http://skyrimcalculator.com/#111798

Basically this is the best way to play a assassin type character in skyrim for me, these perks as a vampire. Necromage obviously boosts everything, enchantments, potion length/magnitude, spell duration/magnitude, perks etc.

Problem is getting to 70 restoration, restoration I've found is the slowest levelling skill even if you use it all the time. I would pay for training then pickpocket (Colette at winterhold or Carcette at the vigilant hall) up to level 51, then go to High Hrothgar and stand in the wind whilst healing. Use as many restoration enchantments as you can find/steal with the Mage stone active. Not a big fan of power levelling but I think it's necessary to do as early on as you can, so it affects future perks.

Illusion and conjuration work well together, fury/frenzy the enemies to kill each other then raise the dead to finish the battle. At high levels (illusion perked) you will be able to use mayhem and hysteria on everything due to the vampire boost and if you took the illusion perks after being a necrovamp you can use harmony on everything you come across. Necromage boosts the spell effectiveness on undead by 25% and being a necrovamp boosts the hypnotic gaze, aspect of terror, rage and kindred mage perks.

Given the mayhem will affect all draugr and any human enemy you come across you can use mayhem at the beginning of the dungeon and affect everything.

Only the two smithing perks so you can improve what light armor/daggers you find, you can reach the armor cap if you feel you need to. As a vamp you can equip multiple thieves/linwe's/nightingale/guild master hoods to improve your armor rating, it's a bit cheap and you can play fine on master without maximum armor rating because your sneaking.

Alchemy for poisons and potions, always start battles with poisons as your weapons aren't going to be super strong. I'd stay away from the brotherhood gloves as they make you to strong, x30 damage is to much IMO and ruins the game a little, even on master.

I'd say Altmer for the race for the extra magicka and illusion bonus, but Dunmer are a good choice too (fire resistance). Argonian water breathing could be useful, but the resist disease/poison you get from a few races are useless as vampires are immune to both. Race isn't massively important tbh, Khajits and Argonians look good as vamps as they get huge sabre like teeth.

Basically that's it, just thought I'd share.

Any got any thoughts or improvements?

No magic.

Rely on stealth,backstab and archery.

what level do you plan on taking this pc? 57 only?

57 only? Hell, my specialized characters are lucky to see level 50.

That's the perks that I will definitely get, then I'll just build on the character with further perks if I exceed 57.

Illusion is brilliant for assassins, improves sneaking and manipulation of enemies. Disagree.

he's playing a vampire assassin. wtheck are you talking about?

Once you get Shadow Warrior, Imo your overpowered as hell. You won't have to worry about anything, well atleast i didn't, i just strolled around and when danger arises, crouched and killed the very best of em.

I agree, it is overpowered like the block 100 perk. But it will take a while to get to sneak 100 and I'm not using smithing to create 100 damage daggers, so I won't be too overpowered.

i think the build looks right about what i'd do, as well.

i like to not even think about stamina and vampires are supposed to be fast so i'll be getting respite, for sure.

plus, you could obviously add come conjuration perks, if, you think you might want it to play a bigger role in your gameplay.

this is pretty much how i'll be rolling my "necro-sassin" on my DiD run.

Altmer are the fastest as well, so with a few hundred stamina and weightless armor I can run everywhere. Also become ethereal for running without stamina.

Don't really want atronachs tbh, I want him to be more about raising undead. I'll probably wear the necromancers amulet and ring of namira, they both fit the vampire style well IMO.

You'll be running away from dragons. Sounds more like an evil illusionist than a thief. A true thief doesnt really need any magic at all. Archery buff gear/perks and backstabs with sneak is pretty much thief/assassin archetype.

I didn't look at the link close enough. Speaking of Shadow Warrior. I spend just enough to get Ass Blade and Muff Move. There is really no need for the rest. Unless it's for RPing. That would free up 4 Perks.

EDIT :
I hate to even term them as a "Thief". My builds like this all cater to the Assassin. I never consider them to be a stinking Thief.

I've recently started my first ever stealth/assassin character and i've found sneak to be by far my fastest increasing skill - 90 at level 26.That's using it outdoors in areas where i cant always see too far ahead (ie) around Falkreath and other heavily wooded areas etc and in dungeons.

ya, i think you're right about the atronach addition. doesn't really fit.

up to that level i think you're good. your going to have too many perks if you keep going so maybe some archery and just picking generic perks that won't alter the gameplay too much.

That was my initial reaction when i read the OP i must admit.

I thought about just saying assassin, but I plan to join the thieves guild and commit petty crime, pick pocketing valuable items for my own benefit. So thought thief/assassin was a better description.

Dragons will be tough on master yes, especially with the 25/50% fire weakness. I haven't chosen a stone yet though, atronach may be a good option as it doesn't affect raising undead, it's also boosted by necromage to 62%.

If you have the atronach stone+perk with a necromage vampire you absorb all magic, but I won't do that ha.

are you against Enchanting because of being overpowered?

i know that i'll be using some enchanting to make up for the lack of proper vampire perks.

edit: just thought of something and i haven't really invested much in alchemy/enchanting, yet.

can you enchant any negative effects that can add to the rping? past games had jewelry and clothing that had negative effects and i was wondering if you could enhance the roleplay that way. or, perma-potions? or, at least long duration ones?

if so you can enhance or create negative effects on characters for better roleplay.

or, something like that, lol.

Well I used it on my previous two characters, so I wanted a change. I usually find it more fun to find my own gear anyway. All enchanted gear I find are boosted by 25% and I can equip multiple headwear if I need a circlet of illusion for example.

What's the best dragon shout for an assassin/thief?

Well a few are useful:
-become ethereal, for limited stamina usage, escaping danger without being hurt.
-aura whisper, for detecting nearby enemies.
-throw voice, for distracting enemies.
-whirlwind sprint, for moving fast.
-elemental fury, fast attacking with daggers.

Tbh all are useful in some way, I think become ethereal is the most useful though tbh.

I agree with a lot of your perks but my ideal assassin build is in my signature if you want to check it out. I don't use restoration because I am not gonna use it because I am gonna be attacking from shadows to where I am invisible and I want it to be where if I am spotted I am almost S.O.L.

Some of those perks are wasted though IMO, you can get along without taking the illusion magicka perks if it's your only school.

Does the critical perk take into account the full damage or just the base damage like swords, if it's just base damage I really don't think I worth it.

I don't go for the archery damage and 1h damage x5 either, so I can use more skills, I'll do enough damage anyway.

Thanks.

The archery bug introduced in 1.5 kinda ruined this build for me, I'll wait for 1.6 to fix it I suppose.