Im trying to assassinate someone in Markarth, but no matter what I do I seem to get caught. I've stalked the person and have stayed hidden for a long time and don't see anyone nearby. I shot an arrow from behind which killed her instantly and it still showed me as undetected, yet a red marker showed up indicating an enemy. It was a guard who was way far away.

I've had trouble with this many times, my sneak is high and I've got on fortify sneak gloves, necklace, boots and used a potion. I've tried the frenzy spells and have had no success. I've got a dark brotherhood initiate with me as a follower, could this be affecting my stealth?

DOes anyone have any suggestions?

Usually when i assassinate, i find a nice spot where no one can see me, then transform into my werewolf form then maul my target. then feed off there body then escape the seen before i change back.

For one thing I don't take any followers on assassinations, in the DB or otherwise. Can't really explain it but it's as if they're another alarm, even if they're very sneaky. As for assassinations via ranging, what I do is find a nice dark spot or a really high spot and just camp there. I wait for the target to be in a position where they can be killed with at least most of the view obstructed by anyone else, preferably even in their own house. Then I sheath my bow and haul ass out of there, hasn't failed me yet.

Alternatively if you've gotten good at ranging and you have the slow time perk, you can make VERY long range shots easily.

I onced use a shout to kill someone in Windhelm and didn't get caught, but I got really lucky. I might dismiss the DB initiate, it couldn't hurt. If the person goes to their house, I would wait until they are inside and sleeping. If you are doing the DB Forever quest, then you would be out of luck there. For the one time I did that quest, I just svcked it up and paid the 1000 gold fine

I've gotten caught a few times... in Solitude twice: emperor decoy, emperor's cousin's wedding. Not by the Pentius Oculatus but by the Solitude guards. Paid the fine. Had plenty of money to spare. Once in Ivarstaad. Paid the fine. I was headed to Whiterun anyway. I'm sure I had a nice chat with the guards along the way. No stolen goods on me. My sneak was 100 at the time.

If you see a red marker but you aren't fully detected yet, it means they are searching for the suspect, so try to hide till it says you are hidden again.
You shouldn't get a bounty that way. Don't stay at the spot you fired the arrow from, because the guards will search there first.

Also, staying hidden is way easier if you've got a muffle enchantment on your boots, because you can move around without making noises.

What also seem to work is telling a follower to kill a target, and then casting calc/pacify on the guards attacking him.

Whenever possible, take advantage of speaking with your target first.
Quite a number of assassinations can be completed by defending yourself from an irate target.
Tick 'em off - Let 'em swing first - Take 'em out.

Some difficult targets can be sufficiently agitated.
You can, indeed, complete the DB questline whilst only incurring the one scripted 1500 penitus fine.

Patience is a virtue often hastily sought.
Slow down.
Think it through.
Plan it thoroughly.
An assassin's patience can be their most valuable asset.

The 'Poisoned' perk in the Pickpocket tree is very useful for this.

Generally if your follower is close to you they will be spotted and you'd be as well... If I want to do my sneeking around I always have my follower stay somewhere until I've cleared the area or I need them, because enemys always spot them and ruin my chance for critical hits.

As for the red markers go, as long as you weren't seen killing the person, you should be fine, wait until the Hidden shows up and the red markers go away before coming out of sneeking.

Pretty much this: I did this in the wedding quest. I - the red enemy thing showed up the eye did not open completely - I waited where I was until the eye shut, and then proceeded to wander around and talked to NPCs. No one showed any indication that I was a suspect - I had no bounty and did not get caught. Sneak was around 50 at the time, so maybe that affects the odds too.

What was funny is the other chap from the DB rushing in afterwards and offering his help - irrelevant I know, but funny nonetheless

Ditch the follower, and use a blade. I've found that, for whatever reason, a bow usually invites more attention than cutting the client's throat with a dagger. If you're still having trouble, chug an invisibility potion immediately after making your kill, it can buy you enough time to escape. Failing all else, skill up more sneak.

Just because a red marker popped up does not mean you're fully detected. It means that someone in the area heard a noise or something like that and is aware that something could be wrong. Pay attention to the eye in the middle of the screen when you're sneaking. After you assassinate someone and another person is nearby the eye will open just a pinch letting you know to remain hidden until the eye fully closes again. You're not detected until that eye is completely wide open and it will say "Detected" on your screen.

I had big problems with this one as well. I found that if I followed her around, there's a couple of places where the kill is much less likely to be spotted, then I used one of those for a bow shot. But it took about five attempts.

Those are guaranteed detections, it's in the script.

Don't have followers. Some have morality settings that frown on murder (and DB contracts are still murder). Don't have a horse. Seriously, those things use telepathy to tell everyone what you are up to.

If you do use a bow, it's equally important that the target die before it detects you as well as your use of the bow goes undetected. Guards hear them. In fact, I've found that sneaking up behind the target and using my 1H sword is quick and quiet. I did that to a mark on the path between the Hag's Cure and the Hall of the Undead in Markarth. A guard sauntered up the path a half a minute later, but I had tossed the body in the river.

I agree, though that the best option, assuming your pickpocket skills are good enough (as well as the poison!) is the poisoner's perk. Twice I've had to kill a visiting noble in Dragonsreach. The first time he was seated alone to the left of the stairs leading up to the hearth. As I scuttled towards the door, he died, and that moment the guard said, "Ye gods!", unsheathed his sword, then put it away again. The second time, the noble was at the main table, a couple of chairs down from the head on the right side. Seated on the settle behind him was the Jarl! I crept up and planted the most powerful frenzy potion I had. Oh, lol, it's great when the mark gets himself killed!

And as was mentioned, you might try the "self-defense" method. No stealth, it's out in the open, and with luck you'll neither take any damage or have to deal any. This was the only option with one target in the main DB quest chain. He couldn't be poisoned (too high a level) and any sneak attack would be detected. But with the right choice of dialog, he was provoked, and the deed was done. Granted, General Tullius wondered why the guards let just anybody (me) into Castle Dour, but he let it go at that, lol.

I ended up taking her out with an arrow and had to kill all the guards until the last witness was killed. I didn't want to pay a fine because I usually have a bunch of stolen stuff on me, and I didn't want it taken away.

You can always just get your stuff back from the evidence chest in your town's dungeon/prison, you'll have to pick the lock, but it's an easy way to get all your goods back

Usually what I do in this kind of situation is assassinate the target from up close with a dagger, then immediatley after equip the Shadowcloak of Nocturnal and sneak away. But if you don't want to do Thieves Guild stuff to do that, I'll usually break into their house when they're asleep (Which I've found is usually around 2:00 AM) and kill them. Either that or I plant a poison on them and walk away. If they have the option, I'll piss them off and kill them in self defense. Worked for me when killing Commander Maro right in front of a Penitus Oculatus agent. What I'd recommend is dismissing your follower, then silently kill her with a dagger/plant a poison when undetected and with no guards around, then sneak away. If you can, use invisibility to get away. Good luck.

Where do I get the shadow cloak???

Is that the one where I chose out of 3? When I picked the nightingale strife?

Yeah, it's one of those. Go back to the Twilight Sepulcher and stand on the Shadowcloack circle, which is the crescent moon I think. For 120 seconds you can turn invisible while sneaking. Don't use it when you're going in for the kill, because you become uncloaked when killing/pickpocketing.

What makes stealth attacks with a bow effective is distance. If you're too close, you can get detected by the sound generated when you let the arrow fly. If you're close enough, daggers are better with the damage (with perks) and are the only soundless weapon when swung. Use a bow when you have some good range, because in some circumstances, it can become rather easy with even a low sneak skill to shadow a target until the last arrow drops him. I sometimes like to hunt in the forests at night because of this.

Shooting an arrow into a corner usually makes enemies investigate the noise the arrow makes, so they go to the very same corner. Then you can easily sneak up to them and stab them in the back. Usually use this tactic in dungeons when multiple enemies are in the same room. Distraction is gold.

Fury Spell.

Bar none, the most effective and hilarious murder weapon.

Even if you are detected it is only 40 gold.

My favorite way too assassinate someone is by putting a lingering damage health potion with an parallisis effect on it in theyre pockets and watch them slowly passout i must admit it pretty funny and sneaky its the ultimate sneak kill

Easiest bet is hitting them with an arrow from a mid-distance whilst sneaking. Will make it easier for you to be unseen as Markarth is a fairly open city.

Markarth always has me assassinating the grim shield maiden, Dark Brotherhood repeat quest.

This is what I found works:

1) Wait until like 2 or 3 am, the least amount of guards are around.

Also, NPCS are not around to muck it up. I don't know why, but if I killed her earlier the Orc smith and her
trainee guy aggro on the GUARDS. That gets them killed eventually. So I went back to the earlier save
and then waited until late.


2) I then snuck, killing the grim shield maiden with an arrow/my sword while sneaking.


Doing it very late at night, as well as waiting when I could not see any guards, I did not get "caught."


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My follower Mjoll, or my dead thrall awesome thalmor soldier, don't mess it up either.

The issue in markarth seemed to be the npcs like the smith noticing me doing the thing, even from
quite far away. Then, for some obscure reason, they beeline for the guards who are after me and attack
them (as well as perhaps alerting the guards in the first place?)

When waiting until 2 am, never had a problem again with that often repeated assignment.