Spoiler We're here to teach you a lesson moments

[Voorth]

So had a conversation with Sah about the Hired Thugs and the insane moments that they pop up to try to "teach you a lesson"

Here's mine:

I just recently started a new character, a Breton Mage. At level 4 or 5, leaving the Riverwood Trader, Boom! There they are right outside the door. I thought I'd try to take care of 'em, but one swipe by the leader and I was dead.

On restart, there they are, bunched up at the door swinging away! So I take off running, casting what little spells i have at the time: conjure familiar, just to slow them down. Around and around the houses i went, picking them off. I almost had the last one down and a stupid guard steps right in between us as i cast flames. Boom! They all attack. Dead.

So I go right back into the Trader and up through the top floor. The bastards are pacing around the building heading for the back ramp.

So off I go again. They can run fast.

I think it took me about 8 tries before I finally got them, the bastards.

Anyone else have fun experiences with them?

 

[Sah]

You should know by now
SPOILER ALERT
This thread contains references to the game​

......once they showed up once right after this one became a Werewolf for the first time........when you wake up naked with Aela.......how rude.....they spoilt the moment!

 

[Kaelbu]

The only specific time I can remember them showing up was right after I got the Dawnstar Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. I thought that secret entrance was a secret! At that time, with Cicero and Shadowmere hanging out by the door, the thugs didn't stand a chance.

 

[Twiffle]

I've had them a few times, but 2 occasions stand out particularly,

Once when I was a master illusion mage, caught me in river wood, so you 3 are gonna teach me a lesson huh, quick ethereal shout, master spell of paralysis, so 15 seconds of stiff thugs while I walk around shouting who's ya daddy now, draw grimsever added potions of 22 sec paralysis and lingering damage health of 36 points for 49 seconds loot body to see which bitch now needs to be taught a lesson of there own, very satisfying.

The other was at college, I was a lowly mage and so ensued the standard running away and dodging when suddenly BOOM savos aren took all three out with fireball instantly, and just think his days were numbered too.

 

[Bipolar Nord]

I've dealt with hired thugs many many times because every playthrough no matter what type of character I'm playing, I have to have my collection of.......

Bug in a jar!

The Dragonfly in a jar must be stolen from Dushnikh Yal and that's why I get the hired thugs called on my ass.

 

[T. Rakinson]

I had just emptied Narzulbur's Ebony mine and was overencumbered. Guess who showed up.
I jumped off the bridge, hurting myself a lot, so they started firing arrows. I put up my flesh spell to slow their murdering of me, unsure of how to proceed. Fortunatly my Orc Buddies came and wiped the floor with them.

 

[Wildroses]

My second character I created to do the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild which I had refused to do on my first good character, so she was the first who came across Hired Thugs. I'd just gone through Honeyglow Estate and slipped out the door ready to burn the beehives when I first heard: "We're here to teach you a lesson." The lesson was: "Goldenglow Estate Mercenaries don't notice you burning down beehives while they are busy dealing with Hired Thugs." I greatly appreciated them teaching me that.

I'm not much of a thief (doesn't seem much point when Skyrim throws so much money at you in the form of vanquished enemy equipment) so I tend to meet them for ridiculous things, like the time I stole a tankard while trying to talk to Orgnar which I dropped instantly because who wants a tankard taking up your precious inventory space, and he somehow managed to arrange Hired Thugs to meet me after I left The Sleeping Giant. I was forced to conclude I had broken his favourite tankard when dropping it.

 

[Sah]

it was a shock when this one met the 3 thugs for the very first time...ran for her life....a run that only lasted 20sec.....DEAD....never stole a thing for a year after that, was so terrified of them!

Dose any one know how this one can hire some thugs?....Valve we are hear to teach you a lesson

 

[Deadpool.]

So when I was like level 2, i decided not to play by the story line, so I decided to run around skyrim in nothing but a loin-cloth, I stumbled accross a giant in the middle of nowhere so I challanged it to a fight by punching it... and then at that exact moment the giant had clubbed me across the map... From then on I learned that wandering around skryim, challanging beings to a fight in a loincloth isn't a good idea..

 

[Black Orchid]

I have fought these guys on so many occasions that I'm always on the lookout for them nowadays. I usually play unsavory character types that like ransacking Anise's cabin (and slaying her in the process) for a place to store my junk at the beginning of the game, which of course triggers these bad boys to come out and play.

Trick: if you often times find yourself running into them at low levels in Riverwood like I do, simply jump on the middle of the lumber pile in Lod's lumber mill and attack them with destruction spells and/or a bow and arrows. If they run away from you, simply jump off the log pile until they come after you again and then jump back onto the log pile and repeat process until they're all dead. The Breton's conjured spectral wolf (racial ability) is a big help, as well.

If you've done the Camilla Valerius mini-quest for either Faendal or Sven, then they'll usually join in the fight and help you out with the thugs, but they may just end up dying in the process, so be careful in case you wish to keep them as potential followers. If you're anything like me (which for your sake I hope you're not) and don't like followers, you can just use them as meat shields.

The funny thing is if you buy the Raise Zombie spell from Lucan Valerius after you escape Helgen, you can use it to raise Sven after the thugs kill him (which in my game they usually do), then kill him again before the spell wears off, thus earning yourself two Letters of Inheritance instead of the usual one (the amount of gold you receive is either random or level-dependent, I forget). You will also get whatever possessions he had on him, as well as the key to his home, which means you can rob him and his old crone of a mother blind for everything they own like the upstanding citizen that you are.