The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Hints, Tips

Super character

This trick requires access to Arcane University, a Chameleon spell, two rings, a necklace/amulet, any two pieces of armor (preferably a helmet and shield; you could use any armor for this, but you may want to enchant them with defensive magic later), five Grand Soul Gems with Grand Souls in them, and 8,000 gold. Go to the Chironasium (enchanting section) in Arcane University. Go to an enchanting stand and enchant the necklace, rings, and armor with a Chameleon spell using the Grand Soul Gems. Each enchantment gives you 20% Chameleon effect, so all five enchantments will make you 100% Chameleon, which is not only invisible but also allows you to attack, steal, open, and pick-up without being revealed. You can now steal from a shop without the shopkeepers doing anything. Your enemies will also just stand still unable to attack, allowing you to go into Sneak mode and attack for 4x to 6x damage, and pickpocket without consequence (except on guards who can catch you if you fail, but still cannot attack you if you resist arrest).

Duplicate items

Equip a bow and any set of arrows, then draw your bow back. While it is drawn back, go to the inventory screen. Select the arrows that you are using, then go to the item to be duplicated. Drop the item, then leave the equipment screen and resume the game. The item that you dropped will be duplicated. You can pick up all the duplicates and use or sell them. The amount of copies of an item you make depends on how many arrows you have equipped. For example, 10 arrows allows 10 copies. This works with most, but not all, items and weapons. Note: Do not try to duplicate more than 250 copies of an item or the game may freeze.

Permanent enchantment

Use the following trick for duplication or a permanent enchantment. You can duplicate a drop-able item, and if that item is equipable with constant effect enchantments you can make them permanent. However, the item once made permanent cannot be re-equipped, but each enchanted item is different. You can use the "Duplicate items" trick to make as many as desired, then sell them. Use the "Duplicate items" trick with a bow an arrows to duplicate the items to make permanent. Equip one of the items you want to make permanent. There must be an unequipped version still in your inventory for this to work. Use the "Duplicate items" trick again; however, drop the unequipped version of the item you have equipped and want to make permanent. The equipped one and the others will drop and you will never be able to equip that item again, but if you check your stats the items bonuses will be permanent. You can duplicate anything that can be dropped, including Grand Soul Gems with Grand Souls captured.

This trick only works with wearable items. Take any wearable item with a magical enchantment that you wish to make permanent and use the "Duplicate items" trick to duplicate it twice so that you have two of that item. Pick up the item and equip one. While you are wearing that item, duplicate the one you are not wearing by at least four. Note: The number of arrows used determines how many copies are made. Both items will drop on the ground in stacks of two. You will now no longer be wearing that item, but will still have its effects. Note: These effects are permanent. Do not attempt this with any item with an effect you may want to remove later, such as Water Walking, Night Eye, etc.

Infinite health

Use the "Duplicate items" trick on a potion of strong health. Repeat the duplication to get the desired amount of potions. Open the inventory screen and go to the strong potion of health, then assign a hotkey to that potion. When you are low on health, just press the hotkey to use a potion. When running low on health potions, repeat the duplication process.

Infinate recharge

Use the "Duplicate items" trick on a Soul Gem. Pick them all up. When an item is on low charge you can recharge it back to full without wasting money on Soul Gems or having to bother with soul trapping.

Infinite gold

Go to the Talos Plaza District of Imperial City and find a house owned by a man named Dorian (Dorian's House) in the southeast section of the district. Break into his house and find him. When he tells you to leave, kill him. Do not press X to loot him and take all. Instead, take each item individually, finishing with the gold, which will not run out once it hits 8 pieces. Just keep selecting the gold he is carrying and take it. Do this repeatedly, and the number of gold pieces remaining will freeze when it gets down to 8 gold pieces. It will not go any lower, but will just keep giving you as much gold as desired. Note: After you break in and he tells you to get out, talk to him. Go to "Persuade" and bribe him a lot. After that, kill him. He will now have more money to loot, which makes it easier to get more faster.


Note: To get infinite gold from Dorian easier, use the following trick. First, bribe him until you cannot do so anymore. Then, hit him with your weakest weapon, preferably your fists. Then, quickly hold Block and press [Space] to yield to him. Because he is your friend, he will stop fighting. Then, talk to him again. His relationship will have dropped because you hit him, allowing you to bribe him more. Make sure you do not hit him too much or he will run away. Once his health gets low, the guards will probably charge you. After spending your time or paying them, go back to his house. His health will still be low from your attacks. Wait exactly 24 hours and his health will be reset. Repeat the entire process to get the desired amount of gold. Once you select the money from his pocket it will not go away, leaving you with unlimited money.


Go to the Talos Plaza District of Imperial City and find Dorian in his house. Talk to him and select the Speechcraft icon to learn that he likes Boast and Coerce and dislikes Admire and Joke. Instead of making him like you, make him hate you. Bribe him until around 60, then make him hate you. Keep repeating this as long as desired. Note: The more you do this, the quicker it will be to increase your money. Kill him but do not let him run, etc. or he will contact the guards. Search him and take all his possessions except for his money. Exit the search screen and re-enter it. Then, keep pressing [Space] on his money to retake it without it disappearing.


This trick requires a horse and an expensive weapon, the more expensive the better. Get on your horse and fast travel to Kvatch. Once there, equip your most expensive weapon and travel until you find a little camp with citizens around on the road to Kvatch. Talk to the female Orc merchant while on your horse and sell her your equipped sword. The message "You cannot unequip this item" will appear, but it will still give you the money. You can do this as many times as desired for 200 GP each time. This only works with your equipped sword; any other items will be sold as usual.


Become a vampire, then seek the Mages Guild help in Arcane University. You will be sent to Skingard to talk to the count. The count will tell you who to seek out in order to get the cure. Complete this quest, and after giving the Counts' wife the potion, he will want to wait a day before he will talk to you again. After that day, when you talk to him he will reward you with 500 gold. However, you can keep talking to him and selecting "Reward" each time. You will be given 500 gold each time you talk to him, even if you leave and come back. Repeat this as many times as desired to get an unlimited amount of gold. Note: When you do go back make sure you select his room lock and bribe him fully so that the guards do not get called. Also, complete this task before the mage's second or third task because after that the Count of Skingard will not talk to you.


When a woman approaches you in the Imperial City and asks you to see a man, go to this house. He will tell you that he and his group are vampire hunters. Follow the Virtuous Order quest line and you will find out the man you are hunting is not a vampire. Do not kill him. Talk to him and he will say that the man that sent you is actually the vampire. Go to the bookstore. The man will tell you about a cave. Travel there and kill all the vampires and take their vampire dust. Once you have killed the main vampire, return to the Imperial City. You will be rewarded with a ring, but he will also tell you that the order will compensate you for every vampire that you kill. All you need for proof is vampire dust. Use the "Duplicate items" trick on the vampire dust to get as many as desired. Keep talking to the man about vampires and he will keep rewarding you as long as you have enough vampire dust. This results in 250 gold for each vampire dust you have.


Use the "Duplicate items" trick inside a store. Make sure the item you duplicate is worth a lot of gold. Sell all but one of the item that was duplicated, then repeat the process as many times as desired. It is possible to make up to 50,000 gold in a few minutes.


This trick requires a Black Bow, a Bow, and two different kinds of Bows (for example Steel and Iron). Also, the "Knight Of The White Stallion" quest must have been successfully completed by talking to the male in the castle of Leyawijn. After completing the quest, you can sell your Black Bow to the male in the castle of Leyawijn. He is one of the court. Every bow will give you 100 gold. Save your game because if you hit the male by accident the guards will attack you. Stand next to the male so that you can speak with him. Use the "Duplicate items" trick to duplicate your bow next to the male (when he is sitting in his throne). Pick up all the duplicated bows. When he says that you are over numbered you can continue picking up more bows. After picking up every bow, throw one on the ground (to make sure you do not sell all of your bows). Speak with the male and sell your bows. When you choose one time for yes, you can continue by pressing [Space]. It is possible to sell 125 bows for 12,500 gold in five minutes.

Infinite arrows

Go to the Bloodworks in the arena and find the gladiator that is practicing with his bow on a target. Stand close by him and when there are five to ten arrows in the target, take them before he does. He will just continue shooting when you move out of the way. This is an unlimited source of iron arrows, which can be sold to almost any merchant and therefore also makes an unlimited source of gold.


Go outside of the Inn Of Ill Omen where the man is practicing his archery. He is using steel arrows. Go in front of him and pick up the arrows. He will not hit you and just wait until you move out of his way. You will not get into trouble with the guards. Repeat this as many times as desired.

Easy gold

A quick way to get gold without stealing or fighting for it is to join a guild. When you join a guild you will have access to a number of guild halls all over Tamriel. You can pick up nearly any item in the various guilds without making it a crime, and without labeling your items as stolen. By doing this you can just loot the guild halls and sell them to the closest merchant for an easy profit.


Defeat Caminalda on the Anvil Recommendation quest for the mages guild, then search her body for gold and her room key for the inn. Use her room key on the upper door in the inn. You will find a treasure chest in the back of the room. Open the unlocked chest to get all the gold inside.

Easy experience

This trick requires that your character has a major skill of Sneak and either Destruction or Alteration. If your skills are Sneak and Destruction, gain access to Arcane University. Go to the area to make spells. Make a Drain Health spell that is set to "Self" and only uses 1 Magicka. Then, go upstairs. Go into Sneak mode and just run into the wall without stopping. Activate the magic spell repeatedly to gain levels quickly. Note: When you activate the magic spell it will seem as if it is hurting you, but it is not. If your skills are Sneak and Alteration, go into a room with a container (for example, cupboard, drawers, etc.). Run into the container in Sneak mode and use a "open very easy lock" repeatedly on the container.


Use the following trcik for easy experience in Leyawiin (Blade, Blunt, Destruction, Hand-To-Hand, Marksman, and Sneak). Go to Leyawiin and find Rosentia Gallenus' House. She has four Scamps. You can kill them and more will respawn. Sneak attack with a blade, mace, or hand-to-hand. Then, use a bow and cast fire. Note: If you use your bow, the arrows are hard to get back. If you finish the quest you cannot do this anymore.


Go to Cloud Ruler Temple northwest of Bruma. Walk up the big stairs and you will see two Blades sparing. Stand close to them for a minute and your Blade and Block skills will increase by 2. Note: This can only be done once.

Easy magic skills

Successfully complete all the Mage Guild Recommendation Quests to gain access to Arcane University. Then, buy the cheapest spell you can find for each of the magic based skills (Illusion, Conjuration, Alteration, Mysticism, Restoration, and Destruction). For Destruction, a Drain Spell is recommended. Go to where you make your own spells and select a spell. Make it so you only use up 1 Magicka and the spell is on "Self". Name the spell and create it. Do this with all the other types of magic based skills then make them all on "Self", including Destruction. If you used a Drain spell, when you use it on yourself it may appear you took damage but you do not, because you drain it from yourself to yourself. Cast the spells all the time when you are walking around or whenever possible. Your skills will increase quickly without having to wait between spellcastings. Note: This trick will only work if the spells are cast on "Self". Spells do not count towards experience unless they have an effect on something.

Easy skill bonuses

Successfully complete all the Mage Guild Recommendation Quests to gain access to Arcane University. Then, create a Fortify Skill 100 spell that lasts for a few seconds on-self for Mercantile and/or Armorer. With the Mercantile spell, cast it in front of a merchant, activate them, and you will be able to invest 500 gold at their store without being a Master in Mercantile. In addition, you can drive harder bargains. For Armorer, cast the spell and then equip an Armorer's Hammer. Your hammer can be used infinitely without being a Master Armorer. You cannot, however, repair magical items without having legitimately reached the Journeyman Armorer level. Similar spells can be created for other attributes and/or skills: Personality and Speechcraft for raising people's dispositions, Security for picking any lock, etc.

Easy Acrobatics skill

While moving around on foot, just keep jumping instead of walking to your desired location to easily increase your Acrobatics skill.

Easy Alchemy skill

Steal a mortar and pestle. Steal a lot of food items and turn them into potions. It should not take too long to reach the Master level.


Use the "Duplicate items" trick to duplicate two different types of food (such as apples and lettuce or other fruits). Try to get over 100 of each food. Then, use a mortar and pestle to create potions from the food. Repeatedly make potions as quick as possible with the duplicated food. When you run out of food to make the potions, just duplicate some more and repeat the process. It is possible to get your Alchemy skill to Master in ten minutes or less.

Easy Alteration skill

To get quickly increase your Alteration skill, make sure you have these spells: Open Average Lock, Open Easy Lock, and Open Very Easy Lock. Then, find a chest that you would normaly need a key or have to lockpick. Use the opposite spell of the chest. For example, if the chest requires the easy spell, use the very easy spell on it. Make sure you have some Magicka potions or you can just wait an hour every time you exhaust your Magicka supply. In a short period of time you will have leveled your Alteration skill dramaticaly.

Easy Armor skill

There is a woman named Arvena Thelas in the town of Anvil who has four rats in her basement (the same as the first Fighter's Guild quest). If your level is high enough that rats do not cause you significant damage, you can break into her house, annoy the rats by punching them (or casting drain fatigue spells if your punch is too strong), then letting all four rats attack you while occasionally casting a heal spell. This is also useful for raising your Block skill, and is much easier than repeatedly causing summoned monsters to attack you.

Easy Athletics skill

Get an enchanted amulet, ring, or other item you can enchant with Water Breathing. Make sure it is a constant effect. Equip the item with Water Breathing, then jump in some water. Swim to the bottom, then hold [Up] to keep swimming into the floor. Your Athletics skill will greatly increase in just five minutes.

Easy Conjuration skill

Near the town of Bruna, go east, then southeast. If you reach The Red Ruby Cave you went too far. You will need to go back west slightly. You should see a shrine, that once activated, will give you Conjuration points as well as a temporary bound weapon and/or greaves. You can keep activating the shrine every 24 hours. Wait in front of it for 24 hours, then activate it again. Repeat this as many times as desired.

Easy Hand-To-Hand skill

This trick requires that your character has 100% or more Invisibility or Chameleon. This is done by either enchanting a number of armor, rings, or amulets, or you can enter an Oblivion Gate and keep reloading the game until you find the Sigil Stone that offers Silence and Chameleon. After you get that stone, use the "Duplicate items" trick to instantly enchant your items without having to find Soul Gems and Souls. Once you have Invisibility, go up to a guard and start beating him up using hand-to-hand combat. When he dies, more guards will keep spawning. You can just keep beating on them. You can also find a character that is marked with a crown that will not die, and only becomes unconscious. Because they do not see you, it is not bad. Also, they never die, so you can endlessly beat on them until you master Hand-To-Hand. Your skill increases about every 20 seconds or more, depending on how high your skill level already is.


Go to the Arena district in the Imperial City. Look for two NPCs fighting. Stand close to them for a minute and your Hand-To-Hand skill will increase by 5. Note: This can only be done once.