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Ascension & NPC Overhauls

Ascension​

Copied Directly From Ascension Nexus Page

Introduction​

Ascension aims to create the definitive vanilla-plus Oblivion Remastered experience. Loot has been thoroughly overhauled so that rare equipment is actually rare, dungeons feel rewarding, enemies and loot no longer stop spawning at higher levels, underused gameplay aspects are made more worthwhile, and difficulty has been subtly increased overall. The sense of progression you receive from levelling up and journeying through the world of Oblivion should feel much greater with this mod installed.

Please note: this version of Ascension is a port of the original mod for Oblivion. Care has been taken to test the changes with the remaster to ensure that things work as intended. Due to changes in the remaster, some features could not be transferred over. However, as modding develops, I hope to update this mod so that we can have the Oblivion experience we always wanted!

Leveled Lists and Loot​

Light armor is made from fur, leather, chainmail, mithril, elven or glass. Mithril, elven and glass are exceedingly rare and are only found in ancient ruins and remote tombs.... Blacksmiths can forge heavy armor from iron, steel, dwarven, orcish, ebony or daedric. Iron and steel plate mail can be found in most any blacksmith's shop. The other materials are rare and armor made from them is only found in ancient treasure hoards hidden deep underground. Manual of Armor

  • The quote above is taken from an in-game book. Lies! Once you get to a certain level in vanilla Oblivion, almost every wilderness bandit wears Ebony, Elven, Glass, and even Daedric armor.

No more. Ascension overhauls the loot system and changes how items are distributed throughout the game world. The items carried by NPCs and in loot are now capped at a certain level appropriate to the character and location. You won’t see bandits wearing anything above Chainmail armour, and generic loot has also been capped at Mithril and Orcish material. The best loot has been transferred to the boss chests located at the very end of dungeons, and only ancient tombs and ruins have a chance of concealing the highest level Glass, Elven, and Ebony gear. To find Daedric gear, you must travel to the plains of Oblivion itself, or delve deep into the twisted dungeons in the realm of the Mad God.

Furthermore, items will no longer stop spawning when you get to higher levels—iron armour will remain common throughout your adventure, as it should be.

Boss chests also contain various other valuable treasures, ranging from silver clutter to valuable gemstones and jewellery. This acts as the prize for completing a dungeon, and will be the primary source of income for dungeon delvers. Ayleid containers may also contain additional Welkynd Stones, and Varla Stones can even occasionally be found in boss chests. Thieves also have a chance of finding more valuable loot in homes across Cyrodiil.

Creatures and NPCs​

The highest rank of Dremora is the Valkynaz, or 'prince'. This warrior duke is a member of the Valkyn, Mehrunes Dagon's personal guard.
The Valkynaz are rarely encountered on Tamriel; normally they remain by Mehrunes Dagon's side, or serve as commanders of operations of
particular importance or interest to Dagon ~ Varieties of Daedra

With Ascension, low-level creatures will no longer stop spawning when you get to a certain level. You can now always encounter Zombies, Imps, Scamps, etc regardless of your level. Furthermore, all random spawns points have been capped, so that tough creatures such as Liches, Minotaur Lords, Storm Atronachs, etc will now only spawn at boss-level points, usually at the end of dungeons. Boss chests contain the best loot, but they’re also the best guarded!

To balance this feature, some low level creatures now have a chance of spawning in groups once you reach higher levels. For example, you can now encounter a pack or wolves in the wilderness, or a squad of skeletons in a dungeon.

Gameplay Balancing​

Often overlooked by aspiring mages, Alchemy is a time-honored, rewarding discipline that can change the lives of those who master it. Fundaments of Alchemy

A range of other tweaks balance various aspects of the game to make all play-styles feel more natural and worthwhile. These include changes to alchemy, sneak, pick-pocketing, hand-to-hand fighting, barter, persuasion, skill leveling rates, and more. Wherever possible, only minimal behind-the-scenes settings have been altered so that most information pertaining to the vanilla game's item and character stats is largely still correct.

  • Although slight, these changes can have a large effect on how you play the game. For instance, playing an unarmed monk is now a perfectly valid choice, as hand-to-hand will remain a viable back-up combat skill throughout the game. Other examples include:

  • Alchemy is less potent for those not skilled in the craft, and so it is harder to create potions more powerful than those found in loot for most characters.

  • Persuasion and barter are much harder unless a character specialises in them—some merchants may not even haggle with novice mercantile characters at all!

  • Spellswords may need to trade armour for clothing to maintain high spell effectiveness at low levels, as the effect of this mechanic has been increased.

  • Repairing items is less frustrating for low-level characters, as the chance of breaking repair hammers has been decreased. However, the amount of condition restored per hammer strike now scales much more with Armorer skill. This is a worthwhile endeavor, as repairing items at vendors is now more expensive.

  • Pickpocketing chances are also more reasonable, and pickpocketing grants more skill experience than in vanilla, making it actually viable.

  • Additionally, item value and rarity has been tweaked to make more sense for the game world. This includes a thorough rebalance of magic item costs so that you can't easily get rich by selling weak enchanted items found in dungeons.

Balanced NPC Level Caps​

Copy + Pasted/Edited From Here

All NPC levels are capped to the equivalent level of the NPC when the player is level 30, with a few minor alterations to some NPCs. For example, Bandits have level offsets ranging from -4 to +0, so their maximum levels will range from 26 to 30. In general, NPC level caps range from 20-50.

Azani Blackheart is now the highest level NPC in the game, with a cap of 55 and offset of +25. This is fairly logical, as he's an end-game boss of the Fighter's Guild questline.

Simple Create Level Caps​

Copy + Pasted/Edited From Here

This mod simply adds a maximum level cap for all creatures that scale indefinitely. The cap is set to the level that the creature would be when the player is level 25. This level was selected because loot scaling tops out around 20-25, so it makes sense that enemies don't continue to get harder if the reward for fighting them does not get any better.

A large number of creatures in Oblivion increase in level with the player indefinitely. This is a problem as the player usually reaches maximum combat effectiveness around level 25-30 when main combat-related skills and attributes are maximised. Consequently, enemies become harder without the player getting any stronger. This mod fixes that.

Misc. Balances/NPC Changes​

  • Daedra will now roam the Wilderness during the Oblivion Crisis. If you can go through their gate, why cant they come through and spread havoc more than 10 feet away?
  • Goblin Wars will now occur with more frequency/in a more interesting manner as the little guys fight over whatever useless smooth rock they have found.

Every 5 in-game days, a new Goblin War has a 20% chance to trigger rather than Goblin Wars being static events.

  • When a war event is triggered, one clan of Goblins may be found travelling anywhere throughout Cyrodill to reach their enemy's lair, causing havoc in their path.