Nope. They released a Dragon article in July with a bunch of feats that patch damage and let you transfer shrouds if your target happens to die before you get to invoke them. It's the standard feat tax approach. I'd give most of them for free to a player trying to build an assassin; he'd need them to stay competitive with other strikers in the party.
Having seen an assassin in play they do plenty of damage, if they time it right and don't get unlucky/pich the wrong target. They tend to do it in big spikes, which can be a problem, but the feats really help them work out a bit better.
It's not that they can't get big numbers, it's that they can't get consistent striker-level damage over the course of a fight. A well-made fighter will outdamage (single-target) a well-made assassin over the course of an encounter.
It's not that they can't get big numbers, it's that they can't get consistent striker-level damage over the course of a fight. A well-made fighter will outdamage (single-target) a well-made assassin over the course of an encounter.
I'm not sure about that. The Assassin feels much like the Warlock - requiring a few feats to reach proper striker damage, but once there, gaining a solid boon from their focus on escaping harm (via teleporting, going invisible, etc.)