SureAI

Well I haven't played oblivion in 4 years so I don't really remember how to play other then what I've read in options under controls. Can anyone give me some tips to make the game more enjoyable. I literally can't remember shit about Oblivion but is there a hotkey to take all when looking in a stash? Is there any fast way to use a pot or anything else from the inventory or you have to hit tab and find it and use? Any other tips you think might help?

Some differences from Oblivion. When entering a new area a quick message appears recommending the levels you should be at.
Skills bought from trainers do not count towards your levelling up. So don't expect to go up +5 in your stats (unless like me you dont mind wasting 5 or 10 minutes all the time).
Bows appear to be much better levelled than in Oblivion.
If I can think of any worthwhile tips I'll get back.

Yeah sure, ill try to help

General tips:
#1 Enemies will kick your ass unless you think before you act... yeah this is mostly true during your first encounter with the cave troll, and as soon as you enter free roam. enemies will usualy be several levels higher than you, that combined with the fact that you're at that point wearing a potato sack and a sharp stick = a lot of running.
#2 Explore a little, pretty much every cave, mine, ruin or fort have phat lewt and some form of powerfull enemy wearing said phat lewt. a little exploring will quickly upgrade your sharp stick to a respectable steel longsword or bearded axe, not to mention set items which grants bonuses to health and skills.
#3 DONT use magic in cities, gards will go pissy on you and force you to pay a fine... i've never tried to fight my way out, i have bad memories from oblivion with an ever increasing bounty and an entire nation of over powered guards wanting to kill my criminal scum-ass.
#4 Collect everything! be a total trash-bin rat. pick up moshrooms, useless pots, books, clothes, sucky armor and weapon, everythin with a gold to weight ratio higher than 3/1. doing this can earn you a few hundred extra gold early in the game, allowing you to actually use trainers. Oh! and total brotip which i'll accept a brofist in return for: most traders are total newbs and only novice in merchantile. this means you can set sale price to 80-80% without any skill increase in it. allowing you to sell for more and buy for less. always do this. novice traders = 80-87% apprentice traders = 60-65%
#5 Don't underestimate armorer! it costs half as much LP to level up as other skills, to get it to 50% asap! this way you can forge steel weapons at a forge. allowing you to wield steel warhammers/swords. I also highly recommend getting armorer to lvl 75, allowing you to "repair" to 125%, essentially giving your weapons and armor a 20% boost in attack/defence/durability!

Spesific tips:
#1 Hotkey! yeah, by entering the menu, just hold a number key 1-8 and assign a weapon/spell/item. hotkey bows/sword+shield/2h weapon. a healing spell/potion, and repair hammers/magical staves.
#2 get some kind of cure disease! i recommend certain herbs like mandrake roots, as potions can be sold for upwards of 100 a pop! many enemies carry annoying diseases which can nerf your attributes, which is a major annoyance if it causes you to be encoubered in combat.
#3 go sword AND blunt for melee, you will quickly find that focising on only one causes you to be overpowered in time, also you might miss out on great weapons that you can't use because you did not specialize in blade/blunt.
#4 Do wanted missions for some extra gold and exp, they are usualy very fun too.
#5 Get yourself many utility spells, such as light, feather and the like, since dungeons are now fun, you will seek them out more, thus you need these dungeon crawling support spells much more so than in oblivion.
# 6 explore the wilds. there are plants that grant permanent upgrades.
#7 be nimble! many enemies attack with support magic such as paralyze or silence. getting an obstacle between you and your opponent, or zig zagging will get you through. always take out such enemies first if you face multiple enemies, no matter what. you will die faster than you can tug on your erect nipples if you get paralyzed with 2-3 mobs attacking you.

yeah i could probably go on, but thats some help from me. have fun! and to anyone else who needs advice and reads this too

Thanks that helps a lot.

As Trex said, exploring is key to success in this game. Go down every hole you can. If the enemies are too strong and drive you out, don't worry, try and find another dungeon. Coz 'phat lewt' is what you will find.

I ditto all the above statements.

Also...

Alchemy...Alchemy...Alchemy...

This can save your behind lots of times. Level your alchemy and not only can you make mucho gold...but also you will find yourself able to create potions almost at the level you can buy them (and they can be costly.)

Some potions that SHOULD be your friend: (And you can make)
Shield potions
invisibility potions
reflect spell or damage (one of my favorites)
fortify Magic, health or other attributes
poisons (damage fire, shock, etc damage health and paralyze/silence)

Yeah alchemy is great.

My paladin / templar (can't remember the name) also has a lot of utility spells. Even though I'm primarily a fighter, I level my willpower as well as Str and End and it lets me branch heavily into spells. Silence counters mages well, Shield is just a general great buff and I'm always spamming a heal and light. If those don't help me, I resort to the dozens of health potions I have brewed myself.

Tip or Spoiler for those wanting too level up quickly in endurance and/or speed, need decent alchemy skill.

[+]

Across from Arcane Abbey is Thoians Hideout. Contains 6 or say tiny skeleton flayers. They hit fast but dont do too much damage. Run in attract there attention. Let them hit you while quaffing healing potions/ healing yourself. At lower armour levels 3 to 4 minutes you will have +5 speed or endurance. Run back out, they do not follow.

So how does leveling up work. The first time I leveled up I had a +2 on Endurance and something else I forget so if I picked those attributes I got +2 instead of +1 like the others. Should I wait to level any attribute up until I have like +5 or something?

I find that stealing books is a great way to make money early on in the game since it's a no risk operation and it also doubles up by giving you the wisdom skill obtained from reading 100 books which increases intelligence.

Mercantile/sneak instructors will take stolen goods in my experience.