So I've just been thinking lately about my first playthrough. I generally like to start off with a stealth player, thief/assassin. I will probably dual wield daggers and use a bow at range. Most of the game will be fine with this type of player, but what about the dragons? I can see getting off a shot or two with a bow but once it gets close, i'm not sure that daggers will have enough stopping power. I don't really want to have to incorporate large blades or blunt weapons into my skill set if I don't have to. Anybody else curious about this aspect of the game?

yeah, I have a hard time seeing how there will be stealth kills for dragons, kinda rob the epic feel they wanna portray, plus it be a bit cheap getting the powerful dragon shouts if you could just sneaks up and slit the dragons throat.

But then again we have not been given any suggestion the dragon hunting is the core of the main quest, for all we know you could just skip kill the dragons and go straight for the main badguy, whomever it may be.

Dragons have to sleep sometime...

This.

You will probably just have to shoot them with your bow or use duel wielding.. I'm sure things like daggers and such would work but yeah.. won't feel very epic.

Stealth characters should just use duel wielding weapons for dragon fights if they want to retain that "epic" feeling of slaying a dragon.. a bow would feel very weak in my opinion.

My second playthrough is going to be beating dragon's over with his fists. Stealth characters will most likely be most forced out of their element, meaning they'll have to put your faith in your dragonshouts, your bow, and your dodging ability. Bow's got a huge boost, so you'll be able to deal some serious damage before it gets close if you see it coming. After that, you'll have to play it smart. Stealth character's don't have the luctury of running in blinded, they have to think five steps ahead. I rather like it that way.

And if you sneek up on a sleeping one, which I see being very very very hard, you'll be rewarded for that. I don't see a problem with that either.

if there anything like classic European fantasy dragons...you wanna go into it′s nest? Ya nuts?

Yea, I don't really want to stealth kill dragons as that would be kinda weird. I doubt they are just sitting around waiting to be snuck up on. I would hate to skip them altogether since they seem pretty epic. I'm hoping that stealth characters aren't a bad route to go in this game as I really enjoy playing them. I just don't see a good way for them to bring down a dragon.

Its a high risk, high reward kinda deal. Ya might get that first one, but mama might be coming home with food any second. I really don't see a big problem with that.

I guess you'll be able to get a little critical hit/sneak bonus on the first hit for extra damage, but I doubt you would be able to do an instant stealth kill on dragons.

well the bow seams the best bet then, as I doubt daggers will do much (there is a reason there moved to the stealth skill) in a open battle.

Weak? not epic? Reminds me of http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Smaug

Dragon Poison.

DUH! :bonk:

And all characters will have access to dragon shouts.

Why? What's wrong with classic dragons' nests?

lets see, magical minions, magic traps, bottleneck corridors made for maximum dragon breath burnage, almost unavoidable magic alarms design to wake the dragon, oh and a sleeping area designed so the dragon can sleep with only his hard, almost impenetrable scales exposed.

Will that stuff be in Skyrim?

It would be amazing if they had dragon nests..

Dragon shouts may make up for a lack of firepower. Having sword skills may be necessary in this game to finish off a dragon. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to be able to wield a longsword since daggers won't be as effective in open combat. In other types of games, agility can let you maneuver around enemies and dodge attacks. TES games don't really use agility in this way though. In oblivion you could roll but it wasn't very acrobatic looking and probably wouldn't put you out of harms way against something as large as a dragon. Hopefully we will get some more info on stealth characters soon.

most likly some of it, I can at least bet you won′t be able to just walk into a dragon nest and just find the dragon alseep.

Well some dragons can be found in a caves, so these fellows you can take down by sneaking up to them and stab them with your dagger.
And with other dragons i am afraid you will have to fight face to face.

I lol'd at this comment. Maybe if you get drunk first then go into it's nest =D

I'd imagine stealth play would have some of the most entertaining ways of killing dragons; you'd have to get the drop on them, and then strike their weak points (if they have any). I can tell you now that I'm going to try to kill at least one dragon by jumping off a cliff, landing on it's back, stabbing it in the face a few times and praying for a soft landing. :toughninja:

Wait..! So are you telling me its a near impossible situation, full of obstacles that one must use logic, skill, and pure luck to get by, in order to achieve the most epic throat slit in the game? And this is not epic how? Does this not strike you as maybe being exactly what Stealth characters are about? Such impossible odds are our specialty, why we create our characters, and that is where our heroic acts are.

Agree.

As for how a stealth character is supposed to take out an alarmed dragon in the open, I guess we can sprint around and dodge the dragon if we have chosen a lot of stamina during level ups.
Then we could run around the dragon and stab it in the back continuously with two daggers.
That, and/or shooting it down with a bow.

I remember reading about something similar to bullet-time that occurs when you hold your breath while aiming with a bow. Maybe this way it is possible to at least weaken the dragon, or apply poison. Maybe aim for the eyes or inside the mouth? This would be easier with slowed time.