Dragon 379: Assassin Heroic Tier

[wayne62682]

I wonder if the full class will be put into Character Builder like the Monk and Psion, so it will be legal to use for Living Forgotten Realms

 

[Shroomy]

I wonder if the full class will be put into Character Builder like the Monk and Psion, so it will be legal to use for Living Forgotten Realms

Yep (well I can't speak to LFR), it will be in the CB as of the 10-6 update.

 

[wedgeski]

Plus, a lot of their utilities are very useful in a purely role playing situation...which is kind of cool. But at the same time, they are pretty much ONLY useful in a solo situation where the assassin is attempting to sneak into a building by himself, take out the guards along the way and kill someone then sneak out. Which is good, because that's what an assassin should be able to do. But in an actual D&D game, I see this situation happening almost never. No one wants to sit back and watch the assassin go on a solo mission. Plus, the mechanics of 4e are designed around group battles. It creates an odd situation.

He's the sapper, the guy feared by the rear echelon. I'm pretty sure that his friends will be very happy to see the Assassin slip through enemy lines to Shroud the big hitters/controllers and take them down. It's not a unique schtick, but he certainly has a unique feel IMO.

 

[DarkMasterBR]

Just FYI, I twittered mikemearls asking him about the enemy's awareness of the shrouds:

me: @mikemearls Is an enemy aware of the Assassin's Shrouds?

mearls: @jpjandrade I believe an enemy is not aware of them.

Much more cool that way, even though it raises the question of which powers in an enemy aware and which one's he is not.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I could see them getting a build later on related to light thrown weapons.

As for their abilties to easily hide and all that, I certainly see use in that in games with a party. Often if you're the one that's hiding, you're the one that's ahead of the rest of the party. That gives you plenty of time to build up shrouds while the rest of the party moves in.

I think an Assassin especially a Nightstalker should also do what they can to have as high of an AC as possible. Though unlike the Avenger or Swordmage, they don't have anything that boosts it a few more points. I see two-weapon defense as something that certainly helps, and probably suits an Assassin better than using a light shield, since you'll probably have two-weapon fighting to go with defense.

And I can definitely see an Avenger and Assassin team working well together.

But because the Assassin is pretty fragile, I do see them as being even more of a defender ward than the wizard or many controllers are. Since enemies may want to hurt them even more than the wizard now.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Just FYI, I twittered mikemearls asking him about the enemy's awareness of the shrouds:

mearls: @jpjandrade I believe an enemy is not aware of them.

That makes the feat listed in the article pretty useless:

Hidden Insight
Prerequisite: Assassin, assassin’s shroud power
Benefit: Creatures from which you are hidden are
not aware of your shrouds.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

As for their abilties to easily hide and all that, I certainly see use in that in games with a party. Often if you're the one that's hiding, you're the one that's ahead of the rest of the party. That gives you plenty of time to build up shrouds while the rest of the party moves in.

I've heard of other parties allowing a stealthy character to scout ahead. None of ours ever have. Mainly because of this scenario:

Rogue wanders off ahead, stealthily, keeping enough distance between him and the rest of the party that the enemies can't hear the noisy paladin(i.e. 50-200 feet or so). He gets to a door. He listens at the door and either rolls low or the enemies aren't making any noise at all and the door muffles any sound they do make. He doesn't hear any enemies. He opens the door to scout it for the party. As soon as he opens it the enemy sees him, since he has no cover. Initiative is rolled, enemies go first. Rogue dies when every last enemy attacks him, as there are no other targets they can see. The party is so far away, the enemies get to attack the rogue a second time before they can get there to help him.

Also this scenario is just as likely:

Enemy managed to roll high enough to spot the rogue as he is stealthing down a hallway. The rogue doesn't spot them. The enemy gets the drop on the rogue during a surprise round and drops him in a single round. The party is so far away, the enemies get to attack the rogue a second time before they can get there to help him.

Since these things have happened so many times, we no longer let the Rogue scout ahead. He stays in the middle of the party so that when we run into enemies we are all together and the defender is the first thing the enemy sees.

 

[Jack99]

Just FYI, I twittered mikemearls asking him about the enemy's awareness of the shrouds:

me: @mikemearls Is an enemy aware of the Assassin's Shrouds?

mearls: @jpjandrade I believe an enemy is not aware of them.

Much more cool that way, even though it raises the question of which powers in an enemy aware and which one's he is not.

Should be pretty clear by the rules in the PDF that they know, unless you have hidden insight.

Edit: Ninjaed by Oakheart. I guess that's what happens when you hit reply and then leave the comp to do other things...

 

[LightPhoenix]

Should be pretty clear by the rules in the PDF that they know, unless you have hidden insight.

Actually, it should be clear by the general rule that creatures always know effects (marks, so on) on them. Since the article doesn't say otherwise, they would know. The feat just happens to be the specific exception.

 

[mearls]

Yeah, the feat is necessary to keep the shrouds hidden. Otherwise, the critter knows what's up.