There's a side quest in Vivec, Foreign Quarter maybe, on the top "floor" where you must steal an armor contract from the house of the quest giver's rivel armorsmith. Sounds simple?

Well the door that leads to the room where the contract is is locked and there's a guard and the rival smith in the same room. How is this one solved without cheating, killing etc...? How did Bethesda expect us to solve this one?

I have solved this (killing or cheating) but I'm wondering what you guys think.

-val

Personally I usd a combination of Sneak and the Amulet of Shadows or a high-level Invisiblity potion. Combined with a good pick, I could usually break through in one or two tries. Saving righr before you pick the lock helps, because if you are caught, you can just reload and try again.

Also, just try using whatever spell/scroll/amulet/potion for Invisibility when the NPCs are not looking at you- that way they don't stare at you when you try to rob them, minimizing your chances of being caught.

Decent level sneak, what else. I did this one with no trouble at all. Just wait until the random animation makes him turn his back to you. Even if you get caught, the bounty's so low you can easily pay it. You are in the Thieves Guild, right?

I personaly like to use Chameleon rather than invisiblity because Chameleon doesnt go away when you use an item. Unfortunalty, its easy to get caught unless the chameleon is at 100%. If your a mage, then you should have a decently High illusion skill and be able to cast the spell. I find it much more effective than invisibility.

Actually not. With a high enough sneak skill, even 1% chameleon is considered "invisible".

I use a spell that I make - autoopen (100-100) on target. You can be anywhere where you can see the door and he can't see you, and voila! Door open and away you go.

Shadowamulet+sneak allways did the trick for me.
Dont remember the setup in that room, but as a rule telekinesis can be usefull for opening/borrowing objects that guard islooking at. Also as was mentioned here the bounty isnt that big and you could either pay it directly to guard (while not having any stolen items you value on you) or use some variationnof teleport spell to get out of there in a hurry and cleaning bnty at thievs guild.

P.S. whats wrong with a little guard killing?

You will be rewarded well! (cough)

It's not worth the trouble, the bounty you have to pay is more expensive then the reward.

Well, I tried to do that but I kept getting expelled from House Hlaalu...

So I gave up...