I have a Dunmer VL/assassin at lv 37, and I have somehow gotten by with hardly using ranged skills. So I was wondering, should I go the more assassin route with archery, or should i go the more vampire route with destruction? Also bear in mind I have played both of these skills to death. I use them both on my main, and I have a pure mage and a witch-hunter. But I'm only picking one for this character. I'm also debating whether or not I'd like to try out some necromancy. So I'll list what I think are pros and cons for both, and if you guys could help me out, that'd be swell

Current skills:

Sneak
Illusion
One-handed
Enchanting
Tiny bit of Smithing
Light Armor
Conjuration (possibly)

Destruction:

+ Totally fun blasting fireballs and lightning bolts
+ Quick to use, doesn't inhibit mobility
+ Runes can be helpful at lower levels
+ Impact
+ Stagger-lock tough enemies.
+ Provides additional offensive capabilities in open combat
+ Dual casting and utilizing elemental weaknesses is still effective at high levels

- No sneak attack bonus
- Not very quiet (I'd only use it in open combat though)
- Becomes increasingly impotent as you level up
- Demands a decently large magicka pool
- Projectile spells can miss (I'm not a very good shot with Lighting Bolt)
- Limits use of Illusion spells


Archery:

+ Damage can be directly increased
+ Much more precise
+ Sneak attack bonus
+ Pretty quiet
+ Enchantments
+ Power Shot (50% chance to stagger)

- Limits movement immensely
- Heavier bows take longer to draw arrows
- Takes more focus to fire than Destruction
- Slower rate of fire than Destrucion
- Staggering an enemy is not guaranteed
- Cannot stagger large enemies at all
- I usedliterally nothing but the Bound Bow through my entire 30-something hour playthrough of DG with my witch-hunter

I'd go with Archery, but that is my favorite skill anyways. I love tracking the enemy, while they are unknowingly waiting for their demise.

Another perk for archery: You will be up to your armpits in arrows unless you consciously DON'T pick them up for a while. They weigh nothing, while Restore Magicka potions decidedly do NOT weigh nothing.

I do love when I one-shot bandit, and his buddies start getting all antsy 'cause they have no clue where I am.


Arrows clogging up my weapons tab is a HUGE problem for me. Cause yeah, I always pick every one I see. I wish they had a separate tab for arrows altogether.