Okay, mainly looking for tips since I'm a really bad assassin....

For those quests in the Dark Brotherhood, that involve killing a NPC (which is all of them do of course) that resides in an Inn, and never ever sleeps or leaves 'public' sight.....what is the best way to take them down without getting caught?

I've tried hiding/shooting him across the room, get caught. Tried being pretty much invisible.... get caught. Both those situations also involve the entire town coming after me with no bounty/jail time option. It's just instant fight to the death with no rest. I tried turning into a werewolf and taking the NPC down.....didn't get caught, but then my follower and Shadowmere will NOT stop their fight with the townsfolk. So it's a vicious cycle of eternal conflict/avoid the town forever, target lives.

Any suggestion for those situations? How to kill in plain sight without the entire town coming after you....

Le Sigh.

Which NPC in particular are you having problems with?
When it comes to public assassinations, I leave my follower behind, sneak-kill the person (it's possible), and in the worst case (if I get caught), I don't fight back, but sheathe my weapons and quickly get to a guard to pay the fine.

The quest is in the Inn in Winterhold, the loinclothed mage guy. I can kill him easily enough, but when caught there is no option to pay fines/jail time even with weapons sheathed. The guards just keep on coming.

I've shot arrows across the room, the tavern did the whole 'what's that' routine and went back to normal when I hid. Snuck out no problem, all guards were there with a 'you weren't suspecting this were you?'

I can try it without the follower and see if it makes a difference. Just seems no matter how stealthy/invisible I am they all notice the kill shot. I was so hoping the guy would go to sleep eventually or walk away from the crowd, but that's not happening. He's stuck his butt on the bench, gets up, sits back down.

Depends on what skills you're focusing on and what perks you have for them.

High alchemy skill & relevant perks + decent pickpocket skill & poisoned works wonders for silent assassinations. If that's not up your alley, perhaps a decent sneak enchantment is all you're missing from your aforementioned attempts. I mean, the right side of the Sneak skill would prove to be very useful for overkill assassinations too.

My sneak is at 100 and my pick-pocketing is not up to speed in terms of getting that poison in the pocket thing (working very slowly on it). Alchemy hasn't been focused on at all. More a mage thief, high descrution, silent steps with a good backstab multiplier.

I always found the mage sitting in a chair in his room. I would position myself between him and the wall, crouch and kill him.

No alchemy for a theif? Bummer. Yeah, do a bit of enchanting then. A good sneak enchantment on a pair of boots will do wonders for you.

Does alchemy help with thieving? Never really studied the skill tree on that one. I have a ring of sneaking and the boots that make your movements muffled and silent.



Oh if it were only that easy and he'd go in another room. This is isn't the college mage, but the one in a loincloth and little else ('Reckless Mage' I think). He sits on a bench in the main room always next to the drunk (the guy whose sister sells you the coral claw). He'll get up, walk a few feet, turn around and sit back down. Always at least 4 others in the room at all hours.

Also tells me I assaulted a member of the thieves guild on leaving too. They've never mentioned him to me

Alchemy actually possesses the ability to help with everything, but only if you choose to exploit it and become godlike.

LOL, gotcha. I guess in the end I prefer the more 'fun' ways to build skills outside the alchemy table.

This is how I've handled a tricky assassination (Ondolemar in Understone Keep):

1) Enter stealth some distance away

2) Shoot him with best ranged weapon

3) Drink an invisibility potion before shot hits

4) Leave area immediately while stealthed

Honestly? Kill him.. accept the bounty.. run like hell... you're 1/8th of the way to Master Criminal!


But on a more serious note.. some of those radiant quests for the DB are tough. Just finding a spot to shoot from is a royal P.I.T.A. I'd try the distance shot/drink invisibliity route Sojourner said above if you can. Otherwise.. it'll take some creative killing.


Oh.. and btw.. if you're on the radiant quests for the DB.. you're a better assassin than you think.