Oblivion Remastered has learned one big thing from Skyrim's 14-year RPG reign: stealth archers are back, and I'm convinced they're better than ever

When I booted up Oblivion Remastered for the first time, I didn't plan for any of this to happen. My intention was to play a spellsword, stabbing and fireballing my way through Cyrodiil the same way I've done for nigh two decades. I even prioritized Intelligence and Willpower in character creation – the stats can't lie! And yet…

Sometimes my mind wanders. Sometimes there's a bow in my hands, and there are dead bandits I don't remember fighting. My Marksman skill is oddly well-trained, and for that matter, so is my Sneak. The answers are there, but they don't make sense. A stealth archer? In Oblivion? Akatosh preserve us all, this isn't right.

Must have been the wind

Back in 2006, being a stealth archer in Oblivion kind of sucked. Using a bow had less oomph than magic or melee – of which neither had much to begin with – and you would often have to fiddle around with poisons to make archery's damage comparable to the rest of the combat triangle. Stealth made your opening shot fine, but by the time your Sneak was high enough to rely on it consistently, you were better served waltzing right up to an enemy undetected and hacking them to pieces.

That's not to say I haven't dabbled in archery through Oblivion's 19-year history. I love the game's arrow physics, and the way they fire more like arrows than Skyrim's medieval bullets. But I didn't love having to fire a single shot before frantically drawing my sword – you may as well throw wet fish at your target, for all the damage bows without stealth do – so over those 19 years, I can count my serious attempts at Marksman builds on one hand.

But things are different now. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered gives Cyrodiil a much-needed makeover, sure, but it also makes smart tweaks to the original game's sorest pain points. Leveling up is no longer the inscrutable beast it once was, enemy scaling has been eased up, and combat feels better across the board. Marksman perks have been adjusted too, and at higher levels your arrows have a "great" – I'm quoting the perk itself – chance of paralyzing the target. I can't verify how great it actually is given my character's still starting out, but given 2006's Oblivion only offered a measly 5% chance of paralyzing someone (and only at Master level, too), the bar is pretty low.

What I can verify: using a bow is so much better. Harsh arrow drop means you'll still need to eyeball each shot carefully if you're firing at medium to long range – a good thing, I promise – but more importantly, it's all livelier. The animation to nock and loose an arrow is much less stiff, while enemies actually react to being feathered with consistent staggering and blood splatter effects. I also feel like I'm doing more damage than I ever have with ranged weapons in Oblivion, and have dropped a number of plate-armored baddies before they could get close enough to force a sword fight.

I'd love to peek behind the curtain to see if Oblivion Remastered's damage numbers really are higher – it could always be a byproduct of slicker animations, or even a placebo – but whatever's going on back there, I'm having a blast. The quickslot where I'd usually stash my steel warhammer has been replaced with ye olde arrow-spitter, and although I'm still stabbing and flare-ing liberally, I've noticed myself defaulting to a bow more and more when entering dungeons. I've even started putting points into Agility in recent level-ups, which is the most personal and infallible admission of stealth archer guilt that you'll get from me.

It does feel strange to be playing Oblivion with a playstyle that's completely alien to me, but nearly two decades of muscle-memory (see: stabbing, bludgeoning, and spellcasting) will do that. If you're coming back to Cyrodiil with the same preconceived notions, I'd recommend testing things out for yourself to see how much has changed. They've certainly taken me by surprise – though I'm not quite ready to sheath my sword in the Arena, I don't see the dagger I've been saving for Dark Brotherhood contracts getting much use when the time comes.

For a game I've been playing for nearly two decades, the changes to archery offer a lovely splash of the unexpected – and one I plan to stick with, if my ever-climbing Agility is anything to go by. But the tweaks also offer a familiar touchstone for first-timers poking their nose in from Skyrim, where sudden arrow-sprouting is the leading cause of death in bandit camps and draugr tombs. There's something to be said about why we love pinging unsuspecting victims from the shadows, but I'll not be the one to open that can of slaughterfish.

Stealth archer or not - if you're still setting up and need some help, here are the best classes in The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Remastered