Need some ideas.

I created a wood elf assassin awhile back, and have been building up only archery, sneak, and alchemy. Found it more fun and challenging purely building my 3 essential skills, as i have not put a single perk point in anything else. Havent even worked on smithing yet. But im getting close to capping off archery, sneak, and alchemy. Im only a level 39 right now, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas of what to work on next. Thinking maybe one-handed or illusion/destruction magic? I want to stick with the assassin type, but one thing i dont want to do is build up light armor. Planning on sticking with my good old fur armor ive had since Bleak Falls. fin it more fitting for the Bosmer.

quote BluePhoenix

i say get up one handed or alteration magic, that way you can have more versatility and with alteration more armor with spells.

If you're sticking with your basic fur armour then yes, the alteration skill would be a huge help in later encounters.

P.S Level 39 and only used fur armour. I salute you sir!

I feel like one handed weapons are the best fit for anyone, but that critical strike damage bonus from swords coupled with the sneak damage bonus means a two handed sword assassin would have the highest single hit damage potential of any class in the game.

I still prefer single handed weapons. Maces or swords. I don't like Axes so much. I'm glad the differentiated all six types(1H and 2H of Mace/Axe/Sword. I miss Polearms/Spears. Realistically polearms and spears can be treated as the same weapon type. Even though spears, and halberds, for example, would have different fighting styles, many polearms are just souped up versions of the basic spear, and so when one trains, both can be learned(assuming your Mentor is skilled enough). I'm a fan of melee weapons with a long reach, because they can allow you to strike in melee while keeping yourself safer, and out of your enemy's reach. Basically, I like them for the same reason I prefer one handed weapons in Skyrim: I can defend myself simultaneously while keeping my offensive ability intact.

One of the things I really like about the leveling system in Skyrim is that even for someone using three primary skills like you are, the difficulty level scales very well. Your higher level skills level your character faster, so as those skills reach max, your level begins to increase faster. After those three skills are at max, and you begin working other skills into your character's repertoire, you'll notice a lull in your leveling speed, which will match your character's reduced growth rate as you bring those new skills up to a level where they become useful for the current level of content you're engaging. It's very well designed.

EDIT: In response to the Illusion/Destruction magic question, I'd pick Illusion. It's much more useful to a stealthy character with a bow. It gives you more utility, whereas you've already got the ability to add elemental damage to your bow with poisons, and your default attack with a bow is already ranged anyway. Destruction doesn't add much in terms of utility or offensive output, especially since you've got to put away your bow to use magic anyway.

quote BluePhoenix

i say get up one handed or alteration magic, that way you can have more versatility and with alteration more armor with spells.

I considered alteration as well, but since my alchemy is so high i can just create fortify health and light armor potions. As for one-handed, I think thats the route im going to take.

quote DestiniesFool

P.S Level 39 and only used fur armour. I salute you sir!

Haha, It actually wasnt too terrible. with the Shadow Stone and my load of created invisibility potions, if i was ever detected I just went invisible and repositioned. Only problems i really ran into were dragons, but with my poisons of slow dealing 70 or so damage plus reducing enemy speed, dragons werent too bad.

quote psiberzerker

Illusion is just redundant, or counterproductive. Invisibility/muffle is already handled, and Fear/Frenzy/Calm breaks the stealth advantage.

Agree with you there. Only reason i would have built up illusion is to get quite-casting, paired with destruction spells. Thought that might have been an interesting path to go... But then decided against it because i would have strayed too far away from the nature of the Bosmer. I also have a Khajiit assassin, first build i made. Went both archery and one-hand, but i feel as though i cheated up a few levels because of spam-smithing, causing the game to be less of a challenge. And not as much fun.

quote Throe

a two handed sword assassin would have the highest single hit damage potential of any class in the game.

Haha, so im not the only one to question the use of a sneaky berserker? I almost started a Nord build that would have gone that route. Sneak, Light Armor, Two-Handed. Im thinking it would work out pretty nice, as you wouldnt have to worry too much if your foe detected you. I wouldnt go that route with the Bosmer, just because I'm a bit OCD about keeping races with their natural styles. But none the less, interested to try the Sneaky 2-H nord.

quote Dog food 95

Also you might want pickpocket sense you will be sneaking a lot.

Ehh... Finished the thieves guild questline and not too crazy about pocket-pickin'. I have an argonian sneak-theif build for that.

quote Dizzywallin

Agree with you there. Only reason i would have built up illusion is to get quite-casting, paired with destruction spells. Thought that might have been an interesting path to go... But then decided against it because i would have strayed too far away from the nature of the Bosmer.

Quiet casting isn't neccessary with Destruction, because the idea is to wipe them all out with a double blast combo, like Fire Rune, and Fireball. (I use Ice Storm, and Flaming Familiar, but that's dual discipline) Anyway, the BGs don't have time to react before the spells go off, so it doesn't matter if that's the last thing they hear. Note, the warning sound is the release, not charging the spell, and Lightning strikes almost instantly. If you simulcast 2 different runes, they detonate each other, and that's 100 points of pure burn, so you should be fine. Fireball is a bit more reliable, and less Magika with the Adept Destruction, though.

If you're worried about Bound Bow, or sword warning them, then just cast it early. That's why it's got a 2 minute duration. Sneak up till you can see them, then backtrack a little till you know they won't spook. You should have plenty of time to silent roll in, and take your shots.

quote Dizzywallin

Quiet-casting would have just been useful in the sense that my spells wouldnt alert 3 or 4 enemies at once. Meaning, yes I instantly killed the draugr I targeted, but now his buddys know where I am. Same concept with a bow, but spells seem to cause more of ruckus. Also, is there a sneak-damage multiplier for spells? Always wondered about that.

No, there isn't a sneak multiplier for magic.

You make up for that by targeting all the enemies, or as many as possible with the initial onslaught. Blast effects like fireball, and the runes clear an area, while linear spells like Ice Storm (Unfortunately, the only real effective one) clears a path. This is important depending on whether you're clearing a room, or a corridor, but the stealth is just to get in position to strike as many as possible at once. If you hang back, and watch them long enough, they will eventually clump together, and/or line up.

Finally, keep a flame cloak, rune, and/or "wall" handy for the rush if it does come. If you stack all three, cast them in that order, simulcast the cloak/rune so they blow themselves up, then the cloak should finish them off, but switch to the wall to spray around you for those extra tough baddies. You can also back up, or cast runes on the ground ahead of you in retrat for them to find chasing you. I call this the "Rabbit Trap", Giants are pretty easy if you run fast enough to stay out of reach, and kite them onto your walls/runes.

Note, most of that is only if you're depending on Destruction as your sole damage dealer, but you asked, so that's how it works. It's actually a lot of extra training, and perk investment for this build. If you were going to splash it in, I'd probably just get up to about 30 Dest for defensive Runes, and Cloaks for when TSHTF, and the first Augment Flames Perk. That and Rune Master is just 4 (Novice, Apprentice, RM, and AF) perks, for a lot more combat effectiveness beyond stealth, but won't unbalance the build away from the original focus.

Dark E would definitely be the way to go, not just for starting with 25 destruction, but also 20 in Illusion, Light Armor, and Sneak. The other 3 should level you up fast enough to unlock Perks, which I've had troubles with Pure Dunmer Destruction. A few more pointers, Fury is great for having everbody attack each other, so they're all clumped up in the Blast Radius. Do the Cidna Mine quest for a Light Armor that comes with a Destruction bonus to replace your Robes. (I'd go female, because the fir bikinis look silly on males.) Get Muffle ASAP, and cast it all the time, especially running around town to get your Illusion up to 50. Once you get Quiet Casting, I wouldn't invest in it any more, since your Sneak should be high enough to make Invisibility, and Muffle redundant. And lastly, only invest 1 point in the Stealth perk to unlock the rest of the tree. With all these skills leveling, you don't want to spread your points too thin, and it eventually becomes overpowered even with 1. You just need to get close enough to lay low until they assume an exploitable configuration, so it's not as tough as getting in close for a backstab with a dagger.

You also get 20 in Alteration, which may be nice for Telekinesis, for stealing, Parylize, Detect Life/Undead, magic resistance, and spell absorbtion, though I'd save it for if perks start piling up at higher levels. Don't even bother with _skin spells, since you'll be wearing Light, and that frees up the 3 points from the Mage Armor perks. I've done all of this before, and it makes for a fun build, not to mention combat style. You don't want a follower, though, with all that TWIMC damage flying around, you'll kill them repeatedly.

quote Dizzywallin

I started the sneak-mage Dunmer build late last night, just made it to the Guardian Stones. Which one should I go with? Mage or Thief?

My guess is Mage, because the only Thief skill worth mentioning is Sneak, which levels fast enough. OTOH, you're talking, what? Destruction, Illusion, and Alterration? Defentitely Mage.