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I had restarted playing Oblivion several weeks ago and completed all the major quest lines (ie. Fighters/Mages/Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood) as well as done all the quests in the relevant cities, then I did the other expansion quests (ie. whether it was just outfitting Frostcrag Spire/ Deepscorn Hollow/ Dunbarrow Cave and the more major quest of getting Mehrune's Razor).

With all this done, I was at Level 31 (99 STR, 100 END, 100 SPEED, 93 AGI, 92 INT, 50 LUCK, 99 WILL, 93 PER) when I started Knights of the Nine.

That was a damn cool- and damn difficult at the end, quest. However, the plot was really well developed (I loved the books they added to the game, I read everything about Pelinal Whitestrake I could find) and I love the new items they added- while the enchantments the Crusader Relics have are not generally what I would choose (I've got a customized set of Daedric Armor I created from Sigil Stones) I really like the look of them and the Sword of the Crusader is even better than mighty Goldbrand (Goldbrand does 22 fire damage on strike, the Crusader Sword does 14 fire damage for 2 seconds and 40 Damage Magicka on strike). It's also not a Katana, which is great.

Still, the Woodland Blessing you get from the Boots are damn convenient- no more tedium of being attacked by Bears/Wolves/Mountain Lions etc while travelling.

The boss battle was brilliant. Arriving at the place with your eight knights (plus you equals nine, get it) and attacking was great- if I didn't care about my knights most of them would've been killed but I loaded the game repeatedly until none of them died.

If any of them are killed, the survivors talk about the lost Knight back at the Priory of the Nine after the quest is finished- which is a nice touch (I loaded the game upon finishing the quest after discovering this).

And those damn Aurorans are incredibly tough to kill, even with the Sword of the Crusader.

Even better, when the quest is over you can choose (and change your mind the moment you want to) a +5 bonus to your attributes. Naturally I chose luck.

Now then, to keep levelling up so I can get all my stats to 100 and put some more points into Luck.

The only question now is- play Shivering Isles after I finish the main quest, or before?

Knights of the Nine was very fun. I remember trying to do the Mace quest early, and I kept thinking it would be just like The Last Crusade... and kept falling off the cliff.

As far as The Shivering Isles go, I have a character saved whose completed every faction quest in the game, and hasn't started the main quest. I've been playing Morrowind to get in the mood of a more unique and mushroomy environment. I says, to hell with the Main Quest, and to Hell with those damned repetative Oblivion gates! I've got the Madgod to serve!

I beat it awhile ago with OOO (though OOO does not directly affect KotN itself). It was definitely much better than some of the original content, and the aesthetics are particularly pleasing. Give me mail and an arming sword any day over silly fantasy weapons and armor.

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:I beat it awhile ago with OOO (though OOO does not directly affect KotN itself). It was definitely much better than some of the original content, and the aesthetics are particularly pleasing. Give me mail and an arming sword any day over silly fantasy weapons and armor.

Bah! As soon as I get to an armourer in the Shivering Isles, I'm dropping all my lame medieval gear for the first madness ore armour I see.

That depends on what Madness Ore armor looks like, as far as I'm concerned

Considering the price of Knights of the Nine, I guess the amount of gameplay that went with it was pretty okay. I finished it in 3-5 hrs. The armour and weapons were fine, and yeah, the mace and sword dealt better damage than Goldbrand. However, the armour, vis a vis some customised Daedric armour might come up a bit short. Storyline wise, it was ok, though short.

Yeah, I relied on the Crusader Relics in the Knights of the Nine expansion for the sake of role-playing, and I did pretty well given my high level (32). However, when I went to close an Oblivion Gate right next to the Priory of the Nine after I completed the quest, I took significantly more damage than I was used to (nothing life threatening) from the various Daedra, so I switched back to my previous equipment:

Daedric Helmet- 15 Spell Absorption (created with Sigil Stone)
Daedric Cuirass- 20 Magic Resistance (created with Sigil Stone)
Hands of the Atronach- 20 Fire/Frost/Shock Resistance (bought from Vendor)
Magebane (Daedric) Greaves- 20 Spell Absorption (found them)
Daedric Boots- 35 Shock Resistance (created with Sigil Stone)
Escutcheon of Chorrol (highest levelled version- self-explanatory)
Mundane Ring (also self-explanatory)
Ring of Namira (also self-explanatory)
Spelldrinker Amulet (highest levelled version- 26 points spell absorption)

My character is a Nord, so he's got significant Frost and Shock resistance, high Magic Resistance, a small measure of Fire resistance, the ability to absorb spells and replenish mana in combat, and also some ability to reflect damage and spells.

I wonder if it might be better to just replace all my shock/frost etc resistances with magic resistance (go for 100%) or spell absorption.

Where do you get the mundane ring again?

Also, apparently the highest-levelled madness ore armour is better than Daedric stuff, so stock up on black soul gems tomorrow and prepare for a harvest of souls.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba wrote:Where do you get the mundane ring again?

Random loot. Uselessly, I've got two.

Also, apparently the highest-levelled madness ore armour is better than Daedric stuff, so stock up on black soul gems tomorrow and prepare for a harvest of souls.

Black Soul Gems? Does Madness Armor (or whatever it's called) require that? I've got tons of Grand Soul Gems and a few Black (I try not to harvest NPC souls) as well as Azura's Star. I thought there was some sort of stone in Shivering Isles that added effects to the armor you can craft from the ore?

I just use Black soul gems because they're easier to fill. Azura's star would work if you were 20+ though, just go find a land dreugh in the wilderness...

Vympel wrote: I wonder if it might be better to just replace all my shock/frost etc resistances with magic resistance (go for 100%) or spell absorption.

Definitely. Reflection is also a very good choice. While elemental resistances are easier to obtain and stack, I find it too much of a bore to orientate against enemies.

Also, it seems to me that magic resistance works against damage health.

Anyone knows how to uninstall and restart the quest? I completed it at level 18, and it was piss easy. I charged ahead of the entire knights, drew all the auroeans to me and was still effectively kicking ass.

Hey, just in time for you to get Shivering Isles.

Gotta finish the main quest again first

I'm doing the Hermaeus Mora Daedric Quest before I take a Daedric artifact (probably Sanguine Rose) to Martin. I've killed one of every species except a Khajit. Where the hell are the Khajit when you need them? Damn bandits are constantly Bosmer.

But I will pick up Shivering Isles next time I'm at the store.