Mage assassin build?

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Oliverjames

Active Member
I'm restarting skyrim tonight. And given my last character was heavily archery oriented, I'm planning a Mage assassin build. What strategy should I use? What perk trees.
 

psyk0

No soul gem large enough.
I'll assume you're thinking of a stealth assassin - so my recommendation would be Sneak, Light Armor, One-Handed, Illusion, and then maybe Destruction or Conjuration.

One-handed is undeniably a better choice for stealth than any other weapon skill. Some of the perks in Illusion go really nicely with a stealth character (Silent Casting!), and it can be really handy to mess with your enemies' AI to reduce target group size. Destruction/Conjuration will help you to deal with targets that aren't humans, or that are tricky to sneak around - as well as dispatching distant targets.

Enchanting and Smithing will also be very helpful as it'll mean you can put mage-enhancing abilities (in particular magicka regen, which is almost essential for mages) on shiny new armour.

In terms of gameplay, try not to get stuck in big groups or in close-combat with big nasty monsters, as they'll make short work of you. Let your minions and follower take the beatings. Focus on Sneak above all else; at higher levels, and with Muffle, it'll make the majority of your encounters laughably easy.
 

psyk0

No soul gem large enough.
Take a look at http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Races and pick the race that has skill synergies that match your class, if you want a slightly easier start to the game. Other than that it's largely cosmetic beyond early levels. Most of the special powers are situationally as useful as each other.
 

Oliverjames

Active Member
Restarting helped reopen the game for me, to take a different path and almost play an entirely different game. Thanks for your help!
 

Necromis

Well-Known Member
my suggestions, pick a race you would like to role play, and forget about their bonuses, as in the end they will all level out. I suggest using light armour, stealh, one-handed, conjuration and illusion for sure. I like conjuration for the bound sword/bow, because with the mystic perk you have daedric quality weapons w/o having to worry about being disarmed or upgrading. I actually am playing a sneaky mystic archer assassin like that. heading to Fort Amol for the bound bow tome. Illusion allows you to calm and frenzy enemies so you can actually get them to fight each other and weaken themselves until one is dead and one low health survivor is left. Good luck
 

Necromis

Well-Known Member
won't hurt, but if you are going for stealth you will need to up illusion to get the quiet casting perk otherwise your stealth will be for naught.
 

MrYoshi411

New Member
For race I would go with the Dark Elves. They have high Destruction and Sneak so in my experiance they have been useful
 

psyk0

No soul gem large enough.
The Dunmer racial power is pretty hilarious, too - when it all goes wrong and you're surrounded by angry draugr, you can make them all burrrrrnnnnn. ;)
 

Oliverjames

Active Member
That's exactly what I chose. And yeah the power is excellent. Conjure flame atronach, plus flames, plus power. Who needs weapons!?
 

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