D&D 5E Do Assassins suck?

[Horwath]

they are little bit weaker than they should be.

we housedruled surprise so that Assassin gets crit on a surprised target even if they lost on initiative and have advantage on all attacks in 2nd round if they have higher initiative then surprised target. So Alert feat still have big impact for subclass.

 

[CleverNickName]

Well, an assassin started friggin' World War I.
So yeah, I'd say that assassins suck.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

They don't suck but they're on the weak side of things.

Pretty much this.

They certainly don't really live up to player expectations. D&D 5E is a game full of total badboy badasses, it really is. Berserker Barbarian really hit that archetype with a brick. Battlemaster Fighters do actually feel pretty masterful so long as they get them short rests. Bladepact Warlocks will chop you the hell up with a demon sword. Enchanter Wizards WILL control your mind. Loremaster Bards absolutely feel like they are. Even Diviners are badasses, which has absolutely never happened in D&D before.

And so on.

So any subclass that doesn't really whack that archetypical vibe is a bit meh. And that's Assassin. People expect a D&D take on like an Assassin's Creed-type badass (and really that's 99% of modern assassins across all media - acrobatic, dangerous badasses who spring out of hiding/drop from the rafters and kill a bunch of people before making some kind of wild ecape). What we get instead is someone takes the Hitman Codename 47 approach, except way more toned-down and weak (even ol' disguise-oriented 47 can go on a hell of a rampage when stuff gets real). They're not terrible, but they're just not like "HELL YEAH" like a lot of subclasses can be.

 

[Zardnaar]

Pretty much this.

They certainly don't really live up to player expectations. D&D 5E is a game full of total badboy badasses, it really is. Berserker Barbarian really hit that archetype with a brick. Battlemaster Fighters do actually feel pretty masterful so long as they get them short rests. Bladepact Warlocks will chop you the hell up with a demon sword. Enchanter Wizards WILL control your mind. Loremaster Bards absolutely feel like they are. Even Diviners are badasses, which has absolutely never happened in D&D before.

And so on.

So any subclass that doesn't really whack that archetypical vibe is a bit meh. And that's Assassin. People expect a D&D take on like an Assassin's Creed-type badass (and really that's 99% of modern assassins across all media - acrobatic, dangerous badasses who spring out of hiding/drop from the rafters and kill a bunch of people before making some kind of wild ecape). What we get instead is someone takes the Hitman Codename 47 approach, except way more toned-down and weak (even ol' disguise-oriented 47 can go on a hell of a rampage when stuff gets real). They're not terrible, but they're just not like "HELL YEAH" like a lot of subclasses can be.

Yeah had this conversation tonight with my players about how high level an Assassin has to be to have a reasonable chance of yeeting an ogre.

And yeah been playing Assassin's Creed lately (sigh Kassandra, Bayek rocks as well).

 

[fearsomepirate]

Yeah had this conversation tonight with my players about how high level an Assassin has to be to have a reasonable chance of yeeting an ogre.

And yeah been playing Assassin's Creed lately (sigh Kassandra, Bayek rocks as well).

People expect a feature called "assassinate" to kill an enemy, not "do a fair bit of damage." 5e monsters have enormous buckets of hit points, which, yeah, no, haha, that hill giant isn't dead, just angry.

 

[TheSword]

People expect a feature called "assassinate" to kill an enemy, not "do a fair bit of damage." 5e monsters have enormous buckets of hit points, which, yeah, no, haha, that hill giant isn't dead, just angry.

Well assassins creed assassinate damage often didn’t kill the enemy in one. So not sure that’s always the case.

 

[Zardnaar]

Well assassins creed assassinate damage often didn’t kill the enemy in one. So not sure that’s always the case.

Depends on build and game.

If you manage to assasinate you usually kill them. I can one shot with light attacks in AC: Odyssey.

 

[TheSword]

Depends on build and game.

If you manage to assasinate you usually kill them. I can one shot with light attacks in AC: Odyssey.

What even Mercenaries, Ptolemarch, Leaders, Cultists? Im up to level 50, I may have overlevelled and now health has overtaken my abilities.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

The main issue with the assassin is that it is VERY DM dependent. The chance for surprise tends to be inconsistent in most games IMX (though of course the character and party can usually take steps to increase said chance). Furthermore, the other features of the subclass can often be replicated through skill checks.

 

[Zardnaar]

What even Mercenaries, Ptolemarch, Leaders, Cultists? Im up to level 50, I may have overlevelled and now health has overtaken my abilities.

Level 99 I'm not the best at mega damage you need two specific weapons and various skills. Best level 50 some sort of fire or poison build. Depends if you have found perfect swords and equipment.

Playing on legendary or whatever the highest difficulty is.