This is actually the first build I really played, and boy did I play it into the ground. Illusion-based assassins (Nightblades?) are not only the strongest class, in my opinion, but happen to be one of the most fun classes to play as due to their fragility and the creativity in approach latent in the build, a creativity that I don't think is adequately captured in Chase Cunningham's Illusion Assassin Build. After the most recent playthrough of what is probably my sixth or so such character, I present...
THE ALDMERI ASSASSIN
Not going to lie, the Altair look is pretty inspirational
Born into an upper-middle class aristocratic family on Summerset Isle, you enlisted in the Aldmeri peace-keeping forces. Due to your genius-level intelligence and knack for diplomatic skills and subterfuge as a Justicar, you have been granted a role in a new experimental "asset" program for the Dominion. Skyrim is your testing ground. Your training mission is to kill the Thalmor Asset Ulfric Stormcloak - an important mission, but only a means to a much greater end, so you will to an extent be playing both sides against the middle. The goal is to weaken the growing Stormcloaks, but also to martyr the Jarl and strengthen the cause.
You may not always be aware of them - sometimes, if you're observant, you will notice them - but the Dominion will be observing your progress. They may even "test" you personally...
After a few short playthroughs soon after I first purchased the game, I concluded that smithing + alchemy + enchanting were not only supremely overpowered, but even worse, they were boring. You become an unkillable God of a spellsword after hours upon hours of making Iron daggers and endless trips too and from enchanting tables and alchemy stations. This game is supposed to be about action! I decided to create a character that would not use enchanting, smithing, or alchemy. It turned out to be a tall order, and I did end up using a little bit of smithing to smooth out the character as a whole, but that didn't break the spirit of the challenge, and it perfected what has come to be my own all-time favorite character build.
Race: High Elf (vampire optional) - Plot aside, since I did the fluff after the build not before, I honestly think Altmer make better Illusion-Oriented Nightblades than Dark Elves, Khajit, or Bretons. You won't be getting hit by mages, generally speaking, so the magic weakness is negligible. The Altmer magic bonus of 50 is no joke, and their Highborn power can be incredibly useful between the time you purchase invisibility and you the time you have the mana/regen to cast it multiple times in succession after consecutive assassinations.
Stone: Lover initially, Snake or Lord final
Shout: Whirlwind Sprint or Become Ethereal
Major Skills: Illusion, Sneak, Speech
Minor Skills: 1-Handed, Light Armor, Smithing, Alteration
Weapon: Blade of Woe, Various Staves
Gear: Ancient Shrouded Gloves, Boots of Sneaking, Master Robes of Illusion, Nightingale Hood, Jewelry of Wielding. (Eventually you could swap out the Robes and Hood for Morokei and Elven/Glass Armor of Eminent Illusion, but I think the look is pretty ugly. When money is no issue and high enchanted gear is sold all over, aesthetics become a primary concern).
Stats: 3:2:1 (M:H:S)
Quests: Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, College of Winterhold, Civil War (Empire)
The Build: The term glass-cannon is often used to describe particular builds, and it's particularly suitable here. Part of the reason I love this guy so much is that every situation plays out like a chess game. You have a variety of options at your disposal, often times many of which seem viable. If you mess up, many of your opponents (like bandit chiefs) can 1-hit-kill you. That said, the Aldmeri Assassin is ridiculous. If played correctly, anything but dragons are simply his (or her) playthings to toy with. We'll touch on dragons a bit later.
At early levels, you can snipe off members of large groups by hitting one with "Frenzy," Once the group has dwindled down in size, you can sneak up behind the last few and slit their throats. Alternately, if you're feeling more brazen and diabolical, you can simply walk up to them, pacifying them in turn, walk behind them, crouch, and casually dispatch them in front of their now apathetic friends (who will often have something rather odd to say at that time).
Use muffle to level up your illusion whenever you're simply walking around, and you'll hit 75 in Illusion in no time at all. Quiet casting, Expert Illusion, and Assassin's Blade should be priorities.
"Grandmaster" the Level 10 Aldmeri Assassin sporting Shrouded gloves and boots, Thieves Guild armor, and an Apprentice Hood
As soon as you get invisibility, you become an outright monster. A quick side-note, the robes aren't exactly necessary until you get Invisibility, which should be around level 12 or 13. If you have a level (and it only takes 1) of whirlwind sprint or become ethereal, you can even slit throats in the middle of crowds of enemies, leaping out of reach or fading to another dimension before anyone can swing a blow to avenge their fallen comrade.
Late game, of course, ordinary enemies cannot touch you. You can simply waltz up, invisible, and drop Master-level calm or frenzy spell. Of course, the flip side is that you cannot let them touch you, or you will probably die.
Perks: (Level 25)
Illusion - Novice-Expert, Hypnotic Gaze, Aspect of Terror, Animage, Kindred Mage, Quiet Casting
1-Handed - Armsman (3/5)
Sneak - Stealth (1/5), All but Shadow Warrior
Speech - Haggling (1/5), Allure, Merchant
Light Amor - Agile Defender (1/5)
Level 17 Grandmaster hanging out in the college of Wintehold, wearing Adept Robes of Illusion.
(Level 50)
Illusion - All but dual-casting
1-Handed - Armsman (5/5)
Sneak - Stealth (1/5), All
Speech - Haggling (5/5), Allure, Merchant, Bribery, Investor, Fence
Smithing - Steel, Arcane
Light Armor - Agile Defender (3/5), Custom Fit, Unhindered
Pickpocket - Light Fingers (1/5), Night Thief, Cutpurse, Extra Pockets, Misdirection
As you can kind of tell, the build is basically done at around level 35. Without feeling obliged to put over 9,000 perk points into smithing, alchemy, and enchanting, I learned just how powerful and underrated Speech was, which Mason outlined in his Arcane Archer build as well (not to mention the role-playing aspect here).
...What about dragons?
It is true that this build has a more difficult time dealing with dragons than most, even more than normal assassins who, although having it tougher than warriors, at least have the luxury of a good bow with which they can engage in ranged combat. However, I have figured out several techniques for dealing with dragons that make them significantly less of a problem.
Spectral Assassin - The Dark Brotherhood power given after Bound until Death. Lucien is a fearless dragon slayer, and will soak up a lot of damage while dishing out a lot in turn
Storm Atronachs - Aside from purchasing or finding one, you can actually make a staff of Summon Storm Atronach at the atronach forge in the Midden using a broom, void salts, orichalcum ingot, and a greater/grand/black soul gem (filled). A scroll is made simply with void salts, paper roll, and charcoal. Having either a staff or a few scrolls on hand is always useful in dealing with dragons without having to actually invest points in conjuration.
Mehrune's Razor - A seemingly obvious but often overlooked answer to the dragon question. Once it lands, just swing a bunch and, if you're lucky, you'll get a "critical" sooner rather than later. Keeping the dragon distracted with summons or allies is obviously extremely helpful. Purchased "resist fire/frost" potions can be life-savers here too.
Sanguine Rose - Similar to the Storm Atronach answer above, but with Dremora
Followers - If you know you're going to be fighting a Dragon, e.g., en route to Kynesgrove, take along a follower like Cicero or a Dark Brotherhood Initiate (aka "Debbie," shoutout to Trendkill for the awesome acronym nickname there). These guys a.) won't die and b.) do some serious damage output.
Vampirism: Personally, I don't like taking the vampirism route with this character, but it does give you some tremendous bonuses to sneak and illusion. It's really up to you, though if you're going for role-playing, vampirism doesn't seem to have a place in the build. If you do become a vampire, the Skull of Corruption can be a very useful and powerful tool that syncs well with vampirism.
Tactics and Techniques of the Aldmeri Assassin: There are tricks and strategies that don't rely on perks and hence weren't really covered above. What really sets the Illusion-focused Nightblade, our Aldmeri Assassin, appart from other builds is the incredible variety of strategies you can use, much of which is made available through the incredibly underestimated speech skill (purchased potions, enchanted weapons, etc).
The Fade (Invisibility + Assassin's Blade + Become Ethereal) - The Aldmeri appears out of nowhere to take the life of his victim before vanishing from reach and then from sight
The Bait (Bow + Silent Roll + Assassin's Blade) - The victim hears a noise and goes to investigate, only to be stabbed from behind after he turns
The Lure (Bow + Dungeon Trap) - The Aldmeri Assassin, aware of his surroundings, harasses the enemy and snares them in a deadly booby trap
The Infection (Frenzy on Assassination Target) - The most beautiful example I've seen of this was actually using the pickpocket poisoner perk: the player dropped a Frenzy poison on Vittoria Vici in the Bound Until Death quest. She promptly started punching her husband, who enthusiastically drew his steel greatsword and ran her through. Perhaps the most diabolically twisted assassination I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing.
Diplomacy (Become Ethereal + Harmony) - The Thalmor is a talented speaker and can use rhetoric and mind manipulation to calm nearly anyone. It's an "oh shit" move when you're surrounded by armies of draugr that you can't take on while they're thinking about you.
Divide and Conquer (Bow + Paralysis Poison + Silent Roll + Assassin's Blade) - The Agent, seeing two enemies, hits the one further away with a paralyzing arrow and quietly dispatches the other one when they go to investigate/help their fallen comrade.
For an INCREDIBLE demonstration of some of the less magical techniques (notably Bait, Lure, and Divide and Conquer) check out this video. Cannot recommend Sephxxforxxlife high enough.
Well, that's it. Kill some stormcloaks and enjoy!
This is actually the first build I really played, and boy did I play it into the ground. Illusion-based assassins (Nightblades?) are not only the strongest class, in my opinion, but happen to be one of the most fun classes to play as due to their fragility and the creativity in approach latent in the build, a creativity that I don't think is adequately captured in Chase Cunningham's Illusion Assassin Build. After the most recent playthrough of what is probably my sixth or so such character, I present...
THE ALDMERI ASSASSIN
Not going to lie, the Altair look is pretty inspirational
Born into an upper-middle class aristocratic family on Summerset Isle, you enlisted in the Aldmeri peace-keeping forces. Due to your genius-level intelligence and knack for diplomatic skills and subterfuge as a Justicar, you have been granted a role in a new experimental "asset" program for the Dominion. Skyrim is your testing ground. Your training mission is to kill the Thalmor Asset Ulfric Stormcloak - an important mission, but only a means to a much greater end, so you will to an extent be playing both sides against the middle. The goal is to weaken the growing Stormcloaks, but also to martyr the Jarl and strengthen the cause.
You may not always be aware of them - sometimes, if you're observant, you will notice them - but the Dominion will be observing your progress. They may even "test" you personally...
After a few short playthroughs soon after I first purchased the game, I concluded that smithing + alchemy + enchanting were not only supremely overpowered, but even worse, they were boring. You become an unkillable God of a spellsword after hours upon hours of making Iron daggers and endless trips too and from enchanting tables and alchemy stations. This game is supposed to be about action! I decided to create a character that would not use enchanting, smithing, or alchemy. It turned out to be a tall order, and I did end up using a little bit of smithing to smooth out the character as a whole, but that didn't break the spirit of the challenge, and it perfected what has come to be my own all-time favorite character build.
Race: High Elf (vampire optional) - Plot aside, since I did the fluff after the build not before, I honestly think Altmer make better Illusion-Oriented Nightblades than Dark Elves, Khajit, or Bretons. You won't be getting hit by mages, generally speaking, so the magic weakness is negligible. The Altmer magic bonus of 50 is no joke, and their Highborn power can be incredibly useful between the time you purchase invisibility and you the time you have the mana/regen to cast it multiple times in succession after consecutive assassinations.
Stone: Lover initially, Snake or Lord final
Shout: Whirlwind Sprint or Become Ethereal
Major Skills: Illusion, Sneak, Speech
Minor Skills: 1-Handed, Light Armor, Smithing, Alteration
Weapon: Blade of Woe, Various Staves
Gear: Ancient Shrouded Gloves, Boots of Sneaking, Master Robes of Illusion, Nightingale Hood, Jewelry of Wielding. (Eventually you could swap out the Robes and Hood for Morokei and Elven/Glass Armor of Eminent Illusion, but I think the look is pretty ugly. When money is no issue and high enchanted gear is sold all over, aesthetics become a primary concern).
Stats: 3:2:1 (M:H:S)
Quests: Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, College of Winterhold, Civil War (Empire)
The Build: The term glass-cannon is often used to describe particular builds, and it's particularly suitable here. Part of the reason I love this guy so much is that every situation plays out like a chess game. You have a variety of options at your disposal, often times many of which seem viable. If you mess up, many of your opponents (like bandit chiefs) can 1-hit-kill you. That said, the Aldmeri Assassin is ridiculous. If played correctly, anything but dragons are simply his (or her) playthings to toy with. We'll touch on dragons a bit later.
At early levels, you can snipe off members of large groups by hitting one with "Frenzy," Once the group has dwindled down in size, you can sneak up behind the last few and slit their throats. Alternately, if you're feeling more brazen and diabolical, you can simply walk up to them, pacifying them in turn, walk behind them, crouch, and casually dispatch them in front of their now apathetic friends (who will often have something rather odd to say at that time).
Use muffle to level up your illusion whenever you're simply walking around, and you'll hit 75 in Illusion in no time at all. Quiet casting, Expert Illusion, and Assassin's Blade should be priorities.
"Grandmaster" the Level 10 Aldmeri Assassin sporting Shrouded gloves and boots, Thieves Guild armor, and an Apprentice Hood
As soon as you get invisibility, you become an outright monster. A quick side-note, the robes aren't exactly necessary until you get Invisibility, which should be around level 12 or 13. If you have a level (and it only takes 1) of whirlwind sprint or become ethereal, you can even slit throats in the middle of crowds of enemies, leaping out of reach or fading to another dimension before anyone can swing a blow to avenge their fallen comrade.
Late game, of course, ordinary enemies cannot touch you. You can simply waltz up, invisible, and drop Master-level calm or frenzy spell. Of course, the flip side is that you cannot let them touch you, or you will probably die.
Perks: (Level 25)
Illusion - Novice-Expert, Hypnotic Gaze, Aspect of Terror, Animage, Kindred Mage, Quiet Casting
1-Handed - Armsman (3/5)
Sneak - Stealth (1/5), All but Shadow Warrior
Speech - Haggling (1/5), Allure, Merchant
Light Amor - Agile Defender (1/5)
Level 17 Grandmaster hanging out in the college of Wintehold, wearing Adept Robes of Illusion.
(Level 50)
Illusion - All but dual-casting
1-Handed - Armsman (5/5)
Sneak - Stealth (1/5), All
Speech - Haggling (5/5), Allure, Merchant, Bribery, Investor, Fence
Smithing - Steel, Arcane
Light Armor - Agile Defender (3/5), Custom Fit, Unhindered
Pickpocket - Light Fingers (1/5), Night Thief, Cutpurse, Extra Pockets, Misdirection
As you can kind of tell, the build is basically done at around level 35. Without feeling obliged to put over 9,000 perk points into smithing, alchemy, and enchanting, I learned just how powerful and underrated Speech was, which Mason outlined in his Arcane Archer build as well (not to mention the role-playing aspect here).
...What about dragons?
It is true that this build has a more difficult time dealing with dragons than most, even more than normal assassins who, although having it tougher than warriors, at least have the luxury of a good bow with which they can engage in ranged combat. However, I have figured out several techniques for dealing with dragons that make them significantly less of a problem.
Spectral Assassin - The Dark Brotherhood power given after Bound until Death. Lucien is a fearless dragon slayer, and will soak up a lot of damage while dishing out a lot in turn
Storm Atronachs - Aside from purchasing or finding one, you can actually make a staff of Summon Storm Atronach at the atronach forge in the Midden using a broom, void salts, orichalcum ingot, and a greater/grand/black soul gem (filled). A scroll is made simply with void salts, paper roll, and charcoal. Having either a staff or a few scrolls on hand is always useful in dealing with dragons without having to actually invest points in conjuration.
Mehrune's Razor - A seemingly obvious but often overlooked answer to the dragon question. Once it lands, just swing a bunch and, if you're lucky, you'll get a "critical" sooner rather than later. Keeping the dragon distracted with summons or allies is obviously extremely helpful. Purchased "resist fire/frost" potions can be life-savers here too.
Sanguine Rose - Similar to the Storm Atronach answer above, but with Dremora
Followers - If you know you're going to be fighting a Dragon, e.g., en route to Kynesgrove, take along a follower like Cicero or a Dark Brotherhood Initiate (aka "Debbie," shoutout to Trendkill for the awesome acronym nickname there). These guys a.) won't die and b.) do some serious damage output.
Vampirism: Personally, I don't like taking the vampirism route with this character, but it does give you some tremendous bonuses to sneak and illusion. It's really up to you, though if you're going for role-playing, vampirism doesn't seem to have a place in the build. If you do become a vampire, the Skull of Corruption can be a very useful and powerful tool that syncs well with vampirism.
Tactics and Techniques of the Aldmeri Assassin: There are tricks and strategies that don't rely on perks and hence weren't really covered above. What really sets the Illusion-focused Nightblade, our Aldmeri Assassin, appart from other builds is the incredible variety of strategies you can use, much of which is made available through the incredibly underestimated speech skill (purchased potions, enchanted weapons, etc).
The Fade (Invisibility + Assassin's Blade + Become Ethereal) - The Aldmeri appears out of nowhere to take the life of his victim before vanishing from reach and then from sight
The Bait (Bow + Silent Roll + Assassin's Blade) - The victim hears a noise and goes to investigate, only to be stabbed from behind after he turns
The Lure (Bow + Dungeon Trap) - The Aldmeri Assassin, aware of his surroundings, harasses the enemy and snares them in a deadly booby trap
The Infection (Frenzy on Assassination Target) - The most beautiful example I've seen of this was actually using the pickpocket poisoner perk: the player dropped a Frenzy poison on Vittoria Vici in the Bound Until Death quest. She promptly started punching her husband, who enthusiastically drew his steel greatsword and ran her through. Perhaps the most diabolically twisted assassination I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing.
Diplomacy (Become Ethereal + Harmony) - The Thalmor is a talented speaker and can use rhetoric and mind manipulation to calm nearly anyone. It's an "oh shit" move when you're surrounded by armies of draugr that you can't take on while they're thinking about you.
Divide and Conquer (Bow + Paralysis Poison + Silent Roll + Assassin's Blade) - The Agent, seeing two enemies, hits the one further away with a paralyzing arrow and quietly dispatches the other one when they go to investigate/help their fallen comrade.
For an INCREDIBLE demonstration of some of the less magical techniques (notably Bait, Lure, and Divide and Conquer) check out this video. Cannot recommend Sephxxforxxlife high enough.
Well, that's it. Kill some stormcloaks and enjoy!
The Altmer weakness to magic is (nearly) completely negated as an assassin, and the illusion-bonus, racial power, and 50 bonus magic are incredible. I'm quite surprised they're not more common...
The Altmer weakness to magic is (nearly) completely negated as an assassin, and the illusion-bonus, racial power, and 50 bonus magic are incredible. I'm quite surprised they're not more common...