Hi! I am quite new to the Elder Scrolls, and I'd like to ask, what does it really take to be successful as a assassin? Mixed with archery, sneak and light armor. I seem to do very well against standard foes, but horribly wrong against bosses and dragons... anything I should know? Thank you!

My build is somewhat similar, but I added One Handed (dual wield) and that seems to take care of dragons nicely.

Sneak attack whenever possible...

You just have to learn to adapt.
Fighting dragons is not that hard when you take cover and hide.
Do you have any restoration skill? I would recommend that. I'm playing the same build and it helps me out in serious trouble.
Some bosses, especially in the first 10-20 levels are terribly strong so you should just avoid them, keep at distance, use arrows. Try to always get in a sneak shot first.

Yes I think the assassin is very strong when he has the initiative, but is very weak against dragons.

I still rely on sneak attacks on dragons, I just have to improvise by using Invisibility potions when they land. Then it is just a matter of moving close to them, and WHAM!

I use to wait until it's night, then sneak up on the mountain or whatever behind them and gently drop down and backstab them. With the 30x damage that's almost killing them (on master).
Honestly, they're a real pain in the ass for me.

I can do that on a few of them, but some of them are really high up on their perch.

In Light Armour, you must remember to move! Dodge, faint, sidestep, strafe, in and out. You are not a tank and must use your abilities to your advantage.
Trading blows is not your goal. Instead, get in your shots and get out before they respond.

A useful tactic I've found for melee combat in Light Armour: Use a torch as your shield.
You can block with a torch, and bashing with one will set your foe on fire.
Enemies on fire will then take additional damage when struck with your melee weapon.
Highly satisfying to torch-bash a Troll or Spriggan, whackwhack with my 1H axe, back pedal and strafe left, re-engage with another torch bash/axe chop combo and repeat.
That torch bash, as with any shield block, will interrupt their attack allowing you to get in one or two good shots before disengaging.

Get in, inflict unexpected fire+melee damage, then get out.
Works wonders.

I like to role-play and I play on Master difficulty. My assassin is only an archer at the moment. I just use Sneak and Archery. Later I'll add more perks to light armor and one-handed so I can use a dagger as well. I haven't used Smithing/Enchanting/Alchemy. I just use weapons/armor I'm given or find during my exploration. It's really fun and I have still got a little bit of a challenge. I take quite a few shots to kill enemies so I've got to be strategic. I had to fight 5 Draugr Death Lords and a Scourge. I also had another Death Lord in the next room. I just popped a few shots and quickly retreated and hid in the dark. Waited for the 'hidden' to appear and repeat. It's not so hard once you get the hang of it, just more repetitive. Even though it sounds boring I'm actually enjoying it. But once I've done the Thieves and Dark Brotherhood I'm moving on to either a Barbarian, Paladin, or Light Armor warrior because I think it might be more challenging but fun.

For the bosses: Shoot him with a sneak attack, change position, hide. The sneak attack, change position, hide. Then....get the idea? This way you shouldn't have any problems at all. Avoid direct confrontation with many enemies, bosses and guys with a 2h-weapon.

The enemies will run to the position where you did make your last shot. Ideally you shoot, get to a point across the room where you can have a look at your last position. This way you don't have to wait until you are hidden again. Just don't overdo it. You will get a feeling for it .

I pretty much just sneak, archery and light armor for my build and don't have trouble with the bosses. If you're worried, toss in some blacksmithing and you'll be fine.

Thank you everyone for the tips! Here are a few more direct questions

- is there different kind of lght armor? Like ive seen some sort of chain mail light armor and some cloth like light armor

- how can you dodge / sidestep?

- bosses that spawn on me with no room to maneouver?

- useful perks for the build

- dark brotherhood and thieves guild? Whats that?

- any other general tips for the build would still be appreciated!



Thank you guys again for the priceless infos up there

Also I'd add in alchemy. After you get a few perks on that tree you can make some pretty useful poisons. If you do what I do and sneak attack and hide when they come looking for you, you can clear out places pretty nice.

Do you have the Ranger and Quick Shot perks yet?They make strafing a lot easier.

If you you want to try mixing something else in use alteration. Spells like Oakflesh gives you better armour and Muffle helps you sneak around quieter and easier. I'm using a similar build and the Slow Time shout helps close in and dodge ranged enemy's so you can finish them off quickly. Alternatively using Slow Time and adding some paralysing poison to your weapon and just run past everyone knocking them out then finishing them off while they're down is quite fun.

As some have pointed out pick one-handed and begin training it little by little, eventually you'll get the 15x sneak attack damage for daggers (Sneak tree), that's when this build starts getting good. Dark Brotherhood is a faction of ruthless assasins, very good for your character, nice storyline. The Thieves Guild is also good for thief characters, but they usually don't rely on murder. Both have decent set of armor, with nice perks fro stealthy characters so I suggest you do both quest lines or at least join and get to the point where you get your armor. Good luck from a fellow assasin.

Illusion also pairs up nicely with stealth, since you have Invisibility on demand, and some Calm/Fury spells to control your enemies. The only downside is that you need to put some points into Magicka, which some people don't like.