Why you should choose the path of: Stealth

Continuing on from where we left on with magic, it's now Stealth's turn to show up on our radar and get a chance in the spotlight. Stealth has always been my favoured method of combat in every game, probably explaining my never-ending love for Assassins Creed, but more importantly, The Elder Scrolls have been no exception to my stealth addiction, which is why excitement should arise around this post! I'm excited - Are you?

Remain unseen and unheard
Stealth was nice in Oblivion, but it had its flaws. For one, it was easy to be forced into it, simply not to be noticed by enemies who shouldn't even be able to spot you in the first place. But as with everything else, stealth has been improved in Skyrim, finally allowing us to utilize our ninja potential.

Stealth or no, if we're not in line of sight, enemies won't spot us and that is it! Hur-f'ing-ray [Insert happy smiley!] Also, in contrast to Oblivion, the stealth-marker is no longer just "visible" or "invisible," but actually it is shaped like an eye, opening as you get closer to being spotted and of course it closes the other way around, allowing you to adapt to the movement of your enemies.

As always, the factors to take into account when you are sneaking is three-fold:

1. Line of Sight
2. Darkness
3. Noise

As said, if you are not in their LoS, they won't notice you, unless they're around the corner and making a big racket - If you are, then you're not ninja anyway! I think the best way to describe it, is that it'll be realistic and just leave it at that. The amount of darkness you are standing in can also benefit you; The darker, the better.

Then there is noise - This is where you want to use small weapons and light shoes to remain undetected.

Deal some serious damage!
If attacking whilst stealthed, you can multiply your damage. Also, Bethesda finally pays heed to the classic stealth rule and makes daggers the preferred weapon, granting not only more bonus stealth-damage when attacking with it, but also making it less likely to produce loud noise.

McBraas suggests: Dagger and Bow

Lockpicking
People (Brad) has been asking for info on this and I gave it to them (him,) but I will hurl ya'll an explanation here, given that lockpicking is a classic skill of the stealth-user (ninja.)

Did you play Fallout 3? Or perhaps New Vegas? If so, then you already have the answer as to what lockpicking will be like in Skyrim, 'cause it is completely identical - You use turn the pin around until you find the right spot and then you just crack it open; If you got the wrong spot, the pin breaks.

Crafting skill: Alchemy
Alchemy has now become the primary crafting skill of the Assassin, or thief, or whatever. It is quite the surprise, given that it commonly resides to the magicians to make potions. Unfortunately, I never get the one potion I want, transforming people into pigs - but I'll live.

In order to brew the radest poison, you'll need to travel all over Skyrim, due to the 7 different major climates of the land. Exactly what kind of poisons, other than damage dealing ones, we can brew - Well... That's exciting.

Guilds
The sneaky types will have two guilds speaking to them.

For the more peaceful types, we have the Thieves' guild, located in the sewers beneath Riften. Nothing beyond that is known about the guild so far. Hopefully most of the heists will be as big and epic as the last one we did in Oblivion. That. Was. Epic.

For the more awesome types, we've got The Dark Brotherhood, making their return of awesomeness. As we seep into our dark robes, sit down in our optimal-comfort chairs, boot up our personal computers and double click the Skyrim icon on 11.11.11, the first thing dwindling in our minds is this: Where the fuck do I find My family? My Brotherhood?! - And why will we be doing that, exactly? Well, we're pathological escapists, but foremost we see the brotherhood for what it is: Awesome!
Anywho, as far as I've gathered, we need to do a specific quest, gained from a child, which will catch their attention, meaning that killing an innocent will no longer cut it. Not that I'm stopping you, mind you.

Takedown
Like the melee path, stealth features takedowns, "one-shotting" your victims with your vicious blade.
There are several types, so be excited!