If, like me, you enjoy playing stealthy characters in fantasy RPGs, then a new mod that boosts sneak attack damage multipliers in Oblivion Remastered is well worth checking out.
As standard in Oblivion Remastered, almost all weapon types deal the same sneak attack multipliers, which are x2 at Novice, before climbing (and crucially stalling) at x3 for Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master. The remaster has some slight damage boosts for daggers, but it’s just not the same.
Now don’t get me wrong, landing a x2 or x3 sneak attack from stealth does do a good chunk of damage to a foe. What it often doesn’t do, however, is one-shot tougher opponents (especially at higher levels of the game), which can feel a bit cheap when you shoot them directly in the eye with an arrow or bring a claymore down upon their neck from the shadows. Like, nobody, survives that, right?
Luckily, though, the ‘Increased sneak attack damage multiplier’ mod by Ismttt moves to address that, making sneak attack damage multipliers more potent at higher levels of stealth mastery with an improving linear progression.
So now, for example, striking a foe with a bow unseen will deal x2 damage multiplier at Novice level, but then climb to x3 at Apprentice, x4 at Journeyman, x5 at Expert, and x6 at Master level. The better you get at stealthily striking from the shadows with your weapons, the more damage you will deal, unlike the base game where that stalls.
Stab happy
Not all weapons follow the same multipliers, though, with larger two-handed weapons like the claymore (which in the real world would be harder to use stealthily, so it makes sense) only proceeding from x1 at Novice to x5 at Master. It’s lower multipliers, but still, you get the linear improvement as you ascend sneaking levels.
But, where I can’t see many stealth assassin-type characters in Oblivion Remastered using a claymore as their weapon of choice, I can see many using a dagger, and thanks to this mod, any wielder of one will truly become one with Sithis.
That’s because the dagger’s sneak multiplier now starts at x5 at Novice, before ascending through x8 at Apprentice, x11 at Journeyman, x14 at Expert, and through to a Grim Reaper-approved x17 at Master level. Now that’s potent!
Neatly, following feedback from PC gamers, the mod’s maker has also supplied a series of other variants of the mod, too, all of which offer different types of sneak damage multiplication.
For example, if you want to keep the linear progression but don’t want such high damage multipliers, you can grab that version by downloading the ‘Sneak multiplier b’ variant. If you’d rather deal so much sneak damage you could one-shot Akatosh himself, then grabbing the ‘Sneak multiplier x2’ variant is for you. That one takes the dagger’s Master-level sneak attack damage multiplier up to x34! Yep, truly god-slaying damage.
So, yes, if you’re currently playing a stealthy character, then a variant of this mod feels to me like a smart download, even if it is just to add in that missing linear improvement that, to my mind at least, is better for roleplaying. Equally, if you haven’t played a sneak-master in Oblivion Remastered then I’d recommend doing so immediately, as some of the game’s best content (I’m thinking the Dark Brotherhood, especially) and mechanics (bows feel so much better than swords IMO) lean into this type of character.
For more information about what Bethesda’s remastered fantasy RPG offers, be sure to check out our official Oblivion Remastered review.
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