How many skill trees should I focus on for a thief?

[WispD]

Hi everyone. I am currently playing a level 38 thief type character, and I am worried that I am spreading my skills too thin. That being said, I'd like to ask everyone what their opinion is on how many skill trees they think one should focus on. Both in general, and for the type of character I'm trying to make.

This is my current build
http://skyrimcalculator.com/#292738

I'm investing in 8 trees already. And even then I was told by a couple of people that I should invest in two more trees, smithing and enchanting, to make myself the best endgame gear. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Konahriik]

If you are wanting a full blown thief character you should focus on these skills:

Illusion: Invisibility, Calm and Fear.
Alteration: Candlelight, Telekinesis
Archery
One-Handed for sneak attacks (preferably high damage daggers)
Light-Armor (Heavy armor will bog you down, and cause you to create a lot of noise)
Pickpocket
(And the most important) Sneak

If you are also a "break n take" thief, I would focus on Lock picking too.

Hope this helped

Konahriik

 

[NiteMare]

You are spread a bit thin, you might find yourself struggling at time's depending on your difficulty. However, If you feel you are having fun with the game then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. When I play a character I try to focus on the Role of the character rather then making her lets say...the strongest in combat if she were to be a Thief, or.... the strongest in magery if she were to be a SpellSword... I will nerf or hinder her so the game stays challenging. Remember in real life no one is perfect, you play the way you want. ^.^

P.S: You should think about working more in your Bow or 1-hand skill. If that's the advice your looking for

 

[Psiberzerker]

If anything, I would drop Illusion, since the only effect that can't be gotten through Alchemy is Peace. That means no need for Magicka, which is another place your character can lose focus. Also, you don't have to fill out trees completely. If you only take half the perks from two (And splash them up to 50) then it's just as better as filling out one completely.

 

[berzum]

well seeing how 1.9 update came out get urself to lvl 250 ish and perk out everything thats what i did....but then again I am a true gamer and not some weekend wannabe

 

[WispD]

well seeing how 1.9 update came out get urself to lvl 250 ish and perk out everything thats what i did....but then again I am a true gamer and not some weekend wannabe

I don't like what you're implying. I'm in this for the long run and I most certainly am not a casual.

 

[Twiffle]

I agree with psiberzerker on this, illusion is good, but with a little practice Alchemy can be awesome, especially with invisibility from level 1, i think the main things should be sneak of course, then archery if you are planning that way along with one handed, i would also concentrate on pickpocket strongly, however to be honest lockpick is a waste of time as with a little practice you can pick master locks without putting perks into the tree. The rest is totally upto you and how you feel, you may find smithing handy for armour but mainly strong weapons, enchanting maybe useful but IMHO not really necessary as again Alchemy can be very powerful once you get used to it. .. .. well thats my 2 cents.

 

[CognitiveShift]

I don't have any special perks for thievery. None in pickpocketing, sneak, illusion..etc..etc. and I think being a thief is too easy as it is. Occasionally I'll use my nightingale shadowcloak of nocturnal power, but not often.
I agree with Twiffle, if I was going to focus on anything it would be pickpocketing, as until you level it up a little bit or find some enchanted items you might find yourself paying off a few bounties or reloading a couple saves, just keep an eye on the percentage in the bottom corner of the screen of your odds of pocketing an item and don't be too greedy, the more items you try to pick from someone, your percentage goes down dramatically even if it doesn't show.

 

[Perkless in Skyrim]

A "pure" thief wouldn't need to invest anything in Illusion. Save your perks for the Stealth skills. This is just me but I wouldn't spend any points in Speech unless you have a role-play scenario in mind. It's just too easy to make money and the Thieves' Guild quest lines can get you fences.

Experimenter in Alchemy (to me) is an all or nothing deal. If I'm going to spend perk points to know ingredient effects, I'd like to know them all.

Whether you want to invest in Smithing and Enchanting is up to you but they go hand in hand with Alchemy and as you're aware, can get you some pretty sweet gear later on. Better than anything you'll find on your own.

 

[Reaper0021]

All I use on my level 75 Thief is the following:
Sneak
1 Handed
Archery
Light Armor
Block
I'm more of a "Swashbuckler" type of character, so I use block in conjunction with rapier type swords, as I'm a duelist type if you will. This while using the mod "Jaysus Swords" and the mod "Bucklers" gives me the desired effects I'm looking for. Lockpicking is so easy for me I never invest perks into it as no matter the type of lock, I can get into it. As far as pickpocket goes, I guess that depends on the type of thief you are. On this toon I'm not crafting anything, and I just refuse to get alchemy as it's more for an Assassin type of character for my tastes (poisons, etc.).

 

[WispD]

Thanks for your help all, sounds like some really good advice. I think I'll drop illusion but is there any other school of magic that would be good for a thief? I've heard about three people say alteration was good for thieves now and someone said paralyze was good but I think alchemy can do that anyway. It would be a waste to not have at least some magic to cast because I invested quite a bit into my magicka pool so I could double cast Muffle early game to make me (hopefully) much harder to detect, but I got the shrouded boots now which sounds like it does maybe the same thing.

Or is there a mod that can refund my HP/magicka/stamina points?

 

[Kalin of High Rock]

I'm leveling an Archer/Thief right now with a focus on the use of poison tipped arrows.

I went into Sneak, Archery, Light Armor, Pick Pocket and Alchemy.

 

[Morgan]

All I use on my level 75 Thief is the following:
Sneak
1 Handed
Archery
Light Armor
Block
I'm more of a "Swashbuckler" type of character, so I use block in conjunction with rapier type swords, as I'm a duelist type if you will. This while using the mod "Jaysus Swords" and the mod "Bucklers" gives me the desired effects I'm looking for. Lockpicking is so easy for me I never invest perks into it as no matter the type of lock, I can get into it. As far as pickpocket goes, I guess that depends on the type of thief you are. On this toon I'm not crafting anything, and I just refuse to get alchemy as it's more for an Assassin type of character for my tastes (poisons, etc.).

Do you use the smallsword from the Jaysus pack? That's my favorite look for the swashbuckling type. I wish he had a main gauche with a matching hilt/guard for dual-wielding.

 

[Perkless in Skyrim]

Thanks for your help all, sounds like some really good advice. I think I'll drop illusion but is there any other school of magic that would be good for a thief? I've heard about three people say alteration was good for thieves now and someone said paralyze was good but I think alchemy can do that anyway. It would be a waste to not have at least some magic to cast because I invested quite a bit into my magicka pool so I could double cast Muffle early game to make me (hopefully) much harder to detect, but I got the shrouded boots now which sounds like it does maybe the same thing.

Or is there a mod that can refund my HP/magicka/stamina points?

There's no reason to give up on Illusion. But it's really not needed for more than the Quiet Casting perk unless you just truly enjoy messing with peoples' minds. I like Calm and it's more powerful versions. If you fail at picking a pocket or get caught stealing it can save you some grief.

Alteration can boost your armor rating with Flesh spells. Again, not really needed but useful. Paralyze is expensive, but it can do something Alchemy can't: affect undead. All your poisons are worth squat against draugr. I'm not sure if it can also affect automatons.

Conjuration is worth considering. Bound weapons free up weight that you can use to carry more loot. Not sure if I'd spend many (or any) perks on it though.

 

[Nighthiker77]

It would be crazy to use bound weapons and not take the mystic binding perk. Bound weapons are awesome because thy are weightless, do good damage, and can't be disarmed. One you have the adept perk, bound bow can be cast with less than 100 magica. You might only need 140 or so once you level up a little bit without the perk. So since you already have extra magica, you could already cast them, and upgrade to mystic weapons with only 2 perks.

 

[Oren74]

1H
Sneak
Archery
Light Armor
Enchanting
Smithing
Speech

Fun

Use 1H and shield, but no perk points in block....I just use a shield for extra AC and magic resist.
Also level alchemy just to make coin and level up for more perk points.

Don't need 16x dagger damage. Need only 1 pt in improved sneak.
Get speech to 50 w/ perk in sell any item to any merchant
Enchanting to 100 with all perks
Smithing to 100 with all light armor perks

Let the good times roll...to each their own though. No use in magic, plenty of shouts to do what you want.

 

[Flint firestorm]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STAY AWAY FROM LOCK PICKING UNLESS YOU SUCK AT IT!

 

[The Wanderer]

Pure thief? I also go in to Sneak quite a bit, as well as Pickpocketing. There are things I do differently then most, because a lot of people combine Assassin and thief and I never do so I barely waste perks in to 1h and Archery. I also Do plenty of illusion for calming people when i need a safe get away, or fury to make a distraction to sneak by. Alchemy wouldn't hurt either haha, along with Light armor. Good luck to you.

 

[Riften Guard]

Personally I think your build is pretty good. Do you have the dragonborn dlc? If so you should take the perks out of speech. It's the most useless skill in the game without Lucan's 10000 gold glitch, imo.

 

[Reaper0021]

Do you use the smallsword from the Jaysus pack? That's my favorite look for the swashbuckling type. I wish he had a main gauche with a matching hilt/guard for dual-wielding.

I use the "Boarding Knife" and "Shiavana" (I think that's the name.) Here is a picture link for those that don't know what Jaysus Swords look like. Best Mod ever made.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures of jaysus swords swords&client=firefox-a&hs=hlT&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=MpOQUb35LYL28wTW14G4Cw&ved=0CDAQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=612#imgrc=84ZO-qMlh0uYEM:;q8UISofToLOF7M;http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.skyrim.nexusmods.com%2Fimages%2F70110-1323155291.jpg;http%3A%2F%2Fskyrim.nexusmods.com%2Fimages%2F10486;1808;1098