Be an Assassin in Skyrim

This article provides some advice for playing an assassin character in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. An assassin character build can deal lots of damage when used effectively. However, you have to be patient if you want to be an assassin otherwise you won't reap the benefits of sneaking, a slow pace of movement allowing you to be undetected.

Steps

  1. Raise your Sneak skill. The higher your Sneak skill, the harder you are to detect and the more useful perks you can acquire. Sneaking without being detected raises the skill level, so practice often.
    • Use invisibility spells or potions to help you sneak successfully. For example, the Shadow Stone grants a 60 second spell of invisibility that can be used once a day.
    • You could also use the Thief Stone, southwest of Riverwood, which increases the speed of learning stealth skills by 20%.
    • Try sneaking around people who are sleeping - you're less likely to be detected!
    • The Sneak skill trainers are Khayla (Adept) who can be found with the travelling Khajiit Caravans, Garvey (Expert) in Markarth and Delvin Mallory (Master) at the Thieves Guild, Riften.
  2. Use light armor. Light armor (Hide, Leather, Elven, Scale and Glass armor) is less noisy than heavy armor, making sneaking easier. Some of the best armor sets in the game for assassins are given to the Dragonborn at various stages in the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves' Guild quest lines, for example, the Nightingale Armor.
    • Raise your light armor skill, which increases the armor's effectiveness. You can do this by receiving damage while wearing light armor, or by using trainers or skill books.
  3. Make use of sneak attacks. If you're undetected, these can cause much more damage than regular attacks. Perks in the Sneak tree, for example, Deadly Aim or Assassin's Blade, can raise the damage multiplier even higher. A bow, as a ranged weapon, is perhaps the best choice for a sneak attack. Poison your weapon for even higher damage.
  4. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Always be prepared for open combat with a decent melee weapon (daggers are a great choice, as they can be used for effective stealth kills and close-up combat; swords are also useful, as is destruction magic). Always have extra potions and poisons handy.
  5. Establish an escape route. If you're about to attempt a kill that will have overwhelming consequences, find the quickest way to get out of the area before you kill your target.
  6. Keep an eye on your surroundings. Guards or witnesses could turn around corners at any second, and certain pathways or hard-to-reach areas may be helpful. Know who and what is around your character, and take advantage of things like high rock outcroppings above your target or access to a rooftop.
  7. Invest in various perks. The Sneak, Light Armor, Archery, One-Handed, Lockpicking, and optionally some schools of magic should be your main skills. Perks for these skills will be very useful.
  8. Stay undetected if you don't want to get caught. If you see the eye icon (which indicates whether NPCs are aware of you) open slowly, freeze. When the eye stops opening, quietly sneak into the shadows.
  9. Join the Dark Brotherhood. The quests will allow you to practice your skills and technique and the rewards are well-suited for an assassin character build. Speak to Aventus Aretino in Windhelm to get started.



Tips

  • The Imperials' Power, Voice of the Emperor, calms all humans in the direction faced. You can use this to make a quick escape if you are low on health and have no chance of survival afterwards.
  • At the end of Darkness Returns, the second last quest in the Thieves' Guild quest line, you get a choice of three powers, all of which would be useful for an assassin character build.
  • A bow can come in handy for long-range attacks if your target is around many guards or other NPCs, such as in the Dark Brotherhood quest Bound Until Death. Get to a good location, poison your bow for extra damage, and shoot.
  • Pickpocketing is another great skill for an assassin. With a high enough Pickpocket skill, you can steal weaponry from someone to disable them from fighting you if your assassination attempt fails or if they are guarding your target, and you can also steal house keys, allowing you to break in later and kill the target in their sleep.
  • If you are scared of being caught when killing someone in the game, you could save before you carry out your kill. If you are caught red-handed in your act, you can revert back to that save before you commit the crime. Don't do this if you want immersion from the game, as you may find it immersion-breaking.
  • Stock up on poisons before an assassination, especially Slow and Paralysis, or spells with similar effects. Weapons that absorb Health or Stamina can also be extremely useful, so level up that Enchanting skill or save up some gold.
  • Consider vampirism. Vampires can make great assassins due to their bonuses to Sneak and Illusion.
  • Illusion spells are very helpful. Cast a fear spell to send guards around your target (or your target him/herself!) running for a short period of time. Cast Invisibility to go undetected (if paired with a muffle spell or muffle enchanted equipment). A Mayhem spell may cause enough confusion for you to escape undetected, or kill people as they are attempting to destroy anyone nearby.

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