To persuade someone in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, talk to them (E on keyboard, A on Xbox, X on PlayStation), choose Persuade in the dialogue window, then play one round of the wheel: pick Admire, Joke, Coerce and Boast once each, matching the actions the character loves to the fullest wedge and the ones they hate to the emptiest. The remaster color-codes the wheel to show those preferences, which the original never did. This guide explains the wheel, the colors, the Bribe shortcut, and how the reworked Speechcraft perks change the minigame as of the current build.
How the persuasion wheel works
Every character in Cyrodiil has a fixed reaction to each of the four actions: they love one, like one, dislike one and hate one, and those reactions never change for that person. When you select an action they love or like, their disposition toward you rises; a disliked or hated action drops it. On top of that, disposition drifts downward on its own for as long as the wheel is open, so dawdling costs you points.
Each round has four picks. The wedges around the wheel show how strongly each action will land, from a full wedge (maximum effect, good or bad) down to an almost empty one. After every pick the wedges rotate one quarter-turn clockwise, and you must use all four actions before the round ends. The ideal round pairs the loved and liked actions with big wedges and burns the disliked and hated actions on small ones. The random starting layout rarely allows a perfect round, so the practical skill is choosing the order of picks that loses the least.
You can play as many rounds as you like against one person, and the character’s disposition is shown as a number so you can see each round’s result. A high disposition improves shop prices and unlocks some dialogue; if you would rather skip the wheel, our guide to raising disposition without persuading covers Charm spells and the other routes.
What the remaster changed: colors on the wheel
In the 2006 game you read a character’s preferences off their face. The remaster keeps the expressions but adds color to the wheel itself. Per the unofficial UESP list of remaster changes, the persuasion interface “has been redesigned with distinct colors to denote a character’s action preferences”, and those colors are revealed gradually during your first attempt with a person, then shown in full on every later attempt.
Player guides describe the scheme as green for the loved action, yellow for liked, bronze for disliked and red for hated. Bethesda has not published the mapping, so treat the exact colors as player-documented, but the practical advice holds either way: play one throwaway round with a new character to reveal the wheel, then play for real from the second round on.
Bribe when the wheel is not worth it
The Bribe option sits next to the wheel. Choose it and the game shows the disposition you would gain and the gold it costs, no minigame required. Bribes are the fastest fix for a merchant whose prices you want to shave once, or for a quest character you only need to like you for one conversation. Their cost falls sharply at higher Speechcraft (see the perks below), and the gold you spend comes straight back if you are selling loot at the better prices that disposition buys.
The reworked Speechcraft perks
Speechcraft governs persuasion, and its perks were rearranged for the remaster. UESP’s remastered leveling page lists the current ranks, which differ from the original at every tier:
- Novice (0 to 24): no perk. In the original, Novices could bribe; bribing is now available to everyone.
- Apprentice (25): disposition falls 50% more slowly while you persuade. This was a Journeyman perk in the original.
- Journeyman (50): one free rotation of the wheel per round, so you can line a big wedge up with the loved action. This was the Apprentice perk originally.
- Expert (75): bribes cost 50% less, moved down from Master.
- Master (100): disposition no longer decays over time during persuasion, and the hated action hurts less.
UESP also reports that skill experience is now asymmetric: a round that raises disposition is worth three times as much Speechcraft experience as a round that lowers it, where the original paid the same for both. That makes “just click the smallest wedge four times” grinding slower than it used to be; rounds that actually go well train the skill fastest. Speechcraft is governed by Personality, and per UESP raising Personality when you level up also raises the maximum disposition most characters can reach.
Persuasion tips that still work
- Reveal first, persuade second. Spend the first round on a new character learning the colors, then play properly.
- Handle the hated action early if its wedge is small. Getting it out of the way on a low wedge is usually better than hoping the rotation lands it somewhere worse.
- Act quickly. Disposition ticks down while you think. Below Master rank, a slow perfect round can score worse than a brisk decent one.
- Charm helps. Illusion spells that raise disposition stack with the wheel; our guide to using spells covers casting, and Mages Guild halls sell the cheap versions.
- Do not tank a disposition for practice. Per UESP, a character pushed below 20 may attack when the conversation ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the wheel colors show up straight away? Not on a first meeting. Per UESP, the colors are revealed gradually during your first persuasion attempt with a character and shown in full from the second attempt on.
Can I persuade the same person more than once? Yes. There is no round limit, and each round moves their disposition up or down from where the last one left it.
Is bribing locked behind a skill level now? No. The original required Novice rank to bribe; in the remaster the Novice tier has no perk and Bribe is available from the start, with a 50% discount at Expert.
Why does my disposition drop while I am choosing? Disposition decays over time during the minigame by design. The Apprentice perk halves the rate and the Master perk removes it.
Does persuasion still train Speechcraft if the round goes badly? Yes, but for less. UESP lists 3.6 experience for a round that raises disposition against 1.2 for one that lowers it.
Every other Cyrodiil system is covered on our Elder Scrolls guides hub.