Hey guys, wanted some input on a situation playing as a thief. To start, I've been playing Skyrim since release (played Morrowind and Oblivion when they first came out as well), but I have thousands of hours into Skyrim alone, and have played roughly 40 characters seriously (I've probably made close to 300, but most don't last long at all). That said, a lot of my time is spent rping, and I've gone with mostly warrior builds. Pure mages never appealed to me, and when I have played stealth characters, I've stuck to the guilds and staying in town for the most part.

So, after playing and playing I've discovered that my favorite playstyle/rp in Skyrim is a thief character (I love the thieve's guild, even though a lot of it doesn't make any sense - the overall feeling of it is just awesome imo). I want to make a pure thief, archery, sneak, one handed, pickpocket, lockpicking. Not planning on doing any smithing, or using alchemy, or using any magic other than racial, shadow stone, and shouts - this will be the first time I play a thief as Dragonborn.

Which brings me to my question - consider all of this, as a thief, how should I travel the wilds of Skyrim? I'm too impatient to sneak everywhere out in the wild, but I feel like as a thief I'm going to get killed easily. I want to use ONLY the thieves guild armor, probably not Nightingale, along with rings/amulets. I realize the game is incredibly easy using sneak, but that's when sneak works. How should I fight, dragons and such for example, when I'm out in the wilds of Skyrim during the middle of the day. I obviously won't be able to hide in the shadows, although I could go invisible momentarily using the shadow stone power, but that will be once a day.

Right now I'm planning on investing heavily into health and just enough stamina to get some duel-wielding power attacks in. The thing I'm worried about is being too squishy. I really hate alchemy, always have, so I don't think I'll be able to rely on spamming potions, unless I spend a ton of time stealing them from shops in the night.

So any suggestions? Or does my plan sound solid enough? I always play on adept, on pc, but I won't be using mods or console commands.

We are all thieves when we steal other people's lives.

I have a mission for you: Steal a briar heart out of a forsworn briaheart.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/General:Fishy_Stick

welcome to the forums!

And I think your plan sounds pretty good.

@Turtle,

Thanks, that was completely irrelevant lol.

Sneak + Archery & Daggers will make the game boring very quickly. I know this from experience.

I recommend cutting out the Archery and 1H and instead plant poisons of paralysis in your victims' pockets as your sole offensive measure. You're a thief, not an assassin. Assassins kill. Thieves elude and avoid spilling blood.

And as SquattingTurtle wrote, you can't call yourself a real thief until you kill a Briarheart by pickpocketing his heart.

@Persona, thanks, guess I'll try it and see.

I don't think the rest of you are getting what I'm saying. I've played stealth characters before, I know what to expect from sneak with daggers and archery. The concern was building a stealth character with relatively no defense, and then trying to cross through the wilds of Skryim in broad daylight, WITHOUT sneaking - and still managing to fight off dragons, bears, whatever. Won't be cutting out archery, I love it.

I don't see what the big deal is about pick-pocketing a briar-heart. High sneak skill, high pick-pocket skill, how are they different from anything else? Or am I missing something?

A good thief steals things worth money lol.

Should you fight Dragons, you'll definitely need to use your surroundings. Rocks, trees, anything.

That applies to all builds. imo

If you pickpocket a briarheart off a brair heart... well let's just say briarhearts are their hearts... think about what would happen

Insta-death

And you might just get a visit from thugs saying you stole his heart.

Yes... logic...

On Adept difficulty, it shouldn't be that hard and don't let the thought of light armor bring your confidence down in battle. I'm playing a no-armor, robes only Dwemer character at the moment who uses only a shield, mace, and a bit of magic, all on legendary mode. I'm perfectly fine ...so far

Oh for those http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Poisoned_Apple from Oblivion Sir.

My character was handing them out like smarties at one point.

If traveling to the major cities, or areas close to them, use carriages for travel. Also hire "guards" to protect you from place to place. As a thief, you should have more than enough money to pay for such services.

Yes, hire bodyguards, thought never even crossed my mind (usually play without followers). Thanks for that bit of input, I appreciate it - good idea.

@Idrehnor - I wasn't exactly worried about light armor, I was worried because I want keep the thieves guild light armor without any smithing, so it's not like I'll be protected by glass or dragon scale at high levels.

The crappy thing about getting followers is that they always get in your way when you try to sneak in a dungeon. If you like stealth builds to kill enemies without being seen, followers will RUIN that. I'd go solo. If you get in hairy situations (like being jumped by two bears while in the Rift) an invisibility potion will save your ass (even if you don't want to do Alchemy, it doesn't mean you can't buy useful potions). Dragons are ok to kill if you have a bow and arrows, and have good terrain landscape to aid you. Imho though, sneak characters can be overwhelmed if you are caught by the Dawnguard/Volkihar (depending on your side) on the roads. Those guys made mince meat out of me.

He could always use the compainions as guards, to and from areas, then have them wait while he takes care of business.

^^ Exactly what I was thinking. Use the guards as a distraction when fighting out in the wilds, and then if I need to enter somewhere to sneak, just make them wait outside. Hopefully that should give me an edge when dealing with dragons and other enemies. And it makes sense to me from a roleplaying perspective too. A good thief would probably have hired thugs guarding him when he needed it, let alone if I became head of the thieve's guild.

Yeah, I was planning on having some potions ready, I just didn't want to have to rely on them exclusively. And I wasn't just worried about dragons, but any enemy that poses a significant threat.

Wouldn't pick-pocketing a briar-heart be more of an assassin thing? lol

I know you won't use smithing, but will you be perking light armor? If so, I fail to see the problem in the wilds for defense if you play on adept. Master is another story.

Also, it's not a coincidence that there is a light armor trainer right in the middle of Riften.

Threads like these are fun to read, just saying.

Thing is, Thieves dont fight dragons. At least not in my book if they are alone. Run and hide from dangerous enemies or try and get help from the posted guards near towns. A bow would be nice complement for a thief, if a dragon comes you could use that, with help from guards.

Thing is, even with perked light armor, a Blood Dragon or Elder Dragon shows up out of nowhere, flying over head and spitting flames upon me, I'm going to be in a bad spot. It isn't so much that he's out seeking to fight enemies, I just didn't want to have to sneak everywhere I go, especially out in the wilderness.

For example, my last character (on adept) had a huge problem with ice wraiths. I was travelling and ran into two of them. I was fighting with thieve's guild armor, a steel longsword and a steel dagger. So I couldn't block, not that it would have mattered much. But they were so fast, it was hard to get close enough and strike them without taking huge amounts of damage. I had to end up running away and healing.

On this character, I won't even be using magic, so healing is out save for potions. I think the companion idea is probably what I'll be trying. And yeah, I have nothing against leading an enemy towards guards and stuff, but that's not always an option.

And this thief will have to fight dragons because I'm playing as Dragonborn lol.

If found this thread very interesting, being new to the site I haven't read all posts but I would like to say if you want to be a stupidly rich thief then go to any shop and crouch behind the shopkeeper/waiter/random lizard and steal everything. Don't get seen even though there rite next to you, I have full inventory of potions/weapons without spending a single coin. To be perfectly honest this does get boring and does take the fun out of being caught and chased out of cities/holds, but I haven't died in combat for months(real life!) because of plentiful healing potions etc.
I've started again for the 4th time after basically becoming bored or running out of perks, I must say I never used block before now and fighting anything I use it solely to level up, I think concentrating perks on certain trees works best, I stick with one for each but when I'm say 78 on archery an need 80 to perk up ill just throw a random. Makes it interesting!

Well flames from dragons and damage from ice wraits are on the elemental side, so the armor won't help anyway. These are things that need magic resistance, and to be honest, they are a problem for ALL types of characters. I suggest a magic resist ring and the Lord Stone -- which would also help with a amor boost. Also, you're a thief: steal magic/frost/fire resist potions

Edit: don't know what race you're planning to be but a Breton with the Lord Stone would take care of all your magic resistance needs.

Your experience is not shared with everyone. Of all my characters, my thief build was the most rewarding, and longest-lived. His goal was to remain invisible to his enemies, picking them off one by one before they even knew what hit them. Many a time did he send an arrow into a corridor in order to cause the unaware mob to investigate, only to be taken down one at a time before any could even begin to know where he was. Study the dark art of poisons, learn to step in the darkness, and never give your enemies a fair fight. You are not to be seen or heard, only let your presence and that of their impending doom be felt. Deceit and guile are your only allies. The only knowledge your foes will have is the sudden whistle of the arrow just before it pierces their heart or the abrupt sting of the blade as it bleeds them of life. Oh, yes, there will be times when they shall see your face, but only for the brief moments that precede their deaths.

As for the wide open spaces, be cautious, always scanning your surrounding. And why walk across a dangerous plain wherein any number of threats may lurk? No one is using those stabled horses, and those hunters who dismount to chase their prey, well, the obviously have little use for their steed. There is no honor in death, nor dishonor is flight. You don't stand toe-to-toe with your adversary, you bow politely, stepping back into the shadow, from whence hell and treachery can strike them down. You make the rules by which you live, don't be foolish to surrender, or even to permit, to others what is rightly yours.

And by rightfully yours, I mean something you want.