Good Assassin?

[theartist]

I'd like some help on what birth sign, race and skills to give a character i want to be an assassin that will just get the job done quick.
the only other character i use is an orc named Ace and he just smashes things with his hammer.
SO any suggestions for an assassin?

[Loki[D.d.G]]

I've almost always advised people who ask for recommended class builds in Oblivion to take major skills that have nothing to do with the skills they utilize regularly, i.e. making an unmodded Oblivion much more playable in the terms of leveled mobs. Along those lines, it is always good to get skills which are easily controllable as majors.

So, I'll leave that part to you and instead focus on some skills a stealth based assassin character would most likely use. Alchemy is useful for the poisons and helpful potions it can create. Sneak is pretty much a no-brainer. And depending on your preference, you could specialize in either blade or blunt to dish out damage. Marksman should only be considered as a support weapon, because as you reach higher levels, it becomes next to useless in taking down opponents.

Illusion is also crucial in helping out the budding assassin. And pick any armor class you feel comfortable with. I personally almost always go with heavy, even for my sneak based characters. The neon green of glass really turns me off. Those are some basic skills I would think an assassin needs to get going, just off the top of my head.

[SupaCat]

I've almost always advised people who ask for recommended class builds in Oblivion to take major skills that have nothing to do with the skills they utilize regularly, i.e. making an unmodded Oblivion much more playable in the terms of leveled mobs.

I always thought that to be a bummer on your game. Just take the majors you want and when you can level up, just don't sleep. When the game becomes to easy or if you feel you can take on other creatures, just sleep.

Khajit is pretty fun for a assassin, though I found that it is much more fun to roleplay with a Dark Elf, but that's just me. Skills: Illusion, sneak, light armor (seems more suitable [what a shame by the way that unarmored is gone]), Blade (again, seems more suitable for a assassin), alchemy , security and finally Marksman (for that killing from far distances).

Birthsign: Thief (it's handy), The Steed (for that extra speed) or the Lord (regenerates your hitpoints).

[galraen]

Both Loki and Supacat are right in their different ways. The bad game design means putting skills that increase rapidly and you use a lot is a very bad idea when you're new to the game. Therefore skills like Sneak, Alchemy, Armourer, Security should never be major skills, and of course for an assassin all but armourer are naturals.

If you feel confident in your ability to cope with whatever the game throws at you, and to be able to overcome overwhelming odds, then a Supacat's suggestion would make a 'natural' assassin. The never sleeping part is, to me, just as much an immersion breaker as having often used skills as minors, each to their own.

My 'compromise' suggestion would be to create more of an Assassin/Mage character:

Marksman, natural for an Assassin but has the advantage of increasing slowly

Acrobatics, can increase fairly quickly if you jump a lot, but you don't have to jump very much, so the increase is pretty much under your control, again a natural for an Assassin

Hand-to-Hand, another natural Assassin skill, but you don't have to actually use it at all in the game, so again under your control, useful for running around kicking mudcrabs when you want to boost your level and strength

Alteration, another skill you only have to sue when you want to (see * below)

Mysticism, the most useless skill in the book except for Detect Life*

Block, every Assassin should be able to block incoming right? You don't have to block though, so another skill you can control the increase of.

Destruction, when needs arises, blow the enemy away, the slowest progressing magic skill, you can use it a lot before having to level up.

* Once you gain access to a spell making alter (completing all the Mage Guild recommendations in the vanilla game) you can create your own combination spells. When you combine the effects from more than one school of magic the spell created can only belong to one of the schools used. Thsi can be used to make a spell that heals yourself but damages an enemy, and by careful manipulation of the effects involved it can be of which ever school you wish. For example a spell that Restores health on your PC, delivers fire damage to an enemy can be either a Destruction spell or a Restoration spell. another example is a spell which Detects Life and creates a bound dagger can be set up to be either a Mysticism spell or a Conjuration spell. Likewis when attacked by undead, a spell that turns undead and wacks them with fire damage cn be destruction or conjuration. Etc.,Etc.

The bottom line is you look like an Assassin/Mage, but you have maximum contol ovr how you character levels up and you can flail away with your weapon of choice, wear what armour you please.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

I always thought that to be a bummer on your game. Just take the majors you want and when you can level up, just don't sleep. When the game becomes to easy or if you feel you can take on other creatures, just sleep.

That depends on the player's preferences I suppose. By holding your levels and not sleeping, you can control the difficulty of the game much more effectively, true. But it will make planning a character much more tedious as the calculations for maxing out stats at each level up becomes nigh impossible.

I would concur though, that Thief is probably one of the best birthsigns available for an assassin.