I play as a warrior pretty much 90% of the time (made-up statistic). ONCE I have played through as a ranger, and I've attempted to play as a mage maybe three times but lost interest in them.

Anyway, the point is, I mostly put perks in the Combat category. Be it 1H or 2H, or Heavy Armor and Block, etc. The only thing I really use the Stealth category for is Light Armor on some of my Nords.

I was thinking of playing through fully utilizing these:
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Light_Armor, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Lockpicking, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Pickpocket, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Sneak, and http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Speech.

Wear Light armor and use Daggers/Bow just in case I ever get into a fight. Lockpicking, Pickpocket, and Sneak to steal items. Speech to sell these stolen items for a higher profit. I understand this is practically the whole idea of the 'Thief Class', but just to be sure - I got the right idea, right?

Although you use a Bow and Dagger (Archery and 1H) you don't need to invest points in them considering there damage can increase via the Sneak skill.

So who plays like this? Any suggestions/tips?

Previous to Skyrim I was the same type of player, always played as a sword and board warrior. But with the improvments to stealth, for my second character I played a stealh ranger type character with the main skills you listed. Primary weapon was a bow, dagger for assassinations. I Currently have 270 hours on this character and it is my favorite build. I didn't invest any perks in lockpicking as they seemed to be pretty useless. I also didn't invest much for perks into light armor as most of them are for wearing a complete set which I never do (mainly helmets, always wore the apprentice hood). I added alchemy to my character which I found to be needed if you arent going to be smithing or enchanting. Plus slipping poisons into peoples pockets to kill them is fun. Lastly I added Illusion magic and perks to my character mainly as a defensive skill to calm those when I get caught with my pants down by multiple enemies. Plus you can frenzy groups of enemies and then kill the last man standing. Also invisibilty comes in really handy too.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Speech: If you join the TG and bring them back to strength by doing the side quests, , so you dont have to worry much about speech.

Lockpicking: This is easy, so i never put perks into it.

Pickpocket: Some nice abilities in this tree, paticulary poison & extra pockets, those are the ones i aim for.

Light armor: As a stealth character, i dont plan on being in toe to toe fights, so this is usually where i might dump any spare perks, if i decide to wear armor that is. Its good for early on, but when you stealthy enough, you can get away with it a bit more.

When i do a stealth character, they are going to be TG & DB, so i use Alchemy as well. One handed for daggers, only into the main perk. Archery as my main combat skill really, i only get the main skill & critical damage perks, always a chore to level up, so i use trainers. Sneak, all in the main skill then i take the right branch. Alchemy, i take the left branch with poisons.

If you want to go with speech thats fine, same with lockpicking, nothing wrong RPing with them. Not power gaming makes a nice change & just enjoy the game a different way.

Assuming you're going for the Thief/Assassin class, this is how I'm going to treat this subject.

Here's what I know:

Lockpicking:
- Completely useless to put perks in unless you're an absolute fail at picking locks (No Offense)
- You can enchant gear to be more effective at lockpicking instead of wasting perk points on it.
- Treasure Hunter is never a bad perk to have for the fact that chests could have anything from an Iron Sword to a Dragonbone Cuirass in it, either way it gives you an extra item to use/sell.

Pickpocket:
- You can enchant gear to be more effective at pickpocketing instead of wasting perk points on it.
- If you don't want to use enchants, you will be able to steal most items with 3 or 4 points in Light Fingers
- Extra Pockets is good for any character, and it works well with the Steed Stone.

Light Armor:
- Take advantage of the Wind Walker perk, for this will help you with your power attacks in combat.

Archery:
- Bows are mainly used for stealth purposes, not direct combat.
- If you intend to use a bow in combat, then Power Shot and Quick Shot are essential. Until then, use the bow for sneaking.
- Eagle Eye is good for lining up long range shots, but don't waste your time with Steady Hand.

Sneak:
- Only spend all five points in Stealth if you're purely focused on stealth-based combat. Otherwise, you only need one, which will do fine in most situations.
- Muffled Movement on to Shadow Warrior are somewhat useless.
- Deadly Aim and Assassin's Blade are essential for sneaking.

Speech:
- Only spend one point in Haggling. The first level is 10%, but the levels diminish, ending at 40%.
- While you don't NEED any of these perks, Allure to Master Trader make buying and selling much easier.
- Don't waste any time with Persuasion or Intimidation. Bribery is okay if you plan on making mistakes.

One-Handed:
- Take advantage of Dual Savagery and Savage Strike make your stealth attacks that much stronger, and they also stack with Assassin's Blade.

You mentioned that you don't need to put the 5 points in One-Handed and Archery? That is true if you play on Novice, but you will still have those occasional boss fights, and if you can't do much damage, you're going to die.

Hope this helps. =)

Thanks everyone.

Once I get bored of Oblivion, I may try some of this.

Kind of wished these skills were more reliable.

Quite the contrary. Pure Stealth Assassins do the most damage out of any character when they attack in the shadows.

I've found that stealth is a very viable tactic, but I personally prefer mixing it with Illusion. If you can make yourself invisible and inaudible, you can slip right up to any foe and plunge your weapon into him, for hugely boosted damage. Then, you go invisible again and slip away, and do it again. My illusionist character is finally starting to be effective, not because he wasn't before, but because it took me a long time to get a good bead on how to play him.

With my assassin/thief I use sneak, pickpocket, speech, alchemy, illusion (for quiet casting), and smithing (for arrows), archery and one handed I only put in a few perks into the first slot for damage. I use the steed stone for the weight reduction in armor and extra carrying capacity. One of the funnest builds I've played. Nothing beats one hit killing a giant with an unaltered elven dagger. I don't invest in armor perks because I can just take most npcs weapons and armor before they know I'm there, if I somehow get discovered before I can kill them all they can do is punch me.