The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How to Get Early Advantage in The Imperial Arena

The best part is that it's not some grind. This approach is fun. We're talking about the Imperial Arena, one of the most overlooked but rewarding activities you can complete right after the tutorial. You can immediately complete the entire Arena questline depending on how difficult you are setting it. Even if you can't go all the way because you've set the difficulty too high, it's still 100% worth joining early, and this guide will explain exactly why.

How to Join the Arena

Joining the Arena is relatively easy. As soon as you leave the tutorial, fast-travel to the Imperial City Arena. Head through the entrance to Blood Works and speak to Owyn to sign up.

He'll give you a choice between light and heavy arena armor. You must wear the heavy armor to compete in the Arena, so pick whichever suits your build. They're not great quality items, but you must wear them to participate, and if you're doing this first thing, they're better than the armor pieces you picked up in the tutorial.

Starting Your Arena Career

Once you've equipped your armor, you can ask Owyn to put you straight into a fight. He'll explain how you can climb through the Arena ranks from being a Pit Dog to becoming the Grand Champion.

You get a new rank every three fights. After 21 fights, you'll unlock one final battle to become the Arena Grand Champion. Once you become the Grand Champion, you can return to the Arena for repeatable fights.

Important Tips Before Fighting

Make sure you save before you go into the fight. The game will autosave as soon as you go through the door into the Arena. The problem is that once it's autosaved inside the Arena, you can't return until you finish the fight. If you get stuck on a particularly difficult opponent, you'll have a problem.

 Get in the habit of saving before you go through that door. Sometimes, there's a bug where the Arena gates don't come down for the fight, and you get stuck there. This bug is still in the remaster, so saving it is even more critical.

Make sure you stock up on potions, as they will make it a lot easier for you to win these fights. Ensure your weapons and armor are fully repaired before each battle.

Benefits of Completing the Arena Early

Gold Rewards

The first significant benefit to doing the Arena early on is the gold. Owyn will give you a progressively larger amount of gold for each fight. It starts with just 50 gold per win but scales up to 500; the final match even earns you 1,000 gold.

Having several thousand golds available to you in the early game, before you've barely even started your adventures, is a significant advantage. It will allow you to buy a load of stuff you otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. It's one of the best sources of gold in the early game.

Increasing Difficulty and Fight Variety

While the gold rewards increase, so does the difficulty of the fights as you progress. You face better-equipped enemies and a mix of melee fighters, mages, and archers. You even get some two and three-versus-one fights as well.

The orc you fight at the end of the Warrior tier is a significant step up from anything that came before, as are the two 3v1 fights. In the second one, which is the most difficult, you have an animal pet to help you, and you can cheese it by kiting all three enemies while your pet chunks away, damaging them.

The Grand Champion himself is a significant step up from anything that came before him, so that might be where you get stuck. You might have to go away and get better gear or dynamically reduce the difficulty. It depends on how much of a challenge you want.

Skill Development

The Arena gives you a fantastic canvas on which to experiment with different types of combat in the game. It also levels your combat skills efficiently, so it makes sense to do it early on.

When you go out into the open world after completing the Arena, your build will be in a much better place, and combat will feel more satisfying and impactful. For example, going to the Arena straight after the sewers can get you to level 5 with significant progress in the blade, block, heavy armor, and restoration skills.

The Grand Champion Fight

If you can progress through all 21 fights, you will get to the final battle against the Grand Champion, a formidable orc opponent. He is a step up in difficulty, but if you can defeat him, you get:

1. The title of Grand Champion.

2. The Raiment of Valor, which isn't the best item in the game but is undoubtedly an excellent one to have early on.

3. The opportunity to take the previous Grand Champion's silver sword, which will help you against ghosts and other undead later in the game.

The Adoring Fan

The ultimate reward that many veteran players will remember is the pure and unshakable adoration of the Adoring Fan. That's right—you gain the famous Adoring Fan as a follower, and if you choose, he will accompany you on your adventures forevermore. Or, of course, you can shove him off a cliff, as is tradition, but that choice is entirely up to you.

Playing in the Imperial Arena is one of the best things to do early in Oblivion Remastered. It gives you a lot of gold, helps you get better at fighting, lets you practice with different enemies, and gives you extraordinary things and a friend as a prize. Don't miss this chance if you want to get a big head start on your adventures across Cyrodiil.

 

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