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While wandering through the lands of Cyrodiil on foot is certainly a breath of fresh air, after a while, you may find yourself tired of trekking between quest waypoints. Luckily,Oblivion Remasteredboasts a rather large selection of horses to free you from your travelling woes.
Horses will move a lot faster than you, even when running, and can even traverse tricky terrain,like climbing up near-vertical cliffs.Anyone venturing to Frostcrag Spire might want to bring their horse just in case.
Oblivion Remastered: How To Level Up
For anyone confused by the new level-up system in Oblivion Remastered, this guide is sure to come in handy.
Of course, not all horses are created equal. This guide will cover the best horses you can obtain in Oblivion Remastered for the cheapest prices, as well as how to make the most of their abilities.
Where To Find Your First Horse
As soon as you leave the sewers and properly begin your Oblivion adventure, you havea couple of optionsin terms of horses. Naturally, you’re not going to have a ton of cash, but fear not, there are a few horses you may getfor freeearly on.
Horse Armor DLC
If you have the DLC, you can get a horse right at the beginning by heading over to theChestnut Handy Stablesand speaking with the owner. There, if youinsist that you need an armored horse,they will give you one for free. This Armored Old Nag will be sure to take you where you need to go and look good while doing it.
Weynon Priory Horse
Now, if you don’t happen to have the DLC, like me, you can simply progress with the main quest until you reach theDeliver The Amuletpart. If you talk to Prior Maborel and ask for his assistance,he will offer you a Paint Horse that you can use free of charge.
Cloud Ruler Horse
Once you have progressed the main quest enough that you have joined the Blades,you’re able to get free access to another horsethat was previously owned by Jauffre. This is a Chestnut horse and rather quicker than the previous Paint Horse.
The Best Horse Options
It may not immediately be clear which type of horse to choose when so many options are available.Every horse has its own set of invisible statsthat make them better or worse than others.
Here is a quick rundown of the main horses and how they compare:
Horse Type
Paint Horse
Bruma/Leyawiin
Bravil/Skingrad
Chestnut Horse
White Horse
Black Horse
Cheydinhal
While these horses can, of course, be bought, if you choose a darker path,you may also steal them. Though this is no easy task. For some odd reason, other horses, if they detect you,can report crimes.Odd, I know.
Basically, what this means is that you’ll get a bounty when you steal a horseunless nobody sees you perform the action. A mixture of sneaking while being affected by theChameleon spellwill certainly come in handy if you don’t want to fork out the big bucks.
Special Horses
Of course, those of you who’ve playedSkyrimbefore may know about another option that exists. Other special horses appear in Oblivion Remasteredthat may just trump all the other options, should you wish to invest the time to obtain them.
If you enter the Dark Brotherhood, you will reach the quest titledThe Purification. No spoilers,but this quest is pretty dark. In any case, once you finish it, blood spattered and breathless, Lucian will give you his special Black horse,Shadowmere.
Oblivion Remastered: How To Access The Dark Brotherhood
Fancy getting your hands a little bloody? Well, might as well get paid while you’re at it! You’ll be right at home in the Dark Brotherhood.
Not only does this horse have brilliant stats, but in addition,it cannot die. Even if you deal damage to the horse yourself, it will simply go unconscious until enough time passes. This is a ridiculously good ability, which pretty much renders every single other horse obsolete.You no longer need to shell out money when your horse falls in battle.
Another option is the fabledWhite Unicorn. While this may be encountered as part of Hircine’s Daedric quest, the unicorn actually exists in the wild,whether you start the quest or not.You just need to get past the Minotaur guards…
While this “horse” has some great stats too, you should also be careful,as if you draw your weapon around it, it will become incredibly hostile.Just stay calm, and no one gets hurt.
You may remember this fact at the beginning, it’s only a matter of time before you accidentallydraw your weapon or even raise your fists. It can be a bit of a pain, but this is the price you pay if you want a legendary Unicorn as your pet.
Here are the stats for these two Quest Horses:
Shadowmere
Dark Brotherhood Quest
Harcane Grove
Utilising Your Horse
While you may have dreams of firing your bow and arrow from horseback,unfortunately, it isn’t possible.Your horse can fight, but only when you’re on the ground beside it.
Thankfully, you don’t need to feed it, and it will travel with you whenever you fast travel. If you feel like you’ve lost track of your horse,look in the stables of one of the places that you’ve traveled to, and you may just find it.
While it is useful to use your horse to get around, you won’t earn Athletics or Acrobatics XP while mounted. Be sure to use those legs once in a while.
Spell Making & Buffs
If you really want to make your horse better, there are afew ways to do so in style. Oblivion features a mechanic that was unfortunately cut from Skyrim. The ability to make custom spells at the Arcane University. You’ll need to earn recommendations from each of the Mage’s Guilds beforehand, but it’s definitely worth it in the long run.
Instead of crafting spells for you, you can select theTargetoption in the crafting menu to make positive buffs for your trusty steed. Whether this is just a simple heal spell, or even something more risky like a fortify speed spell or fortify acrobatics spell,when you cast it upon your horse, things will start getting pretty crazy.
Now your horse will move at a ridiculous pace or even be able to jump across the surface of the water. With magic, anything is possible. Just be careful not to kill your horse in the process. Oblivion can be pretty buggy at times,especially with thespellmakingmechanic.
If you mess with enough spells, perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to spot the mysterious Spectral Steed. Though, of course, this is just a rumour.
