Invisibility is categorized as a "super loud" spell, meaning that NPCs from even a good distance can hear it being cast. Very counter-productive. And even WITH the spell, I STILL get random NPCs detecting me. Even without armor on. It's totally broken as a spell. The potions are much more effective.

I remeber in Oblivion, I made a suit that had over 100% invisibility as a passive effect. That was cheap, and I say that because it made the game unfun. I actually ended up tossing that armor outside of the Imperial City near the mages' University. Ask yourself, does invisibility make the game so easy its unfun?

Amazing...

Silent casting.. I fail to see why this isnt obvious.
Maybe the claw puzzles are challenging to some as well.

Invisibility is great. If you like it, use it. Don't worry about what other people say.

If you want invisibility but also want to retain some challenge, alchemy is the better way to get it. You have to actually craft the potion and carry around a finite quantity so there is a little more forethought required. As magic, fully perked and with quiet casting, it's quite powerful and lasts longer. Invisibility (either flavor) plus Shadow Warrior and Assassin's Blade is my definition of fun. I don't really care what a bunch of dopes on Youtube have to say on the subject.

Smartest thing you've said.

You made a 100% chameleon suit. Chameleon broke the game because the spell didt break, and you couldnt be seen. Invisibility however breaks with every action making it completly fair. Besides this spells main reason why this spell is useful is because of the Quiet Casting. My mage just has it for RP and it looks cool.

Well, unlike your post, I'm glad I had something worthwhile to say in this thread.

Kinda yes, but not that big of a deal imo.
The main thing about invisibility is that it's magic, and assassins don't use magic.

For ease of 'suspension of disbelief' I'd like to see the Invisibility effect removed from future TES games and replaced with the Chameleon effect - only adapted to work similarly to invisibility, but as a percent of visibility, rather than fully invisible.
To me, the idea of magic being able to make a person completely invisible means magic is unbelievably powerful. Being camouflaged makes more sense to me, for immersion purposes.

As for it being 'cheap', I'd say if you feel you've earned being able to use it then it's not cheap.

With my assassin I have a high sneak, but I still carry a couple of invisible potions just incase I can't get behind someone. I dont see it as cheap since as a killer, I will use anyway possible to get it done.

Did you put perks in the Illusion tree? I have the feeling you did if you leveled it enough to get Invisibility.

You see that perk that says "Silent Casting"? Read the description. Then slap yourself.

...sure they do.

Except for, you know, the ones who do. I mean, there's been a Nightblade class since this series was created. My first/main character is a Khajiit Nightblade. I'm sure some of the NPCs would love to give him an in-game lecture about how real assassins don't use magic, but he tends to kill people before they finish talking.

My assassin has no problems using invisibility. However, she's only used it twice (level 43). The second time was yesterday when I had to infiltrate a ship near Solitude.

Now, normally sneak at level 90 with perks would allow you to sneak unseen/unheard (muffled/silent boots) by everyone. But, my current character is a permanent level 1, no skills no perks, and she could not sneak by the crew below deck. Tried if five times and was seen each time, and eventually had to use a 20-second invisibility potion going in and out of the ship, so she could accomplish that Thieves Guild quest.

So, go for it, just keep it to an absolute minimum I would say.

Lets not tell people to slap themselves. That's flaming and can result in a Warning and or Suspension.

Silent Casting is not available until Illusion is Level 50 and it is 4 Perks in. You can cast the spell long before you get to that point. So, until then, this spell alerts your enemies.

Sorry, the remark was meant to be a little more tongue-in-cheek.

But you get Invisibility when Illusion is level 75, so there's no reason that anyone focusing in that school of magic (especially with a stealth build) wouldn't have gotten the perk by the time they were able to cast the spell.

Invisible is quite overpowered if you know how to use it. Combined with Muffle, you can invisible in the middle of battle, sneak and then immediately perform a sneak attack on anything except Falmer. I do it all the time, it's actually quite funny.

It also saved me from investing full in to sneak, I only went through the base sneak (20%) and then up to the Dagger mastery perk.

I tend to use invisibility to get through quests that want you to sneak when I'm playing a character that isn't sneaky. Without invisibility potions there's little hope for some builds to progress through the major questlines.

Lulz

only if it feels cheap. "Cheap" is subjective.

I only use Invisibility potions, Shadow Stone, or Shadowcloak of Nocturnal (instant and soundless ones) and only in case of emergency.

This is my experience as well. Any player with a modicum of forethought can easily create an invisibility/backstab/invisibility char, complemented by sufficient stealthiness, to be an assassin of gods- and unkillalble. And without a whole lot of real effort. But, that's really not much different than the many other imbalanced build and crafting options readily provided in Skyrim, that turn you into a god and remove the fun. There are a world of 'cheap' ways in the game to turn an already easy contest into no contest at all, sadly, and invisibility is but one of many.

That's just the way they made it, and unless they make the game harder through future patches (unlikely), it's up to modders to put real balance back into the game, without the player having to specifically choose to majorly gimp themselves and ignore huge swaths of the game mechanics, just to provide a mite of challenge (no perks, no levelups, no crafting, no shouts, etc.). And on any difficulty less than 'Master', even that isn't enough. It's sad when the developers put so many game-breaking 'nuke' abilities right in front of the player throughout the game, smile, and say "here, use/do this, and you'll be a god for the rest of the game". What ever happened to spending time balancing all of the elements of your game, so that even on 'normal' difficulty, you can indulge in all the perks, skills, crafts, weapons, or whathaveyou that are normally available, and the game still remains at least semi-challenging throughout? Or if not, then at least on the higher 'difficulties'? I don't want to have to neglect or outright ignore 75% of the fun tools and items and abilities built into the game, just to have a challenge in it. Is that too much to ask?

Balance. Such a simple idea, yet completely missing from Skyrim.

If you really want my opinion on the matter, I'll say that, yes, it is cheap... Sneaking is largely enough.

I think it's your opinion and choice that matters since it's your game and how you play. I prefer not to use it on my assassin as he doesn't use any magic at all. But your character isn't mine. I find Sneak is already great if not too good by itself and to use invisibility would be overkill for me. If I do get into a jam I just run away and then hide into a corner or darkspot and wait hoping I'm not caught out. Sometimes patience plays off and I end up being hidden again. But usually I never get caught since that's how I aim to play.

I just find that the thought of a potion or spell to make you invisibile to most enemies is cheap because when you think about it imagine if you were about to attack someone and then all of a sudden they disappeared.

There's an Illusion perk that makes spells silent.