Imperial Thief

My aims are my own, best you don’t end up as one of them.

Imperial Thief

In the busy city of Cyrodiil, where you were born and grew up, your heart yearned for adventure and mischief. Though your parents owned a hunting store called The Falcon’s Roost, they insisted you help them instead of exploring the world beyond. Many believed your charm would make you a successful merchant, but you craved something more thrilling than the mundane life within the city walls.

When news of a civil war reached you, an idea sparked in your mind. You packed a bag, slung a bow across your shoulder, and set off towards the north. Along the way, you practiced with the tools you used to sell, pretending to be a skilled woodsman. You hoped to reach Skyrim, where the chaos of the war between the Stormcloaks and the Imperial Legion could provide cover for your secret plans.

Your plan was simple: deceive the soldiers by offering them information and resources, gain their trust, and then sneak away in the dead of night, taking some of their supplies with you. You repeated this scheme, playing the two sides against each other and earning a handsome profit for yourself.

But one day, while infiltrating a Stormcloak camp, you found yourself in the midst of a Legion ambush. The soldiers swiftly captured you alongside the rebels and accused you of “illegally crossing the border,” when you couldn’t provide proof of passage. Unaware of your scheme, your cover remained intact, giving you a glimmer of hope that perhaps you could talk your way out of this predicament…

Summary

  • Complexity: Low
  • Race: Imperial
  • Skills:
    • Offensive: Archery
    • Defensive: Illusion, Light Armor
    • Utility: Security, Sneak, Speech
  • Attributes:
    Stamina is your key attribute as it’s necessary for both sneaking and drawing your bow. Invest heavily in it to make sure you’re not ever caught without the energy to run away when things go south. After that, a decent amount of Health protects you from the occasional hit or spell, and you’ll need just enough Magicka to cast your handful of Illusion spells.
    • Health: 3
    • Magicka: 2
    • Stamina: 5

At its core, the Imperial Thief is the quintessential “stealth archer,” preferring to strike from far outside of an enemy’s range and remain hidden for as long as possible. Use Speech and Security to amass a large pile of septims, use it to hire and outfit a stalwart mercenary to do your bidding, and then bolster them with Illusion magic and bard songs. At times a follower may seem unnecessary but bring them along anyway as they’ll keep the enemies from focusing on you. Don’t hesitate to throw your wealth at potions and other consumables. You can afford it.

Perks

Full perk information can be found on the Adamant description page.

Early Game: Informant

Don’t squander this second chance at life. Make connections, put your ear to the ground, and make some early scores while the guards worry themselves over whatever happened at Helgen.

Archery

Your bow is your only source of direct damage. Shoot fast and shoot true.

  • Marksman 1 (10): Bows deal 25% more damage.
  • Eagle Eye 1 (20): Bows have a 10% chance of dealing critical damage.
  • Quick Draw 1 (30): You draw your bow 20% faster.

Illusion

Experiment with Illusion when you can. The spells can get you out of sticky situations.

  • Illusionist 1 (10): Illusion spells cost 25% less Magicka.

Light Armor

When all goes well you’ll wonder why you even wear armor. But you’ll be glad you have it when you’re hit.

  • Scout 1 (10): Light armor is 25% more effective.
  • Agility 1 (20): You gain 50% Stamina Regeneration when wearing a light armor chest piece.

Security

A thief with no sleight of hand is a bad thief. Ply your trade at every opportunity.

  • Collector 1 (10): You are 25% better at lockpicking and pickpocketing.

Sneak

Being undetected will be your greatest ally. Never attempt a direct fight whenever possible.

  • Agent 1 (10): You are 25% harder to detect while sneaking.
  • Silent Casting (20): Your spells are silent to others.

Speech

You’re in your element when talking to others. Keep your tongue as sharp as your arrows.

  • Merchant 1 (10): Buying and selling prices are 25% better.
  • Silver Tongue (20): You are much more likely to succeed at persuasion and intimidation, and you can bribe guards to ignore crimes.

Mid Game: Hoard Raider

Turns out you could be a legendary Dragonborn capable of killing these dragons. Suppose that puts you in a unique position to snatch whatever it is they guard. If you’ve made a name for yourself, see if the Thieves’ Guild will let you join their ranks.

Archery

Mobile archery is nice to have but your goal is single shot kills from the shadows.

  • Power Shot (40): Bows have a 50% chance to stagger enemies.
  • Grim Focus 1 (40): Critical hits with bows deal three times damage.
  • Marksman 2 (50): Bows deal 50% more damage.
  • Ranger (60): You can move faster with a drawn bow.

Illusion

With courage buffs lasting this long, never leave home alone.

  • Captivating Presence 1 (20): Your Illusion spells last 50% longer.
  • Guidance (30): Courage spells last three times longer.
  • Indomitable Will 1 (40): Your Illusion spells are 50% stronger.
  • Illusionist 2 (50): Illusion spells cost 50% less Magicka.

Light Armor

Here you’ll snag two speed boosts which will help stealth mobility.

  • Specialist 1 (30): You receive a 25% armor bonus when wearing a light armor chest piece.
  • Unhindered (40): Your armor weighs nothing and doesn’t slow you down while wearing a light armor chest piece.
  • Athletics 1 (40): You move 10% faster when wearing a light armor chest piece.
  • Scout 2 (50): Light armor is 50% more effective.

Security

You’ve put in a lot of practice, now make the rewards worth the effort.

  • Golden Touch (20): You find more gold when opening chests and picking pockets.
  • Sleight of Hand 1 (30): You are 50% more likely to succeed at pickpocketing while undetected.
  • Locksmith (40): Your lockpicks start closer to the opening position.
  • Collector 2 (50): You are 50% better at lockpicking and pickpocketing.

Sneak

Stay hidden and hit harder when no one sees you coming.

  • Deadly Aim 1 (30): Sneak attacks with bows deal 50% extra damage.
  • Trespasser (30): You no longer trigger traps, and you can execute a silent roll while sneaking.
  • Agent 2 (50): You are 50% harder to detect while sneaking.

Speech

Make it easier to offload your ill-gotten gains.

  • Bard 1 (30): Your bard songs are twice as strong.
  • Supply and Demand 1 (30): Merchants have extra gold for bartering.
  • Black Market (40): You can sell stolen items to any merchant.

Late Game: Thief of Legend

There’s nothing you can’t steal. Your stealth skills are unmatched. Locks are just minor hindrances. And your natural charm beguiles many, and Illusion spells will enthrall those it can’t. You’re free to amass your fortune as you continue to leave your mark on Skyrim.

Archery

Again, the goal is single shot kills when you have to kill. Mastery of this tree will help with that.

  • Quick Draw 2 (70): You draw your bow 40% faster.
  • Eagle Eye 2 (70): Bows have a 20% chance of dealing critical damage.
  • Steady Hand (80): Zooming in with a bow slows down time.
  • Grim Focus 2 (90): Critical hits with bows deal five times damage.
  • Lethal Shot (100): Your critical chance and critical damage with bows are doubled against enemies who fall below half Health.

Illusion

Command won’t grant buffs but you’ll still be able to convince many to fight for you.

  • Captivating Presence 2 (60): Your Illusion spells last 100% longer.
  • Indomitable Will 2 (80): Your Illusion spells are 100% stronger.

Light Armor

Stamina regeneration is the name of the game here. Along with another speed boost.

  • Adrenaline (60): You move 20% faster when sprinting while wearing a light armor chest piece.
  • Agility 2 (60): You gain 100% Stamina Regeneration when wearing a light armor chest piece.
  • Specialist 2 (70): You receive a 50% armor bonus while wearing a light armor chest piece.
  • Endurance (80): You spend 20% less Stamina when power attacking or drawing a bow when wearing a light armor chest piece.
  • Athletics 2 (90): You move 20% faster while wearing three pieces of light armor.
  • Second Wind (100): Your Stamina regenerates twice as fast when you fall below half Stamina when wearing a light armor chest piece.

Security

Literally strip your enemies of their defenses before the fight starts.

  • Misdirection (80): Your maximum chance to succeed at pickpocketing is increased to 100%.
  • Perfect Touch (100): You can pickpocket equipped weapons, armor, and jewelry.

Sneak

A substantial increase to both your sneak speed and sneak damage.

  • Infiltrator (60): You move 25% faster while sneaking.
  • Deadly Aim 2 (60): Sneak attacks with bows deal 100% extra damage.

Speech

Get the most out of your instruments. The lute is especially potent for buffing yourself.

  • Minstrel (40): Your bard songs last three times as long.
  • Merchant 2 (50): Buying and selling prices are 50% better.
  • Bard 2 (60): Your bard songs are twice as strong and grant an additional bonus to you and your allies.
  • Skald (80): Your bard songs are twice as strong on your allies.
  • Investor (90): You can invest in a shopkeeper’s business to increase their available gold.

Standing Stones

Full standing stone information can be found on the Mundus description page.

The Thief (Guardian)

Cheater’s Luck: Your Stamina is increased by 50, you move 10% faster, and you take 50% less damage from falling.

Your Guardian Stone will be useful at every point of your adventure. Extra stamina and movement speed plays well into your stealth gameplay and, should situations really fall apart, you might be able to survive falls your pursuers cannot.

The Lover

Lover’s Touch: Your Stamina regenerates twice as fast, but you take 25% extra damage while power attacking, drawing a bow, or casting a spell.

Once you have enough raw Stamina, regeneration becomes the higher priority. The downside to The Lover doesn’t concern you much as all since you have no intention of taking damage while drawing your bow. Later in the game you may have plenty of regeneration from your Light Armor perks and will start to see little benefit here.

The Shadow

Moonshadow: You are 25% harder to detect while sneaking, and you deal 25% extra damage with sneak attacks and spells.

It’s no surprise that a sneakthief would find a home under the Shadow. This stone is especially useful in the early and mid-game where the 25% boost may be the deciding factor between being undetected and having your guts spilled. In the late game you’ll still benefit from the boost to sneak attacks.

Faith

Full religion information can be found on the Pilgrim description page.

The Divines have never been a large part of your life but it’s impossible to live in Cyrodiil without basic familiarity with The Nine. Rather, The Eight. You keep your opinion on Talos to yourself, choosing to openly worship other Aedra such as Akatosh, Dibella, and Zenithar in your own distorted way.

Akatosh

You gain 10% more experience.

You can’t go wrong with the chief deity of your pantheon. The extra experience can be especially valuable for leveling Security as opportunities for theft can be difficult early on. You don’t have to follow all five commandments all the time, right?

Dibella

Your Stamina Regeneration is increased by 25%.

You’ve always twisted the teachings of Dibella to suit your needs, but at the end of the day the Lady of Love, Beauty, Art, and Music encourages you to seek pleasure. Be sure to steal some beautiful artifacts during your travels and she’ll keep you invigorated.

Zenithar

Your buying and selling prices are 10% better.

Your love of coin naturally leads you to the God of Commerce. He does not support your deceit but praying to Zenithar will grant you deeper pockets nonetheless. Consider visiting a shrine before offloading your stash of gems.

Spellbook

Full magic information can be found on the Mysticism description page.

Illusion

Dabbling in Illusion offers the Thief many benefits. With Calm as a starting spell you’ll be able to reset some bad situations immediately out of Helgen, and the following spells will continue to add to your toolkit.

  • Courage (Novice+): Nearby living allies receive 25 extra Health, Magicka, and Stamina for 120 seconds.
    If you don’t have a follower, hire one with all the money you have. Then use this to buff them on top of your bard song.

  • Muffle (Apprentice+): You move silently for 30 seconds.
    If you don’t have the enchantment on your boots this is the next best thing. Silent footsteps makes it even harder for enemies to find you, which keeps you alive.

  • Command (Adept+): Living targets up to level 15 are placed under your command for 30 seconds.
    Turning one enemy against their friends does wonders for thinning the herd. Just be careful when buffing a commanded foe as they’ll eventually turn back against you.

Dragon Shouts

Full dragon shout information can be found on the Stormcrown description page.

Battle FuryDB

Cooldown: 60/90/120 seconds

  • Raan: All nearby allies move and attack 10% faster for 60 seconds.
  • Mir: All nearby allies move and attack 15% faster for 60 seconds.
  • Shaan: All nearby allies move and attack 20% faster for 60 seconds.
  • Meditation: Battle Fury increases the Armor Rating of all nearby allies by up to 150.

Another buff to add on top of Courage and your bard song. Even better if you have more than one ally, but even with just a follower this can greatly improve their effectiveness in combat.

Become Ethereal

Cooldown: 60/90/120 seconds

  • Feim: You become ethereal for 10 seconds.
  • Zii: You become ethereal for 20 seconds.
  • Gron: You become ethereal for 30 seconds.
  • Meditation: Become Ethereal restores Health over time.

If the action gets too hot, use this to guarantee some safety and reposition as needed. With meditation it can also be used to restore Health whenever you need.

Call Dragon

Cooldown: 5/10/300 seconds

  • Od: No effect.
  • Ah: No effect.
  • Viing: Summons Odahviing.

This is quite situational as you need to complete the main quest and it only works outdoors, but it’s perfect for difficult fights such as ones against other dragons. An essential ally that lasts until the fight’s over? Summon him, buff him up, and get out of his way.

Enchantments

Full enchanting information can be found on the Thaumaturgy description page.

Weapon

  • Burden: Reduces enemy Movement and Attack Speed by 25% for 30 seconds.
  • Paralyze: Living targets up to level 40 have a 25% chance to be paralyzed for 10 seconds.
  • Frost Damage: Deals 30 Frost damage to Health and Stamina.

These are intended for the enemies that can survive your sneak attacks. There’s nothing wrong with adding damage to your arrows and Frost Damage will reduce their stamina if not slow them. Burden provides a more reliable debuff to their ability to retaliate, whereas Paralyze is a chance at an even stronger disable.

  • Fortify Archery: You deal 25% extra damage with ranged weapons.
  • Fortify Illusion Cost: Your Illusion spells cost 25% less.
  • Fortify Barter: You receive 20% better prices.

A boost to your main source of damage is hard to ignore. Failing that, making your Illusion buffs cheaper may let you cast the next tier with less Magicka investment. Additionally, having a Fortify Barter cap while in town will let you squeeze a little more coin out of the merchants.

Chest

  • Resist Magic: Your Magic Resistance is increased by 25%.
  • Fortify Health Regeneration: Your Health Regeneration is increased by 50%.
  • Fortify Armor Rating: Your Armor Rating is increased by 100.

This slot serves to bolster your defenses which, ideally, you don’t need. Magic damage is always threatening so a chance to lessen that is valuable. You also lack natural Health Regeneration (though you can easily afford potions and food if that’s), so that’s also a worthwhile option. Lastly, Light Armor on its own may not get you to the armor soft-cap so you’re welcome to boost that if you’re worried about incoming physical attacks.

Gloves

  • Fortify Sneak Attacks: You deal 25% more damage with sneak attacks and spells.
  • Fortify Security: You are 25% better at lockpicking and pickpocketing.
  • Fortify Magicka Regeneration: Your Magicka Regeneration is increased by 50%.

Empowering your sneak attacks is the clear winner here with Fortify Security being a clear 2nd place. If you don’t have access to either, Magicka Regeneration is slightly useful if you find yourself casting often in combat.

Boots

  • Fortify Sneak: You are 25% better at sneaking.
  • Muffle: You make 50% less noise while moving.
  • Fortify Carry Weight: Your Carry Weight is increased by 50.

Obvious choices for the thief. Fortify Sneak and Muffle will help keep you hidden, with the latter being an option if you don’t want to use the Illusion spell. Additional Carry Weight helps you pick a place clean without being encumbered, if that’s your style.

Necklace

  • Fortify Archery: You deal 25% extra damage with ranged weapons.
  • Fortify Illusion Power: Your Illusion spells are 25% stronger.
  • Fortify Illusion Duration: Your Illusion spells last 50% longer.

If the boost to Archery is available, take it. Otherwise a boost to Illusion Power can stretch Command to influence higher level enemies, and Illusion Duration will make Courage last even longer. If you find a necklace with Fortify Barter, keep it handy for merchants.

Ring

  • Fortify Sneak Attacks: You deal 25% more damage with sneak attacks and spells.
  • Fortify Sneak: You are 25% better at sneaking.
  • Fortify Security: You are 25% better at lockpicking and pickpocketing.

A very contested slot, you’ll want to give priority to Fortify Sneak Attacks. The other options are nice icing on the cake but nothing trumps your desire to take enemies out of the equation with as few arrows as possible.

Last modified April 12, 2024