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    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

    Game » consists of 30 releases. Released Nov 11, 2011

    The fifth installment in Bethesda's Elder Scrolls franchise is set in the eponymous province of Skyrim, where the ancient threat of dragons, led by the sinister Alduin, is rising again to threaten all mortal races. Only the player, as the prophesied hero the Dovahkiin, can save the world from destruction.

    Stealth Archers - who else is playing this class?

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    GiveUpNed

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    #1  Edited By GiveUpNed

    I always pick to be a stealth archer. I love thieving and I love assassination. It is a lot more versatile to be an archer than to just use knives. Finally, whats the best way to level archery? I just force myself to use it all the time. I'm currently at level 50 or 51.

    Edit: If you want free steel arrows, there is a guy in the thieves guild cistern that constantly fires arrows at a target. I usually pick up 10-50 arrows per guild visit.

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    Vorbis

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    #2  Edited By Vorbis

    Yea playing Assassin/Thief as well, mostly going for the undetected dagger kills but when I'm unable to get near them I will snipe from range with my bow. And then there are the enemies that tend to oneshot me so I will just pelt them with arrows rather than risk getting into melee range.

    Not really tried to level it up, just goes up quickly naturally, I guess I'm using it mostly on the Dragons that refuse to land, they take a lot of arrows.

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    Tonyyj

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    #3  Edited By Tonyyj

    I'm playing a stealth archer, I spend about an hour in each dungeon because of how slowly I sneak haha. I'm at about the same archery skill as you also, I just got Power Shot and I love it. Feels really good when you shoot someone to watch them stumble for a second.

    As for knives, do you find yourself using them at all? I just learned the x15 backstab perk from the Sneak tree and now I find myself using daggers quite a bit, its quite satisfying. Generally I'll use my bow but I like to do backstabs when there are 2-3 enemies together since shooting them notifies their buddies.

    @Vorbis: Are you adding any of the One-Handed perks with your dagger build? I've heard some mixed responses about whether those perks work for daggers or not. I'm thinking of just skipping any One-Handed for my daggers and just relying on the x15 sneak bonus since Archery is my main form of combat and most enemies die in one hit anyway from backstabs.

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    deactivated-5b531a34b946c

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    I'm with you. I always prefer the Archer class, and while not always the Stealthy way - that's how I always go an Elder Scrolls game the first time. My favorite class in Oblivion was a Heavy Armor wearing Battle-Archer. No stealth, just relentless attacks without flinching.

    The best way I've found to level Archery is simply to use it. If you want to level it faster, you could not do a Sneak Attack, which would give you many more hits with the bow, but what's the fun in that? ;) I figure with the Dragons and many more dungeons there are to go, I'll have plenty of time to level it by doing what's fun to do.

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    CaptainTightPants

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    #5  Edited By CaptainTightPants

    So I haven't accomplished one, but you can pull off some stealth executions right?
    My question is when can you start doing them, When you get the 15x dagger thing perk?  Then do you just attack normally, or hold the attack button?
     
    I am enjoying playing as a Stealth Archer so far, but I would like to use the dagger as well. 

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    GiveUpNed

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    #6  Edited By GiveUpNed

    @Tonyyj said:

    As for knives, do you find yourself using them at all? I just learned the x15 backstab perk from the Sneak tree and now I find myself using daggers quite a bit, its quite satisfying. Generally I'll use my bow but I like to do backstabs when there are 2-3 enemies together since shooting them notifies their buddies.

    Not really. I find that the bow does more than enough damage. I'm able to snipe everyone before they get close. The only NPC I had an issue with was the crazy wizard in the rat warren, during one of the Thieves Guild quests.

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    dillonwerner

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    #7  Edited By dillonwerner

    I love playing Stealth/Archer/Assassin/Thief class, that being said... WOOD ELF MASTER RACE

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    Nighthawk871

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    #8  Edited By Nighthawk871

    I've been playing a stealth archer, but I'm not very far into the game. When I level up should I be focusing on upgrading my health, stamina, or a mix of both?

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    fang273

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    #9  Edited By fang273

    I'm at 91 archery so far, but I abused the archery trainer companion for a free 20ish levels. (For those who don't know, if you have a companion that can train a skill, train all you want then take your money back out of their inventory.)

    Playing stealth archer gets a lot more fun when you get the 3x stealth damage and stealth roll from the stealth perk tree. Stealth rolling through dungeons makes things go a ton faster, I abused the hell out of it when I went word of power hunting.

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    w00ties

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    #10  Edited By w00ties

    I've been playing as a stealth archer most of the time. The moment I step into a cave or dungeon I pull out my bow and begin sneaking.

    As for the Health, Stamina or Magicka debate. I'm never really sure what to choose, but I imagine if you're planning on being a proper stealth archer then stamina might be your best bet. As long as you plan on killing from the shadows, ditch any health bonuses in favor of more sprinting - that way you can retreat back to the darkness if you're discovered. Plus, if archers receive any perks in the form of power attacks they'll surely be of use in combat.

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    GiveUpNed

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    #11  Edited By GiveUpNed

    @Nighthawk871 said:

    I've been playing a stealth archer, but I'm not very far into the game. When I level up should I be focusing on upgrading my health, stamina, or a mix of both?

    Mix of both. I just place points into one than the other. Don't forget magic as Illusion spells do come in handy.

    For lock picking, do the Thieves guild quests. They give you gloves which enhances your picking ability. That said, I have a knack for picking in Skyrim. I was able to pick Expert locks when I was only level 10.

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    MajesticOverlord

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    #12  Edited By MajesticOverlord

    @GiveUpNed said:

    @Nighthawk871 said:

    I've been playing a stealth archer, but I'm not very far into the game. When I level up should I be focusing on upgrading my health, stamina, or a mix of both?

    Mix of both. I just place points into one than the other. Don't forget magic as Illusion spells do come in handy.

    For lock picking, do the Thieves guild quests. They give you gloves which enhances your picking ability. That said, I have a knack for picking in Skyrim. I was able to pick Expert locks when I was only level 10.

    It was barley a challenge to pick the master locks.. maybe I was just lucky.

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    RandomInternetUser

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    I've been playing stealth archer/dagger to open fights or clear out enemies that are spread out in a room without an engagement, and then I have a two-handed sword to wail on people once I get into a fight. It's pretty damn fun.

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    Funkydupe

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    #14  Edited By Funkydupe

    bonus sneak damage is pure love.

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    Rhaknar

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    #15  Edited By Rhaknar

    my second character that i got to around lvl 14 or something was stealth archer, was quite fun

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    MajesticOverlord

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    #16  Edited By MajesticOverlord

    I never seem to have a problem leveling in Skyrim, I'm usually hitting the 18 mark before I've even spent two hours running around.

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    Seesic

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    #17  Edited By Seesic

    I played as a stealth archer and always went with stamina, I figured if I was in need of health I messed up the stealth part.

    As for free steel arrows most guards have quite a few on them and whenever I walk by them I crouch and pickpocket them. which levels your pickpocket and is a good supply of arrows and not hard to do.

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    GiveUpNed

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    #18  Edited By GiveUpNed

    To pick the locks, all you have to do is slowly rotate the pick in the lock until you hear a soft click. It's time consuming, but if done right, always correct.

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    VisariLoyalist

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    #19  Edited By VisariLoyalist

    @GiveUpNed said:

    To pick the locks, all you have to do is slowly rotate the pick in the lock until you hear a soft click. It's time consuming, but if done right, always correct.

    this or memorize the small marks on the side of the circle around the keyhole... at least that's what I do

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    GiveUpNed

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    #20  Edited By GiveUpNed

    @VisariLoyalist said:

    @GiveUpNed said:

    To pick the locks, all you have to do is slowly rotate the pick in the lock until you hear a soft click. It's time consuming, but if done right, always correct.

    this or memorize the small marks on the side of the circle around the keyhole... at least that's what I do

    Great idea!

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    Ulain

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    #21  Edited By Ulain

    @Resident4t said:

    So I haven't accomplished one, but you can pull off some stealth executions right? My question is when can you start doing them, When you get the 15x dagger thing perk? Then do you just attack normally, or hold the attack button? I am enjoying playing as a Stealth Archer so far, but I would like to use the dagger as well.

    I realize this question was asked almost 3 months ago, but I'm pretty certain that you will do a stealth execution as long as you do enough damage to kill someone in one hit. Obviously having the x15 damage perk will make this happen much more often, along with power-attacking.

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    Humanity

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    #22  Edited By Humanity

    I like the class but I play it as everyone else here does - take out the bow and start crouching from start to finish. This can get kinda tedious after a while. Also when you realize the boss you have to kill takes very little damage even from your sneak attack they might as well have confetti fly at the screen with "CHEESE MODE" pop up in big cheese wheel letters.

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    Liquidus

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    #23  Edited By Liquidus

    I started off Stealth Archer but I'm moving more and more towards using daggers. My Sneak is 100 which means if I am discovered I can crouch and usually make a quick getaway. Or I can try for a sneak attack with my Blade of Woe and 30x sneak attack bonus I have with the Dark Brotherhood gloves. It's a beautiful thing :D

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    eroticfishcake

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    #24  Edited By eroticfishcake

    I think a better question is, who isn't playing a stealth archer? I think it's a lot better then Oblivion but it feels a little too overpowered. The stealth bit to be more specific. It could be that I played a lot of Thief 2 but it just seems a little silly at times when you're crouching in front of a dude while you're popping arrows into his friend next to him. Not to mention that certain torches can be lit but others can't. There's a few mods which smooths these problems over but it could be better. I guess that's the pros/cons with the series. Man, I can't wait until Thief 4 (or Thi4f if you're an imbecile).

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    RenegadeSaint

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    #26  Edited By RenegadeSaint

    I played as a Khajiit stealth archer in Oblivion and had a blast. Love sneak attacking people from really far away.

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    GiveUpNed

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    #27  Edited By GiveUpNed

    @Cubic said:

    @GiveUpNed: Yeah, I'm playing a stealth archer. I'm nearly at 100 archery and I can 1 shot most dragons (except elder dragons) using an improved glass bow (my blacksmithing is at 100). Enchanting every piece of armour that I can with +archery damage helps as well (100 enchanting).

    By the way, this is a little cheaty but if you want a free supply of any type of arrow you want, pickpocket the guy in the thieves guild and replace his steel arrows with higher level arrows. He'll fire those from now on, and the ones in his inventory will never run out.

    I didn't know that. Thanks! Apparently, if you upgrade a Nightingale bow (you need ebony smithing) it's the most powerful bow in the game.

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    kindgineer

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    #28  Edited By kindgineer

    I want to, as it sounds really fun, but I have found the bows to be extremely weak and I guess I never put any time into them. If that changes, and I just haven't grinded long enough, please let me know.

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    EmuLeader

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    #29  Edited By EmuLeader

    @fang273 said:

    I'm at 91 archery so far, but I abused the archery trainer companion for a free 20ish levels. (For those who don't know, if you have a companion that can train a skill, train all you want then take your money back out of their inventory.)

    Playing stealth archer gets a lot more fun when you get the 3x stealth damage and stealth roll from the stealth perk tree. Stealth rolling through dungeons makes things go a ton faster, I abused the hell out of it when I went word of power hunting.

    Its great, but when you can walk with a bow at the same speed as when its not drawn, the whole game changes.

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    EmuLeader

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    #30  Edited By EmuLeader

    @GiveUpNed said:

    @Cubic said:

    @GiveUpNed: Yeah, I'm playing a stealth archer. I'm nearly at 100 archery and I can 1 shot most dragons (except elder dragons) using an improved glass bow (my blacksmithing is at 100). Enchanting every piece of armour that I can with +archery damage helps as well (100 enchanting).

    By the way, this is a little cheaty but if you want a free supply of any type of arrow you want, pickpocket the guy in the thieves guild and replace his steel arrows with higher level arrows. He'll fire those from now on, and the ones in his inventory will never run out.

    I didn't know that. Thanks! Apparently, if you upgrade a Nightingale bow (you need ebony smithing) it's the most powerful bow in the game.

    Actually a daedric bow that you craft is the most powerful. Drink a few potions and wear some gear that boosts your blacksmithing (so when you upgrade the bow you get a higher bonus) and you can easily make a ridiculous bow. Do the same with enchanting to get great enchantments on it.

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    FordFairlane

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    #31  Edited By FordFairlane

    I started as a stealth/archer, but once I realized I was playing exactly the same as I played Oblivion, I started over. Now I'm trying a more Thief/Assassin character; daggers and magic. The stealth kills have really made it more viable to play as a melee assassin. Since I haven't been putting my perks into fighting, figuring out how to navigate dungeons is more engaging than it has ever been. Already I have:

    Navigated a cavern by dousing torches

    Made it through a mine of trolls by shooting arrows against rocks to distract them and sneak by.

    Cleared a bandit hideout using Fury spells to kill everyone off, then unlocking a sabrecat pen to take out the weakened boss.

    Used runes to clear a Frostbite Spider den.

    These are all things I never tried (or couldn't try) in Oblivion. The companions are also useful; since I'm not yet able to hold my own aganist a pack of bandits, the companions are useful for getting from place to place.

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    bombastius

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    #32  Edited By bombastius

    Playing stealth archer here as well really satisfying at times to sneak up on people and plant an arrow in their ... neck. Though it kinda makes me feel all the more that Bethesda really needs to address the combat in the next installment its too easy to end up min/maxing you character and with stealth archery you kinda can just breeze through anything in the end. Tried different ways of staling that this time around like gradually hightening the difficulty as i went along and spending skill points on other stuff once in a while but the combat kinda becomes really bland after a while just the same as in oblivion and Morrowind i guess(Morrowind was a hell of a lot harder though so it took allot more time to reach that level i remember).

    Still love the game though, anybody know if being a magic user spices the combat up allot ? Its probably the only class i never really played any extended time as in the series.

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    Kandycane2029

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    #33  Edited By Kandycane2029

    I have been once I realized the archery is better in Skyrim than Oblivion and Morrowind. I never venture forth without my trusty bow.

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    Doctorchimp

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    #34  Edited By Doctorchimp

    I'm just about to.

    After I play around with my Orc battlemage just a little bit more I'm going to jump right back into Skyrim and make a high elf rogue that dual wields swords and uses bows with no magic.

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    nitronomicon

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    #35  Edited By nitronomicon

    Stealth archer all the way. Max out your archery tree, but don't waste the perk points on things like finding more arrows on corpses. By the time you get to the top of the skill tree you'll just be slowing time down and paralyzing most of your targets anyway. i wouldn't worry too much about stamina either, you can always buy / make your own stamina potions to take with you. you could also go with a stealth / alchemist archer, one who buffs himself with marksman potions and debuffs enemies with weakness to fire / frost/ lightning potions and then smacks 'em with a fire enchanted bow.

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    the_great_skenardo

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    @GiveUpNed: Stealth archery is a marvelous way to play. but you don't have to worry about arrows or really even bows if you do things a certain way. I recommend picking up the bound bow spell and investing a few points up the conjuration line. A stealth archer always chooses when to engage, so you don't risk the duration on your summoned bow, and each cast of it comes with 100 bound arrows. If you invest three feats or so, you have a bow that has improved damage, slays summons, and steals souls. using it doesn't level conjuration very fast, but the power of the bow isn't based on your conjuration skill, so you needn't worry.

    Full disclosure: I also invested in the perk in illusion that makes all spells cast silently. Invaluable if you're using spells such as invisibility or muffle.

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