On my first playthrough I played an Argonian, and while he mostly followed the way of the Thief, he was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none. I never got the level 100 Sneak perk for example, while my Sneak is indeed lv 100. Now I am considering making a real Assassin this time, and do it right this time. That would mean a maxed Sneak and Illusion (just for fun and some useful tactics), Light Armour and some Lockpicking and Pickpocket. I may choose to stay out of Smithing and Enchanting, though I may get Smithing to improve some weapons (though not to the point of being overpowered).

The skills I would train:
- Sneak
- Illusion
- One-Handed
- Light Armour
- Smithing?

I wonder how good Illusion is without enchantments to negate the magicka cost. And how interesting is this playstyle? Post if you have any advice or experiences from playing as an Assassin. Thanks!

How interesting is it? As interesting as a sack of nails because I may use stealth from time to time, but I mostly follow the Mage/Warrior. But the forumgoers shouldn't be a big part of your consideration in how to play the game. Try it out and if you don't like it, then start a new character.

I understand that I shouldn't care too much about what others say, but I just want to do it right this time, unless my previous character that is pretty bad because I didn't get my skills right

You'll just be killing people all over the place and find out there's no one left to sell your stuff to. Honestly though your build looks good but I'd go with Speech over Smithing.

Speech? I never really considered it since it doesn't really help much in combat. I can see a use in merchants carrying more gold, but not much more than that.

you can't do the mainquest as a pure melee thief/assassin.

you will 1hit everyone without any smithing anyways.

Good for bribing guards once you've killed everyone and the perk you said. It'd just my preference if I went assassin. It's true what they say though, "Keep your blade sharp and your tongue sharper."

You could switch illusion or smithing to pickpocket! It is very easy to level up and you'll become rich very fast!

I plan on joining the Thieves' Guild, which adds a kind of bribe option on default. Pay the money, then pickpocket it back. And as a real assassin I don't plan on getting caught Thanks for the input though!

I plan on using Illusion to keep it fresh, but I might invest something in Pickpocket. I have some points in Pickpocket on my current main, and it works well to earn some easy money and weapons. Thanks for the input

Add archery, my Suggestion...

Yes you can.

Not too interesting because this is the most dominate play style...

That's a homicidal maniac, not an assassin.

what are you talking about

I considered that, but I prefer the up-and-close approach of daggers. I might add some Archery if all my other skills are good enough though.

Haha, indeed, I don't plan on just killing anyone, but rather on just silently dispatching of my foes without getting hit too much.

Erm, Smithing for a Stealth character? Genius!

I went with sneak, archery, heavy armor, 2 handed for fun times.

Perfect touch is well worth it also. Is something funny about a naked town...

Why not? It allows me to craft better weapons and armour, just like any class would use. You still need some offensive prowess to be succesful in this game, even when sneaking all over the place.

All smithing does is make better weapons and armor. Why would an assassin not want better weapons?

Assassin's are meant to be a stealth based class, you can use Smithing but not make it a major (or minor) skill

The original assassin class skills: One-Handed, Archery, Light-Armor, Alchemy, Sneak, Pickpocket, Speach, Illusion, Lockpicking

I took stealth,archery,middle line pickpocket,smithing and everything in enchanting.Also have a few points in light armour but since i never get hit hardly worth investing in.Sorta made the game easy on master but then again its pretty much easy with anything

Any sneak based build can be overpowered, especially with illusion in the mix. Whether it's interesting or not is a matter of preference. To me it seems like most NPCs basically end up bordering on blind and deaf with high sneak alone. But the game isn't designed as a stealth game, I don't think light and shadow factors in much, and being able to completely negate all sound from armor or movement at all makes it incredibly easy. I still use sneak though, I just can't really play a character who doesn't approach dangerous situations cautiously and it just seems dense to me not sneak and try to get the first shot in. All of my characters are sneakers.

Dagger is probably on the harder side compared to archery for sneak attacks early on, but eventually will kill most enemies in a single blow.

Most fun you'll have is when you're sneaking around, stealth killing enemies. There's a lot of satisfaction to be had when you clear out an entire fort or cave without your sneak eye ever fully opening. It requires more planning than just UBER MELEE CHOPPY SLICE SLICE TIME, especially when you have multiple targets near each other (and therefore have to take them out quickly and consecutively...archery usually helps here).

It can be interesting, but most of the time enemies end up turning blind/deaf at 100 sneak. I personally, would avoid taking Shadow Warrior.

I'd say Alchemy over smithing.

As an out of the box suggestion, Alteration could be handy. Even without getting into paralyze, that gives you the Detect spells, and Magelight+Illusions Silent casting lets you distract enemies to where you want them (If you keep out of sight, they'll go stare at the glowing ball, assuming they aren't Falmer (Blind).