Oblivion Remastered: The best races to pick during character creation

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered has a bunch of different options for the races you can choose, all with their own proficiencies and weaknesses surrounding both their attributes and starting skills. With Remastered also adding two alternate backgrounds for each race, you have more control than ever over the base stats you’d like your characters to have.

We’ll break down what the best choices are for different character builds so you know what to look out for. If you’re looking for more steps in the character creation process, check out our guide on the best Birthsigns in Oblivion Remastered.

Best Warrior race in Oblivion Remastered

If you want to be an all-out melee focused character, then Orc is the obvious choice. With their proficiencies in Blunt, Block, Heavy Armor, and Hand-to-Hand they are built for Barbarian-style power. Plus, they have the Berserk ability, which once per day gives them a big boost to Health, Fatigue, and Strength.

Nord is also a good option though. Like Orcs they’re good with Blunk, Block, and Heavy Armor, but they trade Hand-to-Hand for Blade proficiencies instead, giving you a wider choice of weapon, plus a minor boon to Restoration magic.

Best Mage race in Oblivion Remastered

High Elf is the obvious pick. With boosts to Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, and Mysticism, they are proficient in almost every school of magic. They also start with a whopping 100 extra points of Magicka, though this does come at the cost of a minor weakness to elemental damage.

If you’d prefer more of a Spellsword build – something we highly recommend in our Oblivion Remastered best classes guide – then Dark Elf is the ideal choice. They only get Destruction and Mysticism schools of magic, but they make up for it with proficiencies in Blade, Blunt, and Marksman, letting them use a great variety of weaponry.

Best Thief race in Oblivion Remastered

Khajit is far and away the best pick for sneaky characters. Their boosts are perfectly built for an assassin to sneak-thief with proficiencies in Acrobatics, Athletics, Blade, Hand-to-Hand, Light Armor, Security, and Sneak.

If you prefer a stealth archer build though, Woof Elf is the way to go as they’re extremely skillful in Marksmanship and Sneaking, though you’ll lose the bonus to Blade that Khajits have, so you best hope you don’t get into too much trouble.