“Has this one heard the tale of the Dark One, no? Tis a sad tale indeed, filled with suffering and death.”
“The Dark One, that is what we in the guild called him, was an unusual creature, not quite man nor beast. A Khajiit, just like this one himself, yes, but he was more than that. Brynjolf told this one the legends about our guildmaster.”
“Not only was he a master thief, but a brutal tactician and a savage force. With fists faster than arrows and an arm stronger then ebony, he put down his enemies before they knew he was there. Some say Nocturnal was at his side, others say it was Clavicus Vile.”
“Alas, this one does not know the truth, for he only knows this… Greif stirs in our leader’s eyes and while he may not speak a word, we trust in his judgement.”
“The Dark One is Nocturnal’s Enforcer and this is his story.”
Ah, Nocturnal, the Raven Mistress, the patron of thieves and Lady Luck herself. One of my favourite Daedric Princes and the one I was most excited about when I saw our new event theme. One thing that has always bothered me about the majority of thief builds (with some exceptions) is the amount of… Non-thief-y behaviour. With this build, I set out to achieve the perfect master-thief and the perfect unarmed warrior who only kills his final target! Who needs weapons when you can suplex a bandit chief? Who needs a bow when your foes don’t even know you are there?
Utilizing a useful glitch I first noticed in another build on the site and when browsing USEP, the Dark One has no need for even a shield, instead using his own arm to block blows as they come in! Toss in a few sneaky perks and you have found yourself the perfect thief, infiltrator and wrestler all rolled into one.
Race: Khajiit Vampire, mainly for stats boosts, stronger unarmed and the Night Eye ability
Stats: 0/1/1
Major Skills: Pickpocket, Lockpicking, Sneak
Minor Skills: Block, Light Armor, Speech
Stone: Thief, then Shadow
Shouts: Aura Whisper, Throw Voice, Marked For Death, Slow Time
Powers/Abilities: Nightingale Strife, Root of Power, Summon Spectral Assassin, Prowler’s Profits, Seeker of Shadow, Black Market
Followers: Lucian LaChance, if needed
Pickpocket: What every true thief needs, no? Pickpocket is used offensively and to harvest coin for training. With Misdirection, taking an opponent’s weapon’s means they are forced into an unarmed brawl with you (which you will surely win!). Slipping a poison into one’s pocket is also a stealthy way to knock out any extra enemies that may be swarming your final target.
Lockpicking: “Why is this in your build?!” I hear you all cry out in outrage. Hold your horses, this is a thief build! Notice how the only perks taken are ones that make picking level locks easier and to gain more gold? I found this was a good enough way to make Lockpicking more challenging (as well as a few extra mods). Treasure Hunter was a godsend from Nocturnal herself and I highly recommend this perk.
Sneak: Khajiit likes to sneak, so quiet and fleet… Thieves are infiltrators and quiet steppers, they have to remain undetected when doing their things and thus, that is the main point for this skill. Muffled Movement and Silent Roll are key perks, granting you the much needed silence you need to succeed.
Block: Thanks to a handy glitch I discovered with the Ebony Shield and vampirism, this skill is taken to make your Enforcer 200% more badass (guaranteed or your money-back!) Imagine using your Deadly Bash perk is smashing a bandit’s jaw in with your forearm or that using Shield Wall to stop a battleaxe is Nocturnal watching over you. Training this skill is encouraged, as it will level very slowly but it will be well worth it!
Light Armor: Not many perks are taken here but early on you will need some protection. Unhindered will release the inventory space from your bag and give you some more speed and Custom Fit will boost your AR up so that you’re not dying from every hit.
Speech: While most build see Speech as optional, I like it as it fits a roleplaying purpose. Selling your goods for more money is always great, right? Go further up the tree if needed, but I preferred to NOT sell my stolen goods to nobody but the fences, and kept my perks simply Allure and Haggling 3/5.
Nightingale Hood
Amulet of Bats
Nightingale Armor
Nightingale Gloves
Ring of the Beast
Nightingale Boots
Ebony Shield of Blocking
Stolen Scrolls and Staves
What better gear to equip for an Enforcer of Nightingale then the Nightingale armor itself? Be sure to grab
it at the highest level you can possibly afford to wait in order to get the most benefit out of it. An Ebony Shield can be found fixed in any of the locations on this page and more can be picked up from Level 32 onwards in loot chests. Until you find these items, stick to the Thieves Guild armor and the best shields you can come across at your level.
Jewellery-wise, you would be a fool to go with anything but the Ring of the Beast from the Dawnguard DLC. While the in-game description leads you to believe it only works in Vampire Lord form, do not be fooled! At any time of the day, you get an extra +100 health AND you claws will do 20+ damage! To sum up, we will be getting 22 points (from racial) + 20 from the Ring of the Beast + an extra 20 in Vampire Lord Form with the Poison Talons perk. That’s a whopping 42 damage as a Khajiit, and 90 in Vampire Lord form to boot!
Switch out your necklace if desired, I was just stumped on what else to use by end-game as I found nothing else was needed on my Enforcer. Stolen scrolls and staves are simply to be used for fights too tough so don’t worry about keeping a huge stash on you.
First thing you want to do straight out of Helgen is head to the Thieves Guild. Don’t grab the Golden Claw, don’t start killing dragons, just get to Riften! From here, join the Thieves Guild, pick up the Dark Sacrament rumour and then head to Fort Dawnguard. Focus yoru first twenty or so levels on stealing, 
doing radiant quests and getting through the Dawnguard questline to become a vampire. At around Level 10, head back to Riverwood and start the main quest until you need to fetch the Horn and take the time to grab the set Ebony Shield (the link in Equipment details where this is). After you do all this, you should be tough enough to handle yourself. Spend time in cities pickpocketing and lock picking to grab that sweet-loot for selling.
Combat-wise, there is nothing too special to this guy but there is one thing I highly recommend NOT doing during quests - Killing everyone you see! Remember, you are a thief and you must remain unseen! Stealth your way through dungeons and ONLY kill the bosses at the end, unless you are forced into a corner. Pick off his weapons and slip a poison into his pocket, before circling around and bashing him until he falls over!
Literally every enemy can be felled with this tactics and even those who are too tough for you can be beaten by becoming the legendary Vampire Lord! Even Dragons are no match for your claws as you swoop in to deal 60+ points on Unarmed damage! And even if then the stakes are too high, summon your best friend Lucian LaChance to lend a hand, as well as using any stolen scrolls and staves to whip out massive amounts of damage!
Phantom Charge
Invisibility + Shield Charge
Want to get the jump on that last enemy with a bang? Chug down any invisibility potion (or activate a power) and charge ahead, watching as your foe is laid flat by a non-existent force charging at them!
Silent Smash
Stealth + Silent Roll + Unarmed power-attack
Easy enough to explain, simple spring from the shadows and lay your fist into their back of their skull!
Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood (optional), Main Quest, Dawnguard (vampire side), bounty runs and anything that involves stealing, looting, infiltrating and gaining insane amounts of gold.
This may seem like a little quest log but honestly, you can make this build roll with pretty much any alignment and role you choose. Want to become a thane? Roll with it and equip a disguise (and then steal everything in the Jarl’s homes!). Want to be the Arch-Mage? Throw on some robes and down some Fortify Magicka potions
• Anything that isn’t nailed down is yours for the taken! If it’s worth carrying, take it and sell it on.
• Being a vampire, it is unwise to be out in sunlight during the day. As soon as you become one, only be active at night unless a quest calls for you to be out during the day.
• Do not wear the Nightingale gear in town! Wear a disguise fitting to your purpose when speaking to the common folk. My go-to one was a beggar in rags when I wanted pick pockets!
• Feed on thralls’ rather than common folk. After all, if everyone is dead, who will there be to steal from?
I would like to thank my fellow hosts for motivating me to complete this, as well as Teccam who promised to send me nudes 
. Credit to Albino for his discovery on the invisible shield charge glitch and for coming up with the name of said special ability. I would also like to give a kudos to Zach and his Obliterator build for first alerting me to the invisible Ebony Shield glitch with Vampirism. Hope you all enjoyed the build!
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“Has this one heard the tale of the Dark One, no? Tis a sad tale indeed, filled with suffering and death.”
“The Dark One, that is what we in the guild called him, was an unusual creature, not quite man nor beast. A Khajiit, just like this one himself, yes, but he was more than that. Brynjolf told this one the legends about our guildmaster.”
“Not only was he a master thief, but a brutal tactician and a savage force. With fists faster than arrows and an arm stronger then ebony, he put down his enemies before they knew he was there. Some say Nocturnal was at his side, others say it was Clavicus Vile.”
“Alas, this one does not know the truth, for he only knows this… Greif stirs in our leader’s eyes and while he may not speak a word, we trust in his judgement.”
“The Dark One is Nocturnal’s Enforcer and this is his story.”
Ah, Nocturnal, the Raven Mistress, the patron of thieves and Lady Luck herself. One of my favourite Daedric Princes and the one I was most excited about when I saw our new event theme. One thing that has always bothered me about the majority of thief builds (with some exceptions) is the amount of… Non-thief-y behaviour. With this build, I set out to achieve the perfect master-thief and the perfect unarmed warrior who only kills his final target! Who needs weapons when you can suplex a bandit chief? Who needs a bow when your foes don’t even know you are there?
Utilizing a useful glitch I first noticed in another build on the site and when browsing USEP, the Dark One has no need for even a shield, instead using his own arm to block blows as they come in! Toss in a few sneaky perks and you have found yourself the perfect thief, infiltrator and wrestler all rolled into one.
Race: Khajiit Vampire, mainly for stats boosts, stronger unarmed and the Night Eye ability
Stats: 0/1/1
Major Skills: Pickpocket, Lockpicking, Sneak
Minor Skills: Block, Light Armor, Speech
Stone: Thief, then Shadow
Shouts: Aura Whisper, Throw Voice, Marked For Death, Slow Time
Powers/Abilities: Nightingale Strife, Root of Power, Summon Spectral Assassin, Prowler’s Profits, Seeker of Shadow, Black Market
Followers: Lucian LaChance, if needed
Pickpocket: What every true thief needs, no? Pickpocket is used offensively and to harvest coin for training. With Misdirection, taking an opponent’s weapon’s means they are forced into an unarmed brawl with you (which you will surely win!). Slipping a poison into one’s pocket is also a stealthy way to knock out any extra enemies that may be swarming your final target.
Lockpicking: “Why is this in your build?!” I hear you all cry out in outrage. Hold your horses, this is a thief build! Notice how the only perks taken are ones that make picking level locks easier and to gain more gold? I found this was a good enough way to make Lockpicking more challenging (as well as a few extra mods). Treasure Hunter was a godsend from Nocturnal herself and I highly recommend this perk.
Sneak: Khajiit likes to sneak, so quiet and fleet… Thieves are infiltrators and quiet steppers, they have to remain undetected when doing their things and thus, that is the main point for this skill. Muffled Movement and Silent Roll are key perks, granting you the much needed silence you need to succeed.
Block: Thanks to a handy glitch I discovered with the Ebony Shield and vampirism, this skill is taken to make your Enforcer 200% more badass (guaranteed or your money-back!) Imagine using your Deadly Bash perk is smashing a bandit’s jaw in with your forearm or that using Shield Wall to stop a battleaxe is Nocturnal watching over you. Training this skill is encouraged, as it will level very slowly but it will be well worth it!
Light Armor: Not many perks are taken here but early on you will need some protection. Unhindered will release the inventory space from your bag and give you some more speed and Custom Fit will boost your AR up so that you’re not dying from every hit.
Speech: While most build see Speech as optional, I like it as it fits a roleplaying purpose. Selling your goods for more money is always great, right? Go further up the tree if needed, but I preferred to NOT sell my stolen goods to nobody but the fences, and kept my perks simply Allure and Haggling 3/5.
Nightingale Hood
Amulet of Bats
Nightingale Armor
Nightingale Gloves
Ring of the Beast
Nightingale Boots
Ebony Shield of Blocking
Stolen Scrolls and Staves
What better gear to equip for an Enforcer of Nightingale then the Nightingale armor itself? Be sure to grab it at the highest level you can possibly afford to wait in order to get the most benefit out of it. An Ebony Shield can be found fixed in any of the locations on this page and more can be picked up from Level 32 onwards in loot chests. Until you find these items, stick to the Thieves Guild armor and the best shields you can come across at your level.
Jewellery-wise, you would be a fool to go with anything but the Ring of the Beast from the Dawnguard DLC. While the in-game description leads you to believe it only works in Vampire Lord form, do not be fooled! At any time of the day, you get an extra +100 health AND you claws will do 20+ damage! To sum up, we will be getting 22 points (from racial) + 20 from the Ring of the Beast + an extra 20 in Vampire Lord Form with the Poison Talons perk. That’s a whopping 42 damage as a Khajiit, and 90 in Vampire Lord form to boot!
Switch out your necklace if desired, I was just stumped on what else to use by end-game as I found nothing else was needed on my Enforcer. Stolen scrolls and staves are simply to be used for fights too tough so don’t worry about keeping a huge stash on you.
First thing you want to do straight out of Helgen is head to the Thieves Guild. Don’t grab the Golden Claw, don’t start killing dragons, just get to Riften! From here, join the Thieves Guild, pick up the Dark Sacrament rumour and then head to Fort Dawnguard. Focus yoru first twenty or so levels on stealing, doing radiant quests and getting through the Dawnguard questline to become a vampire. At around Level 10, head back to Riverwood and start the main quest until you need to fetch the Horn and take the time to grab the set Ebony Shield (the link in Equipment details where this is). After you do all this, you should be tough enough to handle yourself. Spend time in cities pickpocketing and lock picking to grab that sweet-loot for selling.
Combat-wise, there is nothing too special to this guy but there is one thing I highly recommend NOT doing during quests - Killing everyone you see! Remember, you are a thief and you must remain unseen! Stealth your way through dungeons and ONLY kill the bosses at the end, unless you are forced into a corner. Pick off his weapons and slip a poison into his pocket, before circling around and bashing him until he falls over!
Literally every enemy can be felled with this tactics and even those who are too tough for you can be beaten by becoming the legendary Vampire Lord! Even Dragons are no match for your claws as you swoop in to deal 60+ points on Unarmed damage! And even if then the stakes are too high, summon your best friend Lucian LaChance to lend a hand, as well as using any stolen scrolls and staves to whip out massive amounts of damage!
Phantom Charge
Invisibility + Shield Charge
Want to get the jump on that last enemy with a bang? Chug down any invisibility potion (or activate a power) and charge ahead, watching as your foe is laid flat by a non-existent force charging at them!
Silent Smash
Stealth + Silent Roll + Unarmed power-attack
Easy enough to explain, simple spring from the shadows and lay your fist into their back of their skull!
Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood (optional), Main Quest, Dawnguard (vampire side), bounty runs and anything that involves stealing, looting, infiltrating and gaining insane amounts of gold.
This may seem like a little quest log but honestly, you can make this build roll with pretty much any alignment and role you choose. Want to become a thane? Roll with it and equip a disguise (and then steal everything in the Jarl’s homes!). Want to be the Arch-Mage? Throw on some robes and down some Fortify Magicka potions
• Anything that isn’t nailed down is yours for the taken! If it’s worth carrying, take it and sell it on.
• Being a vampire, it is unwise to be out in sunlight during the day. As soon as you become one, only be active at night unless a quest calls for you to be out during the day.
• Do not wear the Nightingale gear in town! Wear a disguise fitting to your purpose when speaking to the common folk. My go-to one was a beggar in rags when I wanted pick pockets!
• Feed on thralls’ rather than common folk. After all, if everyone is dead, who will there be to steal from?
I would like to thank my fellow hosts for motivating me to complete this, as well as Teccam who promised to send me nudes . Credit to Albino for his discovery on the invisible shield charge glitch and for coming up with the name of said special ability. I would also like to give a kudos to Zach and his Obliterator build for first alerting me to the invisible Ebony Shield glitch with Vampirism. Hope you all enjoyed the build!
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