So I finally got around to playing my Vampire Assassin character again after finishing Mass Effect 3, and I wanted some advice on Perks. I will be playing on Expert difficulty on Xbox 360, by the way.

Class- Vampire Assassin (70% Theif, 15% Magic, 15% Warrior)
Race- Dark Elf/Dunmar
Stone- Lady
Extra- Vampirism
Main Skills- Archery, Sneak, Alchemy, Light Armor, One Handed, Illusion
Secondary Skills- Smithing, Enchanting, Lockpicking, Picpocket
Weapons Used- Bow, Dual Daggers, Frenzy Spells, Invisibility Spells, Poisons
Stat Increases- 50% Health, 40% Stamina, 10% Magicka
Build- http://skyrimcalculator.com/#104133

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Thoughts about certain skills-v

Archery- x1 Overdraw as well as Eagle Eye, Power Shot, and Quick Shot are pretty much a necessity but I'm not sure about the rest. Critical Shot could be useful and especially Ranger, but I'm not sure if its worth the investment. Not sure about putting points into Overdraw to max it out.

One Handed- As of right now I find myself using my Dual Daggers almost as frequently as my bow in combat for close quarters. The only problem is that I find combat very difficult in direct fights since dual daggers can't be used for blocking and theres no roll maneuver to dodge. The right line of perks is pretty much necessary, but I thought Paralyzation would be extremely useful in close quarters. But I also could use poisons for that... Not sure about x5 in Armsmen.

Smithing- Definitely going to take the left tree until Dragon Armor. Also, I accidentally took Dwarven Armor, so just thats unfortunate. Since I heard I can meet the Armor and Damage cap with any armor or weapon I figured it didn't matter.

Light Armor- Like the other base five rank perks above, I'm not sure if its really worth having x5 of Agile Defender.

Sneak- x1 in Stealth and the entire right tree is definitely a necessity with daggers and a bow. Silent Roll would be extremely useful for escaping dangerous situations as would Shadow Warrior, but thats alot of Perks. Pretty sure anything beyond rank 1 of Stealth is useless.

Pickpocket- Taking x1 of Pickpocket up to Extra Pockets is pretty much a necessity, but I'm not sure if Misdirection and Perfect Touch are necessary, as I don't find myself picking many pockets.

Speech- Merchant allows me to trade any items with people which is more convenient. Was also thinking of taking the Bribery perk as well.

Alchemy- x5 up until Purity as well as Green thumb is kinda a necessity as I'm going to be constantly abusing poisons once I amass a nice stock of Paralyzing, Slow, Health Damage, and other nasty effects in ingrediants.

Illusion- Illusion Dual Casting as well as the Master of the Mind line is fantastic for me because I love abusing Frenzy. Rage is also a nice tool as well as Paralysis for troublesome situations, but I'm not sure if its necessary to take extra perks simply for these spells, would love advice here.

Restoration- Necromage = Self Explanatory.

Enchanting- The only reason to invest in this is for making a set of thieving equipment and combat equipment that suits my playstyle. x5 Enchanting is pretty important as is the entire line up to Extra Effect. Not sure if the elemental line is even necessary, as I have smithing to improve my weapons damage.


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Any help is greatly appreciated!

No necromage?

Yep, necromage's mandatory for vampires. It makes any effects on your character much more powerful.

i guess thats why he asked for help. i may try a vamp build! looks like fun

*EDIT* Didn't even know that Perk existed! I'll be sure to get that!

Updated, still want some advice!

I can only offer melee help because I've never played a Mage or a Vampire.

I like the elemental enchanting for the frost/fire/electric resists - fire would be most useful for a Vampire.

I use Enchanting and Alchemy for Fortify Smithing so I can get leather-based armors to/past the armor cap.

Agile Defender will double the rating of armor with all 5 perk points so that maybe worthwhile.

I finally started messing around with Illusion stuff so I could see Invisibility with Quiet Casting being a life (unlife?) saver. The character on which I've been messing around with Illusion is level 70 (because on the way up I leveled mostly combat skills as well as Alchemy and Enchanting) and I don't know if you want to get that high.

Edited for clarity.

Honestly, if you're foraying into enchanting, I'd pick up The Lord stone over The Lady since at a certain level, you're gonna start finding health/stamina regen enchants on items to help combat the regen debuff, and you got Magicka regen from early stages. I've played with both standing stones and found that The Lord is substantially more helpful than the regen against fire mages/dragons/anything fire-related at all. You can also cook up some Elsweyr Fondue to help with the magicka and magicka regen issues.

As for actual perks, you have to pour perks into Overdraw and Stealth or else you're handicapping yourself. I did the same thing on my archer character, that is just glancing over those in favor of different perks, and it was like fighting with one arm tied behind my back. Maybe prioritize Overdraw over Stealth since Vampirism gives that Sneak bonus but they're both crucial to playing that build effectively.

Heed this. ^

I got all the Sneak perks for my assassin including Shadow Warrior. I love Shadow Warrior, but it can be merely a gimmick if you have Invisibility, Quiet Casting, and Kindred Mage because Invis will get you out of tight spots. If you have plenty of Perk Points go for Shadow Warrior as well, but I'd recommend the Illusion trio if you're being frugal and using magic anyway. The main reason I warn about getting Shadow Warrior is that you have to 'waste' some Perk Points along the way for abilities that can be achieved with Enchants.

Since, I've never played a vampire so I don't know how their sneak bonuses work so wait for more input from Vampires before deciding on the Shadow Warrior or Inviso plan.

Thanks for the advice! I really can't stand playing any character without enchanting. How could you possibly not want to enchant your armor with awesome bonuses regardless of class? And I guess you're right about the x5 Base Perks, I'll take those into consideration.

Yeah, I can't help it: I have to max Smithing and Enchantment.

I have a real hard time standing back and tend to rush in so I also took every perk in the Light Armor tree - I probably could've passed on Wind Walker because my assassin dual wields daggers and they don't burn up much Stamina. Plus, I enchant body pieces with Fortify Stamina Regen.

I'll use Stealth kills a lot, but when a group gets alerted sometimes I don't feel like retreating and just go Berserker-Btich on them.