This article offers some tips for playing the role of an assassin in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Steps
Step 1. Increase your Stealth skill
The higher this skill is, the harder it will be to identify yourself and the more useful talents you can acquire. To pick up this skill you will need to hide without being detected, so train often.
Step 2. Use light armor
Light boots make less noise, like light armor in general. For an assassin, the Dark Brotherhood armor is a great choice; the armor of the Nightingale is also good. But any light armor will do.
Step 3. Hope for the best and expect the worst
Always prepare for open combat with a good melee weapon (daggers are a great choice, as they can be used for effective stealth kills and close combat; swords are also useful, as is destruction magic). Always carry potions and poisons with you.
Step 4. Plan an escape route
If you are looking to make a kill that will result in major consequences, find the quickest way out of the area first to eliminate your target.
Step 5. Keep an eye on your surroundings
Guards or witnesses may turn the corner at any time, and some hard-to-reach paths and areas may help you. Study who and what is nearby, and use locations such as overhanging rocks or rooftops to surprise your target.
Step 6. Invest in various talents and skills
You should improve in several areas: Stealth, Light Armor, Bow, One-Handed Weapons, Cracking, and optionally some schools of magic. Having talent in these skills will come in handy.
Advice
- Emptying pockets is another great skill for an assassin. With a high enough level of this skill, you will be able to steal weapons from your opponents to limit their combat effectiveness if your assassination attempt fails or if they are protecting your target; you can also steal keys to enter the house at night and murder the target in their sleep.
- A bow can be useful for long-range attacks, especially if your target is surrounded by guards or other NPCs, as in the Dark Brotherhood's Till Death Part You mission. Get to a good location, poison your arrows for more damage, then shoot them.
- Stock up on poisons before an assassination, especially Slow and Paralysis, or use spells with similar effects. Weapons that absorb Health or Energy can be extremely useful, so level up the Enchanting skill or save money to purchase them.
- Illusion spells are very useful. Cast a fear spell to make the guards near your target flee. Cast the invisibility spell to go undetected (when accompanied by a mitigation or enchanted armor spell with mitigation). A chaos spell can confuse your opponents to the point of allowing you to escape or help you eliminate them safely.
- The power of the Imperials, Voice of the Emperor, calms all humans in the direction you are facing. You can use this power to escape quickly if you are low on health and no hope of surviving otherwise.
