So after playing my first assassin in Skyrim, I had a thought. As a criminal in this game, is it better to be wanted, or completely unknown? At first I thought it would obviously be better to be unknown, but the more I think about it, the more I can't decide. There are arguments for either side I suppose:

If you're wanted throughout Skyrim, obvioulsy you've had quite a bit of success leaving your evil mark upon the land. Of course, that also means you've been caught by the guards at least once... unless you intentionally revealed yourself and then escaped, which would be either impressive or very stupid depending on how you look at it.

On the other hand, remaining inconspicous would mean you aren't famous in any way, but you must be a very good criminal to be able to commit so many crimes without ever having a witness. (Or maybe you're just very good at cleaning up your messes, if you know what I mean...) But can you be considered a master if no one knows about you?

So which is it? I can't decide!

Think of it this way. If you have an alter ego and you never get caught or seen then people will start talking about the alter ego, for example if you call yourself the Night Fox and never get caught, eventually people will start talking about the Night Fox, though no one will know it is infact you. If you get caught people will know that its you and you become less famous and extraordinary.

Both. Stay unnoticed, but leave a calling card.

I always leave a sweetroll.

Go catch a bunch of fish like Abecean Longfish and place them in people's pockets and homes. No one will know the true identity of the Fish Bandit!

I always leave a Dragon's Toungue flower on the body of anyone I assassinate, If they are female I also leave them naked......

i don't understand how the guards know you've "murdered" someone if they didn't see you.

i haven't played an assassin, yet, but it doesn't seem like fun if you always have to run away from guards even though nobody saw me kill or steal.

i just killed some thalmor justiciars out in the wild (after they attacked me first) and when i got back to town a guard arrested me.

Thats happened to me too, whenever I want to kill someone I try to provoke them into attacking me (so I dont get a bounty) but sometimes when I kill someone I still get a bounty, regardless of whether there is a witness or not. Its a bit strange.

I like the idea of an alter ego or a calling card, thats a good way to think of it.


It sounds like a few Cyrodiilic guards snuck over the border with you...

I prefer to stay relatively unknown. A "calling card" is a nice approach.

The Ultimate Thief/Criminal in Skyrim:
The Beggar

Obtaining 1 plus coin every time you encounter him just to get drunk!

Any chickens or goats watching you? They see everything and communicate to the guards just as effectively as Lassie could indicate that timmy fell into the well again.

A master criminal will never be known, that's kinda the point of being the best.

It depends. Do you want to be the best, or do you want to be the most famous? The best assassin in all of history is someone that we will never hear about, because s/he kept him/herself to her/himself.

Actually, now that I think about it, the greatest assassin in history probably was a woman. Makes sense.

i just leave a cup of some sort by the door just to let them know i was there

This has always irked me in MMOs/RPGs. Something done out in the wild with no witnesses gets back to every village, town & city. It's lazy and illogical.

If they want to explain it by scrying, faerie intel network, etc. fine; set a precedent. And make it intermittent.

Your deeds (good and bad) should be retold by a bard that was there or knew someone there. It's what I feel their role truly is.

so does anyone know with certainty that justiciars just can't be touched?

1k bounty in every hold.

I finished all the TG quests with a lifetime bounty of 3. I had accidentally stolen an ingot in Riverwood at the beginning while Sven was watching. Since then, my lifetime bounty has skyrocketed because of the DB. Not because I'm terrible at stealth, but because I like slaughtering guards. Currently have a lifetime bounty of 29k with a high of 13k. It started when I told Mjoll in Riften to attack Sniff, the beggar. The bounty for his murder was applied to me and I said screw it, I dismissed Mjoll and I went on a guard killing spree.

In Oblivion, I always left Nightshade by my victims. Now, I just shoot an arrow in their knee after I kill them.

I almost have 200 murders @ lvl 36. I just assume im infamous, never been caught but the damn spouses are psychic. And I've had plenty of thugs sent after me.

I know with certainty I have slaughtered many and only had an issue with getting a bounty once. But the prisoner they had with them got away. Make sure everyone in the area dies and all will be well.

My thief/assassin loves stealing from all his neighbors in Whiterun and killing whoever needs killing, and socializing with them during the day while dressed in the finest clothing available from Solitude and sporting gaudy jewelery. They all think he's a simple bounty hunter for the Jarl, but have no idea just how dangerous Malekith is.

Yeah, I prefer the anonymous approach.