Anyone else has this?
I am lvling speech, pickpocket, lockpicking, stealth, one handed, bows and light armor perks and I just can't even fight toe to toe with more than one guy.
I did like 2.5hours over a dungeon with a companion guy because he aggro'd all enemies and I get deteced because of him because I rely on my stealth, and I couldn't command him to wait or whatever.
I just can barely kill one draugr alone when going toe to toe.
Should I lvl some other perks also? My speech is 100 and my pickpocket is 100.
Stealth is around 80.

I almost feel like rerolling and play a sword and board warrior. So I atleast can fight more enemies, since playing like this is just ridicilous and time consuming.
I do play on expert level and use daggers and bow.
Also do one handed perks count with daggers too? I never seen the decapitating animation yet while I do have the perk for it.

I don't know exactly what you should do, but if anything you should stop using companions, for stealth situations at least.

If your a stealth character on expert level you shouldn't be fighting toe to toe with anything. back stab and move on. OR just avoid stuff all together.

I would not have invested in any of the pickpocket and lockpicking perks. You should invest in sneak and one hand perks for sure. Smithing is also very very nice but can lead to a broken game if you go overboard. If you dual wield, the power attack perks are DEADLY. I also heard a lot good about alchemy but have not tried it myself really.

I know I shouldn't go toe to toe but it's sometimes unavoidable. I've encountered groups of 4 silver-hands, how do I deal with them? Not...

if you leveled properly and joined db you should do 30x with backstab plus whatever one handed perks, you can kill pretty much anything one hit too

There are some very good weapon perks out there for a stealth orientated character, plan ahead and you should do fine

you shouldnt use companions and only fight toe to toe at close range if you are spotted also use alchemy because poisoning your arrows really helps with being an assassin. and remember daggers are a last resort take down a target afar from the shadows at any time that you can.

Yeah, pretty much what they said. I generally build combat skills first over. Using the Thief as a Birthsign, I can increase my Sneak ASAP to 50 so I can backstab anything in sight. Archery is rather quick to raise too, so long as you connect with long distance shots (such as when a dragon is wounded). But yeah, lose your companion, save around every corner, check out each target and you should be good. Just focus on the Sneak tree like you seem to have done, and may I recommend the DB gloves which multiply your backstab damage by a further x2. (Thus causing a fatal x30 damage on anything).

Usually the groups have a single "leader" who is much stronger than the other three. Take this guy out with a sneak attack.

Illusion is also a good investment.

I don't use a bow, and if I'm detected, I just tell everyone to calm the hell down. Then I stab them.

you stick a poisoned arrow in the neck of the one with the best equipment

Ditch the companion, it's sort of counter intuitive to have a companion as a sneaky guy. Once you level up sneak high enough you can be right in front of them and they won't detect you. I was already one hit backstabbing giants around level 10 with my assassin. But I don't waste perks on the archery tree, I don't want my assassin to be some lame ranger wannabe.

run

Many have said stealth is overpowered and sicks all challenge from the game. It all depends on the perks you pick.

And yes, you can run from any combat as long as it isn't a trap that traps you into a small room full of enemies. Just run and then enter sneak mode. Enemies should within 20-30 seconds stop searching for you.

As I said, I couldn't ditch the companion.
It was my trial to join the companions and this farkas guy had to come with me, I could not get rid of him or I would have.

Pretty much this. Archery or Illusion is a must for rogue character on expert/master difficulty.

i know exactly what you mean im going through this on my stealth assassin. but i remade him so that i used no armor and alteration with full perks in 5/5 one handed damage + fighting stance, 5/5 archery up to 3/3 crit increase and 5/5 stealth with 15x sneak attack and 3x bow damage.

so basically focus on getting on handed 9 perks, bow 8 perks, sneak 8 perks, and alteration to max with all perks. then you will be a wrecking ball that can kill 4 people at once using bow to open up with. black smithing is essental to low levels because you can get an orcish/elven dagger with enchantment to maximize your damage while slashing like a mad man.

i find that alteration is the best complement to a sneaking character.

I never once used a companion until I made a different character. If there's more than one person in a small area I shoot one in the face with an arrow and while the other one looks for me I kill him. If it's just one person I usually just slit their throat. Unless it's a boss or something that magically knows where you are no matter what then you shouldn't be getting seen. I have 76 sneak skill right now.

Wierd, I found my stealther to be significantly more powerful than my toe to toe warriors. Nord, if [censored] goes down and I can't stealthily deal with it I battlecry, I also have the subterfuge ability from thieves guild. Come to think of it I am using a fully upgraded daedric artifact however...

i am playing on the hardest difficulty (i believe it is called Master, haven't touched it in a while) and i haven't had too many problems with my style. first, like someone else said, invest in alchemy. not only do poisons help immensely but you can also have a great supply of health potions and stamina potions (for when you zoom in with the bow). sneak attack with the bow whenever possible and then hide if you can until they go back to calm mode. then rinse and repeat. if you cannot do this, make sure you hit with the sneak attack and go for the most powerful enemy you see. use the terrain to your advantage (try to get up high to slow them down or so they can't reach you at all) and rain death down upon them. also, if you are in a dungeon and you are a decent distance in, you can stealth shoot them, hit them a few more times before they get to you, then haul ass down the dungeon. then get to a nice hallway and wait for them to come at you and make it your own personal, ancient shooting gallery. again, they will probably get close and you will have to run again. if an enemy does get close, the melee with the bow attack can knock them back (sometimes, not every time) just enough to get off one fully charged shot. do it if you you can take him down in one shot, run if you can't. another big help to an archer is conjuration. if you think you can stealth attack everyone, do that. but if you know the end result is you getting surrounded or being stuck in a close combat situation. stealth attack who you can (preferably the most powerful enemy) and then conjure someone to fight for you. or you can use the raise zombie spell. you won't be stealth anymore, but you can kill them with your bow while they are distracted by your conjured ally. also, if you decide to use magic with your character and get your magicka to 200 or so, you can cast runes. they are destruction spells that leave a trap. you cast them on the ground or on the walls (i think, haven't gotten my magicka that high yet) and when an enemy gets close, they explode for 50 damage (fire, shock or ice depending on which rune). lay one in a hallway or other choke point, stand behind it and launch your arrows. hit them as many times as possible before they step on it and after they go boom, mop up whats left. hope this helps. :foodndrink:

I'd focus primarily on combat skills, in your case that would include one-handed, stealth, bows and don't forget your light-armor perks, which are essential if you intend to stay alive when fighting toe to toe. You listed a lot of abilities, I'd tone down the quantity a notch and concentrate on quality (intensity beats extension, right'). Maxing pick pocket won't really have a huge impact on your survivability or damage dealing, It's one of those abilities the perks of which you ideally would've wanted to leave for the mid to late game. However, the dice has been cast and you're presumably high level (I'm guessing high 20's - low 30's) and the enemies have grown very tough but you don't have the combat perks to match. So basically, in a nutshell: 1) Quality beats quantity (focus on few abilities that complement each other rather than improving a myriad of unrelated ones - don't be a jack of all trades and a master of none) 2) Leave non-combat perks for later. Skyrim is about pillaging, looting and all the sweet things we can't really go through with in real life first and all the other stuff second; Unless of course you're in it to make potions and craft items for npc's, in which case I suggest you try the sims instead

I found this out the hard way too, with the same play style. I was switching between sword & bow, so thought it wouldnt make much difference joining them as they were close to hand. Basically, If your a Thief /Assasin type, then dont join the companions(fighters guild). Join the guild's assosiated with your style of play first.

Another tip as a stealth player, if the enemy are coming in your direction, use cheap arrows i.e iron, and fire them against a wall in the opposite direction form you, and they will get distracted easily. Also a good way to lure them into the open, if you have found a nice dark spot to hide in.

The problem is that you're a thief/rogue type of character and you're trying to fight toe-to-toe. Unless you're decked out in heavy mail, I suggest you play more to your type's strengths, and make maximum use of the sneak attack crits.

Unless you also level up your armor and weapon skills, going toe-to-toe with some enemies is just simply a bad idea. You have to play according to your character's strengths if you really want to get the best out of them. Stealthy types are more about maximum damage with sneak attacks than about just getting in the enemy's face and swinging away with a heavy war axe.

And yeah, if you're going to emphasize stealth, forget having companions, unless you just let them draw all the heat while you stay back, hidden, and sneak attack with arrows or a dagger. Just be sure to have some healing magic for the companion, if you don't want them to die at some point.



This, as well. I found this out, too, and it's become an excellent way of controlling mobs and setting up attacks. They will always follow towards the sound of where the arrow struck. Hit them once for the sneak attack, and then immediately fire one shot over their heads or at the ground near their feet, and they'll keep turning back to that instead of following the source of the arrow's direction, which would be you.

Like I said, play to your character's strengths, because without good armor, you're not exactly going to be able to emphasize stealth and just whack away at everything toe-to-toe.

It's the same principle for someone who wants to be the knight with a big sword, and instead uses magic while leveling all the perks related to armor and one-handed/two-handed and nothing in magic. It'll take forever for you to kill anything because you'd be playing against your character's strengths in that scenario.

My guy is a theif/battle mage(destruction). All light armor and one handed. I can battle tons of people at the same time. I have a little trouble with bandit leaders but then again my sneak is only at 30 as well as one handed. And I always travel alone. Playing on expert. I've played with light armor in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. It'll always be tougher. Good luck man.