So I've started a assassin type character, relying on archery, one handed and sneeking. However everywhere I read people say illusion is a must have for this type of build. I just dont know why. I dont have any experience with illusion, since it always felt rather pointless to me.

Why is illusion so great and how must I apply it to be effective?

Muffle for silent walking, and range of pacify spells to carry out your assasination rather peacefully. You can do without, but it makes life hell of a lot easier.

There are a bunch of guys in one room who would team up on you and beat you up if you go straight at them.

Cast Frenzy, suddenly they team up on somebody else.


Also invisibility and Muffle.

its not a must as you will need to spend points on magica which could be used on more stamina. It is an alternate beneficial way for stealth

In my opinion, stamina isn't as usful because you can have 1 point and still do a power attack. Just create a potion that increases at least 1 point over a long period of time and you're all set. No need to spend it on that green bar at all unless you like sprinting and a larger carry capacity. I like carrying a lot. In the end, health is king.

Illusion is helpful. Right now I'm playing an Illusion/Conjuration assassin (conjuration only for bound weapons, no summons). I liked the idea of an assassin that can go unarmed and unarmored to blend into the crowd while in town.

As said, frenzy spells help larger groups take eachother out before you move in for the kill. Muffle helps you sneak early on, later when your sneak is high you won't use it as much. You don't want to deal with a certain enemy? Calm him and he will just walk away and ignore you.

And you can sneak up on a target, backstab, and if he doesn't die and attacks you, just calm him, wait to go hidden again and backstab him again.

I would say it's because assassins are generally squishy characters when in direct confrontation or facing multiple opponents. Illusion spells such as calm and fury give you better crowd control allowing you to dispatch multiple enemies without them all surrounding you can chopping your head off, or having to run away. I wouldn't say it's a must but on a hard difficulty setting it certainly makes things a lot easier.

The Top Tier spells are hard to get though, right ? like Invisibility.

Illusion isn't necessary for a stealthy character. I've done two characters like that and never used Illusion. But like others have said, it does make the character's life a lot easier. Then again, it makes any character's life a lot easier. Personally, when I begin using Illusion, I can't stop and it ends up becoming the way I attack every situation. Get to 100 Illusion and the Mayhem spell and it's all over.

does including Phenderix Magic Evolved spells count as cheating?

Because that adds quite a few useful illusion spells, including a few illusion based attacks.

Not unless it is totally overpowered, which it shouldn't be, since most mods try to keep the balance. But not everyone can use them, so you shouldn't try to sell magic based on mods.

@topic

Hm, I never really used Illusion, though perked it is really useful for crowd control. I myself use Alchemy and Paralyze poisons for crowd control as well as a follower with melee capabilities. But it could make Eola viable for me. Might try it on my current char.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/GOBwithaJOB.JPG

illusion is something to use in conjunction with other skills as a sneak or mage, but I love it. Can be powerful and a lot of fun. Clearing dungeons I'll typically go invisible, cast mass hysteria or frenzy to make enemies fight eachother, use conjuration to ressurect any dead to fight for you again.

If there's anyone you want to dispatch quickly simply calm / harmonize them. They will ignore you and you can easily sneak behind for dagger hits (a bit lame I know).

A drawback is that very powerful enemies usually resist the spells, but the master level ones work on most.

I also like casting fire cloak then going invisible. Then you can roll through the landscape as a ball of fire.