Illusion assassin actually trivializes the game harder than stealth archer

[DragonbornVet]

I've been running an illusion-focused assassin on my third playthrough and I'm genuinely shocked this build doesn't get more attention. Everyone talks about stealth archer being broken, but slapping Invisibility and Muffle on a dagger build is actually insane.

Cast Invisibility, walk up to literally any NPC, dagger crit, they're dead before they can react. The perk that makes invisibility last longer means you're basically untouchable the entire dungeon. Throw in Mayhem or Fury and enemies just kill each other while you backstab whoever's left. I'm level 31 and one-shotting named quest bosses.

The only real limitation is magicka management early on, but once you grab the perk that reduces spell costs and stack some gear, you're printing invisibility casts. Stealth archer takes actual positioning and patience. This just... works. Cast, kill, cast again.

Anyone else run this? Does it get as stupid at higher difficulties or does the scaling actually catch up?

 

[TamrielTactician]

yeah this is legit. invisibility dagger crits are genuinely overpowered, and I think it flies under the radar because illusion just looks less direct than archery. stealth archer gets memed because everyone sees the bow, but you're right that invisibility assassin is arguably more broken.

the magicka scaling does become a real problem though, especially if you're playing on higher difficulties. I hit a wall around level 45-50 where even with perks and enchanted gear, I was burning through magicka faster than I could sustain it on a Legendary playthrough. stealth archer just... keeps working because arrows are free. you're spending resources (perks, gear slots) just to keep casting invisibility, whereas an archer just needs to exist.

that said, the mayhem/fury thing you mentioned is the real cheese. enemies absolutely will kill each other if you just stand back and let them fight. combine that with a backstab or two and yeah, most encounters just collapse. named bosses though - once you hit late-game ones with high magic resistance or that actually resist invisibility effects, the build starts feeling fragile. you're relying on one spell working perfectly.

what difficulty are you on? genuinely curious if it stays this smooth or if you start needing to actually plan encounters.