Hi folks,

I′m going to do a Dead-is-Dead run on master and would appreciate your input regarding my ideas. I don′t want to power-level anything, use the fast-travel system (except carriages), or use exploits. And I want to gain levels by adventuring and doing quests rather than becoming level 20 by crafting in Whiterun.

Core concepts:

- Stay undetected all the time (sneak and invisibility)
- Know where everybody is (Aura Whisper shout)
- Deal ranged damage (Archery)
- Crowd control by Illusion
- Have a Panic-Button (Become Ethereal shout, then fleeing and turning invisible)
- have nearly maximum protection for unexpected situations (80% physical reduction, 80% spell absorbtion (atronach perk and stone), 83% magical resistance, 43% cold & fire resistance)

Here′s the core build, race will be Breton: http://skyrimcalculator.com/#24443

Main Enchantment slots will be used for Fortify Archery, free Illusion spellcasting and resistances

I know the problem will be getting that far without being killed ever. I plan on increasing Sneak as fast as possible, have a melee companion from the very beginning (staring with Sven), getting the Shadow Stone effect until Illusion is high enough for invisibility spell (plus invisibility potions). I will also trigger the dragon spawning quite late which forces me to replace the Aura Whisper shout with Detect Life until then. Considering I will almost never be hit, I′ll have to money-train the Light Armor skill.

Starter quests will include the Thief's Guild and Dark Brotherhood (whose equipment will be quite necessary at the beginning, I figure)

What do You think about it, do I stand a chance?

Considering the last guy who tried DiD, no, you don't. Well, not for long at least...

I would lose the Aura Whisper shout and just keep Become Ethereal always on standby.
With max protection you'll be fine, assuming you reach the caps reasonably fast.

Personally I would suggest triggering the dragons fairly early though. It's fun to be scared shirtless of them. That's what the game is supposed to be like, not standing in front of them and their flame breath not giving a hoot.
With stealth and invisibility you can easily sneak away from an unexpected dragon, and boy is it fun hiding in the bushes.

Most of this is doable. The assassin archer is powerful on any difficulty. You are, however, a glass cannon. I don't think you'll be able to hit the physical reduction cap without at least a little smithing loop (just enchanting, no alchemy). What type of armor are you using?

*edit* The DiD is gutsy. I find with my assassins that I have a false sense of security, because I usually demolish everything before it gets near me. However, if something gets the drop on me on master, it's easy to get smushed real quick.

For my sniper, I thought I'd hold off the DB quest and the last half of the Thief quest as late as possible so as to get as much of the benefits from leveled gear as I can. (I'm not playing master yet as I'm stuck with playing on a friend's computer until Christmas comes around.)

I'm also going fairly heavy in the crafting - both because it fits my personality and because I figure the best way to never be hit is to have the best distance damage. For smithing I'm taking the heavy-armor branch so as to get the best bows and to better outfit my companion when I don't mind my presence being alerted (I expect I'll have him/her waiting a lot). A highly-smithed bow can make a huge difference in damage over a found one. I'm going to try avoiding light armor altogether if I can get away with it.

I think both Illusion and Conjuration work well with sniping. Pursuing invisibility can be met with buying/making potions and putting the levels/perks in something else (the quiet-casting perk, though, is something I've been eyeing). I'm not familiar with the crowd-control efficiency of illusion, but my impression was that it was fairly perk-heavy. Conjuration is handy for throwing down a smoke screen / distractor while you scarper off or at least put some distance from an enemy who's gotten too close - you could probably get away without many perks devoted to this if the smoke-screen is your main use.

For shouts, I'd also pursue the Slow Time one for use at the starts of combat - the more you can take out in those first moments after you're discovered, the better. Maxing that shout, though, seems to require quests from Civil War, Winterhold College, as well as Dark Brotherhood.

Sounds like a fun build - best of luck!

Sounds like a nice build. Don't forget to also utilize the "Throw Voice" shout. That's perfect for luring away bandits and putting an arrow in their neck.

edit: also, I tried severeal DID characters and they made it to around level 12. Part of that is because I got careless, but I also got unlucky a few times. This was on adept btw. I tried once on Master but got one shotted by the giant spider in Bleak Falls Barrow.

Alchemy is very helpful for resist fire and frost potions when fighting dragons. The dragon hide spell is good too. I have a nightblade build and am level 12 on a DiD run. I chose a Redguard in anticipating having to outrun some enemies as opposed to fighting them and i was right on more than one occasion.

Not to burst your bubble, but I'm pretty sure none of the DB items are scaled at all. All of the Nightingale Stuff is.

*edit* http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Leveled_Items

That shout is only obtainable by fighting Krosis, right? I've never come across a dragon priest. Do you have to begin the MQ to start seeing them?

Thanks for your input so far!

Sure, I will use smithing/enchantment/smithing potions to improve the Elven gear I′ll be wearing later on. Without the alchemy perks, I′ll probably not max out the 80% mitigation, if necessary I′ll drop in another Agile Defender level. My final build will most likely not be optimized as I have to use perks as I go just to avoid being to fragile at any point in my journey.

Good point about the dragon triggering, Soltaro! I suppose having Become Ethereal at my disposal as early as possible should be one of my key targets

How important is poison-resistance in your opinion? This is something I completely left out

Also, I've found that my light armor score is absurdly low, because I go out of my way to not get hit. You'll have to either pay for it, or very carefully level it against weak enemies.

I enjoy the poison and disease resist on the Bosmer. When I play something else, I definitely notice the difference against spiders, chaurus', and falmer. However, the Nord's frost resist is probably waaaay more useful. It works against most mages, about half of the dragons, and all magic-using undead.

Thanks! I'm only just now starting on my adventuring phase so it hasn't been an issue yet, but it'll be nice to know it's safe to pursue.

@Ergos: Problem with Conjuration is, my build incorporates both the Atronach Stone and the Atronach Alteration perk, which don′t mix well with Conjuration at the moment. I chose the Illusion tree mainly because I have to go halfway up the tree for the silent casting perk anyway, and then it′s easier to fill it up than to split perks and enchantments between two different schools. I won′t have much mana either as I′ll invest solely in health with this playthrough. Plus you hear a lot of funny things about the illusion spell effects^^

Alright, worked pretty great, this one. Just got killed by a Vampire Master because I got overconfident.

Level was 46

I left out the Illusion tree because there was no real need for it.

Sneak, Archery, Invisibility Potions and the Aura Whisper shout is all it takes to rule on DiD-Master. As long as You stay humble, though

Maybe I′ll write a guide about it