Elder Scrolls Oblivion: Best Assassin Build

Discover everything you need to know about the best Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion including some valuable tips and tricks to run this build.

Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion is a high-damage playstyle focused on using sneak, poison, and quick attacks. From faction and specialization to weapons and armor, everything is crucial for this damage-dealing build. Choosing the right race for your Assassin build is important to maximizing your effectiveness. You can focus on dual-wielding or a combination of dagger and shortsword for an Assassin build. Choosing the best race, attribute, and skills are crucial for the Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion as your gameplay mostly depends on it. With the right combination of skills, race, and weapon choices, you can easily become a deadly character in combat. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion and the best skills, along with weapons and armor to choose from.

Everything About Assassin Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion

The Archer Build in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion focuses on using a dagger and shortsword to deal damage in melee range. Our build includes weapons like Daedric Dagger and Daedric Shortsword to eliminate enemies. Marksman, Light Armor, Sneak, and Blades are the best skills to use while running the Assassin build in the game. This setup makes you a stealthy attacker with high damage output from your weapons.

Bosmer is the best race for this unique build as you gain bonuses to Sneak and Marksman skills. Level up your skills to make them more effective, especially while battling against higher-level enemies. We include The Shadow as the best Birthsin for the Assassin build as it allows you to become invisible for 60 seconds in a day. Choosing the best Major Skills, Minor Skills, Specialization, and armor is crucial for this build, as picking the wrong one can negatively impact your build.

Assassin Build Pros	Assassin Build Cons
High Burst Damage	Low Durability
Stealthy Playstyle	Difficult to Master
More Survivability

Build Key Aspect

Below are all the essential aspects of the Assassin Build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion:

• Class: Assassin
• Race: Bosmer
• Birthsign: The Shadow
• Specialization: Stealth
• Attributes: Agility, Speed, Luck
• Major Skills
  • Sneak
  • Blades
  • Light Armor
  • Marksman 
  • Alchemy
• Minor Skills
  • Acrobatics
  • Armorer
  • Restoration
  • Security
  • and Mysticism
• Weapons: Daedric Dagger and Daedric Shortsword
• Armor: Glass Armor
• Faction: Dark Brotherhood
• Trainer: Astrid

Class

Assassin is the best class to choose for the Assassin build in ESO. They move in darkness to strike at the unsuspecting. Assassin class is a good starting point, you can customize your build by focusing on other skills as well. You start with skills like Sneak, Blades, and Marksman to deal additional damage in combat. Assassins depend on stealth and mobility to approach the target undetected. Daggers and Shortswords are weapons that assassins use in combat to eliminate enemies.

Best Race

Bosmer (Wood Elf) is the best race for the Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. The reason is pretty simple: it provides starting bonuses in Sneak, Marksman, Acrobatics, and Light Armor. Bosmer is the best race to choose for Archer build as well. Bosmer are elven in appearance, with pointy ears. Bosmers are proficient in stealth and are bound by the Green Pact. This pact prevents them from harming or consuming plant life. What makes them excellent at sneaking and avoiding detection is their high starting agility and speed, which is paired with a sneak bonus. However, this race has penalties to Strength and Willpower. Female Bosmer have a penalty to Endurance, meaning they have low Strength. Bosmer also excels in creating powerful potions and poisons.

Best Birthsign

The Shadow is the best Birthsign for the Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. It provides the Moonshadow that grants a single daily use of Invisibility for 60 seconds. Brithsign is basically a constellation that grants players unique magical bonuses or powers that complement their playstyle. They have lasting effects on your character, so it’s crucial to choose the best one that works well with your Assassin build. This allows you to make stealth attacks or reposition yourself in tougher combat. The invisibility for a duration is extremely useful for sneaking past enemies, ambushing them, or escaping difficult situations. Assassin builds usually focus on skills like Sneak, Acrobatics, Athletics, and Blade. The Shadow can complement these skills as well, making them even more effective in combat. This is a powerful option for all the players out there to perform stealthy and surprise attacks with the daggers.

Best Specialization

The Stealth specialization is the best choice when selecting the specialization for your character. The Assassin build in the game revolves around stealth, sneak attacks, and damage dealing with a focus on agility, speed, and precision. Sneak attacks allow you to deal additional damage without being detected. Stealth allows you to avoid unnecessary fights, making it essential for challenging locations. You choose a specialization while creating a character. It heavily impacts how your skill progresses, so choose the best one according to your playstyle and build. Skills associated with your chosen specialization level up than the skills that are not in the specialization. You also get the opportunity to pick the Major Skills that increase very quickly regardless of the specialization you choose. Overall, the Stealth is the best choice if you want an Assassin playstyle throughout your gameplay.

Best Attributes

Agility, Speed, and Luck are the best attributes to invest your points in. The more you invest in these attributes, the more your character becomes an assassin. Investing points in Speed allows you to increase your movement speed, making it easy to reposition and move around the combat. Agility, on the other hand, governs Sneak and Marksman skills. Luck is also the best attribute to invest in because it increases your critical hits and enhances the effectiveness of poisons. The other attributes that you can invest in are intelligence, Strength, Endurance, and Willpower. However, these attributes don’t affect your assassin playstyle more. You can increase three attributes by a total of 5 points at each level and Luck by 1 point. Keep in mind that the attributes are capped at 100.

Major Skills

Sneak, Blades, Light Armor, Marksman, and Alchemy are the best Major Skills for the Assassin build. Major Skills in Elder Scrolls Oblivion are a set of seven skills that you choose at character creation. These skills are initiated at the higher base level. These skills level up faster than the Minor Skills and impact your attribute bonuses along with the character’s leveling. Blades is one of the best skills that we recommend you use and level up as it increase the damage output of your melee weapon. Skills are unlocked by repeatedly using them, training with NPCs, and reading special books. The primary way to level up skills is by actively using them.

• Illusion- It grants utility spells like invisibility and chameleon to increase stealth and survivability.
• Sneak- It is used for sneak attacks and to avoid being detected in challenging areas.
• Blades- Grant a solid melee option for close-quarters combat. This is more effective when combined with sneak attacks.
• Light Armor- This skill allows quick movement, making it crucial for an assassin’s playstyle. 
• Marksman- It allows you to deal massive damage from a safe distance while using a long-ranged weapon.
• Alchemy- Use this skill to create powerful poisons and other helpful potions.
• Acrobatics- It grants agility and evasion, making you harder to hit.

Minor Skills

Acrobatics, Armorer, Restoration, Security, and Mysticism are the best Minor Skills for Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Minor skills are not that effective but they support your character with other aspects. Choose the minor skills wisely as they can make your character internally stronger. Prefer leveling minor skills to gain attribute bonuses.

• Mysticism- This skill helps you to find enemies in an area.
• Acrobatics- It grants agility and evasion, making you harder to hit.
• Armorer- Use this skill for repairing enchanted gear and improving your armor.  
• Restoration- Use this skill to gain healing, and it can be useful for survival.
• Security- Use it for picking locks and opening chests.

Equipment

Equipment in Elder Scrolls Oblivion consists of weapons, armor, clothing, and various other items. Players can equip them to increase their character’s abilities and stats. Weapons are crafted from different items and each has different stats and appearances. You can even enchant the weapons with magical effects like damage, debuff, or health regen. Use the soul gems to recharge the enchanted weapons. Armor is another equipment that protects you from incoming attacks from enemies. Each piece of armor has an armor rating, which determines how much damage it can absorb. You can equip up to 9 pieces at one time. Light armor is the best option available for the Archer build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Best Weapons

Here are the best weapons to include in your Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Daedric Dagger

• Damage: 19
• Health: 532
• Base Value: 2700
• Weight: 10

The Daedric Dagger is a one-handed weapon that has the highest base damage among any other dagger in the game. Daggers are the fastest melee weapons, allowing you to deliver their enchantments faster. Use this dagger to take down enemies in melee range or for stealth take down. You can enchant the Daedric Dagger with effects like Poison, damage, or fatigue. Daggers are lightweight but deal less damage than swords or maces. Pair it with skills like Blades to enhance the effectiveness of this weapon. Upgrading this weapon regularly is essential to increase its damage potential.

Daedric Shortsword

• Damage: 21
• Health: 508
• Base Value: 1500
• Weight: 22

Daedric Shortsword is the best one-handed melee weapon after the dagger to use for the Assassin build due to its massive damage capability. We recommend you pair it with the Daedric Dagger to deal high damage in tough encounters. This unique setup provides you with more versatility in fights. Daedric shortswords are often carried by Zealots in the Shivering Isles. This weapon has high base damage and a relatively fast swing speed, allowing you to use stealth approaches and quick attacks. Enchanting a Daedric shortsword can significantly enhance its effectiveness. Shortswords are faster and lighter than longswords, making it a good option for an assassin build.

Best Armor

Here is the best armor to equip while running an Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion.

Glass Armor

• Armor Health: 5275
• Base Armor: 50
• Base Value: 5300
• Class: Light Armor

Glass Armor is the best armor to choose for the Assassin build. It offers excellent protection while remaining light, allowing for agility and stealth. You want to prioritize light armor as an assassin to benefit stealth and movement speed. Glass armor provides a high armor rating, which is crucial for surviving encounters with enemies. You will be fighting the enemies in close range and having this armor equipped increases your survivability. It reduces the effectiveness of the incoming attacks from the enemies. This amor also helps you level up your light armor skill, which is important for increasing your armor rating. Enchant your Glass Armor with powerful spells, allowing you to reduce the penalties of wearing armor.

Shrouded Armor

• Armor Health: 520
• Base Armor: 17.5
• Base Value: 0
• Class: Light Armor

Shrouded Armor is another good option to use while running an Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. This armor set consists of two parts, the Shrouded Armor and the Shrouded Hood. It offers several enhancements that favor stealth-oriented characters. The Ancient Shrouded Armor is relatively easy to acquire. Shrouded armor is a single piece of equipment that covers the whole body except the head. It also has unleveled stats and enchantments, meaning the effectiveness increases as you level up in the game. This armor includes the enchantment that boosts backstab damage and poison resistance.

Leveling Strategy

Focus on skills like Sneak, Blade, Light Armor, Marksman, and Illusion to level up effectively as an assassin in ESO. Invest attribute points in Speed, Luck, and Agility. You can level up in the game by gaining experience in major skills. Each 10-point major skill increase results in a level-up. Leveling up is based on Skill Increases and the Attributes you assign. Every time you level up, you will get to increase three attributes.

Focus on attributes that align with your playstyle. Your Birthsign gives a significant bonus to your stats. You must sleep in a bed to level up. Leveling in Oblivion can take time, so try to balance your activities between exploring, combat, and practicing skills. Each attribute can only be increased by a maximum of five points, except Luck, as it increases by one point. The skills you choose at character creation are the ones that highly influence your character’s progression. However, the Minor skills don’t directly affect your character’s progression.

Factions

The Dark Brotherhood is the best faction for the Assassin build in ESO. It provides access to unique quests, rewards, and a gameplay style, aligning your assassin playstyle. Completing quests for the Dark Brotherhood can unlock powerful weapons, armor, and other items. Joining a faction unlocks a series of quests specific to that organization. Keep in mind that your actions and choices in the game influence your standing with different factions. Each faction offers a unique gameplay experience, so choose the one that complements the assassin playstyle. Factions also have guild halls where you can interact with members.

Trainers

Astrid is the best trainer for the assassin build, as she helps train Sneak, but she isn’t as commonly available early in the game. She is the leader of the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim. Trainers allow you to spend gold to increase your skill levels, which can help you level up skills.  Different types of trainers allow you to reach different skill level caps. These trainers can train a specific skill for a set number of times per character level.

How to Play the Assassin Build

Choose Bosmer for an Assassin build in ESO as it grants bonuses to Marksman, Sneak, and Light Armor. The Shadow is the best birthsign for an assassin because it provides you with the Shadow Cloak of Nocturnal. It allows you to turn invisible for 60 seconds once per day. Use the dagger to deal damage to enemies in combat, or use the shortsword to take out enemies with a few hits.

Daggers allow you to stealthily take down your enemies, making it easy to eliminate enemies without taking any damage. Use skills like Sneak, Marksman, Light Armor, and Blade to increase your effectiveness in the game. It’s always best to take advantage of your environment. You can stay in the shadows and crouch for the sneak attack. Use a dagger and shortsword if you get caught. Join the faction to support your playstyle, making you a powerful assassin in the game. Upgrade your weapon regularly to make it more effective in combat where you want to deal high damage. Use potions that are crucial during long fights, so always be prepared.

Best Gameplay Tips and Tricks for the Assassin Build

Here are all the gameplay tips and tricks for the Assassin build in ESO.

• Wear light armor for fast movement speed, allowing you to reposition quickly.
• Maximize your stealth to sneak attack the enemies without being detected.
• Use Stealth to get the jump on enemies and deal increased damage with sneak attacks.
• Use illusion magic for invisibility to escape dangerous situations.
• Use a dagger while fighting the lower-level enemies, as they take fewer hits to be eliminated.
• Take out your shortsword to kill the higher-level enemies who take more damage.
• Use run and tactics to dominate the enemies with your dagger. This gives you an opening where you can use your sword to defeat the enemy.
• Use the Dark Brotherhood to your advantage as it provides you training in assassination skills.

FAQs about Assassin build in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion

What is Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion?

Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion is a high-damage playstyle focused on using sneak, poison, and quick attacks.

Which is the best weapon for an Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion?

Daedric Dagger and Daedric Shortsword are the best weapons for an Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion to eliminate enemies.

Which is the best race for an Assassin build in ESO?

Bosmer (Wood Elf) is the best race for the Assassin build in Elder Scrolls Oblivion because it provides starting bonuses in Sneak, Marksman, Acrobatics, and Light Armor.

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