I always play your typical warrior, be it 1h and shield, 2h tank, or dual wield, it's always the same for my characters. I decided to try a sneaky rogue wood elf to role play and got to lvl 13 and don't feel like I "perked" him right and feel I rushed him.

I have such a vague question and I know there is no wrong way to play but I'm curious how other rogues play. What are your primary and secondary perk focuses? How do you tackle perks? What do you focus on first and what do you save till later? I would be curious to hear how you RP as well.

I'm thinking my primary perks would be sneak, archery, and some 1H. Secondary would be alchemy, pickpocket, illusion.

Any help tips recommendations you can make would be great. I love the idea of being a rogue but I'm having trouble getting my ideas to translate in game. Thanks as always!

One of the biggest problems I encounter when playing a rogue/assassin type class in any elder scrolls game is that I feel gameplay is more time consuming that any other class. You have to sneak and use more tactics when fighting because you can't go toe to toe with enemies like a fighter type class or blast them with damage like a wizard.

Initially I always focus on using a bow because in the beginning your sneak will not be high enough to get close enough for a 1h stealth attack. However it is important to use you 1h and take damage when possible because I have encountered the problem in the past where I have weak light armor and 1h skill because I have neglected to level them with the other abilities. I spend my points in 1h, Archery, Sneak, Light Armor, Illusion, Enchanting, and Armorer. However I do rely on Alchemy and Lockpicking but I do not allocate any actual skill points to these areas because I do not think they are really of any use. The sole purpose of Enchanting and Armorer is to improve my gear and enchant it with class beneficial spells. Also remember to level Illusion so you can use spells like frenzy to turn enemies on each other if you ever find yourself surrounded out of stealth.

I read a post online where a guy suggested having several different daggers when playing as an Assassin. He had one that was enchanted to drain magic for fighting casters, one to drain stamina for fighting warriors, one to steal souls, and two others that do fire and frost damage. You can further elaborate with whatever you see fit but this gives you the ability to have gear to use against any type of enemy.

I feel it is extremely important to plan out how you level your rogue and what skills you are predominant with. As stated before make sure that you are either training for light armor and 1h or that you take time to allocate non stealth combat with lower level enemies to make sure these skills don't fall behind. I have never played any other class than an Assassin from Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and now Skyrim. I had to scrap my first Assassin in Skyrim because I didn't level him properly and he would get bent over at higher levels.

As for an RP aspect I tend not to overload my stealth perk because there comes a point where it is so ignorantly high that you could sneak past Jesus himself. The fun in the game for me is using poisons and well planned gear to tackle enemies that would dominatrix you if you faced them toe to toe. If I am feeling like a complete nerdass I sneak into my home undetected and change into common clothes before walking around town. If I receive a quest to kill a bandit leader I try to sneak through the entire fort and kill him only. Stealth class opens up a whole new world of game play that I personally believe is second to none. You can really see how bethesda made them game and enemy NPC interactions and conversations in detail when they do not realize you are there. If you have anymore questions I could go on for hours so feel free to ask.

- Dave

iv played a few rogues but i would recomend the trickster, a illusion wielding, sneaky rogue who likes to play with the minds of enemies. for a classic rogue i would suggest sneak, light armour and 1 handed.

Dave I'm curious how you allocate your perks, what do you focus on from levels 1-10, 10-20, 20-30, and so on....

Also what stones do you go for?

First off I put most of my initial points in Health and a little Stamina until about level 10-15ish then I start putting some in Magic but if you use the Illusion tree (which I didn't start until around level 15) the cost of spells goes down so I don't spend a lot on Magic because you will probably only use 1-2 spells per battle if any at all. Try learning a Muffle spell ASAP, it gives you a bonus to moving silently for like 180seconds and if you use it all the time it levels Illusion. I normally wear all light armor with a magic users hood, like apprentice, novice, etc hood that gives +20 or so to magic.

Start out by getting the damage up in bows, improving stealth skill, and getting 1h and light armor up. Those are how you survive. Allocate time every level or few to working on alchemy, smithing and enchanting so you don't have to mess with raising it at higher level. The key in Skyrim is to balance what you practice because if you devote two whole levels to one thing your other skills will below par especially since some monsters level with you.

Use the lover stone because it gives +10% (i think) to ALL stats where as the thief stone will give a bonus only to thief related skills and not the enchanting, Illusion, and armorer that you need.

All in all my biggest suggestion is not to spend a leveling point perk if you are not sure where to put it, you can always wait and make up your mind. You need to balance stealth skills along with the ability to give and take damage while remembering that leveling things like armorer and enchanting will allow you to customize and keep you alive at higher levels.

- Dave

I gave my new character a slight advantage early on by joining the DB. There is some great gear for this class type just lying around in the sanctuary.

(I know this isn't exactly the answer you're looking for but just thought I'd mention it because the DB gear really helped my sneak archer survive at low levels!)

As I stated before my biggest problem came up when my high level assassin had very little 1h and light armor because I was always in stealth. When I was forced into male combat I would get owned and I eventually scrapped him. Remember that tactics are what you need to use to stay alive as a rogue type class. The addition of Illusion also helps you sneak more effectively and crowd control when you get overrun. I use Illusion as a back up and will either turn enemies on each other or send them running if I am getting pummeled. Unfortunately i don't have a set formal for leveling up a rogue type class. You really just need to get a feel for it so that is why I suggest holding on to skill points if you are unsure.

- Dave

I found that you need to be careful when joining guilds early on if you want a truly powerful character because some gear, like the nightingale armor has stats that are based on your current level and that will never change. For example the enchantments on the nightingale armor for the thieves guild are weaker if you get them at level 10 than at level 20 and you can look online to see what level you should wait to get them at so they have the maximum spell power.

One thing I have learned in my rogue research is the DB gear is not leveled but thieves guild is...

I hope you don't think I just *********ed your comment, I was just offering some advice

My primary skills are sneak and archery, and secondary are one handed and light armor. I try to handle every fight by sneaking by or shooting from afar, but if that fails I have a little bit of skill with one handed to fall back on. I plan on taking perks in lockpicking and pickpocketing later on, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Not at all - I appreciate the advice!

Though what I meant with the DB armor was to just join so you could grab the stuff and then get the heck out of there.

In my recent playthrough of Oblivion, I joined the Mages Guild just so I could run around to all the guild halls and grab all their supplies without penalty. It was a lazy way for me to make money at level 1. The mages were probably all wondering what happened to their supply of Novice Mortar and Pestles...

Another point. I just keep remembering more stuff!!

As far as i know the two best stealth class items in the game are the DB gloves which can not be disenchanted and offer a bonus to 1h stealth attack., Second is Mehrunes (SP?) Razor which is a dagger that has a chance to instantly kill an enemy. With the knowledge that the DB gloves are the absolute beast stealth class gloves in the game I never put points in Light Armor perks that give bonus to having a full set of the same armor because I know that I will always use the DB gloves but not the rest of the set later on in the game.

- Dave