Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered: Best Bard Build

Discover everything you need to know about the best Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered including some valuable tips and tricks to run this build.

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered Best Bard Build
Elder Scrolls Oblivion: Best Bard Build (Source: Bethesda Studios)

The Bard Build in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion is a unique build that focuses on stealth, illusion magic, and a mix of combat and social skills. A Bard is a character that navigates the world using charm but also defends himself with light armor and weapons. The Speechcraft skill allows you to influence NPCs and negotiate better prices. They use Illusion magic to manipulate enemies. Choosing the best race, attribute, and skills is crucial for the Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion as your gameplay mostly depends on it. The Bard doesn’t rely on heavy armor but instead wears light armor for mobility. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion and the best skills, along with weapons and armor to choose from.

This Oblivion build is getting a full update for the remastered version of the game! We’ll revamp everything you need to start – how to create your character, what gear and weapons to use, the best skills to focus on, and the most useful spells.

Everything About Bard Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered

The Bard Build in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion is a unique setup that mixes skills related to combat, magic, and charisma-based abilities. Bards excel in social interactions, support magic, and light combat. Our build includes weapons like Daedric Dagger and Bow to deal excellent damage along with the magic spells. Skills like Speechcraft, Illusion, Acrobatics, Restoration, Light Armor, and Alchemy are the best skills to use while running the Bard build in ESOR. Breton is the best race that you can choose for this build, as it heavily complements your playstyle.

One thing to note here is that the Bard isn’t meant to tank damage or deal heavy blows, so it’s best to avoid fighting a group of enemies. Choose the Light Armor that enhances your mobility, allowing you to move freely in combat and reposition easily. However, this build has limited offensive magic, and you may find it hard to win every combat.

Bard Build ProsBard Build Cons
Social SkillsLimited Offensive Magic
VersatilityDifficulty in Combat
Excellent Damage 

Build Key Aspect

Below are all the essential aspects of the Bard Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered:

  • Class: Bard
  • Race: Breton
  • Origin: Systres
  • Birthsign: Lover
  • Specialization: Magic
  • Attributes: Intelligence, Agility, Luck
  • Major Skills
    • Illusion
    • Speechcraft
    • Light Armor
  • Minor Skills
    • Alteration
    • Mysticism
    • Athletics
  • Weapons: Daedric dagger, Daedric Bow
  • Armor: Leather Armor, Shrouded Armor
  • Faction: Mage Guid
  • Trainer: Helvius Cecia

Class

Bard is considered the best class to choose for a persuasive build with magical powers to back up their charm in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered. The reason is that it offers a blend of magic, stealth, and social skills that focuses on speedcraft and illusion. Bards excel at a variety of roles, from combat and support to stealth and social interaction. This class focuses on skills like Illusion, Persuasion, and Speechcraft. Illusion magic from the Bard is commonly used to control the battlefield. This is ideal for players who enjoy roleplaying and crafting a unique character. Bards can also choose to focus on melee combat with skills like Blade and Light Armor or ranged combat with skills like Destruction and Marksman.

Best Race

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered Breton race

Breton is the best race for the Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered. This race offers innate magic resistance and high magicka, making it beneficial for spellcasting and enchanting. Breton is a good choice for players who rely on magic and combat, as it significantly reduces damage from enemy spells. Additionally, Bretons start with a higher base magicka pool. This allows them to cast more spells and use more powerful enchantments. Use this race for this build for defensive strategies. It’s worth mentioning that high Magicka allows them to survive longer in combat, making your progression very smooth. Bretons have bonuses to skills like Conjuration and Restoration that make it easy to learn utility spells.

Best Origin

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered Breton - Systres origin (high magicka, low mobility and endurance)

For a capable Bard build in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered, Systres is the best Origin selection. Compared to High Rock, the stat difference lies in a -10 reduction to either Strength or Speed. Systres is the preferred choice because it applies the debuff to Speed. While this does make traveling on foot a bit slower, it allows you to preserve Strength. This increases your Encumbrance (letting you carry more gear) and contributes to Fatigue, both valuable for spellcasting and survival.

Importantly, in ESOR, your character’s background isn’t just for flavor, it directly affects which stats are boosted or reduced. In the original Oblivion, gender influenced stats based on your race, but that’s no longer the case in the Remaster. Now, you select either “Body Type 1” (female) or “Body Type 2” (male), with stat changes fully tied to your Origin instead.

Best Birthsign

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered birthsign The Lover

The Lover Birthsign is the best choice for a Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered because you can paralyze an enemy for 10 seconds once a day. This greater power ability is called Lover’s Kiss, and is usually utilized in intense combat where you encounter a group of enemies. However, this ability does come with a cost, and will drain your fatigue by 120 points.

If you want to choose another option like Lady, then make sure that it complements your playstyle along with the build. Additionally, the Atronach is another possible choice of Brithsign that you may want to select based on your playstyle. 

Best Attributes

Intelligence, Agility, and Luck, are the best attributes for the Bard build because they increase your Magicka, melee damage, and luck chances.

  • Intelligence: determines your maximum magicka and helps you cast high-level spells.
  • Agility: affects damage with daggers, shortswords, and bows. Increase max fatigue (stamina) and how quickly you regenerate fatigue.
  • Luck: Influences events in your favor, boosts the chances of finding better items.

These attributes ensure that your character is a charming and persuasive Bard who still has the ability to fight and confound enemies.

Major Skills

Illusion, Speechcraft, and Light Armor are the best major skills for the Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered because they provide crowd control, increase persuasion, and help mobility.

  • Illusion- This skill allows you to control enemies and situations with spells like Fear, Calms, and Charm.
  • Speedcraft- Use it to interact with the NPCs and gain advantages through persuasion.
  • Light Armor- grants protection without hindering your agility, making it easy to move freely while casting spells.

Minor Skills

Alteration, Mysticism, and Athletics are the best minor skills to include in your Bard build in ESOR because they increase melee damage, offer utility and exploration spells, and allow you to create soul gems.

  • Alteration- grants useful buffs and support spells, such as increasing armor or opening locks.
  • Mysticism- Provides support and buffs, potentially allowing you to manipulate the environment.
  • Athletics- Increase your speed in exploration and combat.

Equipment

daedric dagger oblivion
daedric dagger oblivion

Equipment in Elder Scrolls Oblivion consists of weapons, armor, clothing, and various other items. Players can equip them to increase their character’s abilities and stats. Weapons are crafted from different items and each has different stats and appearances. You can even enchant the weapons with magical effects like damage, debuff, or health regen. Use the soul gems to recharge the enchanted weapons. Armor is another piece of equipment that protects you from incoming attacks from enemies. Each piece of armor has an armor rating, which determines how much damage it can absorb. You can equip up to 9 pieces at one time. Light Armor is the best option to choose as it increases your survivability by reducing the effectiveness of incoming attacks.

Best Weapons

Here are the best weapons for the Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered.

Daedric Dagger

  • Damage: 19
  • Health: 532
  • Base Value: 2700
  • Weight: 10

The Daedric Dagger is a one-handed weapon that has the highest base damage among any other dagger in the game. Daggers are the fastest melee weapons, allowing you to deliver their enchantments faster. Use this dagger to take down enemies in melee range or for stealth takedown. You can enchant the Daedric Dagger with effects like Poison, damage, or fatigue. Daggers are lightweight but deal less damage than swords or maces. Pair it with skills like Blades to enhance the effectiveness of this weapon. Upgrading this weapon regularly is essential to increase its damage potential.

Daedric Bow

  • Damage: 20
  • Value: 3200
  • Health: 420
  • Weight: 22

Daedric Bow is the best bow to include in your Bard build. This weapon offers the highest base damage in the game, making it a perfect choice for Archers. It’s even better when enchanted with powerful effects, like draining health or damage. This weapon is found in higher-level locations but can also be obtained through quests. Although the weight of this bow is more, it deals significant damage with the right approach.  Use the Daedric Arrow with this weapon to deal high damage in combat. These arrows can be found as loot from certain enemies, particularly in bandit dungeons.

Best Armor

shrouded armor oblivion
shrouded armor oblivion

Here is the best armor for the Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered.

Leather Armor

  • Armor Health: 640
  • Class: Light Armor
  • Base Value: 105
  • Weight: 19.5

Leather Armor is a good starting armor, especially for rogues and stealth characters. It offers light protection and allows for agility. This is not a durable or powerful option compared to heavier armor types. The appearance of leather armor can suit a rogue or thief character. This makes it a good choice for players who want to look inconspicuous. Use this armor for stealth and agility-focused builds. The armor can be found early on and starts appearing in the leveled lists at level three.

Shrouded Armor

  • Armor Health: 520
  • Base Armor: 17.5
  • Base Value: 0
  • Class: Light Armor

Shrouded Armor is another good option to use while running an Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. This armor set consists of two parts, the Shrouded Armor and the Shrouded Hood. It offers several enhancements that favor stealth-oriented characters. The Ancient Shrouded Armor is relatively easy to acquire. Shrouded armor is a single piece of equipment that covers the whole body except the head. It also has unleveled stats and enchantments, meaning the effectiveness increases as you level up in the game. This armor includes the enchantment that boosts backstab damage and poison resistance.

Leveling Strategy

Sleeping on the bed will trigger a level-up, so make sure you have enough experience. Focus on skills like Illusion, Alteration, Restoration, and Speechcraft. Use a one-handed weapon like a Dagger and equip light armor for fast movement while exploring and in combat. Use Alteration spells to buff yourself and explore the environment. You need to heal yourself and others with Restoration spells to keep your skills active. Invest in attributes that will enhance your major skills.

Leveling up is based on Skill Increases and the Attributes you assign. Every time you level up, you will get to increase three attributes. Focus on attributes that align with your playstyle. Your Birthsign gives a significant bonus to your stats. You must sleep in a bed to level up. Leveling in Oblivion can take time, so try to balance your activities between exploring, combat, and practicing skills.

Factions

factions oblivion
factions oblivion

Mage Guild is the best choice for the Bard build in ESOR because it focuses on magic and skills that complement Bard’s abilities. Bards excel with skills like Illusion for crowd control, Alteration for buffs, and Restoration for healing. This makes the Mages Guild a good fit for their playstyle, allowing you to dominate enemies. The Imperial Legion is another faction that works well with the Bards in most scenarios. This is useful for a Bard who might need to engage in combat or negotiate.

Trainers

Helvius Cecia is the best trainer for the Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered. You can find him in Bruma and he is Master Hand-to-Hand Trainer. Trainers allow you to spend gold to increase your skill levels, which can help you level up your skills.  Different types of trainers allow you to reach different skill level caps. These trainers can train a specific skill for a set number of times per character level.

How to Play the Bard Build

You need to focus on Illusion magic for crowd control and buffs, Speech for persuasion, and Light Armor for mobility. Use Alchemy and Enchanting for additional utility and buffs. Equip Daedric Dagger and Daedric Bow to deal massive damage in combat. Use a dagger to deal melee damage or stealth takedown in combat. While fighting the enemies in ranged combat, use the spells to deal magic damage or use a bow to deal heavy damage.

Focus on attributes like Intelligence, Luck, and Agility to enhance your combat effectiveness while running this build. Bards are social creatures, so make an effort to interact with NPCs. Collect and display artifacts to enhance your character’s lore. You need to expand your knowledge and understanding of the world. Enchant your weapon and armor to make them more effective in combat. Use the high ground to use spells for maximum damage output. It’s best to craft the potions that buff your character and debuff the enemies.

Best Gameplay Tips and Tricks for the Bard Build

Here are the best tips and tricks for the Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

  • Choose the faction, race, and specialization that complements your playstyle and synergizes with the build.
  • Use potions to heal your character from time to time in combat, so carry them in your inventory.
  • Include Light Armor in your build to protect your character from several different threats in the area.
  • You need to use stamina wisely or else you can become vulnerable in most combat situations.
  • Use your weapons wisely, as equipping a lower damage-dealing weapon gives room for the enemies to attack you.
  • Use Speechcraft and your charisma to avoid unnecessary conflict.
  • Consider light armor and weapons for a mobile combat style that fits the Bard’s agility.

FAQs about Bard build in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered

What is a Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered?

The Bard Build in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion is a unique setup that mixes skills related to combat, magic, and charisma-based abilities. Bards excel in social interactions, and support magic and light combat.

Which is the best weapon for a Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion?

Daedric Dagger and Daedric Bow are the best weapons for a Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion due to their ability to deal decent damage.

Which is the best race for a Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion?

Breton is the best race for the Bard build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. This race offers innate magic resistance and high magicka, making it beneficial for spellcasting and enchanting.

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