Assassin (Bow / Dagger). Master difficulty

With clothes.

Perks I'm gonna use: Alchemy, Archery, Sneak. I am avoiding magical schools except possibly Conjuration (Necromancy).


I use clothes only because they look better on my Argonian than armor (tried it all in coc qasmoke). Otherwise I'd use armor. Maybe mods solve this but I doubt it.
So I have +magicka regeneration that I don't use, which i feel is a waste.

I decided against Alteration simply because I didn't like magical look of my character once I cast Oakflesh (and I assume I'd look the same with Dragonhide). I might change my mind if really needed, especially since magic resistance Alteration perk looks interesting.

But what I'd really like is to have Conjuration (Necromancy only). I tried it a bit and it was.. well honestly it was worthless with a stealth character. And extremely buggy. But regarding stealth - I do like to use companions, and get into close battle on occasion or two (I stab the enemy while he's busy with my companion).



1. Should I bother with Necromancy at all (that would be some 8 perks used)? Does it get better once I have Thrall (a permanent zombie)? Because current ones expire by the time I reach the next target when sneaking, they often act like headless chicken, and worst of all die when switching chambers. Or lag behind me and block my retreat in narrow corridors.

2. How useful is Alteration magic resistance perk? Worth investing in this case? Only 30% resistance or also absorb? (Resistance seems enough to me as it doesn't depend on luck but always lowers damage.)

3. I don't really plan to use much of Alteraton and for Paralysis I want to use potions (I want a cold-blooded, literary, character, not magical one - necromancy is cold enough but that's about it). I even want to avoid other spells such as seeing behind walls, so it would be just for Stoneflesh/Dragonhide. I'm not sure investment would pay off.

4. In case of going necromancy, how should I distribute magicka/health? With clothes I need all health I can get, but on the other hand I feel as if I'm going to die fast without armor anyway (unless I take Alteration). This is now a lose-lose situation for me: health potions will be useless if every hit on me is one-hit-kill, and same with my race power (which is stronger the more health I have). On the other hand going magicka just for Necromancy seems a bit of a waste. But it's fun to raise dead.

5. Would alternative to increasing magicka be trying to find equipment that decreases the cost of Conjuration spells, and then once I cast Thrall, I switch to my other armor? How often do Thralls die, how often would I have to recast them?
Since I'm going to use potions heavily, I'm not concerned with magicka regeneration, just being able to have enough to cast the spell.

6. Is Smiting completely useless in my case? Or it would be still useful for companion armor if they wear it? Or better bow and dagger? Or should I rely on drops? I'm aware that Smiting can be strong but there are no slim armors for lizards. Dragonscale looks okayish but no fitting help, and character looks fat.

7. Experimentor perk. With perks being so important I can't waste a single one. Should I use this? Or just keep mixing potions until I reveal all 4 effects? How realistic is that? Are there other Alchemy perks I can do without? Like x2 gathering? What about the Master one? I'm not sure how Snake perk is useful in practice but it sounds good for roleplaying when you're Argonian.

8. For assassin, what 1h/bow perks I can do without? Do I lose much without using critical hit bow perks? Slowing time perk? I can also live without paralysis perk I think, since I intend to rely on potions a lot. Same with Ranger perk. And regarding one-handed, which are essential for daggers? Dual wield? Or I can do without considering the sneaking bonus?

9. Sneak. I suppose I'll have to use all perks considering my poor defense?




As you can see, I am trying to make character optimally useful given the roleplaying limitations.

I myself wouldn't bother with necromancy. Just from a role play perspective, assassins IMO are supposed to be stealthy, solo characters. A zombie running around shouting BRAINS and attacking everything doesn't seem to fit that but as I said, that me and you might be more imaginative than me in thinking up a reason on why it is perfect feasible in why an assassin can have a pet zombie. :thumbsup:

Remember though casting spells make a noise unless you have the silent spell perk.

Resistance shouldn't be much of a problem for stealth based hunters/assassins as the idea is to kill before prey can do anything. Slowtime with archery helps a lot if you are spotted as does Shadow warrior.

Also enchanting is your best friend. It can easily half the cost of magicka (and then some), especially if your only using one spell. Allowing you more points in health and stamina.

Stamina is good to invest in with archery unless your a god with a bow as slowing down time can deplete the stamina bar pretty quickly if you do not have enough. Again enchanted items can help massively with stamina as well.

I'd say no to smithing if you can help it, not getting caught is a bigger priority than armour and enchanting alone should give you enough damage when added to a bow or dagger.

Have fun with it and this was posted on the forum yesterday by Jayzer. Very useful for planning perks.

http://www.jayzar.co.uk