The Morag Tong Assassin
Killing is more than pain and blood. It is art, the final painting on the canvas of life.
The Morag Tong Assassin is a versatile and deadly assassin, skilled in multiple forms of combat and elimination. A master of martial prowess, sharpshooting, resourcefulness and arcane skill. Her diverse array of training leaves no obstacle in her way.
The Build
With the dissolution of the Morag Tong after the Red Year, the Morag Tong Assassin was a refugee from Morrowind fleeing the Argonian invasion, driving her over the border and into Skyrim, where she is captured and sentenced to death by execution, but Mephala has plans for this one, and wills for her to take up the mantle of assassin once again and spread the Spider-Queen’s influence over Skyrim.
Race: I went with Dunmer for roleplay, but the Morag Tong doesn’t particularly discriminate based on race. Dunmer also gain +5 boosts to 5 skills this build uses. Other solid picks include Khajiit and Bosmer.
- Note: I use female pronouns throughout the build because I played my Dunmer as a female.
Stone: The Lover Stone is of the most use in the beginning, due to the widespread nature of the skillset the Morag Tong Assassin uses. Later on, I picked The Lord Stone to increase durability.
Stats: 2M | 2H | 1S. As a diverse class, a spread of everything is needed, although Stamina is less important in the grand scheme of the build.
Major Skills: Sneak, Light Armour, Illusion
Minor Skills: Two-Handed, Archery, Smithing, Alchemy
Not a huge amount to explain but here it goes - Sneak is for being stealthy and maximizing sneak damage, Light Armour and Alteration for protection, Illusion for crowd control, distraction and to supplement Sneak. Two-Handed for open combat, Archery for long range combat and sneak attacks, Alchemy to create poisons and buff potions, Smithing to improve your weapons and equipment.
Apparel: Full Morag Tong Armour, Amulet of Fortify Light Armour, Ring of Health Regeneration
Weaponry: Nordic Dagger, Nordic Bow, Ebony Blade, Assorted Poisons
Morag Tong Armour is self-explanatory, although the choice for Nordic weapons may seem odd. Due to the fact that Morag Tong Armour falls under Advanced Armours (I thought it would fall under Elven at first like normal Chitin, but apparently not according to UESP) I decided against spending more perks and time to work my way up to Ebony, and Glass felt out of place, so I stuck with Nordic. It does good damage and works well aesthetically. The Ebony Blade represents the Morag Tong worship of Mephala, and without a Guildmaster in Skyrim to issue Writs the Morag Tong Assassin will turn to Mephala for direct instruction. The Ring and Necklace are picked to increase survivability in open combat, something many assassin builds lack.
Key Spells: Ebony Flesh, Telekinesis, Detect Life/Dead, Ash Rune, Paralyse, Muffle, Invisibility, Frenzy, Frenzy Rune, Pacify, Rout
Shouts: Whirlwind Sprint, Aura Whisper, Throw Voice
Essential Quests: The Whispering Door, Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!, Served Cold, Thieves Guild
Gameplay
The Morag Tong Assassin is very versatile when it comes to combat situations, but here’s the general consensus. Start off with a bit of reconnaissance. Detection Spells and Invisibility potions or the spell itself are excellent for this. You can also use your bow or throw voice to draw everyone out and assess who you’re up against. Stealth is always down to how you prefer to play. Some people favor staying at a distance with arrows, some prefer the up close and personal approach. Some prefer to let others do the work for them and use Illusion. It’s up to you. As a bit of general advice, always poison your dagger an bow when attacking a stronger opponent, and down a Fortify Marksman potion. Fortify Marksman potions (not the enchantment) affect all types of weapon damage, including all One Handed and Two-Handed weapons, and even Unarmed. Quiet Casting silences Shouts, allowing you to use Whirlwind Sprint to maneuver between targets. Very useful for stealth.
Should you be discovered, cast a flesh spell and draw your greatsword. Apply poisons and buff potions where necessary. Stoneflesh and the Lord Stone can take you to 110 AR before armour, and given that you’ll be wearing a full matching set you can reap the benefits of virtually all of the Light Armour tree. The Ebony Blade and a stack of health potions can keep you in the fight for a very long time. Late game, the Sweep perk will allow you to drain from multiple enemies at once, which is great. In a really tough situation, drop an Ash Rune and go invisible. There’s no shame in staying alive, you’ll be back to finish the job later anyway.
Against dragons, stay at a distance until you’ve got the Ebony Blade. Drink a resistance potion and use cover where possible. Dragons are susceptible to poison, so take advantage of this. With the Ebony Blade, it’s similar to regular open combat. Flesh spell, buff potions etc, although I recommend having the Ebony Blade powered up at least to 20 points of health absorption per strike before defaulting on it as your regular weapon.
An easy way to power up the Ebony Blade that fits well with the lore is to use it to deliver the killing blow on the members of the Dark Brotherhood, which all count as ‘friends’ and for every 2 killed (there are 6 including Astrid) you will gain 4 more points of absorption. Hire mercenaries and murder them somewhere quiet to fuel the rest of the blade. It caps at 10 kills to fully charge the weapon. Use the best greatsword you can find before Level 20, then make the switch.
Roleplay
Morag Tong assassins are trained assassins, not murderous sociopaths. Don’t go randomly murdering innocents unless it is for a good reason.
Your overall morality is up to you, but I played my Morag Tong as a very respectful assassin, similar to Thane Krios from Mass Effect 2. Even though my character was a trained killer, I still treated regular people with courtesy, opting for the persuade option in dialogue the most. I was also very respectful of the Reclamations and completed the other Daedric quests for Boethiah and Azura (not giving the star to Nelecar).
I killed Eola in the Hall of the Dead because the Dunmer holds the dead and funeral rites sacred. Cannibalism is a disrespect of the highest order. I did no other Daedric quests.
Special Moves
Unholy Leech
Requires: Fully charged Ebony Blade, Weakness to Magic Poison, Sweep
By taking advantage of the Sweep perk, one strike can tag multiple enemies at once with a Weakness to Magic poison, which will boost the absorption rate of the Ebony Blade immensely, and allow you to drain multiple people at once, which stacks. Hitting 3 people at once with the Weakness to Magic effect will absorb 150 points of health for the cost of one sideways power attack.
Now you see me…
Requires: Quiet Casting, Invisibility Spell/Potion, Whirlwind Sprint
Following an unsuccessful sneak attack, Whirlwind Sprint away and go invisible. This is used against enemies you aren’t strong enough to handle 1 on 1.
Bomb Trap
Requires: Quiet Casting, Ash Rune, Throw Voice/Distraction
Plant your Ash Rune and then lure everyone into it with Throw Voice or an arrow shot against the surface. This also works with Frenzy Rune too.
Closing Notes
I’d like to thank everyone for reading, this has been one of the most fun builds I’ve played in a while.
Many thanks,
Histcarp
Replies
I remember back when this build was first posted. It still looks great, though it's a shame it's not properly formatted. I'm sure one of the admins will gladly help you transfer this build over from Google Docs. Cool pictures though!
Thanks Aysleph!
Thank you so much for this! Really means a lot :)
Don't have any other builds currently, although I have a few on the backburner.
All fixed Histcarp. If you got any other builds throw them all up and I'll fix them up.
Ah, that's just a wording error on my part, but the concept is still there. You'll need Sweep to tag the three enemies with the Weakness to Magic Poison in one strike, or you can tag all of them one by one. Concentrated Poison can help.
Thanks though!
Thanks! Means a lot :)
Very nice build Histcarp. The tactics are very clever especially the one with sweep and the ebony blade
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