Mastering the persuasion minigame in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and leveling up your Speechcraft skill can significantly enhance your ability to influence NPCs, unlock quests, gain information, and secure better prices from merchants. Below is a detailed guide with tips and tricks for playing the persuasion minigame effectively and leveling up your Speechcraft skill quickly, based on the mechanics of Oblivion Remastered.
1. Understanding the Persuasion Minigame
The persuasion minigame is a quick little challenge you trigger by picking the "Persuade" option (the one with the silhouette and arrows) when chatting with NPCs. Your goal is to bump up their disposition (how much they like you, from 0 to 100) by picking the right actions—Admire, Boast, Joke, or Coerce. Each NPC reacts differently to these (Love, Like, Dislike, or Hate), and you’ve got a wedge system (1–4 wedges) that decides how much each choice impacts their mood.
Check NPC Reactions
Before you dive in, hover over each action to see how the NPC feels about it. A big grin means they "Love" it, a small smile is "Like," a slight frown is "Dislike," and a big scowl means "Hate."
In Oblivion Remastered, after your first go with an NPC, the game colors the actions to make it easier:
- Green: Love (big disposition boost)
- Yellow: Like (decent boost)
- Red: Hate (big drop)
- Bronze/Brown: Dislike (small drop)
Save your game before trying so you can reload if things go south.
Play Smart with Wedges
Each action has 1–4 wedges, which decide how much it affects disposition. More wedges = bigger impact, good or bad. After each choice, the wedges shift clockwise, so plan ahead to hit Love or Like actions with high wedges (3–4) and stick Dislike or Hate with low ones (1–2).
At Apprentice Speechcraft (level 25), you get a free wheel spin each round, letting you shuffle wedges to your advantage.
Don’t Dawdle
The NPC’s disposition drops slowly during the minigame, so pick your actions fast to keep it high.
Practice on random NPCs (like city folks) to get the hang of the timing before you try it on someone important.
Bribes as a Plan B
If the minigame’s not working or you need a quick disposition boost, hit the "Bribe" option. It costs gold but skips the minigame and raises disposition instantly.
Save bribes for key NPCs (like beggars for Thieves Guild quests) or when you’re almost at max disposition to save cash.
Know Your Goal
Some quests need an NPC’s disposition at 70 or higher to unlock dialogue (like getting a beggar to spill about the Gray Fox). If their dialogue option stays highlighted, they’re probably holding out until you charm them more.
Don’t Max Out Disposition for Grinding
If you want to keep practicing on an NPC to level Speechcraft, don’t push their disposition to 100. Keep it around 50 so you can try again. You can lower it a bit by pulling out your weapon before talking (drops it by 10).
Spam the Minigame for Experience
To level Speechcraft fast, just blaze through minigame rounds, even if you pick randomly. You get 2.4 Speechcraft experience points per round as long as disposition changes (up or down). No change, no points.
Do this on NPCs you don’t care about, like guards, to rack up experience without messing up relationships.
2. Tips for Leveling Up Speechcraft
Play the Minigame a Lot
Every minigame round that shifts disposition gives you 2.4 Speechcraft experience. Hit up every NPC you meet, especially early on. Crowded spots like the Imperial City Market District are great for this.
Pick the Right Character Setup
Race: Go Imperial for a +10 Speechcraft boost right off the bat.
Class: Pick a class with Speechcraft as a Major Skill (like Acrobat, Agent, Bard, Healer, Knight, Pilgrim, or Thief) to level it faster since Major Skills grow quicker. Speechcraft as a Major Skill isn’t a must, but it helps if you want to focus on persuasion.
Unlock Speechcraft Perks
Leveling Speechcraft gets you perks that make the minigame easier:
- Novice (0): No perks; bribes are pricey.
- Apprentice (25): Disposition drops 50% slower, plus a free wheel spin per round.
- Journeyman (50): Another 50% slower disposition drop (adds up with Apprentice).
- Expert (75): “Hate” actions hurt less (-100% instead of -150%), and bribes are cheaper.
- Master (100): No disposition drop during the minigame, and bribes cost half as much.
Get to Apprentice (25) ASAP for that free spin—it’s a game-changer.
Find Speechcraft Trainers
Track down trainers to boost Speechcraft faster:
- Tandilwe (Temple of the One, Imperial City): Master trainer (up to 100).
- Varon Vamori (Bravil): Journeyman trainer (up to 70).
- Training costs gold, so sell some loot to cover it and mix it with minigame practice.
Boost Disposition Other Ways
- Level up your Personality attribute to make NPCs like you more from the start.
- Wear nice clothes, avoid crimes, and join guilds to improve your rep, which helps disposition.
- Cast Charm spells (Illusion school) or use the Imperial’s Voice of the Emperor to give disposition a quick boost before the minigame.
Grind by Tweaking Disposition
To keep practicing, lower an NPC’s disposition slightly (like by drawing your weapon) so you can run the minigame again. Guards are great for this since they’re everywhere and won’t fight unless disposition tanks below 20.
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