So I've contracted the vampire disease in Oblivion on my way through this cave to rid it of every vampire inside. Though, those vampires are way too difficult to finish off. I read that this quest is just optional. But, I'm not sure where to get another daedric artifact from exactly. The game isn't telling me, and the FAQs online are confusing. Anyway, I took off from the cave to find a cure for this vampire thing. The only way it seems to do that is to go to the witch's house and give her five grand soul gems. But to do that, the only way to get those it seems is to join the mages guild and buy it from them. Since there's only one in stock at each guild, and since they cost 300 something each, I'm having a lot of trouble on money issues. But that's not the problem I'm having. Right now, my character just got to the point where he's become a vampire so much that no one will give him the time of day anymore. I've got only two of the soul gems I needed, and no way of doing anything anymore in the game since no one will speak to me. Is there a way to remedy this?

If you drink blood from someone, it "resets" your vampirism back to low levels. Don't worry, it doesn't kill anyone.

As with most other goals in the game, there's more than one way to get grand soul gems. Thievery, for example, is one option. But you probably should join the mages guild regardless, as it opens up many more avenues.

And, the artifact you get from that particular shrine is one of the most powerful items in the game, so don't fritter it away. If you need to find more daedric shrines, two good ways are to read lots of books (sometimes you'll get a clue and it'll set a marker on your map) and just to strike out and watch your compass. When you get close to a shrine you'll see the icon for it on your compass, it's a unique icon. There are several that you'll be able to see right from main roads.

If you're really sweating for money, gain a few levels and you'll notice that better equipment starts dropping, which means better income. Another decent way to make money is alchemy, as you can just wander around gathering ingredients and even poisons sell.

feeding on people doesn't really affect them at all, so feed to your heart's content.

It's also possible to prevent vampirism by curing disease after you contract it but before it sets in, either with a potion or at a cathedral.

Selling potions can be lucrative, but you do have to do it in bulk. If your alchemy and marcantile skills are high enough, you can actually buy ingredients and turn around and make potions for a profit.

It's far from impossible to steal without being caught, it's just one of those things that you have to tailor a character to. There are some spells and specifically custom made spells that can help tremendously.

Once you're in the magic guild, it's a good idea to take advantage of the spellmaking and item enchanting facilities. They can really turn the tables in your favor.

Level 11 is still fairly low, but you'll start finding decent loot soon and money won't be a problem. Make sure you practice your mercantile and speehcraft (or find a way to enhance them) or you'll get a few raw deals.

If you're relying on magic, make sure to carry plenty of restore magicka potions. Also note that some enemies are going to be resistant. In some cases, the way you're "used to" dealing with a situation just won't work and you'll need to find an alternative (and plenty of them exist).

Just remember that practically everything serves a purpose. Yes, at time there are "best" ways of doing things but the game is generally flexible enough that you should be able to find a way that works with your character build.

Coincidentally, my first character was a "summoner", a custom clas that relied eavily on summoning monsters to fight for him. It was pretty fun, but summoning doesn't seem to be something that was designed to have a character built entirely around it, so it got a little repetitive. But you could be on a good track there, because summoned monsters can be valuable for soaking up damage.

More important to your character's power than level is your gear. Depending on what equipment you have, that ogre could get ridiculously easy to beat. That's one of the reasons getting all of the guild recommendations is a big thing, because you can then enchant your own gear.

Completing sidequests is a good idea too, as some of the rewards you'll get include decently powerful stuff. Later on in the game, shopping for gear becomes useful as really powerful stuff shows up, stuff you couldn't even possibly enchant -- which was one of the downfalls of the Morrowind (you could enchant stuff to be much better than any gear you could find/buy).

Sometimes if you seem stuck, the bets thing to do is go off and explore for a while. You'll gain power, get new stuff, and maybe figure out a new way to approach the problem. Magic can really get you out of some binds, so shop around for spells, even weak ones; in order to use most effects for custom spells and enchanting, you need to have a spell in your spell list with that effect. Playing around with some spells can give some perspective on what they can do, and then combining effects can be very powerful. Some effects are more powerful than they seem, as well; since encumbrance is limited by strength, draining the strength of any enemy holding any inventory canbe very useful, for example.

Then again, while magic is pretty powerful in this game, it can bne difficult to use without a magic-specific race/sign combo. To use some of the really powerful spells you almost need the +50 or +100 race/sign magica bonus. So there are ways around that, and that's one of the places that enchanting comes in.

Just keep plugging away, but if you hit a wall don't keep bashing at it; go off and fill out that world map a little bit, then come back to it later.

Once I get into the guild then, I'll try to enchant my items then. I have silver platings right now, I think it is. But, this ogre crushes right through them with her large hammer. The silver curias I was using barely slows her down.

Are you using a shield? Those warhammers are pretty slow, you should be able to reduce a little damage by blocking. You also might be able to avoid being close enough to be hit altogether.

Or you might want to wait just a bit longer. As you raise your weapon skills you earn new abilities. For example, you might be able to do a disarm and not have to worry about it at all.

Actually, I beat the ogre by wasting all my weak potions of healing and potions of healing (which was 5 weak and 6 regular, I think) at level 12 and also having available my level 12 eleven sword. Not to mention all the orcish armor I acquired from the previous mage guild mission I completed. When I beat the ogre, however, I figured out it wasn't a hammer that the ogre was using. It was this glass sword at level 13 attack power. So, now I'm using that and sold off my elven sword so that I can buy back some of the healing potions. I'm trying to make enough money now so I can get enough healing items and go back into the vampire cave to finish the rest of them off.

Sounds good! Sometimes perserverance pays off.

Healing potions are actually pretty easy to make with alchemy. using alchemy relaly does pay dividends, so if you're having trouble stocking up on potions it might be worthwhile to practice it, or train it a little if it's at a really low level. If you don't want to pay for training, you can always just eat ingredients raw, too.

If you've been reloading or revisiting that dungeon, the game may have regenerated that character, so he may have had a hammer before and a sword now. So you're not going crazy!

You might start running into enemies that aren't damaged by normal weapons, so getting into the university would be a good priority so you can put some kind of enchantment on that sword. Doesn't have to be anything strong, but maybe think about your play style and what would help you most. I'm a big fan of soul trap for 1 second myself, but that's not always a good idea for your primary weapon. Glass is a pretty good material so you'll probably be using that sword for a while.

If it's drain health on self, you need to find a different spell. You can only (mostly) enchant with effects from spells you already have. If you're worried about enchanting, practice on some weaker equipment first to get a feel for it. Eventually you'll figure out your own best effects and enchantments. I got through a good portion of the game with a full set of armor enchanted with the shield 10 pts effect, which gave a 50 armor rating before even counting the armor itself, and that 50 never went away with damage.

The artifact that you get from the shrine where you're directed to kill the vampires is extremely useful for enchanting. You'll also want the soul trap spell.

You'll be able to use more ingredient effects as you raise your alchemy level. You do do that by a) paying a trainer; b)creating whatever potions you can, and lots of them; or c) eating raw ingredients, and lots of them. That last one can be easier if your alchemy is at a really low level.

I'll get to the enchanting part later, if I can finally finish up with that blasted vampire cave for once. At the moment, I'm in the middle of finishing up some mage guild business. I really need money for health items. The health spell I was able to make is restore health, combining the daedra heart and the venison meat I think it's called. I'm really not sure which of the tool things I'm supposed to be using, however. I have both the novice and the apprentice stuff of those different creation items, but it's all Japanese to me as to which one to use is the better.

The instructions are pretty helpful for that. But if you look at the tool's value, the higher, the better. You can dump the lesser if you have duplicates.

Just keep picking up all of the ingredients you can find as you travel, especially from wild plants.

Good luck!

Yeah, I pick up a lot of stuff everywhere I go. However, when I try to create something, most times the item in question has no match. So I just have this long list of unusable items waiting for their right counterpart.

That'll change as your alchemy score increases. Each item has four possible effects, and more effects for all items will open up as you practice alchemy. I believe it's as follows, but the instructions will clarify:

1-24: 1 effect
25-49: 2 effects
50-74: 3 effects
75-99: 4 effects
100: 4 effects + mastery bonus

Once you get to alchemy level 25, it's pretty easy to shoot up in level because you effectively double the possible combinations (when you from 2 effects to 3 you only increase by 1/3rd, and from 3 to 4 is an increase of 1/4).

You can raise that score by:

Finding an alchemy trainer (most alchemy merchants can help)
Making potions (i.e., using alchemy)
Eating ingredients raw

The last is the easiest when your level is below 25, but it can possibly be dangerous. Try to find a large amount of an ingredient with a benign effect for that.

Alchemy can be extremely useful both for making money and for making the tools you need to survive. Stealth characters can benefit from poisons, combat cahracters can use as many restore health and fortify strength potions as they can get, and restore magica potions are invaluable for spellcasting characters.

Oh right. My alchemy level was still at 12 the last time I checked. I think my best bet is to find a trainer, since I rarely use those not having much money on me.

Yeah, and it shouldn't be hard to find a trainer at that level (as you increase your skills, it's harder to find a trainer to train them), and it should be fairly cheap. You can probably train to the low 20's cheaply and then do a little potion making or just eat stuff to get to 25.

Also note that with training, you can only train so many times per character level. So you'll probably have to get your character's level up a couple of times while you train.

Trainers usually cost in the hundred range. 100 something per lesson, that is. I'm lucky if I have 700 gold on me all at once, which is about the most I've had on me all at one time so far.