So, you have been ordered to assassinate somebody. This is murder, and is no easy task. Firstly you must enter the location. Try to sneak the whole time. Scout out the nearby area and remember where any people bearing weapons are. Also attempt to find a route that avoids contact with anybody except the target.

Whenever you commit a crime, you acquire aa bounty. If nobody witnesses the crime, the bounty is no longer counted and is removed. When in the immediate area of the target, look around for any nearby people who may witness the activity. Even if they are a homeless beggar, any witnesses can and will rat you out to the guards. If the witness is unimportant and takes no part in any quests (if they do, they cannot be killed) try to kill any witnesses when the target isn't looking, otherwise the target will get you jailed instead. If you are in a bit of trouble with the guards, look at "Plan B" further down the page.

And you reach the main part of the assassination; Killing the target. This is the biggest and hardest part of the job. You have multiple choices on how to go about killing them. I shall go through them:

Melee
Only do this if you have a high Sneak skill. If you go behind someone while moving forward and being hidden and attack with a dagger, you perform an animation where you either stab them in the back, or slit their throat. Either will be a 1-hit kill. If you are detected by anyone, it won't work.

Ranged
This is rather easy to do, and gives you time to run away. Shoot the target with a bow, from a distance, while in a shadowed area. If anyone sees it, guards will search for you, and if it takes long enough they will forget.

Poison
You can only do this if you have the 'Poisoned' pickpocket perk. Get a very deadly poison, go up the the target, put the poison in their pocket, hope it works. Simple. and silent.

You get spotted. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. For killing someone, the guards will attack you. Sheathing whatever weapon you have may make a guard yield and ask for what say you in your defence. If he does, make sure you have 1040 gold in hand, so you can avoid jail. If he doesn't yield, ready your best weapon and attempt to take out a leigon of guards. Alternitavely, you can run away. Either may work depending on skill and level. You can also use an AoE Calm spell to escape.


I hope you enjoyed this guide, and I hope it helped you.