The Assassin in Play

[Insight]

I'm starting a level 11 Assassin this coming weekend and I'd like to get a sense from my fellow EN Worlders of their experiences with the new class. In which situations did you find the Assassin to be particularly effective and which did you find the Assassin limited? Which powers did you find useful and which not so much? What's your general feeling of the class after having played it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Larrin]

I recently started playing a level 11 assassin;

Strong points:
Versatile; i have range and melee

Important powers:
shadow step is the best escape power
ice darts is very reliable; I always use it to pop my first 4 shrouds
slayers endurance is a great way to get 20 temp hp, something you often need.

Good tactics: shroud some one you aren't attacking early on. Pick the big guy, shroud him while harassing other monsters. Once you fill his shrouds, peg him for big damage, then repeat. Endgame though you want to invoke your shrouds often, I usually switch to every turn when there is only 1 or 2 left

Don't be a hero; you can't stand toe to toe with a monster of any power, be underhanded and avoid direct confrontations, telport out of danger when ever possible.

must leave work, mayube post more later

 

[Turtlejay]

I'm playing a level 7 assassin right now. I can usually count on avoiding or negating a bunch of damage every fight. I have the feat that lets me do my insubstantial thing as an interrupt, and I'm playing the build with temp HP. Last fight the first time I got hit I turned 12 damage into 3. Then I remained invisible/concealed/jacked into someone's shadow for much of the rest of the fight.

The only thing I don't like about my assassin is the [w] damage. If you can swing it, using a large [w] weapon will work best. My biggest attack is like 8d6+7 damage right now. Is 2d12+6d6+7 that much better? Maybe. At higher levels they get better high [w] powers.

I didn't like any of the Assassin PP's, so I'm probably going for the Traveler's Harlequin. It fits my hide/misdirect/luck theme really well.

So. In a typical fight I try to find a way to shroud first (hidden) out of combat (I have the feat), then attack with CA and invoke all of those shrouds, plus use my 1/encounter sneak attack. I have 3 minor action powers that grant concealment or invisiblity, plus the interrupt that makes my insubstantial. I try to always have one of these going. Since I have pretty good defenses already, this makes me harder to see and harder to hit.

There are, of course, other ways to play. You could take the at will that isolates and go with the build that gives bonus damage to isolated targets. Focus on 1d12+dex+cha+stuff and you have a single target at will, sorcerer style. Take the utilities that grant you movement or mobility, and always try shrouding and attacking the back line. Invoke them when you have 4 stacked early on, but more often when things are winding down.

Jay

 

[renau1g]

I play a level 6 assassin here in PbP, and can't wait for the Soul Thief PP. I use hit and run tactics, make sure you stick near your defender as you're fragile. I MC'd to rogue and grabbed the blade & buckler duelist feat as I carry a bastard sword and light shield.

Again, keep moving. Teleport the hell out of there if you can.

 

[Insight]

I play a level 6 assassin here in PbP, and can't wait for the Soul Thief PP. I use hit and run tactics, make sure you stick near your defender as you're fragile. I MC'd to rogue and grabbed the blade & buckler duelist feat as I carry a bastard sword and light shield.

Again, keep moving. Teleport the hell out of there if you can.

I have Soul Thief. IMO (without having played) it is the best Assassin PP because it allows you to shroud more often.

 

[Trebor62]

I have Halfling 7th level assasin and they are fragile, second chance helps some (racial feat). A couple of times the party defenders, battle cleric and paladin have rolled low for inititive leaving the poor assasin as only one to respond earily to try and contain or delay the enemy until the end off the round when the battle cleric an paladin acted. It wasn't pretty but there was plenty of healing available.

 

[1of3]

My girl-friend plays assassin. From what I figured, you really want to have a look at your opponents to place your shrouds, before the fighting starts. That works best, if your allies play to it. If on the other hand your friends are a little trigger-happy, you loose some great advantage.

She also just bought a drill as a Silent Tool to make little peak holes. Not sure how much the GM will play to it, but the idea is surely nice.

 

[Larrin]

For paragon path i took shadowblade, because i like having a weapon that just pops into my hand when ever i want. I can throw it for d8 damage, and i weild a shield for the extra ac/reflex. the gloom tokens are okay, and the action point teleport is handy. Its not overpowerful PP-wise (its pretty much standard power level, little gain, no harm), but I love the flavor, and roleplay the concept of my blades coming out of nowhere for much fun.

 

[Turtlejay]

I'd guess all the talk about fragility is due to the Cha build probably being more popular, due to the extra damage. The necessity of attacking lone targets for your bonus could contribute as well.

If you want to go toe to toe with a lone enemy and take slugs back, an Avenger is probably your better bet. Assassins are more of the hit and run, hide in shadows type. Their striker bonus damage supports that. If you *want* to try to just be a mainline fighter like a rogue or ranger, you can certainly try, but that is really not using your talents in the best way, IMO.

Of course, I'm still getting the hang of using my assassin. One thing I need to work on is remembering to shroud not the biggest, most obvious target, but the weaker, more dangerous one hiding in the back. That is what we do best!

Jay

 

[OhGodtheRats]

I'm a big fan of the Assassin...I've been playing one in the RPGA since just a bit after GenCon. I'm only level 10 so I don't know much about Paragon (I'm planning on going with Arcane Trickster from Martial Power 2...I'm multiclassed Rogue but that's neither here nor there...none of the Assassin PPaths appeal to my kind/"I don't want to swallow peoples souls" vanishing Kenku).

It seems everyone plays their Assassin a bit differently. For me, it's all about not being seen. Even with the Stealth rules being revamped now and again, the Assassin has a lot of "weird" powers that let you hide when you usually wouldn't be able to. Shade Form lets you hide behind allies...and if a power doesn't give you out and out invisibility then often it lets you do some weird trick where you can hide even if you only have cover. Hell, at Paragon you can use Enemies as Cover, meaning you can often Hide from enemies by hiding behind Enemies. O_O (Important rule though: Just because you're invisible doesn't mean you're Hidden. Took me a while to sort that out). I can't gush about the level 10 Utility "Seeker of Shadow" enough...for at least the first 2 rounds you're invisible from the moment you roll for initiative.
Other powers that have shined:
GloomThief: It's basic but it gives you Invisibility.
InEscapable Blade: There's something fun about having a Melee +2 Reach attack that lets you stab people through walls. It also means you can hide around corners from a target and still stab them through said corner.
ShadowJack: You get to ride an enemy around the battle field and if folks miss you, they hit your newly acquired mount. Also gives you a round of Insubstantial.
Cloaking Mist lets you hide from the Blast targets hit or miss even if you only have Cover.
Obviously, my build is all about not being there when the enemies want to hurt me...when I'm not invisible and/or hidden, I'm doing something wrong. Early on I learned that the Assassin is kind of squishy. Be on the front lines, but don't let them see you. Someone else has already said it but: Stick near the Defender or, at the very least, after you stab the boss teleport behind the Ranger. Better them than you.

Other stuff: Keep in mind if you go with the Nightstalker Extra damage build option, that damage bonus applies to all your attacks, so don't be afraid to mix it up. Your shrouds and bonus damage still work fine with ranged attacks so if things are getting tough, pulling out a crossbow or something still lets you keep up the pace, though it'll lack the traditional Assassin flourish.

Finally: Check out the feat tricks the Assassin can pull off.
YOu have 2 Poison-Related feats. 1 that lets you do an extra 2 damage when you deal poison damage and another that means when you DO deal Poison Damage it ignores Immunity & Resistance. If you take the Spiderkissed Weapon that allows you to convert all the damage dealt with your weapon to Poison damage, then suddenly all your attacks do full damage to, well, everything that might resist you.

...and there you go. Ignore what you want but that's pretty much the stuff I've enjoyed with the assassin.
-Jared