Dragon 394: Executioner - at last! Was it worth the wait?

[twilsemail]

I won't be able to access the article until I get home from work. Would anyone mind telling me if Shadow Coffin is back?

 

[Aegeri]

I won't be able to access the article until I get home from work. Would anyone mind telling me if Shadow Coffin is back?

Yes, it's an encounter power though but it serves the same point.

 

[twilsemail]

Yes, it's an encounter power though but it serves the same point.

It was pretty much an encounter power before, with how often you could actually make use of it. Very glad to hear it's back, though.

 

[mattcolville]

The Assassin's extra damage encounter power says it only triggers when the target is "helpless."

That seemed an odd condition to me, so I looked it up in the compendium, which says that typically only unconscious creatures are helpless.

As far as I can tell, the encounter power is the only reference in the article to "helpless" so the assassin doesn't have powers that make his target helpless.

So...when can he use that power?

 

[Pickles JG]

It's maximised against a helpless target but works fine against anyone else.

I don't think they can make people helpless easily themselves - one of the level 25 poisons does in its out of combat mode. Rogues & wizards can KO people but I think that bit is mostly flavour & left over from the first playtest when they had a helpless making at will (!). Of course helpless targets can be Coup De Graced for auto crits anyway.

 

[Mengu]

The Assassin's extra damage encounter power says it only triggers when the target is "helpless."

Not so. It can be used whenever the assassin hits a creature within 5 squares of him with an attack using a weapon.

*If* the target is helpless the damage is maximized. Normally a coup de grace is an auto crit anyway, so that maximized bit may seem extraneous, but the difference is it can be applied even at range. Kind of a corner case condition for shooting a sleeping target I suppose, but it's there probably more for flavor than any actual usefulness.

 

[Rune]

The Assassin's extra damage encounter power says it only triggers when the target is "helpless."

That seemed an odd condition to me, so I looked it up in the compendium, which says that typically only unconscious creatures are helpless.

As far as I can tell, the encounter power is the only reference in the article to "helpless" so the assassin doesn't have powers that make his target helpless.

So...when can he use that power?

After the wizard casts sleep, or, on a prisoner who has been tightly bound, or, on a PC/NPC during the assassin's shift at night watch.

 

[Droogie128]

The Assassin's extra damage encounter power says it only triggers when the target is "helpless."

That seemed an odd condition to me, so I looked it up in the compendium, which says that typically only unconscious creatures are helpless.

As far as I can tell, the encounter power is the only reference in the article to "helpless" so the assassin doesn't have powers that make his target helpless.

So...when can he use that power?

It doesn't say it only works when the target is helpless. It says it is maximized if the target is helpless.

Effect: The target takes 1d10 extra damage from the triggering attack. If the target is helpless, this damage is maximized.

 

[Dausuul]

Nimble Drop is very nice. Combine it with Acrobatics and you could fall quite a distance and land on your feet, undamaged.

After the wizard casts sleep, or, on a prisoner who has been tightly bound, or, on a PC/NPC during the assassin's shift at night watch.

Or when the target is just, y'know, asleep.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Overall I think it's great. They cleaned up the stuff that was too powerful and boosted the stuff that was too weak in the playtest but it keeps the feel of the playtest. And I thought many of the powers and abilities were rewritten to be more clear and concise.

It was pretty much an encounter power before, with how often you could actually make use of it. Very glad to hear it's back, though.

Although now you get it at 17th level instead of 13th. It's nice to have something new at 17th but it's disappointing that you have to wait so long for such a flavorful power.