Is there a tactic to take out two enemies next to each other silently?
Three Simple Steps to Group Assassinations
- Fire an arrow at the far wall behind one of your targets (the guy sitting down).
- Watch as the bandits casually meander over to the wall to investigate what made that peculiar noise.
- Assassinate each target from behind silently with your dagger(s) as their backs are turned to you and they are walking away.
If you are being detected during step #1, an invisibility potion just might do the trick.
I use illusion and the fury spell. It's even better when you get silent casting, but until then act like a stealth archer. Sneak, fire fury, then run and hide. They will fight it out and one will probably die. If not, then repeat until one finally does. You can finish the straggler off with a backstab.
You can actually take out a whole horde of enemies using illusion spells, without even getting noticed. Just let them massacre each other, stand in the shadows and chuckle to yourself.
Dagger kills are silent. I've often managed to slit a bandit's throat without the guy standing next to him noticing anything happened.
Bow kills are quiet and tend to leave enemies looking at the spot where the arrow hit rather than at you. As long as I'm being quick about it, I'm generally able to drop two (and often three, sometimes even more) enemies before they manage to detect me. (This is using the +30% bow speed perk and nothing else; I expect that two should still be possible even without that perk, though.)