18 Best Assassin Gear, Armor & Weapons in Skyrim

Theft, betrayal, and killing.

It’s a lot of fun to play as an assassin. And it fits right in with the world of Skyrim. Whether you want to play as a Khajit, an Argonian, or a regular Imperial assassin.

I’ve put together all the Best Assassin Gear, items, weapons, armour, and other things that every stealthy assassin should have.

Some of this gear will also help you in real combat.

If you mess up your stealth, you can count on most of these items to help you stay alive in a real fight.

But be careful: I’m focusing on things that will make your game easier as long as you stay hidden.

If you’re one of those “guns blazing” people who like to shoot first, I don’t think anyone will hire you to kill anyone any time soon.

18. Cicero’s Clothes

Cicero the jester can be a pretty annoying presence at the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, but underneath all the hysterical shrieking is a fascinating character.

And if not fascinating, then at least useful. His clothes improve both merchant prices and one-handed attacks by 20%, the latter being very useful for assassins, the former providing an added bonus.

How the player acquires Cicero’s clothes depends on whether or not they kill him during “The Cure For Madness” mission.

They can either be looted from his corpse or else lifted clean off his living body by a skilled pickpocket.

17. Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow Of Petrifying

This heavy crossbow has the highest base damage of any ranged weapon in the game, with the added bonus of ignoring 50% of a target’s armor.

In the unlikely event that the target is not obliterated by the first attack, it has a 25% chance to paralyze the target for 6 seconds, which should be plenty of time to finish them off before they blow the assassin’s cover.

The crossbow can be bought or crafted by speaking to Sorine Jurard after completing the Ancient Technology quests, and the Paralyze enchantment can be added using an Arcane Enchanter.

16. Shrouded Boots

Moving quietly is vitally important for any assassin, and that’s exactly what the soft leather soles of the Shrouded Boots allow players to do.

While the game states that they grant silent movement, this isn’t entirely true. They just allow players to move very, very quietly, even when not using stealth.

Shrouded Shoes also grant the exact same effect, but the armor bonus granted by the Shrouded Boots makes it worth carrying the extra weight.

Like Shrouded Gloves, Shrouded Boots can be found in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary and during various Dark Brotherhood missions.

15. Shrouded Glove Wraps

How To Get: You can only find one enchanted set of Shrouded Glove Wraps in the game. They’re located in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary when you first speak to Astrid.

With this set of gloves, one-handed sneak attacks do double damage.

With that kind of boost I’m assuming you know why I’m putting them on my list!

They provide stealthy assassins with the ability to kill most of their enemies with one hit, making them extremely powerful. Even for players at a very low level.

They’re also fingerless gloves, so they look cool to boot.

14. Linwe’s Set

How To Get: Pickpocket Linwe at the Uttering Hills Cave.

With Linwe’s armor set you’ll not only look like a hobo, but you’ll also be able to hit like one.

Well, you’ll actually be able to hit like one if you decide to enchant this set… it actually comes unenchanted.

Still, it’s one of the best light armor sets that an assassin can wear. So I stand by my decision and suggest seeking it out!

13. Azura’s Star

How To Get: Complete The Black Star quest.

I know this item is not technically meant to be wielded by an assassin.

But the fact that it allows you to trap the souls of all of your victims makes it good enough to deserve a spot on my list.

Besides, we all love Azura’s Star because of its significance in the Elder Scrolls lore. Remember, you can use the souls within the Star and it won’t even disappear after use. Nifty!

12. A Gazillion Lockpicks

How To Get: You can find lockpicks almost literally everywhere.

I don’t care whether you’re a thief or an assassin, you’re going to need a ton of lockpicks if you want to find success as a stealth player.

Especially during the first few levels if you want to access the locations of targets you intend to kill.

Lockpicks are super easy to find, but you’ll need to keep your eyes open if you intend to collect a lot of them.

And remember that you’ll lose a bunch when starting the game, as your lockpicking skills will be too low. Keep at it though.

11. Daedric Dagger

How To Get: Daedric daggers start spawning after you reach level 46, with enchanted versions appearing after level 47.

Out of all the basic weapons in the game, the Daedric Dagger is the one that suits an assassin playthrough the most.

The edge of the blade is serrated, which makes it far more lethal and more suitable for a role-player.

This weapon would certainly spill a lot of blood, so it’s pretty apt for assassins trying to do what they do best.

Enchant the dagger and watch it become even more powerful. Then it with the shrouded gloves and you’ll become a one-hand killing machine.

10. Dragonbone Bow

How To Get: You need to kill one of the Keepers in the Soul Cairn to get your hands on this bow.

As one of the strongest and most badass-looking bows in the game, the Dragonbone Bow is an almost guaranteed one-shot kill weapon that’ll serve you well.

It’s as difficult to get as it is powerful, though.

But if you can enchant one of these bad boys, you’ll have a killer in your hands. Use it wisely.

And for the love of Akatosh, don’t shoot yourself – it’s going to hurt like a mother.

9. Dark Brotherhood Set

How To Get: You will get a set of Shrouded Armor upon joining the Dark Brotherhood, since it’s the official outfit of those who roam the night and spill blood in the name of the Night Mother herself.

The Dark Brotherhood Set, otherwise known as the regular Shrouded Armor set, is one of the coolest-looking sets of armor in the game.

And one of the finest you can wear for an assassin playthrough.

The set is super light, but it offers great defending stats. This makes it a good set to wear if you intend to occasionally engage in combat with your enemies.

8. Dragon Priest Mask – Krosis

How To Get: Visit the dragon lair Shearpoint and kill the Dragon Priest Krosis.

The Krosis Dragon Priest Mask is one of the finest pieces of armor that you can wear as an assassin or thief.

It increases your lockpicking skills by 20%.

It also increases your archery skill by 20%, which allows you to kill foes with much more efficiency if you have a powerful bow in your hands.

The increase also helps you fight off foes that have already spotted you, so be sure to hang onto this mask in case things go south!

7. Nightweaver’s Band

How To Get: This ring is a quest reward for completing the Recipe for Disaster.

The Nightweaver’s Band is a basic ring that increases your sneak skill by 10%, allowing you to move around your targets with much more elegance.

And ultimately a lower chance of being detected.

You need to be a member of the Dark Brotherhood if you wish to receive this infamous ring, though.

6. Mace of Molag Bal

How To Get: Complete “The House of Horrors” to get your hands on this weapon.

The Mace of Molag Bal seems to have been around for ages.

In fact, it literally has, as the mace itself is a Daedric artifact that has made cameos in the TES series since Daggerfall.

It deals damage to your enemy’s magicka and stamina, and it also allows you to fill a soul gem if your enemy dies after the first hit.

It’s a powerful weapon, albeit not as easy to conceal as a knife or dagger.

5. Dragonscale Armor

How To Get: You can obtain this set from level 24 and up, but the easiest way is by leveling up your smithing skill to level 100 and crafting it yourself.

The Dragonscale set of armor might make you look a bit too heavy for an assassin.

But it’s actually one of the game’s best sets of light armor.

Enchant it with relevant abilities and you might get an assassin-focused set with some of the best defending stats in the game.

4. Amulet of Talos

How To Get: It can be found in various locations across Skyrim, but it can be easily found by purchasing it from Radiant Raiment.

This amulet reduces the duration of the shout cooldown by 20%, which might not be as helpful on its own… but it does wonders for an assassin playthrough if you can collect the right set of shouts.

3. Blade of Woe

How To Get: Complete the quest “Death Incarnate”, killing Astrid, or pickpocketing her.

The Blade of Woe is a unique weapon, and the best dagger that an assassin can wield.

This is partly because of its fantastic enchantment which drains 10% health from your enemy.

But also because it looks exactly like the knife that a serial killer would use. That’s a cool feature, right?

It only deals 12 points of basic damage, but it’s a very strong weapon that will thoroughly serve its purpose of murdering whatever (or whoever) gets in your way.

2. Nightingale Armor

How To Get: Karliah will give you the set after the initiation ritual that gets you into the ranks of the Nightingales.

Nocturnal’s followers certainly wear one of the coolest sets of armor in the game.

If you want to look like an absolute killer, then you’ll want to get your hands on one of these sets.

It’s a light set of armor, fully enchantable, that comes with 69 points of basic defense.

1. Ancient Shrouded Armor

How To Get: Complete the Locate the Assassin of Old quest and receive this armor as a reward.

The Ancient Shrouded armor is the best assassin & thief armor in the game.

Wearing the full set allows you to move as sneaky as a snake, muffling your sound, while also providing you with 100% resistance to poison damage.

It also gives you 35% additional damage to every bow shot you take, and doubling your sneak attack with one-handed weapons.