Nord - Sword - Light - Dual Wield
From out of nothing the spectre of death appears, an armoured shadow with brilliant blades held high. In a flash the swords fall, severing life from limb in a bloody arc. All around, screams of terror and shouts of fear erupt, as quaking hands draw blades to fight the masked murderer.

Any one-handed weapon at the start of the game.
The final weapons are an Ancient Nord Sword and a Honed Ancient Nord Sword. The reason for the differing swords is it makes weapon selection easier in the quick select menu if you have different base weapons. You can swap the Ancient Nord Sword for a Nord Hero Sword, which can be crafted from Ancient Nord Swords at the Skyforge once the Companions main quest chain has been completed, and a Honed Ancient Nord Sword.
They are enchanted with the Sword FX visual effect from an Undying Ghost Sword. You’ll need to use Wabbajack to do a fatal transmog on the Undying Ghost so you can loot the sword and disenchant the visual effect. The unofficial patches stop this from working so if you are playing with this mod then either enable the console if on PC or use a mod that allows you to add items into your inventory. The item code was FE03789A for me.
Craft a set of Leather Scout Armor as soon as you can.
The final gear is a Necromancers Hood, Nightingale Armor, Dark Seducer Boots and Gauntlets. Amulet of Talos is also used.
The Masked Necromancer Hood can be found in Yngvild on a table in the back room of the Throne Room.
The Nightingale Armor can be found by progressing the Thieves Guild quest chain, which can be started at the market in Riften.
Talk to Ri’Saad the Khajiit merchant that travels between Whiterun and Markarth and ask him about bandit attacks. You’ll encounter some dark seducer bandits by following this quest chain.
The Amulet of Talos can be found on the battlements of Fort Dawnguard as you enter take the first right, the next right and go up the stairs.
Illusion for Muffle and Invisibility and fear spells. Restoration for healing spells which are also used to replenish Stamina.
The Atronach Stone for 50% spell absorption, 50 Magicka but -50% magicka regeneration.
Use a shrine of Talos for 20% shout cooldown.
Location: Ironbind Barrow, Lost Valley Redoubt, Ustengrav (Horn of Jurgen Windcaller)
Allows you to become temporarily invulnerable while also using no stamina while running.
Location: Dead Men’s Respite, Volskygge, High Hrothgar (The Way of the Voice)
Use to reach otherwise inaccessible places and also to quickly evade attacks or catch up with fleeing enemies.
Dark Elf and High Elf have the largest skill boost for this build but I had the idea for a Nord assassin due to the use of Ancient Nord Swords so that there is a perfect fit for the visual effect enchantment from the Undying Ghost Sword. Nords also have a 50% Frost Resistance so with the 50% Frost Resistance from the Nightingale Armor this allows for the resistance cap of 85% to be used. It’s always useful on melee builds to have Frost Resistance to reduce both the damage to health and stamina but also to reduce the impact of the slow effect to keep you mobile.
Distribute attributes at a ratio of 0 / 2 / 1. At level 60 which is required for all the perks the attributes are:
| Magicka | Health | Stamina |
|---|---|---|
| 100 (265) | 500 | 290 (445) |
The skill boosts for Nords are marked in bold.
| Mage | Warrior | Rogue | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alteration | 8 | Archery | 0 | Alchemy | 7 |
| Conjuration | 0 | Block +5 | 0 | Light Armor +5 | 5 |
| Destruction | 0 | Heavy Armor | 0 | Lockpicking | 0 |
| Enchanting | 8 | One-handed +5 | 10 | Pickpocket | 0 |
| Illusion | 6 | Smithing +5 | 6 | Sneak | 1 |
| Restoration | 8 | Two-handed +10 | 0 | Speech +5 | 0 |
| Total | 29 | Total | 16 | Total | 13 |
Novice Alteration
Apprentice Alteration
Adept Alteration
Expert Alteration
Apprentice Alteration
Magic Resistance 3/3
Atronach
Enchanter 5/5
Insightful Enchanter
Corpus Enchanter
Extra Effect
Illusiion Dual Casting
Novice Illusion
Animage
Kindred Mage
Quiet Casting
Master of the Mind
Novice Restoration
Apprentice Restoration
Adept Restoration
Expert Restoration
Regeneration
Recovery 2/2
Respite
Armsman 5/5
Fighting Stance
Savage Strike
Dual Flurry 2/2
Dual Savagery
Steel Smithing
Dwarven Smithing
Orcish Smithing
Ebony Smithing
Daedric Smithing
Arcane Blacksmith
Alchemist 5/5
Physician
Benefactor
Agile Defender 3/5
Well Fitted
Unhindered
Stealth 1/5
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Candlelight | Novice | Creates a hovering light that lasts for 60 seconds |
| Detect Life | Adept | Nearby living creatures, but not undead, machines or daedra, can be seen through walls |
| Waterbreathing | Adept | Can breathe under water for 60 seconds. Stand in water and cast to level Alteration. |
From the Bow of Shadows quest that you get from the steward in Dragonsreach you can get the Detect Life spell book at the stables once you have read the ledger in Acradia's Cauldron. Cast this in the market during the day to level Alteration.
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Soul Trap | Apprentice | If the target dies within 60 seconds, fills a soul gem |
Conjuration is not needed in this build.
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Flames | Novice | A gout of fire inflicting a base damage of 8 points of fire damage per second. |
Destruction is not used in this build.
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Courage | Novice | Target won’t flee for 60 seconds and gets some extra health and stamina |
| Fear | Apprentice | Creatures and people up to level 9 flee from combat for 30 seconds |
| Muffle | Apprentice | You move more quietly for 180 seconds |
| Rout | Expert | Creatures and people up to level 20 flee from combat for 30 seconds |
| Hysteria | Master | Creatures and people up to level 25 flee from combat for 60 seconds |
Courage can be used to level illusion and I delayed taking the dual casting perk until I had it at 100 so that I could spam courage with both hands.
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Healing | Novice | Heals the caster 10 points per second |
| Fast Healing | Apprentice | Heals caster by 50 points |
| Close Wounds | Adept | Heals caster by 100 points |
| Grand Healing | Expert | Heals everyone close to the caster 200 points. Does not affect atronachs, machines or undead |
Restoration is used for healing out of combat and to replenish Stamina, which should be more common.
The effects listed below are based upon 100 Enchanting skill, all the enchanting perks in the build and with a set of enchanted crafting gear. Read my guide on making crafting gear if you are not familiar with it.
| Item | Enchantment | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Fortify Illusion | Illusion spells cost 46% less to cast. |
| Fortify Restoration | Restoration spells cost 46% less to cast. | |
| Nightingale Armor | Fortify Stamina | Increases your Stamina by 40 points. |
| Resist Frost | Increases your Frost Resistance by 50%. | |
| Feet | Fortify Stamina | Increases your Stamina by 115 points. |
| Resist Sneak | Sneaking is 75% more effective. | |
| Hands | Fortify Magicka | Increases your Magicka by 115 points. |
| Fortify One-handed | One-handed attacks do 75% more damage. | |
| Amulet of Talos | Fortify Shouts | Time between shouts is reduced by 20%. |
| Ring | Fortify Illusion | Illusion spells cost 46% less to cast. |
| Resist Magic | Increases Magic Resistance by 37%. | |
| Sword 1 | FX | Sword FX 1 sec. |
| Sword 2 | FX | Sword FX 1 sec. |
With the Sallowed Regent Black Book the magnitude of all enchantments can be increased. Please note that Black Books can only be used on Solstheim.
The magnitude of the enchantments can be further increased by equipping 4 pieces of Azhidal's gear.
| Ingredients | Blue Mountain Flower & Wheat | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Fortify Health | Increases health by 170 points for 60 seconds. |
| Restore Health | Restores 266 points of health | |
All of the ingredients can be found in or around Whiterun.
| Ingredients | Mora Tapinella, Scaly Pholiota & Steel-Blue Entoloma | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Fortify Carry Weight | Carry capacity increases by 170 more for 300 seconds |
| Regenerate Stamina | Stamina regenerates 213% faster for 300 seconds | |
| Fortify Illusion | Illusion spells are 170% stronger for 60 seconds | |
| Restore Magicka | Restores 266 points of Magicka | |
Mora Tapinella are on the route from Helgen to Whiterun. There’s a lot of Scaly Pholiota to the south of Ivarstead and around Riften. Steel-Blue Entoloma are from Khajiit caravan merchants.
| Ingredients | Dreugh Wax/Stoneflower Petals & Snowberries | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Fortify Enchanting | 85% stronger for 30 seconds |
Dreugh Wax and Stoneflower Petals are only available from Khajiit caravans. Some travel between Whiterun and Markarth. Snowberries are abundant near Windhelm.
| Ingredients | Dreugh Wax/Gold Kanet & Glowing Mushrooms | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Fortify Smithing | 213% stronger for 30 seconds |
Dreugh Wax and Gold Kanet are only available from Khajiit caravans. Some travel between Whiterun and Markarth. Glowing Mushrooms are in Falmer caves.
For more information on getting to and setting up your farm read my guide.
| Ingredient | Qty | Harvest | Green Thumbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel Blue Entoloma (3) | 6 | 18 + 6 = 24 | 36 + 6 = 42 |
| Mora Tapinella (3) | 12 | 36 + 12 = 48 | 72 + 12 = 84 |
| Scaly Pholiota (5) | 9 | 45 + 9 = 54 | 90 + 9 = 99 |
| Ingredient | Qty | Harvest | Green Thumbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Mountain Flowers (3) | 6 | 18 + 6 = 24 | 36 + 6 = 42 |
| Wheat (4) | 5 | 20 + 5 = 25 | 40 + 5 = 45 |
| Ingredient | Qty | Harvest | Green Thumbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel-Blue Entoloma (3) | 6 | 18 + 6 = 24 | 36 + 6 = 42 |