Difference between revisions of "Assassin"

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(Human: swapped it to Orc as it makes more sense)
(Races: Human is now given some respect)
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With an emphasis on attack damage, the {{OrAs}} makes for a more combat-oriented assassin.  He is better at [[regen-fighting]] monsters and has a strong early-game.  The Orc Assassin benefits more of fighting poisoned enemies than a Human, but is less efficient in dealing with undeads. Orcs will benefit more from the situational first strike too, which let's them save some blackspace for later use. By mid-late game APHEELSIK matures into a very powerful glyph, as you will be regenfighting your targets first strike becomes less relevant.
 
With an emphasis on attack damage, the {{OrAs}} makes for a more combat-oriented assassin.  He is better at [[regen-fighting]] monsters and has a strong early-game.  The Orc Assassin benefits more of fighting poisoned enemies than a Human, but is less efficient in dealing with undeads. Orcs will benefit more from the situational first strike too, which let's them save some blackspace for later use. By mid-late game APHEELSIK matures into a very powerful glyph, as you will be regenfighting your targets first strike becomes less relevant.
  
One problem melee assassins face is that their lack of resistances gets in the way of regenfighting very high level monsters. This can be solved by worshiping {{g|Binlor Ironshield}}, one of the favorite deity of every Orc in general. There's really no point in playing a Human version, since even at level 10 your damage output will surpass theirs thanks to the boons of Binlor. Followers of other deities should choose Orcs over Humans too, as the endgame power is already covered by APHEELSIK, while the lack of early-game strength can waste valuable blackspace.
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One problem melee assassins face is that their lack of resistances gets in the way of regenfighting very high level monsters. This can be solved by worshiping {{g|Binlor Ironshield}}, one of the favorite deity of every Orc in general.
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== Human ==
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{{HuAs}} is a strong alternative to the Orc who trades away some raw power and an easy leveling phase in exchange for being more reliable against bosses.  Magic immune and undead bosses are a special problem for the Orc, but not so for the Human, who doesn't lose sleep over not being able to use Poisoned Blade. Aside from this consideration, the combination is at least passably strong, since the ability to earn first strike is a pretty good synergy with Human all on its own, and the free [[APHEELSIK]] and attack bonus remains welcome too.
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Whenever poisoning the boss is possible, Human has trouble outscaling Orc in a reasonable amount of time.  Against a magic immune or undead boss, the Orc can only hope to make up for the handicap with a better leveling phase and potentially a richer popcorn zoo for Swift Hands.
  
 
=== Elf ===
 
=== Elf ===

Revision as of 19:11, 25 May 2015

Assassin
Tier 3 Class
Human Assassin Large.png
Class traits
POISONED BLADE
Starts with the APHEELSIK glyph, deals 40% bonus damage to poisoned enemies. Starts with -20% bonus damage.
LIGHT FOOT
Exploring the area around a monster gives the player first strike
SWIFT HAND
attacking a lower level monster always grants an instant kill. This will overwhelm every other status effect in the game.
Suggested Races
Class: Assassin Human Assassin,Class: Assassin Elf Assassin,Class: Assassin Goblin Assassin
Class Challenges
No challenges
Unlocking
Level 3 Thief Den

Sinister, quiet and deadly. Assassins lack the charisma, social etiquette and basic regard for sentient life that the lower-tier sneaks possess, but they are no less cunning, stealthy or resourceful. Death may come quickly. Death may come slowly. Death may be silent, bloody, or fiery. But death will always come.

Class Features

  • POISONED BLADE: Starts with the APHEELSIK glyph, gains 40% bonus damage against poisoned monsters.
  • LIGHT FOOT: Exploring the area around a monster gives the player first strike.
  • SWIFT HAND: attacking a lower level monster always grants an instant kill. This will overwhelm every other status effect in the game.

Note that spaces that fall off the edge of the board count as "revealed" for the purpose of light foot, so you can gain first strike against edge-hugging monsters in this manner. The swift hands ability ignores abilities such as first strike and death protection, meaning you face no risks when attacking monsters like gorgons or animated armors as a higher-level assassin. In rare scenarios where the boss is lower than level 10, it's entirely possible to kill him with swift hands.

Races

Orc

With an emphasis on attack damage, the Class: Assassin Orc Assassin makes for a more combat-oriented assassin. He is better at regen-fighting monsters and has a strong early-game. The Orc Assassin benefits more of fighting poisoned enemies than a Human, but is less efficient in dealing with undeads. Orcs will benefit more from the situational first strike too, which let's them save some blackspace for later use. By mid-late game APHEELSIK matures into a very powerful glyph, as you will be regenfighting your targets first strike becomes less relevant.

One problem melee assassins face is that their lack of resistances gets in the way of regenfighting very high level monsters. This can be solved by worshiping God: Binlor Ironshield Binlor Ironshield, one of the favorite deity of every Orc in general.

Human

Class: Assassin Human Assassin is a strong alternative to the Orc who trades away some raw power and an easy leveling phase in exchange for being more reliable against bosses. Magic immune and undead bosses are a special problem for the Orc, but not so for the Human, who doesn't lose sleep over not being able to use Poisoned Blade. Aside from this consideration, the combination is at least passably strong, since the ability to earn first strike is a pretty good synergy with Human all on its own, and the free APHEELSIK and attack bonus remains welcome too.

Whenever poisoning the boss is possible, Human has trouble outscaling Orc in a reasonable amount of time. Against a magic immune or undead boss, the Orc can only hope to make up for the handicap with a better leveling phase and potentially a richer popcorn zoo for Swift Hands.

Elf

One of the most powerful spellcasting combinations in the game is the Class: Assassin Elf Assassin. With vastly expanded mana, the elf assassin makes a potent spellcaster. The biggest difficulty that dedicated spellcasters face is that they often neglect their attack damage and have difficulty fighting lower-level monsters that should be easy. Using swift hands, this is not an issue for the assassin, allowing him to focus totally on spellcasting in a way that even the Class: Wizard Wizard cannot. Other races can still make potent spellcaster assassins, but they won't be as good as the elf.

Goblin

The Class: Assassin Goblin Assassin is the ultimate class/race combo for level-up catapults. By using swift hands to kill weaker monsters and converting items and glyphs for extra experience, a goblin can gain as many as five levels over the course of a boss battle, fully regenerating his health and mana each time. Very few bosses outside of vicious difficulty can survive this sort of persistent onslaught, and even those in vicious difficulty will often fall to it. Since you can begin the boss battle very early with this character it's likely you'll be able to use poison antics as well. The Goblin Assassin is one of the best ways to obtain badges in most dungeons, including the coveted vicious badge.

Strategy

The Assassin is one of the game's most potent classes, and is well-suited to a wide variety of approaches. At low levels, he has a strong and reliable opener with the Glyph: APHEELSIK APHEELSIK glyph, and at high levels he can cleave through strong monsters to gain a few extra levels that can make the difference. His greatest weakness is that he has very few class features to improve his combat abilities, and capitalizing on his situational Trait: First strike First strike is very important. Because he has no bonus to regeneration or resistances and his initial attack bonus against poisoned monsters is only 20% (net), the Assassin actually makes a sub-par regen-fighter without additional items or boons. The assassin is most similar to the Class: Fighter Fighter in this respect, and he can build towards almost any type of character by using the right combination of bonuses.

Although at first glance it may not be apparent, the Assassin is actually a very strong class for spellcaster strategies. One of the biggest problems dedicated spellcasters face is that they neglect their attack damage, and may be easily worn down by low-level monsters. An assassin will never face this problem, even on vicious-difficulty levels, and can therefor focus all his attention on the boss.

Because the assassin can easily 1-hit-kill monsters that are lower-level than him, he should never fight a monster that is equal-level to him unless he has no other choice. There is no bonus XP given for defeating a monster of equal level to yourself, and once you gain a level you can kill him effortless. Always focus your efforts on fighting stronger monsters to earn bonus XP.

Assassins can leverage an early Amulet of Yendor to great effect. The 50 bonus experience is enough to reach level 5, which puts most of the dungeon monsters at lower level (and thus subject to Swift Hands). This frees up the player to select a race other than Goblin and still be able to reach Level 10 only having to fight a handful of monsters to do so. The drawback is that after using up the prepped Amulet, you will need to reclaim it for an additional 50 Gold cost if you want to use it again.

The Assassin works well with a broad range of deities due to his personal flexibility. Unless you're willing to eschew the poison glyph, you will probably want to avoid God: Taurog Taurog and the God: Glowing Guardian Glowing Guardian. Otherwise the Assassin will work flawlessly with any other deity.