I was recently confused on what character playstyle to use to I thought about which ones i did not do, and I came up with a pure thief. I do not engage in combat unless I have to. I sneak by harder enemies and groups. I only backsab when an opportunity presents itself. A hard encounter that I had recently was in Bleak Falls Barrow, a restless draugr was gaurding the door I need to get past, it was a small room with some pillars and it was brightly lit. The solution? Use arrows as distractions to get past. I thought that this would be a boring playstyle at first and it might be to those who do not like sneaking but i found it fun when I actually started doing it. You get the feeling of just being an unseen bad_ass.... it's great. I recommend that those of you who have not used this playstyle try it.

Yea it's great, also whenever you get the shout that creates a distraction far away from you this becomes allot easier..

I would like to get that But i do not know how I will fight dragons as a sneaky man. I have alot of stamina...so run like hell and lead them towards other people?

playing thief characters and sneaking is something i naturally do in every game that i can. it's just how i play, so, i like what you're suggesting. i like the distraction-first method of playing and i'll add it to my own thief character, Ri'narassa-dar.

for her, i'm only picking true "thief" perks and roleplaying strictly.

i think i'll try the distract first suggestion for awhile. gratz!

thanks, I am strictly sticking to the stealthy perks as well. i am playing as an Imperial (for the voice of the emperor)

Well if you can sneak up on a sleeping dragon ( the ones who just sit at the word walls ) you can almost one shot them with a good sneak attack bonus + back stab and some instant damage poison.

Thanks, i totally forgot about the sleeping ones. I will try that.

I'll try this after I am done playing the game like the *smash-your-face-in-like-a-real-nord-hero* Dovakiin. I always gravitate towards what sounds obviously fitting to the storyline first and then branch off from there. Also, Skyrim blogger http://www.pcgamer.com/author/clivingston/ is inspiring me to try out playing as an NPC. I'll likely be doing that at the very end. Skyrim will become like my daily mini vacation.

LOL when I was first doing my thief, there was this one place where a mini-boss dragur was guarding an Iron Door.

He would walk up to the door then walk away briefly.

As he walked away, I had like a second to get past him, open the door, then shut it.

Incredible fun.

yay! more Elderstrolls! Thanks for letting me find them

The playing as an npc thing is great fun, I did modify the rules a bit.. I jog/run everywhere.

It's possible to use an arrow as a distraction. I've noticed that if you fire one off somewhere they will typically go look where the arrow hit. it does make them go on alert but if you stay hidden well enough it will go back down in a few seconds.

That is correct.

you can't really try that. as a pure thief, you can't do the mainquest...

The thief style is hands down my favorite style. though I play a little different, I do use the arrows for a distraction but only so it's possible to sneak up and leave a multitude of knife size holes in my victims back. I'm all about the killing, to leave someone alive is to have my back exposed. Sneaking in to a dungeon bow drawn knifes at the ready is what its all about. As a thief slaying is as simple as getting close to your target, which would be a problem if my opposition didn't happen to pass right by me while I'm filling them full of arrows and never realize I'm there.

Yeah I can. Why can't I?

So your not an thief, your an assassin?

You can, he's just a bit slow in the head.

The dragon guarding the throw voice shout is sleeping on top of the stone, if you have good bow and the sneak bonus along with the perk you can kill him before he takes flight. Your problem will be the dragon priest, bringa companion.

I'm more of a nordic ninja - hide in the shadows. Sword when I have to (dragons), but I try for stealthy kills, either by bow or backstab. The various Sneaking damage perks really help. So does an improved Mehrunes Razor dagger since it has a chance to instantly kill. Poisons help too.

Once I got enchanting to 100, I was able to double enchant things to increase Sneaking, archery, and one-hand. Once smithing is 90 I will make legendary Daedric dagger, double enchanted and 15x sneaking damage.

The dragon priest guarding it is krosis right?

I always wanted to play a pure thief but I didn't have the patience in Morrowind and in Oblivion I played through it too many times already. So I think Skyrim is where I shall begin.

It is fun, I recommend it.

Does anyone know if there are any other shouts besideds the throw voice one that would be useful for a thief? i have heard of one that lets you see enemies life force....

I've done the arrow trick a few times. Works well. It's the only reason I carry a bow with this thief character.