Part 43: The Elder Updates XLII - On the Gateth Day of Christmas

On the Gateth Day of Christmas


So, there's an Oblivion gate here now. What gives?


Well, the game spawns them into the world at certain points in the main quest. There's a fuckton of possible locations for them, and when we delivered Martin to Kvatch, ten showed up. If we approach a possible spot while wandering the world map, there's a 25% chance a gate will spawn there too. No more than 25 gates can open until the next big plot thing.


Without any further ado, Oblivion take us!


My, it's warm in here.
And here we are! Each Oblivion gate acts as- one moment.


And...and there's no sun!


Each Oblivion gate acts as a sort of hellscape superdungeon.


They're populated with Daedra enemies, because come on, what else would they have?


There's plants to harvest, but they like to try to attack you, which always struck me as a bit whimsical.


There are several towers, and one of them contains the Sigil Stone keeping this baby open.


So there's our goal. Kill daedra, get stone.


By this point in the game I have to be pretty proactive with soul trapping, especially in Oblivion itself, because I need those magical weapons now more than ever.


Shouldn't be too much of an issue with our Everscamp entourage, though.






Aw, fuck. Clannfear have a mild Reflect Damage property, which, for obvious reasons, has the potential to fuck you up a fair bit.


It only reflects physical damage, though, which is why we need to keep our shit charged. Gotta have that elemental damage.


And hey, no reason not to hoover up some soul as long as we're up close and personal with the things.


Why yes, Sterv, recharging IS a bit tedious!


And remember, we're still playing Oblivion, so when you're hurting, don't be brave. Use the wait button. It'll make things quite a bit less stressful in the ol' hellscapes.


Also, these fireball turrets are a thing.


And no, you can't kill them.


They're not the hardest things in the world to avoid, though. A little AoE action would've made for a nice challenge, frankly.


Oh hey, we've arrived at Towers R Us.


_{^{Haha who named this thing}}


In tower number one we have a big ol' sadist elevator on our left, and a Dremora. Dremora are the brutaldark evilmans of Oblivion, and this one's a mage of some sort. He summons...


...a Scamp?


YOU ARE TERRIBLE AT THIS!


Sorted!


Dremora generally have some pretty okay loot. The Dremora weapons, as far as I can tell, are pretty okay for the early game but not much else.


They do have Dremora hearts, though, which I like to imagine Sterv drinking like a juicebox. And other loot, like...





Now, onto the elevator, which I guess is some kind of french press for dead guys.


Also, scamps are bad at elevators.



What could be up here?


We got us a magicka fountain, a cage, and two levers. Good stuff, good stuff.


Oh cool. Maybe this is like Dark Souls where we have to ride the cage.


That's good too!





But hey, this other one seems to do a good thing maybe!


Oh, and a back door, right!


...which leads to another tower!


Fun.


Yay! That pillar of energy means we're in the tower containing the Sigil Stone.


These things are called The Punished for some reason, but they just function as big meaty loot bags.


And this one turned out to be quite the trove! There was also a Grand Soul Gem with a Greater soul. I leave the claymore behind, though, because it's a bit too heavy for my tastes.


Unfortunately, all the doors just lead back outside, not further up into the tower. Guess that was just a bonus loot floor!



We end up going down another tower and into...another part of the hellscape! New territory means progress!



Yeah, this looks pretty important and promising.



I bet there's something behind that gate overHELLO





So yeah, Hell's got landmines.


Thankfully, daedra are not immune to them. You can also detonate them with arrows or ranged spells if you like.


Now, let's see about this gate..






HEH.



Aw man, no beam. Wrong tower.


WRONG TOWER!






Ah, well. That's why we have the plasma gun staff.



Sweet, new shield. And it's Heavy Armor, too, making it good for Endurance training.



Exiting this tower leads us across another bridge to Portals of Natural Disaster, and we can progress this time!





Once you reach the main tower of an Oblivion plane, you'll find yourself battling through a few short rooms leading upwards.


And at the tippy-top, you'll fing the Sigilum Sanguis.



Kill a few more dudes in here, no big deal.


Be sure to loot everything because holy shit.


I mean, THIS is why any self-respecting adventurer barges into Hell. Look at all that hell-treasure.


Not to mention...









So yeah, a lot of people have doubtless been waiting for my reaction to Oblivion gates.


They can go on, but hey. At the bare minimum you're getting an enchantment that outstrips anything possible with even a Grand Soul.


Hell, most of the time you're getting an enchantment that outstrips anything possible with even a Grand Soul PLUS A SMALL FORTUNE. It's not as if the game doesn't reward you for putting in the time, which is more than anyone can say about the rest of the game's dungeons.

In closing, Oblivion gates? SURE ABSOLUTELY

Oblivion's Not That Bad Points: (-3 + - + (3 * ))/) + SUMMON THE BRETHREN