The Elder Scrolls franchise has always encouraged players to make their own adventures. While this often leads to many gamers ignoring each title’s main story quests, it’s always a joy to walk around these worlds and see what secrets are hiding around every corner. Perhaps the best method these games deploy to keep players entertained is the various guilds throughout the land. Guilds are such a major part of the franchise that a big deal was made aboutone of them coming to Elder Scrolls Online.
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The activities players can do in these guilds range from constructing their own magical spells to robbing the land of all its riches. Not every guild in The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remastered is equal, however, and if one were to judge them based on aspects like their quest writing and how worthwhile their awards are, then the following list of the best guilds in Oblivion can be formed.
5The Mages’ Guild
The Search for Knowledge
Topping off this list is a guild all about knowledge and furthering your abilities: The Mages’ Guild. Every RPG player worth their salt has at least some interest in magic, so being able to join an organization that allows the player to craft their own unique spells and effects should be of great interest to players hoping to make a magic-centric build.
Sadly, the Mage’s Guild must rank low on this list due to the game design of Oblivion itself. Bethesda’s modern The Elder Scrolls games heavily favor play styles that focus on physical weapons like swords and axes. So while having the option to do various spells is nice, they aren’t useful enough to merit ranking a guild all about learning them anywhere high on this list.
4The Arena
A Battle for Glory
Next up on the list is The Arena, a guild that is a deliberate callback to the very original The Elder Scrolls game. This guild is by far the simplest in Oblivion from both a gameplay and story perspective, as from start to finish it’s all about fighting to the death for money and glory in front of a crowd. While almost every other guild in the game has something more going for it, the Arena isn’t without its charm.
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Under most circumstances, The Arena would fall to the bottom of this list, but by becoming champion of the Arena, the player will be introduced to the NPC known as their adoring fan. This hilarious character and his goofy appearance have become downright iconic since the game was first released nearly two decades ago, so putting the guild that introduced him on the bottom of this list would just feel wrong. It doesn’t help that a similar concept can be found inmany RPGs.
3The Thieves’ Guild
The Gray Fox’s Thrall
One of the most commonlymemed upon aspectsof Bethesda games is how players cannot resist picking up and pocketing every single item in the world. So it should come as no surprise that The Elder Scrolls games almost all have a guild entirely centered around stealing things: The Thieves Guild. Quests in this guild of course all involve heists of both the simple and elaborate varieties.
Of course, going on ordinary quests to steal people’s wallets would get old after some time, but the pacing of the Thieves’ Guild in Oblivion is excellent in how it naturally progresses to the heist of a century: stealing an Elder Scroll. While the Thieves’ Guild is undeniably a fantastic guild offering some of the best quests in Oblivion, it only places in the middle of this list as the following two guilds are just as great, if not better.
2The Fighter’s Guild
Anything for Gold
Taking the silver medal on the list is a guild similar to The Arena, but without the public glory or adoring fans: The Fighter’s Guild. Joining this band of mercenaries will see the player be sent on various quests to slay bands of thieves and various monsters throughout the land. It’s a simple life, but one any mercenary wouldn’t trade for the world.
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What truly makes The Fighter’s Guild stand out is the twist midway through their questline, where the player infiltrates a rival guild and accidentally slaughters an entire village of people. Rarely in this type of game do we see such a heinous action be placed upon the player, so seeing Oblivion’s quests take a risk like this makes the Fighter’s Guild worthy enough of a high placement on this list.
1The Dark Brotherhood
An Assassin’s Oath
Placing first on this list is of course The Dark Brotherhood, Tamriel’s league of assassins who exist within the shadows and take on almost any contract thrown their way. While one would expect such a villainous-sounding organization to be antagonists, the player can actually join this group. All they have to do to be initiated is kill a completely innocent person.
Every gamer who began to get into the RPG genre as a teen was naturally drawn to The Dark Brotherhood and there’s a good reason for that. The dark and broody aesthetics of a guild of assassins is hard to resist, and the quest lines they grant you make the player feel as infamous as the guild is described during lore. If you want to see the most interesting guild Oblivion has to offer, then cross your way to the dark and join the Brotherhood.
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