does anyone know where i can find a merchant with elven, mithrill or glass armor. and at what level does elven, mithril and glass armor start responding.

I would just start hunting bandits, much easier in my opinion. Cheaper too. I don't know the level breakdowns but if you're running into characters wearing those kinds of armor, you'll probably be able to buy it. I know you'll start seeing mithril first, then elven, and lastly glass.

the goods they carry level with you, and are slightly behind what you'll find on bandits. my merch is still selling mithril, even though im finding glass.

OHhhh, then my idea might not work. I was going to suggest that king look in TESCS for Oblivion at the different NPC merchants and see what is in their iventories. I looked at a few. I think what Hunter said about their goods leveling with you may be why I found alot of them only having the clothes they wear in their inventory. Maybe looking at Leveled Items in Obliv TESCS might help? If there is such a category.

* Ibis laments - Oblivion is so different than Morrowind in many ways. I read a theory by a guy in PC Gamer that Oblivion got dummed down for the Console playing. Bummer!*

i know it really seems like it was dumbed down...but imagine the gameplay of oblivion with the 80,000 guilds and quests of morrowind

well what i actually really wanted was a chart that shows what weapons start being available at what level.

I don't know if this is what you are looking for, king - but I found these sites:

http://uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Leveled_Items

http://forums.roempire.com/showthread.php?p=289382

http://www.tescreens.be/oblivionmodwiki/in...urers:_Oblivion

Maybe someone can use some of this information if this is not what you are looking for specifically.