The Ancient Anarchist
Long ago, I was the honored housecarl of my king in the land of High Rock. I had been gifted with supernatural abilities and stealth, making me the optimal protector and right hand of my king. I killed for him without question; assassinating the surrounding leaders of High Rock's many warring kingdoms, and trusting that all I did would be for the greater good. I thought he would finally unite High Rock. However, I was wrong.
One night, I heard strange noises coming from my king's chamber. It was as if an animal was tearing apart a body. Responding to the phenomenon, I rushed into the king's bedroom and noticed he was absent. Still hearing the noises shuttering through the walls, I could detect the life-force of this creature in some sort of chamber behind the book-case. I pushed it back, only to find my king, slumped over the body of a dead man, consuming blood under a shrine of Molag Bal. Just before I drew my sword, he plunged upon me; his teeth sunk into my neck. I passed out.
Soon after, I awoke in the morgue; feeling conscious, but still... hollow, dead. The bastard had turned me by accident. He was already telling the citizens about my betrayal and conspiracy against him, stating how he heroically fended off his former protector, but I knew the truth. He was an agent of Molag Bal. I battled him for many years after, until I finally got my revenge against him. After that, I had lost my faith in the kingdoms and empires of the world.
Being a vampire allowed me to live a long time. I had seen countless men take power, only to abuse it. Each new heir to take the throne would be the mirror image of the corruption of the past king. And I'd kill them all. Over time, I became an almost mythic figure to the people of High Rock; the Kings and Queens dubbed me, "The Anarchist." They thought I was some avenging spirit watching over them. I suppose that was partially true, but they did not know what I really was.
Soon enough, my string of murders garnered the attention of Molag Bal, the Lord of Domination. He sent many of his vampiric champions to kill me, but when none of them succeeded, he turned the people against me instead. Their weak minds bending to his will like sheep. I fled High Rock, leaving the place that had been my home for thousands of years.
I had heard stories of a war between a vampire clan known as the "Volkihar," and a revived group of vampire-hunters known as the "Dawngaurd" in Skyrim. I'm not sure either side winning would be good for Skyrim. In the past, when the Dawngaurd ran out of vampires to hunt, they turned on their own people, raiding and pillaging villages like common bandits. I'm almost certain Molag Bal had his hand in it, and I fear it will happen again. He forces his will upon the weak-minded, subjugating the people of Tamriel.
"You from Daggerfall, Breton? Fleeing from some court intrigue?" - Hadvar
Race: Vampire Breton
Bretons are the best race to choose if you want a versatile character, but any human will do. 25% natural magic resistance and 50% spell absorption with the Dragonskin power make the Breton one of the most optimal races for all build types. Since, this build is a Nightblade, the 5+ start with illusion and alteration can make leveling those schools a little easier, though your one handed will require some work.
Stats: 2/1/1 Stop leveling stamina at 180
Stone: Start with the Thief Stone, then, once Sneak is fully leveled, switch to the Mage stone.
Shouts: Marked for Dead, Slow Time, Aura Whisper, Become Ethereal, Dismay, Elemental Furry, Throw Voice, Whirlwind Sprint
Quests: Destroy the Dark Brotherhood, Main Quest, Dawngaurd (Vampires), Thieves Guild, Companions (Refuse Lycanthropy), Missing in Action, Forsworn Conspiracy, College of Winterhold
Major Skills
Think of Alteration and Illusion as your tool-belt of gadgets. Calm spells, frenzy spells, and fear spells replace the sleeping darts, poisons, and smoke bombs a traditional assassin might use to bolster his stealth. Sneak, only has 1 perk taken in stealth because you'll already have stealth bolstering effects from your equipment, vampirism, and magic. This is more than enough to make the build viable.
Minor Skills
Any real assassin should know how to dual, so bolster your One-handed skill. Archery is important for longshots. A Nightblade needs to be practiced in the ways of Enchanting to fortify their equipment for the wielding of magic.
Equipment and Spells
A Silver Sword has an extra 20 points of damage against undead, which are plentiful in Skyrim. It's also a good looking sword with a rather short length, making it a perfect sword for a Nightblade. Ideally, you'll want to have an absorb-health enchantment plus a fiery-soul-trap enchantment to give you a source of healing and to maximize the efficiency of the weapon.
The Blade of Woe will be your primary source of damage in stealth combat. You'll want to use it as your main weapon too until you can get enchantments on your Silver Sword.
The Crossbow in this build is only for one kind of situation: long range kills. It's too loud for up close and personal combat, so save it for the times when you've got one target at a long distance. The Crossbow is ideal because its basically like having a Daedric Bow very early in the game. Not only this, it looks cool to have it strewn across your back.
Fear, Furry, Calm, and their higher level counter-parts are important for survival in this build. Detect Life/Dead, Paralysis, Teleknesis, and Fleshspells all supplement this build well. However, you'll want alteration fortifications to lower the magika costs as alteration spells take a lot.
Your armor will consist of red Vampire Armor (Illusion + Alteration + Magika Regen), Dark Brotherhood Gloves, Hood, and Boots. While the Dark Brotherhood gloves and boots give useful enchantments, like muffle and doubled back-stab damage, the vampire armor is an aesthetic choice. Another potential set up is black Vampire Armor (Illusion + Alteration + Magika Regen), Vampire boots (Muffled), and Vampire Gloves (One-handed Fortification + Archery) with the DB Hood. Flesh-spells are meant to make up for any pour armor rating. Also, enchant your necklace and rings as follows: one having alteration fortification + one-handed, the other having illusion fortification + archery.
Gameplay
The point of this character build is to give the player as many options as possible in how they want to deal with every situation. When it is not possible to sneak past a guard, use a calm spell on him. If in a fight too difficult to handle, cast a fear spell or disappear with invisibility. Need to get out of jail? Maybe there is a key on the table, use Telekinesis. If there could be an enemy around the corner, quickly flash a detect life/dead spell to reveal their location. Throw a frenzy spell into a crowd and let them take care of each other. Even still, say there is only one target, but it is impossible to get close, use the Crossbow to take them out long range. In open combat, this build requires some skill. Space and block well, and use Fleshspells for defense. Vampirc powers like the "Sight" power that allows the player to see in the dark are useful. You can use this power as well as the detect life spell to have perfect visibility of the environment and your opponents. Shouts are silenced by the Quiet Casting perk; so it is possible to use them more frequently. Use "Whirwind Sprint" to get the drop on a distant enemy, or even to sneak past them quickly. "Marked for Death" or "Elemental Furry" can help you with tougher enemies.
Roleplay
For the best experience with this build, you should have a bounty in every hold except for Whiterun. Eastmarch, Falkreath, Haafingar, Hjaalmarch, The Pale, The Reach, The Rift and Winterhold should all have bounties on your head large enough that they'll be hostile upon seeing you. Because of this, it is important to have locations outside of, but close to each hold that you can spawn at, otherwise the guards will instantly try to capture you. The reason for this is that Molag Bal has gained influence over all the authorities, causing them to send bounty hunters and assassins after you. Upon destroying the Dark Brotherhood, I recommend using their sanctuary as a base. The chests in there don't reset, at least the ones in Astrid's bedroom don't. Those I tested over a 36 day in-game period to be sure.
As a vampire you can not join the Dawngaurd, so my advice is to either ignore the quest-line or to join up with the vampires as a means to an end. Truthfully, both factions are on your "to kill" list. Even the Dawngaurd has fallen under the influence of Molag Bal. The Anarchist has been around for a long time, so he knows the stories of the former Dawngaurd, how they pillaged and murdered the people they calmed to protect. Part of the Anarchist's belief is that all factions have fallen or will fall under the domain of Molag Bal, effectively making almost every group in Skyrim a potential enemy.
The Dark Brotherhood has fallen into the hands of the Daedric Lord through Babette, unbeknownst to the rest of them. She has enthralled the lot of them, keeping Astrid as pseudo leader and having her send assassins after you.
One faction, that has not turned against you is the Companions, who actually have a similar ideology to The Anarchist. Eurland comments on the Companions, "Around here, you'll want to learn to live your own life. Remember, nobody rules anybody in the Companions." Sadly, your work with Companions will have to end once you are offered Lycanthropy, but you can at least become a member.
Other factions, like the College of Winterhold are in danger of becoming occupied by the Thalmor, one of your worst enemies, so I'd recommend joining this faction in an attempt to stop the Thalmor's efforts.
The Thieves Guild is a bit sketchy for this build, but theft is not an out of place for skill for a assassin. To an assassin, theft is a survival skill, not a greedy ploy for wealth. Its not out of place for an assassin to have underworld contacts and associates in the thieves guild, so I'd recommend joining up. Since you'll be doing some shifty stuff (especially when it comes to your client,Maven Black-Briar, who is sadly an essential NPC), I'd recommend "sabotaging" certain quest-lines when possible. For example, you can purposely fail the first Thieves Guild quest when your supposed to plant the ring. You can burn all the bee-hives instead of just three. When you have to go rough up some of the citizens of Riften, go back replant their money when the quest is finished. Steal from the rich rather than the poor as much as possible. Take only Sweep jobs and Bedlam jobs from Vex and Delvin. Sweep jobs are associated with the wealthy, and bedlam jobs give you freedom over who you steal from. It is important to note that you should not finish the quest-line, because you can not pledge yourself to any Daedric Lord, including Nocturnal.
Dragons, like vampires, are creatures whose very will is to subjugate; so, the Main Quest is a top priority. The Main Quest also gives you the chance to invade the Thalmor Embassy, why not take the opportunity to ruin their lives?
Targets
(If you find out one of these characters is essential or a potential candidate to be added to the list, please inform me. Be aware, some characters require the completion of a quest-line to become non-essential.)
Eastmarch:
Calixto Corrium (Butcher of Windhelm) - Alain Dufont (Bandit Leader) - Viinturuth (Dragon)
Falkreath:
Sinding (Rouge Werewolf) - Vighar (Vampiric Lord of Falkreath) - (Astrid and The Dark Brotherhood) - Anise (Witch) - Hern (Vampire) - Hert (Vampire)
Haafingar:
Sybille Stentor (Vampiric Lord of Solitude) – Deeja (Blackblood Marauders) – Jaree-Ra (Blackblood Marauders) – Eris (Red Wave Pirate) – Safia (Red Wave Pirate Captain) – Xander (Red Wave Pirate) – Rulindil (Thalmor Interrogator) – Elenwen (Emissary of the Thalmor)
Hjaalmarch:
Alva (Vampire) – Hroggar (Alva’s Thrall) – Movarth (Vampiric Lord of Morthal)
The Pale:
Stig Salt-Plank (Blood Horker Pirate Captain) - Gjuk (Blood Horker Pirate) - Irlof (Blood Horker Pirate) - Alding (Blood Horker Pirate)
The Reach:
Lisbit (Cannibal) – Madanach (Leader of the Forsworn) – Eola (Cannibal Cult of Namira Leader) – Banning (Cannibal) – Nepos the Nose (Forsworn) – Weylin (Forsworn) – Hogni Red-Arm (Cannibal) – Vigilant Tyrannus (Gives in to Molag Bal) – Ondolemar (Thalmor Justiciar) – Atar (Silver-Blood Mercenary) - Vuljotnaak (Dragon)
The Rift:
Harrald (Son of the Jarl) – Shavari (Thalmor Assassin) – Hefid the Deaf (Insane Murderer) – Knjakr (Cannibal) – Sibbi Black-Briar (Murderer) – Orini Dral (Bodyguard of Sarthis) – Sarthis Idren (Skooma Dealer)
Winterhold:
Ancano (Thalmor Agent)
Whiterun:
Saadia and Kematu (Possible Supporters of the Thalmor; take no chances, kill them both) - Lorcalin (Thalmor Agent) - Nazeem (Pretentious Snob) - Nahagliiv (Dragon) - Drelas (Rouge Mage) - Sild the Warlock (Rouge Mage)
