As part of the tutorial section of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, you find yourself escaping prison, learning the controls and basic mechanics of the game as you go. However, alongside the usual character creation options of race and class, Oblivion also asks you to choose a birthsign. Each of the 13 constellations on offer will grant boosts or abilities, which are vital when planning out certain builds for the game.
Choosing a birthsign in Oblivion can be as difficult as deciding the best skills to upgrade when first starting out. Each of the 13 options will give either a passive boost to attributes or will have active abilities that can be called on when adventuring. While most of the birthsigns have remained the same from the original Oblivion, there are some that have been tweaked slightly, making it even more important to know what each offers before selecting it.
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The Tower – Unlock Doors & Reflect Damage
The Tower Gives Two Weak Abilities
First is the Tower, which is easily the worst birthsign in either version of Oblivion. The Tower gives you two abilities, which can both be gained from other sources. The ability, Tower Key, can be used once per day to open a lock of average difficulty or lower; however, this is weak compared to simply leveling the Security spell or completing Nocturnal’s quest.
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The second ability the Tower grants is Tower Warden, which can be used once per day to reflect 5% of all incoming damage for 120 seconds. However, there are plenty of magic items that can also perform this function, such as the Ring of the Iron Fist, which reflects 33%, or Mankar Camoran’s Robes, which reflect 10%. My advice — don’t choose the Tower.
12
The Serpent – Poison Damage With A Cost
Not Worth The Price For Disappointing Damage
The Serpent is another weak birthsign that isn’t worth choosing. This birthsign grants the ability Serpent Spell, which can be used once per day to deal three points of poison damage to an enemy on touch and lasts for 20 seconds. The spell will also cure the caster of any poison and dispel 90 points of magic on the caster as well.
This is all underwhelming on its own, and making things worse, the Serpent Spell also has a pretty big cost attached. Upon activating the ability, the caster’s fatigue will be damaged by 100 points. As fatigue affects things such as melee damage, stealth, or jumping, having it drop so rapidly is not ideal, making the Serpent a birthsign to avoid.
11
The Shadow – Once A Day Invisibility
The Shadow’s Ability Is Easy To Replicate
The Shadow is another birthsign that provides a once-per-day ability, which, on paper, sounds like a great choice. The Shadow gives the greater power Moonshadow, which turns the caster invisible for 60 seconds. This is good in early game Oblivion for those looking to join the Dark Brotherhood or the Thieves Guild.
However, in practice, the Shadow is rather niche, with an ability that can be gained through other means. Potions of invisibility can be crafted with the right components, such as wormwood leaves, stinkhorn cap, and vampire dust. Given that it is far more beneficial overall to level up alchemy, the Shadow is another birthsign that can be skipped without missing out.
10
The Steed – Increase To Movement Speed
Sprinting Makes This Birthsign Less Valuable
The Steed is the final birthsign that I believe is best skipped. The Steed’s premise is simple, as it increases your movement speed by 20 points. This is great when doing a speedrun, but otherwise, its usefulness quickly falls away. It is possible to get the same result by leveling the Speed attribute, which directly influences movement speed.
The Steed feels especially redundant now, as Oblivion Remastered includes the ability to sprint, and the lack of such an option was previously one of the few reasons to choose the Steed. Overall, it’s better to focus on the Speed attribute, which is very easy to level by simply running and jumping.
9
The Lover – Paralyze Enemies With A Kiss
Highly Situational With High Cost
The Lover is a birthsign that gives an ability that can be used once per day, but has such a high cost that I usually avoid it. With Lover’s Kiss, you can paralyze a target for 10 seconds on touch, but the spell will immediately reduce your fatigue by 120 points. This makes the ability very useful, although highly situational.
Paralysis spells can be bought from Ita Rienus at the Bravil Mages Guild or Borissean at the Arcane University.
While paralyzing a target in order to make an escape or get a much-needed advantage in battle is useful, it is also possible to miss the desired target. With the drop in fatigue preventing a quick escape, this can very easily spell disaster if you’re at low health. Given that poisons of paralysis can be crafted, the cost of the Lover just doesn’t hold up.
8
The Ritual – Healing & Turn Undead
Great At Lower Levels
The Ritual is a great birthsign with two fantastic abilities to make use of. The first is Blessed Word, which acts similarly to turn undead in Dungeons & Dragons or Baldur’s Gate 3. This spell can be cast multiple times a day and forces undead to flee from the caster for 30 seconds.
Mara is one of nine Divines in Oblivion and is the goddess of love, compassion, fertility, and agriculture.
The second ability granted by the Ritual is Mara’s Gift, which can be used once per day to heal. Mara’s Gift is great at lower levels as it restores 200 points of health, but its usefulness does drop off at higher levels once your health gets much higher. However, overall, the Ritual is a solid birthsign and a favorite of many.
7
The Apprentice – Increased Magicka But With A Price
Perfect For Conjuring Mages
The Apprentice is a great birthsign for anyone planning a magic-heavy playthrough of Oblivion. With the Apprentice, you will get a 100-point boost to Magicka, letting you cast for longer. However, the downside to this is a 100% susceptibility to magic, meaning you would take double damage from spells.
This might sound terrible, but there are ways around this to make the Apprentice the perfect choice for some builds. Playing as a Breton is the easiest way to negate the weakness to magic, as they have 50% magic resistance. Another way is to focus on Conjuration spells to summon creatures to assist in battle, taking the focus away from you.
6
The Lord – Magic & Physical Damage Resistance
The Lord Has Been Changed For Oblivion Remastered
The Lord was a common favorite for many of the original Oblivion, offering healing at the cost of vulnerability to fire. However, for Oblivion Remastered, the Lord has been reworked to make it much more useful. Now the Lord offers two passive bonuses in the form of Shield and Resist Magic.
With Shield, your Armor Rating will be increased by 15, which is fantastic during lower levels before any armor-based skill has been sufficiently leveled. As the name suggests, Resist Magic offers 15% magical resistance, lessening the damage done by any incoming hostile spells. These are great changes to the Lord, although it should be noted that magical resistance can also be gained by other means.
5
The Mage – Increased Magicka
The Best Choice For First Time Mage Playthroughs
The Mage birthsign is one of the more straightforward to understand in Oblivion Remastered. Offering a flat 50 point boost to Magicka, it is perfect for anyone wanting to play as a spellcaster. This is not as good as the 100-point boost given by the Apprentice, but it has no drawback, unlike the other birthsign.
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The Mage is the best choice for any players who are dipping their toes into Oblivion for the first time. The boost to Magicka allows spellcasters to cast for longer, or cast higher-cost spells at much lower levels. This will open up the variety of spells that can be cast considerably, making the Mage a safe choice.
4
The Lady – Boosts To Willpower & Endurance
A Good Choice For A Mix Of Magic & Melee
Some birthsigns in Oblivion Remastered lend themselves more naturally to particular play styles than others, and the Lady definitely falls into that category. Choosing the Lady will give a boost of 10 points to both Willpower and Endurance. This will help with both spellcasting and general survivability.
Willpower governs the skills Alteration, Destruction, and Restoration, while Endurance helps with Heavy Armor, Block, and Armorer, as well as health and fatigue. Any build that plans to use magic and melee should choose the Lady, such as Spellswords or Crusaders. This way, they can get the benefit of better health and Oblivion’s wonderfully overpowered magic.
3
The Warrior – Boosts To Endurance & Strength
Perfect For Pure Melee Builds
The Warrior is fantastic when looking to close those Oblivion gates quickly or join the Fighter Guild to make some coin. The Warrior works in the same way as the Lady by boosting two excellent attributes by 10. Choosing the Warrior will give a boost of 10 points to Strength and Endurance, perfect for any pure melee characters.
This will give much more health each time you level up, as well as an increase in damage output with melee weapons. With Strength skills, Blade, Blunt, and Hand to Hand, anyone with this birthsign isn’t limited by the melee weapons they can use. The Warrior is another very beginner-friendly birthsign for those looking to play as a very physical character.
2
The Atronach – Boosts Magicka & Absorb Spells
Not Beginner-Friendly But Very Powerful
The Atronach is an odd birthsign that, at first glance, can seem to have a massive flaw that should dissuade people from choosing it. However, this negative is easily overcome, making the Atronach a very powerful birthsign. To begin with, the Atronach offers the passive boost of 150 points to Magicka, far outstripping the Mage or Apprentice.
The Atronach also gives a 50% chance to absorb the Magicka from any incoming spell attack instead of taking the damage. This is amazing, but the drawback is that those under the sign of the Atronach have their Magicka regeneration halted, meaning it won’t refill naturally over time. However, this is very easily solved with Wayshrines and potions of Restore Magicka.
1
The Thief – Boosts To Agility, Luck, & Speed
A Great All-Around Choice
Finally, there is the Thief, which is a fantastic all-around choice that allows for a lot of flexibility when playing. Although it might sound like a birthsign best suited for those looking to join the Thieves Guild, the Thief is an excellent choice for anyone. This birthsign boosts Agility, Luck and Speed by 10 points each, helping with a ton of useful skills.
General movement will be increased as well as Light Armor, Sneak, Marksman, and lockpicking. However, the best part of the Thief is the boost to Luck, which has influence over almost all skills in Oblivion Remastered, by providing invisible bonuses. As Luck is often one of the more overlooked attributes, having an initial 10 point boost is very helpful, especially early on.
