How to escape jail in Oblivion Remastered
Don't want to serve your sentence? Here's how to break out of prison in Oblivion
Need to escape jail in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered? Getting into a prison cell is simple; just steal from a vendor, break into a house, or fire off Baronoff's Bloody Icicle on an innocent bystander. Before you know it, you'll hear the words 'Stop right there, criminal scum!' as the guards come rushing in to arrest you. You then have a choice: pay gold, resist arrest, or - recommended if you don't want to pay with money or your life - go to jail.
See? Simple! Now, getting out of jail, that's the hard part. There are several ways to escape jail in Oblivion Remastered, and this guide will show you every option.
How to escape prison in Oblivion
After getting locked up in a prison cell (which may trigger some flashbacks to Oblivion's intro), all your items will be confiscated, except for one lockpick. You can use that lockpick or any of the other jailbreaking methods detailed below to escape.
- Use the lockpick. Complete the lockpick minigame by pushing all tumblers upward, and the cell door will open. Unfortunately, with just one lockpick in your possession, you only get one chance - if it breaks, you'll have to find another way to escape jail.
- Use an 'open lock' spell. Part of the alteration spell category, you can buy an 'open lock' spell from various Mages Guild vendors. Beware that harder locks require higher quality spells, with 'open very hard lock' as the most powerful option. 'Open very hard lock' is also the only one you can't buy - you'll have to create a custom spell to use it.
- Pickpocket the guard. Enter sneak mode (crouch), wait for a guard to walk by your cell, then quickly choose 'pickpocket' as he comes within reach. Try to steal the prison key to open your cell discreetly, because if you fail, the door will still be opened - but by one very angry guard. If this happens, just sprint to the front door as quickly as you can.
- Summon a creature and make it attack you. Use a spell to summon a creature, such as a skeleton minion, and hit it three times so it turns hostile and attacks you. With any luck, a guard will come rushing in and attack the creature, thus granting you an opportunity to escape. Be careful though; it only works if the guard witnesses the attack, so be sure to time it well. If the guard doesn't walk by your cell when the creature attacks you, you may escape prison... in a coffin.
Once you're out of your prison cell, you must collect your items (assuming you want them back) and leave the dungeon. The items are stored in an evidence chest, which is usually somewhere near the entrance of the building. You can use sneak or invisibility spells to get past the guards unnoticed or rely on brutal force, but know that the guards will put up a tough fight. You can make a run for it after opening your cell door, but it'll be difficult to search for your belongings with the guards on your heels, especially since they are oftentimes willing to chase you through all of Cyrodiil.
Downsides and alternatives to escaping jail
Beware that there are a few downsides to a successful jailbreak. As mentioned, your items won't be returned to you, so you have to collect them from the evidence chest yourself. Furthermore, your bounty won't be removed, so you remain a wanted criminal. This means that guards will still attempt to arrest you on sight if your bounty is 1,000 gold or higher. If it's lower, they'll only arrest you if you speak with them. You can contact a Doyen at the Thieves Guild and have them remove the bounty, but this costs half the bounty in gold.
If that doesn't sound particularly appealing, you can also serve your time. True, it doesn't really count as escaping jail, but since it does get you out of that prison cell, it's worth discussing. Serving your time will instantly skip to the moment of release, when you'll find yourself outside the prison with all your items returned, except for stolen goods.
Unfortunately, that's not all: for each day served in prison you will lose one random skill level, such as -1 athletics or -1 hand-to-hand combat. It's not easy to upgrade skills in Oblivion, so this is a pretty harsh punishment. The number of days served depends on your bounty, as every 100 bounty translates to one day in prison. If the bounty is less than 100, it'll be rounded up, so a bounty of 40 will still be punished by a full day in prison along with -1 skill point.
If you nonetheless wish to serve your time, simply click on the bed or bedroll (sleeping bag) in your cell and choose 'sleep'. When asked if you wish to serve your time, say 'yes'.
And that's how to escape jail in Oblivion Remastered. If you're up for some criminal shenanigans that may or may not end up in jail, be sure to pick up the Daedric Quests. In that vein, becoming a vampire is also fun.