampirism (if you have it in one of the 4 stages, if not then it works).

now, restore potions are different. for example you can be hit by a magic spell that damages your Agility by 10. well, you can use a Restore Agility potion to counter that effect. the thing is, that draining and restoring has a time limit. so restoring your Agility in this case will only cancel the effect immediatly and not after, say, 120 seconds.

EDIT: oh, and one more thing about chapels. if your Infamy is too high you won't be able to use the altar to cure diseases since you'll be considered "evil" enough that the "gods" reject you. so that leaves the Cure Disease potions as your main medicine. I think I remember a few other rare ways in which you could get rid of diseases, but I think they were just some rare items or ingredients or something that you won't really get to use or do more that once. (I'm not talking of the vampirism cure)

Fidcal on 17/9/2008 at 07:43

Ah! that makes sense. Thanks. I'd forgotten that current active effects and only associated it with good stuff. I'd also seen the chapel things but at that time they had no effect because I wasn't sick I guess. I presumed they were for some specific future mission.

Which reminds me, I've been picking up some welkynd stones because I think when I played a year or so ago they were needed so I thought I'd hang on to them. Is there somewhere safe I can stash them. I've been using a ship as a kind of base for free sleeping etc. I cleared out all the pirates on a mission and thought 'well nobody's using it anymore.' Sometimes a guy wanders aboard or a guard and I think 'hey, get off my ship!' but they don't bother me so maybe it's OK. And I stored down in the hold of the ship a lot of bones which seem worthless but I thought 'hey, free bones!' and maybe some future mission demands I get a lot of bones for something. If they get stolen then no biggy but dare I risk storing my welkynd stones?

Don't think I'm infamous - never been in prison this trip (I did when I played on the PC) but yesterday I joined the Thieves' Guild.

Xenith on 17/9/2008 at 09:37

well the thing about storage chests is a bit tricky.

see all chest, all barrels, all boxes, virtualy all containers will reset to their default contained items after 3 days (or about 3 days not sure; ingame days btw). but, the chests that are given to you from bought houses do not reset, so those are safe for you to store as many items as you want.

as for the welkynd stones. well they are valuable keeping on their own since one of those stones can fully recharge a depleted piece of enchanted equipment. there was a quest I think in which you were suposed to do something with one of those, but I don't remember any more.

one funny fact about the bones. I read somewhere about a guy who was making a mob in which you could construct a skeleton from gathered bones. I think he didn't finish the mod, but if he would have, you would've had an army of skellies by now.:laff:

Fidcal on 17/9/2008 at 10:32

The bones I just dropped on the floor in the ship's hold so I'll check if they are still there. Must be more than 3 game days ago I think. I might do a test with something of modest value. If it remains there then maybe it is just as safe as buying a house. And the ship is much nicer than that hovel.

Xenith on 17/9/2008 at 11:49

hm. well there are a few free of charge houses you can get. they do involve quests so I'll let you figure them out by yourself.;)