Poison (Oblivion)

A Poison is a potion that damages one or more of a character's statistics over time. Poison can also be used offensively by applying it to a weapon. A character can remove poison from his body by allowing it to wear off, by casting a spell that cures it, or by drinking a cure poison potion.

Argonians and certain creatures are immune to poisons, though rare ingredients such as raw poisoned apples and chokeberries may bypass any poison resistance.

Poisons can be made through alchemy. A potion with only negative effects counts as a poison and can be applied to your equipped weapon. These potions are green in the inventory, and can be used to inflict extra health damage or other negative effects. With a melee weapon, the poison is only effective after a successful attack. If it is applied to a bow it remains in effect for a single arrow regardless of success. Poisons will always generate the same effects no matter what type of weapon they are applied to.

Strategies for making poisons
Poisons should be thought of as more of a mass-manufacturing process than an effort to make single very powerful potions. Although it is certainly handy to have a potion on hand that deals damage health, damage magic, fire damage, and damage fatigue, such a poison would chiefly be used against a boss rather than the typical enemy a player might encounter. Given the rarity of true boss characters in Cyrodiil, the bulk of poisons a player manufactures will be used against common bandits, necromancers and animals. Therefore, it is wise to make many simple damage health poisons instead of a few very powerful multi-effect poisons. At higher alchemy levels - even with poor equipment - poisons quickly become very deadly, and a player may well find themself dialing the game's difficulty up in order to keep things challenging.

Mass-producing damage health poisons is a straightforward process. For lower-level alchemists, Nightshade is a poisoner's best friend. Particularly abudnant in the Nibenay Basin around Fort Irony, Nightshade is common all over Cyrodiil, with the exception of the mountains and swamps. Gathering up a large supply of Nightshade is important, as it can act as a base for other more exotic damage health ingredients such as Harrada Root, Stinkhorn, and Wisp Stalk Caps.

Once at expert level, making poisons becomes very simple. The West Weald is home to many good sources of poison ingredients, including Peony Seeds and Dragon's Tongue. The vineyards just west of Skingrad are the greatest single source of crops in all of Cyrodiil, and grapes have a damage health effect. Combine them with Flax, a very common and colorful plant that grows nearly everywhere, and a player can mass-produce poisons on a nearly limitless scale. The poisons will be very simple, but the sheer number of them will make short work of nearly any vulnerable enemy.

Note that it is important to have back-up methods of fighting, as poisons are inneffective against the Undead, Argonians, and various other resistant enemies such as a Will-o-the-Wisp.

Related Links

 * Darliandor's Alchemy Lab

Oblivion. I love it. oh hi neelan.