I wouldn't call it a problem, per se, just a peculiarity. You have a good point in that stealth is supposed to be viable: you can probably get through a lot of the game by just sneaking past enemies and pickpocketing their stuff. It doesn't change the fact that a purely stealth character would have no way to deal damage besides shouts. As i said, perks will make non offensive skills useful for killing, i think the devs are focusing on the pure thief, the real pure thief, a pure stealth character. http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/01/24/skyrim-building-better-combat.aspx This way a pure thief is a true stealth character, that is fantastic while killing in the shadows, even if he is not as well trained in one handed as an assasin or a warrior. But if he is found in the open he will have a hard time as he is a thief, not a assasin or a warrior. For what i can see the pure thief will be a viable class and lots of fun, maybe not the best one to fight dragons and giant spiders, but pure warrior are not the best at picking locks and looting the neighbourhood without being noticed. And i'm sure poisoning by pickpocket and stealthy daggers are not the only weapons given to the pure thief by perks, even there might be stealth perks for the bow.