Summary
- Oblivion Remastered offers revamped visuals and gameplay tweaks for fans and new players alike.
- Best weapons for mages in Oblivion Remastered include items like Absorb Magika Dagger and Staff of Worms.
- Unique staffs like Wabbajack and Apotheosis offer fun and powerful effects, but at a cost.
The strongly rumored release of Oblivion Remastered has finally happened, and fans of the original are flocking to the revamped game along with a host of first-time players. To call the remaster a visual overhaul is an understatement, as the leap in nearly twenty years of gaming technology has given the new game looks on par with modern RPGs. That comes with some tweaks to the gameplay systems like leveling, but not so many that fans of the original will be disappointed.
Oblivion Remastered: Best Weapon Enchantments, Ranked
Applying enchantments to weapons in Oblivion Remastered can make players more powerful than ever before, and give them an edge in hard battles.
There are a host of preset classes in Oblivion, from stealthy rogues to pure mages, to hardened warriors, and even the ability to set up a custom class with any mix of major attributes and skills. For players who want to play as a mage, what weapon to use can be a tough choice. Some players feel that falling back on a short sword ruins the class fantasy of being a mage. Mages do have options, though, whether that's wielding a staff for extra magic while magika regenerates, or using an 
Enchanted Dagger as a backup. These are some of the best weapons for mages in Oblivion Remastered.
Some weapons in this list have variable values for their damage or enchantments. That's because the weapon's level will depend on the player's level when they collect it. Some weapons do not have this property and have fixed stats, as noted.
7 Any Dagger With An Absorb Magika Enchantment
Spell Thief
- Attack: 3 to 10
- Enchantment: Absorb Magika
- How To Obtain: Random drop/crafted via enchanting
Assuming players are playing as a pure mage with no investment in attack attributes or skills for weapons, then a dagger is a good choice of non-magical weapon. That's because they're light, and the low damage isn't a factor if it's not the player's main source of damage.
Players can enchant any basic dagger with Absorb Magika to have a handy weapon to switch to when out of magika in combat. It's also possible to get lucky and find this enchantment on a dagger as a random drop, but since mages will likely have access to the Arcane University and its enchanting altars early on, enchanting manually is the easiest option.
6 Witsplinter
Mage Masher
- Attack: 3 to 10
- Enchantment: Damage Magika 10 to 35 points, Damage Intelligence 10 points on hit
- How To Obtain: Dropped by Faustina during "The Siren's Deception"
Depending on what kind of mage players are, other casters can be their biggest threat. The 
Witsplinter is an easy-to-obtain dagger that can help render magical opponents defenseless. This dagger damages foes' magika as well as their health, and debuffs their intelligence at the same time.
Oblivion Remastered: Complete Mages Guild Walkthrough
The Mages Guild is a great place for delving into the magic side of Oblivion Remastered.
It's in the possession of Faustina, the leader of the all-female gang of thieves that are targeting the men of Anvil. Players need to speak to Maelona in Anvil to start the quest, and loot the dagger from Faustina once the thieves are dealt with.
5 Staff Of Worms
Staff Of The Necromancer
- Attack: n/a
- Enchantment: Reanimate for 30 seconds
- How To Obtain: Looted from Manimarco during "Confront The King"
Players will have to go through the entire Mages Guild questline to obtain the Staff of Worms, which makes it a little less attractive as a weapon option. The effect of reanimating any humanoid corpse for 30 seconds can be useful for creating meat shields in combat, especially for mages who are focused on summoning to bolster their ranks.
The staff can be looted from Manimarco, the king of worms himself, after defeating him during the final Mages Guild quest. It might take some effort to get there, but any self-respecting mage will be aiming for the title of arch-mage anyway, surely.
4 Skull Of Corruption
Dark Duplicates
- Attack: n/a
- Enchantment: Corruption for 30 seconds on target
- How To Obtain: Complete "Vaermina's Shrine" quest
The Skull of Corruption is a powerful staff and a Daedric Artifact. This staff can only be obtained by visiting Vaermina's altar and completing the quest. Players will need to offer a black soul gem to Vaermina to initiate the quest. These can be hard to come by, but tend to be found in Necromancer hideouts.
The staff's effect, Corruption, is powerful, as it creates a shadow clone of any enemy targeted (with a few exceptions) that will attack on the player's side. The clone exists for 30 seconds and has the items and abilities of the enemy that is targeted with the spell. Mage players can clone their opponents and sling spells from afar while the clone fights for them.
3 Wabbajack
Death By Randomization
- Attack: n/a
- Enchantment: Wabbajack for 30 seconds on target
- How To Obtain: Complete "Sheogorath's Shrine" quest
Arguably, Wabbajack isn't that useful, as its effects are random and don't always work out in the player's favor. It is one of the most fun staffs to use in Oblivion, though, and turning a looming Deadroth into a small sheep never gets old. Wabbajack works by transforming any creature targeted into another random creature.
Oblivion Remastered: Best Longswords, Ranked
For longsword enthusiasts in Oblivion Remastered, these are some of the best weapons to pick up.
The transformation is pulled from a random pool, with options ranging from non-threatening sheep and deer, to Deadroths and Ogres. So, used against a powerful opponent, odds are players will create something easier to deal with, but using it against any old foe could turn fodder into nightmares. The staff is obtained as a reward for completing the quest at Sheogorath's daedric shrine.
2 Staff Of Indarys
Shockingly Strong
- Attack: n/a
- Enchantment: Shock Damage 20 to 70 points, Damage Strength 5 to 10 points
- How To Obtain: Complete "The Wayward Knight" (one of two reward choices)
The Staff of Indarys comes with a very strong shock enchantment, especially if players pick it up at higher levels. The maximum value is 70 points of shock damage (level 25+), which rivals a high-tier destruction spell.
The staff also inflicts damage to the strength attribute with its spells, making melee attackers just a bit weaker, which can be helpful for a mage who has run out of magika and is backpedaling away from a melee foe. Players need to complete "The Wayward Knight" quest to obtain the staff as one of two rewards, but they also need to ensure they keep Count Indarys' son, Farwil, alive while doing so.
1 Apotheosis
Bring A Lot Of Gold
- Attack: n/a
- Enchantment: Fire Damage 33 points, Shock Damage 33 points, Frost Damage 33 points
- How To Obtain: Purchase from Rindir's Staffs in Imperial City Market District
Apotheosis is one of the strongest staffs in the game, with a triple damage enchantment made up of all three elements. It's also available right from the start of the game, as all players need to do is purchase it from Rindir's Staffs, the magic stave shop in Imperial City Market District. With that said, players likely won't be able to do this for a while, as the staff has a high gold cost.
With a low mercantile skill and disposition with Rindir, the staff can easily cost 10,000 gold or more. Savvy traders can bring down this cost significantly, but even the best haggler will likely pay more than 5,000 gold for staff. For mages, it makes for an out-of-magika backup that will likely be stronger than their offensive spells.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 87%
- Released
- April 22, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- The Elder Scrolls
- Number of Players
- Single-player
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action, RPG, Open-World, Adventure
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
