Which hints would you give for an effective Assassin/Thief build?

Question

what suggestions do you have for such build?

• Which perks should I pick?
• Should I enchant weapons or use grindstone?
• How would I regenerate health quicker without resorting to magic (even just out of combat)?
• Should I be forced to get archer perks to kill dragons?
• What advantage has dual wield vs single wield? Should I spend many points in one handed weapons tree?

Thanks again!

Answer 1

Which perks should I pick?

Choose a weapon skill such as one-handed and/or archery. Focus on perks which give you additional damage. You may also want to invest perks in alchemy (for poisons such as Paralysis and Slow, plus restorative or resistance potions), sneak (essential for an assassin) and lockpicking (to make looting valuable treasures easier as a thief).

The critical multipliers from attacking an unaware foe are the hallmark of an assassin, so increasing base damage (archery/one-handed) and the damage multiplier (sneak) should be one of your priorities.

Should I enchant weapons or use grindstone?

You can do both. If you use the grindstone before enchanting weapons, you shouldn't have a problem. There is also a smithing perk that allows you to improve already enchanted weapons.

Overall, I found that smithing was more useful than enchanting (smithing lets you get the very best weapons and armour much earlier than usual), but a Paralysis for One Second enchantment on my bow was effective in causing enemies to fall over and have to stand up again, at which point they've probably been paralysed for a second time.

Also, bear in mind that you are unable to use the shout Elemental Fury on an enchanted weapon. Elemental Fury makes a weapon attack very, very quickly, so in some cases you might be better off with a non-enchanted weapon.

How would I regenerate health quicker without resorting to magic (even just out of combat)?

Alchemy. It is very easy and cheap to make a large number of healing potions and consume them whenever you need some extra health. Plus, you gain the benefit of being able to make poisons and apply them to weapons to gain bonus effects on hitting your foes.

Should I be forced to get archer perks to kill dragons?

If you play about 1/3rd of the main quest, you will gain a shout called Dragonrend which forces a dragon to land and stay on the ground. You can repeatedly use this shout, and they will not be able to fly. Dragons tend to land regularly enough on their own so that archery isn't necessary, but do expect to have to spend some time dodging on the ground before they will oblige you.

What advantage has dual wield vs single wield? Should I spend many points in one handed weapons tree?

Dual wielding weapons is only slightly better in some situations than using single-handed weapons. You will attack with dual weapons together exactly as fast as you would using a single weapon by itself, until later in the game when you get the perks that increase the attack speed to 1.35 times the attack speed of a single weapon.

Dual weapons prevent you from blocking, and remove the possibility of having anything else in the off hand. If you have a lot of stamina, there is the possibility of using a very fast power attack which deals a lot of damage, but it drains stamina to zero very quickly. I would recommend that you focus on the other options in the one-handed weapons tree or other skills instead.

Answer 2

I played 2 kind of assassins in Skyrim:

1. Dual-wielding assassin
2. Illusion assassin

The Dual-wielding, well... it's obvious; you equip 2 daggers and speed kill enemies with the power attack. What this assassin lacks in defense it makes up for speed. You will become the ultimate assassin with the Nightingale armor (Thieves Guild), Shadow warrior (perk in Sneak tree) and the Shrouded gloves (Dark Brotherhood). You can do x30 damage when attacking in sneak-mode!

Then the illusion assassin. I really loved this one! Equip a dagger in one hand and the invisibility spell, which can be learned from the Illusion Master in Winterhold.

How to play? Cast the invisibility spell, sneak behind an enemy and sneak-kill him.

For the fun: Learn the 'Frenzy' spell. When in a room with a couple of enemies, cast it on 2 of them and watch them kill eachother!

Tip: You need LOTS of MP for the Illusion-build! You can't kill (well, maybe you can) enemies with just one dagger when you're detected; get a sword + shield to make sure you kill them. (If you play good you don't even need a sword and shield. They'll never see you coming.)

It's up to you what kind of assassin you want to play. For beginner I suggest you go for the Illusion build.

Have fun!